Archery
#14 Miranda Leek was the first archer to compete individually for the US. Her first match of the day was in the round of 64 against #51 Kateryna Palekha. Leek won the match 6-2 (29-26, 29-24, 28-28, 27-27). She then moved on to the round of 32 where she was eliminated by Pia Lionetti 6-4 (27-26, 28-27, 28-28, 26-26, 28-26).
Badminton
In women’s badminton Rena Wang gave a valiant effort but lost to Xin Wang, who is amazing according to my viewing… not sure how you score on her. Badminton looks impossible. The score was 21-8, 21-6. Rena Wang had a tough break getting drawn in a group of 2 so she only got one match in London. Hope the 20-year-old is back in Rio.
In the men’s badminton doubles event Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan were already eliminated but had one final match against Kawamae/Sato of Japan. They lost the match 21-15, 21-15.
Basketball
The women’s basketball team destroyed Angola 90-38 to place themselves high atop Group A with a point differential of +77 through two games. Their next match is against 3rd place and 2-0 Turkey on Wednesday.
Beach Volleyball
In men’s beach volleyball we saw our first upset of the tournament as Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal were knocked off 21-17, 21-18 by the Polish team of Mariusz Prudel/Grzegorz Fijalek. The Polish team was ranked 9th in the world heading into the match, but the result was still surprising. The loss leaves the US in 3rd in their group and they need a result on Wednesday against group leaders Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Ruslans Sorokins.
To end the day Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh beat Kolocova/Slukova 21-14, 21-19. The win moved the Americans into 1st place alone ahead of Wednesday’s match with Cook/Hinchley of Australia.
Boxing
Marcus Browne took on Damien Hooper in the round of 32 portion of the light heavyweight competition. Browne got off to a good start and led 3-2 after round 1 and 6-5 after round 2. Unfortunately Hooper took control of round 3 and won the bout 13-11, eliminating Browne from the competition.
Canoeing
After a rough first day in the canoeing slalom events the US turned to the men’s C2 and the women’s K1 teams to do a little better. Unfortunately Eric Hurd and Jeff Larimer in the C2 competition turned in the 12th best time in run 1. In run 2 they had the 9th best time, but it was only 12th best overall, eliminating them from the competition. In the K1 event Caroline Queen needed a top 15 finish and was in 13th after the 1st run. She struggled in her 2nd run and had the 19th best of the 2nd runs. Her 1st run didn’t stand up as several competitors passed her and she ended up finishing 17th.
Diving
In a competition that featured a lot of teams that weren’t the Chinese making mistakes, the US duo of David Boudia and Nick McCrory avoided some big ones and put up a solid score of 463.47 to finish with the bronze medal. The bronze is the 2nd diving medal for the US in the last two days after only one in the last 12! Incredible! Both are in the individual 10m platform competition starting on Friday.
Equestrian
Boyd Martin started the day off for the US and had only 3.6 penalties to set a good starting point. Karen O’Connor was next and her penalty score of 5.6 left her just ahead of Boyd. Needing just one more rider to have a solid day to be in good position in the team competition Tiana Coudray struggled and had a score of 25.6 before Will Coleman had one of 36.4. That meant it was up to veteran Phillip Dutton to lock things down for the US. He did with a score of 2.8 and it looks like he and O’Connor/Boyd will form the 3 highest scores for the team competition.
In the team competition the US is in 5th with a score of 155.2. The 3rd place team is Sweden with a score of 131.4. Tough task to come back for the US, have to hope some teams make mistakes.
In the individual competition Phillip Dutton is in 12th (47.1), 7.6 points behind the 3rd place rider. Karen O’Connor is in 24th (53.8), Boyd Martin in 26th (54.3), Tiana Coudray in 42nd (77.6) and Will Coleman in 46th (82.7).
Tomorrow will be the show jumping which will determine the team medals and individual standings. The top 25 riders will participate in the jumping final. Dutton is in good position now while O’Connor and Martin are right on the bubble.
