The Voice: Season 26 .... to watch or not to watch?

Premiere, Night One: 

I was debating whether I wanted to watch The Voice this season. I was not particularly enthused with the mix of coaches this season. I like Gwen but she's never been a great coach. I love Reba. I was not sure what to think about Michael Buble, but I am really impressed with him.  I thought Snoop was going to be corny as hell and I am still not 100% sure who the real Snoop is, but I like this person on The Voice. 

This season, there’s a new cool feature and it’s called the coaches replay. It allows a coach to hit the button after the contestant’s performance is over, it’s kind of like a do over if the coach messed up and didn’t turn. 

There are some great singers this season! Kicking it all off was Jake Tankersley singing Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan-- This ended up being a four chair turn. Jake has a great voice, he had a Chris Stapleton sound to me. I loved the gravel in his voice. Gwen used her block on Reba but it didn't matter because Jake was all about the Snoop D-O double G. 

Sofronio Vasquez came out singing I'm Going Down by Mary J. Blige-- I loved how he made this song his own. I didn't hear a shred of Mary J. and I loved that. This was another four chair turn and this time Michael came out on top. I think what sold it was Michael's connection to his fans in the Phillippines as that's where Sofronio is from.  

Jan Dan sang Almost Doesn't Count by Brandy-- I have to be honest, this seemed very ordinary to me, nothing really stood out here. Michael and Gwen turned and Jan picked Team Gwen. 

Danny Joseph sang I Put a Spell on You by Screamin Joe Hawkins-- This guy is so good! I love how he went so long and is still undiscovered. This was another well deserved four chair turn and Snoop blocked Michael. Danny is from London living in Austin, Texas. He has so much soul, character, and control in his voice. Danny chose Reba! 

Torre Blake sang On & On by Erykah Badu— I loved Torre, she was soulful and a little different than the norm, there’s something about her vibe that is really cool. Her dad played in the NFL. Gwen and Snoop ended up turning and Torre picked Snoop. 

Kendall Eugene sang Don’t Think Jesus by Morgan Wallen— This was one of my favorite performances and to think he almost didn’t make it! Reba used her replay on Kendall. I don’t understand why no one turned to begin with. I thought he was great and I loved that he sang a faith based song. 

Not particularly notable… Kiara Vega sang Amor Eterno and went to Team Buble and Chrisdeo sang I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz and she picked Team Snoop. 

Last of night one, Sydney Sterlace sang Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo— hard to believe Sydney is only 15! She was so emotionally connected to the song. This was a rightful and well deserved four chair turn. Sydney chose Team Gwen. 

Blinds Part Two:

Dreion sang Shining Star by Earth, Wind, and Fire-- All four coaches ultimately turned. What I loved about Dreion is that he has an amazing voice with great dynamics. He also has this cool stage presence. You don't always have artists who have the voice and that energy on stage. I think Dreion would have been great with Michael but he ultimately chose Snoop. 

Mor Ilderton sang Coal by Dylan Gossett-- I absolutely loved this performance. I think he is going to do well on the show. I am shocked that he has never performed before. Michael turned first and blocked Reba. He did the right thing because he has a very country and folksy sound. Michael loved his distinct voice. Reba said his voice was sexy. And Snoop said country and gangsta go together. Mor chose Michael. 

Felsmere sang Some Kind of Wonderful by Grand Funk Railroad-- Felsmere is all the way from Season one. I loved her take on this song, it was very bluesy and sultry. Michael and Gwen turned. Gwen said she would help Felsmere figure out who she is. Felsmere chose Gwen. 

Kamila Kiehne sang Black Velvet-- I was not as crazy about this performance as a few of the coaches were-- Reba, Michael, and Snoop turned pretty quickly. I did think her voice was shaky in certain points. The Canadian connection did it, Kamila chose Team Buble. 

Tanner Frick sang Thought You Should Know by Morgan Wallen-- This was a fave performance of mine. I loved Tanner's honesty. This ultimately became a well deserved four chair turn. Snoop turned first and said Tanner's uniqueness really came through. Reba said his growl is reminiscent of Chris Stapleton. Tanner chose Team Reba. 

Rowdy Shea sang You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This by Toby Keith-- This was an interesting one, country singer Gwen and Michael turned but no Reba. She has an ear for talent. Rowdy chose Gwen. 

323 (a trio) sang You Drive Me Crazy by Britney Spears-- I always appreciate a group. They are good, not great, but good. I would love to see what one of the coaches can do with them. Michael and Reba turned, and they chose Team Reba. 

