August 5, 2024 • 26 mins
In this episode, Sarah gives flowers to medaling Olympians from smaller countries and shouts out her fellow "olds." Plus, producer Alex answers your burning Olympic questions, we consider how drag queens could get more involved at the Olympics and a marble-ous “Yes, And!” you shouldn't take for granite.
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Check out Sierra Rooney’s study on monuments to historical women here!
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Check out Diana Moskovitz’s story on spotter rules in gymnastics here!
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Check out ESPN’s documentary “144” about the 2020 WNBA bubble season here!
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A few Olympic events to watch today (Monday, August 5)
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4:50am ET: Badminton Singles Gold final
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6:38am ET: Gymnastics Balance Beam final
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8:23am ET: Gymnastics Floor Exercise final
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10:55am ET: Kayak Cross final
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11:30am ET: USA 3X3 v. Spain (semifinal)
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1:59pm ET: Track Cycling Team Sprint final
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2:30pm ET: Discus final
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3:15pm ET: Track 5000m final
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3:47pm ET: Track 800m final
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Follow Sarah on social! X: @SarahSpain Instagram: @Spain2323
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Follow producer Misha Jones! X: @mishthejrnalist Instagram: @mishthejrnalist TikTok: @mishthejrnalist
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Follow producer Alex Azzi! X: @ByAlexAzzi
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the show that
from now on and forever we'll be calling the Olympics
sports tapists.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Thank you disco utters on Twitter.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
On today's show, we'll get into all the biggest headlines
after a busy weekend at the Paris Games. We'll give
love to some old folks still getting after it and
try to stump producer Alex with your Olympic questions. It's
all coming up right after this. Welcome back, Hope you
had a great weekend. Here's what you need to know today.
(00:33):
On the track, the women's one hundred meter final took
center stage on Saturday night, Americans Shakerrie Richardson and Melissa
Jefferson both competing in their Olympic debut when silver and
bronze respectively. But we absolutely have to give flowers to
gold medalist Julian Alfred, who upset gold medal favorite SHAKERI
to give the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia it's first
(00:53):
ever Olympic medal of any color. The island nation has
a population of just one hundred and seventy nine thousand.
If you haven't seen him, google the videos of folks
back in her home country watching and celebrating the win.
So cool and if you think Saint Lucia is small,
let's sail about ninety miles north to another island nation,
Dominica population seventy two thousand, which also won its first
(01:17):
ever Olympic medal. On Saturday night, Theo Lafon Gadsen claimed
gold in the triple jump on behalf of the Caribbean
island nation of that. In swimming, Katie Ledecki, who just
last week became the most decorated female athlete in US
Olympic history when she won her thirteenth medal, made even
more history this weekend. On Saturday, she claimed gold in
(01:38):
the eight hundred meters, becoming the first woman from any
country in any sport to win four gold medals in
the same individual event. She's only the second swimmer to
do that, joining the goat Michael Phelps. Over the weekend,
Simone Biles won her tenth career Olympic medal, claiming gold
on the vault. Brazil's Rebecca Andrage took silver, and American
(01:58):
Jade Carey took braun. In the uneven bars finals, Sunny
Lee captured her third medal of this Olympics, taking bronze
behind Kalia Namore of Algeria and Chochia of China. Now
you'll remember our guest last week, Ari Sapperstein, who came
on to talk gymnastics, told you keep an eye on
Khalia and we hope you watched it because it was
a beautiful routine. She also becomes the first Olympic medalist
(02:21):
in gymnastics from not just Algeria, but all of Africa.
Very very cool to watch. Gymnastics concludes today with the
balance beam and the floor apparatus finals. Simone Biles will
compete on both. She'll be joined by Sunny Leon Beam
and Jordan Chiles on floor. We're pumped for that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
To basketball.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Three x three basketball concludes today and somehow the US
are competing. If you listen to last Thursday's group chat,
you know that we didn't really have high hopes for
the US team when they started the games with three
straight losses.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
But you know what, shame on us because they turned
it around.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know what, not shame on us, We're gonna take
credit for Thank you for listening, ladies. I'm glad our
disappointment in you and our demand for a whole new
set of players inspired you to turn things around, because Yeah,
after their terrible start, team USA came back in won
four straight. They finished pool play at ranked third out
of eight teams, and even though they missed out on
(03:18):
a bye, they made quick work of their playing game opponent,
defeating China twenty one to thirteen on Saturday. So they'll
now play Spain in Semi final number one today, that's
at eleven thirty am Eastern, and then Germany and Canada
go head to head in Semi Final number two at
twelve thirty pm Eastern. The bronze medal and the gold
medal games will follow, beginning at three pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Good luck, ladies.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Glad you took our shitting' on you and turned it
into a positive.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Are bad?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
In soccer, the US booked a spot in the semifinals
with a one nil extra time win over Japan on Saturday,
Trinity Rodman scoring an absolute banger of a goal for
the win. Please look that up if you didn't watch it.
Next up for the US is Germany. That game is
two day at twelve pm Eastern. Germany booked its spot
with a penalty shootout win over Canada, ending dronegate at
(04:06):
least on the play side. I'm sure plenty of news
still to come, and Brazil and Spain are playing in
the other semi final. Now, you remember ahead at this
USA Germany game that US already beat Germany four to
one in pool play earlier in the tournament, so they're
very familiar with the Germans and presumably they'll head into
this match with a little bit of confidence. Also, one
other soccer update that we needed to give you after
(04:27):
talking about it last week. You remember that Marta, the
Brazilian legend, got sent off with a red card in
Brazil's final game of group play. Usually that means you're
missing the next game, so we were worried we might
not see her in international play ever. Again, Marta told
us before this Olympics this was it for her in
Green and Yellow. But Brazil pulled off the win without her,
and we all celebrated more Marta until we learned via
(04:50):
the athletics Meg Linahan that Marcha's red was earned from
a quote serious foul play, so she was docked two
games and she'll have to miss Brazil's semi final game
against Spain as well. Brazil is appealing that, but the
good News is whatever happens, Marta is guaranteed one last
Olympic game. Even if Brazil loses in the semis, they'll
still play in the bronze medal match, and assuming all
(05:12):
goes well, we'll get to see her one last time finally.
