Good morning! Only four men in Olympic history have won three 4×100 medals, and three of them are Trojans.

What else can you find in today’s edition of The Three Torches?

🤽 Water polo closed out the Olympics with four medals
👟 Track and field adds another sprinter to the mix
⚔️ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Water Colors. USC water polo checked all the boxes in Paris, with Trojans claiming gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2024 Olympic Games. Both the men's and women's fields were highly competitive, with only one team — USC alum Anni Espar's gold medal-winning Spain — going unbeaten in Paris. Playing for Australia, current Trojan Tilly Kearns anchored the Stingers to silver for her first Olympic medal. On the men's side, Team USA emerged with its first medal since 2008 with help from Trojans Hannes Daube and Marko Vavic, who claimed bronze medals with the United States. In all, USC had 14 Trojans in action in Paris, with seven men and seven women in the mix.

🔼 Watch Out. Trojan linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold was selected to the 2024 Butkus Award Watch List, an award given to the nation's top collegiate linebacker. Mascarenas-Arnold, an experienced linebacker who transferred to USC in the spring of 2024 from Oregon State, looks to be an impact player as a senior. As a junior in 2023, he collected 107 tackles, including 6.5 TFLs, two sacks, and two interceptions while starting in all 12 games.

🔼 Start Of It All. The Women of Troy will kick off their regular season this week on the road with two matches. First, USC soccer will open the season on Thursday, August 15 at New Mexico State at 6 p.m. followed by a match against Cal Baptist on Sunday, August 18. Both matches will be available to watch on ESPN+ as the Trojans begin their first season in the Big Ten.

🔼 Welcome To LA. USC track and field welcomed Dajaz Defrand into the Trojan Family this week as its newest member of the women’s sprint squad. Defrand, who set Florida State’s 100m record before making her way to Los Angeles, will join a loaded group of sprinters for the 2024-25 season.

🔼 Podcast Roundup. USC head coach Eric Musselman sits down with the Dunk City Pod to talk about embracing the USC community, the twists and turns throughout his career, and much more!

🎧️ Listen to the Dunk City Pod with Eric Musselman

Today’s Top Tier Performance presented by ARCO goes to McKenzie Forbes! Competing in the NBL1 this summer, Forbes averaged 14.9 points, 2.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game en route to helping her team become the 2024 South Champions.

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

18 days until kickoff, Trojan Family!

Heading into his senior year, linebacker Eric Gentry will rock the No. 18 for the Trojans. In his three-year career (two years at USC), he has accumulated 162 tackles, including 13 for loss (with four sacks), 10 PBUs, three forced fumbles, two interceptions and one blocked kick. After appearing in 11 games last season, Gentry is primed to once again be a key contributor to the USC defense for the 2024 season.

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

*All times Pacific

Thursday, August 15
⚽️ Soccer @ New Mexico State @ 5 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats

Sunday, August 18
⚽️ Soccer @ California Baptist @ 7 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats

⚔️ Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

⚔️ Have a great Wednesday, everyone!