Paris Olympics 2024 Friday and Saturday 8.2 and 8.3

8.2.24 Friday-- 

Uneventful day for the US, just a handful of events worth noting. 

Leon Marchand of France won his fourth individual gold medal. At only 22 years of age, it will be interesting to see where he is in four years at Los Angeles. He is so accomplished and he does train in the US so it would only make sense for him to come back. 

Men's 200m IM

1. Leon Marchand, France 1:54:06
2. Duncan Scott, Great Britain 1:55:31
3. Shun Wang, China 1:56:00

Regan Smith had a successful Olympic games. She walked away from this Game's with five medals, two golds from relays and, three silver medals in individual competition. At the age of 22, this is Regan's second Olympics. 

Women's 200m Backstroke

1. Kaylee McKeown, Australia 2:03:73
2. Regan Smith, USA 2:04:26
3. Kylie Masse, Canada 2:05:57

Track & Field opened at this Olympic Games. Grant Fisher from the US took a bronze, it was the first time the US medaled in this event since 2012 in London. 

Track & Field Men's 10,000m 

1. Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda 26:43:14
2. Berihu Aregawi, Ethiopia 26:43:44
3. Grant Fisher, USA 26:43:46

8.3.24 Saturday-- 

Saturday was very eventful and active in terms of medals for the US. It was an exciting day in Gymnastics, Swimming, and Track & Field. 

Let's start first with rowing and the Men's Eight. The story of the night was that the US Men medaled in this event for the first time since 2008. 

Men's Eight

1. Great Britain 5:22:88
2. Netherlands +1.04
3. USA +2.40

In Gymnastics, there were three event finals. In the floor exercise, Carlos Yulo won the first ever Olympic gold medal in gymnastics for the Philippines and just their second gold medal overall. 

Gymnastics Men's Floor Exercise

1. Carlos Yulo, Phiilippines 15.000
2. Artem Dologopyat, Israel 14.966
3. Jake Jarmen, Great Britain 14.933

 

Stephen Nedoroscik catapulted himself to hero status these Olympic games playing a major part in the US Men securing a bronze medal in team competition. Clark Kent, aka Superman aka Stephen also managed to walk away with the only individual Men's Gymnastics medal for the US earning a bronze for his speciality, pommel horse. 

Men's Gymnastics Pommel Horse

1. Rhys McClenaghan, Ireland 15.533
2. Nariman Kurbanov, Kazakhstan 15.433

3. Stephen Nedoroscik, USA 15.300

Last individual Gymnastics event I want to write about is the Women's Vault. Simone Biles added another gold to her resume, and Jade Carey got redemption from Tokyo earning a bronze. Brazil's Rebeca Andrade continued to impress. 

Saturday also happened to be the last night in the pool and the first night in track and field. There was lots of action and I want to share the news and results with you. 

Swimming: Men's 100m Butterfly (no US medal) 

1. Kristof Milak, Hungary 49.90

2. Joshua Liendo, Canada 49.99

3. Ilya Kharun, Canada 50.45

In the Men's Shot Put Final, Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs have done something special, they have finished one, two respectively in this event for the past three Olympics-- Rio, Tokyo, and Paris. This is truly incredible. The two are said to be friends and rivals. 

Track & Field Men's Shot Put

1. Ryan Crouser, USA 22.90

2. Joe Kovacs, USA 22.15

3. Rajindra Campbell, Jamaica 22.15 

In the 4x400m Mixed Relay, the US Team had set a World Record in the semi finals. Then when it came time to run the finals, the US lost their lead when Femke Bol from The Netherlands passed the field in the closing straight away and grabbed that gold. 

Track & Field: Mixed 4x400m Relay

1. Netherlands, 3:07:43
2. USA, 3:07:74
3. Great Britain, 3:08:01

Back to the pool, Summer McIntosh once again covered in gold this Olympics! She took gold in front of Kate Douglass in the 200m IM. That brought her total to three golds and none silver. Douglass also had a strong Olympics, two golds and two silvers for her. Some disappointment here for Alex Walsh as she had won bronze but was disqualified for an illegal turn. Heartbreaking. 

