Olympic Update: Day 4
The Olympics have been a tale of two sports for the average fan as two specific places get most of the attention. The track and the pool are always the most popular parts of the Olympics and for week 1 the focus is on the pool. The popularity of the pool has a lot to do with the fact that these swims are simply races with no complicated rules. It is 8 men or women swimming as fast as they can against each other with the first person to touch the wall winning. There has been plenty to watch as well with relays finishing in tight races, the Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps rivalry, and the emergence of the future of female swimming. It has not been without its controversy as well with dominant swimmers failing to win or medal and accusations of doping swirling in the past four days. There has been a lot of focus on the pool in week 1 as usual with some of the best stories coming out of the superstars of the games. In the women’s swimming there has emerged a new generation of swimmers that could be the focus in future Olympics. Coming into the Olympics much of the focus of this new generation landed on the shoulders of Missy Franklin from the USA. She was considered the potential Michael Phelps of women’s swimming and in her first Olympics she looked to start off right. She did just that winning the 200m backstroke to put everyone on notice that she was here. She did not fair as well in the 200m freestyle but still has three events to compete in to earn her medals in her first ever Olympics. She was not alone in this new generation though as two new female swimmers made their impact in the pool at London. First was 15-year old Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania who surprised everyone when she won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke and dominated throughout the breaststroke competition. Then came 16-year old Ye Shiwen who blew the competition away in the 400m individual medley earning a world record. She won again in the 200m individual medley breaking an Olympic record. Unfortunately for Shiwen it was not all positive as after her win in the 400m race accusations came claiming that her performance was so far and above what she is used to doing and therefore she must be doping. It was unfortunate for Shiwen as her great performance was overshadowed thanks to an accusation. There is of course no proof of Shiwen ever failing a drug test including the two she was required to do after winning both races. Despite the accusation the fact remains that Shiwen leads a group of young hungry female swimmers that could be the focus of future Olympics. One of the biggest stories in the pool from before the Olympics started was the potential dominance of Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. At first it was all about the rivalry between the two and this was solved in day 1 when Ryan Lochte beat Phelps in the 400m individual medley. Then both swimmers struggled as Lochte came in fourth place in the 200m freestyle event. Both swimmers together would also disappoint by placing second in the 4x100m freestyle. Still the record chase for Phelps was intact as he only needed two more medals to break the all time medal record. On day 4 the chase was over as he finished second n the 200m butterfly and broke the record in style with Ryan Lochte winning gold in the 4x400m freestyle relay. With the gold Pehlps earned his 19th medal in the Olympics breaking the all-time medal record and becoming the most decorated Olympian ever. The pool has been one of the most exciting places in the Olympics this week and there seems to be no end in sight as the rest of the week will see plenty more chances for these swimmers to impress as the focus stays on the pool for the first week before the track events take over.
The Canadian Story
Women’s Diving Strikes Again:
The Women’s diving program in Canada has been great in London as they won their second bronze medal in the synchronized 10m platform event opening the day off well thanks to Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito
Judoka Doubles Medal Total:
Antoine Valois-Fortier continued to the trend for Canada as he put together an inspirational run in day 4 beating the defending Olympic champion and the defending world silver medalist on his way to the first Judo medal for Canada in 12 years
Girard Makes it Three:
The Canadians went for the hat trick as Cristine Girard earned the third bronze medal in Day 4 as she recovered from her 2008 Olympics where she missed the podium by 3kg and earned the first Canadian women’s weightlifting medal ever
