Hey, folks, NASCAR pit crew crashes the Olympics closing ceremony, also in a stadium full of stars. Only Tom Cruise could steal the show. Plus winning goal pays, so does silver and Bronze. Will tell you what countries reward their athletes most who are bringing home medals.
And TJ and I will give you our picks for the best and well some of the worst moments of the Olympics, but we're mostly focusing on our favorite heartwarming and some heartbreaking moments that we'll share with you. But welcome to this final Tea from Perry edition of Amy and TJ. I'm laughing here because we have a kind of a basic structure of how we are going through this podcast. And I see ad Lib got up at
a normal time. Yes, you did not get up at a normal three I got a bid three point fifty seven. I would not call that normal for me. I'm just you got up an hour and a half later than you did yesterday.
So yeah, it's back to normal then, Oh yeah, because we're so used to This is the first time, folks, that we have recorded a podcast in two plus weeks that there was not a in Olympic sporting event live on the television as we were doing it. So I don't know. We don't know what to do with ourselves.
I never thought that I would be so excited for you to go back to waking up at four thirty, because now I have some perspective, so hopefully we can. You fell asleep at six.
Thirty last night, By the way, that felt good.
I'm glad. Are you rested?
I don't know, because I was up for sure at eleven pm.
Oh see, that's what happens when you fall asleep at six thirty.
So I tried again, and tried until midnight, and then I ended up at three oh eight. Is when I got no alarm was set. This was the day we were supposed to sleep in. I said we could sleep until five or six.
I know. And then I woke up and there was no one next to me. I was sad.
You said no one, shouldn't you say? And I wasn't next to you? We said no one like anything would have than fine.
Oh the love of my life wasn't next to me.
That's better, okay, So yeah, said the Olympic is over. I guess it'll take us a minute to get over that. But we saw the closing ceremony yesterday. Of course we should and we have given here. But the official final medal count right now is one hundred and twenty six overall medals with the US, China has ninety one and Great Britain sixty five. But we've seen something robes that we haven't seen ever in the Olympics. A tie.
Yeah, that's funny. US and China tied in the gold medal count at forty and that is a first in Olympic history. I love France finished in the top five in medaling. This is the first time it's done so since nineteen forty eight. So that you know. They said if you were the home country, usually get a bump, like a thirty percent bump in medals, and it looks like that was exactly the case. If you ever didn't believe in home court or home field advantage, this is proof otherwise.
And that advantage was clear. Anytime you watch France in anything, any of their athletes, they were great and supporting them. That was really cool and fun to see that the home team like that. So the US that total, and again I think you probably know the US ends up with the most medals every single Olympics, and usually by far. We just said we're a big country, got more athletes
and more disciplines. That makes sense, fine, but we have gotten more medals this a couple of times before, but those other times were when we were the home team.
Ah, so twenty twenty eight's looking golden.
You can bank on it right now. The US will have more than one hundred and twenty six medals in Los Angeles. I will put money on it right now. Now we got one hundred and twenty six. I guess is that the right? Does that include Jordan Giles Browns or not? Oh?
Ooh, that's such a good question. Damn wow. We should find out because maybe it's one twenty five.
It might be, or have they or yeah.
Oh we'll We'll have to do some research and we can report back. We can report back tomorrow.
But the final we this is another thing. We were ready for the closing ceremony and it didn't take long ropes before everybody's attention went to what the American athletes were wearing.
Yes, yes, you pointed it out immediately. I I wasn't sure what they were wearing. And then you nailed it. You went online you're like, yep, everyone agrees. It was the first time a lot of us have seen them. I know they unveiled Ralph Lauren unveiled the opening and closing ceremony uniforms like two months ago, but I wasn't paying attention. I don't think a lot of people were
paying attention. But we were paying attention last night. Ralph Lauren describes what we saw last night as this a sporty moto style jacket paired with white denim and a polo shirt. TJ. You saw them what.
Way NASCAR pick crew period, And as soon as.
You said it, I was like, oh my god, that's exactly.
What that is. And I'm sitting here, you and I just going back and forth. I'm saying, why do this look like a NASCAR team?
Now?
I'd seen the uniforms previously, but in images where there might be just be two athletes standing there or a few athletes in that. And that was a couple of months ago. Nobody really paid attention. But when Katie Ledecci came out with the roar tell me with his name right now, it's sticking in my mind.
Nick.
When they came out, that was our first look. But then when the whole team, when you saw them together, it looked like a pit crew in fire suits getting ready to change tires.
And you know what I mean to your point, they were down on a field with you know, an audience looking down on them. So I don't know that they considered collectively what they would look like. Even with the drone shots. I mean there were so many shots that made them look even more like a pit crew. Yeah, I don't know that that was what the goal was.
That last night it was hot.