Swimming: Women's 200m IM

1. Summer McIntosh, Canada 2:06:56

2. Kate Douglass, USA 2:06:92
3. Kaylee McKeown, Australia 2:08:08

Katie Ledecky continued her legacy in the pool in the 800m, she has won this event in three consecutive Olympic Games. She is also, with winning this race, a nine time Olympic gold medalist which is the most won by a woman in Team USA history!

Swimming: Women's 800m Freestyle

1. Katie Ledecky, USA 8:11:04

2. Ariarne Titmus, Australia 8:12:29

3. Paige Madden, USA 8:13:00

The last relay in the pool was the mixed 4x100m Medley Relay. The US Team was made up of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske who swan the anchor leg and literally came up with her personal fastest time. 

Track & Field: Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay

1. USA, 3:37:43

2. China, 3:37:55

3. Australia, 3:38:76

Jasmine Moore, at only 23 years old, is no stranger to firsts. She became the first American woman to qualify for both the long jump and the triple jump. She completed on Saturday in the triple jump and became the first American woman to medal in this event! Just staggering stats, and hopefully we will be seeing her for a long time. 

Track & Field: Woman's Triple Jump

1. Thea Lafond, Dominica 15.02

2. Shanleka Ricketts, Jamaica 14.87

3. Jasmine Moore, USA 14.67

One of the premiere events of the Olympics is the 100m of Track & Field in both the Men's and Women's. The US team had three women qualify for the final, including Sha'Carri Richardson who came to these Olympics with a lot to prove. Richardson was the favorite leading to Tokyo, but tested positive for cannabis use making her ineligible to compete at the games. She returned to the sport, and often says, "I'm not back, I'm better". And on this night she was better winning a silver medal. Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia won gold, the first Olympic medal ever for Saint Lucia. Melissa Jefferson won the bronze putting two US women on the podium. 

Track & Field: Women's 100m 

1. Julien Alfred, St. Lucia 10.72

2. Sha'Carri Richardson, USA 10.87

3. Melissa Jefferson, USA 10.92

Paris Olympics 2024 Wednesday and Thursday 7.31 and 8.1

7.31.24 Wednesday-- 

Frederick Richard and Paul Juda competed in the Men's Gymnastics All Around Competition. They were not consistent enough to be on the podium and this became a battle between Japan and China for gold. 

Men's Gymnastics All Around Final

1. Shinnosuke Oka, Japan 86.832
2. Boheng Zhang, China 86.599
3. Ruoteng Xiao, China 86.364

One of the stories of this Olympics has to be Team USA's challenges in the pool. On Wednesday there were only two Team USA medals. One was a silver by Torri Huske in the 100m Freestyle and the other was a gold for Katie Ledecky in her signature race, the 1500m Freestyle.

Ledecky's gold was a historic one, tying her with Jenny Thompson, Natalie Coughlan, and Dara Torres for most medals of all time by anyone woman in US history with 12 medals. She won by 10 seconds, about a length of the pool. Ledecky said she doesn't think a lot about history, but says she knows all these women and was inspired by them when she started swimming. There's a saying, greatness recognizes greatness. 

Torri Huske picked up a silver in the 100m Freestyle, an event that she was not even heavily favored in. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, the current record holder in this event came back from 4th place after 50m's at the turn to take the gold. 

Women's 1500m Freestyle

1. Katie Ledecky, USA 15:30:02
2. Anastasia Kirpichnikova, France 15:40:35
3. Isabel Gose, Germany 15:41:16 

Women's 100m Freestyle

1. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden 52.16
2. Torri Huske, USA 52.29
3. Siobhan Haughey, Hong Kong 52.33

Leon Marchand, at 22 years of age, from France already picked up gold in the 400m Individual Medley, and he struck gold times two on Wednesday night in Paris. The best part was seeing Michael Phelps cheer him on. Marchand has been training the US, and I bet he will have a long career ahead of him. 

