Texans In Tokyo: Shot-Putter Breaks Olympic Record, Wins Gold; Men’s Basketball Finals Set & More – KERA News

Here’s a look at everything you need to know about the Texans in Tokyo on Aug. 5:

Baseball

Without a doubt, the United States baseball team is now guaranteed to win a medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Tune into Saturday’s game against Japan at 5 p.m. CT to see whether the medal will be gold or silver.

Team USA made it into the gold medal game after beating South Korea on Thursday 7-2.

A five-run sixth inning propelled Team USA over the South Koreans.

Center fielder Jack Lopez and designated hitter Tyler Austin drove in two runs apiece, and left fielder Jamie Westbrook obliterated a home run for the Americans.

Basketball

The up-and-coming Australian men’s basketball team entered Wednesday’s game determined to defeat Team USA.

The Boomers have seven players with NBA experience, including former San Antonio Spur Patty Mills. (Mills is also one of the greatest scorers in Olympics history.) And the talent showed during the first half of the game — the Boomers jumped out to a 15-point lead.

But Team USA, coached by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, battled back in the second half. The team was led by former Longhorn Kevin Durant’s 23 points and nine rebounds.

“There were a lot of guys on this team that had straight faces and were ready to play when we were down 15 [points], strong faces is what Pop said,” Durant told the media. The comment was a reference to a concept the former USA coach Mike Krzyzewski fostered. “They came out and hit us with a nice haymaker, and we were able to get back up and get that lead back.”

The final score was 97-78. The U.S. men’s basketball team will play for gold against France on Friday at 9:30 p.m. CT.

Luka Dončić, the Dallas Mavericks First-Team All NBA superstar, nearly snuck into the gold medal game with his Slovenian national team.

Dončić scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 18 assists in the semifinal game against France.

The Slovenian team was defeated 90-89. And the game came down to a final play.

Dončić had the ball in his hand with less than 20 seconds on the clock. He drew the defense towards him — including Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year — and then Dončić the ball passed off to Klemen Prepelič.

The play was masterful. Prepelič was able to drive straight to the basket for a layup. But the French team’s captain Nicolas Batum made a heroic defensive recovery and blocked the shot. Game over.

Diving

Texas Longhorn Jordan Windle begins the preliminary diving competition Friday at 1 a.m. CT. He will be participating in the Men’s 10m platform diving event.

Track & Field

Two-time Olympian Ryan Crouser won his second gold medal on Thursday —and he broke his own Olympic record in the process.

Crouser set the world record earlier this summer at the Olympic trials. But in his Olympic victory, he raised the ante to 23.30 meters (76 feet, 5½ inches).

Crouser is the first American man competing in track & tield to claim a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

After winning gold, Crouser pulled out a piece of paper that read “Grandpa. We did it. 2020 Olympic champion!” Crouser’s grandfather had died shortly before he parted for the Olympics in Tokyo.

“To lose him the week before the Olympics was obviously sad,” Crouser said after his victory. “But I feel like he was able to be here in spirit.”

Here are some other noteworthy track & field events you may want to know about:

• Ronnie Baker (TCU), Trayvon Bromell (Baylor) and Fred Kerley (Texas-born) make up three-quarters of Team USA’s Men’s 4×100 m relay team. And the three runners with Texas ties failed to make the final.
• Teahna Daniels (Texas) and the rest of Team USA’s Women’s 4x100m relay team placed second in their heat. They’ll be running in the finals tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. CT.
• Annie Kunz placed sixth as the United States representative in the women’s heptathlon competition.
• Texas Tech graduate Sally Kipyego is competing in the 10,000-meter (Saturday 5:45 a.m. CT) and marathon (Friday 5 p.m. CT).

Volleyball

Coppell’s Chiaka Ogbogu and the USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball team take on Serbia today at 11 p.m. CT. If they win, they will move onto the gold medal game against either Brazil or South Korea.

Got a tip? Email Hady Mawajdeh at hady@KERA.org. You can follow Hady on Twitter @hadysauce.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

Favorite