Boxing News boxers Cindy Nagamba will soon become the first
member of the Olympic refugee team to claim a medal.
She won her quarterfinal round on Sunday and secured a
spot in the semi final, and if she wins, she'll.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Fight for gold.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
If she loses, she'll take home bronze. The Sport of
Boxing awards bronze medals to both semifinal losers. Now. Nagomba
was born in Cameroon, but she can't return home because
she's gay and homosexuality is outlawed in the country, so
she lives in England. But per the Athletic she's repeatedly
been denied British citizenship despite winning three national titles and
(05:51):
receiving support from Great Britain Boxing. So she competes for
the refugee team and she'll be winning them a medal.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Such a cool story.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
One of the things I've loved most about watching this Olympics,
and really any Olympics, is how many different examples of
greatness we get to see. We see big, small, tall, short, fast, strong, young,
and old, And I especially like the old, as the
only person on the show alive for the death of
John Lennon and the birth of MTV and apparently, based
(06:22):
on pre show, the only one who knows the reference
A dingo ate my baby. I appreciate the olds are
still getting it done. In the words of another eighties baby,
the great Diana Tarasi in the twenty twenty one ESPN
doc one forty four, why can't old people dream too?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It's like, why can't old people dream too?
Speaker 1 (06:42):
What?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
There's an age limit to being great?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And we're not talking Simone Biles old here, golden girls,
my ass y'all are children. You're Misha's age, Simone. We're
talking actually old for sports people, you know, like the.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Meme you I'm only thirty five. I have my whole
life ahead of me.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Sports broadcaster, here comes the oldest player in the league.
He's thirty two. A miracle so speaking to thirty somethings,
and as the only person at good Game who remembers
the hit show thirty something whatever, whatever, let's just start
with the youngest old. On Sunday, thirty one year old
(07:23):
Kristin Faulkner won gold in cycling's road race, marking Team
USA's first women's road cycling medal in forty years.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
She's not actually old, thirty one is just getting started.
But do you ever watch when they do those athlete
features with the home video footage of the gold medalist,
like playing their sport as a three year old, and
you think, wow, you know, guess if I wanted to
be an Olympic medalist in skateboarding or soccer or gymnastics,
should have started training as soon as I could walk.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Well, that is not Faulkner's story.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
She only started cycling seven years ago, at age twenty four.
It's kind of where her relatability ends, though, because she
grew up in Alaska, road at Harvard, moved to New
York to take a job in venture capital, you know,
like normal things. But after going to a free intro
to cycling lesson, she started biking around Central Park for
her morning workouts. Didn't even pursue cycling full time until
(08:11):
twenty twenty one. Wasn't even supposed to compete in the
road race at these Olympics. She only clinched the spot
after one of her US teammates gave up the spot
to focus on triathlon, so Falkner entered as the true
underdog's underdog coming into Sunday's race, But with three kilometers
left in the race and still hanging with the lead pack,
she made a risky move and decided to leave the
(08:32):
peloton behind. It sprint for gold, and she won. So
to the baby of our group of olds. Congratulations. Okay,
but Misha's really the only one here who considers thirty
one old, so let's talk like actually old for an
Olympic athlete. Fifty five German dressage writer Isabelle Verirth became
the oldest woman to win Olympic gold in one hundred
(08:53):
and twenty years when Team Germany claimed the top prize
in team dressage on Saturday. Now that's according to those
Olympic nerds over at OLYMPDA. With that gold, she also
became the first person to win a gold medal at
seven different Olympics. By the time producer Misha was born,
birth was already a four time Olympic medalist.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Also shout out American Laura Kraut, who at.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Age fifty eight, became the oldest US medalist in seventy
two years when she won silver and team.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Jumping last week.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And by the way, did you guys see the venue
for these equestrian competitions Chateau de Versailles? Absolutely unreal, Like,
even if you're not interested in watching any equestrian stuff,
which you should be based on how we've established ourselves
as the primary source for horse news, you should just watch.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Some of it. For the venue, It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Also, I once cursed at a man in French outside
Versailles because he cut the entire two and a half
hour line with this family by pretending to be on
the phone. And when I started getting mad at English,
she pretended he didn't understand me, even if you might have.
So then I started swearing in French and that's when
things really picked up. Anyway, let's get to the next
old Seeing Seng was a rising table tennis star in
the nineteen seventies and eighties and even went pro at
(09:59):
age twelve, making the Chinese national team at sixteen, but
then a rule change derailed her game and she retired
when she was only twenty. She moved on, making her
way to Chile in nineteen eighty nine, opening a furniture
store and only briefly dabbling in the sport in the interim,
But she decided to pick up her paddle again during
the pandemic, and last week she played in her first
(10:21):
Olympic match at age fifty eight. Even better, it was
a sixty one year old former teammate who's also competing
this year that inspired her to come back. It's not
too late for us, y'all. Pickleball, Brisbane, twenty thirty two.
I'll see you there. I probably won't because I'm actually
getting tired just thinking about competing at my advanced age.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Let's take a quick break and towel off. I'm fatigued.
When we come back, we're going to answer your Olympic
questions with Alex. Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
If you're enjoying the Olympics as much as I am,
despite still being a little bit confused about a lot
of things, and based on some of your questions, you
are so our expert Alex is going to answer your
questions and we'll see if we can Stumper.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Let's start with Eve.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This is from an email she sent us, she asked,
why does the coach question mark stand near the uneven
bars for women? Is it to catch them in case
of a fall or to provide something to spot So
what's happened there?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Alex, Yeah, I love this question. So it is similar
to what happens at a gym. If you're doing a
bench press, you better have a spotter because you don't
want to be the person that ends up not being
able to get the weight off of your chest. And
in gymnastics they're doing dangerous things all the time, and
so what is interesting to me is that it is
only on uneven bars that athletes are allowed to have
(11:49):
a spotter without an automatic deduction. And so jimnasts typically
have their coach because it needs to be somebody that
knows their routine and is also accredited and allowed on
the floor of the bit competition who stands underneath them
because if they lose the bars when their head is
towards the floor, that could obviously end very badly for them.
