Trinity Rodman's spin turns heads in USWNT's Olympic opener. Plus, Canada Soccer's drone scandal

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Eat your heart out Glen Powell. Trinity Rodman has spins better than anything you’ll find in the new “Twisters” movie. I’m Emily Olsen here with the usual suspects to bring you an Olympic edition of Full Time!

Want more? Steph Yang and Tamerra Griffin react to the USWNT’s 3-0 win on the first “Full Time” special Olympic episode, released after every U.S. game during the tournament.

USWNT Wins: Trin spin turns heads

The opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics hasn’t even started and we already have a blockbuster tournament underway south of the capital city. Drones, spies and twisters — oh my!

Of course, we will dip into Canada’s drone drama that started before the first ball was kicked and has advanced to the team’s head coach going home early.

But first: The USWNT opened its Olympic tournament last night with a 3-0 win over Zambia in Group B. It wasn’t total center-stage domination by the Americans, but they got the job done and found a bit of flare along the way.

Forget spending $22 at a movie theater for a half-baked 4D viewing of the new “Twisters” movie. Tune into the USWNT game instead because Trinity Rodman has a spin move more impressive than Hollywood’s best CGI and certainly more entertaining without a sense of fear — unless you’re opposing teams’ defenders. (Glossing over the fact that the original “Twisters,” starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, came out almost exactly six years before Rodman was born.)

“Trin spin, baby! I’ve claimed that,” Rodman said after the match. “Worked out perfectly.”

TRINITY RODMAN 🔥

The #USWNT take a 1-0 lead over Zambia behind Rodman’s first international goal of 2024.

🎥 @NBCOlympics | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/qT6tSxNoVa

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 25, 2024

Too bad the Cannes Film Festival isn’t going on because Rodman deserves at least a 10-minute standing ovation for her version of the Cruyff Turn.

More takeaways:

• Sure, familiar anxiety about the USWNT not scoring crept up during the opening 15 minutes as the U.S. hit the crossbar, not once, but twice before Rodman’s goal in the 17th minute.
• But the forward line, which has had the freedom to interchange under head coach Emma Hayes’ guidance, eventually found its groove with Mallory Swanson hitting a quick double feature of goals in 66 seconds.
• The hot start petered out as intermission approached and Hayes brought on the understudies, including Lynn Williams for Sophia Smith, who seemed to favor her lower leg as she left the pitch.

Looking forward: After the game, Hayes said she wasn’t taking any risks and that the team would evaluate Smith tomorrow along with Jaedyn Shaw, who was a late injury scratch and was replaced by alternate Croix Bethune on the game day roster.

Final thoughts: Overall, it was important for the U.S. to get on the board, but only scoring three against a team they outmatched and outnumbered — due to a red card given to Zambia’s Pauline Zulu in the 34th minute — left much to be desired from opening night.

 More Olympic Notables: The Spy Up North

Canada has dominated the Olympics already — but not for any feat of athleticism. The women’s soccer team has been embroiled in a spying scandal involving drones flying over their first game opponent New Zealand’s training. And … the story just keeps going. Let’s recap:

• On Tuesday, a drone was spotted over New Zealand’s training two days before they were to play the reigning gold medalist Canada. Law enforcement traced the drone to its controller in the possession of Joseph Lombardi, who worked as an “unaccredited analyst” with Canada’s team.
• Two Canada staff members were sent home — one with an eight-month suspended sentence in French court.
• The Canadian Olympic Committee apologized for the incident, but then it was found that another training session was recorded on July 19.
• As a result of the ongoing investigations, head coach Bev Priestman was also removed from the team by Canada Soccer for the remainder of the tournament. She had previously agreed to stay off the sideline for Canada’s first game. Assistant coach Andy Spence, who was on the sideline against New Zealand, will continue to act as head coach.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic games,” a statement from Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary, said.

In the Olympic Group A, Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1, but if the Kiwis had it their way the result would not have mattered.

Melanie Anzidei has all the details of how the reigning champions fell so far.

Honorable Mentions for Day 1

Clash of the Titans: World Cup winner Spain faced Japan, which has seemed like its only kryptonite, on Thursday. At the World Cup last summer, Japan handed Spain its only loss — a clinical 4-0 result in which Japan took five shots on target. This time around, Japan came out fearless again with Aoba Fujino scoring first on a phenomenal free kick that slotted right under the crossbar. But Spain would have its revenge with Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey each scoring.

Setting the tone: Elsewhere in the USWNT’s group, Germany handled Australia 3-0 thanks to strong set-piece performances. Marina Hegering and Lea Schüller both tallied their goals by heading in set pieces. Jule Brand added the third, giving Germany a result that ties them atop Group B with the U.S. The two leaders meet on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in Marseille (USA Network, streaming on Peacock).

Back to the future: Brazil legend Marta announced this Olympics would be her final international tournament earlier this year. As far as her on-field performance goes, she’s still got it: The 38-year-old nearly opened the scoring against Nigeria before her goal was ruled offside. She later assisted Gabi Nunes for the 1-0 win.

No place like home: France took an early 3-0 lead over Colombia with Marie-Antoinette Katoto scoring a brace and Kenza Dali adding another before halftime. The hosts conceded twice in the second half when Catalina Usme converted a penalty and Manuela Pavi dodged defenders for her own score. Colombia also had to finish the game with 10 players after VAR caused a review of Mayra Ramirez’s tackle, which was ultimately deemed red-card worthy.

Need a refresher on the teams participating in this year’s Olympics? The Athletic has your full guide to women’s soccer at the Paris Games.

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(Top photo of Rodman: Raquel Cunha / Reuters / USA Today)