16th
Olympics highlights, Day 6
Top highlight: Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson winning gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around finals. Shawn was very good and Nastia was slightly better.
Other highlights:
- Lochte and Piersol winning gold and silver in the men’s 200m backstroke. In a Phelps-dominated swim meet, it was nice to see Lochte earn a gold medal (and set a world record in the process).
- Rebecca Soni winning the women’s 200m breaststroke.
- A strong effort from the US men’s indoor volleyball team against Bulgaria, winning in 3 sets.
- A fine defensive performance from the US men’s basketball squad (I refuse to call them the “Redeem Team”) against Greece. I was concerned about the US coach’s likely stubborness regarding playing man-to-man defense, especially against a Greek squad that’s had difficulties against a zone. Though I still think Coach K’s inflexibility is a weakness, in this case man D was the right call: even though they gave up a number of back cuts, they forced so many steals and got so many easy points that they were able to blow Greece out.
A lowlight: a Swedish wrestler’s demonstration during the medal ceremony, in which he received his bronze medal and immediately put in in the center of the mat and left the hall. I can only presume that he’s announcing his retirement (wrestlers often leave their shoes in the middle of the mat after their last match), since he’s likely to be banned after this display (he’s already had his medal stripped by the IOC). He was upset about officiating during the semifinal match, with which I can sympathize. However, his act was to the detriment of the other medal winners, and they don’t deserve that. (For an example of dignity and class following egregious officiating, see Roy Jones in 1988.)