(12:09):
But one story I just want to flag, I'll link
to it in the show notes. Diana Moskovitz of Defector
actually wrote a great story last year about how Biles
when she was training the yr chinko double pike, chose
to get a deduction to have her coach spot her.
It was a point five deduction, which you know in
gymnastics is a lot thoughnut for Simone Biles, and so
I think that there's a question to be asked in
(12:30):
the future of should gymnasts be allowed to have a
spot her all the time for all four apparatus.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, I mean it feels like in the middle of
a vault it would be dangerous for both of them.
But you have seen Simone's coaches during warmups be on
the edge of the map to kind of cushion her
if she's going to fall at the end of those
massive vaults.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well, one thing I'll add to that too is I
love watching gymnastics and diving with other athletes because me,
as a normal human, I'll be shocked when the person
falls when they actually fall, But jimnasts note that the
person is going to fall like a whole five seconds
in advance, and so their coaches are the same. When
you've seen an athlete do something one hundred times, you
(13:12):
know from the get go that they're in the wrong place,
the wrong spot in the air. They're not doing that
twist fast enough and so while it is dangerous for
someone to be there, the coach certainly knows better than
anyone else. Oh, I need to step back because she's
about to fly into me.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I mean I kind of had a feeling about those spotters,
but I did never think about the fact that they
don't allow them for any other parts of the routine.
All right, let's go to Laurna on Twitter. What are
those random boxes the medalists receive.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This one's quick and easy. It is the official poster
of the Olympics. And as someone who decorated her college
dorm room with unofficial printed off of the Internet posters
of the Olympics, I'm pretty jealous.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I thought those were like carrying cases for the medals, because,
as someone who's won two Emmys, what happens when you
win an Emmy is they give you this giant box
to put it in and to take home with you.
But then they also give you like luggage to put
the box in, because they presume that you didn't have
room in the original luggage that you brought to like.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Get it home.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So I thought, oh, they probably have like some sort
of like long skinny box with like clasps on it
that you put the metal in, and that that's what
they were holding.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Do they have that separately?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
That's actually a great question. I don't think that they
give them a carry in case for their Olympic medal.
Maybe Sarah stumped me, right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
They don't even get like a little Crown Royal velvet
pouch to put it in.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I know I used to keep my ski goggles in
a Crown Royal velvet pouch. Those are the best.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, maybe if you anticipate getting a medal, you should
bring a Crown Royal pouch with you. Because I'm not
raw Dog in my Medal. You got to wrap that
thing up before you take it home. If you're not
going to wear it all night on your neck, you
got to have a plan for it, is all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, honestly, I think if you win an Olympic medal,
mandatory you have to wear it through security.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, I mean agreed for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I also think think it's mandatory that we call this
episode raw Dog in your Medal, because that's just gonna
have to happen.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Moving on, Beth hool.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Asks does the caddy get a gold in golf too?
I love this question because I saw someone post that
horses should get the medals because the riders are really
more like the coaches, which was hilarious to me. But
I didn't really think about the caddies. Are caddies getting medals?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
They are absolutely not getting metals, which apparently is something
that golf is like all up in arms about and
has been since the sport was added back in twenty sixteen.
To me, it's not that wild, given that coaches don't
get metals in any Olympic sports.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, caddies are basically coaches.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah. Yeah, coaches don't get medals, horses don't get metals.
But I agree with you. I think the horse should
maybe get the metal over the human.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
For sure, or at least both, at least both. This
question is from Nick. Why are some surfers wearing helmets?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So it is because of how dangerous that venue is.
So ahead of the Olympics, Surfing's International Federation actually advised
that surfers wear helmets. Most of them did not listen,
but one of them, Joe On de Fay of France,
she actually crashed, had a super nasty wipeout, got thrown
(16:13):
into the coral reef that is below that break, and
when she came back after getting four stitches, she was
wearing a helmet. I also got a question from Nick
about helmets in skateboarding, because some athletes are wearing them
and some aren't. And in skateboarding it's actually an age thing.
So if you're under eighteen, you have to wear a
helmet no matter what event you're in, and if you
compete in the park event, you also have to wear
(16:34):
a helmet. But for athletes that are competing in street
and are over the age of eighteen, they can decide
to do whatever they want.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Interesting, I'm always seeing people riding around Chicago on those
we call them divvy bikes, I think their city bikes
in New York, and they're like, clearly they don't know
how to ride a bike and they don't have a helmet,
and I think it's just a safety issue for all
of us. I think at any age, you should be
required to wear a helmet on a city bike. I've
also seen stories of them ending up on Lake Shore
Drive in the middle of Chicago, which not great.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Not great.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Somebody else on Twitter wants to know what gives with
the repechage round in track and field. So can you
explain who and why they get to run in that
if they don't make it via their heats.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, for sure. So even Olympic nerd alex Azi had
to do a double take when I saw that track
and Field had represchage rounds. So represchage is actually a
French word. Loosely translated, it means second chance. It's something
that has existed in rowing probably forever. Don't fact check
me on that. And what happens is that in the
individual events from the two hundred to the fifteen hundred,
(17:35):
if you don't advance out of your heat, you are
given a second chance to try to make it into
the semi finals. So it's all the losers competing against
each other. I don't know if I love the idea
hate the idea, but I guess we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I tend to love the idea.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I think any chance you have to prove that you
belong and make it. If you then do that, I'm
here for it because it's so heartbreaking to me when
someone just like something goes wrong or they're just this
closed or something I don't know. I just for the
most part, I believe in that as long as ultimately
everybody gets that fair shake in the end at the
final Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
The only thing I'll add to that is you have
to actually finish. If you record a DNF for whatever reason,
I'm pretty sure that doesn't actually qualify you for the
repechage round.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Oh that's the kind of incident where I want them
to have a second yit darn it all, all right, Alex,
I feel like I did, in fact stump you because
I did ask about whether they get a metal condom,
and so I get a prize, right, That's what you said,
if someone stumps you, they get prize.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And I think my family also gets a prize because
they asked me a question today that I thought I
knew the answer to you, and then I realized I
maybe don't actually know the answer to it.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
What was that?
