Summer Olympics 2016: Winners and Losers in Rio on Day 13
Usain Bolt stole the show Thursday night at the Olympics and diverted attention away from Ryan Lochte.
These Olympics have been awesome for cementing the legendary status of its greatest stars, and just like Michael Phelps didn't disappoint, Bolt has been awesome. His latest feat was dominating the 200 meters.
Speaking of domination, the United States has owned track and field in Rio de Janeiro pretty much anytime Bolt is not involved, and that continued with another historic day Thursday.
The United States women's basketball team continued its inevitable march for gold, and the women's volleyball team saw its quest end.
But don't worry, volleyballers, the only real (big) loser from these Olympics is Lochte.
Winner: Usain Bolt
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In the 100 meters, Usain Bolt appeared to run just hard enough to win.
On Thursday night in the 200, Bolt showed us another form of domination: how much he could win by when he tries.
It was also apparent that, unlike the in the 100, Bolt is only racing himself in his best event. From start to finish, it was never a question of who was going to win. Bolt took the gold in 19.78 seconds, which was 0.24 seconds ahead of Canadian Andre De Grasse.
"I'm always happy for the win, but I wanted a faster time," Bolt told NBC's Lewis Johnson.
This is Bolt's third straight gold in the 200 meters, equaling his total in the 100. He's won gold in every Olympic race he's participated in. If Jamaica wins the 4x100 relay Friday night, Bolt would equal Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi for the most gold medals ever in track and field. He would also become the first Olympian to ever go 9-for-9 in golds.
That would give credence to any argument that has Bolt as the greatest track and field star ever.
Loser: The Rest of the World in Women's Basketball
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The intimidation factor that the United States posed in men's basketball has faded through the years. Obviously, losing at the 2004 Olympics played a large part in that.
But this Olympics is another example that the U.S. men cannot just roll the ball out and expect to blow out opponents. You could argue the international competition is down. The superstars outside of the U.S.—Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki (not at these Olympics)—all seem to be aging, and their countries haven't had others emerge to fill their shoes.
In women's basketball, however, the rest of the world doesn't seem to be close.
The United States advanced to the gold-medal game on Thursday with an 86-67 win over France, which was the smallest margin of victory the Americans have had in Rio. The United States will face Spain in the finals, a team it's already beaten by 40.
To show how dominant the women have been compared to their male counterparts, simply look at the score differential. The women are winning by 38.4 points per game, compared to the men's 24.0 margin of victory.
The question has been posed: Is it bad for women's basketball that Team USA is so dominant?
“We live in that Trumpian era where it’s OK to be sexist and degrade people that are good, just because they’re the opposite sex,” coach Geno Auriemma told Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated earlier this week. "We are what we are. We’re never going to apologize for being that good."
I'm with Auriemma. They should never apologize for being so good. It's on the rest of the world to figure out a way to catch up. The fact that the U.S. has the talent and has put the resources into women's basketball to get to the level it is at should be a point of national pride.
Winner: USA Track and Field
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The United States won four golds and six more medals Thursday to continue its domination in track and field in Rio.
The U.S. has nine golds and 25 medals overall, way ahead of next-best Jamaica at five golds and seven total medals.
The Americans did it in historic fashion Thursday as well. Ashton Eaton became only the third decathlete to ever win gold at two straight Olympics, and he tied the Olympic record for points (8,893, Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic).
The U.S. women continued to dominate hurdles, taking two of the three medal spots in the 400-meter hurdles one night after sweeping the medal stand in the 100-meter hurdles. Dalilah Muhammad also became the first American to ever win the women's 400-meter hurdles. The U.S. has now won an Olympic gold in every track event that requires starting blocks.
Shot-putters Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs won gold and silver, respectively, with Crouser setting an Olympic record (22.52 meters).
And Kerron Clement got things kicked off with a 400-meter hurdles victory (more on him later). Just another day on the track for the U.S.
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Loser: USA Women's Volleyball
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In front of a pro-Serbia crowd, the United States women's volleyball team came unraveled in the final set and lost 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13) to Serbia in the semifinals.
The top-ranked Americans were the favorite to win gold and appeared to take control of the game when they cruised to a 25-16 win in the fourth set to force a fifth set.
