More favourites dethroned , Certain fortresses defended and China flexes its muscles
If
history at the games has taught one lesson, it is that big boasts often come
short on the day of the performance. The Australian mens 4 x 100 m relay team ,
famously describing themselves as “Weapons of Mass Destruction” should have got
omens from the performance of the Great Britain cycling team in the mens road
race – having been described by Bradley Wiggins as the greatest road race team
ever assembled in an Olympic games. So the greatest road race team failed to
place a single rider in the top 20 and similary the wapons of mass destruction
were clinically diffused by France, US and the Russians. It was sweet revenge
for the Frenchmen who were pipped to the finish by the width of a fingernail at
Beijing. On this occasion , The Beijing anchorman , Bernard was benched for the
final , and Yannick Agnel upstaged Ryan Lochte in yet another classic finish.
Michael Phelps after the 2nd leg had given the US a sizeable lead ,
but the French clawed back some of the deficit in the 3rd leg before
Agnel blew Lochte away in the home stretch. In other pool events , there were
world record performances for American Dana Volmer (Women’s 100 m Butterfly)
and South African Cameron van der Burgh (Mans 100 m breaststroke).
Sweet Revenge for the Frenchmen
The
home team , GB , finally got on the medal board with a silver for Lizzie Armitstead,
in the womens cycling road race , an event where Dutchwoman Marriane Vos comprehensively
outsprinted Armitstead in a 3 woman breakaway to claim gold.
The
Chinese meanwhile continue to prove that their 1st place finish in
the medal tally at Biejing was not a fluke with wins in shooting and
synchronised diving to take the early gold medal lead. Team US has its work cut
out to outmatch China especially with the pool events perhaps not going exactly
to plan.
The
Dream Team , meanwhile , hardly got out of 2nd gear and still beat
Tony Parker’s France by more than 25 points. Neymar and Oscar showcased their
outstanding talent as Brazil overcame Belarus 3-1 in Football , while GB
stuttered past UAE.
Star
of the Day : Kimberly Rhode (US) who won her 5th consecutive Olympic
gold in the skeet shooting.
Fortresses Defended : Hungarian Aaron Szilagyi claimed a 13th gold for his country in the men's fencing (sabre). South Korea won a 7th consecutive gold in the women's archery team competition while China continued its monopoly on the women's synchronised diving (springboard) event.
Fortresses Defended : Hungarian Aaron Szilagyi claimed a 13th gold for his country in the men's fencing (sabre). South Korea won a 7th consecutive gold in the women's archery team competition while China continued its monopoly on the women's synchronised diving (springboard) event.
Performance
of the Day : Yannick Agnel’s final 100 m leg , blowing away the golden boy of
the pool , Ryan Lochte.
One more big upset...the jalapeno hot favourite Jordyn Wieber not making it to the allround gymnastics final! As far as the medals count goes..yes it is not going to plan for Usa n Aus in the swimming. Americans have high hopes from Missy Franklin, but based on what i have seen so far it looks like Ye Shiwen n Emily Seebohm will be the stand out performers. Also just as an aside..the south korean archery fortress was breached on the first day itself when their men's team did not make it to the final!
ReplyDeleteFranklin was outstanding last night...winning the backstroke immediately after the 200 free SF. Agnel further defies expectations by blowing the field way in the 300 freestyle.
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