Screen Shots: Wednesday, August 7th, 2024

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what you should watch on TV. It’s going to be a very sports-centric list since that’s really the only thing we have left that you simply must watch live. Speaking of watching things, you should watch me on YouTube! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

What a day! My apologies for any grammatical errors as I was rushing to get this one out in between losing power thanks to Tropical Storm Debby. If you have electricity, check out this talk I had with Coach Herbert Johnson about everything that’s happened in Olympic track and field events so far. As you can imagine, a lot of this was about the incredible photo finish in the men’s 100m, but we touched on all kinds of stuff! To the events!

Women's Track & Field: Pole Vault Final (Medal event) at 1 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: American Katie Moon is back to defend her Olympic title. What a great last name for someone whose job it is to go as high as possible. If we aren’t already, we should absolutely be calling her Katie “To The” Moon. Before taking up the pole vault, she was a competitive gymnast and diver. Now that we’re talking about it, that sounds like fantastic training for the pole vault. She’s won the last 2 World Championships too.

There’s already been a bit of drama in this one as Molly Caudery of Great Britain, who holds the highest mark this year, failed to qualify for the finals. That means Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who tied Moon for the 2023 World title, and Switzerland’s Angelica Moser are Moon’s biggest competitors. They are certainly capable, but once again, her last name is Moon. 

Men's Track & Field: Discus Throw Final at 2:25 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: As is tradition, I asked Coach Johnson for his picks in this one. If you watch the video I did with him recapping what’s gone on at the Olympics in track and field so far, or had the pleasure of meeting him in real life, you know that Coach is not a man of few words. However, he responded simply, “ALEKNA CEH STAHL.” That’s it. That’s all he said. Why? He’s watching his granddaughter and the old man cannot keep up! 

Virgilijus Alekna dominated this event in the early 2000s. He came into the 2000 Olympic Games a month after unleashing the 2nd longest throw ever, nearly taking down the world record set in 1986. He won gold, as expected, and returned 4 years later to defend it in Athens. Things got a little bit interesting there, as Hungary’s Róbert Fazekas threw further than Alekna to seemingly win the gold. A surefire way to guarantee a drug test is to win an Olympic medal. Unfortunately for Róbert, his pissing ability was nowhere near his throwing ability and he only produced 1/3rd of the amount of urine necessary. The IOC told him that not peeing enough would result in a failed drug test, but he refused to pee anymore. Why essentially surrender a gold medal by refusing to pee? For starters, Fazekas was apparently extremely religious to the point that he couldn’t pee with others watching him. 

The IOC awarded the gold medal to Virgilijus, who we can assume had no problem sharing his bodily fluids with them or others. The best proof we have of this is a son, Mykolas, born approximately 2 years in between his Olympic golds. The younger Mykolas is the “ALEKNA” referenced in Coach Johnson’s. He’s already done what his father couldn’t by breaking that world record this past April. Now, we see if he can add another gold medal to the family trophy case.  

Men's Track & Field: 400m Final (Medal event) at 3:20 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: If you’ve watched the 200m heats, you may have seen a familiar face in South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk. He set the world record in the 400m on his way to winning gold at the 2016 Games in Rio with a ridiculous time of 43.03. He was just 24 at the time, so I thought we were looking at the 1st sub-43 quarter-miler ever, but then he disappeared. It turns out he tore his ACL in a charity rugby match and never really recovered his 400m form,  which may be a blessing because he actually hated running the 400. If you’ve ever tried to run an all-out 400, this is the most relatable thing in the world. 

Speaking of hate, this one has some drama. Canada’s Christopher Morales-Willams made headlines by explaining how he can’t really lose here. Sure, he may not win the race, but he explained that’s okay because “I have nothing to lose, right? If I lose, I just go back to school and continue on with my life, right? But these guys are like, you know, 30 years old. They got, like, cars and kids. I don’t even own a car. Like I don’t have to pay for gas. So it’s like, what do I even need to worry about? Like spending money on like pencils and like a notebook."

Well, when you’re 30 with bills, you don’t want to hear some kid tell you this. Quincy Hall of the US has already barked back. Running carefree is good, but I do think there’s a lesson to be learned from van Niekerk’s story. It’s easy to think when you make the Olympic Games at such a young age that you’ll have plenty of chances to come back. Next thing you know, I’m writing about what you should have been.

Morales-Williams finished dead last in his semifinal heat today.

Women's Basketball: United States vs. Nigeria Quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: The Nigerian women’s Cinderella run to become the first African basketball team, men or women’s, to qualify for an Olympic quarterfinal has been great to watch. They are the only team remaining without a current WNBA player. If they take down the US women, we will continue to watch it over and over again in the form of a Disney movie a decade from now. They’ve made it to this point thanks to steady contributions from Savannah State alum Ezinne Kalu and former Phoenix Mercury draft pick Promise Amukamara. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because her brother, Prince, won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants.

Men's Track & Field: 3000m Steeplechase Final (Medal event) at 3:40 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Even though it no longer involves running from church to church, they still managed to find a way to make this exciting. In the semifinals, Kenyan medal hopeful Amos Serem looked to be well on his way to advancing to the final as he approached the penultimate water jump when he caught a shove from the runner beside him forcing him to miss the hurdle. Going back to jump the hurdle put him at a disadvantage that might have caused many to throw in the towel. Instead, Serem flat-out zoomed the final lap like a man with cars and kids. He came up a mere hundredths of a second short of qualifying, but judges advanced him after reviewing the shove. It was a big day for reviews.

Happy Watching!