Battles for Bronze

When expectations are high, it is difficult to accept when they don’t work out. That certainly happened yesterday in the women’s water polo competition, where all NYAC fans – the entire American team is NYAC members – were hoping that Team USA could continue its Olympic streak and win its fourth consecutive gold medal. But a powerful Australian team put paid to those plans, and now the team will play for a – still superb – bronze medal against the Netherlands tomorrow, Saturday, August 10th.

Today, the men’s water polo hopes were similarly dashed. Having fought their way to the semi-final with masterful displays throughout this tournament – including a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals versus Australia – today the Serbia squad proved too powerful and, now, like the women, the men will challenge for bronze, facing Hungary on Sunday (August 11th). Keeping everything documented: in the women’s final on Saturday (August 10th), Australia will face Spain, while on Sunday, Serbia will go up against Croatia. A battle of the Balkans. (I love alliteration, absolutely adore it). If Serbia takes the title, it will be their third consecutive Olympic victory.

That fact made this evening’s USA-Serbia semi-final game all the more fraught. The ultimate tally of 10-6 illustrated the tenor of the clash, the low score reflecting its intensity and the four goal margin showing a decisive victory. It took some time for the way the chips would fall to come to light, but when it did it was decisive.

In the first quarter, play was end-to-end and evenly matched. The US was first to place a mark on the board, scoring after just 90 seconds of play and giving hope that the team would press on to its first Olympic final since 2008 (when they won silver medals). Serbia couldn’t allow that situation to continue for long, however, quickly equalizing, then conceding a second, then scoring again. It was back and forth, attack and defend, ebb and flow, with neither side gaining the upper hand. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 2-2, with few clues as to what would unfold. That was about to change.

The second quarter moved all the pieces on the board. The USA added two goals to their tally, but Serbia added four. That is not a skewing of the playing field that you ever want to concede, let alone approaching the half way mark in an Olympic Games semi-final. But that was how it went, and with that the prospects of the US team making the final became ever more slim.

Which is not to say that the USA accepted the inevitable and conceded the game. Absolutely not; that is not how these guys play the game. Nor did Serbia sit back and defend, presuming they had this in the bag. That most certainly did not happen. Both teams fought like champions to the bitter end.  The USA logged two goals in the third quarter, one from Alex Bowen, but so did the Serbs. So, 8-6 with one quarter remaining. It was still within reach for Team USA, but Serbia had been rock solid in every area and to break down that barrier, claw back two goals and then add another one seemed like a very steep hill to climb.

Indeed, in the final quarter, it was all Serbia all the way as they held the US scoreless while adding two of their own and tallying a final score of 10-6.

“We couldn’t finish,” stated the NYAC’s Alex Obert. “That’s what it came down to. We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. The only thing we’re here to do right now is regroup and take home some hardware. This is the most special tournament in the world.”

That, it most certainly is and has been. And, it is still going. Sunday’s fight for bronze will be every bit as hard fought as a gold medal match, and so it should never be seen as a consolation round. Olympic bronze medals, were the US team to win them, are a very rare currency. In the 156-year history of the New York Athletic Club, only 70 members have won Olympic bronze medals. It’s worth chewing on that for a little while.

NYAC wrestler, Darian Cruz, competing for Puerto Rico, was fighting for that very thing this evening, an Olympic bronze medal, in the 57kg freestyle division. The NYAC man, the third-placed finisher at last year’s Pan Am Games, arrived in the Olympic bronze medal round via a conspiracy of circumstance that was no less merited for being fortuitous. As detailed yesterday, Cruz won his first bout, then lost to Japan’s 2022 world champion, Rei Higuchi. Higuchi kept winning, ultimately taking the gold medal, so Cruz was brought along, too, into the repechage. However, his repechage opponent didn’t make weight, so, voila! – as they say in France – Cruz was fighting for bronze.

Although he was first to put points on the board, very quickly it became clear that his opponent, 21-year-old Indian phenom, Aman Sehrawat, was in the driving seat. At the bout’s end, Sehrawat had logged 13 points to Cruz’s five, a result that saw India claim its first wrestling medal at these Games and that saw Cruz a heart-breaking picture of disappointment and frustration.

The worst is to be so close and, then, to be so far. At least, that’s how it feels in the moment. When the smoke clears and perspective crystalizes, hopefully, the realization of being so close will actually be a cause of celebration. Hopefully. For now, though, Cruz is right. It just hurts. It’s like placing fourth. Who wants that?