Michael Phelps brought the curtain down on one of sport’s most storied careers with a dynamite relay swim to give himself 23 Olympic gold medals and declared it a flawless finale. And Jamaica got its first gold of the Rio Games with an emphatic win in the marquee Olympic sprinting event. Based on the commodity prices of the metals involved, gold is worth in the neighborhood of $600, silver about $300 and bronze next to nothing.
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A thoroughly entertaining Olympic heavyweight tournament concludes with the gold-medal bout between Russian world champion Evgeny Tishchenko and Kazakhstan’s fearsome Vassilliy Levit.
“It’s a unique experience, and I loved it”, the three-time gold medalist said after she and April Ross beat Australia 21-14, 21-16 to move two wins from her fourth Olympic title.
Pride of place went to gymnast Max Whitlock who became a double Olympic champion in just under two hours.
“That is my home, that’s where I grew up, that’s where I learned how to swim”, said Phelps.
“My playlist was all over the place”, Phelps said during the Facebook Live chat.
Seeded second, Kerber won the Australian Open in January and was the runner-up at Wimbledon last month.
“Last warm-up, last time putting on a suit, last time walking out in front of people, representing my country – it’s insane, a lot better than it was four years ago”, added the 31-year-old, who retired after the 2012 London Games before returning for one last hurrah. “It’s a nice number”.
Becky James set a blistering pace on the track, breaking the Olympic record in the women’s sprint qualifying round last night – a day after winning silver in the khirin.
The gold was Denmark’s third in swimming, and the first since 1948.
The victor, however, never seemed in doubt after world champion Paltrinieri took the lead at 150 metres and wore down the rest of the field to win by 4.91 seconds.
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The American swimmer, who has earned 26 Olympic medals, 22 of them gold, made a decision to end his 24-year career after the 2016 Olympics. Miss Hickton, who opted not to travel to Rio over fears of the Zika virus, said: “I’m just in total shock at the moment”.