Oh yeah, everyone was fanning themselves. So I saw I think Paris was eighty nine degrees that day, you know, at five pm it's the hottest. So they started. Yeah, everybody was sweltering. We saw other athletes other countries in tank tops, and our poor folks were in sweatsuits.
It looked so that was the thing. I when I first saw them, I did think it was a full fire suit like the NASCAR drive.
I thought it was a ski like a skiing outfit, like if you were going to go on the slopes, you would be maybe wanting to look like that.
But it's jean. It was a separate pair of jeans that said USA on it and the jacket, and people absolutely dragged Ralph Lauren about these uniforms, and a lot of people made funny little cracks. A lot of it had to do with NASCAR and pick Crew. Some people were a little you can imagine.
You were laughing. You were the memes.
Some of the stuff people write, it was just funny. But you cannot deny no matter what, even you don't want to criticize it. You can't help the resemblance. It's there. And the other thing, they did it on purpose. They put those patches on, and would you believe The New York Times actually did an article on it and they interviewed someone who designs fire suits. They interviewed somebody that designs these things. But they said the patches. They said, hey,
that's an in a trending thing. And the athletes had a specific patch for their discipline, whatever their sport was. That all sounds cool, but the execution and how it ends up coming off. I think we talked about this a lot of the track and field and a lot of a lot of the uniforms we saw throughout the Olympics. You said, you know what, that probably looked really good on paper or good in person. But it doesn't translate necessarily on television.
Yeah, it's true. It's so true. And by the way, those jackets they retail for what thousand dollars, so they aren't cheap.
And they're currently sold out. So I know you were jumping on the grab you one, but they're currently sold out. But this is what Ralph Lauren has criticism of the design. Everybody's going to have something to say. That's fine, certainly on this big of stage, but it always is a you know, it's usually a very preppy look that Ralph Lauren gives with the jackets and the tides, and they have the hats. One year, what was that the There's been so many things that stand out. What was it?
I remember Kobe Bryant wearing was he wearing the hat?
Was?
I just remember over the years, these books that they've had, they're often preppy.
This was this was nascari and that hat added to it too. It was like a trucker hat kind of a look, and it led that totally added to the NASCAR look.
I'm gonna nail this for you because somebody else nailed and I read like, oh, yeah, they look like the hats that cyclists wear like on the Twitter fronts or something. They have a specific kind of hat with patches in a different color. Oh. I said, wow, that is that's the inspiration was there from Ralph Lauren. It was memorable and the athletes are required. They are required, they have to wear that. They can't just miss it up come out somehow.
I feel like if you were an athlete, you would have found a way to style it differently, turned the hat backwards something like. I feel like you would have done something to it.
We'd have to figure something out. But congrats to them. But they were having fun down there to the Actually, did you like the.
The athlete karaoke? I thought you were gonna ask me that. Yes, you know what I liked about it. I liked that you got to see the athletes having fun. And I heard the commentators say, look, they're just like us. They liked to sing along with songs that we all know. You know, I it did it. You know you could look at it where it was a humanizing moment. It
was a relatable moment. I thought it was kind of a brilliant marketing thing because yes, you got to see the athletes smiling and singing, but they were all also doing it on their social media. So if you wanted this to trend, if you wanted the closing ceremonies to trend, and people who are on social media and maybe not watching it on TV might see their favorite athlete and tune in. So I thought it was actually maybe pretty smart to bring in perhaps younger viewers.
Was the Were there actually words up there? I didn't. It was just a sing along karaoke.
Right, Oh, just I think they just used karaoke because that is something that it would bring people to it, like, ooh karaoke. The athletes are singing we are the champ We are the champions.
Oh, I can remember the other I think they did two or three.
Yeah, they did a couple.
To see them out there just cutting up, having a good time, and it's something I love about the opening ceremony. You see the difference between the opening and the closing. You don't just stick with your You're not introduced one at a time, coming in with your delegation. They have all the athletes just flood in and that's the point. You all come in together and you mingle and you mix and you're all friends. Now after going through the experience.
Like that that was really cool. What did you think about so our flag bearers, Katie Ledecki and the aforementioned rower, Nick Mead, came in and they were miked, and at first I think we were like, oh, wow, this is cool. You know, we heard the commentator, including Jimmy Fallon, try and interview them. But it was it was a it was a great idea, but it was tough. We know as broadcasters what can happen, and it was so loud in that stadium.
It's their earpiece and if they don't do it every day and are used to doing that, it's hard. And they had no floor director or tech guy down there adjusting anything. They put the micshone. Once they walked out, they were on their own and they couldn't hear that well. And it's I don't know what they were focusing on. It just didn't come off that well. But the idea of having access to somebody who's on that stadium floor, I thought was it was a nice idea.
Yeah, it's the worst when you're when you're back in the studio and you're trying to talk to someone and they say, I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Can you repeat that question. Uh, that's always like, yikes, it's a it's it's unfortunate, and it's there's nothing you can do about it. And we kind of we kind of chuckled as broadcasters.
