2025 - A REVIEW OF THE TOP SPORTS STORIES OF THE YEAR

 

Like every year, 2025 offered us a wide-assortment of stories from the world of sports.  This is my look back at the year that was.  Keep in mind this is not just a traditional list of events and winners - although those are included as well - but more of a testament to those people, events, stories and occurrences that affect sports and how we view it.  With that, let's start the list.

25.  Cam Little's 68-yard field goal.  The Jacksonville Jaguar kicker successfully hit the longest field goal in NFL history, breaking Justin Tucker's record of 66 yards.  This is important because it came after the institution of the K-Ball, which allows the kickers to kicker longer field goals more accurately, provided they have the requisite skill and leg strength.  I would not be surprised if this record is broken next season.

24.  TGL Debuts.  The Golf League debuted from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in which teams of 4 players compete against each other, indoors, electronically and with a rotating and revolving green to simulate different holes.  

23.  J.J. Spaun wins the U.S. Open.  Not only is this Spaun's first major, but he won in dramatic fashion nailing almost every putt from any distance, and announcing himself as a legitimate threat on the PGA Tour for any tournament.

22.  Florida Panthers win second straight Stanley Cup.  The team brough a unique combination of skilled players, and brutally tough players - oftentimes the same players - to keep Lord Stanley in Fort Lauderdale.

21.  Inter Miami FC wins the MLS Cup.  Nobody really cares about the MLS, but Leonel Messi is the greatest soccer player of all time, and he capped a season in which he won the League MVP with a playoff MVP and a championship.

20.  Carlos Alcaraz wins French Open over Janik Skinner in Epic 5-Setter after being down 0-2.  This is seriously one of the best tennis matches of all time.  Only ranked this low because it was on clay.

19.  Scottie Scheffler wins The Open Championship.  The World's Best Golfer wins the World's most popular and oldest tournament.

18.  Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers.  This absolutely shocking, astonishing, spell-binding trade was expected by absolutely nobody, and will likely affect the NBA for a decade plus.

17.  Clayton Kershaw's 3,000th strikeout.  As baseball strategy changes, after the current crop of aging stars, it may take an extremely long time to see another pitcher hit this plateau, if ever.

16.  Torpedo Bats.  The use of torpedo bats was the talk of the entire league in the spring, and the home runs flew out of ballparks because of it.  (See number 12).

15.  Janik Skinner wins Wimbledon.  As we transition away from the Big Three (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic - with Djokovic still hanging on to his top form a bit), all tennis fans are loving the Janik Skinner/Carlos Alcaraz future.  Skinner is on top now, but Alcaraz will be gunning for him in EVERY tournament.

14.  Sherrone Moore fired as Michigan football coach/then detainer by authorities.  Out of the blue, Michigan fired Moore for impregnating a staffer (allegedly), and he did not take the news well as he was later picked up for stalking.  This story is still playing out.

13.  Las Vegas Aces sweep Phoenix Mercury for WNBA Title.  The Aces cement their status in the pantheon of dynasties with this victory behind superstar and Athlete of the Year candidate A'ja Wilson.

12.  Shohei Ohtani/Aaron Judge MVPS.  This is the 4th MVP for Ohtani, and 2nd consecutive.  Judge won his 3rd, and 2nd consecutive.  This is the first time ever that both MVPs have won their league's award in back-to-back years.

11.  Inaugural 4-Nations Cup.  This international hockey tournament was a resounding success, especially with Conner McDavid scoring an OT winner for Canada over the United States in the final.

10.  NBA/WNBA Legends retire.  Diana Taurasi and Gregg Popovich retire, leaving the game as among the best player/coach to ever do it.

9.  Around the Horn's last show.  This remarkable run giving sports journalists a television way to present their argument on the day's sports happenings aired its last episode, and the sporting world will never be the same - especially in how it is covered by journalists.

8.  LA Dodgers win Epic 18-inning World Series game (and the Series).  Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the World Series MVP after winning three of the four games in the series.

7.  Katie Ledecky at the World Swimming Championships.  Ledecky won her 7th consecutive gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle event - her 30th overall.

6.  Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky for goals scored.  One of the more remarkable records in sports was taken by the Russian legend.

5.  Ryder Cup.  Europe continues its dominance over the United States, despite constantly being outranked by the US players.

4.  Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for LSU.  So what - it's just a coaching change.  No, it isn't.  Kiffin's decision left the entire country on edge as he decided between staying, going to LSU or going to UF.  When he decided to coach in Baton Rouge, the Mississippi administration immediately gave him his walking papers, leaving the 6th-ranked team without its head coach for the upcoming playoffs.

3.  Plane Crash outside Washington National kills 67.  A military helicopter collided with a commuter plane carrying athletes, coaches, trainers, and family members from a national gymnastics competition as the plane approached Washington National Airport in suburban DC.  This accident unleased a political and socio-economic firestorm on the country.

2.  FBI arrests Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier in Illegal Gambling Probe.  And no, it wasn't for fixing games.  Billups and Rozier reportedly recruited whales to play in illegal, underground, fixed poker matches for some alleged organized crime members.  This story will go for a couple of more years and I think we are going to hear a lot more details about this scheme.

1.  Rory McIlroy wins Masters.  The Northern Irish golfer finally earns the ever-elusive green jacket.

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 16

Day 16 - August 8, 2024

Not a large controversy, but American sprinter - and 100 meter gold medalists - Noah Lyles admitted to testing positive for Covid on Tuesday, at 5:30 in the morning.  With all of the vasccines taken by people and the immunities developed, it isn't as deadly now, but for the Olympians it could mean the difference between a medal and not even participating.  You would think that the IOC would have had some type of quarantine protocol and procedures to keep the virus from spreading around the village.  Seems like that would be important.

Lots of fantastic team events today, starting the women's volleyball semi-finals match between the United States and Brazil.  The US women defeated Brazil in 5 sets, but that 5th set had some absolutely amazing volleys and rallies, and if you have not seen it, you should go watch it!  US to the finals to try to defend their gold medal!

At the beach, Germany defeated Norway in a third set in an ending that had I not seen it, I would not have believed it.  Germany was up 14-13, when Norway seemingly tied up the match with a spike at the net around the German block.  Germany challenges the play for a net violation, and on the replay it is clear that the Norwegian athlete did indeed hit the net - the bottom of the net - with his leg on the play, not only nullifying Norway's point, but giving the point - and the victory to Germany.  This was not a situation in which the call was petty as it was absolutely correct; it was just unbelievable.

The  basketball was amazing.  In the first game, host country France defeated Germany to advance to the gold medal game, giving us all a chance to not only see Victor Wembanyama in action, but also to see Evan Fournier at his best - in FIBA.  No word if France gets to keep possession of Alsace-Lorraine.  

In the gold medal match France will play the United States, which just barely survived Serbia.  The US was down 17 at one point, and down 11 at one point in the 4th quarter, and would not have been victorious if not for Steph Curry's 36 points (9-14 from three point range), and LeBron's triple double.  This was LeBron's second career Olympic triple-double, the only athlete to achieve that feat.

