Paris Olympics 2024 Update Saturday and Sunday 7.27 and 7.28

Saturday 7.27.24-- 

The first day of competition saw the American men win a gold in the swimming relay, the 4x100m Freestyle. The team was comprised of first time Olympians Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano, and returning Olympians Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel (both previously gold medalists).

Men's 4x100m Freestyle

1. USA, 3:09:28
2. Australia, 3:10:35
3. Italy, 3:10:70

The women could not overcome Team Australia but still finished with a silver in the same event. Returning Olympians Katie Douglass, Torri Huske, and Simone Manuel  joined first time Olympian Gretchen Walsh. 

Women's 4x100m Freestyle

1. Australia, 3:28:92
2. USA, 3:30:20
3. China, 3:30:30

Ariarne Titus of Australia defended her 400m Freestyle gold medal from Tokyo against 17 year old phenom Summer Mcintosh from Canada, and 10 time medalist Katie Ledecky from the US. 

Women's 400m Freestyle

1. Ariarne Titmus, Australia, 3:57:49
2. Summer Mcintosh, Canada, 3:58:37
3. Katie Ledecky, USA, 4:00:86

Divers Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook, affectionately known as "Cook n' Bacon" earned silver medals for the US in the 3m Synchronized Springboard Diving event, the first medals for each of them and the first American medals in this event since 2012.

Women's 3m Synchronized Springboard Diving

1. Yani Chang, Yimen Chen from China, 337.68
2. Sarah Bacon, Kassidy Cook from USA, 314.64
3. Yasmin Harper, Scarlet Mew Jensen from Great Britain, 302.28

Sunday 7.28.24-- 

In Fencing, Lee Kiefer of the US defended her Olympic title in Women's Foil. Her opponent, teammate Lauren Scruggs who upset World #1 Arianna Errigo of Italy. But it doesn't stop there, more history was made with Eleanor Harvey of Canada who formed the first non European podium in this event in Olympic history. 

Fencing Women's Individual Foil

1. Lee Kiefer, USA
2. Lauren Scruggs, USA
3. Eleanor Harvey, Canada

Nic Fink of the US picked up a silver in the Men's 100m Breaststroke. The amazing thing about Nic Fink is that swimming is a hobby for him! He works a full time job with his master's degree in Electrical Engineering. This is his second Olympics and he is peaking at 31 years of age. 

Men's 100m Breaststroke

1. Nicolo Martinenghi, Italy 59.03
2. Nic Fink, USA 59.05
2. Adam Peaty, Great Britain, 59.05

As a side note, Adam Peaty who tied for silver with Nic Fink tested positive for Covid after this race. 

The Women's 100m Butterfly saw the US ladies go 1, 2 in exciting fashion. This was a close race and everyone was right there. Torri Huske edged out favorite Gretchen Walsh. After the race, Torri said, I'm so thanknful to be here with Gretchen. It's just amazing. I've had a long road but I've had a lot of support and I'm so thankful for all of it." 

Women's 100m Butterfly

1. Torri Huske, USA 55.59
2. Gretchen Walsh, USA 55.63
3. Yufei Zhang, China 56.21

In a sweet moment, Torri asked Gretchen to join her atop the podium when she accepted her gold. 

Leon Marchand of France brought down the house and made a new Olympic record in the Men's 400m IM. Carson Foster of the US made it on to the podium winning a bronze. 

Men's 400m Individual Medley

1. Leon Marchand, France 4:02:95 Olympic Record
2. Tomoyuki Matsushita, Japan 4:08:62
3. Carson Foster, USA 4:08:66

  

     

 

The Olympics: Day 8 Rio

It was the final night of swimming at these Olympics. It was perhaps the last time we will see Michael Phelps race. It's very clear how much Michael loves swimming, competing, his teammates, his fans, and it will be, no doubt, different without him. He is a true legend and inspiration, and I think that's not going to go away any time soon.

Denmarks Pernille Blume won Denmark's first gold in swimming. Simone Manuel continued to impress at these Games, picking up another medal, this time Silver.

