The Olympics: Day 9 Rio

On Day 9, there were lots of Gymnastics apparatus finals and Usain Bolt in the 100m Dash, lots of excitement on this day.

On the Men's Floor Exercise, there was pure joy when two Brazilian gymnasts medaled. Max Whitlock of Great Britain won the first gold for a British gymnast. Whitlock won the bronze medal in the All Around. He went on to later win the Pommel Horse Final as well where he is the defending champion. Once again, disappointment for the US Men's Team, Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton were the top two qualifiers and neither one of them medaled.

Men's Floor Exercise

1. Max Whitlock, Great Britain, 15.633
2. Diego Hipolito, Brazil, 15.533
3. Arthur Mariano, Brazil, 15.433

In the Women's Vault Finals, it was all about Simone Biles. She won her third gold of this Games! She is a young woman certainly destined to make history. Her first vault was a 15.9 and her second was a 16.033. She won this by a significant margin.

Women's Vault Final

1. Simone Biles, USA, 15.966
2. Maria Paseka, Russian Federation, 15.253
3. Giulia Steingruber, Switzerland, 15.216

I already mentioned that Max Whitlock also secured a gold in Pommel Horse. Alex Naddour of the US picked up the bronze. This may very well be the only medal the US Men's gymnasts walk away with.

Men's Pommel Horse Final

1. Max Whitlock, Great Britain, 15.966
2. Louis Smith, Great Britain, 15.833
3. Alex Naddour, USA, 15.700

Russia's Aliya Mustafina repeated as the uneven bars champion. She is only the second female gymnast to do this, the first was Svetlana Khorkina, also from Russia in 1996 and 2000. Maddison Kocian of the US Team took the silver while Gabby Douglas struggled to stay on the apparatus and as a result, her score wasn't high enough to make the podium.

Women's Uneven Bars Final

1. Aliya Mustafina, Russian Federation, 15.900
2. Maddison Kocian, USA, 15.833
3. Sophie Scheder, Germany, 15.566

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In the Men's 100m Dash, Usain Bolt proved why he is a force. He didn't get out of the blocks the best, but he just accelerated, and started passing each opponent. In the last 10 meters he slowed down, looked at this opponents and passed them. Bolt picked up his third consecutive Olympic Gold in the 100m, a feat that has never been done before. Bolt seals his legacy as perhaps the greatest sprinter ever. Justin Gatlin came back from redemption, and I feel he earned that running the best race he could and capturing the Silver.

Men's 100m Final

1. Usain Bolt, Jamaica, 9.81
2. Justin Gatlin, USA, 9.89
3. Andre De Grasse, Canada, 9.94

I bet that Wayde Van Niekirk is one of the most beloved athletes in South Africa. He is trained by his grandmother. He finished fifth in qualifying and had to start the final for the 400m in Lane 8, a place no one wants to be. Van Niekirk proved why he is the real deal, he finished in first out of Lane 8 and shattered the World Record and the Olympic Record. His grandmother was in the audience watching, what a moment. Of note, LaShawn Merritt of the US Team picked up a bronze.

Men's 400m Final

1. Wayde Van Niekirk, South Africa, 43.03 World Record, Olympic Record
2. Kirani Jone, Grenada, 43.76
3. LaShawn Merritt, USA, 43.85

The Olympics: Rio Day 1

Lots of surprises came in day one of competition at the 31st Olympic Games in Rio. I expected much more US dominance in the pool. They did walk away with three silver medals, but why did I feel like there would be so much more? The Australians bounced back from a dismal performance in swimming at the London Games and walked away on night one with two golds in the Men's 400m Freestyle and the Women's 4x100m Relay.

Chase Kalisz grew up watching Michael Phelps. Phelps sees Kalisz like a little brother. The 400m IM, Kalisz said, is all about legacy, and so even though silver is nothing to be upset about, you couldn't help but see the look on Kalisz's face knowing that the gold slipped away.

On the Women's side, Katinka Hosszu was absolutely dominant in the Women's 400m IM shattering a World Record and Olympic Record. She's known as the Iron Lady for a reason, look for her to continue this dominance during the Games.

Results:

Men's 400m IM
1. Kosuke Hagino Japan, 4.06.05
2. Chase Kalisz USA, 4.06.75
3. Daiya Seto Japan, 4.09.71

Men's 400m Freestyle
1. Mack Horton Australia, 3.41.55
2. Yang Sun China, 3.41.68
3. Gabriele Detti Italy, 3.43.49
4. Connor Dwyer USA, 3.43.42
5. Connor Yaeger USA, 3.45.37

Women's 400m IM
1. Katinka Hosszu Hungary, 4..26.36 World Record, Olympic Record
2. Madeline Dirado USA, 4.31.15
3. Mireia Belmonte Garcia Spain, 4.32.39

Women's 4x100m Relay
1. Australia 3.30.65 World Record, Olympic Record
2. USA 3.31.89 (Team USA: Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, Dana Vollmer, Katie Ledecky)
3. Canada 3.32.89

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In Gymnastics was the Men's Qualifying for the Team, All Around, and Individual Apparatus Competitions. The US Men looked to redeem themselves from their performance in London.

Here are the eight teams competing in the Team Competition:

1. China 270.461
2. USA 270.405
3. Russian Federation 269.612
4. Japan 269.294
5. Great Britain 268.670
6. Brazil 268.078
7. Ukraine 263.002
8. Germany 261.518

In the All Around, only two athletes per team can be sent. From Team USA, Sam Mikulak and Chris Brooks will compete.

The US Men did not qualify for the Still Rings and Vault, but did qualify for the following:

Floor Exercise: Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton
Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour
Horizontal Bar: Danell Leyva and Sam Mikulak
Parallel Bars: Danell Leyva

I cannot wait to see how they do!