Category Archives: Olympic Previews

London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Swimming

Swimming Preview

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Swimming of course is one of the most prominent summer Olympic sports and one the US does extremely well at.  It has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympics and has included women’s events since 1912. The program has expanded all the way to 34 events from the original four (only the 100m freestyle remains).  The US has won an astounding 489 medals in swimming, approximately 1 in every 3. This includes 214 golds, 43.7% of the total awarded and more than all the other countries (excluding Australia and Russia) combined. Wow. Safe to say that Swimming is dominated by the US.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 49 athletes, 25 women and 24 men. 18 of the athletes were on the team in Beijing, eight were on the team in Athens and two were on the team in Sydney.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Swimming
Men:
Nathan Adrian* – 100m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Ricky Berens* – 200m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Clark Burckle – 200m Breaststroke
Tyler Clary – 200m Butterfly, 200m Breaststroke
Connor Dwyer – 400m Freestyle, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Anthony Ervin^ – 50m Freestyle
Jimmy Feigen – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Andrew Gemmell – 1500m Freestyle
Matt Grevers* – 100m Backstroke, 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Brendan Hansen** – 100m Breaststroke
Charlie Houchin – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Connor Jaeger – 1500m Freestyle
Cullen Jones* – 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Jason Lezak** – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Ryan Lochte** – 200m Freestyle, 200m Backstroke, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Tyler McGill – 100m Butterfly
Matt McLean – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Alex Meyer – 10km Open Water
Michael Phelps*** – 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Eric Shanteau* – 100m Breaststroke
Davis Tarwater – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Nick Thoman – 100m Backstroke
Peter Vanderkaay** – 400m Freestyle
Scott Weltz – 200m Breaststroke

Women:
Cammile Adams – 200m Butterfly
Haley Anderson – 10km Open Water
Alyssa Anderson – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Elizabeth Beisel* – 200m Backstroke, 400m Individual Medley
Rachel Bootsma – 100m Backstroke
Natalie Coughlin** – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Claire Donahue – 100m Butterfly
Missy Franklin – 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke, 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 4×200, Freestyle Relay
Jessica Hardy – 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Kathleen Hersey* – 200m Butterfly
Kara Lynn Joyce** – 50m Freestyle
Ariana Kukors – 200m Individual Medley
Breeja Larson – 100m Breaststroke
Micah Lawrence – 200m Breaststroke
Katie Ledecky – 800m Freestyle
Caitlin Leverenz – 400m Individual Medley, 200m Individual Medley
Lia Neal – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Lauren Perdue – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Allison Schmitt* – 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Rebecca Soni* – 100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke
Chloe Sutton* – 400m Freestyle
Dana Vollmer& – 100m Butterfly, 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Shannon Vreeland – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Amanda Weir& – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Kate Ziegler* – 4x200m Freestyle Relay
* – Was on team in Beijing
** – Was on team in Beijing and Athens
*** – Was on team in Beijing, Athens, and Sydney
& – Was on team in Athens
^ – Was on team in Sydney

Schedule:

Most swimming events will consist of a round of heats, then a round of two semifinals, and then the final. Some of the events don’t have a semifinal round. Your time is compared to the other swimmers at that round, not just those in your heat. So the top 16 times of everyone in the heats advances and the top 8 times of everyone in the semifinals advances. The 10km open water races consist of only a final.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5 AM – Men’s Swimming – 400m Individual Medley – Heats
5:26 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Heats
5:47 AM – Men’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Heats
6:17 AM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Individual Medley – Heats
6:52 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Heats
7:16 AM – Women’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 400m Individual Medley – Final
2:40 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Semifinals
2:49 PM – Men’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Final
3:09 PM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Individual Medley – Final
3:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:50 PM – Women’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Final

Sunday July 29th
5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Heats
5:20 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Heats
5:51 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Heats
6:13 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Heats
6:33 AM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Heats
7:05 AM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle – Heats
2:30 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Final
2:37 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:48 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:08 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Final
3:15 PM – Women’s Swimming – 400m Freestyle – Final
3:25 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:44 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:54 PM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Freestyle – Final

