Gymnastics is sadly over. Swimming is sadly over. And the events start getting fewer as the tournament style sports reach semifinals and finals here in Day 12.
Today the women's golf tournament begins today. Since about 99 percent of the world's top females are playing, they are pretty much the favorite. Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand), Brooke Henderson (Canada), Lexi Thompson (USA) and Inbee Park (South Korea) are the current top five players in the world. I remember Lexi from when she was about 13-years-old and in braces. Crazy! Ko has been ranked no. 1 for the last 43 weeks and she's only 19! The other Americans in the tournament are Stacey Lewis (world no. 6) and Gerina Piller (world no. 15). Piller qualified in the very last tournament possible by reaching the 15th spot that allowed the USA to send three players.
First time I've mentioned boxing but here it is. American Claressa Shields boxes today in the women's 75kg quarterfinals. She's overcome a lot in her lifetime, being raped and molested as a child, and won gold in London. She wants to become the first American boxer, male or female, to win two golds.
The defending Olympic champion U.S. women's water polo team moves on to the semifinals today against Hungary with the match beginning at 11:20 (EST).
In men's volleyball, Team USA takes on Poland in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. (EST). Watch out for Poland! And I mean that in a "don't meet them in a dark alley" type way. There was a near brawl between them and Iran in a prelim round last week that went to extra points in five sets. Luckily there was a net dividing the teams.
The men's basketball team needs to get it together and start playing some defense as they face Argentina in the quarterfinals at 5:45 p.m. (EST) today. The other most interesting quarterfinals game to watch is Spain vs. France at 1:30 p.m.
After the tough loss last night, Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross return to the sand for the bronze-medal match in women's beach volleyball. Crazy that in four Olympic appearances that was Walsh-Jennings' first loss. She's never been in this position before, playing to where the loser doesn't get a medal. To make it even more difficult, they have to face the No. 1 ranked team in the tournament and it's a Brazilian team, Larissa/Talita. This Brazil team lost in an upset to a German team yesterday, making the gold final a pair of unexpected teams. The USA/BRA match is at 9 p.m. (EST).
In track and field, it's the finals for the women's 100m hurdles, the women's 200m and the women's long jump. We'll see Mr. Bolt again in the 200m semifinals, which is really his better event.
The decathalon also gets underway today to determine the "world's best athlete" with the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m. USA's Ashton Eaton is the reigning Olympic champion, world record holder and heavy favorite to repeat. It's amazing how athletic these guys are and good at everything!
Americans Brianna Rollins and Kristi Castlin posted the top times in the first round of the 100m hurdles with the third American, Nia Ali, coming in sixth. Rollins is the world champion from 2013, while Ali won the indoor title (only 60m) this past year.
The women's 200m will be just as impressive as all the sprints. Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands is the reigning world champion and was the top time in the semis. American Tori Bowie qualified in second after winning bronze in the 100m the other day and won bronze at the world championships last year in this event. Jamaica's Elaine Thompson, the 100m champion, won the silver at worlds last year and qualified third.
No comments:
Post a Comment