Summer Olympics 2016: Winners and Losers from Day 4 in Rio
Can these Summer Olympics get any better than Day 4?
It's going to be tough after the performances Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and the United States women's gymnastics team put forth Tuesday.
The beauty of the Olympics is witnessing the greatest athletes in the world perform at an elite level, and Phelps, Ledecky and the five American gymnasts were simply awesome Tuesday.
Phelps added two more gold medals to his ever-growing trophy case, while Ledecky kept her amazing streak alive of winning nothing but gold in international races. The U.S. gymnastics team was nearly perfect in winning gold.
Unfortunately, the United States tennis stars have not lived up to their billing. Serena Williams losing her third-round singles match was the latest disappointing result for the Americans.
Spain's basketball team continued to disappoint Tuesday, and the U.S. men's rugby team had a frustrating loss with no time left on the clock.
But the day belonged to Phelps, Ledecky and the ladies who are now calling themselves the Final Five.
Winner: U.S. Gymnastics Team
1 of 9
The belief was the United States didn't need to be at its best to win gold. It was a foregone conclusion.
For good measure, the U.S. ladies went ahead and delivered a performance worthy of the hype. The Americans put up the highest score in every apparatus to beat China by more than eight points, which is a blowout in gymnastics scoring.
Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian didn't seem to feel any pressure that comes with such grandiose expectations. Even in the balance beam, which was somewhat of a struggle during the trials, the Americans were unflappable.
The only thing that could use some work is their self-given nickname. After they had wrapped up gold, they got together and broke their huddle shouting, "We are the Final Five!"
Final Five?
That doesn't quite have the same ring of the 2012 squad's label: Fierce Five.
But, hey, they had spent all day being perfect. Let's give them a mulligan on the name.
Loser: Spain's Men's Basketball Team
2 of 9
After these Olympics, it could be time for Spain to search for its next wave of talent. Because two games in, the Spaniards look old and slow.
Spain dropped to 0-2 in pool play with a 66-65 loss to Brazil. The result could have looked a lot worse if the Brazilians didn't keep Spain in it with endless fouling.
When the Brazilians weren't fouling, Spain struggled to score against a set defense. Its offense just hasn't had the same juice it used to have. Poor outside shooting hasn't helped—Spain is 16-of-51 from deep in losses to Brazil and Croatia—but an aging roster also seems to be an issue. The core of Pau Gasol (age 36), Rudy Fernandez (31), Jose Calderon (34) and Juan Carlos Navarro (36) is not what it used to be, and Spain misses the inside scoring of Marc Gasol, who is sitting out these Olympics.
It also hasn't helped that point guard Ricky Rubio has been awful. Rubio has scored three points in 29 minutes of action. No one is respecting his jump shot, and Spain struggles to run offense when he's in the game.
Even if Spain makes it out of pool play, it's hard to see this team going far. And when the next set of FIBA rankings come out, expect Spain to take a big drop from its current spot at No. 2 in the world.
Winner: Michael Phelps
3 of 9
Would someone tell Michael Phelps you're supposed to regress with age?
The 31-year-old just keeps adding to his legacy in these Olympic Games. On Tuesday night, he won the 200-meter butterfly and then swam the final leg of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay to win his third gold in Rio.
The butterfly gold should help Phelps feel good about closing the book on his career. Four years ago in London, he lost by five one-hundredths of a second to South African Chad le Clos.
Le Clos occupied the lane next to Phelps on Tuesday night, and the South African's shadow boxing the night before produced glares from Phelps that set the internet on fire. (It's possible, as Bleacher Report's King Kaufman hypothesized on the radio Tuesday night, that Phelps always looks that way as he focuses in the ready room.)
Nevertheless, Phelps let his swimming do his talking, and his post-race celebration made it clear the 200-meter butterfly meant a lot to the now-21-time gold medalist.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Loser: USA Men's Rugby
4 of 9
Rugby has the unusual rule of adding time at the end of regulation, and it burned the United States men's team on Tuesday morning.
The Americans had rallied late from a 12-0 deficit against Argentina to take a 14-12 lead.
Argentina got the ball back in the final minute and was able to find an opening with zeros on the clock. Adding insult to injury, Argentina's final pitch backward bounced right in front of Perry Baker of the U.S., but he didn't see the ball. That's when Argentina's Matias Moroni scooped it up and ran free for the game-winning try.