We just know what that feels like it will especially when Okay, Katie Ladecki or Nick medi we were in those two positions and it's that loud down there and somebody back in the studio wants to ask a question. Ask a question. You would appreciate saying, what's it like down there? That kind of question?
Right?
They and Jimmy in particularly he said something made a joke and it was a long kind of I was trying to follow it, and I'm sitting on the couch and I know they couldn't make And you knew.
That Katie Lidecki had no idea what he was saying and no idea how to answer it. So you're cringing before because you almost anticipated her not being able to answer it.
But a good idea. And again, let me see, we continue to applaud everything that we saw you all pull off in these Olympics. The other highlight we watched yesterday, it was a highlight watching the women's marathon at two am yesterday.
It was so good that was worth getting up for us.
Okay, it was worth, but then we saw the payoff at this ceremony. It isn't that nice that they got their medals there?
Coolest medal ceremony ever. I mean to get your gold medal for winning the marathon, the women's Marathonson Hassan of the Netherlands. To be able to do that in that stadium on a world stage with I don't know eighty thousand people in the stadium, I'm just throwing that out there.
But what a.
Moment in her smile was so genuine I just said, what an. She was just such an authentic you could. I don't know her, but there was like a humility to her and a humbleness despite all she accomplished during these Olympics. I was in awe of her.
And what she accomplished is something the woman has ever accomplished. She got medals in the three most difficult track and field. I say grew, I should say grueling. Yes, with the five thousand, the ten thousand, and the marathon. Wow, she got two bronze and then she won the marathon. That's just never been done and what the ten thousand were and the marathon were a day and a half apart.
It was, yes, I think it was. I thought it was a day and a half apart. Which apart, I mean, I cannot imagine, And so she deserved that moment last night. It was really cool.
The other cool moment and the performance at least was we had it on kind of in the background and we're working, but we lean into the TV and said, is that piano hanging in the air. There was a moment that everybody saw was just cool. This guy was playing performing on the piano while it was vertically vertically elevated, not just hovering kind of above the ground. This thing was turned yeah, oh and vertically hanging, and so was
the performer on the piano. I thought that was incredible to see that.
It was very cool. You pointed it out, and it was. It was one of the last things we saw until we have to be a little honest here. We definitely planned our day around the events as we have been throughout this entire Olympics. Volleyball at seven am, basketball final, at nine thirty, we went to lunch. At one we were back in front of the TV by three for the closing ceremonies. We got an hour and a half in and then we turned it off. I think one of the last things we take notes when we're watching.
One of the last things I wrote about the closing ceremonies aliens, aliens and dry ice and haunting music. I'm done.
That was my look are these are dramatic, cinematic, They have themes, and you have to kind of follow the story. They lost us and they lost us, yes after April's sprits type of a brunch in New York. You need to. It's difficult for us to follow a long kind of a long drawn out thing. But it was the eye. What was the golden traveler who had found the Olympic Green.
That's what you're telling.
And then they were excavated from the stadium and brought that. I believe you, Okay, that was I didn't get that in the moment. I did not either.
The funny thing is, so when we came back this morning, we got up again very early to rewatch what we missed. I'm laughing because if we had just stayed watching five minutes longer, we would have seen what we had been waiting for.
But I was confused. We thought, you know what, we stopped it. This is why we stopped it because we thought the ceremony was going to go three hours. Yeah, we did the replay shows it only as two hours and some change. So did they shorten it here or was it longer in the live coverage on the network.
Maybe maybe we thought we had another hour and a half to go and we said we can't do it.
Not because we had something else to do or somewhere else to be. We just didn't want it. It was kind of okay, it just wasn't our.
Thing horror movie genre.
Things really turned when her stepped on stage. Anytime I see her step on stage with a guitar around her and I'm like, oh, so she did the national anthem. But you always talk about getting chills. This is when I got chilled. She finishes the national anthem, does that in the beautiful only her way? Can only her can do it? But then she did. There was no announcement,
there was no nothing. She finished and then she did a little riff on the guitar that was unmistakable, and it was just a little you know what it is. He knew the mission impossible and like, oh, this is what they've been talking about. Here he comes.
It was very cool. Yes, Tom Cruise cut to Live on top of the stadium. I mean that was impressive and you could see his view before he jumped. Of course he was tethered, but wow, what an entrance and that takes guts, but this is somebody who obviously knows how to do stunts and he did it so well. Live Landing cut to her so he could untether himself where she was doing this cool more guitar riffs. And then his walk down the aisle in the middle of that stadium. It got a little uncomfy in one moment.
