Jake Stanley
Assistant Sports Communications Director (Swimming & Diving | Soccer)
Former Bulldog Croix Bethune made her Olympic debut, Anthony Edwards continued strong play, and Ellen Perez saw her Olympic journey come to an end Wednesday at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Soccer
Bethune became the first player in Georgia program history to appear in the Olympic Games as she took the field during the United States’ 2-1 victory over Australia Wednesday at the Orange Vélodrome.
Bethune was substituted for teammate Mallory Swanson in the 80th minute and played the final 18 minutes of the Americans’ victory.
The USWNT will next play against Japan in the quarterfinal on Saturday at 9 a.m. in Paris.
Basketball
Edwards tallied 13 points, three steals, and two assists in the United States’ 103-86 victory over South Sudan. Edwards entered the game with 4:10 remaining in the first quarter and eventually played 17 minutes in his second-consecutive double-figures performance.
The U.S. closes out pool play against Puerto Rico on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. on NBC and Peacock.
Tennis
Perez’s run in Paris came to an end after a 7-6(8), 6(8)-7, 5-10 loss against China’s Xinyu Wang and Zhizhen Zhang in the mixed doubles quarterfinals Wednesday.
Playing alongside Matthew Ebden, both sides produced a battle-tested first set before forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6. Trailing 4-1 in the breaker, Perez and Ebden strung together five-straight points and fought off an opposing set point to come back and earn the set 7-6(8).
The second set mirrored the first as both pairs exchanged games, neither leading by more than one game before forcing another tiebreaker. Despite owning two match points, the Australian duo dropped the second set 6(8)-7. Perez and Ebden fell behind 7-1 in the ensuing tiebreak game, as they pushed to spark a late comeback before ultimately falling 5-10.
Coming Up Thursday
Former Bulldog Sepp Straka of Austria tees off at 9:55 a.m. in the first round of men’s golf at Le Golf National in Paris. The entire golf tournament will air on Golf Channel and Peacock. Straka led after the first round in Tokyo three years ago and eventually finished tied for 10th place.
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