Rio Olympics: Day 7 -The iPINIONS Journal

Rugby Sevens

I was too caught up in the excitement unfolding at the Swimming and Gymnastics venues last night to watch, let alone comment on, anything else.

But I won’t pretend to have any real fondness for or understanding of this game, which is so barbaric it makes American Football look effeminate. Apropos of which, women play too. And they look every bit as barbaric doing so.

Nonetheless, I would be remiss not to hail Fiji for upsetting Great Britain 43-7 for the gold in Men’s Rugby Sevens.

Regular readers know I cannot resist gloating whenever a former British colony gets the better of our former colonial master … in anything. Therefore, here’s to Fiji not only for making history by winning its first Olympic medal of any kind in any sport, but also for sticking it to England to boot.

But who knew the tiny Pacific nation of Fiji is as much a powerhouse in Rugby as the tiny Caribbean nation of Jamaica is in Track….

That said, my gloating soon turned to utter stupefaction and dismay as I watched each Fijian player get on his knees and bow before Britain’s Princess Anne to receive his gold medal.

Ironically, given the way they looked on, I suspect every British and Australian player who remained standing on the silver and bronze podiums, respectively, was equally stupefied and dismayed.

Alas, it reflects the insidious legacy of British colonialism, as well as the perverse loyalty to British royalty, that these proud and triumphant Fijians showed more regard for this third-rate royal than for their own national flag and anthem.

Oh, Australia defeated sister nation down under, New Zealand, 24-17 for the gold in Women’s Rugby Sevens on Day 3.

Archery

Today was the final day of competition in this sport. Only four medals were awarded but every qualifying round provided excitement and suspense worthy of The Hunger Games.

Apropos of which, I became interested during London 2012 only because Khatuna Lorig of the USA, the unsung archer who famously trained Jennifer Lawrence for this movie, was competing. She eventually lost a nail-biter to Mariana Avitia of Mexico in the women’s bronze medal match. But no archer inspired that Lorig kind of rooting interest at these Games.

Football (Soccer)

I did not expect to be commenting on Women’s Soccer at this point. Not only because the medal rounds do not begin until the penultimate day of Rio 2016, but also because Team USA was as favored to win gold in Women’s Soccer as it is to do so in Women’s Basketball.

But a funny thing happened to the three-time defending Olympic Champion and defending World Cup Champion on the way to a four-peat coronation: Team Sweden.

As it happened, I tuned in only after a “Breaking News” bulletin about Sweden and the USA beginning penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in regulation and extra time.

Hope Solo is the most famous and controversial USA player. But she has earned a well-deserved reputation for shutouts, becoming the first goalkeeper in international history to record 100 of them just last month.

Therefore, her teammates could be forgiven for thinking she would “save” them from a very close call. She did not.

Sweden beat the USA 4-3 in the penalty shootout. Granted, it might be that Sweden’s coach, Pia Sundhage, got into the heads of the USA players, causing superstar Alex Morgan and another player to miss what should have been bankable shots on goal. Of course, Sundhage could do so because she just happens to be the former coach who guided the USA to gold at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

In any event, this is easily the biggest upset in the history of USA women’s soccer, and arguably the biggest in Olympic history; well, at least since Argentina defeated the USA Men’s Basketball team (aka Dream Team) at Athens 2004, relegating it to the bronze medal game.

NOTE: Solo lived up to her controversial reputation by whining that the USA lost to “a bunch of cowards.” Her Trumpian arrogance is such that coming across like a sore loser probably never occurred to her.

Trampoline

This sport is always a thrill to watch. Not least because the performers display all of the skill and grace of springboard divers and gymnasts combined.

Despite this, I cannot get over the feeling that jumping up and down on a trampoline is a recreation that belongs in the backyard, not a sport that belongs in the Olympics. Not to mention my irritation with the dizziness watching their quadruple summersaults with triple twists caused….

Swimming

Watching Lilly King of the USA upset Yulia Efimova of Russia in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke on Day 3 was really exciting. No doubt the cloud of doping hovering over Efimova added to the drama.

Well, watching Madeline Dirado upset Katinka (“Iron Lady”) Hosszu in the Women’s 200m Backstroke tonight was even more so. No doubt the cloud of doping hovering over Hosszu added to the drama. And to say they were both shocked by their respective feats would be an understatement.

But I’ve commented enough on doping at these Games; besides, it’s far better to hail King and Dirado as cheater slayers. So here’s to them showing that (suspected) cheaters don’t always prosper.

Madeline Dirado of the USA won gold in 2:05.99; Katinka Hosszu of Hungary, silver; and Hilary Caldwell of Canada, bronze.

When Michael Phelps stepped onto the starting block for the Men’s 100m Butterfly tonight, he was already the most decorated Olympian in history – complete with more individual golds than any athlete since Leonidas of Rhodes ended with 12 in 152 BC (2,000 years ago). Specifically, he already had 26 medals composed of 22 golds (13 in individual events and 9 in relays), 2 silver, and 2 bronze. Still, I have no doubt he dearly wanted this last individual race of his historic career to be another golden one.

Alas, it was not to be. Because not only Phelps, but his old rivals were all schooled by an upstart.

Joseph Schooling of Singapore won (his country’s first) gold and set a new Olympic Record in 50.39; Michael Phelps of the USA, Chad le Clos of South Africa, and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary, silver.

That’s right, Phelps makes history even when he loses, sharing the first three-way tie Olympic competition.

I don’t know if I’ve (ever) been in a tie, so a three-way tie is pretty wild.

(London Telegraph, August 12, 2016)

Phelps can clearly afford to make light of it, but there’s no denying this was a huge upset. I suspect he’ll derive some consolation if he ends his Olympic career with another gold as part of the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay tomorrow night, which seems a virtual guarantee.

I’m on record declaring that the Men’s 50m Freestyle should not even be an Olympic event. So imagine my mixed feelings when sentimental favorite, old man Anthony Ervin (35), shocked the swimming world.