Aug
24th
Sun
24th
Olympics highlights, Day 15
Top highlight: the US winning both men’s and women’s 4x400 relays. The men’s victory was a foregone conclusion, barring some freak occurence like a cramp, and they didn’t disappoint, winning in Olympic record time - Jeremy Wariner’s anchor leg was stupid-fast.
The women’s race was incredibly dramatic, with Sanya Richards catching and passing the Russian anchor with maybe 30 meters to go in an act of sheer, desperate willpower (and redemption for her disappointment in the 400m).
Other notes & highlights:
- The US women’s 4th consecutive basketball gold with a dominant victory over Australia - also putting grande dame Lisa Leslie in the class of athletes like Al Oerter and Carl Lewis who have four consecutive golds in the same event. The US women now have a 16-year, 33-game Olympic winning streak.
- Aussie Matthew Mitcham’s come-from-behind-on-the-final-dive gold, the only diving event not won by China (and, even more incredibly, the only event in which there was a Chinese diver who didn’t medal).
- Samuel Kamau’s studly marathon win (the first for Kenya), smashing the Olympic record under conditions assessed by most as too humid and hot for a fast time. Honorable mention goes to Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, who was dropped by the leader(s) no less than three times and fought his way back each time, eventually winning the silver. (When the medals were awarded during the closing ceremony, Gharib was barely able to step up on the podium.) US runners employed the same strategy as in Athens, letting the lead pack go out fast, and maintaining a disciplined pace - only this time, Kamau was able to keep it going, and the US runners finished a few minutes back.
