Category Archives: Olympics

The U.S. womens three-on-three program will defend its Olympic gold medal this summer in Paris, and for the first time, an American mens team will be there too.

Both the womens and mens three-on-three programs from the U.S. qualified for the 2024 Olympics, according to an official announcement from FIBA on Wednesday. The top three teams on each side as of Oct. 31 received automatic bids to Paris, and the U.S. women and men are both currently ranked second.

The sport made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics. The American women took gold over Russia; the U.S. men failed to qualify in 2021.

This year, USA Basketballs womens three-on-three team of Cameron Brink, Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Linnae Harper won the World Cup in Vienna in June; the mens team of Jimmer Fredette, Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis finished second.

That same foursome on the mens side won its second FIBA 33 World Tour Masters event of the season last weekend in Abu Dhabi, as well as the Pan-Am Games in Chile earlier this month, which helped the U.S. secure an Olympic bid. The American womens program also won the Pan-Am Games, with a team of Burdick, Azur Stevens, Blake Dietrick and Lexie Hull.

The rankings are based not on team finishes per se, but on how individual players from all the participating countries fare at FIBA-sanctioned three-on-three events all over the world which explains how the U.S. teams could have so many wins at high-profile tournaments but still be ranked second.

On the womens side, China is ahead of the U.S., which is ahead of host France; on the mens side, the Americans are behind Serbia and ahead of the Chinese. The Olympic 33 tournament will take place from July 30 to Aug. 5 on a court constructed at Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The next order of business for USA Basketball is to identify its pools of potential three-on-three players for the Olympics, select coaches and set timelines for picking teams. Two of the four players on each team must be ranked in the top 10 among the countrys three-on-three players, per FIBAs rankings, and two must have played in at least one FIBA-sanctioned three-on-three event in the last year.

Fredette (a college superstar and former NBA player), Barry (son of NBA legend Rick Barry), Maddox and Travis figure to get a strong look to represent the U.S., given their on-court success and sheer number of tournaments together; the womens selection process could be more expansive, as only one player (Burdick) was on the American womens World Cup and Pan-Am teams.

Under new Olympic rules for 33 eligibility, the U.S. team from Tokyo of WNBA stars Kelsey Plum, Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, and Jackie Young would not be able to defend their gold medals as a team, as none of them are ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. Latvia won gold in the mens 33 tournament at the Tokyo games.

USA Basketball is the first federation to qualify four teams for Paris, as the mens and womens national teams for traditional basketball have also already qualified.

The 33 game is played entirely in the half court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock. The winner is the first team to 21 points, or, of course, the team with more points at the final buzzer, if neither team gets to 21.

(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty)

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USA Basketball womens and mens 33 programs qualify for 2024 Olympics - The Athletic

Russia's attempt to compare the country's Olympic Committee suspension with the situation of Israeli athletes following the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas was out of place, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said the IOC was aligning itself with western political decisions after the Olympic body had said any discrimination against athletes at the Games would be swiftly dealt with because they are not responsible for the decisions of their governments.

The IOC had been responding to a question regarding Israeli athletes participating at next year's Paris Olympics and the potential refusal of other nations' athletes to compete against them over the ongoing conflict.

Lavrov called the IOC statement "shameful", saying it "proves its political bias".

"This (Russian) is a unique situation and cannot be compared to any other war or conflict in the world, because the measures taken and recommendations made by the IOC are a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," an IOC spokesperson said.

The IOC did not ban the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until last month after it recognized regional organizations from four territories annexed from Ukraine.

The IOC said on Oct. 12 the ROC would be banned with immediate effect after it recognized Olympic Councils from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

"This constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, as recognized by the IOC in accordance with the Olympic Charter," the IOC spokesperson said.

Lavrov on Thursday said the IOC was just kowtowing to western powers when it said discriminatory behaviour would be punished at the Olympics.

"This, of course, is outrageous," Lavrov said. "Once again we see an example of the bias and failure of the International Olympic Committee, which time after time proves its political bias."

"Everything that is responsible interests of Western countries, primarily the United States, it actively supports and tries to find formulations that will generally approve of this line," he said. "Shameful and of course, the IOC greatly discredited itself."