Monday July 30th
5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Heats
5:25 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Heats
5:49 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Heats
2:30 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:41 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Final
2:49 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Final
2:56 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Backstroke – Final
3:13 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Breaststroke – Final
3:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Semifinals
3:51 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Semifinals

Tuesday July 31st
5 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Heats
5:25 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Heats
5:47 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Heats
6:17 AM – Men’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:39 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Freestyle – Final
2:47 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Final
2:55 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Semifinals
3:17 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:39 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Final
3:47 PM – Men’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Final

Wednesday August 1st
5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Heats
5:20 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Heats
5:47 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Heats
6:14 AM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Heats
6:39 AM – Women’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Final
2:38 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:47 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:09 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Butterfly – Final
3:17 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Final
3:24 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Semifinals
3:36 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Semifinals
3:57 PM – Women’s Swimming – 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Final

Thursday August 2nd
5 AM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Heats
5:27 AM – Women’s Swimming – 800m Freestyle – Heats
6:21 AM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Heats
6:46 AM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Heats
2:30 PM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Semifinals
2:38 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Breaststroke – Final
2:46 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Final
2:54 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Semifinals
3:16 PM – Men’s Swimming – 200m Individual Medley – Final
3:34 PM – Women’s Swimming – 100m Freestyle – Final
3:51 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Semifinals

Friday August 3rd
5 AM – Women’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Heats
5:23 AM – Men’s Swimming – 1500m Freestyle – Heats
6:50 AM – Women’s Swimming – 4x100m Medley Relay – Heats
7:04 AM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Medley Relay – Heats
2:30 PM – Women’s Swimming – 200m Backstroke – Final
2:38 PM – Men’s Swimming – 100m Butterfly – Final
2:45 PM – Women’s Swimming – 800m Freestyle – Final
3:09 PM – Men’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Final
3:25 PM – Women’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Semifinals

Saturday August 4th
2:30 PM – Women’s Swimming – 50m Freestyle – Final
2:36 PM – Men’s Swimming – 1500m Freestyle – Final
3:07 PM – Women’s Swimming – 4x100m Medley Relay – Final
3:27 PM – Men’s Swimming – 4x100m Medley Relay – Final

Thursday August 9th
7 AM – Women’s Swimming – 10km Open Water

Friday August 10th
7 AM – Men’s Swimming – 10km Open Water

Past Results:

The US won 31 medals in Beijing including 12 golds. This was even better than the 28 medals in Athens, but fell short of the 33 in Sydney. The US has medaled in every women’s event at least once during the last three Olympics with the exception of the 10km open water race (22nd in the inaugural race in Beijing) and the 200m Freestyle (best finish was 4th in Beijing). The US medaled in every men’s event at least once during the last three Olympics except for the 10km open water race where the US finished 8th in Beijing.

Here is what the returning Olympians have done in the past
Nathan Adrian – Gold in 4x100m freestyle relay in Beijing
Ricky Berens – Gold in 4x200m freestyle relay in Beijing
Anthony Ervin – Gold in 50m freestyle and silver in 4x100m freestyle relay in Sydney
Matt Grevers – Silver in 100m backstroke, gold in 4x100m freestyle relay and gold in 4x100m individual medley relay in Beijing
Brendan Hansen – 4th in 100m breaststroke in Beijing… silver in 100m breaststroke and bronze in 200m breaststroke in Athens
Cullen Jones – Gold in 4x100m freestyle relay in Beijing
Jason Lezak – Gold in 4x100m individual medley relay, gold in 4x100m freestyle relay, and bronze in 100m freestyle in Beijing
Ryan Lochte – Gold in 200m backstroke, bronze in 200m individual medley, bronze in 400m individual medley, and gold in 4x200m freestyle medley in Beijing… silver in 200m individual medley, gold in 4x200m freestyle relay in Athens
Michael Phelps*** – Gold in 200m freestyle, gold in 100m butterfly, gold in 200m butterfly, gold in 200m individual medley, gold in 400m individual medley, gold in 4x100m freestyle relay, gold in 4x200m freestyle relay, gold in 4x100m individual medley in Beijing… bronze in 200m freestyle, gold in 100m butterfly, gold in 200m butterfly, gold in 200m individual medley, gold in 400m individual medley, gold in 4x200m freestyle relay, gold in 4x100m individual medley relay and bronze in 4x100m freestyle relay in Athens… 5th in 200m butterfly in Sydney
Eric Shanteau – 10th in 200m breaststroke in Beijing
Peter Vanderkaay – bronze in 200m freestyle, 4th in 400m freestyle, 11th in 1500m freestyle, gold in 4x200m freestyle in Beijing… gold in 4x200m freestyle relay in Athens

