“I blew it. No excuses”.
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Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia is competing in the 10,000 meters. But the 19-year-old American already proved she can soar with astonishing tumbling routines that won the all-around title. She was basically untouchable at major championships from 2007 to 2014, with four world and two Olympic gold medals to show for it. Adams is the second-best performer of the season, behind China’s Gong Lijiao. Merritt is the 2008 champion and van Niekerk is a South African who surprised those two to win the world championships past year.
Overall, though, Olympic officials and veterans say Rio has been beset by so many organizational issues that South America’s first games have been more of a disappointment than a delight.
After putting off college for a year to focus on the Olympics, she’ll head to Stanford in the fall and join fellow USA teammates Simone Manuel and Leah Smith.
Defending Olympic champion James ran the fastest time of the heats Friday. Sundhage had led the Americans to Olympic gold in both Beijing and London.
And Brazil, featuring standout Marta, faces Australia at 11 p.m.
Phelps is eager to spend a lot more time with them.
Other matches have Portugal take on Germany at 1 p.m.; Nigeria against Denmark at 4 p.m. and Korea vs. Honduras at 7 p.m.
Despite winning four golds in London in 2012, Phelps has said he was dissatisfied with his preparation and results there and wants to bow out on his own terms. He will next swim the 100 fly Friday night, and the medley relay on Saturday. There was little time to savour the moment, however, as he raced back off the pool deck to get ready for the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, which he also has the chance to win for a fourth successive Games.
Most of the US swim team was in the stands to watch Phelps’ finale, including the biggest female star at the pool, Katie Ledecky.
The U.S. has won every men’s 4x100m freestyle relay that they have contested, dating back to the event’s debut in 1960.
Klay Thompson ended an Olympic-long slump with seven 3-pointers and 30 points, and the US needed nearly all of them to hold off France 100-97 in basketball.
His shot at a 28th medal comes Saturday in the final slate of swimming at the Rio de Janeiro Games, where Usain Bolt thrilled the crowd at Olympic Stadium in his first appearance of the games and Rafael Nadal’s bid for an unprecedented second Olympic singles gold medal ended with a thrill-a-minute semifinal loss to Juan Martin del Potro.
There are six sprinters to watch: Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast, Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands and Americans English Gardner, Tianna Bartoletta and Tori Bowie.
Rachel Fattal #4 of United States takes a shot in front of Barbara Bujka #10 of Hungary during the Womens Preliminaries on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 13, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
DAY 2: Catherine Skinner wins shooting gold. He has 27 Olympic medals in total, nine more than his closest rival. Something tells us they’ll make up for it.
Brazil has won three medals so far – one of each color.
Halfway through the Olympics, Rio de Janeiro is still struggling with a litany of problems that have underlined the challenges of taking the games away from their traditional territories, and made clear they may not go to untested regions again in the near future. Stadiums for basketball and judo have been full but many other venues have been lightly attended.
The IOC has acknowledged that Rio Olympics are missing some of the so-called “look” that characterizes the games.
The officers from Brazil’s national security force were using a Global Positioning System device to navigate unfamiliar streets Wednesday afternoon when they took a wrong turn off a highway leading to Rio’s worldwide airport.
Helio Vieira was one of three officers hurt in the incident in Rio’s north on Wednesday.
FINA did correct some mistakes, including that of a Kuwaiti swimmer competing under the International Olympic Committee flag. The times determine heats and lane assignments during preliminary heats. It is the first ever Olympic medal for the island country known for their athletic rugby. Now that’s a reason to party.
He declared a public holiday for August 22, the day after the team returns home.
Ervin won his first gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, tying teammate Gary Hall Jr. for the top spot. After all, the 31-year-old Phelps has said he was retiring from swimming, and during the meet had seemed very much at peace with himself publicly.
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He quit drinking, reconnected with his estranged father, got engaged, moved to Arizona along with Bowman, and became a father for the first time.