The Americans did salvage the day with a 26-0 win over Brazil. They sit in third place in Pool A.
Winner: Katie Ledecky
5 of 9
If Katie Ledecky was vulnerable in one race in these Olympics, it was the 200-meter freestyle.
Ledecky proved Tuesday night that she can sprint with the best in the world, winning the 200 and keeping her remarkable streak alive of winning gold in every international individual and relay final she's ever entered. She's now an unfathomable 18-of-18.
The gold was Ledecky's second in these Olympics. She will also swim in Thursday's 800-meter freestyle, which she won as a 15-year-old in London. That race should lack the drama the 200-meter featured Tuesday night. Sweden star Sarah Sjostrom appeared to be catching Ledecky in the final 50 meters, but Ledecky separated herself in the final meters.
"That's the closest I've gotten to having to throw up in the middle of a race," Ledecky told NBC's Michele Tafoya afterward.
Ledecky is living up to her pre-Olympics hype, and at just 19, she's on her way to a Phelpsian career.
Loser: Serena Williams
6 of 9
The Americans entered the Olympics with hopes of at least two medals in tennis. That's pretty much a guarantee when the Williams sisters show up.
But two days after Serena and Venus Williams lost as a doubles pair for the first time ever in the Olympics, Serena lost in singles to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 6-3.
The No. 1 player in the world was not only the defending Olympic champ in singles, but she had also made easy work of Svitolina earlier this year at the French Open, winning 6-1, 6-1.
The best chance for the U.S. to medal now could be the men's doubles combo of Jack Sock and Steve Johnson. Sock has walking pneumonia and lost in the first round of singles, but he and Johnson advanced to the semis Tuesday. Johnson is also still alive in singles, and Madison Keys is the lone U.S. woman left in singles now that both Williams sisters have lost.
Winner: American Judoka Travis Stevens
7 of 9
Travis Stevens became the first American man to medal at the Olympics in judo since 2004 with a run to the title match Tuesday, which he lost to claim a silver.
Stevens was not one of the favorites coming in—he had a 12-5 record in 2016—but he has always fought his best in the Olympics. He made the semifinals four years ago in London and finished fifth, and he made the quarterfinals eight years ago in Beijing.
The highlight of the tournament on Tuesday for Stevens was a win over 2014 world champion Avtandil Tchrikishvili of Georgia in the semis. Stevens was trailing in the match but was able to get Tchrikishvili to the ground and apply a choke hold with his legs to get the Georgian to tap out with 53 seconds left.
Stevens lost in the final to Russia's Khasan Khalmurzaev. No shame in that as Khalmurzaev is undefeated in 2016.
Loser: Park Tae-hwan
8 of 9
Four-time Olympic medalist Park Tae-hwan nearly missed these Olympics because of a doping ban, but the South Korean Olympic Committee's board of directors held an emergency meeting in July and allowed him to swim in Rio. The South Korean may have preferred to just stay home.
Park failed to make it out of the 100-meter freestyle heats Tuesday, continuing his struggles in these Olympics. He also didn't make it out of the heats in both the 200- and 400-meter freestyles—his signature events. He won gold in the 400 free at the 2008 Games and silver in the 200, and then he followed that up with a silver medal in both events in 2012.
Park has one event left in Rio—the 1,500-meter freestyle—but he said Tuesday he's considering withdrawing from that race and setting his sights on the 2020 Olympics.
"Four years may seem like a long time, but I feel like it will come soon enough," Park said, per Yoo Jee-ho of the Yonhap News Agency. "Once I decide I want to go for Tokyo, then I will prepare for it with everything I have. Tokyo is much closer to home than Rio, and I think I can expect myself to do well there."
Winner: Chinese Diving
9 of 9
Gold. Gold. Gold.
That's been the result for China in all three diving competitions at the Olympics thus far. The Chinese continued their domination of the sport Tuesday when Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia won the synchronized 10-meter platform.
Chen tied an Olympic record with the win. It was her fifth gold medal, tying her with fellow Chinese diver Wu Minxia for the most golds by a diver in Olympic history. Wu won in the synchronized three-meter springboard Sunday. Chen's gold was her third in the synchronized 10-meter platform—she also won at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
The Chinese now have the second-most golds (eight) in these Olympics. And with five more diving events left, you can bet on China getting at least five more golds.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