Well, I think that was before we get to that one moment. Sorry, I think it was great. I think that was one of the cool to see their excitement at him walking. Then he got to walk through and they got it, kind of got to see him and all their cameras were out and ready, and that stadium full of superstars and incredible athletes who have been the focus for two and a half weeks to see them
get excited about something and somebody else who else. I mean, they've been seeing Snoop Dogg all and just the Snoop Olympics. If he didn't really is, but he added something that it was a touch that only he could do, and only he is such a movie star we should really relish because I don't know if we're gonna get something like this again. He is an absolute movie star and world renowned, just in the stunts he does and how
easy he did just standing up there. I know he's done stunts in plenty before, but the nerve what it takes to do that is and he did it just easy live too.
There were no do overs, that wasn't pretaped. He did it live. It was remarkable. Yeah, it was very cool. And there was a woman who really loved Tom cruise too that I had to go back and watch it twice. But yeah, she just she got a little too friendly, she got a little too excited, and she she kissed him like she grabbed him and kissed him aggressively while
taking a picture of video of it. So I'm sure it's on social media from her vantage point at some at some point, but a lot of people making some reference to that online saying, hey, if it were reversed, you were saying right that.
Yeah, I looked at him when I first saw it I honestly just looked and go, geez lady. Yeah, there's kind of that reaction.
Yeah, it was rude. It was rude.
I think so. But when you stopped for a moment ago, wow, reverse the roles for a second. And if that, I said, Well, if Emily Blunt was walking through there with whatever woman was walking through there and some six or five athlete from whatever country grabbed and kissed her aggressively.
And he would have been pounded on, he would have been jumped on by security.
What do we do? I don't know. It was a moment. She was excited, and we're It's just funny how we're we can be kind of accepting and dismissive of it because ah lady got excited, Tom Cruise, she's so excited. Is that okay? Maybe it is okay, Maybe we do it.
I don't think you should touch people who you don't know without asking first. That's just that's my personal opinion. And I don't think you should ever kiss somebody who isn't at least you know, willing to accept it or knows it's coming. I don't think that's right at all. I think there's no gray area here. She should not have done that. It was rude and it was inappropriate.
Oh got what was the guy the soccer thing that came up from? Uh? He kissed after the World Cup. He grabbed one of the players and kissed her and it became a huge I think he was fired. I think I'm saying it was. It seemed to be an unwelcome kiss.
Yeah, Oh, it was definitely an unwelcome kiss. You can see his face. He was shocked. I mean, look, he's trying to he's performing in front of the world right now. He just did something unthinkable to most of us. And you've got you've got to deal with some woman. I mean, I felt for him in that moment. That's not a comfortable place to be in.
Pretty sure, it's probably the first time.
I'm sure if anyone is used to that, it's him. But it's still we should be pointed out that is in appropriate. But it was just a blip. The rest of it was, oh, just flawless. And I love that they did pretape him riding the motorcycle through Paris getting on a It looked like a C seventeen cargo plane.
Now, if you had just picked up watching at the moment he got the bike onto the streets of Paris. The motorcycle you're watching the Mission Impossible movie, Yeah, exactly, you wouldn't. You would not even know. It looked exactly like we have seen him time and time again.
What do you think of his motorcycle?
I was trying to want to go back and figure out which what it was. I wanted to see what type it was. He rides a lot of BMW's in his movies, I think. Anyway, Sorry I didn't. I actually meant to go do that just for me, not for the story.
So anyway, we see him, and this is part of tradition. The host city hands over the Olympic flag to the next host city. So the flag ends up on the beach in La there in Santa Monica, and that's when we got to see the red Hot Chili Pepper's snoop made it back to California. This was all pre taped Doctor Dre, Billy Eilish, they all performed. It was really fun and wow, I was California dreaming there at that beach looked amazing.
Is flee ever gonna calm down from there? At how Chili Peppers He's been the same dude jumping around crazy on the stage his entire career. He's like sixty two, now sixty one.
He looked, and really, yeah he looked amazing.
Shut off, still a California dude doing his thing. So much props to him. I was, I couldn't wait. These two songs that Snoop did, did drop it like it said, Yeah, that was great. I was the one he did with Dre Doctor Dre. I can't remember, but I was listening to the songs and like, how was he going to make this Olympics friendly? Right?
Because you know what the real lyrics are.
Some of the lyrics are, but they obviously pulled it off just fine. And as much as we talk about the uniforms, the closing ceremony uniforms for the athletes, whoever the hell was dressing Snoop for the Olympics.
Amazing, needs to be dressing the Olympic team. His suit yesterday on the beach amazing. We didn't talk about this, but I thought the same thing. I was, like, Damn, he looks good.
They all have just the right amount of USA or Team USA red white and blue detail. That dude was. I loved everything was so call that person up. If you want.
