Summer Olympics 2016: Predictions and Results for Medal Events on Day 5
Day 5 at the Rio Olympics began with some impressive results on bicycles and ended with plenty of great efforts in the pool. In between were plenty of other triumphant athletes who earned gold, silver and bronze for their troubles.
The United States claimed six medals overall on Wednesday: three in swimming, one in cycling, one in synchronized diving and one in fencing. Among those were a pair of golds, as Kristin Armstrong won the women's cycling time trial, and the women's 4x200-meter relay team claimed that swimming competition for the second consecutive Olympics.
Kohei Uchimura of Japan put his place in history as the first male gymnast in 44 years to win the individual all-around in two straight Olympic Games. He narrowly edged out Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev in a highly entertaining final.
Japan also earned a pair of gold medals in men's and women's judo, while Great Britain earned victories in both canoe slalom and men's three-meter springboard synchronized diving. Also Wednesday, a world record gave Kazakhstan a gold in men's weightlifting, and the country earned its first-ever swimming gold.
Scroll through to see how all 18 medal events went down Wednesday in Rio.
Women's Individual Time Trial (Cycling)
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Results
American Kristin Armstrong won her third consecutive gold medal in the women's individual trial in Wednesday's first medal event.
Armstrong crossed through the second checkpoint almost three seconds behind Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia, but she rallied through poor conditions.
As the rain and wind continued to ravage the course, Armstrong made up enough ground to cross the finish line in first place. The 42-year-old, who will celebrate her birthday Thursday, finished in a time of 44:26.42.
Road race gold medalist Anna van der Breggen finished 11-plus seconds back of Armstrong to earn bronze.
Gold: Kristin Armstrong, United States
Silver: Olga Zabelinskaya, Russia
Bronze: Anna van der Breggen, Netherlands
Men's 50m Pistol
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Results
South Korea's Jin Jongoh set an Olympic-record score of 193.7 on his way to the gold medal in the men's 50m pistol competition.
The gold medalist outdueled Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam in the final stage of the event to capture gold for South Korea.
Hoang recorded an 8.4 and 8.2 on the final two shots and failed to keep up with the South Korean as he thrived in the closing stages. The silver medalist recorded a score of 191.3.
Bronze medalist Kim Song Guk of North Korea was nowhere close to the scores of the top two finishers, as he totaled a score of 172.8.
Gold: Jin Jongoh, South Korea
Silver: Hoang Xuan Vinh, Vietnam
Bronze: Kim Song Guk, North Korea
Men's Individual Time Trial (Cycling)
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Results
In one of his final races as a professional cyclist, Fabian Cancellara destroyed the men's time trial course to win his second career Olympic gold medal. Cancellara is set to retire at the end of 2016.
The Swiss rider, who also took first in Beijing, recorded a time of 1:12:15.42. Cancellara's ride was far and away the best of the day, as silver medalist Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands was 47 seconds back of the winner.
The race for bronze came down to the last rider on the course, as three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome eked out a bronze medal over Spain's Jonathan Castroviejo as he crossed the finish line.
Froome finished one minute and two seconds behind Cancellara, while Castroviejo ended up one minute and six seconds behind the Swiss winner.
Gold: Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland
Silver: Tom Dumoulin, Netherlands
Bronze: Chris Froome, Great Britain
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Men's K-1 Canoe Slalom
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Results
Joseph Clarke of Great Britain flew down the course on his final run, moving in and out of gates to finish with a gold-medal time of 88.53 seconds. Peter Kauzer was in prime position after his run of 88.70, but a late push by Clarke helped him finish just ahead.
Although Clarke had struggled in the past couple of years after taking sixth in the 2014 World Championships, he is clearly now on top of the sport.
Kauzer ended up in second place as the remaining competitors failed to match his time. This included Jakub Grigar, who had the best time in the semifinals but couldn’t manage better than fifth in the finals.
Jiri Prskavec of the Czech Republic also had an impressive run for third place that ended up being less than half a second away from a gold medal.
Gold: Joseph Clarke, Great Britain
Silver: Peter Kauzer, Slovenia
Bronze: Jiri Prskavec, Czech Republic
Men's Double Trap
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Results
Fehaid Aldeehani, formerly of Kuwait and now just competing as an independent Olympic athlete, finished with the gold medal after hitting 26 of 30 targets in the championship bout against Marco Innocenti. He led all athletes with a 28 in the semifinals to qualify for the final round and kept up his hot shooting in the finals.
Aldeehani had won two bronzes in his career before this Olympics.
Innocenti earned his first career medal in his third Olympics after showcasing impressive consistency throughout this event.
A pair of British athletes competed for the bronze medal as Steven Scott put together a perfect 30 to beat out compatriot Tim Kneale.
Gold: Fehaid Aldeehani, Independent Olympic Athlete
Silver: Marco Innocenti, Italy
Bronze: Steven Scott, Great Britain
Women's 69kg Weightlifting
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Results
China continued its dominance in women's weightlifting with Xiang Yanmei taking home gold in the 69-kilogram weight class.
