Dereck Pinalez-Vera and Christopher Gutierrez,
Staff Writers.
Aug. 11 marked the beginning of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Viktor Axelson is the mens’ Olympic champion for badminton; he has been one of the best players for several years with his impressive agility even while being 6 feet 4 inches tall. When asking senior Piyush Gurung about competing against difficult competition like Axelson, he said,” It’s hard to play against those types of dominant athletes but the strategy is to play low and make them have to move more.”
Quincy Wilson, the youngest Olympian to ever win a gold medal, is also the youngest runner in the Team USA Men’s 4×400. Senior Patrick Schott said, “It’s amazing to see a teenager compete at the top level. It’s crazy how I can know someone of his age. . . His performance was not the best. As a 400-meter runner myself, the 400-meter event is one of the most demanding mentally and physically. As a teenager, it’s really difficult to control the adrenaline, which can affect the race, and I think that’s what went wrong with Wilson.”
France’s Olympic soccer team was the favorite to win the gold medal for the Paris Olympics since they were competing in their home country; however, they suffered an upset in the final, losing to Spain in extra time. Two years ago, Santa Rosa High School’s men’s soccer team had a similar loss, missing out on an NBL title when they lost to Ukiah at home. Senior Manuel Vargas, a sophomore at the time, played a crucial role in putting the team in a position to win a title. When asking Vargas about the team’s morale after the game, he said, “We were sad because we obviously could’ve won that game, but we moved on and just tried. . . not to let that happen again.”
The Paris 2024 Olympics had a lot of exciting and sad moments. Comebacks, underdog stories and record-breaking moments made these Olympics that much more memorable. Some SRHS athletes had strong emotions after watching the Olympics as they play some of those sports themselves. The Olympics inspire us through incredible feats of human athleticism, and the achievements of the greatest propel us to surpass our limits.
