Summer Olympics 2016: Predictions and Results for Day 7 Medal Events
The United States had a dominant day at the pool on Day 7 of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Team USA captured three of the four available gold medals in swimming and took a silver in the fourth.
Katie Ledecky dominated the women's 800-meter freestyle, winning by more than 11 seconds and setting a new world-record time of 8:04.79. That sounds dominant, but it wasn't even that close.
Michael Phelps was unsuccessful in his likely last chance at individual Olympic gold.
Joseph Schooling of Singapore held off the American legend to give his nation its first gold medal and forced Phelps to settle for silver, which he took in a three-way tie with Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.
Anthony Ervin also captured gold in the men's 50-meter freestyle, an impressive feat given he's 35 years old and won gold in this event 16 years ago in Sydney. Maya DiRado also scored an upset, taking home the gold in the women's 200-meter backstroke ahead of heavy favorite Katinka Hosszu.
In rowing, Great Britain repeated in the women's pair thanks to the duo of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, while the country also won the men's four for the fifth Olympics in a row. Rim Jong Sim of North Korea defended her title in weightlifting, Canada's Rosie MacLennan won her second consecutive gold in trampoline and Teddy Riner of France continued his dominance in judo.
Men's 50-Meter Rifle Prone
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Results
There was a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Gagan Narang and Chain Singh—both athletes were gunning for a spot on the podium for India, a country yet to find success at the Rio Games. But both disappointed and failed to qualify for the finals, leaving the door open for new stars to swoop in and claim the medals.
Germany's Henri Junghaenel is rapidly becoming one of the premier names in the sport and solidified that rising-star status with a career day Friday. It was neck and neck between him and Russia's Kirill Grigoryan in the finals for a stretch until South Korea's ultra-consistent Kim Jong-hyun rallied and made a legitimate bid for the top medal. Those three convincingly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Junghaenel held on with a score of 209.5 for the gold medal.
Gold: Henri Junghaenel, Germany
Silver: Kim Jong-hyun, South Korea
Bronze: Kirill Grigoryan, Russia
Women's 10,000 Meters
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Results
In a race historically dominated by athletes from Ethiopia, the women's 10,000-meter run in Rio did not disappoint. Almaz Ayana did not just earn another gold medal for her country—she did so in stunning fashion with an authoritative, front-running romp in world-record time of 29:17.45.
Even though she appeared initially to have miscalculated her pace, she got stronger as the race went on and was unstoppable in the final laps. Her stride opened up in the final lap, and she smashed a 23-year-old world record.
Finishing well behind her for the silver was Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot, while Tirunesh Dibaba, the gold medalist at the London Games and a fellow Ethiopian athlete, was third.
Gold: Almaz Ayana, Ethiopia
Silver: Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenya
Bronze: Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopia
Women's Pair (Rowing)
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Results
There were few surprises in women's rowing Friday—Great Britain's Helen Glover and Heather Stanning continued their dominance and captured the gold, finishing in 7:18.29.
The battle for silver was intense between New Zealand's Rebecca Scown and Genevieve Behrent and Denmark's Hedvig Rasmussen and Anne Andersen. The ladies from New Zealand got the edge, completing in 7:19.53 while Denmark had to settle for bronze. Team USA looked strong winning its heat yesterday but could not overtake Denmark and wound up fourth.
Gold: Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, Great Britain
Silver: Rebecca Scown and Genevieve Behrent, New Zealand
Bronze: Hedvig Rasmussen and Anne Andersen, Denmark
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Men's Four (Rowing)
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Results
While nothing is guaranteed in the Olympics, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Great Britain would again dominate in the men's coxless four. It did not disappoint and turned in a commanding performance to prevail over Australia, who did launch a strong challenge about halfway through. The team of rowers from Great Britain stopped the clock in 5:58.61.
It was the fifth consecutive gold medal for Great Britain in this event. The foursome is made up of George Nash, Constantine Louloudis, Moe Sbihi and Alex Gregory.
Gold: Great Britain
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Italy
Women's Lightweight Double Sculls
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Results
The rain could not stop the powerhouse team from the Netherlands on Friday. After strong times in the qualifying heats, they continued to dominate in the finals.
China's team, piloted by Huang Wenyi and Pan Feihong, made a strong bid and led the way in the early stages. Canada passed them, joined by South Africa, but the strong duo from the Netherlands were tracking them sharply. They pulled even at the 1,500-meter mark and drew clear to take the gold.
Canada secured second, and China's pair rallied gamely for the bronze.