Gail Bliss sang If It Hadn't Been for Love-- Gail played Patsy Kline in a show for 30 years. She's 61 and the oldest in the competition. She is good! No one turned. Snoop decided that he was going to use his replay on her and rightfully so. He said the spirit of his mom inspired him. 

Austyns Stancil sang Oh Baby Baby by Smokey Robinson-- Austyns has an amazing voice. Michael mentioned this and I agree. I love how he went from his falsetto into his mid range. It was beautiful. He's naturally gifted as a vocalist and that's actually quite rare. Well deserved four chair turn. Austyns picks Team Gwen. 

So I want to do something this year called a Voice Fantasy Team! I want to pick all my faves and put them on a Fantasy Team and I am going to make similar cuts the way they do on the show. Only my faves! I am going to pick 25 out of everyone who gets through. 

Fantasy Team 

1 Jake Tankersley

2. Danny Joseph

3. Kendall Eugene

4. Sydney Sterlace

5. Mor Ilderton

6. Felsmere

7. Tanner Frick

8. Austyns Stancil 

Paris Olympics 2024: Saturday 8.10

8.10.24 Saturday: 

Last day of major competition brought some more hardware for the US team. 

Masai Russell came from out of nowhere in a stacked field to win the Women's 100m Hurdles. She defeated the defending champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn. 

Women's 100m Hurdles:

1. Masai Russell, USA 12.33
2. Cyrena Samba Mayela, France 12.34
3. Jasmine Camacho Quinn, Puerto Rico 12.36

Men's 5,000m

1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway 13:13:66
2. Ronald Kwemoi, Kenya 13:15:04
3. Grant Fisher, USA 13:15:13

The Men's High Jump ended in a tie four (well three) years ago. This time around, the competitors/ athletes wanted a tie breaker. 

Men's High Jump

1. Hamish Kerr, New Zealand 2.36
2. Shelby McEwen, USA 2.36
3. Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatar 2.34

The men's basketball team prevailed and won the gold! 

Men's Basketball

1. USA
2. France
3. Serbia 

Wrapping up this games was two amazing races that resulted in gold medals for the USA. There was the Men's 4x 400m relay and the Women's 4x400m relay. 

Rai Benjamin anchored the relay and is the first to win a gold in the 400m hurdles and a gold in the 4x400m relay. Quincy Wilson, at the age of 16, will also get a gold for running in the prelims for this race. With their time in the finals, the men established a new Olympic record. 

Men's 4x400m Relay

1. USA, 2:54:43 -- Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin

2. Botswana, 2:54:53

3. Great Britain, 2:55:83

Now onto the women! They did not disappoint either. In the process of coming together to win gold they also set a new American record. 

Women's 4x400m Relay

1. USA, 3:15:27 -- Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Alexis Holmes

2. Netherlands, 3:19:50

3. Great Britain, 3:19:72

Paris Olympics 2024: Thursday-Friday, 8.8-8.9

 8.8.24 Thursday: 

The games started to wind down, and the Men's 200m really started to bring the drama. Noah Lyles came to these Olympics on a mission, he wanted to win the 100 and 200 meter sprints. He had already captured gold in the 100, but the 200 is his favorite event. What Noah didn't anticipate was contracting covid in the days leading up to the final. 

Men's 200m Final

1. Letsile Tebogo, Botswana 19.46

2. Kenny Bednarek, USA 19.62

3. Noah Lyles, USA 19.70

Women's Long Jump Final

1. Tara Davis Woodhall, USA 7.10

2. Malaika Mihambo, Germany 6.98

3. Jasmine Moore, USA 6.96

Who could forget Tara Davis Woodhall winning gold. She leapt into her husband's arms as he told her that she was an Olympic Champion. It was such an expression of love and admiration between the Olympian and Paralympian.

Women's 400m Hurdles

1. Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, USA 50.37
2. Anna Cockrell, USA 51.87

3. Femke Bol, Netherlands 52.15

One of my favorite races to watch of this. games was anything that Sydney McLaughlin Levrone ran in. There are many things to admire about her. She is hard working, talented, and she leans heavily on her faith in God and speaks openly about it. Every time she runs she seems to break world record after world record, just like she did here. She started the 400m and no one was able to catch her. She came in and defended her Olympic title, she's hasn't lost this race since 2019. 

For years now, Grant Holloway has been considered the top men's hurdler at the 110m distance. However, the gold medal alluded him in Tokyo. He came in second to Hansle Parchment from Jamaica. The lose was hard on Holloway who says he is a sore loser. He made it his mission to never come in second again if he could help it. In this race, no one was close to Holloway at the finish line. 