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So we were watching fencing and they were curious about
the tethers. One of them asked. They were like, oh,
is that so the coach can pull them back? I
was like, that's a really funny visual, Like imagine your
coach just gets to like pull you back like you're
on a support climbing hall or something. But the tethers
are there because they're electronic equipments to determine whether or
not they make the touch. Oh, just because the weapon
(19:08):
is moving so fast that the human eye probably can't
detect that.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That totally makes sense.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Right, And I think it's existed for like probably as
long as electricity. Again, don't fact check me. So then though,
they ask me, is it possible for one fencer to
electrocute another fencer? And I immediately was like no, And
then I stopped because blind confidence is my least favorite
quality in a human and I'm pretty sure the answer
(19:35):
is no. But I was like, I've never asked a
fencer that, and then I started googling myself and I
end up on Reddit where somebody's like I was sweating
and I felt a small shock while fencing, And granted
that's like some amateur anyway, just reminds you you always
need to ask the question.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You just don't know. It's always good to ask the question. Okay,
and speaking of that, I have one more question for you.
Let's see if I can stump you at this. Okay,
let's hear it should male Olympic pole vaulters hire drag
queens to teach them how to tuck before they compete,
so they don't limited themselves competition with their natural gifts
down below, and not talking about any particular incident at all.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
This is a total hypothetical.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I love a good hypothetical question. Answer more. Drag queens
always all the.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Time, absolutely, and I do think you know, add it
to the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
It can't hurt. Also, shout out to my.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Girl, Renee Stubbs for the ingenious idea of a drag
queen coach teaching these guys how to tuck. I say,
get the queens from the opening ceremony, or you know,
call my girl Lucy Stewell from here in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Shout out Lucy Stewell. Everybody look her up.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I think it's wise for us to take another break here.
When we come back, we'll talk about some things we wish.
We're set in stone.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
You're back. We're back, and it's time for yes. And
let's talk about statues, y'all.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
In January twenty twenty one, the University of South Carolina
Athletics put up a statue of Las Vegas Ace and
tmusa basketball superstar Asia Wilson in front of Colonial Life
Arena to commemorate.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Her absolutely legendary college career.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The Hopkins South Carolina native and twenty seventeen National champ
was the first black woman to have a statue solely
in her honor on SC's campus, and as Asia pointed out,
it was the same campus that her late grandmother wasn't
even allowed to step foot on in her youth due
to racism. The moment was so well deserved and got
a lot of attention around the sports world. In fact,
(21:30):
considering the tear that Asia has been out in the
WNBA and internationally, wouldn't surprise me if she had another statue.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
By the time her career is over.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
But Asia's one of very few women athletes with a
statue of their likeness. Some others include Gold medalis Sunni Lee,
who has one in her hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota,
four time WNBA champ, Simone Augustus who has one at LSU,
Brandy Chastein and the ninety nine ers who are immortalized
at the Rose Bowl, and Venus and Serena Williams, who
have a statue honoring them at the National Museum of
African American history and culture in Washington and now, as
(22:02):
of this past July, three time Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes
has one at a recreation center in Montgomery County, Maryland,
where she grew up. Dominique Dawes one of my favorite
Olympic athletes ever. We are so excited for her and
for the athletes you mentioned so yes, and the fact
remains that there are so many female athletes who have
(22:24):
not received their statues or frankly, the attention and appreciation
they deserve. And it's much bigger than just female athletes
not getting their recognition.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's women in general.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Did you know that, according to research by University of
Wisconsin lacrosse professor Sierra Rooney, only six percent of all
American monuments feature actual female historic figures as their subjects.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And according to nonprofit Monument Lab.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
In the US, you're more likely to find a sculpture
of a mermaid than of any American born woman who
actually existed and.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Did something cool.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Because I bet you've seen a lot of those stone
tittied fountain ladies fountain water, but not a lot of
statues dedicated to real, actual accomplished women, and this is
the way we've immortalized men in this country for centuries,
both athletes and otherwise. So it's about time we start
keeping that same energy for greats of any gender. Put
it in stone or clay or whatever the hell you
(23:19):
make a statue out of, except for butter, because that
Kaitlin Clark butter statue was super awesome. But if you
could nuke a statue and it melts doesn't count.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It was cool though.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay, we love that you're listening, but we do want
you to get in the game every day too. So
here's our good game play of the day. What athlete
in women's sports do you want to see immortalized in.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Bronze or clay or copper or not butter?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Pick one person. Okay, we do not want lists. We
want one person, only one athlete in women's sports you
would like to see a statue of.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Next. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy, or hit me up on some at
Sarah Spain on Twitter, and don't forget to subscribe, rate
and review.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
We're not just saying this for our health.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
People Hit the foll A button, subscribe, click five stars,
rate review.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
It's really really easy.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Watch official water polo hypeman Flavor Flav expanding his reach
to other sports and athletes, rating five out of five
stars review. Not only do we see Flavor, don't call
him Flava out here supporting women's rugby, hanging with Billy
Jean King and Serena Williams, expertly dropping Taylor swift lyrics
into his instaposts, and just you know, generally being America's
(24:37):
cool Olympic grandpa.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
But he's out here paying bills now too.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Because discus thrower Veronica Freeley posted on social media that
she was on her way to the Olympics but couldn't
pay her rent. Flavor jumped in to cover her four
the month, and then Serena Williams's husband and Reddit co
founder Alexis o'hanian saw their exchange and jumped in to.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Cover her through the rest of the year. I love it.