A decision on whether Russian athletes will be allowed to take part in the Paris Olympics as neutrals without a flag or anthem has yet to be taken but the IOC has repeatedly said it would not punish athletes for government decisions.

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IOC says its Olympic ban on Russia cannot be compared with Israel situation - Japan Today

Mexicans Nuria Diosdado and Joana Jimnez were crowned champions of artistic swimming in pairs on Thursday at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, which also secured their spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Mexican duo dedicated their success to those affected by the impact of Hurricane Otis in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Diosdado and Jimnez scored 235.7875 points in the free routine performed on this day, which was also the most challenging routine presented in the competition.

"We dedicate this medal to our entire family who is here with us. Also, a special dedication to Acapulco, to all the people who are currently going through difficult times in our country. They should know that this medal carries the strength and energy for Mexico to move forward," Diosdado said to the media after receiving the medal.

The athlete stated that they are "very satisfied" to have achieved something "historic" for their country, with a "clean execution" and no penalties.

To this result, they added the 250.2333 points obtained on Tuesday in the technical routine, for a total of 486.0208, guaranteeing them the gold medal and the spot in Paris.

Diosdado recalled that "the best place Mexico has achieved in the Olympic Games is ninth. So, along with Joa (Joana Jimnez), we hope to break that ninth place achieved in Sydney 2000 and improve on that position," she said.

Diosdado and Jimnez were also able to overcome their second-place finish at the Lima 2019 Games, where the gold went to the Canadian duet. "The fact that we have this gold today gives us an even greater benchmark to keep improving," said Jimnez.

This time, the silver medal went to the American duo of Megumi Field and Ruby Remati, who arrived at the competition with the bronze they won in synchronized swimming by teams at the Fukuoka Swimming World Championships in July.

The Americans scored a total of 451.6758 points, with 238.8467 points achieved on Tuesday in the technical routine and 212.8292 points obtained in the free routine on Thursday.

The Brazilian pair Laura Miccuci and Gabriela Regly Silva completed the podium with a score of 191.9604 in the free routine, plus the 198.2833 recorded in the technical routine, for a total of 390.2437.

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Diosdado and Jimnez win gold and secure their spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics - Insidethegames.biz

James had played in three Olympic games, and while his haters give him demerits for only winning a bronze medal in 2004, he did help the Americans claim the gold in both 2008 and 2012. His leadership early in his Team USA tenure may have been a concern, but he was the unquestioned leader during the 2012 games, and clearly, his leadership worked that year.

Davis was also on that 2012 Team USA roster. The squad burned through the competition easily and won all but two of its eight games in dominant fashion.

NBA players are prioritizing rest more than ever, which is one reason USA Basketball should prioritize NBA stars in their 20s who are better able to deal with a shorter offseason without any big risk of injury. It is time for the younger generation of standouts, such as Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker, both of whom helped Team USA win the gold in the last Olympic games, to continue to hold the proverbial torch.

Perhaps it is also time for young stars such as Mikal Bridges, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, all of whom were in the FIBA World Cup, as well as Donovan Mitchell and DeAaron Fox, neither of whom have been with Team USA yet, to lead the Americans to Olympic gold.

For James and Davis, the time has come for them to commit to commit to sitting on the couch for a good part of next summer while training and preparing for the following NBA season without taxing their aging bodies too much.

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LeBron James and Anthony Davis should forget about the 2024 Olympics - LeBron Wire

The Americans boast a massive wealth of talent at the guard position, which means outstanding players could be squeezed out, players like Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who said in Oct. 2022 that he was open to representing Team USA at the 2023 World Cup (he was not invited). Young then said he would like to play for the Americans in next summers Olympics back in August.

Well see if that comes to pass; it might depend on what other guards accept or decline invites to suit up for Team USA, though according toESPNsTim MacMahon, Youngs lack of defense hurt his case when he was with the Select Team back in 2019.

Young could be a candidate to take that backup point guard spot from Haliburton, though.

Sacramento Kings guard DeAaron Fox is another such player, though there was talk back in 2019 that he had really hurt his case to ever play for Team USA at the Olympics for the way he handled declining an invite to play at the 2019 World Cup:

U.S.A. Basketball officials were stunned Saturday morning to learn that DeAaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings had chosen to remove his name from considerationfor the final 12-man roster mere hours before the teams flight to Australia for three more exhibition games and a handful of practices.

