Good morning, Sunshine. It is Friday, August 2nd, and happy Friday. Happy first Friday of the month of August. Let's dive into all kinds of news, mostly Olympics, right? We are all immersed in the Olympics. And a study by MarketWatch analysis shows that our employers are losing $2 .6 billion in loss productivity thanks to the Olympics.
This is something they haven't encountered in a while The past three Olympics have been in Asia, so this is the first time we can watch the broadcast during the day, as I am assuming you are doing just as much as I am. Moving on to the closing ceremonies. I know you can't imagine the Olympics being over, but there are some serious rumors around Tom Cruise engineering an epic stunt to close out the Paris Olympics and pass the flag to LA for the 2028 Games.
TMZ is reporting that either Cruise or a stunt double were upheld down the top of the Stade de France and wind up in the stadium holding the Olympic flag. And then we'll cut to a previously recorded segment of Cruz flying from Paris to LA before skydiving from the plane to the Hollywood sign. Now, according to TMZ, the skydiving part was filmed in March. And photos emerged of Cruz scaling the Hollywood sign, although there's no evidence that he actually jumped from the plane.
Okay, back to the Olympics that we're still engaged in. We obviously know that Simone Biles won another U .S. gymnastics record of sixth gold medal in the all -around when Suni Lee took home the bronze. But the Olympic excitement surrounding the U .S. women's gymnastics team is far from over. We move on to the individual apparatus round. August 3rd, we have Biles and Carey for the vault. Then on the 4th, we have Suni Lee for the uneven bars final.
Then on August 5th, we have Biles and Lee doing the balance beam final. And also on the We have Biles and Jordan Chiles have both qualified for that event. Plenty to keep you engaged when it comes to gymnastics. Moving on to swimming, Katie Ledecky is now the most decorated female Olympian in US history with 13 medals, and she has a chance to win one more this weekend. Also happening this weekend, we're starting track and field.
Now, Sha 'Carri Richardson's path to the 100 meter gold just got a bit easier with the shocking news that the top contender, Jamaica's Sherika Jackson, dropped out of the 100 meter to focus on the 200 meter race. The United States has not won the 100 meter race since 1996 Atlanta Olympics. That final is on Saturday.
Now ahead of her Olympic debut, track and field athlete, Veronica Fraley, an, ahead of her Olympics debut, track and field athlete, Veronica Fraley, had a discussion in her press conference about what was really important and was weighing on her mind. It was paying her rent on time. Ahead of her Olympics debut, track and field athlete, Veronica Fraley, had a little something extra on her mind. She's paying her rent on time. That's what she revealed on Twitter.
That's her most pressing thing on her mind right now. Her post quickly drew attention of rapper Flava Flav and Reddit co -founder Alexis Onahan, who both responded online, pledging to help by sending Fraley some money directly. Now, Flava Flav, you may recall, has really been a huge cheerleader for the US women's water polo team.
He sponsored them after one of their players, Maggie Stephens, shared an Instagram post that many of the Olympians must work multiple jobs to support their athletic careers. Actually, next week's podcast, next Wednesday's podcast is all about what Olympians do for their day job. what Olympians do for their day job. So tune in for that.
Last but certainly not least this weekend to look forward to USA men's and women's basketball have secured a spot in the knockout round with one game left to play in their pool play. Men play on August 3rd against Puerto Rico and the women on August Versus Germany keep up with us at last night's game comm of course hit up our Olympics headquarter at last night's game comm and it follows on social for everything You need to know all the Olympic stuff. We've got you covered. Have a great weekend