In men's soccer, Morocco defeated Egypt 6-0 to capture bronze, but to set the stage for a barn-burning gold medal match between host country France and Spain tomorrow.

In men's field hockey, the Netherlands defeated Germany in a shootout to capture gold, with the Germans earning bronze.

In the pool, the United States succombed to Australia in the semi-finals of water polo, losing in a shootout, on the last shot of the game.  They will return to action in the bronze medal game.

On the wrestling mat, American Aaron Brooks seemed on his way to the gold medal match when he was turned by Bulgarian Magomed Ramazanov with 4 second left in the match, giving the Bulgarian a 4-3 win.  Brooks will wrestle for the bronze tomorrow, while Ramazanov goes for the gold.

In sport climbing, American Sam Watson could not equal his world record performance from the preliminaries, but still earned the bronze medal in the speed climb, behding gold medalist Leonardo Veddriq of Indonesia and the silver medalist China's Wu Peng.

The focus of yesterday's action - as well as most of the stars - were on the track, where the USA shined.  In most years, Grant Holloway would be one of the shining stars as the prohibitive favorite in the 100 meter hurdles, and defending silver medalist from Tokyo, coasting to his first Olympic gold, with compatriot Daniel Roberts winning silver, just ahead of bronze medalist Rasheed Broadbell from Jamaica.

  

In the pit, the USA's Tara Davis-Woodhall had secured the gold medal just prior to making her sixth and last jump, but jumped anyone, landing in the pit, standing up, and then falling back down and doing a sand angel in the pit celebrating her victory.  Her interaction with her husband in the stands made news the world over after the win.  Milaika Mihambo of Germany - the defending gold medalist - won silver, while the USA's Jasmine Moore earned bronze.

The women's 400 meter was supposed to be one of the highlights of these Olympics, with American world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone being challenged by Femke Bol of the Netherlands, and although that challenge never really materialized, the race was spectacular nonetheless as McLaughline -Levrone easily won defended her Tokyo gold medal by setting another world record.  Fellow American Anna Cockrelly joined McLaughlin-Levrone on the medal stand winning silver.  Femke Bol earned bronze.

But, as dominating as McLaughline-Levrone's performance was, the news was all about the men's 200 meter dash, where Noah Lyles was attempting to win the sprint double after capturing the gold in the men's 100 meters.  Lyles, who was diagnosed with Covid on Tuesday, and he just didn't have the closing burst we are used to seeing from him.  Lyles, settled for bronze, just behind fellow American Kenny Bednarek who won silver.  Both Americans were defeated by Letsile Tobogo, of Botswana, who earned a deserving gold.

Athlete of the Day - Letsile Tobogo, Botswana, Athletics

Won gold in the 200 meters over American favorites Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Erryion Knighton.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, USA, Athletics

She is probably the athlete of the day with her gold medal and world record in the 400 meter hurdles, but I had to give credit to Tobogo AND McLaughlin-Lecrone.

Team of the Day - Netherlands Men, NED, Field Hockey,

Defeated Germany in a shootout to capture the gold medal.

U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Basketball, USA, Basketball

Coming back from down 17 to advance to the gold medal game.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Split Decision - In boxes, it is a scoring determination in which two judges agree that one boxer was the winning boxer while the third judge decides that the other boxer should have been victorious.  This differs from a majority decision where two judges agree on a winning boxer and the third judge believes the match to be a draw.

Olympic Events Watched:  Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Golf, Volleyball, Water Polo

Note on the United States Flag-Bearers for the Closing Ceremonies:  The United States team captains have selected swimmer Katie Ledecky and rower Nick Mead.  Ledecky needs no introduction, as she has been successful not only in this Olympics but also in her Olympic career (most decorated American female athlete).  Nick Mead led the US men's rowing team to a gold in the men's four-boat.  Mead rowed bow for the United States' first gold in the men's four-boat in 64 years, since Rome 1960.  Although he specifically wasn't on my radar as a potential flag-bearer for these games, I do think he was an excellent choice.  Ledecky - should go without saying.

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically): Simone Biles, Ryan Crouser, Caleb Dressel, Brady Ellison, Kristen Faulkner, Cole Hocker, Vincent Hancock,Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Tom Murphy. Sophia Smith, Gabby Thomas 

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 11

Day 11 - August 3, 2024

This was actually from yesterday, but I just found out about it after I posted yesterday's report, so it gets its own entry.  There was a fight in the Olympics that didn't involve boxing, wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, or cisgender/transgender/intersex boxers!  After France defeated Argentina in men's soccer 1-0, an actual physical fight broke out on the pitch.  This all stems from Argentina's Copa America victory prior to the Olympics in which - in celebration - the Argentines were seen celebrating by mocking French soccer players, especially players of African descent.  We saw problems with this in the Morocco-Argentina match, and Argentinian teams of all types have been cascaded with massive boos all around Paris.  Probably was just a matter of time until this happened.  I doubt that any intra-Olympics disciplinary action will be taken against the French players involved.

But, thank God this was the only real conflict yesterday, as there was some really good action at the event venues!

The United States women's soccer team, which was embarrased last Olympics, defeating Japan 1-0 in the quarterfinals off a stoppage time in the first extra time period by Trinity Rodman.  The win puts the Americans into the semi-finals and on the verge of a medal, which they missed in Tokyo.  Below is a good look at Rodman's goal as it passes the keeper.

Rodman's goal was a very important play, but no play was as amazing as Joel Embiid's block of this DUNK ATTEMPT!  Embiid, who has been much-maligned in these Olympics as his game just doesn't seem suited for international play and even sat out the entire game against South Sudan, may have made up for everything with this one play!  Anthony Edwards led the way with 25 points against Puerto Rico, as the United States moves on to the knockout rounds.

For the United States, the stars were out and producing!  Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the 800 meter freestyle, her 4th straight gold medal in this event (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024), and her 9th gold medal of all time.  Her 9th gold medal places her in a tie for second all time for Summer Olympic golds, behind Michael Phelps 23.  She is tied with former greats Paavo Nurmi (Athletics, Finland), Larissa Latynina (Gymnastics, Soviet Union), Mark Spitz (Swimming, United States) and Carl Lewis (Athletics, United States).  Ledecky stated after the race that she would look forward to defending her title in Los Angeles in 2028.  If she concentrates solely on the 800 meters and 1500 meters, I don't doubt she would win at least her 10th gold!  Joining Ledecky on the podium were Ariarne Titmus of Australia (silver) and Ledecky's teammate Paige Madden (bronze).

Joining Ledecky in the four-time gold medalist in a single event is retired Army Sergeant Vincent Hancock, who won his fourth consecutive gold-medal in skeet shooting.  And Hancock at age 35 has a lot of shooting left in him.  Winning the silver medal in skeet shooting was American Conner Lynn Prince and the bronze medal was awarded to Meng Yuan Lee of Taiwain.

