Tokyo 2020: Daily Pac-12 guide to the Olympic Games (August 4)

by Alex Coli, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Aug 4, 2021

» FULL LIST OF PAC-12 TOKYO OLYMPIANS & MEDALISTS
» FOLLOW THE PAC-12 TO TOKYO
» AUGUST 4 OLYMPIC RESULTS
» AUGUST 5 OLYMPIC SCHEDULE
» NBC COVERAGE SCHEDULE

In yet another successful day for Pac-12 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, it was a photo finish in the men’s 200-meter final that earned the conference’s 11th individual gold medal of the Games.

Canada’s Andre De Grasse (USC) took the gold medal, just edging out Team USA’s Kenny Bednarek by six-hundredths of a second to take home his second medal of the Tokyo Olympics.

“Every time I came up short, winning bronze, winning silver, obviously I was young back then, racing the greatest of all time, Usain Bolt. Of course I was still proud of myself, still happy to be at my first Olympics, but I knew going into my second Games, I’m ready,” De Grasse told Team Canada.

De Grasse won a bronze medal in another close finish on August 1, finishing just nine-hundredths of a second behind the gold medalist in the men’s 100-meter final.

“I shocked the world, that’s what I came here to do,” De Grasse said. “Everyone was saying the Americans are going to win but I came out here and this is my moment. I knew I had it in me and, like Kobe said, get the job done.”

According to Team Canada, De Grasse’s gold medal is the first 200-meter Olympic gold medal since the Amsterdam Games in 1928.

Tokyo Talk

» Dalilah Muhammad (USC) won the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter hurdles final with a personal best time of 51.58.

» Delaney Schnell (ARIZONA) advanced to the women’s 10-meter platform semifinals, placing third with a score of 360.75.

» Haley Anderson (USC) finished sixth in women’s 10-kilometer open water swimming

» Scott McGough (OREGON) tossed a scoreless inning in the U.S. baseball team’s 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic. Eric Filia (UCLA) added a base hit at the plate.

Looking Ahead: The U.S. baseball team takes on the Republic of Korea in the semifinals on Thursday at 3 a.m. PT. Eric Filia (UCLA) and Scott McGough (Oregon) look to help the team to a place in the gold medal game.

Quote of the Day: “Playing in college, I played at UCLA, one of the best schools in the nation. So there we were training at a high level all the time. And then the games that we're playing against Stanford, Cal, USC, those are all high-level games, I mean those are going to be the highest-level games that you can play in the U.S. So, for me, it was really a step-by-step process in order to get to this level and the U.S. collegiate system was a very important step for me.” - Max Irving (USA Water Polo) on his experience competing at UCLA.

Alex Coli is a journalism student at Arizona State University. This story is part of a collaboration between the Pac-12 Conference and ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

UPCOMING MEDAL OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday, August 4

Marathon Swimming: Men's 10km - 2:30 p.m. PT

Tunisia: Ous Mellouli (USC)

Track & Field: Men's 110m Hurdles Final - 7:55 p.m. PT

USA: Devon Allen (ORE)

Diving: Women's 10m Platform Final - 11 p.m. PT

USA: Delaney Schnell (ARIZ)
- Semifinals at 6 p.m. PT

Thursday, August 5

Soccer (Bronze Medal): United States vs. Australia - 1 a.m. PT

USA: Abby Dahlkemper (UCLA), Jane Campbell (STAN), Tierna Davidson (STAN), Catarina Macario (STAN), Sam Mewis (UCLA), Alex Morgan (CAL), Kelley O'Hara (STAN), Christen Press (STAN)
Australia: Teagan Micah (UCLA)

Track & Field: Women's Pole Vault Final - 3 a.m. PT