Massholes are going for gold

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

🔥 We all know Snoop Dogg’s Olympic Games commentary is fire. But this year, his ability to light up will also be put to the test as he helps carry the Olympic torch ahead of the opening ceremonies. We’re sure he’ll do just fine.

👀What’s on tap today:

• Mayor Wu’s BIG news
• Overflow shelter crack downs
• Fluffy coke

Up first…

OLYMPICS

These locals are going for gold

Image: Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games kick off Friday. And of this year’s approximately 10,500 Olympic athletes, 55 of them have New England ties *flips hair.*

So if you need an athlete to stan, here are a few hometown heroes to root for:

🏀Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, men’s basketball. Not to flex (jk, we’re totally flexing), but three of the 12 players on Team USA are Celtics this year. And after a 5-0 hot streak in their exhibition games, the team’s run for their fifth straight gold medal looks promising. The first official game against Serbia is on Sunday, so keep your eyes on the full schedule here.

🤸🏿‍♂️ Frederick Richard, men’s gymnastics. Simone Biles may be the GOAT, but Stoughton native and Millis-based Richard is shaping up to be gymnastics’ next big thing. At 20, his resume already includes being the youngest ever medal-earning individual at Worlds, a slew of NCAA titles, and a massive social media following to boot. Catch him (alongside Worcester native Stephen Nedoroscik) on their quest for a medal starting Saturday. 

🏉 Ilona Maher, women’s rugby. If you’re on TikTok, you’ve probably seen Maher, sharing her behind-the-scenes rugby content, or her plan to treat the Olympic Village like Love Island. But did you know she’s originally from Burlington, Vermont? Maher and Team USA will look to improve on their sixth-place performance in Tokyo this go around, starting with a game against Japan on Sunday.

🏊🏿‍♀️ Zuri Ferguson, swimming. On this episode of “teenagers who are already more impressive than I’ll ever be:” Ferguson, a rising senior at Attleboro High School, will represent Trinidad and Tobago in the 100-meter backstroke at just 17 years old. We just feel bad for her high school rivals, as she’s set just about every local record possible this year. Her first heat is slated for Monday.

🏑Ally Hammel, women’s field hockey. After failing to qualify for the games in 2021, BU-grad and Duxbury-native Ally Hammel had a major hand in Team USA’s Cinderella-story rise to qualifying for the 2024 games. You can watch them try to do it all over again starting on Saturday against Argentina.

🏃🏾‍♀️ Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes, track and field. Five New Englanders are taking the line at this year’s track and field events (shoutout Emily Mackay, Emily Sisson, and Elle Purrier St. Pierre!). If you’re looking to see a podium finish, your best chances may be to watch Connecticut native Holmes in the 400-meter or 4×400-meter relay (Team USA hasn’t lost the latter since 1992), or Harvard grad Thomas in the 200-meter, where she’ll try to improve on her bronze medal in Tokyo. Check out the track and field schedule here.

🏅 Looking for more? The Globe put together an interactive guide to all of the athletes with New England ties here.

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CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

Image: Erin Schaff/Getty

🤰🏻 Mayor Michelle Wu has BIG news. First off: She’s pregnant! Her family is expecting a bundle of joy in January, and it’s a girl. In sharing the news with the Globe, Wu also spoke for the first time publicly about the two miscarriages she’s had since the birth of her second son. And if all that weren’t news enough, in the same interview, she also confirmed she’s planning to run for reelection next year, although the hard launch of her campaign won’t come until the “time is right.”

🏘️ Gov. Maura Healey is cracking down on overflow shelters. In the latest attempt to get a handle on the state’s emergency shelter system crisis, on Aug. 1, Healey’s admin is limiting stays in overflow sites — which house those on the shelter waitlist — to just five days with no options to extend their stay (although they’ll have the option fly out for free or apply for a rent voucher). They’ll also be tweaking the rules to prioritize Mass. residents in the shelters, adding families displaced by no-fault evictions and veterans to the top of the priority list for longer-term stays.

🚴 Is Boston a bike-friendly city? Yes and no. You don’t have to be a routine rider to know that biking in Boston isn’t for the faint of heart. The good news? The city’s Safe Streets Initiative has been successful in getting some new bikers on the streets by adding bike lanes and other safety initiatives — bike numbers are up 50% on the Mass. Ave Bridge since 2021. But the bad news … the dangers that remain in areas without those lanes are still significant. And getting real estate developers to agree to more lanes ain’t easy either. 

⭐ These local chefs are rising stars. We already know Boston’s restaurant scene is hot, but now others are starting to figure it out. StarChefs’ Rising Star Awards are back in Boston for the first time since 2020, with this year’s awards recognizing 17 local industry pros who are shaking up Boston’s hospitality scene, from sommeliers, to chefs, to restaurateurs, including some of our faves from spots like Southern Pines Diner Car, Good Company, Tonino, and Sarma. Check out the whole list here.

ONE LAST THING

Fluffy Coke

Illustration: Gia Orsino

Introducing the new drink of the summer: Fluffy Coke. 

According to a recipe by foodie influencer Anna Maria Arriaga a.k.a. @forkdacalories, a Fluffy Coke is essentially a glass coated in our beloved Marshmallow Fluff, filled with Coca-Cola, and topped with a vanilla creamer of your choice. 

In the recipe, Arriaga positions a Fluffy Coke as a sort of alternative to our daily coffee drinks. Which, at first, we thought sounded like a wild sugar bomb that has no place replacing our morning coffee, until we realized … a large caramel swirl from Dunkin’ probably has a similar sugar content.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🥤 Thanks for reading! Don’t worry Dunks, we still love ya. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, for supporting local journalism and offering Bostonians a little slice of paradise that’s close to home. 

🗳️ The results are in: 52% of B-Siders are fully onboard the Kamala train, while another 25% are about 50/50, and 17% wish they had other options. Thank you to the many, many readers wrote in to tell us their nuanced thoughts about the situation, but this one took the cake: “Would love a kamalanomenom 💅”.

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].