Wimbledon not so good on Day 4:
The news wasn’t all positive for Canadians as a great day 3 a Wimbledon led to some tough competition for Canadian tennis players as Aleksandra Wozniak lost to Venus Williams and Milos Raonic lost to Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Marathon Man on the Court:
Although Raonic did lose his match he made his mark on the Olympics playing in the longest Olympic match in history that including a rain delay and a last set that lasted 66 games proving that Canadians are never an easy out
Good Day for Canada:
Canadians had their best day so far as the Olympic team won 3 bronze medals while also seeing the Canadian Women’s Soccer team move on to the quarter-finals thanks to a 2-2 draw with Sweden
Day 4 Medal Results
Artistic Gymnastics:
Women’s Team
Gold- USA
Silver- Russia
Bronze- Romania
Canoe/Kayak:
Men’s C1 Slalom
Gold- Tony Estanguet (France)
Silver- Saderis Tasiadis (Germany)
Bronze- Michal Martikan (Slovakia)
Diving:
Women’s Synchronized 10m Platform
Gold- Chen Ruolin/Wang Hao (China)
Silver- Paola Espinosa/Alejandra Orozco (Mexico)
Bronze- Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion (Canada)
Equestrian:
Team Eventing- Jumping
Gold- Germany
Silver- Great Britain
Bronze- New Zealand
Individual Eventing- Jumping
Gold- Michael Jung (Germany)
Silver- Sara Algottson Ostholt (Sweden)
Bronze- Sandra Auffarth (USA)
Fencing:
Men’s Individual Foil
Gold- Sheng Lei (China)
Silver- Alaaeldin Abouelkassem (Egypt)
Bronze- Byungchul Choi (South Korea)
Judo:
Women’s 63kg
Gold- Urska Zolnir (Slovenia)
Silver- Xu Lili (China)
Bronze- Yoshie Ueno (Japan)
Bronze- Gevrise Emane (France)
Men’s 81kg
Gold- Jae-Bum Kim (South Korea)
Silver- Ole Bischof (Germany)
Bronze- Ivan Nifontov (Russia)
Bronze- Antoine Valois-Fortier (Canada)
Shooting:
Men’s Skeet
Gold- Vincent Hancock (USA)
Silver- Anders Golding (Denmark)
Bronze- Nasser Al-Attiya (Qatar)
Swimming:
Women’s 200m Freestyle
Gold- Allison Schmitt (USA)
Silver- Camille Muffat (France)
Bronze- Bronte Barratt (Australia)
Men’s 200m Butterfly
Gold- Chad le Clos (South Africa)
Silver- Michael Phelps (USA)
Bronze- Takeshi Matsuda (Japan)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley
Gold- Ye Shiwen (China)
Silver- Alicia Coutts (Australia)
Bronze- Ariana Kukors (USA)
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Gold- USA
Silver- France
Bronze- China
Weightlifting:
Women’s 63kg
Gold- Maiya Maneza (Kazakhstan)
Silver- Svetlana Tsarukaeva (Russia)
Bronze- Cristine Girard (Canada)
Men’s 69kg
Gold- Qingfeng Lin (China)
Silver- Triyatno Triyatno (Indonesia)
Bronze- Razvan Constantin Martin (Romania)
Day 5 Medal Events
Artistic Gymnastics:
Men’s Individual All-Around Final (11:30 am)
Canoe/Kayak:
Men’s K1 Slalom Final (10:15 am)
Cycling:
Women’s Individual Time Trial (7:30 am)
Men’s Individual Time Trial (9:15 am)
Diving:
Men’s Synchronized 3m Final (10:30 am)
Fencing:
Men’s Individual Epee Bronze Medal Match (2:10 pm)
Men’s Individual Epee Gold Medal Match (3:00 pm)
Women’s Individual Sabre Bronze Medal Match (2:40 pm)
Women’s Individual Sabre Gold Medal Match (3:30 pm)
Judo:
Men’s 90kg Bronze Medal Match (9:28 am)
Men’s 90kg Gold Medal Match (11:10 am)
Women’s 70kg Bronze Medal Match (9:00 am)
Women’s 70kg Gold Medal Match (11:00 am)
Rowing:
Women’s Pairs Final (5:10 am)
Women’s Quadruple Sculls Final (5:20 am)
Men’s Eight Final (5:30 am)
Shooting:
Women’s 25m Pistol Final (10:30 am)
Swimming:
Men’s 200m Breaststroke Final (2:30 pm)
Women’s 200m Butterfly Final (3:12 pm)
Men’s 100m Freestyle Final (3:20 pm)
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final (4:04 pm)
Table Tennis:
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Match (9:30 am)
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match (10:30 am)
Weightlifting:
Men’s 77kg Final (2:00 pm)
Women’s 69kg (10:30 am)
|
Medal Table |
|||||
|
# |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1 |
China |
13 |
6 |
4 |
23 |
|
2 |
USA |
9 |
8 |
6 |
23 |
|
3 |
Japan |
1 |
4 |
8 |
13 |
|
4 |
France |
4 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
|
5 |
South Korea |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
|
6 |
Italy |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
|
7 |
Russia |
2 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
|
8 |
Germany |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
|
9 |
Australia |
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
|
10 |
Romania |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
|
13 |
Canada |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
The Sport Addiction 