The athletes to have won four gold medals in the same event in four consecutive Olympics prior to 2024 are:  Paul Bert Elvstroem of Denmark (sailing - monotype yachting; 1948 - 1960), Al Oerter of the United States (discuss; 1956 - 1968), Carl Lewis of the United States (long jump, 1984 - 1996), Michael Phelps of the United States (200 meter individual medley; 2004 - 2016) and Mijain Lopez of Cuba (Greco-Roman wrestling; 2008 - 2020).  These 5 athletes have now been joing by Teddy Riner (France; judo); Ledecky and Hancock.

The incomparable Simone Biles won another gold medal - her third of these Olympics and 7th overall - in the vault.  Jade Carey joined her on the podium by capturing the bronze medal.  Brazil's Rebecca Andrade earned silver.

Also in gymnastics, America's pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik earned the bronze medal on that apparatus, falling just behind Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan (gold) and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan (silver).

The United States set a World Record in winning gold in the 4x100 meter mixed medely relay, defeating China by .8 seconds, with Australia finishing third.  In the mixed medley relay, each team selects which two males and females participate for whichever stroke they wish, so long as each swimmer swims a separate stroke.  The United States opted to put the two males first, with Ryan Murphy leading off with the backstroke, Nic Fink went second for the breast stroke leg, followed by Gretchen Walsh in the butterfly leg.  Walsh, competing against a male athlete from Australia, held the lead before touhcing off for Torri Huske for the freestyle leg.

On the track the United States, which set the world record for the 4x400 meter mixed relay in the preliminaries, did not fare as well in the final as Femke Bol, from The Netherlands, ran down absolutely everybody to win gold for the Dutch.  The United States easily outdistanced everyone except Bol for silver.

Some other amazing finishes at the track, as Julien Alfred, from St. Lucia, won her nation's first ever Olympic medal, and it was gold in the 100 meter dash.  Alfred, now the fastest woman in the world, defeated Sha' Carri Richardson from the United States, who earned silver.  Melissa Jefferson of the United States earned bronze.

Also winning her country's first ever Olympic medal was Dominica's Thea LaFond, who bested the competition to win gold in the women's triple jump.  Shanieck Richards of Jamaica earned silver, and the USA's Jasmine Moore captured the bronze.

Ryan Crounser - star of the shotput from the USA, won his third consecutive gold medal in the event, followed by compatriot Joe Kovacs, who won his third consecutive silver medal in the event.

Athlete of the Day - Julien Alfred, St. Lucia, Athletics

Not only first ever medal for St. Lucia, but it was gold, in a premier event, defeating Sha' Carri Richardson. 

Team of the Day - 4x100 meters mixed relay, USA, Swimming

Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske set a world record, and put the US 1 gold behind Australia in the pool.

American Athlete of the Day - Vincent Hancock, United States, Shooting

Ledecky and Biles are often in contention here, so Hancock gets it for his fourth consecutive gold medal in skeet shooting.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Skeet - In shooting, skeet is the event in which participants shoot at clay targets thrown at various speeds and angles.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Cycling, Gymnastics, Handball, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically:  Simone Biles, Ryan Crouser, Brady Ellison, Vincent Hancock, Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 9

 Day 9 - August 1, 2024

One thing and one thing only dominated yesterday, and it was a topic that I wanted to avoid until it actually occurred but was something that us "amateur" sports enthusiasts knew was brewing.  And, although technically inapplicable here, the issue is one of transgender women in sports.  I will try to be as thorough as I can, but also as brief as possible as I want to get to the actual sports as quickly as possible.

The issue surrounds Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, and what happened in her first round fight agains Angela Carini from Italy.  Carini retired 46 seconds into the fight after taking one punch to the nose from the Algerian fighter.  The controversy comes from the fact people believe Carini retired because she was fearful for her safety fighting against a "man".  Carini didn't help matters by refusing to shake Khelif's hand after the fight - for which Carini later apologized and even said she would embrace Khelif.  

So, the issue about Khelif being a "man" is that she was suspended by the IBA - the International Boxing Association - for having failed a test which said her chromosomes are XY.  It should be noted that the IBA is run by a Russian, who moved its headquarters to Russia after the leader secured funding from Russia, and the "test" occurred after Khelif had defeated a Russian fighter.  The IBA never produced the results of the test, only saying that she must  be XY because her testosterone was so high.  Also of note is that the IBA has been discredited as an agency and no longer oversees amateur or Olympic boxing.  

Anyway, Khelif was born female, has female sex organs - and always has - participated in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, and hails from a country that outlaws gender-reassignment surgery and practically outlaws anything it considers gay, bisexual or lesbian.  If Khelif was a transgender athlete, she would be more likely to be arrested or executed than representing Algeria in the Olympics.

There is a legitimate discussion that can be had about transgender athlete's participation in certain women's sporting events - but this is not the situation upon which to have that discussion.

Can I get to the good stuff now?  Good.

Simone Biles, Simone Biles, SIMONE BILES!!!  After a subpar performance in the uneven parallel bars left her third after two rotations of apparati, Biles nailed her vault and floor exercises to secure the gold medal in the individual all-around.  Rebecca Andrade of Brazil won silver and Biles' USA teammate Suni Lee earned bronze!  Biles is truly the GOAT - and they should retire that term!

Another All-Time Great, Katie Ledecky, won her 13th medal, the most all-time by an American female athlete, as the US won silver in teh 4x200 meter freestyle relay.  Australia dominated for gold, but they cannot take away Ledecky's record-breaking swim.

Also at the pool, a current and future great, Summer McIntosh of Canada, won the 200m butterfly final for her second gold medal of these events.  The 17 year old has won three total medals in Paris.  Following her on the podium were silver-medalist Regan Smith, and bronze-medalist Zhang Yufie of China.

Fellow American Kate Douglass won gold in the 200m breastroke, besting South Africa's Tatjana Smith and Tes Schouten of the Netherlands, who won silver and bronze respectively.

Equally as dominating as Biles and Ledecky has been the USA women's basketball team who have won 56 consecutive Olympics games.  Correction, 57, as they slowly pulled away from a Belgian squad that looks like medal contender.

Athletics - the formal name of Track & Field - started, with the men's 20km walk.  Ecuador's Brian Pintado pulled away from the leaders with one 1km lap remaining to coast to the gold medal.

In "non-traditional" sports, the USA - and HARVARD - won gold around Paris.  First at the rowing venue, the USA won gold in the men's fours despite facing the favorites and world champions from Great Britain.  Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan - a Harvard alumnus - rowed their way to America's first rowing gold in this event since 1960!

Harvard making its presence felt - AGAIN - in fencing as the USA won gold in the team foil.  Jacqueline Dubrovic, and Maia Mei Weintraub were led by gold medalist Lee Kiefer with silver-medalist Lauren Scruggs (a rising senior at Harvard) securing the winning point!  Go Crimson!

In judo, Azerbaijan secures a gold in the men's 100kg division as Zelym Kotsoiev defeated Georgia's Ilia Sulamanidze 10-1.

Athlete of the Day - Simone Biles, United States, Swimming

How could it be anybody but?

