End of day 14 medal table (assuming #USA don't appeal that bronze back into their pockets) https://t.co/bpuxciBbDA pic.twitter.com/k7bOHJhNZi— Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) August 20, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 (Day 15)
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Notes to self ...
ReplyDeleteIt's crucial to get the little paper flags out before the opening ceremonies start. The parade of nations goes too quickly to find the flag for a country as it is introduced; instead, I need to have sorted out all the Olympic teams and alphabetized them. Also, the Summer Olympics needs two flags for every three holes in the cardboard flag holders; the Winter Olympics can handle a space between each flag.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, print the medal standings and that day's schedule of medal events (Google will organized by Central time) at whatever time each morning I'm ready to figure out what I'm following.
ReplyDeleteOn the standings printout, indicate nations who have never won an Olympic medal (Wikipedia has the list).
Search a schedule of all events (not just medal finals) involving Team USA. On the schedule printout, indicate the events involving U.S. athletes, and write in any non-medal events involving Team USA in which I'm particularly interested.
Scan through each of the channels showing Olympic events at the moment. This Olympics, those channels have been Channel 6, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Network, USA, CNBC, MSNBC and Bravo. Channel 6 daytime coverage typically followed preliminaries for the big-ticket prime-time events (gymnastics, swimming, track and field, etc.) NBC Sports Network focused mostly on team events; MSNBC, individual. USA, CNBC and Bravo mostly got assigned boutique sports that might be poised for U.S. breakout.
ReplyDeleteRely mostly on event streaming to follow the schedule printout. Don't worry about spoiling the Bob Costas show for yourself. It's unlikely I'll focus and HP in the evening, anyway.
ReplyDeleteDuring an event, find the "SPORT in the YEAR Olympics" page at Wikipedia and then bounce to the specific event's page. Understand the event schedule. Figure out if that event gives out one or two bronze medals. Identify the medal winners in the event from the previous Olympics. Search the ages and towns of each U.S. athlete is vague contention.
ReplyDeleteUpdate the schedule printout with medal winners over the course of the day. Indicate on the schedule if I've accounted for the medals on the medal-standings printout.
ReplyDeleteDuring the prime-time show, concentrate on updating the flag standings and playing the national anthems and learning about the first-time medal winners.
ReplyDeleteWatching the Bulgarians in the rhythmic-gymnastics prelims with the 7-year-old daughter ...
ReplyDeleteSusie Armitage delivers a brilliant defense of rhythmic gymnastics at Buzzed.
ReplyDeleteThere go the Americans. We didn't qualify a team for the rhythmic-gymnastics group all-around competition for some years. This time, Team USA made it because we had the best qualifying score among nations from a third continent--all of the other qualifiers were from Asia and Europe, and there must be three continents represented in the Olympic competition. I think that's what the USA Network commentators were saying. Well, whatever, we thought the Americans did a beautiful job.
ReplyDeleteLaura Zeng, the 16-year-old from Hartford, Connecticut, and Libertyville, Illinois, yesterday placed 11th in qualifications for the Olympic finals in the individual all-around competition. Ten advanced to today's final.
ReplyDeleteThis was the best Olympic performance by an American in the event since the sport's introduction at Los Angeles 1984.
DeleteThe London 2012 group medalists were Russia, Belarus and Italy. The individual medalists were from Russia, Russia and Belarus.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we have the Germans. They're wearing purple, pink and beige leotards. USA Network tells us that the Germans switched coaches late, hiring some dude away from traditional-power Bulgaria.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's dubbed her signature move when she was into rhythmic gymnastics after the London games as "Stirring Two Soups." We still joke about that around the house pretty frequently. I'm glad I finally recorded that somewhere.
Wikipedia: "The top eight teams in the qualification round advance to the final round. In each round, the teams perform two routines (one with ribbons, one with clubs and hoops), with the scores added to give a total.” Here are the group qualification scores through the ribbons routine, in order of appearance:
ReplyDelete— Israel, 17.250
— Brazil, 15.786
— Italy, 17.516
— Ukraine, 16.950
— China, 16.333
— Russia, 16.283
— Japan, 17.416
— Greece, 15.000
— Uzbekistan, 14.416
— Bulgaria, 17.566
— Belarus, 17.583
— United States, 13.908
— Spain, 17.783
— Germany, 15.650
Wikipedia is so great.
