Summer Olympics 2016: Predictions and Results for Day 4 Medal Events
Led by Simone Biles and Aly Raisman [spoiler alert], the United States gymnastic team smashed Russia and China in the team all-around with a total score of 184.897. Biles, Raisman and Lauren Hernandez turned in clutch performances on the final floor routine to clinch the gold for Team USA.
That was the highlight of the afternoon.
As for the nightcap, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky both earned their second gold medals in these Olympics. After Ledecky won the 200-meter freestyle final, Phelps clipped Masato Sakai (Japan) for his third career gold in the 200-meter butterfly final.
Approximately 70 minutes later, Phelps anchored the 800-meter freestyle relay team, which beat Great Britain by a comfortable margin. The win brought career gold medal No. 3 of the Rio Olympics and No. 21 overall for Phelps.
Let's take a look at the hardware that was distributed on Day 4.
Team Eventing
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Results
France and Germany both made surges to take the top two spots on the medal stand in team eventing.
After entering Tuesday sitting third and fourth, respectively, their performances vaulted them past Australia and New Zealand, which were first and second going into final stage. Australia took bronze, while New Zealand missed out on a medal.
Germany made up a lot of ground to grab its silver medal, but it was the French quartet of Karim Laghouag, Astier Nicolas, Thibaut Vallette and Mathieu Lemoine who left the course with the ultimate prize, with Nicolas and his horse Piaf de B’Neville leading the way to glory.
Gold: France
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Australia
Individual Eventing
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Results
The individual eventing went according to the script, at least in first and third.
Germany's Michael Jung and his horse delivered in a major way with a low score of 40.90, while France's Astier Nicolas took the silver medal with a score of 48.00.
Team USA's Phillip Dutton, aboard Mighty Nice, climbed two spots to snag the bronze with a score of 51.80.
Australia's Christopher Burton, who was once in second place, fell to fifth.
Gold: Michael Jung, Germany
Silver: Astier Nicolas, France
Bronze: Phillip Dutton, USA
Women's 25-Meter Pistol
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Results
The shooting world received a shock in the semifinals of the 25-meter pistol. And then another shock in the bronze-medal match.
Antoaneta Boneva of Bulgaria, the second-ranked shooter in the world, finished eighth, dead last in the semifinal, with an abysmal score of 11.
“Boneva, the world-ranked No. 2, will be disappointed with that,” said the live-streaming announcer.
Boneva’s slip-up gave several other shooters opportunities to have their day on the podium, which figured to be populated by China’s Jingjing Zhang as well. Zhang, the world No. 1, failed to reach to the gold-medal round and battled for the bronze, where she lost to Switzerland’s Heidi Diethelm Gerber in a thrilling clash.
The gold-medal match was about as tight as it can get. Greece’s Anna Korakaki built a 6-0 lead over Germany’s Monika Karsch. Karsch came all the way back to force a decisive series.
“Goodness me,” the announcer said. “Can [Korakaki] keep calm and pull it back?”
She did, hitting four of her next five targets to overcome the German and win the gold.
“She’s done it! Gave everyone a fright,” the announcer said.
Gold: Anna Korakaki, Greece
Silver: Monika Karsch, Germany
Bronze: Heidi Diethelm Gerber, Switzerland
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Women's Sychronized 10-Meter Platform
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Results
It comes as no surprise that China’s Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia took the gold medal, and their highest-scoring dives came in the final round. Chen became a five-time gold medalist with the win. A score of 354.00 in the 10-meter synchronized platform sealed it.
Malaysia’s Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong sneaked in for the silver medal with a score of 344.34. The Canadian duo of Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, expected to medal, earned the bronze with a score of 336.18.
Gold: China
Silver: Malaysia
Bronze: Canada
Women's Weightlifting 63 kg
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Results
It wasn’t a surprise that China’s Deng Wei won the women’s 63-kg weightlifting gold medal, but it was a surprise to see her break the world record with a total lift of 262 kilograms.
Wei obliterated her nearest rival, North Korea’s Choe Hyo Sim, by 14 kilograms. Sim lifted 248 kilos, five kilos above Kazakhstan’s Karina Goricheva (243 kilograms).
Thanks to Russia’s Tima Turieva sitting out these Olympics due to state-run doping allegations, Wei had a free run at the gold and delivered a historic effort.
Gold: Deng Wei, China
Silver: Choe Hyo Sim
Bronze: Karina Goricheva, Kazakhstan
Men's Judo 81 kg
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Results
The men’s 81-kg judo gold-medal bout came down to Russian Khasan Khalmurzaev vs. American Travis Stevens.
With an electric move, Khalmurzaev pinned Stevens to win the match 100-0 and take the gold medal for Russia.
Stevens’ silver was the first medal for Team USA in judo since 2004.
Sergiu Toma of the United Arab Emirates and Japan's Takanori Nagase each won bronze medals.
Gold: Khasan Khalmurzaev, Russia
Silver: Travis Stevens, USA
Bronze: Sergiu Toma, UAE
Bronze: Takanori Nagase, Japan
Women's Judo 63 kg
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Results
In less time than it takes to fry an egg, Slovenia’s Tina Trstenjak pinned Clarisse Agbegnenou of France to take the gold medal in women’s 63kg judo.
