Gamecocks in the Olympics: Highlights from July 25 to July 28

Following Friday’s opening ceremony, the 2024 Summer Olympic Games are finally in full swing. Some sports competitions are just getting started, while other events have already awarded the Games’ first medals.

Two former South Carolina student-athletes, Francisco Cerundolo and Sabrina D’Angelo, were in action during the opening event’s opening days – specifically, from Thursday, July 25, to Sunday, July 28. Both athletes achieved success in the early stages of their respective competitions. Here’s a look at how these Gamecocks have performed so far.

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Cerundolo advances to second round in men’s tennis singles

Cerundolo headed into this summer’s Olympic Games with lots of momentum.

Before stepping foot on the clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros in France for the opening round of the Olympic men’s singles draw, he had to finish a tournament on another clay court in Umag, Croatia. Cerundolo was one of 28 entrants in the main draw of the Croatia Open, an event on the ATP 250 Tour – the lowest tier of AP Tour competition.

Cerundolo was the No. 4 overall seed in the tournament, which earned him a bye to the second round. He would need to win four consecutive matches to claim the Croatia Open title. And that’s exactly what he did. He defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in a third-set tiebreaker to win the tournament on Saturday, July 27.

Just one day later, Cerundolo was playing in his single’s match of the Olympics against Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera. His success in Croatia translated to his first match in France, where he defeated Barrios Vera 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the second round.

There, he will meet France’s Ugo Humbert. Humbert is the No. 10 overall seed in the Olympic men’s singles draw. He is also ranked No. 15 in the AP Tour Rankings.

Cerundolo will also play his first match in the Olympic men’s doubles competition on Monday, July 29. Fellow Argentinian countryman Tomas Martin Etcheverry will serve as Cerundolo’s partner as the pair takes on the Dutch duo of Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in the opening round.

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D’Angelo, Canada women’s soccer win first two group stages matches amidst controversy

D’Angelo, Canada’s backup goalkeeper, has yet to play a minute in this summer’s Olympics. Her lack of playing time is not what is grabbing headlines, though.

On Saturday, FIFA announced that Canada head coach Beverly Priestman and two staff members were banned from working in soccer for one year amidst a spying scandal. New Zealand, Canada’s first group stage opponents, reported to the police that a drone was flying over its closed practice on Monday, July 22. The drone was reportedly traced to Joseph Lombardi, one of the team’s analysts.

Canada was also deducted six points, making qualification to the knockout stage even more difficult. But that has not kept the team from continuing its winning ways, as it heads into its final group stage match undefeated.

Canada won its first group stage match over New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday. New Zealand jumped out to an early lead just 13 minutes into the game, but Canada would eventually find two goals of its own. Cloe Lacasse’s strike in first half stoppage time and Evelyne Viens’ in the 79th minute were all Canada needed to claim three points.

Canada faced a similar situation in its second group stage match against France on Sunday. Like New Zealand, France opened the scoring with a 42nd-minute goal from Marie-Antoinette Katoto. Canada would find a quick response shortly after halftime through a Jesse Fleming goal in the 58th minute. But the match would remain tied until the very end, when Vanessa Gilles delivered a late winner for Canada. The defender’s first-time strike in the 12th minute of second-half stoppage time sealed the team’s second win of the tournament.

Canada will play Colombia in its final match of the group stage on Wednesday, July 31. The game will be on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock. A Spanish broadcast of the match is also available on Universo.

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