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 - Tokyo 2020 - Day 4

 Day 4 - July 24, 2021

The first full day of competition is in the books, so like the swimmers I am going to just jump right in.  I should note, however, that Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, so some of the events that I watch yesterday occur today, and that affects where I place them in my updates.  Also, where I place each of the events is largely dependent upon where I place them in my notes, so there may be some inconsistencies.  Oh well.

First and foremost, United States women's soccer righted itself with a 6-1 victory over New Zealand, in large part due to the insertion of 5 "new" starters.  These 5 new starters are mainstays of the team over the years, including Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Rose Lavelle.

This was our first look at 3x3 basketball, and it is amazing.  It is going to be a sure fire hit in these Olympics.  Non-stop action, and the skill level is absolutely amazing.  The American women are going to be a force to reckon with, led by all-tim NCAA career scoring leader Kelsey Plum (pictured).

In the 60kg weight class of judo, Takata Naohosa won the host country's first gold medal.  Traditionally the host country receives a bump - wins more medals than otherwise ordinarily projected - but without the crowds it will be interesting to see how Japan succeeds.

The race of the day was in the pool, in the Men's 400 meter freestyle qualifiers.  In the 5th heat five swimmers, Australia's Elijah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin, the USA's Kieran Smith and Jake Mitchell, and Italy's Marco de Tullio, all finished within .65 seconds of each other, and with the top 3 (Winnington, McLoughlin and Smith) finishing within .05 seconds of each other.   Each of the 5 advanced to the next round.  We can only hope that the semi-finals and finals are as competitive.

Another exciting match occurred in the women's Epee individual gold medal matchup between Sun Yiwen of China and Ana Maria Popescu of Romania, in which Sun defeated Popescu 11-10 in overtime for her first Olympic gold medal (and third overall).

Also in fencing, in the men's sabre, Aron Szilagyi of Hungary defeated Italy's Luigi Samele 15-7 in the finals to win his thrid consecutive gold medal, becoming the first male fencer to win 3 individual golds.

Also of note, out at Fuji International Speedway in the men's cycling road race Ecuador's Richard Carapaz jumped away from the Peloton to claim the gold medal and a little revenge after finishing fourth last week in the Tour de France.  Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia finished third to earn the bronze medal, just behind Belgian's Wout van Aert.  (Cue Tag Team!)

Athlete of the Day - Aron Szilagyi, Fencing, Hungary

Only male ever to win three individual gold medals in fencing.  That definitely merits the Athlete of the Day designation.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Riposte - In fencing, it is a quick return thrust, often after one parries an attack; a counter-attack.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Archery, Badminton, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Cycling, Fencing, Handball, Judo, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, 

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer:  Brady Ellison, Cat Osterman, Kelsey Plum