News of the Day:
The Men's 100m Final was nearly ruined by a despicable human being throwing a beer bottle on to the track near the athletes. Fortunately, most of them did not notice the bottle falling behind them and those who did were able to ignore it in the seconds before the start of the race. The way the race was lined up gave a very good picture of what countries are best at this event as the line-up went: American, Jamaican, American, Jamaican, American, Jamaican, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Netherlands. Results further down.
Andy Murray managed to win a decisive victory over the King of Wimbledon in a Wimbledon that has lost all of the stuffy tradition and pressure that usually goes along with it. Surrounded by his countrymen, Murray got to stand on the medal podium as the Champion while the crowd sang his national anthem. 16 British Gold medals have been won to this point, and all of those athletes were able to experience that same awe-inspiring moment, but for Murray, this moment must have been even sweeter. It was his chance at redemption after losing Wimbledon and he was able to turn the feelings of disappointment into elation. Congrats Murray! I, for one, am very happy that you won.
Beach Volleyball! Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor made it through their quarterfinal round against the Czech team. They dominated this match to the point that they left one of their competitors crying on the sidelines during a time-out. I mean, I don't like seeing people that upset because they are losing, but it's nice to know that Misty and Kerri can silence the doubters who said that they wouldn't make it in these Games. and because I love them and want to see them go for the 3-peat.
Sadly, in the Men's 400m Qualifiers, double amputee Oscar Pistorius from South Africa, who won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes, did not make it into the final. He is still one of the most inspirational stories of these Games. He is a man who has never viewed his lack of legs as an obstacle and who also fought to prove that his prosthetics do not give him any special advantage over the competition. He is a man who knows how to run....fast...and the lack of feet is no reason to not do just that and at an elite level.
Another story of triumph over odds comes out of the 400m as well. Bryshon Nellum, a runner for Team USA, made his way to London after rehabilitating from a random act of gang violence against him. He was walking home from a party one night while at USC, when two men came up to him and shot him in the legs. Police suspect that the perpetrators knew who he was and targeted his legs purposely to try and ruin his running career. After four year of painful surgeries and racing with excruciating pain, Nellum finally is pain-free and qualified for this Olympic team. He did not make the 400m Final, but the will race again in the 4x400m Relay.
Also, in the middle of Serena William's medal ceremony yesterday, the American flag fell off of the frame during the National Anthem. If that's not an omen, I don't know what is.
Today's Medal Winning Events:
MEN'S 100M: He is still the King! Usain Bolt wins the Gold handily. In the last 20m, Usain pulled out in front of the rest of the field and ran away with the win. Countrymate Yohan Blake won the silver and the US's Justin Gatlin won the Bronze. Bolt is undeniably an incredible runner. I know that I could never move my legs as fast as those men are able to and to have the ability to pull away from a field of highly talented, world class runners is undeniably amazing. Bolt retains the unofficial title of World's Fastest Man.Women's Marathon: Ethiopia's Tiki Gelena won the Gold medal, Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo won the Silver, and Russia's Tatyana Petroca Arkhipova
Women's Triple Jump: Kazakhstan picks up their 6th Gold medal of these games with Olga Rypakova making a jump of 49' 1 3/4". Caterine Ibarguen of Columbia picked up the Silver and Olha Salaguha of Ukraine won the Bronze.
Men's Hammer Throw: This event looks seriously intense and dangerous, as evidenced by officials having to rebuild the net around the circle after an athlete flew a hammer into it. In the end, Hungary's Krisztian Pars won the Gold with a throw of 264' 4 3/4". Primoz Kozmus of Slovakia won the Silver and Koji Murofushi of Japan won the Bronze. Murofushi has an atypical throwing style as he only makes three turns before his throw, whereas the rest of the competitors do four.
Men's 3000m Steeplechase: Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi won the Gold, French runner Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad won the Silver, and Kenyan Abel Kiprop Mutai won the Bronze.
Women's Horse Vault: In a shocking result, Mckayla Maroney fell on her second vault and ended up with the Silver. To state just how awesome Maroney is at the vault, there is a side by side comparison of the Men's gold medal winning vaulter overlaid with Mckayla doing her vault. Mckayla is about two feet higher in the air than the man and the women's table is lower than the mens!! She is the absolute best in the world on this event and I am so disappointed for her. Disappointed is probably not the right word since she still came away with a Silver, but there is no denying that she should have won if she had ended up on her feet on the second vault. Romania's Sandra Raluca Izbasa won the Gold by a little over 1/10th of a point. Maria Paseka of Russia won the Bronze. Also, a 37 year-old woman competed in this event for Russia and impressively held her own.Men's Pommel Horse: With the Duchess of Cambridge in attendance (She is everywhere!), the British men were able to come away with the Silver and the Bronze on this event. Kate Middleton looked about as nervous for the athletes as their own parents seem to be. Krisztian Berki of Hungary won the Gold.
Women's Doubles: The Williams sisters continued their doubles dominance and won the Gold over the Czech Republic's Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Bronze over Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond of the US.
Mixed Doubles: Andy Murray, unfortunately, couldn't pull out another Gold medal with his teammate Laura Robson and fell to the Belarus Team of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka. Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond of the US won over Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas of Germany to take home the Bronze.
Men's Doubles: China again won the Gold in this event, Denmark won the Silver, and Korea won the Bronze.
Men's Star -Keelboat: Sweden's Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen won the Gold, Great Britain's Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won the Silver, and Brazil's Bruno Prada and Robert Scheidt won the Bronze
Men's Finn - Heavyweight: Great Britain's Ben Ainslie won the Gold, Denmark's Jonas Hogh-Christensen won the Silver, and France's Jonathan Lobert won the Bronze.
Men's 50m Free Pistol: Korea went 1-2 with Jongoh Jin winning the Gold and Young Rae Choi won the Silver. China's Zhiwei Wang won the Bronze.
Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg: Roman Vlasov of Russia won the Gold, Arsen Julfalakyan of Armenia won the Silver, one Bronze went to Aleksandr Kazakevic of Lithuania and the other went to Emin Ahmadov of Azerbaijan.
Tomorrow's Medal Winning Events:
Men's Sprint
Team Jumping
Men's Rings: We might finally get to see some of this event for once....geez NBC. No Americans in this event.
Women's Uneven Parallel Bars: Gabby Douglas goes for another Gold in this event.
Men's Horse Vault: Samuel Mikulak competes in this event.
Women's Laser Radial - One-Person Dinghy: Paige Railey competes.
Men's Laser - One-Person Dinghy: Rob Crane competes.
Men's 50m Free Rifle Three Positions: Matthew Emmons and Jason Parker compete.
Men's Trap (125 Targets)
Women's Pole Vault: Jennifer Suhr and Becky Holliday compete
Women's Shot Put: Tia Brooks goes for Gold
Men's 400m Hurdles: Favorite Angelo Taylor competes along with teammates Michael Tinsley and Kerron Clement
Women's 3000m Steeplechase: Emma Coburn and Bridget Franek compete for Gold.
Men's 400m Final: No Americans in this race for the first time in years
Men's Greco-Roman 60kg
Men's Greco-Roman 84kg
Men's Greco-Roman 120kg
Ok and the Medal Standings after a watershed day for China and the US are:
China 30 17 14
: 61
USA 28 14 18
: 60
Great Britain 16 11
10 : 37
Russia
4 16
15 : 35
Japan
2 12
13 : 27
France 8 8 9 : 25
France 8 8 9 : 25
Germany 5 10 7
: 22
South Korea
10 4
6 : 20 
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