Uniform snoops, stylist. Oh and then you you pointed out, you said you have to watch this because you had already seen it by the time I came out. But the French singer who performed My Way by Frank Sinatra, WHOA. That was spectacular and in a really cool nod to America. I just thought it was so well done, and she was. She performed it so beautifully. It was remarkable. It's one of the high points for me. Last lot of the opening closing ceremony.
We get those, you have those stirring moments sometimes this was one of them. This is an artist I don't think you were familiar with that. That wasn't either. Result is ourn But she's standing there by herself on the stage and all black, and it looks almost like you're in an opera in some way the way she's presenting herself.
But she sounds just amazing. But the song, to see a French artist performing an American classic that actually comes from a French song, I didn't know that, and I think most folks don't and I didn't realize that either. But Calm Labitude is the name of the song and it has the same melody, and they took it from that French song and made in Frank Sinatra made my Way. But the French song is about a couple falling out
of love. Oh wow, and calm latitude is sentially attitude means like as usual, and he's going through the sin this whole story talking about, yeah, try to get you out of bed, you didn't want to hang out? Same as usual that it goes through, It repeats all these little monotonous things. Er usual, very usual. That's what the song is.
Wow, I'm wondering how that turned into I did it My Way.
Once you hear the song and the melody done.
So it's the same melody, just completely different lyrics and a very different sentiment. It's not like there you go again versus I'm gonna take a lead.
That's really funny.
So okay, thank you for sharing that fun fact. I did not know any of that.
But she crushed it yesterday and it makes me really interested in her. She was pretty spectaculous, she really was. You're a ceremony and it's and it's done.
We'll see you l Yeah. So the athletes, by the way, who are bringing home medals to their home countries some athletes. Of those athletes are getting more than their metal, they're actually getting paid for their medals. I don't know that I even realize this, but the US we are on the lower end of how much we pay our athletes. But in case you were wondering, if you win a gold and you're US and you're a US athlete, thirty
seven thousand, five hundred dollars is waiting for you. Twenty two five hundred and silver, sorry, and bronze it's a fifteen thousand. But we're the sixth least generous country when it comes to monetary rewards for our metal winning athletes. But you want to know who tops the list who financially incentivizes their athletes doing medals the most?
Dam Hong Kong.
They offer their athletes seven hundred and fifty thousand US dollars the equivalent, and.
They had is that gold.
That's gold, and then like it's still pretty high for silver and bronze, but that's where they start at. And yeah, that's an incentive incentivizing number. There.
You can make that a career decision. Move to Hong Kong, get citizenship, find something you can be good at in the Olympics the best at go as a representative Hong Kong. That sounds so easy. That's I mean, that's dah do you have? That's a pretty that's not the worst idea.
What would you do?
And why could I?
It was what could you win golden?
It would have to be It wouldn't be anything athletic. At this point, I'm forty six yeers. I'm not going to outdo some twenty one year old park skateboarding. No, those dudes of fourteen, I'm certainly not going to do. It would have to be like air pistol or archery, something like.
That, something that required simply, like I guess, like hand eye coordination.
Yes, and not to out jump or have more strengthen that's fair.
Singapore right behind Hong Kong at seven hundred thousand for gold medals. Taiwan gives six hundred thousand for a gold and a distant next from what I could find with Serbia at two hundred and fourteen thousand, nine hundred for gold Bottom three. Canada only gives fourteen thousand, six hundred and eight dollars. Denmark only gives fourteen thousand, four hundred and the least monetarily awarded athletes. Australia, they only give
thirteen thousand, three hundred and forty for a gold. However, it could be worse.
It could you could get nothing. That's the option. But do you think that's the case it? Do you think we should? I think they have upped it. I know you've done enough. I think it was twenty five, fifteen and ten for a while. Yeah, for the AA, they have uped it. They have uped it, so that's something.
Yeah, they go with inflation. But if you're an athlete in the UK, Norway, Sweden, you your medal is reward enough, and that's what they believe. Also, you have to think about how many athletes each of these countries are assuming are going to medal. So the United States has a lot of medals to pay out. Hong Kong only had three. I say only, but you know, it does weigh into how much a country is willing to give based on how many athletes actually medal, So it kind of makes sense.
Hong Kong had three gold medals.
Well no, no, no, not three gold medals. I think they had a gold and two bronze is what I look so, but still they're paying out, you know, pretty hefty sums. But they only had to make three payouts.
Okay, So I just did the math quickly while we were talking. Forty gold medals for the US at thirty seven one hundred piece, that's one and a half million dollars.
Wow, did you just do that matter the poculator?
Okay, I do, no, but that's all That's.
A lot, Yeah it is.
So that's that. That makes sense.
That makes sense, all right. So we had some fun going through because we have again, I have never watched so many Olympic events in my life, and so we wanted to kind of go through a superlative list, the best, the favorite, YadA, YadA, YadA. So we're gonna kind of rattle off what some of our moments are and maybe worthy to even look back and watch. But what was your favorite Olympic moment?
