Summer Olympics: Stanford’s Torri Huske captures first individual gold medal for USA, Ryan Murphy advances to final
The United State’s first individual gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics went to a Stanford junior taking a gap year to focus on swimming.
Torri Huske, 21, chased down teammate Gretchen Walsh to capture the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly on Saturday in France.
Huske’s 55.59 time beat Walsh by 0.04 seconds as the Americans went one-two on the podium.
Tears filled Huske’s eyes when she looked up to see the results.
“I feel like I’m in shock right now,” she said on the NBC broadcast. “I don’t even know how to process it. I feel like I’m going to cry but I’m also smiling. It’s really surreal. I’m so thankful to be here.”
Nearing the end of competition on Sunday, the United States was leading all countries with 12 medals, three golds, while Australia was leading the gold medal count with four.
Huske, with two medals, is the early star for Team USA during this summer’s Games.
Saturday, she clocked the fastest split as part of the Americans’ 4×100 freestyle relay team that captured a silver.
And on Sunday, she got redemption in the 100-meter butterfly three years after suffering heartbreak in Tokyo.
In those Olympics, her first as an 18-year-old, she was on a world-record pace while leading the race until the final few meters, but finished 0.15 seconds from gold and 0.01 seconds from the podium.
Then as a freshman at Stanford in 2021-2022, she became a seven-time All-American and a national champion in the 800-meter freestyle relay.
The following year as a sophomore, she was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year.
A favorite to medal at the Olympics this cycle, she decided to take a gap year and redshirt her junior year, a gamble that paid off this weekend.
A native of Virginia, she also takes pride in her Asian-American heritage.
“Representation is really important in the sport,” Huske told The Athletic last year. “A little Asian-American girl might see someone like me and then be like, ‘Oh, I can do this too.’ We all relate to people who we see ourselves in.”
Looking to make history in the pool, Murphy squeaks by
By the skin of his teeth, Cal legend Ryan Murphy qualified for the 100-meter backstroke final.
Murphy’s 52.72 time in the semifinals on Sunday was barely good enough to sneak into the final, to be held at 12 p.m. PT on Monday.
He’s medaled in two consecutive Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke, winning the gold in 2016 in Rio and the bronze at Tokyo in 2021.
He’s also a favorite in the 200-meter backstroke, which begins Wednesday.
With a medal in each the 100 and 200 in Paris, Murphy can make history as the first Olympian ever to medal in both backstroke events in three consecutive Olympics.
The 29-year-old and former eight-time individual NCAA champion at Cal is looking to build on his career total of six Olympic medals, four of them gold.
American rowers advance
One of the most decorated Stanford rowers ever got off to a great start at the Summer Olympics on Sunday.
Azja Czajkowski, the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I Athlete of the Year her final year at Stanford in 2023, and teammate Jess Thoennes finished third in their heat in the women’s coxless pair and will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday morning.
Neither rower knew what was to come after both were cut from the American women’s eight boat at the end of selection camp in March.
Czajkowski, 23 and in her first-ever Olympics, and Thoennes, a 28-year-old who finished in fourth place with the eight boat in Tokyo, had only been teamed up for two weeks before Olympic trials in April, but won their race by seven seconds to qualify for Paris.
Now they’re looking to become the first American women ever to podium in the coxless pair.
Their time of 7:25.52 on Sunday was good enough to push them into the semifinals in France.
“I think that was a really good first shot and we have more to go, so I am excited to race again,” Czajkowski told Row2k.com.
She also said she wouldn’t be in Paris if it wasn’t for her experience rowing at Stanford, where she found a way to continue training during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the pandemic hitting in the middle and then staying so close to my teammates through that experience was honestly like the game changer for me, realizing how much I missed the team, how much I loved rowing, and how much I really wanted to pour myself into it,” she said. “I was so lucky to go there.”
Decorated Cal goalie makes Olympic debut in water polo
After a standout career at Cal, three-time NCAA champion Adrian Weinberg made his Olympic debut for the United States men’s water polo team on Sunday.
