Catarina Macario is returning home with some special hardware…
The 21-year-old Brazil-born American soccer player, the first naturalized citizen ever to play for the US senior women’s soccer team, and her Team USA mates claimed the bronze medal in the women’s tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe sealed the Olympic medal for Team USA with two goals each in Kashima, Japan, aided by a late defensive effort to survive a dramatic comeback by Australia, winning by a final score of 4-3.
Team USA’s quest for another gold ended in a 1-0 semifinal loss to Canada.
The Americans previously won gold medals at the 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Games, as well as a silver in Australia in 2000.
While this could be the final Olympic run for a number USWNT members, Macario could be the next star.
Macario reached the women’s national team this year at only 21 years old as she has continued her escalation up the list of national teams. She has been on the U.S. U14, U15 and U23 teams. Competing at Stanford, she became only the sixth women’s soccer player to win the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the best collegiate soccer player, twice as she racked up 46 goals in 44 games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Macario is continuing to gain professional experience playing for Lyon in Division 1 Feminine in France, where she has scored five goals in seven appearances. The midfielder is already a dynamic talent, and could make the step up to become the next big name of U.S. women’s soccer.
Braz earned the bronze with a distance of 5.87 meters.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won the gold with a distance of 6.02 meters, while Team USA’s Chris Nilsen claimed the silver with a distance of 5.97 meters.
Alison Dos Santos has officially put Brazil on the hurdles map…
The 21-year-old Brazilian athlete claimed the bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles at the 2020 Tokyo Games, giving Brazil its first medal in the event.
Dos Santos also gave Brazil its first track and field medal at these Olympics.
A phenomenon on the rise of world athletics, Dos Santos consolidated the strength shown in the semifinals, in which he broke the South American record with a time of 47.31 seconds, improving by three hundredths his own continental mark. A brand that would drop again in the final.
He finished the race with a time of 46.72, right behind Team USA’s Rai Benjamin, who claimed the silver with a time of 46.17.
Norway’s Karsten Warholm claimed the gold with a world record-setting time of 45.94.
Competing in her third Olympics, the 30-year-old Cuban athlete was able to finally take the medal stand after claiming the bronze medal in the women’s discus throw competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Perez completed the competition with a best-throw of 65.72 meters.
Team USA’s Valarie Allman took home the gold with a throw of 68.98 meters.
German’s Kristin Pudenz won the silver with a throw of 66.86 meters.
Pérez won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games.
Perez previously competed in the 2012 London Games, where she finished in 29th place in the qualifying round; and 2016 Rio Games, where she reached the final but did not advance after three throws.
Andrade put together a pair of soaring vaults to post an average of 15.083 to win the competition.
Andrade’s score held off Team USA‘s MyKayla Skinner, who averaged 14.916. South Korea’s Yeo Seojeong was the bronze medallist with 14.733.
Andrade’s gold is the first ever for Brazil in women’s gymnastics at the Summer Games. Arthur Zanetti is the only other Brazilian to win artistic gymnastics gold.
“I feel so overwhelmed, happy,” Andrade told Olympics.com after her win. “I’m feeling incredible.”
Andrade came to Tokyo looking strong, debuting a Cheng vault (round off on the board, half turn on the vaulting table, front one-and-a-half twist) during the qualifying rounds.
In Sunday’s apparatus final, Andrade brought back her difficult two-and-a-half twisting vault to win gold.
Andrade’s injuries kept her out of the 2019 World Championships. It was the first of a series of mishaps for Brazil, which, then, failed to qualify a full team to the Tokyo Games.
Andrade only secured her quota spot for the Olympic Games on June 6, after winning the all-around at the Pan Am Championships in Rio.
“First, thank you God!” Andrade said in a post on Instagram after punching her Olympic ticket. “Thank you all… thanks for all the positive energy, thanks for believing in me at all costs… I just have to thank you, really!!!”
Sunday, Andrade couldn’t believe her success.
“I don’t know… reaching the podium… I didn’t imagine that I would return doing all these vaults, improving my first vault,” she said. “It’s been a huge pride for me because I saw how much I’ve grown, I’ve matured, and it’s really good”
Fuentes wasn’t among the favorites for a medal at the start of the competition, but she made four of her six attempts to total 245kg, a far better effort than some of her rivals.
It’s the fourth medal for Mexico in weightlifting after the gold of Soraya Jiménez at the 2000 Sydney Games, the bronze of Damaris Aguirre in the 2008 Beijing Games and the bronze of Luz Acosta at the 2012 London Games.
The 25-year-old Latina softball player and the 24-year-old Latina softball player are the first American Latinx athletes to claim a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Aguilar, Garcia and their Team USA mates had to settle for the silver after losing the gold medal match in softball to Japan by a score of 2-0.