Trstenjak threw down Silva in one minute and 45 seconds to win her first Olympic medal in this event.
Israel’s Yarden Gerbi and Anicka van Emden of the Netherlands share the bronze medal.
Gold: Tina Trstenjak, Slovenia
Silver: Clarisse Agbegnenou, France
Bronze: Yarden Gerbi, Brazil
Bronze: Anicka van Emden, Netherlands
Men's Individual Epee
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Results
It was about as big an upset you’ll see in the Rio Olympics. When South Korea’s Park Sang-young surged back to a 15-14 gold-medal win over Hungary’s Geza Imre, Sang-young about lost his mind.
And with good reason.
It was the first-ever gold medal for South Korea in this event; a “massive” accomplishment, according to the broadcaster.
Gauthier Grumier, a favorite to win the gold medal for France, settled for bronze, defeating Switzerland’s Benjamin Steffen, 15-14.
Gold: Park Sang-young, South Korea
Silver: Geza Imre, Hungary
Bronze: Gauthier Grumier, France
Women's Gymnastics Team All-Around
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Results
Was it a surprise that Team USA wiped the mat and chalked its hands with the world in the all-around qualification? All that did was up the ante and the pressure.
And boy, did these five women—Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Lauren Hernandez and Madison Kocian—throw down the hammer.
Right from the opening vaults, they won by getting out front and staying there. The USA finished with the highest score in each of the four events, crushing all challengers.
Biles needed about eight points in her final floor routine to seal the gold medal, and she did nearly twice that. The three-time world champion—and now gold medalist—proved why she and her teammates are the best in the world.
Gold: United States, 184.897
Silver: Russia, 176.688
Bronze: China, 176.003
Men's Canoe Single Slalom
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Results
The men’s single canoe slalom world capsized on Day 4.
France’s Denis Gargaud Chanut won the gold medal with a winning time of 1:34.17, with Slovakia’s Matej Benus coming in second (1:35.02). Japan’s Takuya Haneda took the bronze in a time of 1:37.44.
Heading into the event, we predicted Britain’s David Florence would win the gold (he finished last) and Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis would finish second (he took fifth).
Those white-water rapids can eat up the best in the world, and it was Chanut who weathered it the best with an emphatic war cry to boot.
Gold: Denis Garguad Chanut, France
Silver: Matej Benus, Slovakia
Bronze: Takuya Haneda, Japan
Women's 200M Freestyle
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Results
Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom edged Katie Ledecky in the second semifinal of the 200-meter freestyle Monday night, but the American swimmer hit the wall first Tuesday.
Ledecky recorded a 1:53.73 to clip Sjostrom's 1:54.08 and claim gold medal No. 2 of the 2016 Olympics. Ledecky also has a silver medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle to her name.
Australia's Emma McKeon swam a 1:54.92 to round out the top three. She beat world-record holder Federica Pellegrini (Italy) for the final spot on the podium.
Gold: Katie Ledecky, United States
Silver: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden
Bronze: Emma McKeon, Australia
Men's 200M Butterfly
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Results
Redemption, thy name is Michael Phelps.
After losing to South Africa's Chad le Clos by five one-hundredths of a second in the 2012 London Games, Phelps earned his third career gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly.
Phelps touched the wall at 1:53.36, narrowly holding off Masato Sakai (Japan) by four one-hundreths of a second. Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi finished with a 1:53.62 time for the bronze medal.
Unfortunately for le Clos, he failed to defend his gold medal and didn't reach the podium—and neither did 2015 world champion Laszlo Cseh (Hungary).
Gold: Michael Phelps, United States
Silver: Masato Sakai, Japan
Bronze: Tamas Kenderesi, Hungary
Women's 200M Individual Medley
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Results
Katinka Hosszu's outstanding Olympics continued Tuesday night. The Hungarian swimmer added a third gold medal to her collection during the 200-meter individual medley.
The defending world champion, Hosszu posted an Olympic-record 2:06.58—smashing her previous mark set in the heats (2:07.45) by nearly a full second.
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor earned Great Britain's first-ever medal in this event, breaking the country's record with a 2:06.88 swim.
Two Americans battled for the bronze, but Maya DiRado (2:08.79) beat Melanie Margalis (2:09.21) to the wall.
Gold: Katinka Hosszu, Hungary
Silver: Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, Great Britain
Bronze: Maya DiRado, United States
4x200M Freestyle Relay
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Results
Although the headline is "Michael Phelps wins his 21st gold medal," Conor Dwyer and Townley Haas gave the United States a massive early lead in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.
Ryan Lochte maintained the gap before Phelps sealed the country's fourth consecutive gold medal in the event. Phelps touched the wall at 7:00.06—well ahead of the competition.
Great Britain stormed back from fourth place, passing the Japanese and Australians to claim the silver with a 7:03.13 time. Japan (7:03.50) earned a place on the podium, taking home the bronze.
Gold: United States
Silver: Great Britain
Bronze: Japan
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