Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

Does anybody have a break down of US medals won by men vs. women? Feels like the women are doing most of the heavy lifting these Olympics.

 

Great stuff from Louis Johnson getting Carl Lewis' reaction to the relay debacle, including the point that when Noah Lyles was ruled out, the U.S. should have just replaced the anchor leg instead of moving runners to different spots in the order.

In the prelims, the order was Coleman, Kerley, King and Courtney Lindsey, the stand-in for Lyles. For the final, they put Bednarek second and moved Kerley to anchor, reasoning that Kerley is their best remaining 100 runner.

Would leaving the previous order and running Bednarek on the anchor have prevented the problem? No way to know, but it's something to think about.

BTW, the U.S., with Lindsey on the anchor, ran 37.47 in the prelims, which was better than the Canadians' gold-winning 37.50.

 

The past 10 minutes of coverage are what has drawn me to the Olympics since 1968. Anna Hall, dragging half of the Heptathlon field to personal bests in the 800. The German shotputter, down to her last throw, clearing her mind and letting hours of muscle memory take over, resulting in a throw of 20 meters and a gold medal. And on the soccer field, Spain and France with a thrilling overtime finish.

If I ever had a chance to cover the Games, the question I'd want to ask is what is the last thought these athletes have when they're in that final moment before competition. I know enough lip-reading to see Grant Holloway say to himself, "Believe," before the 110 hurdles yesterday.

Is it a prayer? Is it the name of someone? Is it inspirational? Is it "clear the mechanism?" Do you tell yourself to breathe? At some point, the brain goes on cruise control and lets the body do what it's trained to do, but at an elite level, how does an athlete surpass what's humanly possible?

I've had "in the zone" moments, both playing something and at my job, where you are so focused that you're unaware of the cacophony around you. I can't explain how to get there and why it starts and stops.

But these athletes live "in the zone" most of their lives. They have to be able to peak at a certain time and place. What's the secret to how they control that mentally, physically and emotionally?

 

Oh, no!
Parker Valby may be disqualified.

 

NBC analyst apologizes. Valby's OK.

 

Sha'carri.

 

Autocorrect don’t lie

 

Another mixed day on the mat for USA Wrestling. Spencer Lee took silver in the 57 kg championship in a tough match with Higuchi Rei of Japan. Lee was the favorite to win gold before the games, but it was also seen as a pretty wide open weight. Aaron Brooks looked dominant again in getting a bronze. Both of them were making their Olympic debuts and are likely to be back when the games come to LA. Helen Maroulis won her bronze medal match with a pin in just 24 seconds. She becomes the first 3x medalist in women's wrestling for the U.S. She won gold in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. Those three were the bright spots today.

Mason Parris who was considered a medal contender at 125 kg lost his opening match and didn't get pulled into repechage. Kayla Miracle was dominant in her first match, lost a tough one on criteria in the 1/4 final and didn't get pulled into repechage, either.

2020 bronze medalist Kyle Dake lost in the semifinals against Takatani Daichi of Japan in a fantastic, high-scoring match at 74kg. He'll have a chance at a bronze medal tomorrow. Dake was the favorite to win 74kg going in.

Also a tough day for Americans wrestling for other countries. Myles Amine (San Marino), who was the silver medalist in Tokyo, lost his bronze medal match as did Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico). Ashton Mutuwa (Nigeria) and Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) both lost in the opening round and didn't get pulled into repechage.

 

As I said...

 

Better analysis than NBC! And from what I could tell, Warholm nicked the ninth hurdle. But he wasn't going to catch Benjamin anyway. Great race.

 

Yes, he definitely clipped a hurdle.