Flavor called him his partner in dime so good.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Frehley also started to go fundme page that thanks to Flavorflave,
Alexis so'hanni and everybody else who saw their exchange has
now raised more than her twenty thousand dollars goal. So
shout out to Flavor Flav for being the ultimate hype man.
See how easy that is?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Now it's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good Game, Olds, Good Game, Dominique Dawes.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Few countries that have rules against sexuality or gender expression.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive
(25:48):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and
Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the show that
from now on and forever we'll be calling the Olympics
sports tapists.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Thank you disco utters on Twitter.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
On today's show, we'll get into all the biggest headlines
after a busy weekend at the Paris Games. We'll give
love to some old folks still getting after it and
try to stump producer Alex with your Olympic questions. It's
all coming up right after this. Welcome back, Hope you
had a great weekend. Here's what you need to know today.
(00:33):
On the track, the women's one hundred meter final took
center stage on Saturday night, Americans Shakerrie Richardson and Melissa
Jefferson both competing in their Olympic debut when silver and
bronze respectively. But we absolutely have to give flowers to
gold medalist Julian Alfred, who upset gold medal favorite SHAKERI
to give the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia it's first
(00:53):
ever Olympic medal of any color. The island nation has
a population of just one hundred and seventy nine thousand.
If you haven't seen him, google the videos of folks
back in her home country watching and celebrating the win.
So cool and if you think Saint Lucia is small,
let's sail about ninety miles north to another island nation,
Dominica population seventy two thousand, which also won its first
(01:17):
ever Olympic medal. On Saturday night, Theo Lafon Gadsen claimed
gold in the triple jump on behalf of the Caribbean
island nation of that. In swimming, Katie Ledecki, who just
last week became the most decorated female athlete in US
Olympic history when she won her thirteenth medal, made even
more history this weekend. On Saturday, she claimed gold in
(01:38):
the eight hundred meters, becoming the first woman from any
country in any sport to win four gold medals in
the same individual event. She's only the second swimmer to
do that, joining the goat Michael Phelps. Over the weekend,
Simone Biles won her tenth career Olympic medal, claiming gold
on the vault. Brazil's Rebecca Andrage took silver, and American
(01:58):
Jade Carey took braun. In the uneven bars finals, Sunny
Lee captured her third medal of this Olympics, taking bronze
behind Kalia Namore of Algeria and Chochia of China. Now
you'll remember our guest last week, Ari Sapperstein, who came
on to talk gymnastics, told you keep an eye on
Khalia and we hope you watched it because it was
a beautiful routine. She also becomes the first Olympic medalist
(02:21):
in gymnastics from not just Algeria, but all of Africa.
Very very cool to watch. Gymnastics concludes today with the
balance beam and the floor apparatus finals. Simone Biles will
compete on both. She'll be joined by Sunny Leon Beam
and Jordan Chiles on floor. We're pumped for that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
To basketball.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Three x three basketball concludes today and somehow the US
are competing. If you listen to last Thursday's group chat,
you know that we didn't really have high hopes for
the US team when they started the games with three
straight losses.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
But you know what, shame on us because they turned
it around.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know what, not shame on us, We're gonna take
credit for Thank you for listening, ladies. I'm glad our
disappointment in you and our demand for a whole new
set of players inspired you to turn things around, because Yeah,
after their terrible start, team USA came back in won
four straight. They finished pool play at ranked third out
of eight teams, and even though they missed out on
(03:18):
a bye, they made quick work of their playing game opponent,
defeating China twenty one to thirteen on Saturday. So they'll
now play Spain in Semi final number one today, that's
at eleven thirty am Eastern, and then Germany and Canada
go head to head in Semi Final number two at
twelve thirty pm Eastern. The bronze medal and the gold
medal games will follow, beginning at three pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Good luck, ladies.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Glad you took our shitting' on you and turned it
into a positive.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Are bad?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
In soccer, the US booked a spot in the semifinals
with a one nil extra time win over Japan on Saturday,
Trinity Rodman scoring an absolute banger of a goal for
the win. Please look that up if you didn't watch it.
Next up for the US is Germany. That game is
two day at twelve pm Eastern. Germany booked its spot
with a penalty shootout win over Canada, ending dronegate at
(04:06):
least on the play side. I'm sure plenty of news
still to come, and Brazil and Spain are playing in
the other semi final. Now, you remember ahead at this
USA Germany game that US already beat Germany four to
one in pool play earlier in the tournament, so they're
very familiar with the Germans and presumably they'll head into
this match with a little bit of confidence. Also, one
other soccer update that we needed to give you after
(04:27):
talking about it last week. You remember that Marta, the
Brazilian legend, got sent off with a red card in
Brazil's final game of group play. Usually that means you're
missing the next game, so we were worried we might
not see her in international play ever. Again, Marta told
us before this Olympics this was it for her in
Green and Yellow. But Brazil pulled off the win without her,
and we all celebrated more Marta until we learned via
(04:50):
the athletics Meg Linahan that Marcha's red was earned from
a quote serious foul play, so she was docked two
games and she'll have to miss Brazil's semi final game
against Spain as well. Brazil is appealing that, but the
good News is whatever happens, Marta is guaranteed one last
Olympic game. Even if Brazil loses in the semis, they'll
still play in the bronze medal match, and assuming all
(05:12):
goes well, we'll get to see her one last time finally.
Boxing News boxers Cindy Nagamba will soon become the first
member of the Olympic refugee team to claim a medal.
