Day 12 - August 1, 2021
Entry 2 of catch-up mode, so here we go ...
Last day of swimming, so we won't change a good thing and we will once again start in the pool.
And the pool did not disappoint. The USA's Robert Finke added a second gold (to his 800m meter freestyle gold) by winning the 1500 meter freestyle, outdistancing the Ukraine's Mykhail Romanchuk and Germany's Florian Wellbrock, who joined him on the podium.
Australia's Emma McKeon earned the title fastest woman in the pool by breaking the Olympic record in the 50 meter freestyle, earning her 4th gold of these games (and 7th overall!!!). This Olympic record stood for 1 whole day, as she broke her own record set the day earlier. Sweden's Sara Sjoestroem finished second and Denmark's PErnille Blume earned the bronze. Closing out the women's meet, Australia set an Olympic record in teh 4x100 meter medley relay, but with some controversy. The aforementioned Emma McKeon looked like she jumped early to start her third leg (butterfly), and overtook the USA's Torri Huske at the start to cruise Australia into the lead, a lead which anchor Cate Campbell was not going to give back. The United States finished second with China earning the bronze.
For the men, Caleb Dressel set an Olympic record in the 50 meter freestyle, easily defeating France's Florent Mananudou and Brazil's Bruno Fratus (second and third respectively), with fellow American Michael Andres finishing fourth. Then, 40 minutes or so later, Dressel took the lead in his third leg of the men's 4x100 medley relay, which Zach Apple brought home for gold in World Record time, along with teammates Ryan Murphy (backstroke) and Michael Andrew (breastroke). This was Andrew's first medal in what was supposed to be his coming-out party. Perhaps he should have not badmouthed people that wear masks or got vaccinated. Caleb Dressel won 5 gold medals in 6 events (the 6th being yesterday 4x100 mixed medley relay, in which Lydia Jacobs had her goggles incident), and Dressel was taken out of the 4x200 meter freestyle relay due to scheduling concerns with his other races.
In gymnastics, America's Jade Carey followed up her silver medal in the team competition with a gold in the floor exercises. A trio of medals for the United States women, as Mykayla Skinner won silver in the vault, and Sunisa Lee - fresh off her individual all-around gold medal, won bronze in the uneven bars. Also of note is Israel's Artem Dolgopyat winning gold in the men's floor exercises, with fellow non-Olympic power Rayderley Zapata from Spain taking silver. China - now there is an Olympics gymnastics power - won bronze through Xiao Ruoteng.
Germany's Alexander Zverev followed-up his semi-finals defeat of Novak Djokovic by easily handling the ROC's Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-1 for gold. ALso in tennis, Belinda Bencic could not double after her singles gold, as Switzerland - with her and Viktorija Golubic losing the Barbara Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, who earned the gold medal. Still a great two weeks for Bencic.
In fencing, the United States won bronze in team foil as Alexander Massialas, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt defeated their Japanese counterparts for third. This was the first team medal in foil in the United States history. France defeatd the Russian Olympic Commitee 45-28 in the gold medal match.
The most watched sport for the next week will no doubt be track & field (Athletics), and it did not disappoint yesterday. Raven Saunders of the United States won silver, as China's Gong Lijiao took home the gold. But no doubt, the coverage is going to be of Saunders elevating her arms in an "X" sign on the podium, which she says indicates "the intersection where all oppressed people meet." The International Olympic Committee if investigating whether Saunders' arm signal violates its rules, but the United States Athletics Federation supports her.
In the men's high jump, Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy were tied at 2.37 meters (with bronze medal winner Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus), and they had the same amount of misses (Nedasekau had more), which is the tiebreaker in the high jump. While an official was discussing the jumpoff rules with Barshim and Tamberi, Barshim said, "or we can have 2 golds?". It was determined that the two competitors and friends would both get a gold medal!
Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela outdistanced Patricia Mamona of Portugal and Spain's Ana Peleteiro for the gold medal in the women's triple jump, with a world record jump of 15.67 meters, or 51.411 feet.
In the feature race of the Olympics, the men's 100 meter dash (and who will replace Usain Bolt), traditional sprinting powers Canada finished third (Andre de Grasse with his second consecutive 100 meter dash podium finish), and the United States (Ronnie Baker fifth and Fred Kerley winning silver), are upset by Italy's Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who ran away with the gold in 9.80 seconds. This is Italy's first gold medal ever in the 100 meter dash, and first sprinting gold medal since the 200 meter great Pietro Mennea's gold in Moscow in 1980.
But, the best, most exciting, and closest action of the day occurred at Kasumigaseki Country Club, as Xander Scahauffele - the fifth ranked golfer in the world - earned the gold medal with an 18-under 266, to narrowly hold off a "come out of nowhere" course and Olympic record 10 under par 61 from Slovakia's Rory Sabbatini, who won silver. The battle for third place was amazing, as seven players tied for 3rd with a 15 under 269, and headed for a sudden death playoff. Local hero Hideki Matsuyama, feeling the pressure after shooting a pedestrian 69 (2 under) in the final round, and Great Britain's Paul Casey were dropped on the first playoff hole (18). The remaining 5 players all parred the second playoff hole (hole 10). A par on the third playoff hole (hole 11) was the end of the line for Colombia's Sebastian Munoz, Ireland's Rory McIlroy, and Chile's Mito Pereira, leaving Taipei's C.T. Pan and the USA's Colin Morikawa to shoot it out at 18 again, where Pan's par earned him the bronze.
A tough tie for 22nd for Sungjae Im and tied for 32nd for Si Woo Kim, both of South Korea, as a medal for either - or both - of them, would have enabled them to skip compulsory military service.
Athlete of the Day - Lamont Jacobs, Athletics (Track & Field), Italy
He really did win the 100 meter dash!!!
Olympic Term of the Day: Fosbury Flop - In track, specifically the high jump, the method of jumping by American Dick Fosbury who used it in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, in which the final four or five steps of the approach are fun in a curve, allowing the jumper to turn away from the bar as they jump, and thus going over the bar with their back. This method gives a longer time period for take-off thrust, and produces a rotation of the jumper's body along the bar's axis, aiding in clearance.
Olympic Events Watched: Athletics (Track & Field), Badminton, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Swimming
USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically): Caleb Dressel, Phillip Dutton, Brady Ellison, Robert Finke, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Sunisa Lee, Kelsey Plum, Anastasija, Zolotic
