You Need To Be Watching Electric USA Men's Volleyball Team; Eyes On Gold For Hall, Lyles & Korda (Olympics Day 15 Preview)

Team USA had a GREAT Tuesday in Paris, and the medal count(s) show it…

UPDATED AS OF 12:00 AM EST ON AUGUST 7th

First off, let's talk about this insanely electric Gold Medal moment in the Men's 1500m…

I said in yesterday's preview that you should keep an eye on the USA men in this race, despite two clear favorites ahead of them, as they could pull a shocker. In the end, it was Cole Hocker who indeed pulled the shocker. It was Team USA's second Gold Medal of the day and, paired with a Gold in Wrestling by 20-year-old sensation Amit Elor (41-1 all time), and one from the electric Gabby Thomas in the Women's 200m, the Americans raked in three total Gold Medals on the day. They are even with the pace they had at Tokyo 2020, with 24 total Gold Medals. It's not a perfect spot, and they very well can be beat, but Team USA Track & Field is on fire right now, and I expect more Gold Medal pick-ups in the Men's 200m, Men's 4x100m Relay, and Women's 4x100m Relay. We knew this was a good Track & Field team, but they legit may be one of the best of all-time.

The days are numbered in Paris, and Day 15 offers Team USA a few opportunities to sit atop the podium…

USA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL IS AWESOME; WATCH THEM!

Let me say off the top that Men's Volleyball at the Olympics is jaw-dropping. Every four years I am just stunned by the speed at which they hit the ball, and the fact they somehow fucking return literally anything. 

One of those unreal teams right now happens to be the Team USA Men's Volleyball team, which finds itself one win against Polan from the Gold Medal Match at Paris 2024. The American men have yet to lose at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and are coming off a riveting 3-to-1 victory over mighty Brazil. They now run into a Poland team which took down Slovenia in the Quarter-Finals, an upset of sorts after Slovenia ripped through group play undefeated. Led by Matt Anderson (a legend who has been around dominating forever) and Micah Christenson, the men have a real shot at grabbing their first Gold Medal since the Cinderella run at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 

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I am actually going to change my comment from saying "watch the United States" to "watch all Men's Volleyball on Wednesday." It won't be a small task if the USA makes the Gold Medal Game, because on the other side is the top team in the Tournament, Italy, along with the home country France. That matchup is going to be outstanding, and it will be a Wednesday filled with great volleyball. These players are next level and quite possibly the most underappreciate athletes at the Olympics.

ANOTHER USA TRACK UPSET FOR GOLD?

While it wouldn't be to the extent of what Cole Hocker & Team USA did in the Men's 1500m, the Americans have a shot to pull a real upset in the 400m on Wednesday evening in Paris. Matthew Hudson-Smith of Team Great Britain is the favorite, but the Americans have someone right behind him in Quincy Hall (seen above) who very well might bring home Gold.

Before we get to the history of Team USA in the Men's 400m, please note that Hall wears fucking loose boxers under his track gear. That's madness, but I respect the hell out of it. I can't post the clip due to the IOC/OBS rules with rights on social media, but just search "Quincy Hall boxers" on Twitter for a good laugh.

Anyway, as for the Men's 400m, Team USA had dominated this race for a long tie, winning Gold many times 1896 through 1972, and then for seven straight Olympics from 1984 through 2008. But, in 2012, things changes as Kirani James of Grenada won Gold. After two straight podium sweeps, the United States was shut out of medals at London 2012 in the Men's 400m. Since then, they have only medaled one time, a Bronze by former Gold Medalist LeShawn Merritt at Rio 2016.

On Wednesday, it might be time for Team USA to return to the top of the podium. It would be quite the important Gold Medal in the race to finish atop the table at Paris 2024.

NOAH LYLES. NOAH LYLES. NOAH LYLES.

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The quest for the Double (100m & 200m Gold) continues for Noah Lyles, the newest Fastest Man in the World, and he steps back onto the track in the Semi-Finals of the 200m on Wednesday.

Currently, Noah Lyles is a HEAVY favorite to win Gold in the Men's 200m, with Team USA's Kung-Fu Kenny Bednarek closer than most to Lyles. The crazy thing about their performance in the Men's 100m, is that their best event is this 200m event right here.

That shouldn't come as much surprise as, you know, Noah Lyles did this shit…

Nobody finishes a race quite like Lyles, and giving him a 100m head start before the final straightaway seems awfully unfair. I will breakdown the Men's 200m more on the Thursday preview, but Lyles is pretty confident he is going to win…

This dude is nuts and I love it. Man, it's easy to be that cocky when you back your shit up.

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• Golf: Things have been pretty damn good for Team USA on the golf course at the Olympics lately. They won double Gold with Xander Schauffele & Nelly Korda at Tokyo 2020, and have a chance to do it again at Paris 2024 after Scottie Scheffler took home Gold. It's Nelly Korda's turn to help secure another Gold, and possibly become the first athlete to win said medal in the event two times. She is the favorite to win the tournament, and fellow-American Lilia Vu is right behind her. You can clearly go low at Golf National in Paris, so I am excited to see how low the women can go as the tournament kicks off on Wednesday.
• Beach Volleyball: It's not just the Indoor Volleyball team that has a match on Wednesday, as the lone remaining Beach Volleyball team for Team USA is in action against the best team in the tournament: Qatar's Cherif & Ahmed. For the United States, Partain & Benesh have the only remaining chance to keep Team USA's streak alive of medaling in every single Olympics Beach Volleyball has been a sport in since it debuted at Atlanta 1996. The women already lost their streak dating back to Sydney 2000, and now the men are the last hope to keep things going. It's a tall task, but if they take down Qatar, a Gold Medal will be well-within reach.
• Basketball: On Tuesday the men's team beat the fucking shit out of Brazil, advancing them to the Semi-Finals on Thursday where they'll take on Serbia (for the third time in just over a month). The women take on Nigeria to kickoff the knockout round where winning Gold would mean they leave Paris with a 61-game winning streak. Domination would be an understatement for the Team USA women, and it is likely to continue for quite some time.
• Wrestling: After Amit Elor won Gold for the Team USA wrestling women, all eyes have shifted to Sarah Ann Hildebrandt, who has a chance to grab Gold in the Women's Freestyle 50 kg event. Since this weight class was added at the Athens 2004 Olympics, Team USA has not won Gold, or Silver for that matter, in the event. This would be a monster pickup for the Team USA Gold Medal race, especially with the men's wrestlers coming up soon with a few legitimate chances to take home the desired hardware.

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That's all for now. Go Team USA. See you tomorrow.