Elizabeth Beisel – 5th in 200m backstroke, 4th in 400m individual medley in Beijing
Natalie Coughlin – Bronze in 100m freestyle, gold in 100m backstroke, bronze in 200m individual medley, silver in 4x100m freestyle relay, bronze in 4x200m freestyle relay, and silver in 4x100m individual medley relay in Beijing… bronze in 100m freestyle, gold in 100m backstroke, silver in 4x100m freestyle relay, gold in 4x200m freestyle relay, silver in 4x100m individual medley relay in Athens
Kathleen Hersey – 8th in 200m butterfly in Beijing
Kara Lynn Joyce – 6th in 50m freestyle, silver in 4x100m freestyle relay, silver in 4×100 individual medley relay in Beijing… 5th in 50m freestyle, 5th in 100m freestyle, silver in 4x100m freestyle relay, silver in 4x100m individual medley relay in Athens
Allison Schmitt – 9th in 200m freestyle, bronze in 4x200m freestyle relay in Beijing
Rebecca Soni – silver in 100m breaststroke, gold in 200m breaststroke, silver in 4x100m individual medley in Beijing
Chloe Sutton – 22nd in 10km open water in Beijing
Dana Vollmer – 6th in 200m freestyle, gold in 4x200m freestyle relay in Athens
Amanda Weir – silver in 4x100m freestyle relay and silver in 4x100m individual medley relay in Athens
Kate Ziegler – 14th in 400m freestyle and 10th in 800m freestyle in Beijing

At the 2011 World Aquatic Championships the US won 29 medals including 16 golds. The 10km open water male swimming, Alex Meyer, even finished in 4th missing a medal by two seconds.

Here are the medals won by Olympians in their events
Men:
200m freestyle – Ryan Lochte – gold
200m backstroke – Ryan Lochte – gold, Tyler Clary – bronze
100m butterfly – Michael Phelps – gold, Tyler McGill – bronze
200m butterfly – Michael Phelps – gold
200m individual medley – Ryan Lochte – gold, Michael Phelps – silver
400m individual medley – Ryan Lochte – gold
4x100m freestyle relay – bronze (Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak, Nathan Adrian)
4x200m freestyle relay – gold (Michael Pehlps, Ricky Berens, Ryan Lochte)
4x100m individual medley relay – gold (Nick Thoman, Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian)

Women:
800m freestyle – Kate Ziegler – bronze
200m backstroke – Missy Franklin – gold
100m breaststroke – Rebecca Soni – gold
200m breaststroke – Rebecca Soni – gold
100m butterfly – Dana Vollmer – gold
200m individual medley – Ariana Kukors – bronze
400m individual medley – Elizabeth Beisel – gold
4x100m freestyle relay – silver (Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy)
4x200m freestyle relay – gold (Missy Franklin, Allison Schmitt)
4x100m individual medley relay – gold (Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Missy Franklin)

Clearly the US will win a lot of medals in London. It’s just a question of which swimmers and which events.

London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Shooting

Shooting Preview

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Shooting was held at the 1st Olympics and all Olympics since then with the exception of 1904 and 1928. Women’s shooting began in 1984 with three events and is now up to six.  Some women have competed in men’s events in the past, including a couple of medal winners.  The US is the all-time leader with 103 medals including 50 golds (more than the next two countries combined).

