Triathlon
I refer you to Day 13 for introductory comments on this very challenging event – complete with the observation that seeing the vistas along this course in Rio was almost as interesting as watching the athletes compete.
Still, I enjoyed watching the Women’s Triathlon far more than the men’s; and it had nothing to do with prurient interests. There was just something more engaging about the relative parity among the women, which made the outcome far more suspenseful.
After all, the two Brownlee brothers ran away with the men’s race midway through the bike phase and never looked back. And, given their history, everybody knew which one would win gold.
Whereas, in this race, it wasn’t until the run phase that Gwen Jorgensen took control. Even then, defending Olympic champion Nicola Spirig seemed determined to retain her title. And the group of runners chasing them made the race for bronze no less compelling.
- Gwen Jorgensen of the USA won gold in 1:56:16; Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, silver; and Vicky Holland of Great Britain, bronze.
Soccer
Brazil and Germany played the Men’s Gold Medal Match. I did not watch one second of it.
Nonetheless, given my lamentation on Canada defeating Brazil in the Women’s Bronze Medal Match yesterday, I feel obliged to at least acknowledge that the men managed to attain some measure of redemption for this Soccer-mad host nation.
- Team Brazil won on penalty kicks after ending regulation and extra time 1-1.
Track and Field
The relays and other events were interesting but not worthy of comment.
Except I should note that, by anchoring the Women’s 4x400m Relay to gold, Allyson Felix became the most decorated female Track and Field athlete (with 6 golds and 3 silvers) in Olympic history. And by defending his London 2012 titles in both Men’s 5000m and 10,000m, Mo Farah became the most decorated Track and Field athlete in UK Olympic history. Unsurprisingly, calls for the Queen to knight him “Sir Mo” have gone viral.
By contrast, it would take volumes to do justice to interest in the Women’s 800m; and the Men’s 1500m deserves honorable mention.
With respect to the latter, it was easily the most exciting 1500m I’ve ever watched – complete with lots of jostling and a fall. It hardly mattered that my pick, defending Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, was too tripped up and boxed in all race to be in contention down the stretch.
But here’s to Matthew Centrowitz for becoming the first American to win this signature distance race since 1908.
- Matthew Centrowitz of the USA won gold in 3:50.00; Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria, silver; and Nicholas Willis of New Zealand, bronze.
By the way, Kiprop was my pick only because he looks so much like a living character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. (Google him.)
With respect to the 800m, Caster Semenya was the prohibitive favorite coming into this race. But, given all of the controversy surrounding her, I’ve decided to set up the results with the following from “Gender Bending South African Athlete Pilloried at Worlds,” August 21, 2009.
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There have only been a few cases of androgynous men competing as women in international competition. The most notorious of course was Polish sprinter Stanislawa Walasiewicz who won the women’s 100m at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, but was found to have a ‘partially developed male genitalia’ after her death in 1980.
With all of the testing and media scrutiny today, however, it seems incomprehensible that anyone would even attempt, let alone get away with, such a gender-bending feat. Yet this is precisely what many are accusing South African Caster Semenya, 18, of doing on Wednesday – after she blew away the field in the Women’s 800m final at the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin.
Admittedly, after being awed by Semenya’s performance (which I saw when the race was rebroadcast on Wednesday night), I too became transfixed by her appearance as she celebrated her victory. I even remarked, purely in jest, that if her coach had instructed her to shave her armpits, legs and facial hair, she might have clocked an even faster time. …
But it never occurred to me that I had just watched a man in drag racing against women. This is why I was so stunned the next morning by reports that complaints about her performance at a competition just weeks ago compelled IAAF officials to order her to take a gender test. And that it was only because the results would not be confirmed for several more weeks that they allowed her to compete at these championships. …
The accusation that she might be a he, strikes me as not only farfetched but also unnecessarily cruel. Let us not forget that this is an 18-year old being held up to this scrutiny, which has now robbed her of the thrill of victory and heaped unprecedented embarrassment upon her and national shame upon South Africa. And only God knows what long-term psychological damage she will suffer. …
Caster’s mother Dorcus Semenya suggested that questions about her daughter’s gender are ‘motivated by jealousy.’ I agree.
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Just last year, after years of testing and testimony, the Court of Arbitration for Sport vindicated my take on Semenya’s eligibility. It ruled that Track and Field’s governing body, the IAAF, could no longer require intersex athletes to undergo treatment to lower their testosterone levels. This meant that Semenya could compete as a woman, despite having a body so masculine she looks like a man running among girls.
The sad irony is that a number of lesser known intersex athletes had already gone to such extremes to compete as women, they had their gonads removed. Their athletic performances have never been the same….
Apropos of irony, am I the only one who noticed that one other athlete in this Women’s 800m, namely Margaret Wambui of Kenya, looked even more “hyperandrogenic” than Semenya? (Google her.)
In any event, Semenya came into tonight’s final after coasting in her semifinal to the fastest qualifying time.
- Caster Semanya of South Africa won gold in 1:55.28; Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, silver; and Margaret Wambui of Kenya, bronze.
NOTE: Semenya competed in this event at London 2012. But the open hostility back then was such that I suspect she decided to let a girly girl win gold to avoid the backlash that would have ensued had she won. She settled for silver.
MEDAL COUNT: USA – 116; China – 70; Great Britain – 66