Cycling
I pissed all over the Men’s Road Race yesterday because of the way doping scandals have rendered every competitor a suspected cheat.
Therefore, I feel obliged to note that women are dopers too. In fact, Marion Jones is as notorious in this respect as Lance Armstrong. But there’s no denying that, in the annals of Olympic doping, men probably outnumber women 1000:1.
That said, I fully expected Lizzie Armistead of Great Britain to be my favorite to win the Women’s Road Race today. Never mind that this was based on nothing more than the heartbreaking way she lost this race by the skin of her teeth before her home crowd at London 2012. And, because no athlete is more revered in Britain quite like a heartbreak loser, she became an instant national hero.
Unfortunately, Armistead has been dogged by doping allegations ever since:
Barely a moment ago, it was Russia’s athletes, with their state-sponsored drugs cheating, who were the talk of the Games.
How regrettable then, that the spotlight has swung over to the Yorkshire lass who, in the space of a year, has missed three drugs tests and yet is competing in Rio, having avoided a ban for the mandatory period of two years.
(Daily Mail, August 6, 2016)
Talk about fishy; not to mention how her name conjures up axe murders and slave-ship mutinies.
Meanwhile, as an uncompromising feminist, I resent that the women’s race is only 85 miles. After all, the men’s was 150. Frankly, only old-fashioned chauvinism explains requiring women to run 13 miles in the Olympic Marathon, while requiring men to run 26.2. The same holds for requiring women to play best of three sets in Grand Slam Tennis, while requiring the men to play best of five.
As for the race itself, it played out pretty much as the men’s did yesterday – complete with similar vistas and crashes (except the more risk averse women suffered far fewer of them, naturally).
I should clarify here that I will invariably base my occasional declaration of favorites either on sentimentality, as in this case, or jingoism, whenever a race features an athlete from the Caribbean, especially the country of my birth, The Bahamas.
Accordingly, my new favorite for this race was Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio of South Africa, home to many personal friends and professional colleagues. She finished a respectable 10th. My old favorite, Lizzie Armistead of Britain, finished 5th.
But oh the agony of defeat for Mara Abbott of the USA! She had what appeared to be an insurmountable 30-second lead with less than 2 miles to go. Yet, with just 200 yards to go (i.e., when she could feel the thrill of victory), three bikers came storming by. Abbott could do nothing. She barely peddled on to finish 4th.
- Anna Van Der Breggen of the Netherlands won gold in 3:51:27; Emma Johansson of Sweden, silver; and Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy, bronze.
Diving
The Chinese women proved once again why China is as dominant in Diving as the USA is in Basketball. They got off to a flying start today in this sport’s first medal event, the Women’s Synchronized 3m Springboard.
Truth be told, the only question is whether any diver will emulate David Boudia of the USA and Ilya Zakharov of Russia – who denied the Chinese gold in all 8 Diving events at London 2012 with stunning upsets in the Men’s 10m Platform and 3m Springboard, respectively.
I was rooting for Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware of Canada – in Commonwealth as well as racial solidarity (as Abel was the only black among 16 finalists). But I could not have been more pleased to see China’s Wu Minxia, the grande dame of this sport, bow out in Phelpsian style:
Wu claimed her fourth consecutive gold in 3-meter synchro, becoming the first woman to win four golds in the same event at the Olympics. She also won in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and has had three different partners.
Wu, 30, also made history as the first diver to win five career golds, having won the 3-meter individual event four years ago in London. She won’t defend that title in Rio.
(New York Times, August 7, 2016)
- Shi Tingmao and Wu Minxia of China won gold; Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape’ of Italy, silver; and Madison Keeney and Anabelle Smith of Australia, bronze.
Basketball
Given my reference above to USA dream teams, I feel obliged to at least acknowledge that this latest version is rolling through the preliminary rounds – just like predecessor teams did. This team, led by Kevin Durant (now) of the Golden State Warriors and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, defeated China yesterday 119-62.
The USA women’s teams are not nearly as well known and none has ever declared itself a dream team. But they have been no less dominant. This team, led by Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi both of the Phoenix Mercury, got off to a dream start, defeating Senegal today 121-56.