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 14 men and six women.  Nine of the athletes were part of the team in Beijing, six were part of the team in Athens, four were part of the team in Sydney and one was part of the team in Atlanta!  Lots of Olympic experience in this group.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Shooting
Men:
Matt Emmons** – 10m air rifle & 50m rifle three positions
Jonathan Hall – 10m air rifle
Michael McPhail – 50m rifle prone
Eric Uptagrafft – 50m rifle prone
Jason Parker*** – 50m rifle three positions
Daryl Szarenski*** – 10m air pistol
Jason Turner** – 10m air pistol
Emil Milev – 25m rapid fire pistol
Keith Sanderson* – 25m rapid fire pistol
Nick Mowrer – 50m pistol
Walton Eller*** – double trap
Josh Richmond – double trap
Vincent Hancock* – skeet
Frank Thompson – skeet

Women:
Jamie Gray – 10m air rifle & 50 m rifle three positions
Sarah Scherer – 10m air rifle
Amanda Furrer – 50m rifle three positions
Sandra Uptagrafft – 25m pistol
Corey Cogdell* – trap
Kim Rhode**** – skeet
* – Was part of the team in Beijing
** – Was part of the team in Beijing and Athens
*** – Was part of the team in Beijing, Athens, and Sydney
**** – Was part of the team in Beijing, Athens, Sydney, and Atlanta

Schedule:

I’ll try to explain the different events now.

10m air rifle – 10m distance, standing position, air rifle with max. weight of 12.13 lb
50m rifle prone – 50m distance, prone position, .22 long rifle
50m rifle three positions – 50m distance, prone, standing, and kneeing positions, .22 long rifle
10m air pistol – 10m distance, standing position, one hand using .177 caliber air pistol
25m rapid fire pistol – 25m distance, standing position, one hand raise from 45 degree position and fire quick five shots at target
50m pistol – 50m distance, standing position, one hand using .22 caliber pistol
double trap – shotgun to shoot clay disks which are shot to left and right of center, one shot at each target
skeet – shotgun to shoot at targets launched from two machines at differing heights (singles and doubles)
25m pistol – 24m distance, standing position, one hand using .22 caliber pistol
trap – shotgun to shoot clay disks which are shot at varying distances and speed

The events will start with a qualification round where all shooters will compete. The top shooters will compete in the final where they will take a few additional shots and add that total to their qualifying total to get their final total.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
3:15 AM – Women’s Shooting – 10m Air Rifle – Qualification
6 AM – Women’s Shooting – 10m Air Rifle – Final
7 AM – Men’s Shooting – 10m Air Pistol – Qualification
10:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – 10m Air Pistol – Final

Sunday July 29th
4 AM – Women’s Shooting – Skeet – Qualification
9 AM – Women’s Shooting – Skeet – Final

Monday July 30th
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – 10m Air Rifle – Qualification
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – Skeet – Qualification
7:15 AM – Men’s Shooting – 10m Air Rifle – Final

Tuesday July 31st
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – Skeet – Qualification
9 AM – Men’s Shooting – Skeet – Final

Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – Women’s Shooting – 25m Pistol – Qualification
10:30 AM – Women’s Shooting – 25m Pistol – Final

Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Qualification
5:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Qualification
10 AM – Men’s Shooting – Double Trap – Final

Friday August 3rd
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Prone – Qualification
5:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Qualification
7 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Prone – Final
9:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Final

Saturday August 4th
4 AM – Women’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Three Position – Qualification
4 AM – Women’s Shooting – Trap – Qualification
7:45 AM – Women’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Three Position – Final
10 AM – Women’s Shooting – Trap – Final

Sunday August 5th
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Pistol – Qualification
7:30 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Pistol – Final

Monday August 6th
4 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Three Position – Qualification
8:45 AM – Men’s Shooting – 50m Rifle Three Position – Final

Past Results:

Matt Emmons comes to the Olympics looking to win another medal after winning the silver in the 50m rifle prone in Beijing and the gold in the 50m rifle prone in Athens. Emmons won the bronze at the World Shooting Championship in 2010. Jason Parker didn’t make any finals in Beijing but finished 7th in the 10m air rifle in Athens. Daryl Szarenski has not made a final in the Olympics in his three trips, but he did finish 13th in Athens in the 10m air pistol.

