“Nineteen gold medals” just doesn’t have a good ring to it. Fortunately, Michael Phelps fixed that last night. Now “20 gold medals”? That sounds right.
Phelps earned his 20th gold medal Monday night after avenging his loss to South Africa’s Chad le Clos and winning in the 200-meter butterfly. Le Clos defeated Phelps in this very event in London four years ago, but Phelps got his revenge and le Clos came in fourth. Obviously Phelps’s stare-down technique before the race deserves all the credit for the win. Oh yeah, then Phelps won his 21st gold medal an hour later in the 4×200-meter freestyle. He has three more races to go.
It could be the humid jungle air, but Olympic officials were at a loss yesterday when the pool used for the diving competitions mysteriously turned dark green.
The formerly crystal blue pool looks like a St. Patrick’s Day celebration gone awry, but Olympic officials assured athletes the water is perfectly safe, despite its toxic appearance.
But it was the ladies of the games who took the spotlight yesterday.
Only one day after the U.S. women defeated Spain in basketball by 40 points, the U.S. women took action in water polo, again beating Spain by a large margin. The women made the Spanish rethink their choice in sport and handed them a sound 11-4 defeat. Just think of it as revenge for every time the Spain beat the U.S. in soccer.
Our women’s gymnastics team earned a gold medal in the team gymnastics event, solidifying their title of “best ever.” If you didn’t think they could top the 2012 Olympics dream team, well, they definitely did, and have a lot more to prove.
Team member Gabby Douglas drew anonymous-internet-driven criticism for not placing her hand over her heart during the national anthem, but I think she gets a free pass after helping to bring home all that gold hardware for her country.
The U.S. women’s soccer team let us all down yesterday with a last-second 2-2 draw to Colombia. Goalkeeper Hope Solo let one slip between her legs, allowing her first goal since June. The crowd jeered her for the remainder of the match, but to be fair, she's been the target of boos and chants of "zika" since she arrived in Brazil and posted pictures of her anti-zika kit on Twitter. Colombia scored again in the dying minutes to tie it up. The Yanks won their group anyway and advance to play Sweden on Friday.
This just proves that even when you’re the best, you can’t always be at your best. Take a look at Serena Williams. Ranked number one, Williams was eliminated from doubles competition along with her sister Venus, and has now been eliminated from the singles competition after a meltdown on Monday.
Even the best gotta rest.
The U.S. has 26 medals total, including 18 medals in swimming events alone. That’s more than second-place China has altogether. Japan comes in third with 14 medals.
Today’s action is all about the soccer. The men play beginning at noon, with matches taking place into the night when Brazil continues their search for their first goal at 9 p.m.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.