An athlete from the United States winning a gold medal is always a big deal, but in the case of distance runner Matthew Centrowitz, Saturday’s victory in the 1500 meters is even more special.
That’s because the victory for Centrowitz is the first by an American runner in the race since the 1908 Olympic Games. Of course, Chicago sports fans know the year 1908 for completely different reasons, since it was the last time that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.
Naturally, fans began to bombard the Cubs’ Twitter account with positive messages about Centrowitz’s victory, saying that his win indicates that the Cubs are going to win a title this season:
@SportsCenter THIS IS OUR YEAR, Cubs FANS!! @Cubs @CSNCubs @3FlatDave
— Steve Goodfriend (@ChiefGoodfriend) August 21, 2016
@SportsCenter It's a sign...
— Windy Wrigley (@WindyWrigley) August 21, 2016
First USA victory since 1908! Maybe a good omen for the #ChicagoCubs @TeamUSA @MattCentrowitz @usatf
— Susan Hingle (@SusanHingle) August 21, 2016
Ever responsive to their fans on Twitter, the Cubs naturally were fans of the outpouring of support:
Really looking forward to a night full of this in our mentions.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 21, 2016
Congratulations, @MattCentrowitz! :flag-us::flag-us::flag-us: pic.twitter.com/tf4m1I9zqB
The Cubs ended up winning 99 games in that 1908 season before beating the Detroit Tigers for their last World Series title. To match that win total, the Cubs would need to win 22 of their remaining 41 games this season.