Non-Simone Biles Athlete of the Day - Brian Pintado, Ecuador, Athletics/Summer McIntosh, Canada, Swimming

The 20km racewalking is no joke.  McIntosh now has 2 golds, and 3 overall medals at 17 years of age.

Team of the Day - USA Women, Fencing

Individual and team gold for Lee Kiefer; Individual silver and team gold for Lauren Scruggs in foil.  Great work ladies!

American Non-Simone Biles Athlete of the Day - Katie Ledecky, United States, Swimming

breaking a career record usually gets you noticed on here.

Co-American Athletes of the Day - Liam Corrigan, United States, Rowing/Lauren Scruggs, United States, Fencing

Harvard Gold Medalists!!!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Repechage - Boats that do not qualify for the next round from a heat, participate in an additional race, with the winners then qualifier for the next round.  That additional race is called a repechage.

Olympic Events Watched:  Archery, Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Golf, Gymnastics, Swimming, Tennis

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically - Capitals indicate a potential favorite to this point):  SIMONE BILES, Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Torri Huske, Casey Kaufhold, LEE KIEFER, KATIE LEDECKY, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 8

Day 8 - July 31, 2024

For the first day of the Olympics, there isn't a major controversy (foreshadowing tomorrow's entry).  But, there has been a lot of smoke surrounding the ending of the France-Japan men's basketball game has created some serious drama.  Perhaps the smoke came from some "home-cooking" during the match.  In the waning moments of the game with France trailing by 4, Yuri Kawamura, who scored 29 points for Japan in the game, was called for a foul on Matthew Strazel as he was shooting a three-pointer, which he hit.  The resultant free throw tied the game and sent it into overtime.  The foul was nonexistent.

Overtime usually favors the more-talented team, so Japan was already behind the proverbial 8-ball starting the extra frame, but was even more hindered by the fact that there best player, Rui Hachimura, had been ejected from the game for his second unsportsmanlike foul - which, was definitely a foul but the fact it was even considered unsportsmanlike was questionable at best, wrong at most.  France went on to win the game.

The pool saw some of the most amazing action, and it starts (for the American side) with Katie Ledecky winning gold by over 10 seconds in the 1500m freestyle.  She so thoroughly dominated this event, that no other swimmer was in the frame when she finished, and she was over a lap ahead of other swimminers.  And this was the finals, so this race consisted of the 8 best swimmers at this distance inthw world.  This was Ledecky's 8th gold medal (tied for sixth of all time and most by an American woman), and 12th overall (also tied for most by an American woman).  She is favored in the 800 meters freestyle, and could pick up another medal in the relays.

Also in the pool for the first time in these games we can say, a world record has been set. as Zhanle Pan won the men's 100 meter freestyle in 46.4 seconds to capture gold medal.  Australia's Kyle Chalmers secured silver ahead of David Popovici's bronze.  This is the second medal won by the Romanian Popovici at these games.

As if a world record wasn't enough, France's wunderkind Leon Marchand won two gold medals yesterday, in the 200 meter butterfly and the 200 meter breastroke.  He now has three gold medals in these games ... and counting?

In the women's 100 meter freestyle we had a bit of a surpirse, as veteran Olympian Sarah Sjoestrom from Sweden won gold from lane 7, narrowly defeating American Torri Huske, herself swimming in lane 1.  Huske took the silver juest ahead of Siobhan Bernadette Haughey of Hong Kong, who made it to the podium with the bronze.

Men's gymnastics brought more disappointment for the Chinese, who expected a gold-silver finish.  Of course, they expected a team gold medal as well, but finished second to the Japanese.  China was bested by Japan again, as Shinnosuke Oka won the individual all-around gold medal - the fourth consecutive in this even for Japan - Zhang Boheng of China won silver while his compatriot Xio Ruotang earned the bronze.

And, American Coco Gauff lost her third round match.  A super questionable rule came into play - that didn't exactly cost Coco the match - but leads to some serious questions.  Now, the ruling was completely accurate, but the rule itself needs to be changed - IMMEDIATELY.  Here is the scenario - Gauff is down a break point when her opponent returns a shot and as Gauff is in her backswing to hit her shot, the linesman shouts "Out!"  Her opponent calls for a review, and the call was overturned and it was correctly ruled in.  However, Gauff would have hit the ball if the linesman had not made the ruling, but since she didn't, she lost the point, the break, and the game.  Gauff still has mixed doubles and doubles, so hopefully she can still come away with some hardware.

Another disappointment for the participants occurred in tennis, as the Spanish super team of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, a two-time gold medalist and a 22-time grand slam winner, fell to the American team of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-2.  This was likely Nadal's last performance at Roland Garros.

For me, some of the best action of yesterday, and indeed this entire tournament, occurred on the volleyball court.  On the women's side the United States - Serbia matchup could have been a gold-medal match preview, with the United States women prevailing in an absolute thriller 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 17-15.  These teams should play in the medal round, and in fact, I demand that it happen!

On the men's side, Brazil and Poland also went to five sets, with Polish superstar Wilfredo Leon, A Cuban born Polish player absolutely dominating the game as an outside hitter.  He also finished the game with back-to-back aces as Poland won the deciding set 15-12.

Equally exciting was the ending of the France-Egypt game in handball.  France, having lost its first two matches and in dire need of a victory in order to keep its knockout round hopes alive, was trailing Egypt 26-25 when they forced a turnover with approximately 8 seconds remaining.  Ludovic Fabregas let go a shot as time expired, a shot that found the back of the net for a 26-26 tie.  The French team celebrated as if they had won, although the still trail everyone else in the group standings.

In judo, among other participants, Georgia won its first gold medal of these games, with Lasha Bekauri winning the men's 90kg final defeating Japan's Murao Sanshiro 10-1.

Evy Leibfarth of the USA earned bronze in the women's canoe slalom, just missing out behind Australia's Jessica Fox and Germany's Elenal Lilik, who won gold and silver respectively.

BMX is a younger, hipper, cooler sport that has been added to the Olympic stage, and the women's freestyle event did not disappoint.  Deng Yawen of China thrashed for the gold medal, Perris Banegas of the USA won silver, and Natalia Diehm from Australian completed the podium with bronze.  On the men's side, Jose Torres Gil of Argentina was victorious, outscoring Kieren Reilly of Great Britain (silver) and France's Anthony JeanJean (bronze).  Please note that I refrained from any of the obvious "Perris in Paris" comments.

The coolest person in the entire Olympics has been identified.  51-year old Yusuf Dikec of Turkey won the silver medal in the men's pistol event, but it was his attitude and demeanor that won everybody over.  Wearing just regular glasses, not specialized lenses, and no ear covers, and while keeping his off hand in his pocket, Dikec shot his way onto the podium, defeating every other participant except Serbia's team of Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec, who earned gold.  Dikec partnered with Seval Illayda Tarhan, but only Dikec was this cool!

But even Dikec was not the best story in shooting, as the women's trap event produced something never before seen.  Guatemala, which earned its second medal EVER (no golds yesterday), earned its third medal ever, and first-ever gold, in the women's trap shooting as Adriana Ruano Oliva bested the competition for gold.  She was an internationally competitive gymnas as a child before an accident broke her spine.  Her family moved to Guatemala, and she eventually took up shooting.  She qualified for the Tokyo Olympics where she finished dead last.  Yesterday, she won gold!