Heartbreak for Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia! Chen Long of China relegates "Hero Wei" to a third-straight men's singles badminton silver medal, beating the Malaysian, 2-0. Retaining this gold was a nice recovery for China, of course, whose badminton performance has puzzled me this Olympics. Even still, however, it's notable that two-time-gold-medalists "Super Dan" lost to a young guy from Denmark in this morning's bronze-medal match. So I remain convinced that Something's Up In Badminton.
ReplyDeleteGreat Britain won gold in men's kayak single 200m this morning. This builds on the Brits' strong performance in events in which the athletes are sitting down.
ReplyDeleteThe leaders are a little past halfway home in the final round of the women’s golf tournament, and Team USA needs some birdies to get itself on the medal podium:
ReplyDelete1. Inbee Park, South Korea, -15 (63 holes)
2. Shanshan Feng, China, -10 (64)
3. Lydia Ko, New Zealand, -9 (63)
T4. Charley Hull, Great Britain, -8 (65)
T4. Gerona Piller, United States, -8 (63)
T6. Stacy Lewis, United States, -7 (67)
T6. Su Oh, Australia, -7 (65)
The women's triathletes are biking. They've already swum; they still have to run. That's a day right there, boy. The lead group, all within 2 seconds of each other, per Rio2016.com, are competitors from Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland and United States (two from Team USA, in fact, Gwen Jorgensen of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Katie Zafares of Hampstead, Maryland). The London 2012 medalists were from Switzerland, Sweden and Australia.
ReplyDeleteInbee Park bogies; Shanshan Feng bogeys. The lead is down to three strokes.
ReplyDeleteGerina Piller goes very aggressive off the 10th tee, and she seems to be hearing the Golf Network commentators who say now is go time.
Stacy Lewis rolls in a 6- or 8-footer to save par on No. 14.
The Golf Network says Inbee Park is getting nervous. Piller went 83 yards further off the 10th tee than did Park.
ReplyDeletePark whacks some kind of fairway wood and reaches the green.
Lydia Ko is amid some sandy brush that looks like it would be really, really prickly on her bare legs. She flails an iron shot out to about 50 yards from the green.
The third member of the last threesome, Piller of Roswell, New Mexico, sends her wedge to within about 10 feet. She'll have a birdie try from there.
Norway is leading the Netherlands in the women's handball bronze-medal match, and Serbia is beating France in the women's basketball bronze. So, ... anxious moments for the red-white-and-blue-striped flag people.
ReplyDeleteLydia Ko bogeys.
ReplyDeletePiller just misses her birdie.
Park pars.
Meanwhile, ahead on No. 12, Feng pars.
So, …
ReplyDelete1. I. Park, South Korea, -14 (65)
2. S. Feng, China, -11 (66)
T3. C. Hull, Great Britain, -8 (66)
T3. L. Ko, New Zealand, -8 (65)
T3. G. Piller, United States, -8 (65)
Later this morning, Team USA has a semifinalist going in men’s freestyle 86kg wrestling. J’den Cox, a 21-year-old from Columbia, Missouri, will be dueling with a guy from Turkey in one semifinal, while Azerbaijan and Russia are in the other. The London 2012 medalists in this event were Azerbaijan, Puerto Rico, Georgia and Iran (this is one of those two-bronze sports).
ReplyDeleteStacy Lewis pulls out a driver on No. 16, and she rolls just left of a bunker and onto the green and to within about 15 feet of the cup. She'll have that much left for 2, and I assume that'll be for birdie.
ReplyDeleteLydia Ko sends some wild shot into the gallery, but, lucky for her, it ricochets off some guy and back into the fairway.
Hull bogeys, and she's back out of medal position. Japan's Haryko Nomura birdies to take her place in the three-way T3.
ReplyDeleteLewis's putt is for eagle, and she hits a curving thing that bends just to the back of the lip. Beautiful, beautiful try. It would've put her in bronze position alone; instead, it's a birdie, and she's now part of the T3.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Stacy Lewis birdies No. 17. She is in bronze alone. Strong finish for 31-year-old Stacy Lewis of Toledo, Ohio …
ReplyDelete1. I. Park, South Korea, -14 (66 holes)
2. S. Feng, China, -10 (68)
T3. S. Lewis, United States, -9 (71)
T3. H. Nomura, Japan, -9 (72)
T5. L. Ko, New Zealand, -8 (66)
T5. G. Piller, United States, -8 (66)
As I was typing the list, Harukyo Nomura birdied No. 18, and she’s our clubhouse leader.
Park rolls in a lengthy putt for birdie on No. 13, and her lead is back out to five strokes with five to play. That should do it for the gold medal.
ReplyDeletePiller edges out her par attempt at No. 13. Ko pars.