Jason Turner will look to defend and improve upon his bronze medal in Beijing in the 10m air pistol, while Keith Sanderson will look to medal after finishing 5th despite an Olympic record in qualification period of the 25m rapid fire pistol. Walton Eller is the defending Olympic champion in double trap and set an Olympic record with his qualifying and final scores in Beijing. Vincent Hancock also won a gold in Beijing, the gold in skeet with Olympic records in qualifying and for his final score.

Corey Cogdell was the bronze medalists in trap in Beijing while Kim Rhode was the silver medalist in skeet. She was the gold medalist in double trap in Athens, the bronze medalist in double trap in Sydney and won gold in Atlanta in double trap. Rhode did win the gold at the 2010 World Shooting Championship and looks ready to challenge for the gold in London.

The US won six medals in Beijing and brings back all of those competitors. The six was as many as the US won in Athens and Sydney combined, but it looks the US has a chance to hit that mark again in London.

London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Rowing

Rowing Preview

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Rowing has been a part of every Olympics, though it was not held in 1896 due to bad weather. Women’s rowing didn’t begin until 1976, and has six events compared to the eight the men have.  The US has more medals than any other country, 84 including 31 golds.  All rowing races are 2000m long and have six boats racing at a time. The difference between the events is what type of boat is used and the number of rowers.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 24 men and 20 women. 13 of the 24 athletes were part of the team in Beijing and two were around back in 2004 in Athens.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Rowing
Men:
Ken Jurkowski* – Single Sculls
Tom Peszek – Coxless Pair
Silas Stafford – Coxless Pair
Anthony Fahden – Lightweight Four
Nick LaCava – Lightweight Four
Will Newell – Lightweight Four
Robin Prendes – Lightweight Four
Charlie Cole – Four
Scott Gault* – Four
Glenn Ochal – Four
Henrik Rummel – Four
Peter Graves – Quadruple Sculls
Elliot Hovey* – Quadruple Sculls
Alex Osborne – Quadruple Sculls
Wes Piermarini* – Quadruple Sculls
David Banks – Eight
Jake Cornelius – Eight
Grant James – Eight
Ross James – Eight
Steve Kasprzyk – Eight
Giuseppe Lanzone* – Eight
Will Miller – Eight
Brett Newlin* – Eight
Zach Vlahos – Eight

Women:
Gevvie Stone – Single Sculls
Sara Hendershot – Pair
Sarah Zelenka – Pair
Kristin Hedstrom – Lightweight Double Sculls
Julie Nichols – Lightweight Double Sculls
Margot Shumway – Double Sculls
Sarah Trowbridge – Double Sculls
Natalie Dell – Quadruple Sculls
Megan Kalmoe* – Quadruple Sculls
Kara Kohler – Quadruple Sculls
Adrienne Martelli – Quadruple Sculls
Erin Cafaro* – Eight
Caryn Davies** – Eight
Susan Francia* – Eight
Caroline Lind* – Eight
Esther Lofgren – Eight
Eleanor Logan* – Eight
Meghan Musnicki – Eight
Taylor Ritzel – Eight
Mary Whipple** – Eight
* – Was part of the team in Beijing
** – Was part of the team in Beijing and Athens
& – Was part of the team in Athens

Schedule:

I’ll try to explain the different events now.

First of all in rowing there is a person known as the coxswain. The coxswain coordinates steering and timing
Single Scull – One person boat, two oars. The oars are attached to the boat (otherwise it would be pretty impossible).
Coxless Pair – Two person boat, two oars. One person is rowing on each side. The boat does not have a coxswain.
Coxless Four – Four person boat, four oars. No coxswain. There is steering done with a cable attached to the rudder and a foot.
Lightweight Coxless Four – Same as coxless four but with smaller rowers. No one over 160lb, average max is 154lb.
Quadruple Scull – Four person boat, eight oars.
Eight – Eight rowers, eight oars, AND a coxswain (hence the nine person teams).
Double Sculls – Two person boat, four oars. No coxswain.
Lightweight Double Sculls – Same as double sculls but limit on weight is 130lb max and an average of 126lb.