 

Athlete of the Day - Leon Marchand, France, Swimming

Has more golds than any other swimmer in French history (3), and they were all earned in the past two days.

Co-Athlete of the Day - Adriana Ruano Oliva, Guatemala, Shooting

Could not leave her out of this.  Amazing ending to an amazing Olympic story.

Team of the Day - USA Women, Volleyball

In a tough early tournament match, USA outlasted Serbia in what should be a gold medal game preview.

American Athlete of the Day - Perris Banegas, United States, BMX

Silver medal!

Co-American Athlete of the Day - Evy Leibfarth, United States, Canoeing

Bronze medal!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Clear - Opposite - In volleyball, the opposite hitter, or "opposite" often stands on the right side of the Court opposite the setter, and is.  In addition to powerful spiking, the opposite is often responsible for blocking the other team's outside hitter.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, BMX, Handball, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis Table, Water Polo

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically - Capitals indicate a potential favorite to this point):  Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Torri Huske, Casey Kaufhold, LEE KIEFER, KATIE LEDECKY, ILONA MAHER, TOM MURPHY, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson                             

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 4

Day 4 - July 27, 2024

It was the first full day of competition, and boy was it jampacked with events, including our first medals!

Might as well start with controversy, as more comes out surrounding the Chinese swimming doping scandal.  Positive tests from the Tokyo Olympics were revealed in April of this year (after being swept under the rug by the Chinese federation for three years!)  It turns out 23 members of the Chinese swim team in Tokyo tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.  Eleven of those 23 are swimming in this Olympics.  At least one member of the Australian delegation is contemplating a podium boycott if a Chinese swimmer wins a medal.  We shall see!

In the first medal match of these games, China 1 defeated South Korea 1 in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event 1-12, earning gold, while South Korea settled for the silver.  Kazakhstan earned bronze by easily  outdistancing Germany 17-5.

The United States won its first medal in the women's 3m springboard synchronized diving event as Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon earned silver behind China's Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen.  Great Britain earned the bronze.

In some exciting games, Spain defeated Slovenia 25-22, and Egypt outlasted Hungary 35-32 in Handball.  Croatia narrowly escaped Japn 30-29 as well.  Germany beat Japan in volleyball 3-2.

 in a great matchup.

In the most dominating American performance yesterday, rower Kara Kohler won her heat by open water, easing into the semi-finals.

Right behindg Kohler's performance was that of the women's water polo team, which defated Greece 15-6!.

The US men's soccer team bounced back from their 3-0 defeat at the hands of the host country France to beat New Zealand 4-1.

In what looks like a literal passing of the torch and a scary combination for its opponents, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are teaming up for men's doubles for Spain!

France defeated two-time defending Olympic champion - and previously undefeated in the Olympics Fiji - to win the rugby 7s gold medal, but the game of the day was the South Africa - Australia bronze medal game.  South Africa scored two tries in the waning minutes of the second half to tie the match, and then the deciding try as time expired to win the bronze medal!  Just exhilarating.

But, the primary focus yesterday was on the pool, specifically the women's 400m Freestyle final and both 4x100 meter freestyle relays.  The women's 400 meter Freestyle final featured the three women that have hte best 30 times in history, and in this battle of the titans Australia's Ariarne Titmus defeated Canada's Summer McIntosh (silver) and Katie Ledecky of the United States (bronze).

Australia won the women's freestyle relay, with the US winning silver and China winning the bronze, and the stage looked set for an Australian sweep of the day.  But, third leg Hunter Armstrong - sorry Greg Olsen - took over second place and then the lead before handing the proverbial baton to perhaps the greatest finisher in relay history, Caleb Dressel.  And with about a body length lead when he entered the pool, Dressel coasted to gold despite a charge from Australia, which came in second and Italy earned the bronze.

Athlete of the Day - Ariarne Titus, Australia, Swimming

She dominated the race that most swim fans were most interested in seeing, as her, McIntosh and Ledecky are the three most dominant women at the 400 meter distance ever, and they were all competing in the same race.

American Athlete of the Day - Chloe Dygert, United States, Cycling

Dygert suffered a crash during the women's individual road racing time trail, yet got up to win bronze, just missing out on the silver by seconds.  A well earned bronze!!!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Open Water - Rowing - When a boat is more than a full length ahead of every other team in the race.

Olympic Events Watched:  Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing, Rugby, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically):  Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Casey Kaufhold, Alyssa Naeher Mallory Swanson                            

Olympics - Tokyo 2020 - Day 11

Day 11 - July 31, 2021

So, I fell off the pace this weekend, but I did watch the Olympics, and I do have my notes, so I will be catching up with a vengeance today!  Probably not a lot of pictures, just narrative to help me catch up.

Since we are closing to the end of swimming and diving, I might as well start with them again.  In the pool, Katie Ledecky won her third straight Olympic gold in the 800 meter freestyle, and her 10th overall medal (7 gold).  Ledecky beat Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who earned silver, and Simona Quadarella of Italy, winning bronze.

In the 4x100 mixed medley relay, Great Britain set a world record for gold, followed by China and Australia for silver and bronze respectively.  The United States finished in 5th, but was never in it as Lydia Jacoby, swimming the breastroke second leg, knocked her goggles off her eyes and down into her mouth as she dove into the pool to start her race.  This easily cost the US two to three seconds, and a possible medal.

The track also had its mixed relay, as the 4x400 mixed relay was held.  In a surprising result, Poland won gold in an Olynpic record time (well, this is the first time the race was competed at the Olympics,) with the Dominican Republic earning silver and the United States winning the bronze.

In a highly-anticipated race on the track, Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah defended her 2016 gold medal in the 100 meter dash, setting an Olympic record as she led a Jamaican sweep of the podium.  Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (double-hypen should be her nickname) came in second and Shericka Jackson finished third.  Thompson-Herah's 10.61 is the fastest in Olympic history, and the second-fastest of all time.  I don't know where Sha'Carri Richardson would have finished, but she definitely would have made this race way more exciting.

USA Men's basketball defeated the Czech Republic in a not very exciting 119-84 blowout.  This game gets mention here because Kevin Durant finally showed up, scoring 23 points on 8-11 shooting, with 8 rebounds and 6 assists.  If Durant starts playing, watch out.

New Zealand defeated France 26-12 in the women's rugby gold medal game, and Fiji, fresh off the men's gold medal, beat Great Britain 21-12 in the bronze medal game.

But, some of the most interesting action on this day occurred in tennis.  After losing yesterday in the men's semifinals to Germany's Alexander zverev 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the number 1 player in the world who has won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon already this year, lost in the bronze medal match to Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.  After being denied a medal, Djokovic then withdraw from the mixed doubles bronze medal match, leaving his teammate Nina Stojanovic without the ability to play for a medal, and handing women's world number 1 Ashleigh Barty and John Peers of Australia the bronze medal.

