2024 Olympics Best-Of, No Spoilers Edition

August 1, 2024 11:41 PM

I asked this for the last Olympics and it was so helpful! Can we do it again? What are some specific events that were exciting or touching or funny or weird or noteworthy in some way that I should be sure to watch? Don’t tell me WHY I should watch them, just be like, “Day 14, Women’s 1500 meter qualifying heats” or something like that. I’m afraid if I search for it online it will just tell me what happened and ruin the surprise.
posted by exceptinsects to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (27 answers total)

There was a play in women's rugby sevens that went viral on TikTok: Great Britain vs. Ireland on July 30, match "W31" at around 5:05 remaining in the 2nd half, especially focusing on Emily Lane and Erin King, both playing for Ireland. If you have Peacock, it's under Olympics > Rugby > Replays > Women's Bronze/Gold Finals starting at 3:45:15. On TikTok, it's just a 15 second clip. I don't know much else about it, but it looks like this is sort of how it normally goes.
posted by Wobbuffet at 12:41 AM on August 2 [6 favorites]

Pommel horse guy! (who even is he)
posted by 168 at 2:03 AM on August 2 [10 favorites]

Both of the women’s rugby7’s semifinals and the bronze medal game. They’re each 14 min long for the whole match so worth watching in full rather than just parts.
posted by hydrobatidae at 3:05 AM on August 2 [5 favorites]

Mens gymnastics team finals (specifically the US men's team)
posted by bearette at 4:24 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Algerian Gymnast Kaylia Nemour's bars routine is incredible. It's got the same D score as Qiu Qiyuan's (which is also incredible, but Nemour has been having a better Olympics). The only US gymnast who even comes close is Shilese Jones, and she got benched out of trials because of injuries. I'll be watching tomorrow's UB final with interest 👀
posted by phunniemee at 4:43 AM on August 2 [3 favorites]

July 31 Women's 1500 m freestyle swimming finals

July 28 Women's mountain bike (it's a long race, so you could just watch the last 20 minutes, but honestly, if you've got time, the whole thing is amazing to watch)
posted by hydropsyche at 4:55 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Monday, July 29: men's XC MTB race. The women's race was fun to watch, but the men's was an absolute banger!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:17 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Men's triathlon, Wednesday July 31. The whole thing is neat to watch because of the scenery across Paris and the swimming in the Seine, but if you only have 10 minutes the finish was great.
posted by CheeseLouise at 6:14 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]

Mod note: One comment removed. Please note that the OP asked that no spoilers be given for any event.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:16 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]

Ah, I didn't spoil the winner, but did mention some details, sorry about that. Here's the link to the replay of the men's mountain bike final; the last 2 laps start around 1:11:00 and end around 1:30:00, and are a thrilling watch.
posted by mediareport at 7:41 AM on August 2

Mod note: This post is part of the Olympics roundup in the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:47 AM on August 2 [3 favorites]

The Turkish shooter.
posted by Melismata at 7:55 AM on August 2

The final rotation (floor exercise) from the women's all-around competition on August 1.
posted by timestep at 8:09 AM on August 2

We caught some team handball earlier this week, and it was a blast to watch (once we figured out the general rules). I would never have sought it out, but am now a fan.
posted by joelhunt at 8:11 AM on August 2

Women's triathlon, Wednesday July 31. The swimming, the scenery, and the finish. The winner was not the woman I was rooting for, but the image of her finish will always stay with me.
posted by jgirl at 9:16 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]

Seconding the women's triathlon and women's mountain bike race. Also watch the Women's cycling Individual Time Trials from July 27. That was really exciting to watch! (I know nothing about cycling normally, I just happened to catch these three races and they were great).

At the last Olympics I found the climbing amazing, so I'm expecting that one to be something to look out for this time too.
posted by EllaEm at 11:25 AM on August 2

The Women's BMX racing is about to go. It was super exciting at Tokyo, each race 30 seconds of pure, all out effort. It may well work out to be pretty solid tonight. Take a look at the semis as well as the final if you can find them.
posted by biffa at 12:34 PM on August 2

Rugby sevens women Brazil v Fiji on July 29th. One of the single most exciting sports moments I've ever seen.

Women's Placing 9-12 - Match W20
posted by chasles at 5:09 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]

The men' road race is currently underway, it's 250km so will be a while yet. It's expected to finish at about 5pm Paris time. It finishes in central Paris so a classical backdrop, and with a very strong chance of a sprint finish (big group or a few leaders). There will also be a need for some strong technical riding through Montmartre in the last few 10km or so, so worth tuning in for the last 15-20 minutes. Likely to be worth a watch, some big cycling names involved.
posted by biffa at 4:27 AM on August 3

Men’s +100kg judo final
posted by donut_princess at 5:39 AM on August 3

Women's recurve archery individual quarter-finals, Diananda Choirunisa vs Lisa Barbelin. (Starts at about 35 min into this, if you're in Canada or "Canada.")

...and then the Bronze medal match after that.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:20 PM on August 3 [1 favorite]

Women’s skiff. Note the actual race didn’t happen until Aug 2, due to poor wind on the previous days.

Canoe slalom, women’s c1, and men’s k1. I think it’s best if you watch all the competitors for both.

The bronze medal match for mixed doubles in badminton.
posted by nat at 1:36 PM on August 3 [1 favorite]

3 August Judo Mixed Team gold medal match.
posted by blob at 2:51 PM on August 3 [1 favorite]

4x400 mixed relay (track). Wowzers.
posted by humbug at 9:02 AM on August 4 [1 favorite]

Women's road cycling race.
posted by egregious theorem at 9:29 AM on August 4 [1 favorite]

Archery, men's individual, gold medal match. It's better if you've seen the matches leading up to it but it stands on its own.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:16 PM on August 4

Mixed medley swim was fun. So was mixed relay triathlon.

But my favorite today was the men’s pole vault.
posted by nat at 12:54 AM on August 6