Women's 50m Freestyle

1. Pernille Blume, Denmark, 24.07
2. Simone Manuel, USA, 24.09
3. Aliaksandra Herasimenia, Belarus, 24.11

In the Men's 1500m, Gregorio Paltrinieri had the lead for almost the entire event and his teammate won the Bronze. Conor Jaeger improved from sixth place to second place,

Men's 1,500m Freestyle

1. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy, 14.34.57
2. Connor Jaeger, USA, 14.39.48
3. Gabriele Detti, Italy, 14.40.86

There was absolute dominance by the US Team in relays. This team has a lot to be proud of in terms of performance. More than ever, they have proven that the US is a force to be reckoned with in swimming and so many other sports.

Women's 4x 100m Medley Relay

1. USA, 3.53.13 (Team USA: Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer, Simone Manuel)
2. Australia, 3.55.00
3. Denmark, 3.55.01

Men's 4x 100m Medley Relay

1. USA, 3.27.95 (Team USA: Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian) Olympic Record
2. Great Britain, 3.29.24
3. Australia, 3.29.93

The Oympics: Day 6 Rio

Destiny fulfilled. Simone Biles won the Women's All Around today. Biles has been undefeated in three consecutive World Championships and tonight completed what has been a long journey. She was unstoppable and untouchable finishing two points ahead of her teammate Aly Raisman.  And it was redemption indeed for Aly Raisman who won the silver. I would argue that she is better today than she was four years ago. This marks the first time US Gymnasts have gone 1, 2 in the All Around since 2008 when Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson did it in Beijing. Mustafina who won the Bronze 4 years ago repeated as Bronze medalist today.

Women's All Around Finals Gymnastics

1. Simone Biles, USA, 62.198
2. Aly Raisman, USA, 60.098
3. Aliya Mustafina, Russian Federation, 58.665

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No Americans made it to the finals in the Women's 200m Breaststroke, a rarity during these games. Rie Kaneto of Japan won the gold. It was the first time in 3 Games that an American did not win. In 2004, Amanda Beard won Gold and in 2008 and 2012 Rebecca Soni took the Gold. Controversial swimmer from the Russian Team, Yulia Efimova improved to Silver from Bronze 4 years ago in this same event.

Women's 200m Breaststroke

1. Rie Kaneto, Japan, 2.20.30
2. Yulia Efimova, Russian Federation, 2.21.97
3, Shi Jinglin, China, 2.22.28

There is a new king in the Backstroke, and it's Ryan Murphy. At 21 years of age and making his Olympic debut, Murphy swept the Backstroke events winning Gold in both and keeping the US streak alive at 6 in a row in Olympic Games. He beat out Mitch Larkin who is the 2015 World Champion in this event.

Men's 200m Backstroke

1. Ryan Murphy, USA, 1.53.62
2, Mitch Larkin, Australia, 1.53.96
3. Evgeny Rylov, Russian Federation, 1.53.97

This was one of the events I was looking forward to during this entire Olympics. After all, it may be the last time that Phelps and Lochte go head to head in an Olympic event. I honestly expected them to go 1, 2 in this event. It's always been Michael and Ryan, but tonight for some reason, it just was not to be. It's like only half the story ended as it should have. Ryan was even leading at one point. Michael pulled ahead, like so many times before, and never looked back, the only difference is that this time Ryan was not right behind him.

Men's 200m Individual Medley

1. Michael Phelps, USA, 1.54.66
2. Kosuke Hagino, Japan, 1.56.61
3. Wang Shun, China, 1.57.05

5. Ryan Lochte, USA, 1.57.47

Wow Simone Manuel! You are a firecracker! Simone became the first African American woman to win an individual swimming medal, and go figure, it was Gold! And she died for an Olympic record with Penny Oleksiak of Canada. This is the first Olympics for Manuel and Oleksiak who beat out sisters and favorites in this race from Cate and Bronte Campbell from Australia. Sarah Sjostrom who won a couple of Golds earlier in the week took a silver.

Women's 100m Freestyle

1. Simone Manuel, USA, 52.70 Olympic Record
1. Penny Oleksiak, Canada, 52.70 Olympic Record
3. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 52.99