Gold: Ilse Paulis and Maaike Head, Netherlands
Silver: Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee, Canada
Bronze: Huang Wenyi and Pan Feihong, China
Men's Lightweight Double Sculls
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Results
France's duo for the men's lightweight double sculls pair have been steadily improving since a fourth-place finish at the London Games and entered the Rio Games poised for a breakthrough.
There was a thrilling finish Friday as they held on, finishing in 6:30.70. Just .53 seconds behind them were the brothers from Ireland, Paul and Gary O'Donovan, who slugged it out with Norway to secure the silver medal.
Team USA made a bold bid but ultimately fell short even though they briefly looked like they had a chance to be medal contenders at the halfway point.
Gold: Jeremie Azou and Pierre Houin, France
Silver: Paul O'Donovan and Gary O'Donovan, Ireland
Bronze: Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli, Norway
Women's Skeet
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Results
It was an all-Italian final as Diana Bacosi edged out Chiara Cainero for the gold medal.
Cainero went a perfect 16-of-16 in the semifinal, but two misses in the first round of shots did her in at the end. Meanwhile, her compatriot missed just one attempt in each of the last two rounds and certainly earned her gold medal.
Perhaps just as notably, American Kim Rhode took bronze after winning a 7-6 shoot-off against Wei Meng in the consolation match. While some might call this a disappointment after she won gold in this event four years ago, Rhode put herself in Olympic history while winning a medal in six different Games, beginning in 1996.
This longevity is an incredible accomplishment regardless of the sport.
Gold: Diana Bacosi, Italy
Silver: Chiara Cainero, Italy
Bronze: Kim Rhode, United States
Men's 20-Kilometer Race Walk
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Results
China took first and third at this event four years ago in London and found a way to improve upon this result, ending up with both the gold and silver in the 20-kilometer race walk.
Wang Zhen and Cai Zelin were neck and neck at the 16-kilometer mark before Wang made his move, pulling in front with a few kilometers left and eventually taking gold by a margin of 12 seconds. The Chinese star was the bronze medalist in this event last time out but now will find himself on top of the podium after an impressive race.
Dane Bird-Smith of Australia earned the bronze medal after crossing the finish line 23 seconds after the winner.
Great Britain's Tom Bosworth had the lead for much of the day and was right with the leaders toward the end, but he fell apart in the final couple of laps and finished the day in sixth place. Reigning gold medalist Chen Ding only could manage 39th place.
Gold: Wang Zhen, China
Silver: Cai Zelin, China
Bronze: Dane Bird-Smith, Australia
Dressage Team Grand Prix Special
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Results
It was truly a dominant performance for Germany in the dressage team grand prix special.
The event features four riders for each team with the lowest score dropped. This helped Germany post a final score of 82.577, more than four points better than second-place Great Britain. While Isabell Werth and her horse Weihegold Old had the best mark of 83.711, it was truly a team effort as Kristina Broring-Sprehe, Dorothee Schneider and Sonke Rothenberger performed well.
In fact, the three counting scores individually were among the best four in the entire final round.
Great Britain ended safely in second place while the United States earned the bronze medal, moving ahead of the Netherlands thanks to a great effort by Laura Graves and her horse Verdades.
Gold: Germany
Silver: Great Britain
Bronze: United States
Women's Trampoline Gymnastics
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Results
Rosie MacLennan proved herself once again as the top trampoline competitor in the world. After winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2013 World Championships, the Canadian took the top prize once again in 2016.
After a rough first routine in qualifying, MacLennan bounced back to ensure her spot in the finals and then came through with her best performance to win the gold. The 27-year-old gymnast earned a score of 56.465 thanks to one of the tougher routines in the field.
Bryony Page of Great Britain earned the silver medal with a score of 56.040, while Li Dan of China rounded out the podium at 55.885.
Tatsiana Piatrenia ended up in fifth place after having the best performance in qualification.
Gold: Rosannagh MacLennan, Canada
Silver: Bryony Page, Great Britain
Bronze: Li Dan, China
Women's 75-Kilogram Weightlifting
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Results
This competition was less Rim Jong Sim against the field and more the North Korean star against herself.
The 2012 gold medalist from London posted the best snatch of the field at 121 kilograms. From there, she simply waited for the rest of the competition to post its best numbers before even getting started. Darya Naumava led the way with a combined 258 kilograms after her third attempt, but Rim posted a higher mark right out of the gate, lifting 145 kilograms in a clean and jerk on her first try to clinch the gold.
