While I write this (Wednesday afternoon), the United States leads the pack with 86 total medals, and 28 of those are gold.
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The Puerto Rican came into the Olympics as the 37th-ranked player in the world.
Around 50 members of Team GB were educated in a college.
The Global Times also featured a couple of unexpected reactions from Chinese sports fans in a front-page article with the headline “Public relax over medal tally”.
Arguably the biggest star of the show for FE thus far has been the unstoppable Valegro, the dressage horse (pictured).
After snatching away the gold with a dramatic finish in the women’s 49erFX, sailors Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze hugged, then flipped backward off their boat into Guanabara Bay.
In men’s shot put, American Ryan Crouser hurled the longest throw of his life to win the gold and also broke the Olympic record. This would place it 15th in the current medal table.
Team USA did not have the chance to medal after former manager Pia Sundhage and her Swedish side shocked them in a quarterfinal-round penalty shootout. It’s a complicated system of visibility and marketability where certain high-profile competitors – like women’s gymnasts – almost always make millions off their gold medals, while athletes in less-popular sports need to have a compelling story: Win the 100-meter dash and you’re declared the “fastest man/woman alive”, which comes with a certain amount of earning power.
The 23-year-old set three personal bests in the final and his longest throw of 22.52 metres shattered an Olympic record set by East Germany’s Ulf Timmermann in 1988.
The measure would only apply to medals and prizes awarded by the United States Olympic Committee and would not impact taxes on athletes’ endorsements and sponsorship deals. “Those are something I’m looking forward to”, he said.
In the US, taxes on the cash bonuses vary based on the athlete’s tax bracket.
The meeting Friday of China’s Lin Dan and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei is a much-awaited rematch of the last two Olympic finals, which saw Lin beat Lee for gold.
Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin finished 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles to give the United States its first sweep in the event, its seventh in the history of Olympic track and the 23rd for US women, regardless of sport, over the history of the Olympics.
Brazilians adore the beach and the water – so nothing could be better for the Olympic host than picking up its latest two golds at those venues.
Damian Warner of Canada ran the fastest Olympic decathlon 100 meters to kick off the two-day competition.
Joseph Schooling of Singapore bested Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly, beating out the two-time reigning Olympic champion in the event. Helen Louise Maroulis became the first USA woman ever to win a gold in the sport by upsetting her Japanese opponent Saori Yoshida in the 53kg division.
The decathlon starts Wednesday with American Ashton Eaton a favorite for gold.
It wasn’t the world record he said he was trying to set, but it was an eighth gold medal in his final individual event.
Yoshida had dominated the weight class, winning 13 world championships, but she couldn’t beat Maroulis Thursday. Spain started the Olympics with two losses, to Croatia and Brazil.
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– The United States finished second to France in equestrian. The Texan won gold at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
