London Olympics 2012: Day 8

Day eight belonged to the eight fastest women in the world who sprinted in one of the premier track & field events, the 100 meter. Camelita Jeter of the U.S. was a favorite in this event from the time she made the team, and she performed at her season best; although, it wasn't enough to beat defending champion Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce from Jamaica. After the race, Jeter who just about glowed throughout heats, semifinals, and finals, said she hoped that she made us proud. I just want to say that she more than made us proud; she represented our country in such a strong, confident, graceful, and beautiful way. Seeing all these athletic and determined women made me so proud, it literally took my breath away watching them.

Women's 100m

1. Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce Jamaica 10.75
2. Carmelita Jeter U.S.A. 10.78 SB
3. Veronica Campbell Brown Jamaica 10.81 SB
4. Tianna Madison U.S.A. 10.85 PB
5. Allyson Felix U.S.A. 10.89 PB
6. Kelly Ann Baptiste Trinidad & Tobago
7. Murielle Ahoure Ivory Coast 11.00
8. Blessing Okagbare Nigeria 11.01

SB= Season Best
PB= Personal Best

* Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings moved on to the round of 16 in the beach volleyball tournament on day right. *

Kromowidjojo made it two for two in London winning gold in both her individual events: the 100 meter free and then the 50 meter, and along with the win in the 50, an Olympic record.

Women's 50m Freestyle

rank lane
1      4     Ranomi Kromowidjojo Netherlands 24.05 OR
2      5     Aliaksandra Herasimenia Belarus 24.28
3      3     Marleen Veldhuis Netherlands 24.39
4      6     Britta Steffen Germany 24.46
5      2     Francesca Halsall Great Britain 24.47
6      8     Therese Alshammar Sweden 24.61
7      1     Jessica Hardy U.S.A. 24.62
8      7     Arianna Vanderpool Wallace Bahamas 24.69

Yang Sun of China broke his own world record in the 1500 meter, and like Kromowidjojo, won his second gold medal at these Games. The U.S., a non factor in this race coming in in the sixth position.

Men's 1500m Freestyle

rank lane
1      4      Yang Sun China 14:31.02 WR
2      3      Ryan Cochrane Canada 14:39.63
3      5      Oussama Mellouli Tunisia 14:40.31
4      7      Taehwan Park Korea 14:50.61
5      6      Gregorio Paltrinieri Italy 14:51.92
6      1      Conor Jaeger U.S.A. 14:52.99
7      8      Mateusz Sawrymowicz Poland 14:54.32
8      2      Daniel Fogg Great Britain 15:00.76

Four women, all gold medalists in London, all added another gold medal to their repertoire in the women's 4x100 meter medley relay. Franklin won her fourth, Vollmer and Schmitt, won their third, and Soni her second. All four of them are fairly young and should be back in four years when the Rio Games take place. Swimming fans everywhere are already anticipating Franklin winning more medals and becoming the best female Olympian ever. It's inspiring to watch these young women all be so supportive of one another. I cannot wait to see them in Rio.

Women's 4x100m Medley Relay

rank lane
1     6      U.S.A. 3:52.05 WR
2     4      Australia 3:54.02
3     5      Japan 3:55.73
4     8      Russia 3:56.03
5     1      China 3:56.41
6     2      Netherlands 3:57.28
7     3      Denmark 3:57.76
8     7      Great Britain 3:59.46

He closed out his career with an 18th gold, grace, poise, confidence, and humility. Michael Phelps swam his final race and made even more history with the help of his teammates, Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen, and Nathan Adrian.

Ryan Lochte spoke of how he would miss swimming against Phelps. Missy Franklin admired watching how beautiful Michael is when he swims and how much she will miss him. Allison Schmitt was able to train with Phelps and she's become a close friend; she felt inspired by Phelps and how dedicated he has been to the sport of swimming over all these years.

This night, August 4th, 2012, was truly the end of an era.

Men's 4x100m Medley Relay

rank lane
1      4     U.S.A. 3:29.35
2      3     Japan 3:31.26
3      6     Australia 3:31.58
4      5     Great Britain 3:32.32
5      1     Hungary 3:33.02
6      7     Germany 3:33.06
7      2     Netherlands 3:33.46
8      8     Canada 3:34.19

 

London Olympics 2012: Day 3

The U.S. team upped their medal count in the pool on day three of competition, but in a stunning turn of events, favorite in the 200m free, Ryan Lochte was shut out of the medals finishing fourth. Frenchmen Agnel Yannick, who was part of that gold medal relay the day prior picked up yet another gold in this event. With so much pressure having been placed on Lochte going into these Olympics, many are beginning to wonder, if he crumbling under the pressure?

