Simone Manuel splashes, dashes in return to top-level swimming

By OlympicTalkJan 13, 2023, 7:55 PM EST

Simone Manuel placed third in the 50m freestyle in her first top-level swim meet since the Tokyo Olympics.

Manuel, the 2016 co-Olympic 100m free champion, clocked 25.19 seconds in the splash and dash at a Pro Series stop in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday. She finished behind Olympic teammates Abbey Weitzeil (24.74) and Erika Brown (24.94) and ahead of another Olympian, Olivia Smoliga (25.33).

Manuel, 26, is back in competition after relocating last year from Stanford to Arizona State, where she now trains in coach Bob Bowman‘s group.

Manuel did not swim at last year’s international team trials, so she missed June’s world championships, marking her first absence from a major international meet since the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2021, Manuel announced at the Olympic Trials that she had been diagnosed with overtraining syndrome and dealt with depression, anxiety and insomnia that spring. She discussed that and much more in a first-person video essay for Togethxr, published in conjunction with her return to competition.

She made the team in her last event at trials, the 50m free, and was eliminated in the semifinals in Tokyo. She also earned bronze, her fifth Olympic medal, with the women’s 4x100m free relay.

Weitzeil was the top American in the 50m free at the Tokyo Olympics (eighth place). Brown was the top American in the 50m free at last year’s worlds (co-bronze medal).

The top two at nationals at the end of June are in line to make the team for July’s worlds in Japan.

Full meet results are here. The meet ends Saturday with finals at 6 p.m. ET, live on USASwimming.org.

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French Open: Daniil Medvedev stunned by 172nd-ranked qualifier

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 11:52 AM EDT

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No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev was eliminated by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild at the French Open, the first time a top-two men’s seed lost in the first round of a major in 20 years.

Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old in his second-ever Grand Slam main draw match, prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in more than four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I’ve watched Daniil play for, like, my entire junior career until today, and I’ve always dreamed about playing on this court, playing these kind of players,” he said. “In my best dreams, I’ve beaten them, so it’s a dream come true.”

Seyboth Wild overcame the ranking disparity, the experience deficit (it was his first five-set match) and cramps. He began feeling them in the second set, and it affected his serve.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Seyboth Wild, who had strictly played in qualifying and lower-level Challenger events dating to February 2022, became the first man to take out a top-two seed at a Slam since Ivo Karlovic upset Lleyton Hewitt at 2003 Wimbledon, which ended up being the first major won by a member of the Big Three.

The last time it happened at the French Open was in 2000, when Mark Philippoussis ousted No. 2 Pete Sampras.

It’s the most seismic win by a Brazilian at the French Open — and perhaps any major — since the nation’s most successful man, Gustavo Kuerten, won his third Roland Garros title in 2001.

Tuesday marked the 26th anniversary of Kuerten’s first big splash in Paris, a third-round win over 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster en route to his first Roland Garros title.

As a junior, Seyboth Wild won the 2018 U.S. Open and reached a best ranking of eighth in the world. Since, he played eight Grand Slam qualifying tournaments with a 1-8 record before advancing through qualifying last week.

The 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev entered the French Open having won the first clay tournament title of his career at the Italian Open, the last top-level event before Roland Garros.

Medvedev’s defeat leaves no major champions in the bottom half of the men’s draw. The top seeds left are No. 4 Casper Ruud, last year’s French Open and U.S. Open runner-up, and No. 6 Holger Rune. No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic play their second-round matches in the top half on Wednesday.

Women’s seeds to advance Tuesday included No. 6 Coco Gauff, who rallied past 71st-ranked Spaniard Rebeka Masarova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, plus No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 7 Ons Jabeur in straight sets.

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Olympians, Paralympians star on Top Chef World All-Stars in Paris

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls get a taste of Paris in this week’s episode of Top Chef World All-Stars, premiering Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Olympic medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Suni Lee and Paralympic medalists Mallory Weggemann and Hunter Woodhall team up with contestants for a cooking challenge in front of the Eiffel Tower, one year before the French capital hosts the Games.

Olympians have appeared on Top Chef before.

A 2020 episode set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Coliseum included Diana Taurasi, Rai Benjamin, Nastia Liukin, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Christian Coleman and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

A January 2018 episode featured figure skater Meryl Davis, freeskier Gus Kenworthy and skeleton slider John Daly, one month before the PyeongChang Winter Games.

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