In the most exciting match of the day, Brazil's team of Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani fought off four match points in a row to win the bronze medal in women's doubles defeating the Russian Olympic Committee's Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.

In the women's singles gold medal match, the only gold medal match of the day, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic defeated Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

Staying in racket sports, in a mtach with world-wide geopolitical implications, Chinese Taipei's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin defeated China's Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen 2-0, to win the gold medal in badminton men's doubles.  I sure hope the Chinese government doesn't attempt to retaliate against Li and Liu for losing to Taipei, but my guess is the government will just take credit for this gold medal.

Athlete of the Day - Belinda Bencic, Tennis, Switzerland

Well earned gold medal, all earned while also playing doubles for Switzerland (her gold medal game for that is tomorrow).

Olympic Term of the Day:  Shido In judo, a penalty which is equal to a koka score; 3 shidos equals one point for your opponent

Olympic Events Watched:  Athletics (Track & Field), Badminton, Baseball, Golf, Handball, Swimming, Triathlon 

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                          

Olympics - Tokyo 2020 - Day 9

 Day 9 - July 29, 2021

Again, since I am doubling up on entries no pictures, but here are the stories!

There is only one story for today (I mean there are others, but not really), it is Sunisa Lee, the Hmong-American gymnastics start that was in the shadow of Simone Biles, winning the gold medal in the all-around, defeating Rebecca Andrade of Brazil, the silver medalist, Angelina Melnikova of the ROC, the bronze medalist, and everyone else.  To date, given the situation surrounding Simone Biles and the US team, this is THE story of the Olympics.

The best single event of the day was the women's 4x200 meter freestyle relay.  The heavily-favored Australian team did not disappoint in breaking the world record - BUT FINISHING THIRD!  The United States team also broke the world record and won silver.  It was China celebrating as they set the World Record and won gold!  Katie Ledecky earning her third medal of these Olympics, with the 800 meters freestyle still to go.

On the men's side, the Great Britain team won gold, and will forever be remembered for the interview by a Bristish reporter asking Matthew Richard about his incredible third leg!!!  Tom Dean led off to win his second gold of these Olympics.  The US men failed to medal, for the first time in Olympic relay history, finishing fourth by about half a second.  The US coach pulled Caleb Dressel from the team because ...

Caleb Dressel also had to compete in the men's 100 meter freestyle final, which he won and set an Olympic record while beating defending gold medalist Kyle Chalmers of Australia, who won silver.  This is Dressel's second gold in two events, with the 100 meter butterfly (he set an Olympic record in his heat), and the 50 meter freestyle still to come, along with up to two more relays.

Robert Finke won the gold for the United States in the 800 meter freestyle.  Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger earned the silver and bronze respectfully in the 200 meter butterfly, finishing only behind China's Zhang Yufei, who set an Olympic record.

In a completely different type of water event, Hungary defeated the United States women's team in water polo 10-9, scoring the winning goal with 45 secondd remaining in the game.  This was the first loss for the United States in the Olympic pool since 2008!

In the men's trap shooting event, Czech Republic teammates Jiri Liptak and David Kostelecky went to a shootoff, where Liptak won the gold medal.  Kostelecky was competing in his 7th Olympics.  SEVENTH!!!  He won gold in Beijing in 2008, and finished fourth in Rio in 2016.

Also in shooting, Alessandra Perilli of San Marino won the bronze medal in women's trap shooting, a first for her country and making San Marino - which has a total population of about 34,000 - the smallest country to ever win a medal.  Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia won the gold medal with an Olympic record, and American Kayle Browning won the silver.  Stefecekova previously won silver in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

Aaron Wolf of Japan was impressive in winning the gold medal in the over 100kg weight class in judo.  His gold medal was Japan's 8th gold medal (and 11th overall) in judo alone!!!

Athlete of the Day - Sunisa Lee, Gymnastics, United States

Seriously, was this a questions?

Olympic Term of the Day:  Twisties - In gymnastics, a condition where a gymnast loses their sense of space and dimension when in the air, causing them to lost control of their bodies, and do extra, unintended, twists and flips, and may result in an inability to land safely.

Olympic Events Watched:  Archery, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, BMX, Boxing, Rugby, Shooting, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, 

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically):  Caleb Dressel, Phillip Dutton, Brady Ellison, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Sunisa Lee, Kelsey Plum, Anastasija, Zolotic                          

Olympics - Tokyo 2020 - Day 8

 Day 8 - July 28, 2021

I am a little late on this post so this information is going to be a bit dated, but I wanted to make sure that I covered every single day of these Olympics - so I am not going to skip it!  (No pictures today though, due to the fact I have to do multiple entries.)

As is often the case in the first week, the pool is where we find some incredible action, and this day was not exception.

In the freestly rematch between the 2 world champions, Ariarne Titmus defeated the field to win her second individual gold of the games, this time in the 200 meter freestlye.  Katie Ledecky finished in 6th.

But, Ledecky can never be counted out as she also had the finals of the 1500 meter, the first time this event has been competed in the Olympics by women.  Ledecky did not disappoint, winning gold, and pulling teammate Erica Sullivan to the silver.  Ledecky, who set the Olympic record in the qualifying heat, coasted to an easy victory despite having swam the 200 meter freestyle finals earlier.

The United States also won 2 medals in the women's 200 meter individual medley,  Yiu Ohashi of Japan won gold, followed by Americans Alex Walsh and Kate Douglas.  World and Olympic record holder, and all-time great Katinka Hosszu finished 7th, in likely her last chance at a medal.

Outside on the water, China, Poland and Australia advanced into the A-Finals in the women's quad sculls when Germany, who was in second at the time, caught a crab (see word of the day below), which immediately slowed the boat to the point where it looked like it was standing still.  A truly weird visual to anyone that has never seen this happen in a rowing event, which to be honest is most of us since we don't watch rowing regularly!)

Besides swimming, the other most popular sport is Olympics, and the women's gymnastics world, and thus that of these Olympics, was rocked a second time by Simone Biles' announcement that she was withdrawing from the individual All-Around, on the heels of withdrawing from the team competition.

Unfortunately for the men, Biles' announcement overshadowed the men's all-around, so I will definitely mention it as 19-year old Daiki Hashimoto of Japan won gold, defeating Ruatang Xiao of China - who won silver - and Nakita Nagornyy of the Russian Olympic Committee, the bronze medalist.

China faired much better in the mens 73kg weight class of weightlifting as Shi Zhiyung set a world record of 364 kilograms, winning the gold medal.

Annemiek van Vleuten made up for her mistake in the cycling road race by absolutely dominating the time trial, winning gold for the Netherlands by over 56 seconds over silver medalist Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, and teammate Anna van der Breggen, the bronze medalist.  (See previous post for van Vleuten's mistake, which resulted in a silver).

Fiji won its second gold ever in defeding its men's rugby 7s gold medal!

