We’re heading into the closing weekend of the 2024 Paris Olympics. With several athletes with Cincinnati connections set to leave Paris with medals.

Cincinnati natives Rose Lavelle and Aubrey Kingsbury are guaranteed medals in these games. With Team USA contending for gold in women’s soccer. The U.S. will face Brazil in the gold medal match Saturday at 11 AM Eastern. Team USA beat Germany in the semifinals 1-0 on Tuesday. Germany won the bronze medal on Friday. Beating defending FIFA Women’s World Cup champions Spain 1-0.

In volleyball, Team USA will contend for gold in women’s volleyball. Advancing through beating Brazil in a full five sets on Thursday. The U.S. will face either Turkey or Italy on Sunday. That match is set to start at 7 AM. The U.S. men’s volleyball team won the bronze medal. Through beating Italy in a three-set sweep. Meaning Cincinnati’s volleyball Olympians Jordan Thompson and Max Holt will leave Paris with medals.

In wrestling, Lawrenceburg, IN native Mason Parris’ Olympics concluded with an opening round loss. Parris represented the U.S. in the men’s 125 kg freestyle competition. Losing on Friday in a 10-5 decision to Mongolia’s Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur. Meanwhile, incoming University of Cincinnati freshman Ramez Diaa Sobhy competed in men’s 10-meter platform diving. The Egyptian didn’t advance past Friday’s preliminary round. Finishing 26th with a score of 266.95 points.

UC alumnus Annette Echikunwoke won silver in women’s hammer throw. Making her the first American woman to medal in the event. Canada’s Camryn Rogers won gold, making her the first Canadian woman to win a medal in this event. Joining men’s hammer gold medalist Ethan Katzberg for a Canadian sweep in the competition. Zhao Jie of China won the women’s hammer bronze medal.

Northern Kentucky native Mariah Denigan finished 16th in the women’s 10 km swimming event. Fellow American Katie Grimes finished in 15th place. Grimes won a silver medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley earlier in these games. Dutch swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal won gold in the women’s 10 km race. She won gold in this event in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and silver in Tokyo. Australian Moesha Johnson won silver and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci won bronze. Amid concerns about water quality, Thursday’s competition took place in the Seine River as originally planned.

In basketball, the U.S. men’s team beat Serbia 95-91 in Thursday’s semifinals. Team USA will face France in the gold medal game. Making this the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. That the Olympics’ host nation will contend for a gold medal in men’s basketball. France won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. The men’s basketball gold medal game will be Saturday at 3:30 PM Eastern.

Meanwhile, the U.S. women’s basketball team beat Australia in the semifinals on Friday. They will face either France or Belgium for the gold medal. Sunday’s gold medal game tips off at 9:30 AM. For more information about the Cincinnati area connections to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Check out the latest edition of Cincy Sports Journal’s Weekly Preview.

A most unusual medal ceremony

As the 2024 Paris Olympics winds down, there was a medal ceremony for an event in the 2022 Beijing Olympics this week. Team USA’s figure skating team received their gold medals on Wednesday in Paris. Initially, the U.S. finished with a silver medal in team figure skating; Russia’s team finished with gold. However, the result was called into question amid a doping scandal surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva. Which became known to the public during the Beijing games. Valiyeva was part of that team event. Amid the controversy, no medal ceremony for the event was held.

The matter was ultimately resolved last January by figure skating’s governing body, the International Skating Union. Valiyeva was disqualified from the event, dropping Russia from gold to a bronze medal in the event. On a side note, Russia isn’t competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. As a protest over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which happened a few days after the 2022 Beijing Olympics concluded. Wednesday’s ceremony put the U.S. figure skating team in the history books. As the first winter Olympic medalists to receive their medals at the subsequent Summer Olympics.