Fencing
The individual epee competition was Monday. Susie Scanlan took on Olena Kryvtska of Ukraine in the round of 64 and lost 15-13. In the round of 32 Maya Lawrence faced Mara Navarria of Italy and pulled off a 15-12 upset. At the same time Courtney Hurley took on Laura Flessel-Colovic of France and lost 15-12. In the round of 16 Lawrence faced Rossella Fiamingo and lost 15-7.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics was a disaster for the US today. Having qualified in 1st they were 3rd on the floor routine to start but finished 7th on the pommel horse, and 4th on the rings. There was some thought they might rally on the vault but when John Orozco fell to his butt on his landing you knew it was not going to be a medal day for the US. They finished 5th overall and were really just 2 points out of silver. Really hurts knowing how close they were and how good the guys who made mistakes are.
The two individuals who will be in the individual all around struggled. Danell Leyva was 9th, 20th, and 10th on his first three apparatus before being 4th on the horizontal bar. Orozco was 23rd, 13th, 20th, 15th, and 8th. Not a confidence builder for these two as they head to the individual all around on Wednesday.
Judo
Judo was probably the highlight of the day for me. I absolutely loved watching Nick Delpopolo and Marti Malloy. Both have great fun names and were a joy to watch. Delpopolo started off in the round of 32 beating Chi Yip Cheung with two Waza-aris. Next Delpopolo faced Dirk van Tichelt in the round of 16 and won with a yuko that held up as the only score. Delpopolo finally lost in the quarterfinals after going a full match with Ki Chun Wang without any scores. Wang advanced on the judge’s decision. In the repechage to get to the bronze medal match Delpopolo lost to Nyam-Ochir Sainjarga when he scored a yuko right at the end of the five minutes.
Marti Malloy started things off in the round of 32 when she defeated Telma Monteiro, one of the top competitors in the world, with a yuko in the golden score period. She then moved on to the round of 16 where she made quick work of Yadinys Amaris getting an ippon just 40 seconds into the match. In the quarterfinals she defeated Irina Zabludina with a yuko during the golden score period. Then in the semifinals she battled Corina Caproioriu tough but got taken down for an ippon with just seven seconds left. After that disappointing loss which meant she wouldn’t be the first woman to reach the gold medal final in judo she rebounded with an ippon halfway through her match with Giulia Quintavalle to win a bronze medal.
If you’ve never watched judo you should give it a watch. It takes a little time to figure out what is going on but it’s very interesting to watch and the matches go really quick.
Rowing
In the women’s quadruple sculls repechage the US needed to finish in the top four to make the final and they did more than that. They went boat-to-boat with the Australians and just barely finished 2nd by .7 seconds. They will be in the final on Wednesday.
In the men’s quadruple sculls the US needed to finish in the top 3 to make the semifinal. The US faltered early but came back strong. Unfortunately in the end they finished 4th by .72 seconds, so they were eliminated.
In the men’s pair repechage the US needed to finish in the top 3 to move on to the seimifinals on Wednesday. The US just barely did that as they were nearly caught at the line, squeaking out 3rd place by .53 seconds.
The women’s double sculls competition started today and the US duo came in 3rd in their heat. They will have to go to the repechage on Tuesday to qualify for the final.
Finally the men’s four competition started and the US got off to a great start. They won their heat by over a second and will be in the semifinals on Thursday.
Sailing
In the first day of 49er racing the US team of Erik Storck and Trevor Moore finished race 1 in 6th and race 2 in 10th. Their total of 16 points is 7 back of 3rd place. Races 3 and 4 are tomorrow.
In the first day of laser racing the US competitor, Rob Crane, finished race 1 in 35th and race 2 in 42nd. The total of 77 puts him in 39th, 66 points behind 3rd place. Races 3 and 4 are tomorrow.
In the first day of laser radial racing Paige Railey finished race 1 in 8th and race 2 in 5th. Her total of 13 was good for 5th and puts her just just 4 points out of 3rd. Races 3 and 4 are tomorrow.
In the second day of finn racing Zach Railey finished race 3 in 13th and race 4 in 17th. His total of 55 places him 13th and he is 33 points out of 3rd. Races 5 and 6 are tomorrow.
In the second day of star racing the US team of Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih placed 5th in race 3 and 3rd in race 4. Their total of 27 is good for 5th place and are only 8 points show of 3rd. Races 5 and 6 are tomorrow.