As with any high-stakes softball game, there were many little moments that ultimately proved crucial. But the entire game was summed up in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and one out and slugger Amanda Chidester up, a moment that will be remembered for a long time by the players in this game unfolded.
Chidester hit a rocket down the third-base line that smashed into Japan third baseman Yu Yamamoto‘s arm. At that point, the ball could’ve gone anywhere, and it seemed certain the Americans were going to get one run and maybe even two. But the ball bounded right to shortstop Mana Atsumi, who made a leaping catch and doubled off a runner to end the inning.
The stunned looks on the U.S. faces following that moment summed up the game.
“Fortune went the way of Japan on that,” said U.S. coach Ken Eriksen. “It wasn’t our day, we had some bad luck.”
It’s the first Olympic medal for Aguilar and Garcia.
Wander Franco is hoping to hit the field at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The 19-year-old Dominican professional baseball shortstop in the Tampa Bay Raysorganization, the top prospect in Major League Baseball, and longtime star Jose Bautista plan to play for the Dominican Republic as the country tries to qualify for the Olympics later this month, according to ESPN.
Franco, who turned 19 on Sunday, would strengthen a Dominican team jockeying for one of the remaining two qualifying spots in baseball’s return to the Olympics after a 12-year hiatus. He and Bautista, 39, would round out a roster that faces strong competition at the Americas Qualifying Eventon March 22-26 in Tempe and Surprise, Arizona.
Among the teams vying to win the tournament and its single qualifying spot: The Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
The winner will join host nation Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea, who already have qualified, while the second- and third-place teams at the event will have an opportunity to lock up the sixth spot at the final qualifying tournament.
Originally scheduled to be held in Taiwan from April 1-5, the tournament was postponed Sunday because of coronavirus fears until June 17-21 — barely a month before the Tokyo Games’ opening ceremony.
The additions of Franco and Arizona Diamondbacksinfielder Geraldo Perdomo, 20, to the Dominican roster will give the team perhaps the most dynamic middle infield in the tournament. Franco is a transcendent talent who evaluators believe could play in the major leagues today — a powerful, speedy, contact-oriented switch hitter whose slick glove and strong arm allow him to patrol shortstop with aplomb.
While not as highly touted, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Perdomo is an elite athlete whose eye and bat-to-ball talents were rare for someone who played all of last season at 19. A natural shortstop, he played about half his games during the Arizona Fall League at second base and will return there for the Dominican team.
Bautista is expected to play first base, a position he manned 30 times in more than 1,650 major league games during which he hit 344 home runs and drove in nearly 1,000 runs. He last played in the major leagues in 2018, though he spent this winter working out as a pitcher in hopes of returning as a two-way player, sources said. Bautista, who represented the D.R. in the 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classic, may not pitch in the qualifier but is expected to play a significant role as the D.R. faces Puerto Rico, the United States and Nicaragua during the tournament’s round-robin first round. The two best teams from each four-team pool will face off in a final round that awards the winner and keeps the second- and third-place teams alive.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed last week to allow players who are on teams’ 40-man rosters but not active in the major leagues to join their countries’ qualifying-event teams. The potential infusion of talent could theoretically help a team like the United States, which suffered an embarrassing loss to Mexico at the Premier12tournament in November that prevented Team USAfrom qualifying.
The 30-year-old Latina professional golfer, who currently plays on the LPGA Tour, will represent the United States at the 2019 Solheim Cup.
In addition to Salas, Team USAwill consist of Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Marina Alex,Megan Khang, Brittany Altomare, Angel Yin, Annie Park,Morgan Presseland Stacy Lewis.
In three weeks, The Solheim Cupwill return to the “home of golf” for the first time since 2000. U.S. captain Juli Inksterand her team of 12 will take on Team Europecaptain Catriona Matthewand her 12 players at the PGA Centenary Courseat Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland on September 13-15.
Team USA will be on the hunt for a third successive Solheim Cup victory under Inkster.
Over the course of three days in Scotland, Team USA and Team Europe will go head-to-head in the biggest event in women’s golf. Following the same format as the Ryder Cup, the teams will face off in 28 matches — eight foursomes and eight fourballs over the first two days and 12 singles on the final day.
This will be Salas’ fourth time taking part in the cup. She previously played at the Solheim Cup in 2013, 2015 and 2017, with Team USA winning in 2015 and 2017.
The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican baseball star, a right fielder for the Miami Marlins, is among the returnees on the 28-man U.S. World Baseball Classic roster, which also includes Colorado Rockies‘ Nolan Arenado, Arizona Diamondbacks‘ Paul Goldschmidt, San Francisco Giants‘ Buster Posey and Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Andrew McCutchen.
The roster, announced Wednesday by USA Baseball, includes 18 All-Stars, two MVPs and nine Gold Glove winners.
Stanton, a three-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star, won the Silver Slugger Award and National League Hank Aaron Award in 2014.
