Day 11: Kayak Cross & Long Jump

And also there is a Phryge in a tiny car.

Canoe Slalom, Kayak Cross Final

I’ve talked about this before, but: kayak cross is new to the Olympics and is absolutely bananas. It starts with a group of three to four kayakers being DROPPED onto the course:

Then they have to race through an obstacle course, frequently running into each other—sometimes intentionally, because this IS a contact sport:

They have to go around big buoy things in a particular direction, and at one point, do a 360 flip to get under a giant limbo bar thing:

In today’s women’s final, gold went to Australia’s Noemie Fox, who is a first-time medalist but comes from a very Olympic household: her older sister Jess Fox is highly decorated and was one of Australia’s flag bearers this year. When Noemie won, Jess jumped into the water to celebrate with her:

---

Women’s Long Jump Was Yesterday But I’m Talking About It Now

I think high jump is extremely cool, but as someone who is not actually a sportswriter, I’m finding it kind of challenging to write interestingly about it, because it’s mostly just a bunch of people trying to jump over and over again and then someone ends up having done the best job. Nevertheless!

One of my favorite competitors to watch was Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, who seemed to do a fun little dance every time she was getting ready to jump. I’m so sorry for asking you to watch a video of my laptop, but since I couldn’t come up with a better way to show you this, here we are:

As much of the internet (at least the part of the internet that watches women’s high jump) noticed, Patterson’s countrywoman Nicola Olyslagers was frequently seen writing in her journal between jumps. One of the commentators made a joke that she was putting in her notebook “do not touch bar.”

Meanwhile, her Ukrainian competitor Yaroslava Mahuchikh was spending her between-jumps time resting in a sleeping bag:

As you may be starting to notice, athletes in this sport seem to be really, really pretty. Or as my friend Abbi’s mom apparently put it via text, “no uggos in women’s high jump.”

Anyway, Mahuchikh took gold, Olyslagers silver, and Patterson tied with Ukraine’s Iryna Gerashchenko for a joint bronze. They celebrated their victory with an endearingly dorky group jumping photo a la the kind of pics you and your friends used to try and fail to take at the beach when you were a young teenager:

---

#PhrygeWatch

I continue to look far and wide for the Phryge when watching Olympics coverage but have still never seen one on my actual TV. Tragique! Still, I was excited to see footage on Twitter of the Phryge riding around in one of the tiny robot cars used to help pick up objects from throwing sports:

---

Archival Fashion Moment: Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe at Sochi 2014

The photos above, featuring then-55-year-old Mexican skier Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, are seemingly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to HvH lore. Per Sports Illustrated, he was “born to German nobility in Mexico because his family had a VW dealership there”; he does not spend a lot of time in Mexico and has minimal Mexican ancestry, so perhaps him wearing this outfit, which he apparently designed himself, is culturally appropriative? According to Wikipedia (citation needed), “he was previously a pop singer using the names Andy Himalaya and Royal Disaster”? During his race in Sochi, he lost a ski and was unable to finish, then apparently said, “honestly, it was so difficult, I’m kind of happy that I don’t have to do the second run”?? Olé—or should I say los geht’s?!

---

What’s Next?

Here are a few things on tap for tomorrow (Tuesday), August 6:

• 7:43 AM CT: Sailing, Women’s Dinghy Medal Race

• 8 AM CT: Diving, Women’s 10m Platform Final

• 10:30 AM CT: Skateboarding, Women’s Park Final

• 12:30 PM CT: Artistic Swimming, Team Free Routine

• 12:57 PM CT: Track and Field, Women’s Hammer Throw Final

• 1:15 PM CT: Track and Field, Men’s Long Jump Final

---