As with the practically invincible Chinese divers, there’s probably no point in commenting on the exploits of USA Basketball teams any further … unless they suffer an upset.
Gymnastics
Remarkably, the USA women, defending champions in the Team event, are poised to dominate this sport the way the Romanian women used to. Granted this probably has a lot to do with the fact that all of Romania’s best coaches have immigrated to the United States. Most notable among them of course are Bela and Martha Karolyi: the former, the ebullient face of USA gymnastics since 1981; the latter, the technical groomer of champions.
Martha has announced her intent to retire after these Games to join Bela — who retired in 1999.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team walked out of the arena after their qualification round in Rio on Sunday the prohibitive favorites to take home team gold. London veteran Aly Raisman and once-in-a-generation phenom Simone Biles earned spots in the All-Around final. The U.S. stands to win a medal in every single event final, with at least one gymnast qualifying on vault, bars, beam and floor.
(Reuters, August 7, 2016)
I’m not sure anything else needs to be said; except here’s to counting gold…? Well, even though Team gold seems assured, I expect gymnasts from Russia and Romania to put up quite a fight for gold in the event finals.
But I would be remiss not to acknowledge the equally remarkable dynamics between Gabby Douglas, the defending champion in the All-Around event, and Simone Biles, the three-time World Champion. For it seems Douglas can barely contain her resentment over the fact that Biles has not only replaced her as the darling of their sport, but is destined to dethrone her at these Games. I suspect failing to even qualify along with Biles for the All-Around only compounds her resentment.
But Douglas needs to get over herself. After all, four years ago, I was pleading with corporate sponsors to give her the same commercial opportunities they gave Mary Lou Retton after she won the All-Around at Los Angeles 1984. Well, she has exploited those opportunities so shrewdly, she has earned the nickname “Gabby incorporated” – with everything from Gabby dolls to Gabby emojis raking in the dough.
What’s more, it’s a measure of her pioneering influence in this respect that Biles came into these Games with nearly as many commercial endorsements herself….
That said, I cannot resist noting that this team is not only the most talented but also the most racially diverse ever:
Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, and Laurie Hernandez make up the most racially and ethnically diverse group of Olympic athletes in the team’s history. Biles and Douglas are African American. Hernandez, whose mother describes her as a ‘second generation Puerto Rican,’ identifies as Latina, Kocian and Raisman (who is Jewish) are both white.
(Vox, August 5, 2016)
Incidentally, you might think fairness dictates that I comment on the USA men’s team. You might think that, but I could not possibly comment.
Swimming
Michael Phelps finally made his highly anticipated debut. And he was not only golden but produced the most thrilling swim of the meet thus far, giving his team an insurmountable lead (aka “clear water”) after swimming the second leg of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
- Team USA (with Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian) won gold in 3:09.92; Team France, silver; and Team Australia, bronze.
And so Phelps’s haul of Olympic medals continues: one more gold makes 23, 19 of them gold.
Other races of note included the Women’s 100m Butterfly, which happens to be my favorite event. I was rooting for Dana Vollmer to not only defend her title but also vindicate her relatively advanced age (28) and “Momma on a mission” mantra (she has a 15-month-old son).
- Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden won gold and set a new World Record in 55.48; Penny Oleksiak of Canada, silver; and Dana Vollmer of the USA, bronze.
Katie Ledecky is the latest to assume the awesome challenge of becoming the female Michael Phelps.
So much for Missy Franklin becoming the female Michael Phelps by winning seven gold medals… I warned in my commentary on the U.S. trials about the precedent Katie Hoff set when she was touted as the female Michael Phelps in 2008: she did not win a single event. But I think Missy will fare better….
(“Day 1,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 28, 2012)
Franklin did in fact fare better, but she fell far short of that acclaim.
But Ledecky is off to a pretty good start, having anchored the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay to silver on Day 1. She did one better tonight in the Women’s 400m Freestyle.
- Katie Ledecky of the USA won gold and set a new World Record in 3:35.46; Jazz Carlin of Great Britain, silver; Leah Smith of USA, bronze.
MEDAL COUNT: USA – 12; China – 8; Italy – 7