Uh, Shakerrie stare at the four while one hundred relay finish.
I knew you were gonna say that, so I didn't take it for me. Stephen Netterosik delivering on the pommel horse when all like it was all on him he had to get a score for his team to win a bronze medal. And he did it, and that was remarkable.
It's the Olympic moment you'd like to forget the.
Hate surrounding Amani Khalif I. I really that was for me the worst just to see that and to read about it. It for me, that just was so icky. How about you.
Olympic moment I'd like to forget is Frederick Richard falling on the pommel horse in the all around. It was his first event. He was our great hope and we were very excited and in seconds his day was done. Yeah, and that we were staying, We were planning a whole day and we all were just gutted.
It was gutting.
It sucked so that one hurt. Favorite sport to watch, uh, drack and field. Just there's just so many options that we even got into the hammer throw him sue. So everything there was always fun yours.
It's just there's no competition. It's women's gymnastics. It's my favorite.
You don't want problem is with that? I thought about that. I don't like watching gymnastics.
You're stressful, you give the beam, you hate the beam. That's your least favorite sports or event to watch.
I hate it. And so that's why we watched it more than anything, and I was into it more than anything. I'm uncomfortable watch.
I can get I get that favorite American athlete.
I cannot believe this was the case, but Steph Curry. And it was Steph because he had a slow start to the Olympics. People were questioning him and then he completely bailed out the US team in those last two games and was the Steph I have seen live for years and covering all those NBA finals. Let him finally have his first Olympics and it have the moment. I was very, very happy to see Steph do his thing. Yours your favorite American at.
Simone Biles and obviously she's you know, the goat. But for me, what I was able to actually be in the arena in Tokyo and I saw her mental distress, the twisties and not being able to compete, and to me, to be at that level and to be that low where you have to drop out of events because you can't you can't mentally be there. To see what she came back and did at the age she's at, I was blown away because I think we all take for granted like, oh, look, she can do it. She's the best.
It's no sweat. What she went through in Tokyo proves that it is so much more than that, and for her to come back from that was remarkable to me.
What was your favorite non USA athlete that you want?
It switched. It was going to be Brazil's Rebecca Andraje because I just think she just brought such a spirit and a life and a beauty to the sport. I just loved it to gymnastics. But I switched because I got to see yesterday the Netherlands Savantasan the winner of the women's marathon, and seeing that smile in the closing ceremonies and just seeing what she went through with the five thousands to the ten thousand and the marathon. For me, she is she was my favorite non USA athlete.
And you know what my favorite non USA athlete is going to be in Kwang Hoong Shong of China. That diver, the platform diver just dominant in a way. And you know I didn't miss her when she was performing seventeen years old and has a back to back gold medals in the ten mil a ten meter platform is was just incredible to watch. So yeah, I love that and
congrats to China for what they pulled off. I don't know if we got to talk about eight for eight, first time ever that anyone has swept all goals in all eight diving events.
I was excited for you because I knew you really wanted that to.
Happen, something that impressive. That was really impressive. So what was your favorite single event you watched?
I think it was the men's hundred meter the photo finished Noah Lyle's winning after all the hype and I that was my favorite. Also. It is just fun because it's over in ten seconds and there's so much drama leading up to it, and there was so much drama afterwards. I loved it. How about you?
Favorite single event I watched was USA women versus Brazil and the Semis and volleyball. This was eight one. I didn't It was just intense, you know, I'm excited. I was about that match. They ended up falling in the gold medal match, but just the back and forth with them and the other powerhouse of Brazil was in the atmosphere in the arena. All of it came together for wonderful watching.
And to your point, Babe, I watched the volleyball finals, and even though they lost and they were swept in straight sets, they still never stop smiling and I appreciated that. That was awesome.
You know they have you ever heard of a culture coach? They have someone on their team. I'm sorry, I can't find her. I won't be able to remember her name right now, something called a culture coach that they credit with being on their staff and helping them not worry about we're two sets down, or this is match point for the other team. We got one point right now, go out there and have a good time and that one point and it's helped them, they say, tremendously. But they call it a culture coach.
I love that. And if you look up the team with their silver medal, it looks like they wont I was so. I saw that picture and I was like, you know what, you were onto something to j because you kept talking about their joy and I agree and it was awesome and infectious and I'm going to be more joyful today thinking of them. Okay, most heartbreaking moment I.