Men's 200m Butterfly 

1. Leon Marchand, France 1:51:21
2. Kristof Milak, Hungary 1:51:75
3. Ilya Kharun, Canada 1:52:80

Men's 200m Backstroke

1. Leon Marchand, France 2:05:88
2. Zac Stubblety Cook, Australia 2:06:79
3. Caspar Careau, Netherlands 2:07:90

 

Lastly, it wouldn't be the Olympics without some controversy. The Men's 100m Freestyle brought us just that. The US Team, one that typically makes the podium for this event, had two men swim in the final. However, they finished last, 7th and 8th in the final. Pan from China won gold and said that he felt Chalmers from Australia and Jack Alexy from the US had a problem with him winning the gold. Pan broke his own record. It's seems a doping scandal is about to erupt and, it would not surprise me. The Australian coaches are saying it's not believable. China has been involved in doping in the past and had bans. 

Men's 100m Freestyle:

1. Zhanle Pan, China 46:40
2. Kyle Chalmers, Australia 47:48
3. David Popovici, Romania 47:49

8.1.24 Thursday 

Thursday was all about the US women and they are amazing! Simone Biles and Suni Lee continued what they dubbed-- "the redemption tour" wining gold and bronze respectively in the women's all around. Simone has spoken a lot about putting her mental health first since Tokyo and she credits that with her coming back to gymnastics stronger than ever. Rebeca Andrade from Brazil who picked up a silver medal in the all around spoke about looking up to Simone. She also talked about the sacrifice she and her mother made in Brazil so she could go to practice, Rebeca sometimes walking two hours each way to the gym. Suni had her own challenges since Tokyo, gaining weight and not understanding why and discovering that she had two kidney diseases. She thought she would never do gymnastics again. These three young women all have such beautiful stories of resilience and determination. Each of them is so strong and I deeply admire them. 

Gymnastics Women's All Around Final 

1. Simone Biles, USA 59.131

2. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil, 57.932

3. Suni Lee, USA 56.465

Simone: 

Floor Exercise-- 15.066, Vault-- 15.766, Beam-- 14.566, Uneven Bars-- 13.733

Rebeca: 

Floor Exercise-- 14.033, Vault-- 15.100, Beam-- 14.133, Uneven Bars-- 14.666

Suni:

Floor Exercise-- 13.666, Vault-- 13.933, Beam-- 14.000, Uneven Bars-- 14.866

The US Women won the Fencing Women's Team Foil for the first time ever. 

1. USA

2. Italy

3. Japan

Over in the pool, the US Men continued to struggle-- they were not even represented in the Men's 200m Backstroke. 

Men's 200m Backstroke

1. Hubert Kos, Hungary 1:54:26

2. Apostolos Christou, Greece 1:54:82

3. Roman Mityukov, Switzerland 1:58:85

Back to the ladies in the pool....

Summer McIntosh, at the age of 17, continued to have just a stunningly impressive Olympics. She edged out Regan Smith of the US in the Women's 200m Butterfly. 

Women's 200m Butterfly

1. Summer McIntosh, Canada 2:03:03

2. Regan Smith, USA 2:03:84

3. Yufei Zhang, China 2:05:09

Kate Douglass, a 15 time NCAA Swimming Champion at University of Virginia can add gold medal  to her bio winning the 200m Breaststroke beating out defending champion Tatjana Smith from South Africa and Tes Schouten from the Netherlands.

Women's 200m Breaststroke

1. Kate Douglass, USA 2:19:24

2. Tatjana Smith, South Africa 2:19:60

3. Tes Schouten, The Netherlands 2:21:05

And in the Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay, the rivalry between the US and Australia continued, this time with Australia coming out on top. 