Xiang totaled 261 kilograms, including 145 kg in the clean and jerk, barely clear of the rest of the competition. Zhazira Zhapparkul of Kazakhstan finished just off the lead with 259 kg, failing to lift any more.
As the defending world champion, Xiang's win isn't all that surprising but impressive nonetheless.
Sara Ahmed came through with a solid showing to earn the bronze with 255 kg.
Gold: Xiang Yanmei, China
Silver: Zhazira Zhapparkul, Kazakhstan
Bronze: Sara Ahmed, Egypt
Women's 70kg Judo
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Results
Haruka Tachimoto had a magical run throughout the tournament that continued right into the championship round as she took home the gold.
In the final matchup against Yuri Alvear of Colombia, Tachimoto earned a tough takedown right on the end of the mat. With great position, she was able to hold her down for 20 seconds to earn the ippon and the gold medal.
Alvear was a three-time world champion but couldn't come through in the finals and had to settle for the silver.
Laura Vargas Koch earned one bronze medal thanks to a golden score victory over Maria Bernabeu, while Sally Conway of Great Britain took home the other bronze through the repechage.
Gold: Haruka Tachimoto, Japan
Silver: Yuri Alvear, Colombia
Bronze: Laura Vargas Koch, Germany
Bronze: Sally Conway, Great Britain
Men's Synchronized 3m Springboard (Diving)
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Results
China was looking for the sweep in synchronized diving after winning each of the first three events in Rio. However, it was not meant to be after Jack Laugher and Chris Mears pulled off the surprising upset to take gold.
The competition was going according to plan through the first two dives with the Chinese team of Cao Yuan and Qin Kai leading the way. However, a huge dive by Great Britain in the third round helped it take a lead, which it never gave up.
Meanwhile, the United States team of Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon came through with an outstanding final dive to keep themselves on the podium. China had a chance to move up from third to first in the last round, but it fell short.
Laugher and Mears might not have been expected to lead this contest, but they were the most consistent on the day and deserved to bring home the gold.
Gold: Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, Great Britain
Silver: Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon, United States
Bronze: Cao Yuan and Qin Kai, China
Men's 90kg Judo
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Results
One big takedown was all Mashu Baker needed to win a gold medal in the 90-kilogram judo division.
Baker, who earned a bronze medal in the 2015 world championships, got an early point against Varlam Liparteliani and then did everything he could to hold on late.
Former world champion Gwak Dong-han managed to earn a bronze after losing in the semifinals, while Cheng Xunzhao will also get a spot on the podium after recovering in the repechage.
Gold: Mashu Baker, Japan
Silver: Varlam Liparteliani, Georgia
Bronze: Gwak Dong-han, South Korea
Bronze: Cheng Xunzhao, China
Men's Gymnastics Individual All-Around
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Results
Kohei Uchimura likely clinched his place as the greatest male gymnast of all time with an incredible come-from-behind win in the individual all-around competition.
Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine led for most of the day, seemingly pulling away with an impressive 16.1 score on the parallel bars. He held a 0.9-point lead with one element remaining. However, Uchimura came back on the high bar with a score of 15.8, while Verniaiev could only manage a 14.8 thanks to a bit of a stumble on the landing.
The Japanese star ended up with 92.365 as a final score, just clear of the second-place finisher with 92.266. Max Whitlock of Great Britain earned the bronze medal at 90.641 points.
With the win, Uchimura became the first male gymnast in 44 years to win the all-around competition in consecutive Olympics. Adding this to his gold medal with Japan in the team competition earlier this week and six world championships in the individual all-around, it's difficult to argue with him being one of the best who ever lived.
Gold: Kohei Uchimura, Japan
Silver: Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine
Bronze: Max Whitlock, Great Britain
Men's 77kg Weightlifting
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Results
It took a world record four kilograms heavier than anyone has ever accomplished for Kazakhstan's Nijat Rahimov to steal gold from the reigning Olympic champion, who himself set a world record earlier in the competition.
The 22-year-old Rahimov, who won the 2015 world championship at this weight class, hoisted 214 kilograms in the clean and jerk to combine with 165 in the snatch for a total of 379 pounds. The previous clean and jerk record was 210, set in 2013 by Lu Xiaojun.
Also scoring 379 kg was China's Lu, who won gold in 2012 and had set a world record in the snatch with 177 kilograms. That broke his own world record of 176 previously set in 2013. The tie was broken based on each lifter's weight, with Rahimov coming in as the lighter competitor at 76.19 kg.
Taking the bronze medal was Egypt's Mohamed Mahmoud, who combined to lift 361 kg. The bronze would have gone to Armenia's Andranik Karapetyan, the 2015 world championship bronze medalist, but he appeared to injure his left elbow trying to lift 195 kg in the clean and jerk that would have upped his total to 369 kg.
Gold: Nijat Rahimov, Kazakhstan
Silver: Lu Xiaojun, China
Bronze: Mohamed Mahmoud, Egypt
Women's Individual Foil
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Results
Reigning world champion Inna Deriglazova has added Olympic champion to her resume, using a 7-0 run in the gold-medal match to score a 12-11 win over reigning gold medalist Elisa Di Francisca of Italy.