Team USA's women won the first ever gold medal in 3x3, defeating ROC in a game that was nowhere near as close as the the final 18-15 score.  Kelsey Plum scored 5 early points to stake the USA to an early lead, and to finish as the leading scorer in the tournament.  The ROC had no answer for 6'5 Stefanie Dolson, who led USA in scoring with 7.  Dolson was primarily responsible for placing the ROC in foul trouble when, after 7 fouls a team is awarded two free throws and at 10 fouls, the team receives 2 free throws AND the ball.  

Fellow US athlete Sam Kendricks, the 2x defending pole vaulting world champion and Rio bronze medalists has withdrawn from the Olympics due to a positive Covid-19 test.  Kendricks was the gold medal favorite in these games.

For the second consecutive day, Tokyo has set their record with 3,177 Covid cases.  

The USA men's basketball team rebounded (see what I did there?) by annihilating Iran, but because it was Iran I am not going to mention very much about this game, since it doesn't tell us much.  Concerning is that Kevin Durant has only scored 10 points in each of the team's first two games.

And to be honest, I only even mentioned the USA men's basketball team because the fact they played Iran gives me this great segue....

Judoka Saeid Mollaei of Mongolia won the gold medal in the 81 kg weight class.  Mollaei was born in Iran, and won gold at the 2018 world championships.  In the 2019 world championships, Mallaei was ordered by the government of Iran, the Iran Olympic Committee and the Iranian Judo Federation to throw his semifinal match so that he would not have to compete against Sagi Muki in the finals because Muki is Israeli.  Mallaei left the tournament and went into hiding, securing a 2 year visa from Germany.  He eventually gained citizenship from, and competes for, Mongolia.  After winning the gold, Mollaei thanked the citizens of Israel for all of their positive energy. 

Athlete of the Day - Saeid Mollaei, Judo, Mongolia

An athlete standing up for his beliefs, imagine that!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Catching a crab - In rowing, after sticking an oar into the water for a stroke, and the oar fails to come out of the water when released, thus stopping the forward momentum of the boat.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Archery, Basketball, Canoe, Cycling, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically):  Phillip Dutton, Brady Ellison, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Kelsey Plum, Anastasija, Zolotic                          

Olympics - Rio 2016 - Day 10

Day 10 - August 12

Today's Events:  Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Fencing, Golf, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Trampolining, Volleyball 

Olympic Word of the Day:  Piste - In fencing, it is the 14 meter long, by 2 meter wide "court" upon which fencers compete.

Sportsmanship was not the highlight of Day 10.  Islam El-Shehaby, a judoka from Egypt, refused to shake the hand of Or Sasson, his Israeli counterpart that had just defeated him.  Although the International Judo Federation is looking into the situation to possibly sanction El-Shehaby (shaking hands is not required, but bowing afterward is; El-Shehaby eventually bowed).  An International Olympic Committee spokesperson said that it was a step forward that the match even took place, as many participants from hyper-religious Islamic countries refuse to even compete against Israeili athletes.

  

Now to be fair to El-Shehaby we do not know his situation.  It is entirely possible that those in the Egyptian Judo Federation, those associated with the government, or even rogue elements outside the government may have threatened his life for competing against Sasson, much less shaking hands, but hopefully he is just being a jerk.

Bad sportsmanship is not limited to athletes from countries that insult our allies, but the good ole U S of A has its bad sports as well, namely, Hope Solo.  After the heavily favored American soccer team, for which Solo plays goalie, lost in a shootout to Sweden, Hope Solo called the Swedes cowards, for executing a tough, defensive-minded gameplan, and then insulted the Sweden coach, Pia Sundhage, who formerly coached the U.S. Women's National Team.  Given the quantity of issues in Solo's background, some analysts are starting to call for her dismissal from the national team.

In the pool, Katie Ledecky set a world record in the 800 meter freestyle, exited the pool, showered, put on makeup, changed into her club clothes, then returned to the pool to watch second and third place finish the race.  She simply dominated, but she cannot be the story of the day, as she wasn't even the story of the day in swimming.  

That honor belongs to Joseph Schooling of Singapore.  Schooling won gold in the 100m butterfly in Olympic record time.  In doing so, he defeated a trio of Olympic swimming royalty who all tied for the silver medal:  Michael Phelps of the United States, Laslzo Cseh of Hungary and Chad le Clos of South Africa.  You know who didn't beat Phelps?  Alydar himself, Ryan Lochte, who is finished.

A trio of Americans had great days in Rio.  Shooter Kim Rhode won bronze medal in the women's skeet event.  The bronze is Rhode's sixth medal overall, having medaled in each of the last 6 Olympics, the first person to medal in 6 different Olympics.

In the boxing ring, American Nico Hernandez earned a bronze medal in the light flyweight, after falling to Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan. Hernandez, won a medal for the once-proud US boxing team, despite being one of only 5 fighters to qualify for the Olympics from the U.S.

At the track, Shot Diva Michelle Carter won the gold medal, the second such medal for her family, as her father Michael Carter, won the gold in 1984 in Los Angeles.  Afterward, Carter went on to win the Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers in January 1985, and then two more times thereafter.  Carter, after qualifying third, unleashed a monster throw of 20.63m on her final attempt.

Inside the velodrome, Bradley Wiggins, along with his Great Britain teammates, twice set the world record in the Men's team pursuit, the last time in the finals as Great Britain defeated Australia.  It was Wiggins's British record 8th medal 5 of which are gold, to go with 1 silver and 2 bronze.

However, the story of the day belongs to the the winner of the first gold medal on the track.  Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana wins gold by breaking a 23 year old world record.  Her time of 29:17.45 shattered the World Record formerly held by China's Wang Junxia.  Ayana defeated silver medalist, Vivian Cheruiyot from Kenyan, and countrywomen (and three time medalist) Tirunesh Dibaba, as athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya took the top 5 spots and 6 of the top 8,  American Molly Huddle finished 6th, setting an American record 30:13.17.

But, this post has to come full circle, and to do that was Sweden's Sarah Lahti, who finished 2 minutes and 11 seconds behind Ayana in 12th place.  Abut Ayana Lahti said, "I cannot say that she is not clean, but there is little doubt".  Good sportsmanship Lahti.

Olympics - Rio 2016 - Day 7

Day 7 - August 9

Today's Events:  Archery, Handball, Judo, Kayak, Sailing, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball

Olympic word of the day:  Although some time has passed since the institution of the libero in professional volleyball in 1998, it is still a relatively unusual position for those of us of a certain age, so I felt it necessary to define the libero.  Libero - In volleyball, a defensive specialist that must operate only under certain rules.  A libero must be registered with the tournament organizers, and each team is allowed only one libero.  The libero is (A) restricted to performing as a back row player and has no right at all to complete an attack hit when the ball is above the height of the top of the net; (B) may not serve, block or attempt to block; (C) not allowed to make a set in front of the 3 meter line (otherwise the ball may not be attacked); and must wear a different colour shirt from the other members of the team.  The team is allowed an unlimited amount of substitutions for its libero that do not count against the substitution limit.  All of this to say that a libero is a defensive specialist.

What looked like was going to be a very slow day at the Olympics as far as stories go (except for THE story of the day).  Late afternoon, however, that changed quickly.