ReplyDeleteLydia Ko birdies No. 14 go move to the T3 at 9-under.
ReplyDeleteInbee Park (spellcheck wants to change her first name to “Inbox”) bogeys 14.
Gerina Piller (spellcheck wants to change her first name to “Gerona”) bogeys 14.
Meanwhile, up at 18, Stacy Lewis leaves her 10- or 12-foot birdie putt less than an inch short. She’ll join Nomura at 9-under in the clubhouse and now watch Shanshan Feng and Lydia Ko bring it home.
So, …
1. I. Park, South Korea, -14 (68)
2. S. Feng, China, -10 (69)
T3. L. Ko, New Zealand, -9 (68)
T3. S. Lewis, United States, -9 (72)
T3. H. Nomura, Japan, -9 (72)
Golf Channel commentator: “Stacy Lewis just has to feel nauseous, leaving that putt on the lip.”
J'den Cox wins his semifinal! He'll wrestle for the gold at 86kg men's wrestling!
ReplyDeleteNo, no ... I misunderstood something here. It probably has something to do with repechage or decoupage or some weird Olympics thing. Anyway, he's wrestling later today for bronze.
DeleteIn men's freestyle 125 kg, Tervel Dlagnev, a 30-year-old Sofia, Bulgaria, who moved to Texas in high school and lives in Columbus, Ohio, lost his semifinal. He'll take a bronze, along with a guy from Armenia. Iran and Turkey will go at it for gold.
ReplyDeleteOlympic golf is excellent. "Fourth place means nothing," Golf Channel correctly and continually reminds us, and there goes 6-under Gerrina Piller firing from the tee and the fairway to within about six feet on No. 15.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that fourth place means nothing makes it harder to understand why Stacy Lewis left her last putt short.
DeleteLydia Ko misses birdie by about two inches to the right on No. 15.
ReplyDeleteFeng hits a six-footer for par on No. 16.
Piller misses her birdie try. Golf Channel: "The last glimmer of hope flickers out there."
Just as Golf Channel feared, nauseous Stacy Lewis did come out one stroke short of a medal. Lydia Ko ended up leaping past Shanshan Feng, so the gold, silver and bronze went to South Korea, New Zealand and China, respectively. That was a fun tournament.
ReplyDeleteGWEN JORGENSEN WON THE TRIATHLON! That's a huge gold to get today.
ReplyDeleteAnd the women's basketball team is up 20 on Spain in the third in the gold-medal game.
And Shakur Stevenson got silver in men's bantamweight boxing, and the women's volleyball team won its bronze-medal match with the Netherlands. And we've got the two wrestlers with chances to win bronze and a whole slew of track-and-field finals yet today.
It all adds up to 108 total medals at the moment for Team USA, including 39 gold. This is quite strong.
ReplyDeleteAt St. Louis 1904, Team USA numbered 526 athletes and racked up 239 medals (78 gold, 82 silver and 79 bronze).
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t until Los Angeles 1984 that Team USA sent more than 500 athletes to a Summer Olympics. The Soviets stayed home, and the United States piled up 174 medals (83 gold, 61 silver and 30 bronze).
Since then, Team USA has never numbered fewer than 527 athletes and had highs of 646 at Atlanta 1996 and 613 at Athens 2004. We sent 554 to Rio. In these eight Summer Olympics since Los Angeles, the best U.S. performance in terms of total metals was 110 at Beijing 2008. The best number of golds was 46 at London 2012.
And now after tonight's track bonanza, we're up to 43 gold and 116 total medals. Team USA will win at least two more medals tomorrow, and it will have a shot at golds in six more events:
ReplyDelete-- men's freestyle 65kg wrestling, where Frank Molinaro, a 27-year-old from Barnegat, New Jersey, is in the round of 16;
-- men's freestyle 97 kg wrestling, where Kyle Snyder, a 20-year-old from Montgomery County, Maryland, is in the round of 16;
-- men's marathon, in which Meb Keflezighi, a 41-year-old refugee from Eritrea who lives in San Diego, is back after finishing fourth at London 2012;
-- men's cross-country mountain biking, where 23-year-old Howard Grotts of Durango, Colorado, is making his Olympic debut after two national championships;
-- women's middle 75 kg boxing, in which Claressa Shields, a 21-year-old from Flint, Michigan, (and subject of a terrific documentary, T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold), will attempt to repeat as Olympic gold medalist, and
-- men's basketball, in which Team USA plays West Virginia.
I remembered how Duke crushed WVU back in 2010, so I felt pretty good about this gold medal game. My optimism was warranted.
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