She won her quarterfinal round on Sunday and secured a
spot in the semi final, and if she wins, she'll.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Fight for gold.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
If she loses, she'll take home bronze. The Sport of
Boxing awards bronze medals to both semifinal losers. Now. Nagomba
was born in Cameroon, but she can't return home because
she's gay and homosexuality is outlawed in the country, so
she lives in England. But per the Athletic she's repeatedly
been denied British citizenship despite winning three national titles and
(05:51):
receiving support from Great Britain Boxing. So she competes for
the refugee team and she'll be winning them a medal.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Such a cool story.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
One of the things I've loved most about watching this Olympics,
and really any Olympics, is how many different examples of
greatness we get to see. We see big, small, tall, short, fast, strong, young,
and old, And I especially like the old, as the
only person on the show alive for the death of
John Lennon and the birth of MTV and apparently, based
(06:22):
on pre show, the only one who knows the reference
A dingo ate my baby. I appreciate the olds are
still getting it done. In the words of another eighties baby,
the great Diana Tarasi in the twenty twenty one ESPN
doc one forty four, why can't old people dream too?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It's like, why can't old people dream too?
Speaker 1 (06:42):
What?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
There's an age limit to being great?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And we're not talking Simone Biles old here, golden girls,
my ass y'all are children. You're Misha's age, Simone. We're
talking actually old for sports people, you know, like the.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Meme you I'm only thirty five. I have my whole
life ahead of me.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Sports broadcaster, here comes the oldest player in the league.
He's thirty two. A miracle so speaking to thirty somethings,
and as the only person at good Game who remembers
the hit show thirty something whatever, whatever, let's just start
with the youngest old. On Sunday, thirty one year old
(07:23):
Kristin Faulkner won gold in cycling's road race, marking Team
USA's first women's road cycling medal in forty years.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
She's not actually old, thirty one is just getting started.
But do you ever watch when they do those athlete
features with the home video footage of the gold medalist,
like playing their sport as a three year old, and
you think, wow, you know, guess if I wanted to
be an Olympic medalist in skateboarding or soccer or gymnastics,
should have started training as soon as I could walk.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Well, that is not Faulkner's story.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
She only started cycling seven years ago, at age twenty four.
It's kind of where her relatability ends, though, because she
grew up in Alaska, road at Harvard, moved to New
York to take a job in venture capital, you know,
like normal things. But after going to a free intro
to cycling lesson, she started biking around Central Park for
her morning workouts. Didn't even pursue cycling full time until
(08:11):
twenty twenty one. Wasn't even supposed to compete in the
road race at these Olympics. She only clinched the spot
after one of her US teammates gave up the spot
to focus on triathlon, so Falkner entered as the true
underdog's underdog coming into Sunday's race, But with three kilometers
left in the race and still hanging with the lead pack,
she made a risky move and decided to leave the
(08:32):
peloton behind. It sprint for gold, and she won. So
to the baby of our group of olds. Congratulations. Okay,
but Misha's really the only one here who considers thirty
one old, so let's talk like actually old for an
Olympic athlete. Fifty five German dressage writer Isabelle Verirth became
the oldest woman to win Olympic gold in one hundred
(08:53):
and twenty years when Team Germany claimed the top prize
in team dressage on Saturday. Now that's according to those
Olympic nerds over at OLYMPDA. With that gold, she also
became the first person to win a gold medal at
seven different Olympics. By the time producer Misha was born,
birth was already a four time Olympic medalist.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Also shout out American Laura Kraut, who at.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Age fifty eight, became the oldest US medalist in seventy
two years when she won silver and team.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Jumping last week.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And by the way, did you guys see the venue
for these equestrian competitions Chateau de Versailles? Absolutely unreal, Like,
even if you're not interested in watching any equestrian stuff,
which you should be based on how we've established ourselves
as the primary source for horse news, you should just watch.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Some of it. For the venue, It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Also, I once cursed at a man in French outside
Versailles because he cut the entire two and a half
hour line with this family by pretending to be on
the phone. And when I started getting mad at English,
she pretended he didn't understand me, even if you might have.
So then I started swearing in French and that's when
things really picked up. Anyway, let's get to the next
old Seeing Seng was a rising table tennis star in
the nineteen seventies and eighties and even went pro at
(09:59):
age twelve, making the Chinese national team at sixteen, but
then a rule change derailed her game and she retired
when she was only twenty. She moved on, making her
way to Chile in nineteen eighty nine, opening a furniture
store and only briefly dabbling in the sport in the interim,
But she decided to pick up her paddle again during
the pandemic, and last week she played in her first
(10:21):
Olympic match at age fifty eight. Even better, it was
a sixty one year old former teammate who's also competing
this year that inspired her to come back. It's not
too late for us, y'all. Pickleball, Brisbane, twenty thirty two.
I'll see you there. I probably won't because I'm actually
getting tired just thinking about competing at my advanced age.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Let's take a quick break and towel off. I'm fatigued.
When we come back, we're going to answer your Olympic
questions with Alex. Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
If you're enjoying the Olympics as much as I am,
despite still being a little bit confused about a lot
of things, and based on some of your questions, you
are so our expert Alex is going to answer your
questions and we'll see if we can Stumper.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Let's start with Eve.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This is from an email she sent us, she asked,
why does the coach question mark stand near the uneven
bars for women? Is it to catch them in case
of a fall or to provide something to spot So
what's happened there?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Alex, Yeah, I love this question. So it is similar
to what happens at a gym. If you're doing a
bench press, you better have a spotter because you don't
want to be the person that ends up not being
able to get the weight off of your chest. And
in gymnastics they're doing dangerous things all the time, and
so what is interesting to me is that it is
only on uneven bars that athletes are allowed to have
(11:49):
a spotter without an automatic deduction. And so jimnasts typically
have their coach because it needs to be somebody that
knows their routine and is also accredited and allowed on
the floor of the bit competition who stands underneath them
because if they lose the bars when their head is
towards the floor, that could obviously end very badly for them.
(12:09):
But one story I just want to flag, I'll link
to it in the show notes. Diana Moskovitz of Defector
actually wrote a great story last year about how Biles
when she was training the yr chinko double pike, chose
to get a deduction to have her coach spot her.
