Day 11 of competition was a day of shocks, stunners, and revelations.
Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh will play the Chinese team of Tian Jia and Jie Wang for the gold medal in beach volleyball. Men's team Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers will win a medal in this Olympic games; all that must be determined is the color.
Henry Cejudo of Team U.S.A. won the first gold medal in wrestling at these Olympic games in the men's 55kg 1/8 final; he successfully defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan.
This was the last day of individual event finals in gymnastics; there were some new champions as well as some old champions. Li Xiaopeng has won seven World or Olympic medals on the parallel bars; many thought his career was over after Athens 2004 at the age of 20. Li has continued to train hard and although he was out of competition for most of 2006 and 2007 due to injury he was able to earn another gold in Beijing. Anton Fokin did something that no one in his home country of Uzbekistan has done; he won the first medal in gymnastics. Shawn Johnson had to wait until the final day of gymnastics competition but gold could not have been sweeter, or more deserving. Team U.S.A. has once again gone one, two for the women; this time it's Johnson, Liukin. China's gymnastics future will most certainly lie in Zou Kai who won another gold, this time in high bar (last time it was on floor exercise). Jonathan Horton was brilliant on the high bar; his routine was difficult and full of risks, but it was a risk that was well worth it. He took home an individual silver medal.
Men's Parallel Bar
1. Li Xiaopeng China 16.450
2. Yoo Wonchul Korea 16.250
3. Anton Fokin Uzbekistan 16.200
Women's Balance Beam
1. Shawn Johnson U.S.A. 16.225
2. Nastia Liukin U.S.A. 16.025
3. Cheng Fei China 15.950
Men's High Bar
1. Zou Kai China 16.200
2. Jonathan Horton U.S.A. 16.175
3. Fabian Hambuechen Germany 15.875
Track & Field saw disappointment for female favorites on Team U.S.A.; Sanya Richards was poised to win the 400m, but in the last 80 meters she rain into some problems. Richards says her hamstring really tightened up, and it took everything she had left to come in third and come away with the bronze medal. She expected more of herself and was disappointed in third place after all her hard work. As a side note, the women who won this race, Christine Ohuruogu was allowed to compete because she won an appeal after missing three out of competition doping tests. Does this raise any suspicion?
Women's 400m
1. Christine Ohuruogu Great Britain 49.62
2. Shericka Williams Jamaica 49.69
3. Sanya Richards U.S.A. 49.93
Lolo Jones looked to have the race won already; this was probably the most sure win in all of track & field for Team U.S.A., but then something terrible happened Jones clipped hurdle nine of ten. Her chances of winning a medal were gone; she came in seventh place, it was a scene reminiscent of Gail Devers hurdle fall in 1992. This may be the first and last Olympics for Lolo Jones at the age of 26. She said following the race, "I felt the gold around me, but if you can't finish the race, you don't deserve to be the champion". The Americans had expected to go one, two, three in the event with Damu Cherry and Dawn Harper also competing but it was not meant to be. Dawn Harper, also in her first Olympics and at the age of 24 did win however, and she could not have been more shocked.
Women's 100m Hurdles
1. Dawn Harper U.S.A. 12.54
2. Sally McLellan Australia 12.64
3. Priscilla Lopes Schliep Canada 12.64
Richards and Jones were seen crying under the stadium after leaving the track.
No comments:
Post a Comment