Have one and a runner up. The most heartbreaking moment was probably uh Carolina Moren of Spain and table tennis. No excuse me, it's badminton. What was it? Table tennis? Was badman badminton. She was the former gold mellist. She
won the gold medal in Tokyo. But then she's in the semis and she's ahead in her match and clearly about she's on her way to winning this thing, and she goes down with an injury in the semis and she knows she's not going to be able to continue, and she is down in a fetal position, almost on the floor, screaming and crying and trying to be comforted. And I mean it is hard to watch, yeah, and it is awful to watch. And if you haven't seen it, but this is what it is, right the Carolina Moren
of Spain. Look her up bad midten and how she had to go down. It was tough my backup to that. And remember this name Uda Abbe Uta ab Abe from Japan. She lost in the second round in wrestling. Now she was the gold medalist and she was the favorite, but after she lost, she was inconsolable. Look up that video you'll see what the Olympics means to people. It was awful, awful, awful, heartbreaking. I encourage you to look it up. Tears not running
down your face. Then you ain't you your heart ain't beaten.
Yeah, it shows you how much it matters, and the passion and all of the work. For me the most heartbreaking moment. I mean, there were several, unfortunately, to pick from, but I went with one of the early ones, Brody Malone and the high bar. In qualifying, he felt twice, not once, but twice, and that basically ensured that he was not going to get to compete in the all
around finals, which everyone thought he was the favorite. He'd come back from a major leg injury to win his three US championship just a month earlier, so all the expectations and hopes for the men's gymnastics team were on Brody Malone's shoulders, so to speak. And when he fell twice, it was done. And I just you just to see them fall from that high bar, and I mean we saw a lot of just unbelievable and devastating falls from
that apparatus. The beam and the high bar were just cruel in gymnastics.
The bar high bar should be retired like that. One should be awful, It should be destroyed.
I can't believe people weren't permanently injured the way they fell off of that. But Brodie Malone, it broke my heart for him.
Well, so it was the most heartwarming moment of the Olympics.
For you, this is easy for me. Tara Davis Whitehall and her paralympian Hubby Hunter Whitehall when she won gold and the embrace they had and he just happened to be miked, which I loved, and he called He's like, you're the Olympic champion, and just to see their love and their support for one another. He's going to be competing in two weeks as a paralympian in track and field. But just I fell in love with their love and
just their support for one another. And so for me, that is when I absolutely had tears in my eyes. How about you?
My favorite heartwarming, heartwarming moment, I am being told by a court it did not happen. My favorite moment was seeing Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles bow to Rebecca andraje on that podium. And there was more to it. So I guess the nuance there really is that it's first time ever that three black gymnasts occupied a podium at the Olympics. But the other part of that and it wouldn't have been as sweet if it wasn't Simone Biles. As much respect as we all have for Simone Biles.
To see her giving that type of respect, not just the high five and the congratulations, but that type like I am honoring you and bowing to you. It put Rebecca Andrage on a higher plane for all of us. But it told you something about Simone. I told you something about friendship, competitor, sportsmanship. It was a beautiful, beautiful moment that I'm told for now didn't happened because or shouldn't have happened. Yes, right, it's what they're telling us. But that was a highlight for me.
Oh all right. Favorite country uniform. We had a lot of conversations about this.
My favorite country uniform, very specific US women's soccer uniforms in the gold medal match. Not I don't think anything they were before that would have qualified as my favorite of the Olympics. But what they wore in the gold medal match loved perfect, all right.
And my favorite country uniform was the French gymnasts. It was a white leotard with a red and blue ribbons and some just sparkles all around. It was It was classic it was clean and it was just gorgeous. And that was in the prelim all rounds when they were so because they were eliminated from the finals. So I was sad I didn't get to see more of their leotards.
But I do believe we both agree overall, if you had to pick a country that just from all the different sporting events had the best uniforms, and you and I both agree three to one. Italy loved that turquoise and then just a little touch of their flat here and there, it was perfect.
Would you have a well, there was Italian too, but an honorable mention the Italian diving uniforms. You remember the women's.
Yeah, they were really nice. And you know I love their hoodies. I love their hoodies.
You know what my answer is going to be on this next one. But what is yours? Your favorite commentator during the Olympics.
Oh so I went to try to find her name and I couldn't. But the woman you might know who it is who commented or who was commentating on the women's marathon. I for selfish reasons. I just was learning so much from her about what it takes and what makes things better or worse. And just what was happening. And I just felt like I learned a lot, even as a marathon runner from her about what these women were facing and what they do to just I was
blown away by her. I thought, she just handled that so well.
And so are we going to give her credit? I kind of remember who the name was, sir.
I tried to look, and there's so many commentators I couldn't. I didn't want to give credit to the wrong person. But I know she's a two time Olympian and she won I think Boston and New York, so she knows what she's talking about. I just thought she you know, it could be boring, you know, two and a half hours people just doing the same thing, and somehow she made it so interesting and so I learned so much.
You know, mine was justin spring and he did men's gymnastics. He of course was a bronze Mellows two thousand and eight with the US men's team. It's current lye Agymnasis coach at the University of Alabama.
Role Tide only say that once now, but I.
