Rio de Janeiro, Aug 12 (IANS): The United States have come out as the biggest victor at the Rio Olympics as their athletes took five gold medals and helped them maintain the top spot on the medals table.
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They soon rose to the occasion with a stellar display in the swimming pool.
In sailing, Giles Scott remains on course for the Olympic gold medal after a strong recovery from a poor start saw him retain the top spot in the men’s Finn class.
The five competitors came in with almost impossible expectations, but they somehow exceeded them and stamped their mark on the grandest of all occasions. China is second with eight medals, Italy and Japan each have seven.
The interactive asks for your height, weight, date of birth and gender, and provides your top three matching athletes, as well as insights on where you rank compared to the height, weight and age of Olympic athletes. Not even silver is satisfactory sometimes, just remember that look on Russian athlete Yulia Efimova’s face as her arch-rival, Lilly King of the United States took the gold in 100m women’s breastroke swimming. But for the athletes competing in more obscure or less lucrative sports that only get this kind of major national or global attention once every four years, those paychecks can make a huge difference in their lives. The team beat out its neighbor, New Zealand, in a 24-17 win to take home the inaugural gold medal Monday.
The Uttoxter swimmer who won 2 Golds in Glasgow’s Commenwealth Games two years ago said after “It’s so surreal to get Team GB’s first Gold”. He also swam at Sydney 2000, as the youngest male to make a US Olympic swim team in 68 years.
Dutch star Dafne Schippers Americans English Gardner and Tori Bowie as well as Jamaican compatriot Elaine Thompson will present a stern test to her Fraser-Pryce’s title hopes.
Usain Bolt will begin his attempt to gain the incredible “Triple-Triple” – Olympic sprint titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters and the relay.
Participating with a different sort of grace, Britain remains a world power in dressage, with Charlotte Dujardin leading the individual charge on her loyal partner, Valegro, while pommel horse specialists Max Whitlock and Louis Smith are will be in a straight shootout to win Team GB’s first gold in gymnastics.
“I try not to think about the history much”, Ledecky said.
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Her comments sparked protests on Russian social media at what some suggested was a deliberate attempt to provoke Russia by people hostile to its team’s presence at the games following reports of wide-scale, state-sponsored doping in Russia.
