Today's Events: Basketball, Diving, Fencing, Judo, Rowing, Swimming, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting
Olympic word of the day: Exclusion - A water polo term for the requirement of a player to leave the pool to a designated area behind the goal line due to a foul being called on that player. Similar to being sent to the penalty box in hockey.
A few interesting results from day 6 of competition. The first being that I discovered the best overall athlete in these entire Olympic games, Emilce Sosa, who plays volleyball for Argentina. With a name like that, how can she not be the best athlete in these - or any - games?
Seriously, some important upsets occurred, none ordinarily bigger that the United States women's field hockey teams defeat of world number 1 ranked Australia by a score of 2-1. The United States took the lead on Michele Vitesse's goal off a corner; a lead it would never relinquish.
You may notice that ordinarily no upsets would be bigger than the US defeating Australia in women's field hockey, except the US women have rapidly risen to be ranked number 5 in the world. However, this hardly registers as an upset compared to what happened in archery.
World number 1, and gold medal winner in the team competition, Kim Woo-jin, lost in the round of 32 to Riau Ega Agatha of Indonesia 6-2. Kim, fresh off a world record 700 (out of 720) in the ranking round, and a first place performance in the team competition, was not quite himself in losing to the Indonesian Agatha. If this was the finals, it would rank as one of the more memorable Olympic upsets in history, right up there with US Hockey defeating the Soviet Union in 1980 and Rulon Gardner upsetting Alexander Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling in 2000.
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The pool, as is often the case, produced some incredible performances with Hungary's Katinka Hosszu winning her second gold in the 100 meter backstroke. In more dramatic fashion, Lilly King, the brash 19 year old swimmer from the United States set an Olympic record in winning gold in the 100 meter breaststroke, defeating arch-rival, Russia's Yulia Efimova. Efimova, who has twice been suspended for taking performance enhancing drugs - the second of which was only recently overturned while the World Anti-Doping Agency investigates the drug she allegedly took, meldonium. King, when asked about Efimova's return to the pool, stated that it was the IOC's decision, "even thought it isn't something I agree with". King's statement was made prior to the 100 meter breaststroke final, and her swim backed up her words.
At least Ryan Lochte wasn't around to ruin the race for King.
Even with all of the drama in the pool - figurative and literal - two South Americans share the story of the day, which I will discuss chronologically (or at least chronologically as I saw them).
First, in the judo, 57kg weight class, Brazilian Rafaela Silva wins the host country's first gold medal of these games. Silva, who is from Rio de Janeiro proper, lives less than 5 miles from the venue where she competed. Congratulations to the hometown hero, Rafaela Silva.
The co-story of the day is the plight of Colombian weightlifter Oscar Figueroa. Figueroa, in his fourth Olympics, was the reigning silver medalist having finished second in London in 2012. The crowd, made up largely of a well-travelling contingent from Colombia, was largely behind him as he competed in the 62 kg weight class. Figueroa successfully completed his lift totaling 318 kilo grams combined after the snatch and the clean and jerk. Once the other competitors failed to equal this weight, Figueroa knew he won gold. Nevertheless, Figueroa continued out for his last lift, one last attempt to set an Olympic record. Although Figueroa failed to set the Olympic record, he fell to his knees arms in the air with tears starting to stream down his face. After emitting a scream of exaltation, Figueroa untied his shoes, removed them, and placed them under the barbell. This, in weightlifting circles, is the tradition that signifies retirement. Oscar Figueroa, you, are truly going out on top.
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