For many Baltimore sports fans, it is hard to imagine a Summer Olympics without swimmer Michael Phelps, who won his 19th gold medal on Sunday night.
Advertisement
RIO DE JANEIRO U.S. team mates Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky moved on from a golden Sunday, somewhat creakily in the case of the former, and returned to the Olympic pool in search of individual glory on Monday.
Bethesda, Maryland’s Katie Ledecky attempts to continue her reign in the 200-meter freestyle with an Olympic win, while defending Olympic 100-meter freestyle champion Nathan Adrian attempts quest to defend his title.
Day 3 of the Rio Games features medal action in gymnastics, swimming, fencing, women’s rugby, judo and more. “With 22 Olympic medals, you are already the most decorated athlete in Olympic history”, he saud.
At least half the reporters bolted away from Franklin while she was in mid-answer Monday, all of them eager to fire a few questions at Ledecky.
Franklin was the darling of the London Games, a high schooler who captured four gold medals and the hearts of everyone back home with her bubbly personality.
The outcome was never in doubt, which is nearly always the case with Ledecky, who burst onto the Olympic stage four years ago in London with a stunning victory in the 800 freestyle, with witnesses in the stands that included Prince William and Duchess Kate.
Phelps said “it breaks my heart” after controversy over athletes who have previously failed drugs tests broke out at the Rio swimming competition.
The big purple spots are clearly evident on Michael Phelps’ right shoulder after the United States won the gold medal in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay. They won the world championships past year in Glasgow and finished second to China in both the 2014 worlds and the 2012 Olympics in London.
Franklin seems to have accepted her fate. “I really want a medal in this race (200m freestyle), because it is a tough race”, he puffed.
“It’s like you see people walking round looking like Hellraiser with pins in them – anything to make the body feel good”, he added.
Her best at the moment isn’t anywhere close to the form she showed four years ago.
The victory maintained a run of USA success in the event, with the Americans medaling in every 4×100 freestyle relay raced at the Games since it was first included in 1964.
Her first race of the Olympics gave scant evidence that she’s suddenly regained her speed over the past month.
The men’s 200 meter freestyle finals are slated for 10:21 p.m. after semifinals Sunday.
It was the second gold of the night for the USA after Katie Ledecky produced an astonishing performance to win gold in the 400m freestyle. “I love you and can’t wait til I get to see you”, Boomer wrote in the caption accompanying a recent photo (or, well, directed his assistant to write, anyway). “After my race I needed to slap something and there was just the water right there”. “I’ve heard the national anthem hundreds of times, but as soon as that played it was just something different”.
“The thing is”, she went on, acknowledging her new reality, “everyone else really brought it. too”.
“I think it works great for a lot of us”. And so they sang, Smith on a lower rung as the bronze medalist, Ledecky on top with the gold, exactly where she was supposed to be.
Advertisement
“It [her stroke] feels good”. I’ve just been going year round since sixth grade and now, I’m going into freshman year and just over time, my cartilage and my bone in my ankle got irritated.