Men's 200m Freestyle

rank lane
1      5     Agnel Yannick France 1:43.14
2      3     Taehwan Park Korea 1:44.93
2      4     Yang Sun China 1:44.93
4      2     Ryan Lochte U.S.A. 1:45.04
5      6     Paul Bidermann Germany 1:45.53
6      1     Robbie Renwick Great Britain 1:46.53
7      8     Thomas Fraser Holmes Australia 1:46.93
8      7     Danila Izotov Russia 1:47.75

But besides Lochte, there was no other bad news in the pool for the Americans on night three.

Missy Franklin surpassed expectations winning her first Olympic medal, a gold, in the 100m Backstroke. Thirty five minutes before, she qualified for the finals in the 200m Freestyle. Franklin, who drew praise early, even from the likes of Michael Phelps, is humble about all her success. She showed up at a press conference today with her gold medal in her pocket. When the press asked where it was, she quickly pulled it out exclaiming, "isn't it pretty". Something tells me this is the beginning of an amazing career for Franklin, and I know she can handle the ride.

Women's 100m Backstroke

rank lane
1     5      Missy Franklin U.S.A. 58.33 AR
2     4      Emily Seebohn Australia 58.68
3     3      Aya Jerakawa Japan 58.83
4     2      Anastasia Zueva Russia 59.00
5     7      Gemma Spofforth Great Britain 59.20
6     6      Jing Zhao China 59.23
7     1      Belinda Hocking Australia 59.29
8     8      Yuanhui Fu China 1:00.50

Four years ago in Beijing, Matt Grevers finished second to American teammate Aaron Peirsol in the 100m Backstroke. This time around it was Grevers' turn and he capitalized finishing first. His teammate, Nick Thoman picked up a silver saying that he knew when he looked up at the board that he has to get over to Matt so they could celebrate together.

 Men's 100m Backstroke

rank lane
1      4     Matt Grevers U.S.A. 52.16 OR
2      2     Nick Thoman U.S.A. 52.92
3      6     Ryosuke Irie Japan 52.97
4      5     Camille Lacourt France 53.08
5      3     Liam Tancock Great Britain 53.35
6      1     Helge Meeuw Germany 53.48
7      8     Hayden Stoeckel Australia 53.55
8      7     Feiyi Cheng China 53.77

Rebecca Soni has been called the Queen of the Breaststroke throughout the swimming world; however, in the 100m last night, she was upset by a 15 year old phenom from Lithuania who had drawn a lot of hype in the swimming world, Ruta Meilutyte. Soni did win another silver and does have a few other races to swim in during these Olympics. 

Women's 100m Breaststroke

rank lane
1      4      Ruta Meilutyte Lithuania 1:05.47
2      5      Rebecca Soni U.S.A. 1:05.55
3      1      Satone Suzuki Japan 1:06.46
4      8      Alia Atkinson Jamaica 1:06.93
5      2      Leisel Jones Australia 1:06.95
6      6      Breeja Larson U.S.A. 1:06.96
7      3      Iuliia Efimova Russia 1:06.98
8      7      Rikke Pedersen Denmark 1:07.55
 
A couple days ago, I blogged on here about how wonderful our Men's Gymnastics Team was. They are still wonderful, and they lead the world in qualifying for the team event finishing in first place. Many within the sport of gymnastics felt they were the team to beat, this time would be theirs; they would be the first U.S. Men's Gymnastics Team to win a team gold. I have no idea what happened, and I am sure many are wondering the same, but in a strange turn of events, they tumbled all the way to fifth place, not even winning a medal of any color.

The Chinese team who had struggled 48 hours before and looked disastrous, miraculously walked away with gold, yet again. Japan, after contesting a low scoring pommel horse program by one of it's gymnast, won their request and a silver. Great Britain was more than happy to take a bronze that was well earned.

Men's Gymnastics Team Finals

1. China 275.997
2. Japan 271.952
3. Great Britain 271.711
4. Ukraine 271.526
5. U.S.A. 269. 952

Switching diving partners paid off for diver David Boudia who won a bronze medal in the 10m Platform with his new partner Nick McCrory. The Chinese continued their dominance in diving winning the gold, and the Mexican team enjoyed new found success with a silver. This is Mexico's first Olympic medal in synchronized diving; they deserved it because they did dives with a high degree of difficulty.

Men's Synchronized 10m Platform

1. Yuan Coa/ Yanquan Zhang China 486.78
2. Ivan Garcia Navarro/ German Sanchez Sanchez Mexico 468.90
3. David Boudia/ Nick McCrory U.S.A. 463.47


n.b. all the Olympics photos on this blog are from www.nbcolympics.com