For good measure, the talented weightlifter came back for two more tries and extended her overall lead to 274 kilograms, including a high mark of 153 kilograms on the clean and jerk. She ended her day falling just short in her attempt to set a new world record.
Gold: Rim Jong Sim, North Korea
Silver: Darya Naumava, Belarus
Bronze: Lidia Valentin Perez, Spain
Men's Individual Archery
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Results
Ku Bonchan not only won the gold medal, he earned it with an impressive showing in the final round win over Jean-Charles Valladont.
The South Korean archer sent a message with a perfect 30 in the first set and followed it up with 28 and 29 in the next two sets. Although it originally appeared as though he had clinched the match at that point, a review gave Valladont new life. Still, Ku found a way to end the match in the fifth set with a 27-26 triumph, ending with a 7-3 overall victory.
Ku needed a shoot-off in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals, but he continued to do just enough to survive and advance until he earned gold. Brady Ellison, the victim of the shoot-off loss in the semifinals, bounced back to earn a bronze medal.
Gold: Ku Bonchan, South Korea
Silver: Jean-Charles Valladont, France
Bronze: Brady Ellison, United States
Women's +78kg Judo
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Results
Emilie Andeol had a magical run throughout the tournament and finished it with an upset win in the finals over Cuba's Idalys Ortiz. Ortiz won this event in 2012 and was a two-time world champion, but she will have to settle for a silver this time around.
The final featured minimal action throughout regulation with both sides earning one penalty and no points, sending the match to golden score. From there, almost three minutes passed without a decision until Andeol pulled her opponent to the mat, holding her on her back for the 20 seconds needed to secure the ippon.
Andeol might have won due to another penalty soon after, but the French athlete didn't want to let it go to the referee decision, and she secured an undisputed victory to bring home the gold.
Yu Song and Kanae Yamabe both earned bronze medals, although both likely expected more from this tournament.
Gold: Emilie Andeol, France
Silver: Idalys Ortiz, Cuba
Bronze: Yu Song, China
Bronze: Kanae Yamabe, Japan
Men's +100kg Judo
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Results
Teddy Riner has been the most dominant force in judo for close to a decade, a distinction he maintained with yet another gold medal in the heavyweight division.
The French star earned his second career Olympic gold medal to go with eight world championships in this class. He also has a bronze medal from the 2008 Games in Beijing.
The final match wasn't exactly a show of his ability as he and Hisayoshi Harasawa of Japan battled to a scoreless tie. However, two penalties to one allowed Riner to stay defensive in the final moments and hold on for a victory.
Brazil's Rafael Silva earned a bronze medal for the home fans, while Or Sasson added the other bronze medal after losing to Riner in the semifinals.
Gold: Teddy Riner, France
Silver: Hisayoshi Harasawa, Japan
Bronze: Or Sasson, Israel
Bronze: Rafael Silva, Brazil
Women's Team Sprint (Cycling Track)
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Results
Not often do you see one team dominate so much in one day the way China did in the women's team sprint.
The pairing of Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi set an Olympic record in qualifying, broke a world record in the next round and then beat out Russia to secure the gold medal. It's clear the victory was no fluke.
Germany, which won the only other gold medal in this event's history, earned the bronze in a highly entertaining battle against Australia. The two sides had near identical races, but Germany came away with a 0.022-second win.
Gold: China
Silver: Russia
Bronze: Germany
Men's Team Pursuit (Cycling Track)
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Results
Great Britain was pushed to the limit in the final, but the defending champs found a way to survive its test against Australia and win yet another gold medal in men’s pursuit.
The squad came into the final round as the clear favorites after posting times about three seconds better than the field in each of the first two stages, including a world record in its heat. However, Australia was not intimidated and pulled out to an early lead in the gold-medal match, which it held for much of the race.
However, the experience and consistency of Great Britain made the difference in the end as it came from behind to win with a world record of 3:50.265.
The win gave Bradley Wiggins his fifth Olympic gold medal and eighth overall, including both track and road cycling.
Denmark defeated New Zealand in the bronze-medal matchup.
Gold: Great Britain
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Denmark
Men's Team Foil
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Results
Russia earned a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the championship round to take gold in men's team foil.
France had shot out to a 5-1 lead and stayed ahead for much of the final match. However, Russia's Artur Akhmatkhuzin made a huge move when he outdueled French substitute Jean-Paul Tony Helissey 10-3 in the eighth round to grab a 40-38 lead.