It was a point five deduction, which you know in
gymnastics is a lot thoughnut for Simone Biles, and so
I think that there's a question to be asked in
(12:30):
the future of should gymnasts be allowed to have a
spot her all the time for all four apparatus.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, I mean it feels like in the middle of
a vault it would be dangerous for both of them.
But you have seen Simone's coaches during warmups be on
the edge of the map to kind of cushion her
if she's going to fall at the end of those
massive vaults.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well, one thing I'll add to that too is I
love watching gymnastics and diving with other athletes because me,
as a normal human, I'll be shocked when the person
falls when they actually fall, But jimnasts note that the
person is going to fall like a whole five seconds
in advance, and so their coaches are the same. When
you've seen an athlete do something one hundred times, you
(13:12):
know from the get go that they're in the wrong place,
the wrong spot in the air. They're not doing that
twist fast enough and so while it is dangerous for
someone to be there, the coach certainly knows better than
anyone else. Oh, I need to step back because she's
about to fly into me.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I mean I kind of had a feeling about those spotters,
but I did never think about the fact that they
don't allow them for any other parts of the routine.
All right, let's go to Laurna on Twitter. What are
those random boxes the medalists receive.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This one's quick and easy. It is the official poster
of the Olympics. And as someone who decorated her college
dorm room with unofficial printed off of the Internet posters
of the Olympics, I'm pretty jealous.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I thought those were like carrying cases for the medals, because,
as someone who's won two Emmys, what happens when you
win an Emmy is they give you this giant box
to put it in and to take home with you.
But then they also give you like luggage to put
the box in, because they presume that you didn't have
room in the original luggage that you brought to like.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Get it home.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So I thought, oh, they probably have like some sort
of like long skinny box with like clasps on it
that you put the metal in, and that that's what
they were holding.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Do they have that separately?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
That's actually a great question. I don't think that they
give them a carry in case for their Olympic medal.
Maybe Sarah stumped me, right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
They don't even get like a little Crown Royal velvet
pouch to put it in.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I know I used to keep my ski goggles in
a Crown Royal velvet pouch. Those are the best.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, maybe if you anticipate getting a medal, you should
bring a Crown Royal pouch with you. Because I'm not
raw Dog in my Medal. You got to wrap that
thing up before you take it home. If you're not
going to wear it all night on your neck, you
got to have a plan for it, is all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, honestly, I think if you win an Olympic medal,
mandatory you have to wear it through security.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, I mean agreed for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I also think think it's mandatory that we call this
episode raw Dog in your Medal, because that's just gonna
have to happen.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Moving on, Beth hool.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Asks does the caddy get a gold in golf too?
I love this question because I saw someone post that
horses should get the medals because the riders are really
more like the coaches, which was hilarious to me. But
I didn't really think about the caddies. Are caddies getting medals?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
They are absolutely not getting metals, which apparently is something
that golf is like all up in arms about and
has been since the sport was added back in twenty sixteen.
To me, it's not that wild, given that coaches don't
get metals in any Olympic sports.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, caddies are basically coaches.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah. Yeah, coaches don't get medals, horses don't get metals.
But I agree with you. I think the horse should
maybe get the metal over the human.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
For sure, or at least both, at least both. This
question is from Nick. Why are some surfers wearing helmets?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So it is because of how dangerous that venue is.
So ahead of the Olympics, Surfing's International Federation actually advised
that surfers wear helmets. Most of them did not listen,
but one of them, Joe On de Fay of France,
she actually crashed, had a super nasty wipeout, got thrown
(16:13):
into the coral reef that is below that break, and
when she came back after getting four stitches, she was
wearing a helmet. I also got a question from Nick
about helmets in skateboarding, because some athletes are wearing them
and some aren't. And in skateboarding it's actually an age thing.
So if you're under eighteen, you have to wear a
helmet no matter what event you're in, and if you
compete in the park event, you also have to wear
(16:34):
a helmet. But for athletes that are competing in street
and are over the age of eighteen, they can decide
to do whatever they want.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Interesting, I'm always seeing people riding around Chicago on those
we call them divvy bikes, I think their city bikes
in New York, and they're like, clearly they don't know
how to ride a bike and they don't have a helmet,
and I think it's just a safety issue for all
of us. I think at any age, you should be
required to wear a helmet on a city bike. I've
also seen stories of them ending up on Lake Shore
Drive in the middle of Chicago, which not great.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Not great.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Somebody else on Twitter wants to know what gives with
the repechage round in track and field. So can you
explain who and why they get to run in that
if they don't make it via their heats.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, for sure. So even Olympic nerd alex Azi had
to do a double take when I saw that track
and Field had represchage rounds. So represchage is actually a
French word. Loosely translated, it means second chance. It's something
that has existed in rowing probably forever. Don't fact check
me on that. And what happens is that in the
individual events from the two hundred to the fifteen hundred,
(17:35):
if you don't advance out of your heat, you are
given a second chance to try to make it into
the semi finals. So it's all the losers competing against
each other. I don't know if I love the idea
hate the idea, but I guess we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I tend to love the idea.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I think any chance you have to prove that you
belong and make it. If you then do that, I'm
here for it because it's so heartbreaking to me when
someone just like something goes wrong or they're just this
closed or something I don't know. I just for the
most part, I believe in that as long as ultimately
everybody gets that fair shake in the end at the
final Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
The only thing I'll add to that is you have
to actually finish. If you record a DNF for whatever reason,
I'm pretty sure that doesn't actually qualify you for the
repechage round.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Oh that's the kind of incident where I want them
to have a second yit darn it all, all right, Alex,
I feel like I did, in fact stump you because
I did ask about whether they get a metal condom,
and so I get a prize, right, That's what you said,
if someone stumps you, they get prize.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And I think my family also gets a prize because
they asked me a question today that I thought I
knew the answer to you, and then I realized I
maybe don't actually know the answer to it.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
What was that?
