The Olympics: Day 3 Rio

I forgot to make mention yesterday that Olympian Wu Mingxia won her fifth Gold medal for Diving yesterday in the Women's 3m Springboard. Unheard of in her sport! Wu looks to make even more history by competing in other events during these Games. As expected, she is a favorite to medal!

Women's 3m Synchronized Springboard

1. Shi Tingmao and Wu Mingxia China 345.60
2. Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape Italy 313.83
3. Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith Australia 299.19

Today was the Men's 10m Synchronized Platform Diving event. Gold medalist from the London Games, 27 year old, David Boudia had a new partner this time around in 20 year old Olympic newcomer Steele Johnson. Johnson says he is fortunate to get to train with a Gold medalist in his sport, but to dive with him, and be on the same team, even better. He says Boudia is not only a mentor but a friend. It was so great to watch them win Silver in this event. It was the Chinese Team though, with a score that could not be beat, who won Gold.

Men's 10m Synchronized Platform

1. Chen Aisen and Lin Yue China 496.98
2. David Boudia and Steele Johnson USA 457.11
3. Thomas Daley and David Goodfellow Great Britain 444.45

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Tonight, the Olympic pool was full of success and medals for the US Team. How consistently excited I've been watching these athletes compete and show the best of what they have to offer. Everyone has such a great story.

Conor Dwyer looked to redeem himself after a tough finish in the 400m Freestyle. He finished in 4th, just out of the medals. The 200m was his chance and when he looked up at the times, he finished in third. Sun Yang from China finished in first, and Chad Le Clos from South Africa finished in second, Mack Horton fron Australia who won the 400m called Yang from China a cheat, and said he hoped his sport would clean up these types of occurrences and that those caught would be punished.

Men's 200m Freestyle

1. Sun Yang, China, 1.44.65
2. Chad Le Clos, South Africa, 1.45.20
3. Conor Dwyer, USA, 1.45.23

Rookie to the Games, Ryan Murphy kept the US legacy alive in the 100m Men's Backstroke on Monday night. The US Team has won the Gold in this event dating all the way back to the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Not only did Murphy win but he set a new Olympic record. Fellow American, David Plummer won the Bronze and made history of his own becoming the oldest medalist in this event, 30 years 304 days.

Men's 100m Backstroke

1. Ryan Murphy, USA, 51.97 Olympic Record
2. Xu Jiayu, China, 52.31
3. David Plummer, USA, 52.40

Katinka Hosszu is continuing her gold streak at these games picking up her second Gold. She has come to two Olympics prior to this and never won a medal before Rio. What a story! Meanwhile, US team member, Kathleen Baker picked up a silver and couldn't be more ecstatic in her post race interview.

Women's 100m Backstroke

1. Katinka Hosszu, Hungary, 58.45
2. Kathleen Baker, USA, 58.75
3. Kylie Masse, Canada, 58.76
3. Fu Yuanhui, China, 58.76

There's been a war of words brewing between Lilly King and Yulia Efimova. The only thing is, King did all the talking.  King voiced that she felt anyone who had been caught doping from Russia past or present should be banned. Efimova previously served a 16 month suspension for testing positive. King's win was a major statement and in her post race interview, she said she stood by her words and her stance on the doping issues surrounding these and so many other games.

Women's 100m Breaststroke

1. Lillia King, USA, 1.04.93 Olympic Record
2. Yulia Efimova, Russian Federation, 1.05.50
3. Catherine Meili, USA, 1.05.69

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Disappointment in the Men's Team Final as the US Men finished out of the medals. Alex Naddour and Danell Laeva struggled last night on multiple events. For what should have been a happy night for the US Men's Team instead was frustration. 

Men's Team Final Artistic Gymnastics 

1. Japan 274.094

2. Russian Federation 271.453

3. China 271.122

4. Great Britain 269.752

5. USA 268.560

6. Brazil 263.728

7. Germany 261.275

8. Ukraine 207.028

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

London Olympics 2012: Day 1

Following the Beijing Games, the already legendary Michael Phelps told reporters that he wouldn't compete in the 400m individual medley again. He didn't offer an explanation as to why, he just said he wouldn't do it. Sometime between then and now, Phelps changed his mind, even qualifying with teammate Ryan Lochte. You know what they say though, your first instinct is usually the right one, and that's probably what Phelps was thinking today after his fourth place finish in the final. Phelps teammate, friend, and rival Ryan Lochte confidently took the gold proving that maybe the spotlight will not just be on Phelps anymore. The last time Phelps finished out of the medals was in the 2000 Games in Sydney; he has six more opportunities to earn hardware before he retires at the end of these games. Lochte vows he will be a force to be reckoned with at the 2016 Games in Rio.

Men's 400m IM

rank lane
1      3     Ryan Lochte USA 4:05.18
2      6     Thiago Pereira Brazil 4:08.86
3      4     Kasuke Hagino Japan 4:08.94
4      8     Michael Phelps USA 4:09.28
5      5     Chad le Clos Russia 4:12.42
6      1     Yuya Horihata Japan 4:13.30
7      2     Thomas Fraser Holmes Australia 4:13.49
8      7     Luca Marin Italy 4:14.89

Misty May Treanor and Kerry Walsh Jennings continued their domination in beach volleyball proving that although they contemplated retirement they are still the team to beat. They are now 15-0 in Olympic matches and 30-0 in sets played.

Did anyone notice our amazing Men's Gymnastics team? Not only are these guys ridiculously awesome athletes but they are also not too hard on the eyes. They qualified for the team finals and various members of the team qualified for all around and events finals.

Rhode Island native Elizabeth Beisel won a silver in the 400m individual medley sandwiched between two young Chinese swimmers. Beisel had been the favorite to win gold.

Women's 400m  IM

rank lane
1      5      Ye Shiwen China 4:28.43 World Record
2      4      Elizabeth Beisel USA 4:31.27
3      6      Li Xuanxu China 4:32.91
4      3      Katinka Hosszu Hungary 4:33.49
5      7      Hannah Miley Great Britain 4:34.17
6      1      Stephanie Rice Australia 4:35.49
7      8      Caitlin Leverenz USA 4:35.49
8      2      Mireia Belmonte Garcia Spain 4:35.62

In the Women's 4x100m Relay, Australia set a new Olympic record taking the gold and forcing the Netherlands to settle for silver and the U.S. for bronze respectively.

In more U.S. medal news, Peter Vanderkaay picked up a bronze medal in the Men's 400m free, with Sun Yang from China setting a new Olympic record and winning the gold, and Taehwan Park from Korea taking the silver.