SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Mon Dieu, it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: The Paris Olympics are here. Katie Ledecky goes for gold again. And the end of the era for many of the best. But B.J. Leiderman still does our theme music. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media joins us. Good morning, Howard.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. This isn't your last Olympics, is it?
SIMON: No, no, not my last...
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...Not even my first. Listen - well, not as a participant. I've covered them. Listen, today's main event - Katie Ledecky, the dominant U.S. swimmer competing in the 400-meter freestyle final this afternoon. If she wins, her eighth Olympic gold medal. She also tries for gold three different events next week. What do you foresee?
BRYANT: Oh, this is - you know, when you look at this Olympics, Scott, you sort of see the end of the road for a lot of these great, great stars. Katie Ledecky, though, I think we'll see her again in 2028, so I think she's compiling. I think it's going to be great to watch her. Watching today, we'll see if she can add to the medal count.
I think, once again, you just look at these - for me, the Summer Olympics has always been about that - about the swimming, about track, about even basketball, of course. But it - you know, when you have someone like her - coming off of Michael Phelps, as well - you've got a dynasty in American...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Swimming. Obviously, we'd like to see what the other Simone will do, as well - Simone Manuel, as well. So I think that this is going to be just a great Olympics for American swimming.
SIMON: Simone Biles - the best-known Simone, I think we can say - makes her debut in Paris tomorrow. The best gymnast of all time - 27 years old, lucky to get another chance to watch her, aren't we?
BRYANT: Well, exactly. And that - and happy to see her out here - back, as well. We remember when she took a break from competition because of her mental health struggles. And so it's great to see her back and then immediately coming back and dominating. She's got four gold medals, and she's the best, as well, to see her on the international stage once more.
I think that it's funny when we talk about these athletes. You have to remember that Simone Biles is 27 years old, and we're wondering if we're going to see them again, or see her again, on the...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Olympic stage. But once again, this - when you think about it, 31-years-old in Los Angeles. And that's the other thing to remember, too, is that the next Summer Olympic Games is going to be in Los Angeles. So there's going to be a lot of athletes who don't want this to be - a lot of American athletes - don't want this to be the swansong. They want to do it at home. But once again, when - at 27, you start hitting 30, 31 years old, it's not a guarantee...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...That the body is going to let you do whatever you want to do.
SIMON: And - OK, so Andy Murray, a two-time gold medalist for the U.K., says this is going to be his last competition. People keep looking at Rafael Nadal, obviously. Do - we could be saying goodbye to them soon.
BRYANT: Yeah, exactly. It's just the Americans, and it's not just in the Olympics. When you have the professionals competing, you have some of the greats. You have Andy Murray, who has already said that this is it for him. This isn't just his last Olympics. He's retiring from the sport.
Rafael Nadal trying, once again, to defy his body and not necessarily succeeding. He's got an injury right now. He's got a thigh injury, and he's going to try to compete in the singles and the doubles for Spain. But it's pretty much a guarantee this is the last time we'll see Rafael Nadal on the Olympic stage - you know, gold medalist in 2008 in the singles, and, you know, he's one of the staples of the sport.
So you're saying goodbye to Murray, and you're saying goodbye to Nadal, not just necessarily on the court during the tour, but also in the Olympics.
SIMON: U.S. Men's basketball begins tomorrow against Serbia. Serbia is a great team. LeBron, Steph, Kevin Durant on the U.S. team, but it seems to me I saw Coach Kerr say, you know, there's so many great people from all over the world playing in the NBA now. They're not intimidated by the U.S. team the way they used to be.
BRYANT: No, they're not. You know, the theme continues. And once again, great, great teams. This has been the Olympics everyone has wanted to see, where the Americans don't just show up and win. But you've got Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Steph Curry. And Durant's got three gold medals. LeBron has two. Steph is looking for his first. This is the stage where we want to see them. And once again, I don't think Americans - no matter how good it all is, we expect the United States to win.
SIMON: Howard Bryant, Meadowlark Media. Thanks so much, Howard.
BRYANT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
