The women’s 10km marathon was held this morning. The United State’s Haley Anderson took the silver medal in the event.

The men’s 10km will be held tomorrow and is the last swimming event of the Olympics.

Raisman leaps to Gold.

The disappointment began Sunday night when U.S. Gymnast McKayla Maroney settled for a Silver Medal on Vault after landing on her butt, and continued on Monday and Tuesday night for Gabby Douglas, who faltered on both Uneven Bars and Beam. However, Raisman was able to end the journey on a positive note for the U.S. Gymnastics Team, earning Gold on the Floor Exercise and barely Bronze on the Beam.

The U.S. Gymnastics Team won the Gold Medal in the team competition, and Douglas won an All-Around Gold, so really anything after that is just gravy. However, it is sort of strange that the best All-Around gymnast in the world basically blew it on the individual events, but perhaps she really was just exhausted.

No one really expected Douglas to jump past the Chinese or Russian gymnasts on the bars, but coming in last was a bit of a surprise. She overextended on a handstand, and finished with a last-place score of 14.9.

On the bars, Gold went to the feisty (and usually crying) Aliya Mustafina of Russia, Silver went to China’s He Kexin and hometown fave Beth Tweddle of Great Britain earned the Bronze.

Last night, Douglas again had trouble. Though she fought hard, she ended up falling off the Beam during her routine. Russia’s Viktoria Komova (Silver All-Around) also fell, which meant that the 13.363 that Douglas received put her in second to last place.

China rocked the Beam, nabbing Gold and Silver from Linlin Deng and Lu Sui respectively. The real drama came from Raisman, who competed last. Catalina Ponor of Romania was in Bronze contention with a score of 15.066, as Raisman mounted. Her solid performance made her a shoe-in for the Bronze, but Raisman received a score of 14.933.

There was a rumble in the crowd from Béla and Marta Károlyi, and Raisman’s coach made a mad dash to put in an inquiry. The judges decided that they had not counted all of Raisman’s skills and granted her a new score of 15.066 – the same as Ponor. This time, instead of tying and settling for fourth as she did in the All-Around, the tie-breaker was in Raisman’s favor, and she pushed Ponor out of third place. For the tiebreaker, the judges look at the execution score, and Raisman indeed had the edge. However, knowing how much it hurt getting edged out of the All-Around, you have to wonder if Raisman knew what her actions did to Ponor.

Again, I don’t see the problem in just giving away two medals. Raisman had less deductions, but it also means her routine was less difficult. Shouldn’t Ponor be rewarded for trying the more difficult skills?

On the Floor Exercise, Raisman didn’t have to go through any tiebreakers as she beat everyone out with a dynamic routine and a score of 15.6 while clad in the most patriotic leotard imaginable. Ponor of Romania was right behind her with a 15.2, so I’m glad she was able to get a medal after getting the shaft on the Beam. Mustafina was happy to earn the Bronze, considering she stepped out of bounds.

Jordyn Wieber was also on the floor with her only chance of an individual medal, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. She finished in 7th place, right above the Vault champion – Romania’s Sandra Raluca Izbasa – who fell flat on her face on her last tumbling pass.  Izbasa took the Floor last, and I have to wonder how long Raisman waited after the wipeout before jumping for joy because she knew it meant the Gold was hers.

On the whole, it was a very successful outing for all of the U.S. Gymnasts at the Olympic games, except for maybe poor Wieber, whose nightmare began when she was edged out of the All-Around competition. Wieber and Kyla Ross were the only two who didn’t receive individual medals, but Ross wasn’t really supposed to be in the running. Wieber certainly tried her best, and both Wieber and Ross were essential in the U.S. winning the Team Gold.

Now that Gymnastics is over, I can return to my normal life!

McKayla Maroney isn’t ecstatic about her Silver.

McKayla Maroney was on the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team for one purpose: Vault. She is the world champion vault specialist, and it is the only event she competed in while in London for the 2012 Games. She rocked her vaults during the Qualification Round and Team Finals, but last night she slipped and had to settle for silver.

In general, the U.S. Gymnastics team seems to be better than everyone else out there when it comes to vault. In the Team Finals, Maroney scored a 16.233, though many argue she should have scored a perfect 16.5. She was heavily favored to win last night, but unfortunately when it came to an individual medal, Maroney fell a tad short of the Gold.

Winning a Silver medal in the Olympics is nothing to sneeze at, and Maroney should be really proud of what she did last night. And, without that 16.233 in the team finals, who knows if the U.S. Team would’ve won the Gold in the end.

Everyone talks about how the beam is really difficult, because it is so skinny. But the vault is no walk in the park. You have to run full speed toward the vault and then either spring off of it with your hands doing a front handspring, or do a roundoff back handspring onto the vault and then continue to twist and twirl in the air afterwards. Most of the landings are blind, and sticking it is nearly impossible.

Maroney vaulted second to last, so for the first time in these Games we got to see gymnasts from somewhere other than China, Russia, Romania and the U.S. Eight finalists had the opportunity to do two vaults, so I think we got to see all of them.

