IVIES IN TOKYO - DAY 8 RECAP

Photo courtesy of Getty Sport

TOKYO – Four Ivies claimed medals in the men’s eight final at Sea Forest Waterway, while Penn’s Sam Mattis advanced to the finals of the discus to highlight strong performances across seven Olympic sports.

In the men’s eight final, Yale heavyweight alum Dan Williamson helped New Zealand power through a nail-biting race to claim Olympic gold with a time of 5:24.64. Team Great Britain claimed a bronze medal in 5:25.73 in the men’s eight thanks to three Ivies – Yale heavyweight alums Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Charlie Elwes as well as former Princeton heavyweight rower Tom George.

Team USA’s men’s eight boat featured five Ivies and crossed in 5:26.75 to finish fourth. Alexander Richards (Harvard), Liam Corrigan (Harvard), Conor Harrity (Harvard), Nick Mead (Princeton) and Alex Miklasevich (Brown) were all part of the crew.

The women’s eight ended their dominance at the Olympics, finishing behind first-place Canada, New Zealand and China in the medals. Coming into Tokyo, the U.S. had earned three straight gold medals at the Olympic Games, tied for the record set by Romania. The US crew featured Charlotte Buck (Columbia), Olivia Coffey (Harvard) and Regina Salmons (Penn).

The U.S. women’s rugby team, which features two Ivies, earned the top-seed out of group play with its win over Japan and Australia. Dartmouth’s Cheta Emba and Harvard’s Ariana Ramsey helped Team USA down Japan, 17-0 and defending Gold medalist Australia, 14-12. Emba scored one of two American tries against Australia.

Penn’s Sam Mattis advanced to the finals in the discus after placing sixth in the qualifying rounds with a season-best throw of 63.74m. The top-12 return to action on Saturday, July 31 at 7:15 a.m. Mattis – who won the 2015 NCAA Championship in the discus – is the first Quaker to represent Team USA at the Olympics since Penn alum and current Princeton track and field head coach Fred Samara ’73 competed in 1976.

Also at the Olympic Stadium on the first day of track and field competition, Hannah Barakat, representing Palestine, placed fifth in the third heat of the 100m with a time of 12.16. Barakat is the only current student-athlete from Brown competing in the Tokyo. Columbia’s Yasmeen Al Dabbagh of Saudi Arabia clocked a 13.34 in the second heat of the 100m.

Competing in the second heat, Princeton’s Ed Trippas finished 11th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase inside Olympic Stadium. Trippas, representing Australia, earned Honorable Mention All-American in the steeplechase in 2019.

Four Ivies – Robb Paller, Ryan Lavarnway, Ben Wagner and Eric Brodkowitz – competed for Isreal’s baseball team in a nail-biter against South Korea, ultimately losing 6-5. With the game tied up 5-5 at the bottom of the 9th inning at the Yokohama Baseball Stadium, the game headed to extra innings. Israel returned to action Friday morning against Team USA and fell 8-1. The Ivy contingent and team Israel will head to the knockout round game next week.

Dartmouth’s Isalys Quinones and Puerto Rico’s women’s basketball team fell to Belgium in Group C play, 87-52. Quinones had 10 points and five rebounds in the loss. Puerto Rico will return to action on Monday, August 2 against Australia.

Harvard’s Umitcan Gures finished fourth in the men’s 100m butterfly in the fourth heat with a time of 52.44. Columbia’s Jake Hoyle and the men’s epee team finished 9th in the preliminaries.

For the most up-to-date schedule visit the official Olympics website, here.

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