USA Basketball even responded to rumors about Fox and his future with the program:

A USA Basketball spokesman responded Saturday to comments made on ESPN suggesting Kings point guard DeAaron Fox would not be allowed to represent Team USA in the futurebecause he withdrew from consideration for this summers FIBA World Cup team. Given DeAaron was added into consideration for the World Cup team after originally being part of the USA Select Team in Las Vegas, USA Basketball understands DeAarons decision, Miller told The Bee.

Future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard would make things complicated if he shows a great willingness to play for Team USA, but hes already won a gold medal at the Olympics (which happened back in Tokyo 2020) and hell be 34 by the time the next Summer Games come around, so his focus will likely be on winning an NBA championship over more international hardware. Plus, with Curry on the team, would Lillard even want to go to the Olympics if hes coming off the bench? Well see. If Lillard does want to play for Team USA again, then he clearly gets the spot taken by either Haliburton or Reaves on the roster.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday provides defensive toughness that Team USA can use in FIBA play but hes getting up there in age while Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant may be the top point guard in the game by next year, but he doesnt have much of a history with Team USA and USA Basketball is probably looking for another type of player, not necessarily a one-on-one point guard with inconsistent outside shooting. Plus, the whole ego thing we talked about earlier.

A starter on the most recent Team USA squad, Jalen Brunson is another option but his World Cup showing was not great his scoring didnt offset his complete lack of defense, and hes not as good of a playmaker as some of the Americans other options so we assume the red, white and blue will look elsewhere at lead guard next time.

And thats just at point guard. At shooting guard, the Americans could also consider Donovan Mitchell, who last played for Team USA at the 2019 World Cup, which was an even bigger disaster than the 2023 one was for the Americans.

Might he be a better pick than Reaves? Maybe, but theres only one ball and Mitchell, Booker and Edwards are all rightfully going to think theyre going to deserve their shot attempts, so it might be smarter for the Americans to just take two of those three and give the third spot to more of a role player like Reaves.

Thats all to say, Team USA will have loads of options at the guard spot for the 2024 Olympics and are so loaded at the position that multiple All-Stars will be left off the roster.

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What could Team USA look like at the 2024 Olympics? - Hoops Hype

After much fanfare, Team USA ended their 2023 FIBA World Cup stint in Manila with nothing to show for but heartbreak, disappointment, and consternation. Despite entering the tournament as the favorite to win it all, they failed to make the podium, losing two straight games against Germany and Canada, faltering at the worst possible moment. This is yet another frustrating result for the program, especially when they're coming off a seventh-place finish in 2019. But fear not, Americans, for a LeBron James-cavalry may be coming to the team's rescue.

On Monday morning, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that James is planning to team up with the greatest superstars of his time in Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry to come to Team USA's aid for the 2024 Paris Olympics. This, naturally, sparked a lot of fanfare on Twitter (X), as fans are anticipating what should be a glorious team-up to avenge Team USA's underperformance in recent memory.

LeBron James has seen Team USA underperform in the past, and he's been part of teams that have fallen way short of the lofty expectations these star-studded rosters tend to attract. In 2004, they memorably fell to Argentina in the semifinals and had to settle for bronze, and at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, history repeated itself as they imploded against Greece in the final four, settling for third place instead.

Even though he'll be 39 by the time the Olympics roll along, James appears ready to redeem Team USA once more and end his international career on a high note.

imagine being the dudes on the mens usa team that just lost and immediately seeing lebron is sick of you , one user wrote.

Others had fun with the news of James' rumored Team USA return. Fans simply could not wait for when The King has to face Dillon Brooks, his 2023 playoff nemesis, in the international stage, especially with Brooks fresh off a career-performance during Canada's bronze-medal game victory.

It's unclear at the moment which other future Hall of Famers LeBron James has in mind in his Team USA recruitment. Perhaps Carmelo Anthony comes out of retirement and goes for his fifth Olympic medal and fourth gold.

If were bringing back the old school Team USA I move that we give Carmelo Anthony the 12th roster spot and let him earn his fifth Olympic medal, Sam Quinn of CBS wrote.