The U.S. led most of the final frame—even holding a 10-6 advantage at one juncture—but the pressure got to the Americans in the final points. Serbia took its first lead of the fifth set, 13-12, with an ace that went untouched. Then after tying the game, U.S. middle blocker Rachael Adams put a serve into the net—one of the team's 18 service faults—to make it match point.
Serbia, ranked No. 6 in the world, finished off the Americans with one final kill.
The only chance USA volleyball has at gold now rests with the men's indoor team, which faces Italy in the semis Friday. The women will play for the bronze Saturday against the Netherlands.
Winner: U.S. Wrestler Helen Maroulis
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Helen Maroulis became the first United States woman to win a gold medal in wrestling, and she took down a legend to do so.
Maroulis beat Japan's Saori Yoshida, who had won 13 world championships and three straight gold medals at the Olympics.
Yoshida, who had only lost two matches in the last 14 years, was trying to join teammate Kaori Icho as the only wrestlers to ever win four gold medals. Icho achieved that feat on Wednesday.
"I've been dreaming about wrestling Saori for so long," Maroulis told USA Today. "She's a hero. She's the most decorated wrestler in the sport. It's such an honor to wrestle her."
Making her win even more impressive, Maroulis won at a weight division below where she normally wrestles. She won the world championship last year at 55 kilograms, but that weight class is not part of the Olympics. So she had to drop weight to get to the 53-kg class, yet she still maintained her strength and beat a legend.
Loser: Stay in Your Lane, Brazil
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The United States nearly missed the 4x100-meter relay final when Allyson Felix went to hand off the baton to teammate English Gardner but tripped before the exchange.
Felix was bumped by a Brazilian runner who had crept into the U.S. lane. Felix made the wise decision to pick up the baton and hand it to Gardner so the U.S. could finish the race and have the opportunity to file a protest.
The U.S. won the appeal and was granted a time trial Thursday night, a first in Olympic history, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon (via the Wall Street Journal's Sara Germano).
The U.S. simply had to beat 42.70 seconds, which was the time of China, the slowest nation to advance to the final.
The Americans had no issue with that, clocking the top qualifying time of 41.77 seconds.
Winner: U.S. Hurdler Kerron Clement
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United States hurdler Kerron Clement put together one of the better redemption stories in these Olympics by winning gold Thursday morning in the 400-meter hurdles, an event he finished in eighth place four years ago in London.
Clement won silver in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and that made his performance in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles in London all the more disappointing.
It's not unusual to be unable to sustain longevity in this event. But Clement made history by becoming the first Olympic medalist in the 400-meter hurdles to return to the Olympics and win gold.
"As I'm older, I became wiser in the hurdles," Clement, who is 30, told Karen Rosen of TeamUSA.org. "I think when I was younger, I just used to run and make silly mistakes. I'm loving it again and have new goals for the second chapter of my career, which is now."
One of those goals could be the first to repeat as gold medalist in this event. Clement told Rosen he could see himself running again in four years.
"I'm still young," he said.
Loser: Ryan Lochte
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Turns out, Ryan Lochte's hair choice was not the only terrible decision he made in Rio.
Mauricio Savarese, Peter Prengaman and Luis Andres Henao of the Associated Press reported Thursday that Brazilian police said Lochte and his U.S. teammates were not robbed. The swimmers allegedly vandalized a gas station and paid for their damages before leaving. Lochte's teammates, pulled off their flights in Rio and left to deal with the mess he reportedly created, revealed to authorities the story of getting robbed was fabricated, per Brazilian police.
Lochte, meanwhile, was back home in the United States.
The swimmer should be spending all of his time figuring out how to apologize for smearing the city of Rio and turning what appears to be a fib into the biggest story at the Olympics.
Rio was already on edge with the bad publicity it experienced entering these Games. The Lochte story created even more safety concerns. Should we have been skeptical of his tale? Looking back, probably. But why would anyone lie about getting robbed?
That's something only Lochte can answer, and my guess is we'll never get an honest reply. Honesty is probably the last thing we can expect from him now.
Lochte is 32 and no longer the swimmer he once was, so he may not have had much of a future in swimming past these Olympics. But now he shouldn't have any future. U.S. swimming should (and you have to think, will) ban Lochte for life.
Now let's just hope no one is dumb enough to give him another reality show, a book deal or anything else to allow him to cash in on the fame this ridiculous ordeal created.
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