The dominating U.S. Women's soccer team proved that their were - well - less than dominant.  Although a loss was never in doubt, and even though they still won their group to go forward to the knockout stages, the U.S. looked beatable.  The U.S. drew with Colombia, who started the scoring early, and then ended the scoring late to earn the draw.  These were the first two goals for Colombia in Olympic history, and the first two goals against the U.S. ever.  A bright spot was that the two American goals were scored by the youngsters Crystal Dunn and Mallory Pugh.

Then, the number 1 ranked and seeded Serena Williams lost in straight sets to Elina Svitolina.  Serena, looking just as lost and frustrated as she has for the entire tournament, seemed to lack power and fire as she lost to Svitolina for the first time in her career.  Paul Annacone seemed to think that the courts in Rio lacked power and that the balls played heavy, which would negate any advantage possessed by the power players such as Serena, and fellow upset victims Novak Djokovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Gabrielle Muguruzu.

The worst-side of these Rio Olympics reared their head today (well last last night/early this morning), after Belgian judo bronze-medalist Dirk van Tichelt won the bronze medal in judo, and then decided to go celebrate in Copocabana Beach, where he was subsequently robbed.  The perpetrators took his cell phone, but not his medal.  They did leave van Tichelt with a present to show for his efforts - a nice shiner.

Another big night in the pool as two of the stories of these Olympic games and one big story from Olympic history all won gold.

Michael Phelps, won gold over a crowded field of rivals that included 2012 gold medalist, Chad le Clos (who finished fourth) in the 200m butterfly, and then turned around minutes later to anchor the 4x200m freestyle relay with Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas and Ryan Lochte (as well as qualifier Jack Conger - who also receives a gold) and easily defeated Great Britain and Japan for Phelps's 25th overall Olympic medal (21 golds).  The team was so fast that even Lochte's disgusting bleached hair could not keep them from winning.

Just 50 minutes after disqualifying herself from the 200m butterfly semi-finals, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu won the third gold of Rio in the 200m individual medley.  (She withdrew from the butterfly because of the IM finals).  Katie Ledecky, with a last 15 meter sprint that has never been seen before in swimming - excepting Jason Lezak's final 15 meters in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay in the 2008 Olympics - pulled ahead of Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjolstrom, who had drawn virtually even with Ledecky after the last turn, to win her second gold of these Olympics, with her best event still to come.

Even though Hosszu and Ledecky are two of the major stories of these Olympics, they are not the story of the day.  That falls to the "Final Five".  Now, at first, I despised this name.  I thought it was corny, trite, and just another corny phrase started by someone in the media to create a marketing opportunity on top of what was already a great story.  However, I then found out that the name was created by the team itself - rumor has it Simone Biles thought of it - and that it has a double meaning in that they are the last team to be coached by the retiring Marta Karolyi, and that next Olympics will only have four-gymnast teams, well, now I tolerate it.

That being said, the team marched out in $14,000 Swarovski-crystal laden, sparkly red-white and blue uniforms that brought less attention to the athletes than their stunning routines did.  The 12 performances (3 athletes per apparatus) totally annihilated the second place Russians and third place Chinese.  In fact, the Chinese team was paired with the Americans, and after having had their guts torn out by the Americans in routine after routine, vault after parallel bars, just completely succumbed to the pressure and the talent of the U.S. team on the floor exercise, and fell to third place.  With Aly Raisman and Simone Biles left to compete on the floor, Tim Daggett looked at the score and said that for the U.S. to win all Raisman and Biles have to do is "not injure themselves".  Raisman and Biles did much more than that with two scintillating performances, which lead to a great individual floor exercise competition, not to mention the all-around.

Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman become the first American gymnasts to win three gold medals, although they both have a chance to add to the total, with Simone Biles - who no less an authority than Mary Lou Retton said was the most talented gymnast ever - likely to at least tie that number in her first Olympics.

For thoroughly decimating the competition, the story of the day is ... Captain Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian.

Olympics - Rio 2016 - Day 5

Day 5 - August 7

Today's Events:  Archery, Beach Volleyball, Fencing, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball

Olympic word(s) of the day:  Parry, Riposte - "Parry" is to defend an attack in fencing and "riposte" is the counterattack after parrying an attack.

There were a few stories of the day in this first of three Sundays for this Olympic fortnight (+).  A few will be heard from again, such as the utter and complete domination by the United States Women's basketball and gymnastics teams, the former covering a 60 point spread against Senegal and the latter winning the preliminary round by almost 10 full points.  A few stories we have heard from before already, but they need to be mentioned again, as they are that important.

First, the Cycling road course reared its ugly head again as the leader, Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands flipped head over heels on the last turn while in the lead, fracturing 3 vertebrae.  One longtime cycling writer said that in all of his 26 years of covering the sport, he had never seen an accident like that, and was afraid to continue following the accident because he did not think she had survived.  The accident completely overshadowed the race, and eventual winner, van Vleuten's teammate, Anna van der Breggen.

Second, the Brazilian's men's soccer team took to the pitch against Iraq to right their ship after a devastating draw with 10-man South Africa in the first contest of the tournament.  Brazil dazzled to a second straight nil-nil draw, giving themselves a really tough route to the knockout stages as they are tied in points with Iraq, and playing the dangerous group leading Denmark in the last game with the Iraqis play the South Africans.

Domination was the name of the game in the pool where Adam Peaty from the United Kingdom cruised to victory in the 100 meter breaststroke, while eclipsing his own world record he set earlier in the day in the preliminaries.  Meanwhile, Katie Ledecky of the United States broke her own world record in the 400 meter freestyle while winning by roughly a mile (see below).  Either of those would ordinarily qualify for the story of the day except they were not even the story of the day in the pool, but more on that later.

A second straight day of disappointment for Venus Williams, a day after losing in the singles in the first round, she and her sister Serena lost in the first round of the doubles competition to the team from the Czech Republic - Lucie Safarova and Barbara Strycova in straight sets.  This is the first ever Olympic loss for the Williams sisters in Olympic doubles, as they won gold in 2000 in Sydney, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.  Accompanying the Williams sisters in the locker room after a first round loss was world number 1 and 1 seed Novak Djokovic who lost to Juan Martin del Potro.  The tennis medals are wide open!

However, for the story of the day we go back to the pool for the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay.  The Americans recaptured gold and glory in the race they completely owned having won every gold medal until the home Australians - behind Ian Thorpe - claimed victory in 2000.  A South African win in 2004 was eclipsed by the most exciting relay finish ever, in 2008, when Jason Lezak out-swam and out-touched France's anchor - Alain Bernard - to reclaim the gold.  France won gold in 2012 after American Ryan Lochte could not hold of his counterpart.  This redemption was sweet for Michael Phelps, who along with 2016 anchor Nathan Adrian, remember vividly the loss in 2012 as they participated as the first two legs.  Michael Phelps took the lead after a phenomenal turn and swim underwater for the the first 15 meters of his last leg.  Great legs by first timers Caleb Dressel and Ryan Held supported the two veterans.  Thank God Ryan Lochte was on the sideline this  year.