Team USA may be reeling at the moment, but take heart, for redemption is near.

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Team USA: LeBron James' Olympics recruitment has fans going wild - ClutchPoints

One of our favorite Olympians is on his way to Paris!

Rower Robbie Manson, who represented New Zealand in the 2012 and 2016 Games, recently qualified for next summers Olympics at the World Rowing Championships in Serbia.

While qualifying for the Games is always special, the honor is especially sweet for Manson. He came back from retirement this summer, competing internationally for the first time in four years.

Manson and his partner, Ben Mason, finished 11th in the mens double scull to secure New Zealand a spot.

Reflecting on this campaign, its been a remarkable and somewhat unexpected ride, wrote Manson on Instagram. When I retired in 2019, returning to rowing was the furthest thing from my mind. However, at the end of last year, I dipped my oars back into the water just for fun. It was a casual return, driven by my love for the sport. But as time went on, that casual involvement evolved into something more significant.

Manson made his decision to return to rowing full-time in March, and hasnt looked back.

The past few months have been a whirlwind, filled with intense training, preparation, and camaraderie, he wrote.

The worlds best time holder in the mens single sculls a 200-meter course that became the Olympic standard in 1912 Manson stepped away from the sport to prioritize his mental health.

This is all I knew, he said in an interview. It was really scary to step away for a lot of reasons, because I didnt know anything else. But I also knew that I needed to.

It took special circumstances for Manson to return, one of which was the opportunity to compete with Mason. The two met a few years ago when Manson spoke to Masons rowing team, and theyve remained close ever since.

They made their debut in the World Rowing Cup two months ago, despite only competing in less than 10 rows as a duo.

But Manson and Masons lack of time together didnt hurt. They finished sixth overall!

Had an incredible time racing in Lucerne again after five years!, posted Manson. So many unknowns going into the race, considering Ben and I have only been rowing together for a short time and its been four years since my last international competition. But there were plenty of positives!

The duo spent the rest of their summer training in Italy, before heading to Serbia for the championships.

Rowing alongside Ben, a rising young talent, has been an absolute pleasure, wrote Manson. This was his first elite world championship, and he faced his own hurdles to be here. I couldnt be prouder of what weve accomplished in such a short span of time.

Thats high praise, considering Manson is an all-time great.

And he has coming out to thank.

He publicly came out as gay in 2016, and experienced his greatest athletic successes. Manson broke a world recordand won aninternational male athlete of the year award in the years following his big announcement.

He was on such a roll, even a serious training accident couldnt stop him.

I have enjoyed the past four years more than the previous four and I think that has a lot to do with just being myself, Mansonwrote in an Outsports essay.

While its great to see Manson back on the water, an important question remains: What about his OnlyFans?!

Manson became the latest heartthrob Olympian to join the platform in June, along with several British divers.

I joinedOnlyFans. Now, before you jump to conclusions, let me clarify. My content on the platform is anything but adult entertainment, he wrote on Outsports. I promise no explicit content or shenanigans, just a fun and playful space where I can express myself creatively and promote body positivity, sensuality and self-acceptance.

Luckily for us, Manson is still finding time for self-expression in the midst of his training. He updated his OnlyFans yesterday.

Phew! Off to Paris he goes!

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Gay rower Robbie Manson just qualified for the Olympics while still updating his OnlyFans page - Queerty

Team USA fell short at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. If LeBron James has his way, the USA won't suffer a similar result at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

James is reportedly ready to commit to playing for Team USA next summer. And James wants to bring along several other American-born stars to join him.

Players the Lakers superstar has reportedly reached out to include Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Draymond Green. That group of five is reportedly ready to commit.

Devin Booker, D'Aaron Fox, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving have all also expressed interest in playing for Team USA in Paris. Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges are also expected receive consideration from the World Cup team. In addition, Bam Adebayo and Desmond Bane are expected to be considered for the roster.

Team USA is also expected to try to recruit Joel Embiid. Embiid hasn't suited up for an international tournament and remains eligible to play for either the United States or France, should he choose to play in the Olympics.

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LeBron James Recruiting Stars To Play In Paris Olympics - RealGM.com