Men's 110m Hurdles

1. Grant Holloway, USA 12.99

2. Daniel Roberts, USA 13.09

3. Rasheed Broadbell, Jamaica 13.09

8.9.24 Friday:  

 

Friday featured a stunning turn of events for the USA relay teams. The US Women's Relay Team came back in stunning fashion to capture gold in the 4x100. However, the men were disqualified for passing the baton outside of the approved zone. This race seems to be continuing to haunt them. 

Women's 4x100m Relay

1. USA, 41.78 (Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Gabby Thomas, Sha'Carri Richardson)

2. Great Britain, 41.85

3. Germany, 41.97

Men's 4x100m Relay 

1. Canada, 37.50

2. South Africa, 37.57

3. Great Britain, 37.61

(USA was disqualified)

Men's 400m Hurdles

1. Rai Benjamin, USA 46.46

2. Karsten Warholm, Norway 47.06

3. Allison Dos Santos, Brazil 47.26

Rai Benjamin secured the one thing that had been alluding these past four years, Olympic gold. He closed a chapter in a powerful book preventing Karsten Warholm of Norway from repeating in this event. He was attempting to be the first since 1960 to do it. Benjamin had other ideas however, he knew he would close strong in the last 200 meters and he did.  

Paris Olympics 2024 Tuesday and Wednesday 8.6 and 8.7

8.6.24 Tuesday-- 

One of the most exhilarating moments of the Paris Olympics was the Men's 1500m in Track & Field. Cole Hocker of the US emerged from the pack to win the gold. All you have to do is watch the race to see how amazing what Cole Hocker did. Shout out to Yared Nuguse for snagging a bronze. He is just so talented. 

Track & Field: Men's 1500m Final

1. Cole Hocker, USA 3:27:65

2. Josh Kerr, Great Britain 3:27:79

3. Yared Nuguse, USA 3:27:80

Track & Field: Women's Hammer

1. Camryn Rogers, Canada 76.97

2. Annette Echikienwoke, USA 75.48

3. Jie Zhao, China 74.27

After winning bronze in Tokyo, Gabby Thomas was not going to accept any other option than to upgrade to gold. And that she did. She was out ahead of everyone. She bested Julien Alfred, the gold medalist in the 100m Final. She is the first American woman atop the podium in this event since Allison Felix in 2012. Julien Alfred took silver, congratulated Gabby and told her she was proud, what a class act! Brittany Brown who was a total underdog here won the bronze. 

Track & Field: Women's 200m Final 

1. Gabby Thomas, USA 21.83

2. Julien Alfred, St. Lucia 22.08

3. Brittany Brown, USA 22.20

8.7.24 Wednesday-- 

Wednesday had some limited play, but there was a race in particular that had all the elements of an exciting race. And that was the Men's 400m Final! Quincy Hall had been a 400m Hurdle Runner, he switched to the 400m Final and the rest is history! During this race, Hall had started to fade, and then in the last 50 meters, he dug deep, and I mean deep. He passed four other runners, and finished with one of the top four times in the history of this race.  

Track & Field: Men's 400m Final

1. Quincy Hall, USA 43.40

2. Matthew Hudson Smith, Great Britain 43.44

3. Mazula Samukonga, Zambia 43.74

Track & Field: Women's Pole Vault 

1. Nina Kennedy, Australia 4.90

2. Katie Moon, USA 4.85

3. Alysha Newman, Canada 4.85

Track & Field Men's 3000m Steeplechase 

1. Sofiane Elbakkali, Morocco 8:06:05

2. Kenneth Rooks, USA 8:06:41

3. Abraham Kibi Wott, Kenya 8:06:47

Paris Olympics 2024 Sunday and Monday 8.4 and 8.5

8.4 Sunday--

Sunday had some good stuff from the individual event finals in Gymnastics, Swimming (the real final night in the pool), and Track & Field. 

Let's start first with some Tennis and Golf!

In Tennis, Novak Djokovic won the gold medal that alluded him for most of his career and Carlos Alcaraz from Spain took the silver. 

Then in Golf-- Scottie Scheffler from the US won the gold. Tommy Fleetwood from Great Britain took silver and Hideki Matsuyama from Japan took bronze. 

In Cycling, Kristen Faulkner from the US won the Road Race in 3:59:23. 

There was another day of Gymnastics individual event finals. Sunday included the Women's Uneven Bars and the Men's Rings and Men's Vault. Carlos Yulo of the Philippines won a second gold, this time in Vault! In the Uneven Bars, Suni Lee from the US picked up another bronze. Maybe not what she hoped for but I think she was so grateful nevertheless. 

