Rio 2016 Olympic Update (Day 9)
It is the most exciting 10 seconds in sports and the event that all Olympic fans wait for with baited breath every four years.
The 100-metre sprint is the premier event in the Olympics as there is no other event that is watched more than the 100m.
In every Olympics, there is one event that becomes the biggest thing of that games and it usually depends on where the games are being held.
In the winter Olympics, the biggest event is usually the hockey gold medal game but even more when the games are held in Sochi or Vancouver.
In two years the hockey tournament will not be the same in Pyeongchang, at least for those from South Korea.
Instead, the home fans will likely watch short track speed skating in big numbers because the South Koreans are very good in that sport.
In Rio, it could be said that the soccer tournaments are the two biggest events in the Olympics with Brazilians watching closely to see if their teams can get the gold in the sport that they love.
In London, the big event was track cycling where the London Velodrome was rocking from the start of that sport to the end.
Although all of these popular sports change depending on the location of the events nothing will ever compare, both in winter and summer, with the 100m sprint.
It is the one event in all of the Olympics that everyone seems to be watching.
It determines the fastest man in the world and whoever wins that gold medal is immediately a superstar in the games.
In Day 9 another fastest man would be crowned and this time, there were a few more eyes on the race.
That is all because the most dominant sprinter in the history of the sport was getting set to try to win his third straight Olympic gold medal in what is likely his last Olympic Games.
Usain Bolt has been more dominant than anyone has ever been in this sprint and the other major sprint events, the 200m and the 4x100m relay.
Heading into the Rio Olympics he had already completed two triples winning gold in all three events in the Olympics.
Not only has he won gold medals but he owns the world record in both the 100m and the 200m.
There has never been an athlete that has been as dominant as him with many of his races ending with him jogging to the finish far ahead of everyone else.
In the Olympics, it is never easy to stay on top through multiple games but in sprinting there is always a younger and faster guy coming.
For Bolt is never seemed to happen and he would put that to the test in Rio where he was hoping to be the first athlete to ever complete three triples in a row.
The 100m was his first test and through the qualifying round, he was his typical self, jogging through the finish line and taking easy wins in every heat.
He walked up to the finals and looked to take another gold medal to add to his staggering total on the track.
After a tough start where he fell behind he once again found his speed getting ahead of everyone and taking the gold medal.
He became the first person to ever win three golds in a row in the event and kept his hopes of another triple alive.
For Canadians and fans of sprinting the story may have been slightly further back though as Andre De Grasse earned a bronze medal in his first Olympic Games.
The 21-year-old has been crowned by many as the future of sprinting and after only a few years racing he is already a medalist.
With Bolt potentially leaving and American Justin Gatlin now 35, De Grasse may just be the next Olympic champion.
He ran well the entire Olympics and with some improvement that will come with more training he could be the next one.
Either way, the Olympics have seen the biggest event in the world as for another four years the Jamaican is the fastest man in the world as he looks to become one of the best Olympians to ever participate.
The Canadian Story:
Men on the Board
With the sprinting medal, Andre De Grasse became the first male athlete to win an Olympic medal for Canada as he adds to the total and joins a long list of amazing women who have been carrying the Canadian team through the first week
Breaking Records
The Canadians are not known for their ability to put up big medal numbers in the summer Olympics but at Rio, they are becoming consistent as they don’t have the great totals but they did break a Canadian record for winning at least one medal in nine straight days
Coming up Short Again
There is no doubt that Jennifer Abel is one of the best springboard divers in the world but it seems like she can’t get to the top in the Olympics as she finished fourth for the second Olympics in a row
Big Games Coming
The Women’s Basketball team have had a great tournament this year but after losing to the USA they have started to falter including losing to Spain in their last game that dropped them to third in the group and gave them a match-up with France in the quarter-finals
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Day 9 Medal Results: |
Day 10 Medal Events: |
| Athletics Men’s 400m 1. Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) 2. Kirani James (GRN) 3. LaShawn Merritt (USA) Men’s 100m 1. Usain Bolt (JAM) 2. Justin Gatlin (USA) 3. Andre De Grasse (CAN) Women’s Marathon 1. Jemima Jelagat Sumgong (KEN) 2. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (BRN) 3. Mare Dibaba (ETH) Women’s Triple Jump 1. Caterine Ibargüen (COL) 2. Yulimar Rojas (VEN) 3. Olga Rypakova (KAZ) Boxing Cycling (Track) Diving Fencing Golf Gymnastics Sailing Shooting Tennis Weightlifting Wrestling |
Athletics Men’s 800m Men’s Pole Vault Women’s 400m Women’s Hammer Throw Boxing Cycling (Track) Equestrian Gymnastics Sailing Swimming Weightlifting Wrestling |
The Sport Addiction 