Weinberg made eight saves in Team USA’s 12-8 loss to Italy in their opening match of group play.
Team USA is well-represented by locals; seven of the 13 players on the men’s roster have Bay Area ties.
The Americans return to the pool on Tuesday at 7:35 a.m. PT against Romania
Upset for the ages
In a stunning upset in table tennis, Milpitas native Kanak Jha, ranked No. 120 in the world, defeated Korea’s Daeseong Cho, ranked No. 20, to advance to the Round of 32.
In the best-of-seven format, Jha lost his first game, but won the next three, lost another, then defeated Cho in the sixth game.
“His mental stability is really unbelievable,” national team coach Mark Hazinski told Sports Illustrated. “I think that’s not something you can learn. You either have it or you don’t. And he definitely has it. A lot of these other guys, maybe their skill level is a little bit better, but that’s just one part of the game. You have to deal with the mental part. And that’s where he really excels.”
At 16, Jha qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016 as the youngest member of Team USA. He also competed in Tokyo, but failed to advance in either tournament.
Sunday, the 24-year-old became the first American man ever to win a table tennis match in the knockout stage at the Olympics.
Next up: 44-year-old Panagiotis Gionis from Greece. He’s ranked No. 107 in the world. They’ll play on Monday.
On the women’s side, there was more success for Team USA.
Palo Alto native Lily Zhang, the most decorated American-born table tennis player ever, made a statement with a 4-0 win over Lebanon’s Mariana Sahakian in her opening match to advance to the Round of 32.
Zhang, appearing in her fourth Olympics, is looking to become the first American ever to medal in Olympic table tennis.
She’ll face Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi on Monday at 12 p.m. PT in the Round of 32.
Slow start for Oshoala
Bay FC’s Asisat Oshoala started up at striker for the Nigerian women’s soccer team against Spain on Sunday, but the Nigerians lost, 1-0, to the reigning women’s World Cup champions.
Nigeria is 0-2 in the group stage after also taking a 1-0 loss to Brazil.
Oshoala, who scored six goals in nine games for Barcelona last season, has just three goals in 15 games for Bay FC in the club’s inaugural season in National Women’s Soccer League.
Local badminton stars still looking for first win
In badminton mixed doubles, Team USA was represented by Vinson Chiu of Milpitas and Jennie Gai of Fremont, who lost, 2-0, to Malaysia. They previously fell to China, 2-0, on Saturday and are 0-2 with two matches remaining in group play.
Chiu and Joshua Yuan of San Mateo also lost their first match of men’s doubles, falling to China, 2-0. They also have two matches remaining.
On the women’s side, Annie and Kerry Xu, twin sisters from San José, were defeated by a team from Hong Kong, 2-0, in their second matchup. They’re now 0-2 with one match remaining.
The U.S. has never medaled in Olympic badminton.
Next up on Monday:
Clayton’s Kara Kohler will get her chance at redemption in the women’s single sculls semi finals early Monday morning. After a disappointing performance in Tokyo, when she missed the finals by less than a second, Kohler won her first heat in Paris with the third-best time among all 30 rowers. No American woman has ever won a gold in the single scull.
The local badminton stars look for their first win with pool play continuing early Monday morning.
San Francisco native Alexander Massialas, a four-time Olympian and three-time medalist recently named the head coach of the Stanford fencing team, will begin his journey in men’s fencing singles at 4:30 a.m. PT.
Former Stanford star Kathryn Plummer will compete with the American women’s volleyball team as they open pool play against China at 8 a.m. PT.
Former Miramonte High standout Sabrina Ionescu will make her Olympic debut with the Team USA women’s basketball team when they take on Japan at 12 p.m. PT.
Also at noon, Zhang and Jha will look to continue their charge through the women’s and men’s table tennis bracket.
Murphy goes for gold in the 100-meter backstroke final at 12:15 p.m. PT.