Gymnastics Men's Rings

1. Yang Liu, China 15.300
2. Jing Yuan Zou, China 15.23
3. Eleftherios Petrunias, Greece 15.100

Gymnastics Men's Vault

1. Carlos Yulo, Philippines 15.116
2. Artur Davtyan, Armenia 14.966
3. Harry Hepworth, Great Britain 14.949

Gymnastics Women's Uneven Bars

1. Kaylia Nemour, Algeria 15.700
2. Qiyuan Qiu, China 15.500
3. Sunisa Lee, USA 14.800 

Swimming wrapped up in interesting fashion. In the race often dubbed, the splash and dash that determined the fastest woman in the pool, the US finished off the podium. However, the 1500m Men's Freestyle, a race of strength, calculation, and endurance saw the US at the top with Bobby Finke winning and setting a new World Record. The theme of the year of the women at these games continued with a gold in the relay. The men made it to the podium but struggled. 

Swimming: Women's 50m Freestyle

1. Sarah Sjostron, Sweden 23.71
2. Meg Harris, Australia 23.97
3. Yufei Zhang, China 24.20
4. Gretchen Walsh, USA 24.21

Swimming: Men's 1500m Freestyle

1. Bobby Finke, USA 14:30:67 World Record
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy 14:34:55
3. Daniel Wiffen, Ireland 14:39:63

Swimming: Men's 4x100m Medley Relay 

1. China, 3:27:46
2. USA, 3:28:01 -- Ryan Murphy 52.44, Nic Fink 58.97, Caeleb Dressel 49.41, Hunter Armstrong 47.19
3. France, 3:28:38

Swimming: Women's 4x100m Medley Relay 

1. USA, 3:49:63 -- Regan Smith 57.28, Lilly King 1:04:90, Gretchen Walsh 55:03, Torri Huske 52:49
2. Australia, 3:53:11
3. China, 3:53:23

In Track & Field, one of the premier events is the Men's 100m Dash, it essentially determines the fastest man in the world. Three men represented the US, Noah Lyles-- very hyped, and the favorite coming in, Kenny Bednarek-- often an adversary of Lyles, and Fred Kerley a medalist from Tokyo. The race was so close a photo finish was needed. Many thought Kishane Thompson from Jamaica won, but the photo proved Lyles just edged him out. 

Track & Field: Men's 100m Final

1. Noah Lyles, USA  9.79
2. Kishane Thompson, Jamaica 9.79
3. Fred Kerley, USA 9.81

8.5 Monday-- 

The final round of gymnastics individual event finals were today. It was an interesting and controversial day for the women. Suni Lee and Simone Biles fell off the balance beam and they weren't the only ones. I kept thinking, is there something wrong with the beam?

Then in the floor exercise, controversial rulings by the judges. Jordan Chiles was underscored and given a lower start value for successfully completing more difficult elements. A Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca Voinea was penalized for stepping out of bounds, even though she did not. Ana Barbosu originally landed in third place once everyone performed. She believed she was the bronze medalist. Jordan Chile's coach filed an appeal, something often done in gymnastics. When the appeal had been decided,  Jordan was awarded the bronze medal. Barbosu was left devastated. The lastest is that Romania appealed this decision, and the IOC decided Jordan must give back her medal. 

Gymnastics: Men's Parallel Bars

1. Jingyuan Zou, China 16.200

2. Illia Kovtun, Ukraine 15.500

3. Shinnosuke Oka, Japan 15.300

Gymnastics: Women's Balance Beam

1. Alice D'Amato, Italy 14.366

2. Yagin Zhou, China 14.100

3. Manila Esposito, Italy 14.000

Gymnastics: Men's High Bar

1. Shinnosuke Oka, Japan 14.533

2. Angel Borajas, Colombia 14.533

3. Behing Zhang, China 13.966

4. Chia Hung Tang, China 13.966

Gymnastics: Women's Floor Exercise

1. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil 14.166

2. Simone Biles, USA 14.133

3. Jordan Chiles, USA 13.766

Track & Field: Men's Pole Vault

1. Mondo Duplantis, Sweden 6.25

2. Sam Kendricks, USA 5.95

3. Emmanouil Karalis, Greece 5.90

In the Women's Discus Valarie Allman of the US repeated as Olympic Champion having won in Tokyo. 

Track & Field: Women's Discus

1. Valarie Allman, USA 69.50

2. Bin Feng, China 67.51

3. Sandra Elkasevic, Croatia 67.51

Surfing: Women's Event

1. Caroline Marks, USA

2. Tatiana Weston Webb, Brazil

3. Johanne Defay, France 

 

 

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.