Olympic Update: Day 15
There is always a concentration on the Medal Table in the Olympics as fans look to see if their country is better at sports that others. The Olympics breed a competitive attitude and for many the overall medal leader is the goal to aim for. For others it is about a better finish than they are used to or medals in places that they expect. As the people look to the medal standings with one thing in mind and that is the sport superiority of their country. The medal table can tell a lot more than just who is the best at amateur athletics as it can truly tell what countries are invested in sport. The amount of medals can be a direct reflection on the commitment that a country has to sports. For some sport is not the biggest concern of their country as they put money into other aspects of the country. For these countries sports has taken a backseat to other concerns and for many it is understandable. When some countries are in the midst of changing regimes or have financial issues that are damaging their country it is hard to justify spending on sport. Despite the benefits of sport to both national pride and the potential health of the nation when there is no money other things need to take precedent. These countries are typically the countries who have one great sport that they dominate but do not do much more in the Olympics. Meanwhile the countries at the top of the list are the exact opposite as these countries make amateur sport a priority. For these countries sport is more than just entertainment it is a sense of national pride. For these countries who invest in sport programs amateur sport is a way to bring a country together. It is a way to galvanize a people behind athletic performance. It is also one of the easiest ways because when athletes win the country celebrates and the more that athletes win the more the country comes together to celebrate. For those countries who sit on top of the medal table it is all about how many medals they can get. Some countries even look at the medal total as nothing but a number as the true test of greatness to them is the gold medal count. These are the powerhouses in the Olympics as they continue to invest in sports and continue to win medals. Then there are the other countries who are big enough and stable enough to afford to spend money on sports but do not see sports as valuable. These countries many times require a big push to invest in sport and that push usually comes in the form of hosting an Olympic Games. This investment comes in the form of providing the best facilities and training that you can. Many countries do not provide this as their athletes travel all over the world to get the best training they can. These countries are missing out on a very powerful tool as sport is one of the few things that can unite a country as well as it does. Sports are extremely powerful as it can bring people to tears and make people scream with joy. It is one of the few things in this world that has the power to unite people together under a banner, either a country or a team, no matter who the people are. All anyone needs to focus on is the Vancouver 2010 Olympics when a usually reserved Canadian public became the loudest most united nation of the year. It has had an impact that is everlasting in Canada and for many who do not invest in sport despite having the ability to they are missing out on a great chance to unite their country. The medal tables mean little in terms of truly winning anything but for a country they can mean the world as some countries may want to look at their performance in 2012 and fix the lack of investment for the future.
The Canadian Story
Another Medal for Flatwater
The Flaterwater team in Canada can now claim three medals as Mark de Jong earned the latest medal int he Men’s K1 100m sprint race to open the day with Canada’s 18th medal of the games
DQ Ends the hope for another bronze
The Canadians 4x100m Relay team looked to add yet another medal to the collection for Canada but one step by Jared Connaughton ended their hopes as they were disqualified losing their bronze medal
Day 15 Medal Results
Athletics:
Men’s 50km Race Walk
Gold- Sergey Kirdyapkin (Russia)
Silver- Jared Talent (Australia)
Bronze- Tianfeng Si (China)
Women’s 20km Race Walk
Gold- Elena Lashmanova (Russia)
Silver- Olga Kaniskina (Russia)
Bronze- Shenjie Qieyang (China)
Women’s High Jump
Gold- Anna Chicherova (Russia)
Silver- Brigetta Barrett (USA)
Bronze- Svetlana Shkolina (Russia)
Men’s Javelin Throw
Gold- Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago)
Silver- Oleksandr Pyatnytsya (Ukraine)
Bronze- Antti Ruuskanen (Finland)
Men’s 5,000m
Gold- Mohamed Farah (Great Britain)
Silver- Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopia)
Bronze- Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa (Kenya)
Women’s 800m
Gold- Maria Savinova (Russia)
Silver- Caster Semenya (South Africa)
Bronze- Ekaterina Poistogova (Russia)
Women’s 4x400m Relay