Finally in the elliott 6m races the US crew of Anna Tunnicliffe, Debbie Capozzi and Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer beat Portugal by 12 seconds and then lost to Australia by less than a second. These results left the US at 2-2 and in 5th place in the competition. The US will face Finland and France tomorrow.
Shooting
Matt Emmons finished 35th (590) and Jonathan Hall finished 27th (592) in the men’s 10m air rifle competition Monday.
Vincent Hancock and Frank Thompson started the skeet competition with the first three rounds. Hancock leads the way with 74 out of 75 hit while Thompson is in a tie for 5th with 71 out of 75 hit. Only the top six make the final. There are two more rounds of 25 before that point though. Those rounds and the final take place tomorrow.
Swimming
In the women’s 200m freestyle the US had both Allison Schmitt and Missy Franklin easily qualify for the semifinals. It got a bit more interesting there as Schmitt swam the 2nd best time but Franklin just barely made the final finishing .19 seconds ahead of 9th place. They’ll both race in the final tomorrow.
In the men’s 200m butterfly Tyler Clary and Michael Phelps qualified easily for the semifinals. In the semifinals Clary was 4th in his heat but thanks to a slower 2nd heat he is 6th for the finals. Phelps finished 1st in his heat but is 4th for the finals. We’ll see them head-to-head in the final tomorrow.
In the women’s 200m individual medley the US qualified Ariana Kukors and Caitlin Leverenz for the semifinals. They finished 3-4 in their heat but will be 3-4 in tomorrow’s final as well because Kukors was .66 seconds ahead of the top time in the other heat.
In the men’s 200m freestyle final Ryan Lochte was 2nd at the final turn but was passed and finished 4th, missing the bronze by .11 seconds.
In the women’s 100m backstroke final Missy Franklin was coming off a nice rest. A nice rest of 10 minutes since the 200m freestyle. That was no bother to her though as she won the final setting an American record of 58.33. Great gold medal for Missy Franklin!
In the men’s 100m backstroke final the US was very excited as Matt Grevers won the gold with an Olympic record 52.16 and saw his teammate Nick Thoman come home in 2nd to take the silver!
Finally in the women’s 100m breaststroke final Rebecca Soni tried her best but couldn’t track down 15-year-old Ruta Meilutyte. Soni took home the silver, losing out on the gold by just .08 seconds. Breeja Larson finished 6th, but just .03 seconds behind 4th.
Tennis
Andy Roddick won his round of 64 match against Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-4 on Monday. His reward? A round of 32 match against #2 Novak Djokovic on Tuesday. John Isner got his round of 32 match over already defeating Malek Jaziri 7-6, 6-2. He will face Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the round of 16.
In women’s singles Varvara Lepchenko was able to complete her round of 64 match with Veronica Cepede Royg and beat her 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. Her opponent in the round of 32, Julia Goerges, knocked off #2 seed Agnieszka Radwanksa in the round of 64. That match will be on Tuesday. Venus Williams easily handled Sara Errani 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 64 and moves on to a round of 32 match with Aleksandra Wozniak on Tuesday. #4 Serena Williams defeated Urszula Radwanska in the round of 32 6-2, 6-3. Serena moves on to face Vera Zvonareva in the round of 16.
In women’s doubles play Venus and Serena teamed up to defeated Sorana Cristea/Simona Halep 6-3, 6-2 on Monday. They now face #5 Angelique Kerber/Sabine Lisicki on Tuesday in the round of 16.
How both of those happen AND the sisters play their scheduled round of 32 doubles match with Cristea/Halep of Romania… I don’t know. So perhaps the Serena match will be on Tuesday and the doubles match will make it in on Monday.
Volleyball
The US women’s volleyball team got a great result when they defeated Brazil 25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21. Not only was the win big in trying to win the group but getting a match like this out of the way helped the US grow into the tournament. The US has to be considered a strong contender for the gold if they keep playing like this. They next play group leader China on Wednesday.
Water Polo
The US women’s water polo team got a big 14-13 win over Hungary to start off their group stage. Maggie Steffens lead the way with 7 goals for the US. The goal put the US into 2nd place in the group and sets them up for a match for the top of the group with leader Spain on Wednesday.