Deriglazova, 26, trailed 3-0 after the first period but then held Di Francisca scoreless in the second frame. The final round saw the Russian build a 12-7 lead with less than a minute remaining and then hold on as time ran out.
It's the second Olympic medal for Deriglazova, who earned a silver in the team event at the 2012 London Games.
Tunisia's Ines Boubakri earned the bronze, the same medal she got in 2014 at the world championships. She defeated Russia's Aida Shanaeva 15-11.
Gold: Inna Deriglazova, Russia
Silver: Elisa Di Francisca, Italy
Bronze: Ines Boubakri, Tunisia
Men's Individual Sabre
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Results
Hungary's Aron Szilagyi successfully defended his Olympic gold medal in impressive fashion, jumping out to an early lead and never letting up in a 15-8 win over American Daryl Homer.
The 26-year-old Szilagyi yielded only 51 points in his five matches, giving Hungary its second fencing gold of the Rio Games to go with the one Emese Szasz earned in the women's individual epee.
Homer, who outlasted Iran's Mojtaba Abedini 15-14 in the semifinals, fell short of being the first American to win a fencing gold since Mariel Zagunis 2008, but he did give the country a second silver to go with the one Alexander Massialas won in the men's individual foil on Sunday.
The bronze went to South Korea's Kim Junghwan, who had a 15-8 win over Abedini.
Gold: Aron Szilagyi, Hungary
Silver: Daryl Homer, United States
Bronze: Kim Junghwan, South Korea
Women's Table Tennis (Individual)
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Results
A rematch of the 2012 gold medal match continued China's dominance in this event, where it has now claimed all eight golds along with six silvers and three bronzes since women's table tennis was added to the Summer Olympics in 1988.
And though it was teammates going at it, neither held anything back with a gold medal on the line.
Ding Ning beat Li Xiaoxia, 4-3, rallying from down 3-2 by winning the last two games by identical 11-7 scores. Ding had won the first game and was up 2-1 before Li, who won gold at the 2012 London Games (beating Ding), claimed the next two games.
North Korea's Kim Song I celebrated her 22nd birthday by winning the bronze with a 4-1 win over Japan's Fukuhara Ai.
Gold: Ding Ning, China
Silver: Li Xiaoxia, China
Bronze: Kim Song I, North Korea
Men's 200m Breaststroke
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Results
Gold medals usually don't come out of the No. 8 lane, but that's where Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Balandin found himself after recording the eighth-fastest semifinal time on Tuesday. But when the real race mattered, Balandin came out with his best possible effort.
The 21-year-old out-touched American Josh Prenot to win gold, his time of 2:07.46 claiming victory by 0.07 seconds and earning Kazakstan its first-ever Olympic medal in swimming.
Japan's Yasuhiro Koseki led most of the race, doing so under world-record pace, before fading in the final 50 meters to finish fifth. Ippei Watanabe, who was first in the semifinals, ended up sixth.
The bronze medal went to Russia's Anton Chupkov, who swam 2:07.70. American Kevin Cordes ended up in eighth after getting fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier in Rio.
Gold: Dmitriy Balandin, Kazakhstan
Silver: Josh Prenot, United States
Bronze: Anton Chupkov, Russia
Women's 200m Butterfly
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Results
Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia earned her fourth Olympic medal but first of the gold variety, beating out Australia's Madeline Groves by a mere 0.03 seconds.
The 25-year-old Belmonte Garcia finished in 2:04.85, to 2:04.88 for Groves. In 2012, she earned a silver in this event with a time of 2:05.25.
Groves led early but faded, though the 21-year-old was still much faster than her semifinal time in earning her first Olympic medal. Bronze went to Japan's Natsumi Hoshi, matching her performance in London.
Gold: Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Spain
Silver: Madeline Groves, Australia
Bronze: Natsumi Hoshi, Japan
Men's 100m Freestyle
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Results
In an Olympics where 31-year-old Michael Phelps has been showing that youth is just a number, Kyle Chalmers decided it was time to point out the new guard is prepared to take over in at least one race.
Chalmers, an 18-year-old from Australia, won gold with a time of 47.58 seconds in his first-ever individual Olympic final. He was part of the Aussies' bronze medal team in the 4x100-meter relay earlier in Rio.
Defending gold medalist Nathan Adrian ended up with the bronze, his sixth Olympic medal, his time of 47.85 just behind silver medalist Pieter Timmers of Belgium. The other American in the field, Caeleb Dressel, ended up sixth.
Gold: Kyle Chalmers, Australia
Silver: Pieter Timmers, Belgium
Bronze: Nathan Adrian, United States
Women's 4x200 Freestyle Relay
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Results
No lead is safe when Katie Ledecky has yet to swim. Australia found that out the hard way, as a nearly one-second lead after three legs was quickly wiped out by Team USA's top freestyler and arguably the best female swimmer in the world.
Ledecky ended up giving the U.S. a 1.84-second win over the Aussies, finishing the relay in a time of 7:43.03. Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith and Maya DiRado were the first three legs of the team.
Taking the bronze was Canada, which got a blistering final leg from Penny Oleksiak to beat out China.
Gold: United States
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Canada
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