Elsabeth Black of Canada had a disastrous first vault, where she essentially landed on her face. For her second attempt, she ran all the way down to the vault and stopped before doing anything. She came in last place with a 0.

Yamilet Pena Abreu vaulted for the Dominican Republic, and she had the highest difficulty available at a 7.1 (Maroney is usually at 6.5) with a vault that involved a front handspring and then three front flips. She had some trouble and landed on her butt, so she finished 6th. I have never seen a gymnast from the Dominican Republic before, so I was excited just to have the chance to watch her in action.

Then there was Oksana Chusovitina of Germany who is a whopping 37 years old! Originally from Uzbekistan, Chusovitina first competed in the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, before anyone on the U.S. Team was born. In those games she was with the Unified Team, who won a Gold Medal. In Beijing she won a Silver medal on the vault for Germany. These are her sixth Olympic Games, which is unheard of for Gymnasts. She finished 5th, but you have to be in awe of her effort.

Maria Paseka vaulted for Russia right before Maroney, and though she put in a solid effort she didn’t have the height and form that Maroney can boast. Paseka received a 15.4 and 14.7 for an average score of 15.050. On a normal night that’s a cakewalk for Maroney to beat.

The second to last vaulter of the night, Maroney nailed her first vault. She earned a 15.866 on a vault that had a difficulty of 16.5. On her second vault, she tried too hard to be perfect and her feet slipped out from under her on the landing and she fell on her butt. She still managed to score a 14.3, but the door had been opened for the next gymnast.

Sandra Raluca Izbasa went last and turned in two serviceable vaults. With a 15.383 on the first vault and a 15.0 on the second, her average of 15.191 beat out Maroney’s 15.083 for the Gold. Neither of Izbasa’s vaults were spectacular, and Maroney definitely had it in her to win. But, these are the Olympics and all that matters is the performance you put in at the right time. I’m sure Maroney is disappointed because she knows she is the best vaulter, but sometimes that’s the way it goes.

Maroney’s Olympic Games are now over, and she should be very proud of what she has done. She has a Gold Team Medal and a Silver Individual Event medal, which is more than most of the gymnasts who are in London will get to take home. And, who knows, at just 16 years old maybe we’ll see Maroney vaulting again in Rio.

Michael Phelps went out in fine fashion if this was indeed his last Olympics.

Phelps won gold in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay along with relay mates Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen and Nathan Adrian.

This was Phelps 22 medal and 18th gold medal. » Continue reading “Saturday Evening Swimming Results”

Katie Ledecky

The crowd was roaring.

But not for the eventual gold medal winner.

Nope! Britain turned out for their golden girl, Rebecca Adlington.

Adlington, the 800 meters freestyle world record holder who  had quite the golden haul in Beijing, surrendered her crown to 15-year-old American, Katie Ledecky. » Continue reading “Ledecky Is Golden”

Photo via nbcolympics.com

Remember when Abby Wambach was mired in a scoring drought coming into the 2011 World Cup? As I recall, she scored her first goal of the tournament in the final group stage match against Sweden, having only scored one goal in 10 matches prior to that.

With the way she’s playing now, it’s almost hard to believe.

There’s no denying that Wambach is at the top of her game right now. The 32 year old striker has scored a goal in each match of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Olympic campaign so far, bringing her career total to 142. “Old Faithful” has stayed composed under pressure, cutting into France’s 2-0 lead early in the first match with a classic header off a corner kick. Against Colombia, she tacked on a late insurance goal after getting punched in the face and knocked to the ground by Lady Andrade.

Nothing is keeping Abby Wambach from realizing her goal of winning that Olympic gold medal.

» Continue reading “Abby Wambach Leads U.S. Women into Olympic Semifinals”

Team USA Swimmers won gold in 3 out of the 4 events they participated in last night.

Women’s 200 M Backstroke

Missy Franklin took gold and Elizabeth Beisel took bronze in this event. Franklin set a world record with a time of 2:04.06.

Men’s 100 M Butterfly

Michael Phelps wins gold in this race. The is Michael Phelps 20th medal and he is the most decorated Olympian in history.

Women’s 800 M Freestyle

15 year old Katie Ledecky won gold in this race and set an American record, breaking Janet Evan’s 23 year-old record.

Men’s 50 M Freestyle

Cullen Jones took silver in this race. He also has another silver medal from the men’s 4×100 m freestyle relay.

Gabby Douglas wins the All-Around Gold.

For the third straight Olympic Summer Games, a U.S. gymnast has grabbed the coveted gold medal in the Women’s Individual All-Around. Last night, Gabby “The Flying Squirrel” Douglas nailed every one of the four Artistic Gymnastics events to take home the Gold Medal for the U.S.

Mary Lou Retton did it first in 1984, and then there was a lengthy drought for the U.S. in terms of the All-Around. Then, in 2004, Carly Patterson took home the Gold in Athens. Nastia Liukin repeated the triumph at the Beijing Games in 2008, and now Douglas joins the list. Douglas may be the fourth U.S. gymnast to take home the Gold, but she is the first-ever African-American gymnast to claim that title.