Women's 4x200m Relay

1. Australia, 7:38:08

2. USA, 7:40:86

3. China, 7:42:34

This silver for the US made Katie the most decorated female swimmer ever. Katie was able to celebrate the moment with her teammates-- Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, and Erin Gemmell. 

 

The Olympics: Day 7 Rio

Maya Dirado was not favored in this event, and nevertheless, here she is, with another Gold! I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be begging Dirado not to retire after these Games and ride into the sunset. She upset Katinka Hosszu who was the favorite and won a couple of Golds earlier this week.

Women's 200m Backstroke

1. Maya Dirado, USA, 2.05.99
2. Katinka Hosszu, Hungary, 2.06.05
3. Hillary Caldwell, Canada, 2.07.54

Eight year ago, a teenage Joseph Schooling from Singapore met Michael Phelps before he went to the Beijing Games. Fast forward to 2016, and a grown up Joseph Schooling not only swan against Phelps but beat him and a group of veterans. Phelps took home the third silver of his career, an honor which this time he shared with long time rivals Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh.

Men's 100m Butterfly

1. Joseph Schooling, Singapore, 50.39 Olympic Record
2. Michael Phelps, USA, 51.14
2. Chad Le Clos, South Africa, 51.14
2. Laszlo Cseh, Hungary, 51.14

Katie Ledecky not only defended her Gold in the 800m Freestyle, but she shattered the World Record that belonged to her. She finished the race almost 13 seconds after everyone else.

Women's 800m Freestyle

1. Katie Ledecky, USA, 8.04.79 World Record/ Olympic Record
2. Carlin Jazz, Great Britain, 8.16.17
3. Boglarka Kapas, Hungary, 8.16.37

Lastly, the 50m Free, the splash and dash as it's called by swimmers had quite the surprise. It came in the form of 35 year old Anthony Ervin from the US. Ervin won this event 16 years ago in 2000 at the age of 19. He and Gary Hall Jr of the US tied for Gold. This time around it was just Ervin. Favorite in the event Florent Manaudou of France won the Silver and Nathan Adrian of the US hung on for the Bronze.

Men's 50m Freestyle

1. Anthony Ervin, USA, 21.40
2. Florent Manouodou, France, 21.41
3. Nathan Adrian, USA, 21.49

The Olympics: Day 5 Rio

The big surprise in the Olympic pool tonight was that we had a group of unlikely winners. None from the US Team.

Dmitriy Balandin won Kazakhstan's first ever Olympic Gold in the Men's 200m Breaststroke, but that wasn't the only headline. Josh Prenot won a silver for Team USA, no American man had won a medal in this event since 1992 when Mike Barrowman won Gold in 1992 and Brendan Hansen won bronze in 2004.

Men's 200m Breaststroke

1. Dmitriy Balandin, Kazakhstan, 2.07.46
2. Josh Prenot, USA, 2.07.53
3. Anton Chupkov, Russia, 2.07.70

Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain added a Gold to her Bronze from earlier this week.

Women's 200m Butterfly

1. Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Spain, 2.04.85
2. Madeline Graves, Australia, 2.04.88
3. Natsumi Hoshi, Japan, 2.05.20

At only 18 years of age, Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers captured Gold in one of the marquee swimming events, the 100m free last night. It's the first Australian Gold in the event since 1968, and what's even more impressive is that Chalmers beat several veteran swimmers to do it. This included US swimmer and defending champion, Nathan Adrian who just made it onto the podium with a Bronze. Adrian said he still felt great about getting another medal.

Men's 100m Freestyle

1. Kyle Chalmers, Australia, 47.58
2. Pieter Tmmers, Belgium, 47.80
3. Nathan Adrian, USA, 47.85

Another relay Gold for the US Team was achieved in the pool last night. This time it came from Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, Maya Dirado, and Katie Ledecky. Ledecky has added more hardware to her already successful Rio Games. Dirado now has one of each medal from Rio.