Spoke about him from the very jump. It's listening to broad you have to know when to talk when not to talk, and when you do talk, you got to know what to say, and this guy was He nailed it every single time, explaining things that needed to be explained, pointing out things that we might have missed. I just thought there were several throughout the diving, in swimming.
There's so many.
They were good.
We relied on them to understand and to enjoy a sport that maybe we wouldn't have otherwise. And speaking of that favorite sport you watch that you don't normally watch, that was a tough one.
I think sport climbing, the speed sport climbing in particular, what was yours?
Uh, the exact same thing, speed climbing is what I wrote because I just thought that was so fun and so incredible. All right, most impressive athlete.
You know, I'm going back to my favorite non US athlete, Quang Hong Chong. I'm trying to think of somebody that was more impressive. I guess because Katie Ledecki, we their greatness sometimes and simoan bios their greatness sometimes we take for granted because we just assumed, yeah, you're gonna blow them out. No no, no, no no. But I guess the dominance of Kwang Hong Chong and the age she was in a little pressure being put on, seeing how she handled everything.
She didn't become a kid. Do you remember until she won, where she finally smiled and she broke down crying a little bit. But I watched her for days and there was nothing about her that seemed even slightly emotional or human.
She was a fierce, determined, focused seventeen so athlete. You know what. I again, there were so many to pick from, but I chose in kind of a similar vein an unexpected impressive athlete, and it was Cole Howker for me, shocking everyone in the fifteen hundred meter. He beat Josh Curve, great bitten Britain. Sorry, and it's I was going to say Jacob ing Brigston, but I heard it was yakub Is how they were pronouncing it of Norway. But they were by far the only two runners that anybody was
talking about in the fifteen hundred meter. And I told you how much I love the fifteen hundred meter because it's the fastest long competition in track and field. But he set a new Olympic record. Everybody was blown away, and I just thought he was so sweet and so calm and collected, and I just was rooting anyway. I just thought it was so impressive that he did what he did when he needed to do it.
And now here we are. What sport did you watch that you think you'll take up? Now?
After the we talked about this, I want to go to a climbing gym here in New York. And you know, I've done a little tiny bit of climbing, but after watching them, I just felt like it's something I would like to try to do more of. I think it's a cool sport that I'd like to get more into. How about you.
Breakdancing clearly is what I'm taking up. I can't wait to get out there. I'm gonna do my training in Australia. They have a good uh. I think they have a good program there.
What would your break name be?
I have? You know, I'm gonna find something for you. I did a story with a group of break dancers years and years ago, and at the end of it they gave me a big bee boy name. Okay, they got together in a little huddle and came up with something that came out and it was all on camera and we put it. I think we put it in the piece. I can't remember it being that impressive though, I don't remember liking it that much.
Well, you know it could be. I mean, t Junior would be the obvious one. But bee boy, uh Lou, I don't Ava has Ava has been teasing Hive and calling you Tilly.
That's not good at all. It's not going to catch on. Yeah, I don't know. I can't. I'm going to look out what they Okay, but no, and as I have my climbing shoes in there, okay, it's made me now want to get back into climb. Not to speed climb obviously, but the climbing and climb. Yeah, so I used to do it a decent amount, but yeah, it does make me.
Want let's do it together.
So, folks, we have had a blast and we can't say it enough. Congrats to NBC for what you did. This was the best Olympic watching experience I have ever had. Been great. So I hate to see it go, but let's get back into And it was a nice break from politics. It was a nice break from I guess fighting about a lot of things and being on the same team by rooting for all of our athletes at least we were together for that. I dread we're having to go back.
To I know, I was just thinking about that. We've had so much fun. I mean, the only time I haven't enjoyed the Olympics is when politics have gotten involved in terms of just you know, the amon Ka Lief and the Jordan Gilds. Those are my least favorite moments because politics got involved, because you know, when it's just about the sports and about competition. Yeah, and rooting for not even just your home country, but for athletes from all countries. It's just been a unifying experience and a
fun moment. And I'm going to miss it. I am.
I am already miss it with you. So what DNZ is kicking off with?
I believe that happens today? Correct, August twelfth. That's the beginning of the DNC. Or is it? No? You're shaking your head at me.
Is it next week? Oh?
Does it start on your birthday?
Oh? No, it doesn't sturme on my birth It's not right, is it?
Well? Your birthdays a week from today?
It is the nineteenth. They start the DNC.
On my birth on your birthday? Wow, I think that's fitting. Why I'm joking completely yes, So back to politics and other news, but yeah, we've had a black We really want to thank you for listening and being with us here and we hopefully have taken you all along with us with all the tea from Perry, and we hope you keep listening and we'll keep bringing you news and you know what, I think we're going to be having some more Olympic news to keep reporting on with this
Jordan Chiles thing, so stay tuned for that. But in the meantime you can find us on Instagram at our official Amy and TJ podcast page. Thanks for listening, as always, have a great day, everybody,