Gamecocks in the Olympics: Highlights from August 4 and August 5

Former Gamecock student-athletes competed in only two Olympic disciplines — basketball and track and field — on Sunday, Aug. 4, and Monday, Aug. 5. But they made up for a “lack of quantity” (in terms of the number of events they participated in) with quality, as many athletes advanced or delivered strong performances in their respective sports.

Here are some highlights from the Olympic Games featuring University of South Carolina alumni.

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Wilson, Amihere deliver strong performances despite team’s differing results

Team-wide trends for both the United States and Canada continued during the final day of women’s basketball group stage action. But it also served as an opportunity for one former Gamecock to shine amidst her team’s overall struggles.

On Sunday, A’ja Wilson had a slightly less impressive performance from an individual standpoint against Germany. She recorded just 14 points (on 6-11 shooting) and three rebounds, along with two assists three steals and three blocked shots. That didn’t matter much, though, as the United States strolled to an 87-68 victory to win the group.

Canada faltered yet again on the same day, falling 79-70 to Nigeria, leading to a bottom-of-the-group finished and thereby eliminating them from Olympic play. But both Shay Colley and Laeticia Amihere showed individual flashes of brilliance in the game. Colley led all Canadian players with 17 points on 6-11 shooting and contributed an additional rebound and assist. Amihere also earned the greatest amount of single-game playing time — 12 minutes and 49 seconds — over the course of the entire tournament. In that time, she scored seven points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Following its third-straight victory to open the Olympics, the United States will take on Nigeria in the quarterfinals. The game will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time. It will be broadcast on the USA Network.

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Hall reaches semifinals, Essayi nearly makes earns berth to finals in respective track and field events

Three former South Carolina runners — Quincy Hall, Anass Essayi and Aliyah Abrams — all competed over the last two days of Olympic action. All three runners’ performances had varying results in different stages of the competition.

Hall headed into the Olympic Games having logged the second-fastest time (43.80 seconds) in the men’s 400-meter dash this calendar year, according to the World Athletics. Only Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith has recorded a faster time (43.74) during that time frame. Hall similarly finished second overall in qualifying for the event, winning his heat with a time of 44.28. Michael Norman, an American compatriot of Hall’s, was the sole runner with a quicker time (44.10).

After advancing to the semifinals of the men’s 1,500-meter race on Friday, Aug. 2, Essayi had an opportunity to reach the final for the first time in his career. But his time of 3:32.49 (minutes and seconds) fell just short of a spot — he finished ninth overall and seventh in his heat. Runners with the top eight overall times in the event qualified for the finals.

Abrams made her third-ever Olympic appearance on Monday, competing in the women’s 400-meter race. She registered a time of 51.55 in the event, which put her fifth in her heat and 27th overall. Though she did not qualify for the semifinals, she will have an opportunity to advance if she records a top-six time in the repechage round on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The repechage round will air at approximately 5:20 a.m. on the USA Network.

Hall will also race in the men’s 400-meter semifinals on Tuesday. The race will air on NBC at approximately 1:35 p.m.

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