Women's 4x 200m Relay

1. USA 7.43.03 (Team USA: Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, Maya Dirado, and Katie Ledecky)
2. Australia 7.44.87
3. Canada 7.45.39

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Meanwhile, the Men's All Around in Gymnastics took place on Wednesday night and the winner was no surprise. Kohei Uchimura from Japan who has dominated his sport since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing repeated as the All Around Champion. "King Kohei" as he is called sealed the deal with a near flawless high bar routine, 15.8. Uchimura is always humble and said that a team medal means far more to him than an individual medal, and so when his team did just that, one could tell that his happiness was genuine. Silver went to Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine who led several times during the event. Verniaiev said that Uchimura is one of the gymnasts he admires most, and the two posed for photos together. Max Whitlock from Great Britain became the first British man to win an All Around Medal at the Olympics.

Men's Individual All Around

1. Kohei Uchimura, Japan, 92.365
2. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 92.266
3. Max Whitlock, Great Britain, 90.641

The Olympics: Day 4 Rio

I still don't know what this team is going to call themselves, but whatever they decide on, they're incredible. The team of five women's gymnasts that make up the US team, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Herandez, and Madison Kocian dared to go there. They took chances, executed to near perfection, and in the end, won by a margin of over 8 points.

Women's Gymnastics Team Finals

1. USA 184.897
2. Russian Federation 176.688
3. China 176.003
4. Japan 174.371
5. Great Britain 174.362
6. Germany 173.672
7. Netherlands 172.447
8. Brazil 172.087

Update! They have given themselves the name, The Final Five because they are Marta Karolyi's last team, and in Tokyo in 4 years, Teams will consist of four members instead of five.

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Katie Ledecky is three for three for medals at these Games and two for two in individual Golds at these Games. Katie said she definitely felt the pressure and has never lost a race on an international stage in her whole career. She said this is the closest to throwing up she has ever felt in any race. She is favored to win in the 800m Freestyle later this week. Ledecky beat out Sarah Sjostrom who was favored to win.

Women's 200m Freestyle

1. Katie Ledecky, USA, 1.53.73
2. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 1.54.08
3. Emma McKeon, Australia, 1.54.92

Last night Chad Le Clos shadow boxed in front of Michael Phelps in the ready room. It also looked like he shook his body in front of him, maybe even danced. Phelps stared ahead, headphones on, looking super Darth Vader. Tonight, Phelps put it all out there, and left everything he had in the in pool. He always does though. Some may have doubted this come back. He had a lot of competition in this race: Le Clos, Cseh, and Kanderesi, but at the end, Phelps won his 20th Gold Medal!

Men's 200m Butterfly

1. Michael Phelps, USA, 1.53.36
2. Masato Sakai, Japan, 1.53.40
3. Tamas Kenderesi, Hungary, 1.53.62

and Le Clos, for the record, finished out of the medals.

The Iron Lady, Katinka Hosszu won her third Gold at these Games. Hosszue has made a lot of notable changes to her training regimen including firing her old coach and hiring her husband as her coach. Maya Dirado of the US Team who made her debut at these Games, won a bronze. She previously announced that she would retire at the end of these Games to pursue her career as a business analyst.

Women's 200m Individual Medley

1. Katinka Hosszu, Hungary, 2.06.58 Olympic Record
2. Siobhan Marie O'Connor, Great Britain, 2.06.88
3. Madeline Dirado, USA, 2.08.79

Make it 21 Golds for Phelps, 25 career medals, and for Ryan Lochte, not too shabby either, Olympic medal number 12. The US men were unbeatable in the Men's 4x 200m relay. They finished more than 3 seconds ahead of second place finisher Great Britain. Michael Phelps swan the anchor leg and as he was getting ready his swim cap broke, and Conor Dwyer quickly handed his swim cap to Phelps who quickly put it on and made it efficiently off the blocks.