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So we were watching fencing and they were curious about
the tethers. One of them asked. They were like, oh,
is that so the coach can pull them back? I
was like, that's a really funny visual, Like imagine your
coach just gets to like pull you back like you're
on a support climbing hall or something. But the tethers
are there because they're electronic equipments to determine whether or
not they make the touch. Oh, just because the weapon
(19:08):
is moving so fast that the human eye probably can't
detect that.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That totally makes sense.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Right, And I think it's existed for like probably as
long as electricity. Again, don't fact check me. So then though,
they ask me, is it possible for one fencer to
electrocute another fencer? And I immediately was like no, And
then I stopped because blind confidence is my least favorite
quality in a human and I'm pretty sure the answer
(19:35):
is no. But I was like, I've never asked a
fencer that, and then I started googling myself and I
end up on Reddit where somebody's like I was sweating
and I felt a small shock while fencing, And granted
that's like some amateur anyway, just reminds you you always
need to ask the question.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You just don't know. It's always good to ask the question. Okay,
and speaking of that, I have one more question for you.
Let's see if I can stump you at this. Okay,
let's hear it should male Olympic pole vaulters hire drag
queens to teach them how to tuck before they compete,
so they don't limited themselves competition with their natural gifts
down below, and not talking about any particular incident at all.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
This is a total hypothetical.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I love a good hypothetical question. Answer more. Drag queens
always all the.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Time, absolutely, and I do think you know, add it
to the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
It can't hurt. Also, shout out to my.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Girl, Renee Stubbs for the ingenious idea of a drag
queen coach teaching these guys how to tuck. I say,
get the queens from the opening ceremony, or you know,
call my girl Lucy Stewell from here in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Shout out Lucy Stewell. Everybody look her up.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I think it's wise for us to take another break here.
When we come back, we'll talk about some things we wish.
We're set in stone.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
You're back. We're back, and it's time for yes. And
let's talk about statues, y'all.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
In January twenty twenty one, the University of South Carolina
Athletics put up a statue of Las Vegas Ace and
tmusa basketball superstar Asia Wilson in front of Colonial Life
Arena to commemorate.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Her absolutely legendary college career.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The Hopkins South Carolina native and twenty seventeen National champ
was the first black woman to have a statue solely
in her honor on SC's campus, and as Asia pointed out,
it was the same campus that her late grandmother wasn't
even allowed to step foot on in her youth due
to racism. The moment was so well deserved and got
a lot of attention around the sports world. In fact,
(21:30):
considering the tear that Asia has been out in the
WNBA and internationally, wouldn't surprise me if she had another statue.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
By the time her career is over.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
But Asia's one of very few women athletes with a
statue of their likeness. Some others include Gold medalis Sunni Lee,
who has one in her hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota,
four time WNBA champ, Simone Augustus who has one at LSU,
Brandy Chastein and the ninety nine ers who are immortalized
at the Rose Bowl, and Venus and Serena Williams, who
have a statue honoring them at the National Museum of
African American history and culture in Washington and now, as
(22:02):
of this past July, three time Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes
has one at a recreation center in Montgomery County, Maryland,
where she grew up. Dominique Dawes one of my favorite
Olympic athletes ever. We are so excited for her and
for the athletes you mentioned so yes, and the fact
remains that there are so many female athletes who have
(22:24):
not received their statues or frankly, the attention and appreciation
they deserve. And it's much bigger than just female athletes
not getting their recognition.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's women in general.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Did you know that, according to research by University of
Wisconsin lacrosse professor Sierra Rooney, only six percent of all
American monuments feature actual female historic figures as their subjects.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And according to nonprofit Monument Lab.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
In the US, you're more likely to find a sculpture
of a mermaid than of any American born woman who
actually existed and.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Did something cool.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Because I bet you've seen a lot of those stone
tittied fountain ladies fountain water, but not a lot of
statues dedicated to real, actual accomplished women, and this is
the way we've immortalized men in this country for centuries,
both athletes and otherwise. So it's about time we start
keeping that same energy for greats of any gender. Put
it in stone or clay or whatever the hell you
(23:19):
make a statue out of, except for butter, because that
Kaitlin Clark butter statue was super awesome. But if you
could nuke a statue and it melts doesn't count.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It was cool though.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay, we love that you're listening, but we do want
you to get in the game every day too. So
here's our good game play of the day. What athlete
in women's sports do you want to see immortalized in.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Bronze or clay or copper or not butter?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Pick one person. Okay, we do not want lists. We
want one person, only one athlete in women's sports you
would like to see a statue of.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Next. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy, or hit me up on some at
Sarah Spain on Twitter, and don't forget to subscribe, rate
and review.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
We're not just saying this for our health.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
People Hit the foll A button, subscribe, click five stars,
rate review.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
It's really really easy.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Watch official water polo hypeman Flavor Flav expanding his reach
to other sports and athletes, rating five out of five
stars review. Not only do we see Flavor, don't call
him Flava out here supporting women's rugby, hanging with Billy
Jean King and Serena Williams, expertly dropping Taylor swift lyrics
into his instaposts, and just you know, generally being America's
(24:37):
cool Olympic grandpa.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
But he's out here paying bills now too.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Because discus thrower Veronica Freeley posted on social media that
she was on her way to the Olympics but couldn't
pay her rent. Flavor jumped in to cover her four
the month, and then Serena Williams's husband and Reddit co
founder Alexis o'hanian saw their exchange and jumped in to.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Cover her through the rest of the year. I love it.
Flavor called him his partner in dime so good.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Frehley also started to go fundme page that thanks to Flavorflave,
Alexis so'hanni and everybody else who saw their exchange has
now raised more than her twenty thousand dollars goal. So
shout out to Flavor Flav for being the ultimate hype man.
See how easy that is?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Now it's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good Game, Olds, Good Game, Dominique Dawes.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Few countries that have rules against sexuality or gender expression.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive
(25:48):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and
Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
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