The final round came down to Alexey Cheremisinov and Erwan Le Pechoux, and the former was able to grab the five points needed to close out the win for Russia.
Top seeds Italy and the United States battled in the bronze-medal match after both were upset in the semifinals, but the Americans were able to win 45-31 to earn their first men's team foil medal in 84 years.
Gold: Russia
Silver: France
Bronze: United States
Men's Doubles Tennis
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Results
Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez of Spain are Olympic champions.
The Spanish pair knocked off Romania's Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to take home the gold medal in men's doubles. It was an impressive achievement, given Nadal's iron-man-like schedule at the Games and the Romanian's top-five ranking in this competition.
The American team of Steve Johnson and Jack Sock scored something of a minor upset over Canada's Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil to capture bronze.
Johnson and Sock won 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets.
Gold: Spain
Silver: Romania
Bronze: United States
Men's 85kg Weightlifting
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Results
Iran's Kianoush Rostami set a world record with a total lift of 396 kilograms, which is just a tick over 873 pounds, to capture the gold medal in the men's 85-kilogram weightlifting event.
The gold medal is Iran's first of the 2016 Rio Games.
Tian Tao of China, who was one of the favorites in this event, came up just one kilogram shy of capturing gold. His total lift of 395 kilograms was an Olympic record before Rostami bested him.
Gabriel Sincraian of Romania took home the bronze with a total lift of 390 kilograms.
Gold: Kianoush Rostami, Iran
Silver: Tian Tao, China
Bronze: Gabriel Sincraian, Romania
Women's Shot Put
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Results
Michelle Carter of the United States scored an upset in the women's shot put by capturing gold ahead of dominant champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand.
Carter launched her shot put 20.63 meters, which was 0.21 meters further than Adams, who was a two-time defending gold medalist in this event and has dominated recent international competitions.
The gold is the first medal of any kind for the United States in this event since 1960.
Adams had to settle for a silver medal.
Anita Marton of Hungary took the bronze.
Gold: Michelle Carter, United States
Silver: Valerie Adams, New Zealand
Bronze: Anita Marton, Hungary
Women's 200M Backstroke
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Results
Maya DiRado had a storybook ending to her Olympic career.
The 23-year-old, who says this is her first and last Olympic Games, surged past heavy favorite Katinka Hosszu to just tap the wall ahead of her and capture the gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke.
It's her fourth overall medal of the Games and her first individual gold.
Hosszu was beaten for the first time in Rio and added a silver to her three golds.
Canada's Hilary Caldwell took the bronze.
Gold: Maya DiRado, United States
Silver: Katinka Hosszu, Hungary
Bronze: Hilary Caldwell, Canada
Men's 100M Butterfly
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Results
Michael Phelps came up just short of gold in what was likely his final individual Olympic event.
Phelps captured his 22nd gold medal on Thursday night but had to settle for silver in the men's 100-meter butterfly.
Joseph Schooling capture Singapore's first gold medal in Olympic history by holding off the legend with an Olympic-record time.
Phelps, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary would end up in a three-way tie for silver.
Gold: Joseph Schooling, Singapore
Silver: Michael Phelps, United States
Silver: Chad le Clos, South Africa
Silver: Laszlo Cseh, Hungary
Women's 800M Free
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Results
Katie Ledecky was dominant in the women's 800-meter freestyle, and that might not even be a strong enough word. She entered as an overwhelming favorite, and the biggest question was not whether she'd win but by how much she'd beat the world record.
Ledecky took the gold by more than 11 seconds over her nearest competitor and set a new world-record time of 8:04.79. There was absolutely nothing close about it, and the race was never even slightly competitive.
Jazmin Carlin of Great Britain captured the silver.
Boglarka Kapas of Hungary finished with the bronze.
Neither woman was even in the camera frame when Ledecky hit the wall.
Gold: Katie Ledecky, United States
Silver: Jazmin Carlin, Great Britain
Bronze: Boglarka Kapas, Hungary
Men's 50M Free
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Results
Anthony Ervin captured a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the men's 50-meter freestyle. He was 19 years old at the time.
Ervin, now 35 years old, can once again call himself an Olympic champion in this event after a stunning upset victory that came by just 0.01 seconds over France's Florent Manaudou.
Manaudou, who captured gold in this even four years ago in London, took silver.
Nathan Adrian gave the United States a one-three finish with the bronze.
Gold: Anthony Ervin, United States
Silver: Florent Manaudou, France
Bronze: Nathan Adrian, United States
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