Gold- USA
Silver- Russia
Bronze- Jamaica
Men’s 4x100m Relay
Gold- Jamaica
Silver- USA
Bronze- Trinidad and Tobago
Basketball:
Women’s Basketball
Gold- USA
Silver- France
Bronze- Australia
Boxing:
Men’s Light Flyweight (49kg)
Gold- Shiming Zhou (China)
Silver- Kaeo Pongprayoon (Thailand)
Bronze- Paddy Barnes (Ireland)
Bronze- David Ayrapetyan (Russia)
Men’s Bantamweight (56kg)
Gold- Luke Campbell (Great Britain)
Silver- John Joe Nevin (Ireland)
Bronze- Lazaro Alvarez Estrada (Cuba)
Bronze- Satoshi Shimizu (Japan)
Men’s Light Welterweight (64kg)
Gold- Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (Cuba)
Silver- Denys Berinchyk (Ukraine)
Bronze- Vincenzo Mangiacapre (Italy)
Bronze- Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg (Mongolia)
Men’s Middleweight (75kg)
Gold- Ryota Murata (Japan)
Silver- Esquiva Falcao Florentino (Brazil)
Bronze- Abbos Atoev (Uzbekistan)
Bronze- Anthony Ogogo (Great Britain)
Men’s Heavyweight (91kg)
Gold- Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)
Silver- Clemente Russo (Italy)
Bronze- Tervel Pulev (Bulgaria)
Bronze- Teymur Mammadov (Azerbaijan)
Canoe/Kayak:
Men’s K1 20mm Sprint
Gold- Ed McKeever (Great Britain)
Silver- Saul Craviotto Rivero (Spain)
Bronze- Mark de Jong (Canada)
Men’s C1 200m Sprint
Gold- Yuri Cheban (Ukraine)
Silver- Jevgenji Shuklin (Lithuania)
Bronze- Ivan Shtyl’ (Russia)
Women’s K1 200m Sprint
Gold- Lisa Carrington (Australia)
Silver- Inna Osypenko-Radomska (Ukraine)
Bronze- Natasa Douchev-Janics (Hungary)
Men’s K2 200m Sprint
Gold- Yury Postrigay/Alexander Dyachenko (Russia)
Silver- Raman Piatrushenko/Vadzim Makhneu (Belarus)
Bronze- Liam Heath/Jon Schofield (Great Britain)
Cycling:
Women’s Mountain Biking- Cross Country
Gold- Julie Bresset (France)
Silver- Sabine Spitz (Germany)
Bronze- Georgia Gould (USA)
Diving:
Men’s 10m Platform
Gold- David Boudia (USA)
Silver- Bo Qiu (China)
Bronze- Thomas Daley (Great Britain)
Football/Soccer:
Men’s Soccer
Gold- Mexico
Silver- Brazil
Bronze- South Korea
Rhythmic Gymnastics:
Individual All-Around
Gold- Evgeniya Kanaeva (Russia)
Silver- Daria Dimitrieva (Russia)
Bronze- Liubou Charkashyna (Belarus)
Field Hockey:
Men’s Field Hockey
Gold- Germany
Silver- Netherlands
Bronze- Australia
Handball:
Women’s Handball
Gold- Norway
Silver- Montenegro
Bronze- Spain
Modern Pentathlon:
Men’s Modern Pentathlon
Gold- David Svoboda (Czech Republic)
Silver- Zhongrong Cao (China)
Bronze- Adam Marosi (Hungary)
Sailing:
Women’s Elliott 6m Class
Gold- Spain
Silver- Australia
Bronze- Finland
Taekwondo:
Women’s +67kg
Gold- Milica Mandic (Slovakia)
Silver- Anne-Caroline Graffe (France)
Bronze- Anastasia Baryshnikova (Russia)
Bronze- Maria del Rosario Espinoza (Mexico)
Men’s +80kg
Gold- Carlo Molfetta (Italy)
Silver- Anthony Obame (Gabon)
Bronze- Robelis Despaigne (Cuba)
Bronze- Xiaobo Liu (China)
Volleyball:
Women’s Volleyball
Gold- Brazil
Silver- USA
Bronze- Japan
Wrestling:
Men’s 60kg Freestyle
Gold- Toghrul Asgarov (Azerbaijan)
Silver- Besik Kudukhov (Russia)
Bronze- Coleman Scott (USA)
Bronze- Yogeshwar Dutt (India)
Men’s 84kg Freestyle
Gold- Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
Silver- Jaime Yusept Espinal (Puerto Rico)
Bronze- Ehsan Naser Lashgari (Iran)
Bronze- Dato Marsagishvili (Georgia)
Men’s 120kg Freestyle
Gold- Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan)
Silver- Davit Modzmanashvili (Georgia)
Bronze- Bilyal Makhov (Russia)
Bronze- Komeil Ghasemi (Iran)
Day 16 Medal Events
Athletics:
Men’s Marathon (6:00 am)
Basketball:
Men’s Bronze Medal Game (6:00 am)
Men’s Gold Medal Game (10:00 am)
Boxing:
Men’s Flyweight (52kg) Gold Medal Bout (8:30 am)
Men’s Lightweight (60kg) Gold Medal Bout (8:45 am)
Men’s Welterweight (69kg) Gold Medal Bout (9:15 am)
Men’s Light Heavyweight (81kg) Gold Medal Bout (9:45 am)
Men’s Super Heavyweight (+91kg) Gold Medal Bout (10:15 am)
Cycling:
Men’s Mountain Bike- Cross Country (8:30 am)
Handball:
Men’s Bronze Medal Match (6:00 am)
Men’s Gold Medal Match (10:00 am)
Modern Pentathlon:
Women’s Combined Event (1:00 pm)
Rhythmic Gymnastics:
Group All-Around Final (9:16 am)
Volleyball:
Men’s Bronze Medal Match (4:30 am)
Men’s Gold Medal Match (8:00 am)
Water Polo:
Men’s Bronze Medal Match (9:30 am)
Men’s Gold Medal Match (10:50 am)
Wrestling:
Men’s 66kg Freestyle Bronze Medal Matches (7:45 am)
Men’s 66kg Freestyle Gold Medal Match (9:03 am)
Men’s 96kg Freestyle Bronze Medal Match (7:45 am)
Men’s 96kg Freestyle Gold Medal Match (9:48 am)
Olympic Closing Ceremonies (4:00 pm)
|
Medal Table |
|||||
|
# |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1 |
USA |
44 |
29 |
29 |
102 |
|
2 |
China |
38 |
27 |
22 |
87 |
|
3 |
Russia |
21 |
25 |
32 |
78 |
|
4 |
Great Britain |
28 |
15 |
19 |
62 |
|
5 |
Germany |
11 |
19 |
14 |
44 |
|
6 |
Japan |
6 |
14 |
17 |
37 |
|
7 |
Australia |
7 |
16 |
12 |
35 |
|
8 |
France |
10 |
11 |
12 |
33 |
|
9 |
South Korea |
13 |
7 |
7 |
27 |
|
10 |
Italy |
8 |
7 |
8 |
23 |
|
13 |
Canada |
1 |
5 |
12 |
18 |
The Sport Addiction 