Day 14 - August 3, 2021
Hooray - this will catch me up!!!
In probably one of the two co-stories of the day, Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand became the first openly transgendered woman to compete in the Olympics, but she no-lifted in the sntach to DNF. This does nothing to minimize her accomplishments and the fact that she is the first, opening up the doors to future transgender women.
Sarah Robles of the USA finished third to win bronze, just 1 kg behind Great Britain's Emily Jade Campbell who won silver by vitrue of a 7kg lead in the clean & jerk. China's Li Wenwen set an Olympic record in winning gold. Robles becomes the first American woman to win multiple medals in weightlifting.
The co-story of the day was the return of Simon Biles to the gymnastics arena, where she competed in the last women's event of these Olympics, and earned a bronze medal in balance beam to tie as the most decorated American woman in gymnastic's history, tying Shannon Miller's seven medals. China's Guan Chenchen and Tan Xijing won gold and silver respectively.
In soccer, Spain broke the hearts of the home crowd, with Marcus Asensio scoring a goal in the 115' minute, to send Spain into the gold medal match where they will face Brazil, who was a 4-0 shootout winner over Mexico in the other semi-final.
Out on the track, American Brittany Reese won silver in the long jump, narrowly finishing behind Germany's Malaika Mihambo, who won gold, and just ahead of Nigeria's Ese Brume, who earned the bronze. This is Reese's second consecutive silver in the event, and third medal overall (gold in 2012 in London), making her the first American since Jackie Joyner-Kersee to win 3 medals in the long jump. I don't know what it is about the long jump, but the World Record (Galina Chistyakova from the Soviet Union) and Olympic Record (Jackie Joyner-Kersee of the United States) have both stood since 1988.
Staying in the field, Sweden's Mondo Duplantis won the gold medal, just ahead of Christopher Nilsen of the United States and Thiago Braz, the defending gold medalist, of Brazil. I wonder how this would have played out if Sam Kendricks didn't have to withdraw because of a positive Covid test.
On the track, Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah completed her defending double by winning the 200 meters, on top of her earlier 100 meter victory. Christine Mboma of Namibia earned the silver and American Gabrielle Thomas secured bronze. I don't think I need to tell her story, as it is all over the news, but GO HARVARD!!!
Sophomore at Texas A & M Mu Athing won the gold in the 800 meters, setting a national record, finishing ahead of silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and teammate Raevyn Rogers, who earned the bronze. Her future is certainly bright!!!
And, in the race of these games, Brazilian Alison dos Santos set a South American record, and broke the Olympics record, in the 400m hurdles, only to finish THIRD!!! American Rai Benjamin shattered the world record of 46.70 by running a 46.17, and won the Silver. Both men were chasing Norway's Karsten Warholm from the outset, and couldn't run him done as he finished in a blistering 45.94 seconds, a full .76 faster than his previous world record. AMAZING!!!
In team handball, Denmark advanced to the semi-finals with a 31-25 victory over Norway. Denmark's Mikkel Hansen, scored 8 goals, including his 100th career Olympic goal, in the victory. France, Spain and a surprising Egypt join Denmark in the semi-finals.
Athlete of the Day - Karsten Warholm, Athletics (Track & Field), Norway
Without a doubt. His winning time was faster than 18 of the runners in the open 400m!
Olympic Term of the Day: Dive Shot - In team handball, a dive shot is way of putting the shot toward goal, by jumping from beyond the d-line, and over the d-line, while releasing the ball before landing. The jump must start without touching the d-line and the play completed before the player lands.
Olympic Events Watched: Athletics (Track & Field), Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Soccer, Volleyball
USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically): Mu Athing, Caleb Dressel, Phillip Dutton, Brady Ellison, Robert Finke, Adeline Gray, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Sunisa Lee, Kelsey Plum, Brittany Reese, Gabrielle Thomas, Anastasija Zolotic
No comments:
Post a Comment