All of the world’s top four, Jason Day of Australia, US duo Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth plus Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy said no to playing in Rio, a slap that still stings golf after its fight to get back into the Olympics.
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Gold medalists Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky of the United States and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary will be looking for even more glory; Phelps in the 200 meter butterfly, Ledecky in the 200 meter freestyle and Hosszu in the women’s 200 meter individual medley.
Gold medal victor Katie Ledecky survived the morning preliminary heats with the top qualifying time in the 200 free. The Canadian team won 18 medals – including one gold – four years ago in London.
The other player is Byeong Hun An of South Korea, who comes from an Olympic heritage. American Lilly King swam the fastest in the semifinal and has been outspoken about her Russian competitor, Yulia Efimova, who served a doping ban but was cleared to swim in Rio.
Dutch gymnast Yuri van Gelder has been kicked off the Netherlands’ team at the Olympics and is being sent home from Rio for breaching team rules.
The victory was the 43rd consecutive for the USA (2-0) in the Olympics. Both men and women will be competing in the event. The U.S., which took gold in the 4×100-meter free, holds the world and Olympic records in the 200. On calm water with barely a breeze, the Americans qualified for Saturday’s final in 6 minutes, 6.34 seconds, a whopping eight seconds ahead of the Netherlands.
The toughest times were in the spring of 2013, when delays threatened to keep the course from being completed on time after Hanse had moved his family to Brazil for the project.
The Rio Games sees golf returns to the Olympics after more than 100 years and the sport is anxious to seize the chance to appeal to new markets. In the men’s 200 meter freestyle finals, watch for Germany’s Paul Biedermann, who holds the world record.
Oscar Figueroa fell to his knees and burst into tears after he struck Olympic gold for Colombia in an enthralling men’s 62kg competition in Rio on Sunday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will consider the viability of every event in every sport next year. She crushed her own world record in the 400 freestyle Sunday night, touching almost 5 seconds ahead of her closest pursuer.
Speaking of records, Phelps will likely take his medal count to heights that may never be reached by the time he’s done in Rio. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he’d gladly trade them for just one championship for any of his other three teams.
It was a night of world records in Rio.
While Japan has been a favorite, the team looked shaky in preliminaries.
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Spain missed the 2012 Olympics, but won the silver at the worlds. Former Warrior Leandro Barbosa scored 13 of his 21 points in the third quarter for Brazil, awakening the home crowd and creating a rollicking atmosphere down the stretch as the Brazilians sung and chanted in the stands.