Aly Raisman was also on the roster last night for the All-Around competition (if you’ll remember she edged out Jordyn Wieber, who was forced to watch from the sidelines), but though she tied for third place she did not take home a medal. More on that later.

At the end of the competition the results looked like this: Gold, Douglas; Silver, Russia’s Viktoria Khomova; Bronze, Russia’s Aliya Mustafina.

The rotation was the same as it has been all of the previous nights with vault first for the top six gymnasts: Douglas, Komova, Mustafina, Raisman, China’s Deng Linlin (who was on the Gold Medal Team in Beijing) and some girl who never got any air time so after looking online I’m guessing was Romania’s Sandra Raluca Izbasa.

The U.S. has been solid on vault this year, and that streak continued as Douglas and Raisman went 1 and 2  scoring 15.966 and 15.900 respectively. The Russians aren’t nearly as strong, giving them a disadvantage after the first rotation.

Next up came the uneven bars, where the Russians were going to gain some ground. They went 1 and 2 here, with Mustafina and Komova receiving 16.1 and 15.966, respectively. Douglas pulled in a solid routine, and her third-place 15.733 kept her on top after the second rotation. Raisman had a bit of trouble – as expected- and her 14.333 led her to slip. Her two best events were still coming up.

On the dreaded beam, Douglas was solid again with a top-scoring 15.5, but Komova was right on her heels with a 15.441. Mustafina had a disaster that included falling completely off the beam, and her 13.633 left the door wide open for Raisman. Unfortunately, Raisman also had some issues. She didn’t fall, but she did put her hands on the beam, which is still a large deduction. She received a 14.2.

With nothing left but the floor, Douglas had the lead, but Komova had the potential to jump right in there. Douglas gave a stellar performance and received a score of 15.033. It was going to take a near-perfect performance for Komova to overcome Douglas, and she couldn’t do it. In the end, Douglas had an overall score of 62.232, beating Komova’s 61.973 by a narrow .259 of a point.

Meanwhile, Mustafina and Raisman were fighting for 3rd. Raisman had a fantastic floor routine, and her score of 15.133 was second only to Romania’s Izbasa, who I’m sure had a great performance that NBC must not have cared about because we didn’t see it. Mustafina’s 14.6 put her in sixth place on the floor.

If you’re keeping count, that means that the two finished with the exact same overall score of 59.566. I don’t remember this happening in the past, so it was unclear what was going to happen. Apparently, the rule for a tie (which even Raisman said in an interview that she didn’t know existed) is to throw out the lowest score (which was beam for both of them) and tally the scores again. Without the ugly beam score, coupled with that amazing uneven bars score, Mustafina went home with the medal. Though on the whole Raisman’s sores were more solid on each apparatus, Mustafina had higher highs and lower lows – and was rewarded.

In my opinion, they both should’ve gotten the Bronze medal. When you take out the lower score you are eliminating one of the events, and therefore it is no longer an All-Around score. Since they both had low beam scores, it’s like beam didn’t even happen, and competing in three events is by no means an All-Around competition. As All-Around gymnasts they are equals, so why does one get a medal over the other?  In swimming people share medals, so why not in gymnastics? I’m also pretty sure in the Event Finals sometimes they share medals, so why not in the All-Around?

Rainsman was very classy and gracious in an interview I watched this morning, but she has to be dying a little bit inside. Though she was tied for third at the Olympic Games, she won’t receive an All-Around medal. I hope she comes out swinging next week in the event finals.

I also have to slightly wonder how Wieber feels. Yes, she’s happy for her teammates, bla, bla, bla. But, deep down inside her adolescent mind is she happy that Raisman failed to medal, or is she annoyed that she was beaten by a gal who couldn’t even medal. I’m sure we’ll never know, but I’m curious.

Congrats to Douglas and to Raisman, who in my book certainly deserves the Bronze. Stay tuned for the event finals next week, where all five of the Gold Medal Gymnastics Team will have a chance to compete.

Lots of gold last night for Team USA swimmers. Rebecca Soni set a new world record and won gold in the 200 m breaststroke. Michael Phelps took gold and Ryan Lochte took silver in the 200 m individual medley. Tyler Clary won gold and Ryan Lochte won bronze in the 200 m backstroke.

There were a handful of qualifying heats this morning. Here are those results.

Women’s 50 M Freestyle

Jessica Hardy was the only Team USA member to qualify for the semifinals later today.

Men’s 1500 M Freestyle

Conner Jaeger qualified for the finals later today.

Women’s 4×100 M Medley Relay

Team USA finished fourth in the qualifying round. The finals will be tomorrow.

Men’s 4×100 M Medley Relay

Team USA was the top qualifier in the qualifying round. Their finals are also tomorrow.

Rebecca Soni

Team USA’s Rebecca Soni set a world record as she won gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke on Thursday.

Soni’s world record time was 2:19:59.

Satomi Suszuki set an Asian record with her silver medal performance with a time of 2:20:72. And, Iluiia Efimova won bronze and set a European record with a time of 2:20:92. » Continue reading “Thursday Evening Swimming Results”