Whodunit Wednesday: Olympians

At the time of this writing, the Dutch medal count is up to 19 putting them in the 9th place of all countries. When you see how small this country is, it is amazing that they are able to garner as many medals as they do, even if many are in a single discipline. It is perhaps not strange that they won 8 medals in rowing. As in the Winter Olympics when they win many of the skating medals, one would expect a country built on and near water to be good at water sports. 

But then there is also the 3x3 basketball gold, the amazing 4x400 mixed relay with the comeback of Femke Bol to grab the gold and the women’s road cycling silver of Marianne Vos. And the count has not finished yet, with medals expected in athletics, handball or other disciplines.

For the Belgians, the medals came in first from the cycling sports. Again, this is not a surprise, although it certainly was not a given. This became clear when the American Kristen Faulkner surprised everyone and won the the ladies road race through Paris. Even she was so surprised she forgot to celebrate at the finish line. The Belgian Lotte Kopecky took the bronze.

Celebrating at the finish line was something Remco Evenepoel did very well, creating an already iconic picture of him standing with his bike with the Eiffel Tower in the background. He has won the two gold medals for Belgium and has become one of the best cyclists ever for the Olympics. Belgium’s other 3 medals (putting them in 20th place so far) have also been in cycling, except for the one bronze medal in judo. 

The Belgians just missed out on a women’s gymnastics medal when Nina Derwael, coming back from injury, took 4th place on the uneven parallel bars. The women’s basketball team and hockey team both hope to grab a medal in the coming days. And then there are some other opportunities in a few less-visible sports.

Who are you watching and rooting for in these Olympic Games?