Men's 4x 200m Freestyle Relay

1. USA, 7.00.66 (Team USA: Conor Dwyer, Francis Haas, Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps)
2. Great Britain, 7.03.13
3. Japan, 7.03.50

The Olympics: Day 2 Rio

Today was all about breaking records. Adam Peaty of Great Britain did something that hasn't been done in his sport at the Olympics since 1988 in Seoul; he won a Gold! Yesterday, Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden broke Olympic and World Records in the Women's 100m Butterfly, and then she jumped back into the pool today and did the same thing.

How beautiful was it to see Dana Vollmer come back after becoming a mom and win a Bronze medal in the event she won Gold in 4 years ago? It made me smile to watch Cody Miller celebrate after winning Bronze. You would think that he won a Gold!

Katie Ledecky made me smile as she shattered the World Record during the 400m Freestyle. She finished more than five seconds ahead of the second place finisher. I am predicting that Katie is going to have a successful Olympics. She is such a threat in so many distances and disciplines. I appreciate her confidence. Leah Smith brought the US Swim Team their third Bronze of the night.

And make it 19 Golds for Phelps, 23 medals overall. The USA brought the Gold in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay back to US soil as Phelps exclaimed to press after the win. Phelps swan the second leg and Adrian swan the anchor leg as the veterans along with two newcomers brought it home for the US Team.

Women's 100m Butterfly
1. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 55.48 World Record, Olympic Record
2. Penny Oleksiak, Canada, 56.46
3. Dana Vollmer, USA, 56.63

Men's 100m Breaststroke
1. Adam Peaty, Great Britain, 57.13 World Record, Olympic Record
2. Cameron Van Der Burgh, South Africa, 58.69
3. Cody Miller, USA, 58.87

Women's 400m Freestyle
1. Kathleen (Katie) Ledecky, USA, 3.56.46, World Record, Olympic Record
2. Carline Jazz, Great Britain, 4.01.23
3. Leah Smith, USA, 4.01.92

Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay
1. USA, 3.09.92 (Team USA: Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, Ryan Held, Nathan Adrian)
2. France, 3.10.53
3. Australia, 3.11.37

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In Women's Gymnastics, the question has become, what can't the American Team do? What apparatus can they not dominate in?

Team Qualifying:

1. USA 185.238
2. China 175.279
3. Russian Federation 174.620
4. Great Britain 174.064
5. Brazil 174.054
6. Germany 173.263
7. Netherlands 171.929
8. Italy 169.396

All Arounds Individual:
1. Simone Biles 62.366
2. Alexandra Raisman 60.607
3. Gabrielle Douglas 60.131
(only top two from each county can go, so unfair since they were so much better than everyone else competing)

Vault:
1. Simone Biles 16.050

Uneven Bars:
1. Madison Kocian 15.866
3. Gabrielle Douglas 15.766

Balance Beam:
1. Simone Biles 15.633
2. Lauren Hernandez 15.366

Floor Exercise:
1. Simone Biles 15.733
2. Alexandra Raisman 15.275

I cannot wait to see how this Women's Competition unfolds!

London Olympics 2012: Day 7

With only a few more races left in the aquatic center at this Games, the U.S. team really capitalized on some good opportunities for medals on Day 7 (Friday the 3rd for all those keeping track of the dates).

Michael Phelps picked up an 18th career gold, 17 year old Missy Franklin continued to impress picking up a third gold ahead of teammate Elizabeth Beisel who won bronze, 15 year old Katie Ledecky won her first gold medal, and judging by how she competed she'll be the future of U.S. swimming for year's to come. Cullen Jones, a staple on the men's relay teams won his first individual medal, a silver, proving he is one of the best sprinting swimmer on the circuit.

