31 July - Day 5 - Paris Summer Olympic Games
Lots of great sport on Day 5! Let's get to it!
Triathlon: I started my day off with the Women's Triathlon. There was some confusion at the start. It seemed as though not everyone could here the signal at once. No one was called back or penalized but there probably should have been some action. The women swam down the middle of the Seine which has an especially strong current right now due to the recent rains. They took advantage of it on the way out and then went right to the bank for the swim back, where the current wasn't as strong. The current of the Seine made the water portion of the Triathlon "mean" more to the overall performance than we are use to. After the swim, the athletes had to climb stairs (which is just mean!) and switch to the bike. It had rained again before the race and the roads were ESPECIALLY SLICK! The Cycling portion end up being a crash-fest! So many riders went down that I was happy when they moved to the run! The Run portion allowed France to take the lead and win the Gold. Swiss took the Silver and Team GB's Potter took the Bronze. Spivey of Team USA took 10th place.
The Men's Triathlon started a few hours later after the streets had dried so they didn't face the same conditions as the women. The men covered a very similar course but they blew a whistle at the start instead of using the signal which was definitely more fair. They didn't have slippery roads and therefore, no crash-fest. New Zealand took over in the run and the announcers basically had given him the gold when Team GB's Yee passed New Zealand and took over. Team GB took Gold, New Zealand took Silver, and France scored the Bronze.
Women's 10M Synchro Platform: Well...there weren't any surprises here. Team USA's team of Parrato/Schnell isn't the strongest here but didn't completely suck. China scored 10 points higher than the rest of the field with each dive, earning the Gold. Next best were the North Koreans. They weren't perfect but neither was the rest of the field. They took the Silver. Team GB bested the rest of the field and earned the Bronze. Team USA finishes 6th.
BMX Park: The women competed first and the tricks were amazing! Perris from Team USA put down a strategic and smart set while Hannah went all out. The problem with going all out is that you may not complete a run....which is what happened with Hannah. If she had landed any of the tricks where she fell, she definitely would have won the Gold, but you have to complete a run! She didn't. China won the Gold, Team USAs Perris took the Silver, and the Aussies took the Bronze.
Then the Men went and Wow! The tricks they were throwing were sooo cool! Same issue that Hannah faced though, is what a few of the favorites faced on the Men's side, including Team USAs Christopher from Canton, Ohio! Argentina turned in the best run winning their first Gold, Team GB took the Silver, and France took the Bronze.
Men's Basketball: Team USA started off slow against Team South Sudan but got it together and won the game. Whew!
3X3 Basketball: I've come to the realization that Team USA is really BAD at 3x3 Basketball. I think this picture says it all:
Women's Beach Volleyball: Team USAs Cheng & Holmes faced off against Team France. If you listened to the announcers, you would have thought this game was going to be over in no time. Boy were they wrong! Our girls fought hard against the French and the heat of the day and sand and pulled out a spectacular victory...finally!
Women's Indoor Volleyball: OMG! Indoor Volleyball may just kill me! I don't think I breathed for like 3 hours! Just like the Men yesterday, this match went 5 sets but unlike the Men, the Ladies of Team USA pulled out a victory which ensured that they would make it to the elimination rounds.
Women's Single Canoe: Evy Leibfarth was TEAM USAs only hope. She went first in the final round and had to watch everyone else try to beat her time. Well...only two could do it! Australia's Fox, who already won Gold in Kayak, is just unbeatable! She put in the best run and won Gold. Germany, who always has a strong showing, won Silver. Team USA hasn't won a medal in the whitewater events since 2004. Way to go Evy!
Men's Tennis Doubles: Team USAs Ram/Ksajicek beat Nadal and Alcaraz, who are competing for Spain, eliminating them from the tourney!
Women's Soccer: Team USA wins over Australia 2-1!
Women's Waterpolo: Team USA got back on track today with a sound victory over Italy: 10-3
Swimming: In the morning Heats Team USA did well with everyone making it through to the next rounds. Then later, in the Semifinals, Smith & Shackell made it through to finals in Women's 200M Fly; Jones made it to the finals in Men's 200M Back but Murphy did not. Both Douglass & King will compete in the Women's 200 Breaststroke final.
Then came the finals and Katie Ledecky took to the pool. The Women's 1500M Free is her event! She has the top 33 times in the books. Today was no different. Katie just got faster and faster as she swam and she finished 10 seconds before the rest of the field, setting a new Olympic record! Katie Ledecky wins Gold. France took the Silver. Germany took the Bronze.
Side Note: Two USA Olympic LEGENDS were in attendance for Katie's swim tonight and seeing them cheer her on had me in tears! Jenny Thompson, who Katie just tied in number of medals, and Natalie Coughlin know what she has done better than anyone else! It was quite touching!
Next was the Men's 200 Fly final. No Americans made it through to the final (sad!) so I rooted for the home team and Marchand. He didn't disappoint! Marchand was behind for most of the race and turned it on in the last 50M to win Gold! Hungary won the Silver. Canada won the Bronze.
In Men's 200 M Breaststroke, Marchand competed again a mere 90 minutes later! And....he set an Olympic record! Marchand wins Gold. Australia takes Silver and the Netherlands take Bronze.
In the Men's 100 Free, Team USA just wasn't fast enough. China's Pan took the Gold, Australia too the Silver, and Romania took the Bronze.
In the Women's 100 Free, Tori Huske was upset by the Swedish swimmer in the last 10M and had to settle for the Silver. Sweden took the Gold and Hong Kong took the Bronze.
Tori Huske wins Silver
Men's Gymnastics All-Around: There weren't many perfect all-around gymnasts today. One of the Japanese gymnasts fell on his head on Floor. Others stepped out and wobbled. There were falls from Pommel Horse and High Bar and weird step-outs on Vault. In the End, S. Oka from Japan did the best and took the Gold. China won Silver and Bronze. Team USAs Juda finished 14th and Fred took 15th.
S. Oka on Parallel Bars
Juda on Parallel Bars
Shout out to the gymnasts from Team GB and Team Ukraine! They did really well and turned in some great routines. China and Japan just had more difficulty packed into some of their routines which earned them higher scores. I was really impressed with these guys though! I hope they do even better in the Event finals!
That's it for today. Tomorrow Primetime will have Women's Gymnastics All Around, Race Walk highlights, Golf highlights, more swimming, more volleyball, and so much more. I'll do my best to not post spoilers on Facebook and get my daily summary out in a timely fashion.
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