Only three days before, Chad le Clos beat Michael Phelps at the wall to capture gold in the 200m fly, an event that Phelps had won in Athens in '04 and in Beijing in '08. This, in a way, was Phelps' redemption; he poured it on in the last 50 meters looking like the Michael Phelps of old, the one we had grown so accustomed to seeing in Beijing. It was like he was in the pocket, in the zone, in the groove, he got his confidence back and it was overflowing. This was the second event (the first was the 200m im which he swam only the day before) in this Olympics in which Michael Phelps three-peated adding to the legend that is and will be.

Men's 100m Butterfly

rank lane
1      4     Michael Phelps U.S.A. 51.21
2      5     Chad le Clos South Africa 51.44
2      8     Evgeny Korotyshkin Russia 51.44
4      6     Milorad Cavic Serbia 51.81
4      7     Steffen Deibler Germany 51.81
6      2     Joeri Verlinden Netherlands 51.82
7      3     Tyler McGill U.S.A. 51.88
8      1     Konrad Czerniak Poland 52.05 

It's official; she's the best female backstroker in the world, Missy Franklin swept the backstroke winning the 200m as well and doing it in record time. Franklin swam it in 2:04.06 shattering the record previously held by Kirsty Coventry. Even Franklin's competitor and teammate Elizabeth Beisel could only have good words about Franklin's victory saying, "She’s an amazing competitor. She's always having fun but she really knows how to tune in when she needs to and I can’t congratulate her enough.”  

Women's 200m Backstroke

rank lane
1     5      Missy Franklin U.S.A. 2:04.06 WR
2     6      Anastasia Zueva Russia 2:05.92
3     4      Elizabeth Beisel U.S.A. 2:06.55
4     1      Elizabeth Simmonds Great Britain 2:07.26
5     3      Meagen Nay Australia 2:07.43
6     7      Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwae 2:08.18
7     2      Alexianne Castel France 2:08.43
8     8      Sinead Russell Canada 2:09.86

At 15, Katie Ledecky is the youngest member of the U.S. delegation in London, which also makes her the youngest U.S. gold medalist at these games. She impressively beat a seasoned field in the 800m free, the longest women's event in swimming. Teammate Michael Phelps gave Ledecky some advice in the ready room before her race, "'Have fun out there,’” Phelps said. “She went out there laid it all on the line. She looked like she went out and had some fun and won a gold medal and just missed the world record. I would say that’s a pretty good first Olympics for a 15-year-old.”  

Women's 800m Freestyle

rank lane
1     3      Katie Ledecky U.S.A. 8:14.63 AR
2     6      Mireia Belmonte Garcia Spain 8:18.76
3     4      Rebecca Adlington Great Britain 8:20.32
4     2      Lauren Boyle New Zealand 8:22.72
5     5      Lotte Friis Denmark 8:23.86
6     7      Boglarka Kapas Hungary 8:23.89
7     8      Coralie Balmy France 8:29.26
8     1      Andreina Pinto Perez Venezuela 8:29.28

Also know as the "splash and dash," the 50m determines the fastest man in the pool, it requires a great amount of focus and discipline, it requires a great start and a great finish. One of Brazil's most popular athletes Cesar Cielo was the favorite coming into this events. Cullen Jones, of team U.S.A. is probably the best swimmer of the bunch, but it was Florent Manaudou of France who would make it to the wall first. Manaudou's sister, Laure Manaudou won the women's 400 freestyle gold at the Athens in 2004, becoming the first female French swimmer to win an Olympic title.

Men's 50m Freestyle

rank lane
1     7      Florent Manaudou France 21.34
2     5      Cullen Jones U.S.A. 21.54
3     4      Cesar Cielo Brazil 21.59
4     6      Bruno Fratus Brazil 21.61
5     3      Anthony Ervin U.S.A. 21.78
6     8      Roland Schoeman South Africa 21.80
7     2      George Richard Bovell Trinidad & Tobago 21.82
8     1      Eamon Sullivan Australia 21.98