In each event there will be heats, and repechages to qualify boats for the next rounds. Each event will have a final A where the top 6 boats race for medals. There will also be finals B, C, etc. to help determine the lower positions.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
4:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Pair – Heats
4:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Heats
5:10 AM – Men’s Rowing – Eight – Heats
6 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Heats
6:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Heats
7 AM – Men’s Rowing – Pair – Heats
7:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Heats
8:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Heats

Sunday July 29th
4:40 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Repechage
4:50 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Repechage
5:20 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Repechage
5:40 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Heats
6:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Eight – Heats

Monday July 30th
4:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Pair – Repechage
4:40 AM – Women’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Repechage
4:50 AM – Men’s Rowing – Eight – Repechage
5 AM – Men’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Repechage
5:10 AM – Men’s Rowing – Pair – Repechage
5:20 AM – Women’s Rowing – Double Sculls – Heats
5:40 AM – Men’s Rowing – Four – Heats

Tuesday July 31st
4:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage
4:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Double Sculls – Repechage
5 AM – Men’s Rowing – Four – Repechage
5:50 AM – Women’s Rowing – Eight – Repechage
6 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Quarterfinals
6:40 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Quarterfinals
7:40 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Semifinals

Wednesday August 1st
4:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Semifinals
5:10 AM – Women’s Rowing – Pair – Final
5:20 AM – Women’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Final
5:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Eight – Final
5:40 AM – Men’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Semifinals
6 AM – Men’s Rowing – Pair – Semifinals

Thursday August 2nd
4:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Semifinals
5 AM – Men’s Rowing – Lightweight Four – Final
5:10 AM – Men’s Rowing – Four – Semifinals
5:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Semifinals
7:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Eight – Final

Friday August 3rd
4:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Final
5:10 AM – Men’s Rowing – Quadruple Sculls – Final
5:20 AM – Men’s Rowing – Pair – Final
5:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Double Sculls – Final

Saturday August 4th
4:30 AM – Women’s Rowing – Single Sculls – Final
5 AM – Women’s Rowing – Lightweight Double Sculls – Final
5:30 AM – Men’s Rowing – Four – Final

Past Results:

First let’s look at how the rowers who have been to the Olympics before did. Ken Jurkowski competed in single sculls last time and did not medal. Scott Gault competed in quadruple sculls and finished 5th in the medal final. Elliot Hovey and Wes Piermarini competed together in double sculls and did not medal. Giuseppe Lanzone and Brett Newlin competed together in fours and did not medal.

Megan Kalmoe competed in double sculls and finished 5th in the medal final. Erin Cafaro, Caryn Davies, Susan Francia, Caroline Lind, and Eleanor Logan competed together in eights, where they won the gold medal. Mary Whipple was part of the eights team in Athens which won the silver medal.

In Beijing the US medaled in men’s eight (bronze), women’s single sculls (silver), and women’s eight (gold). In Athens it was men’s eight (gold) and women’s eight (silver), and in Sydney they won men’s coxless pair (silver), women’s lightweight double sculls (bronze), and women’s coxless pair (bronze). Needless to say the US will be expecting to win a couple of medals and looks like a real strong competitor in the two eight competitions. At the 2011 World Rowing Championship the US did not medal in men’s rowing but won gold in the women’s eight and the silver in the women’s quadruple sculls.

Judo, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Judo Preview

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Judo has been a part of the games since 1972 and women’s judo was added in 1992. The US has only won ten medals during that entire period, far behind the leader, Japan, who has 65 medals. The US has earned a single medal in each of the last two Olympics after going without a medal in Sydney.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of only five athletes, there men and two women, down from ten in Beijing and twelve in Athens. Only one of the athletes, Travis Stevens, has represented the US before at the Olympics.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Judo
Men:
Nick Delpopolo – -73kg
Travis Stevens* – -81kg
Kyle Vashkulat – -100kg

Women:
Marti Malloy – -57kg
Kayla Harrison – -78kg
** – Was on team in 2008

Schedule:

Judo is run in a knockout format and does feature a Repechage (think loser’s bracket). The winner of the matches between the four losers of the quarterfinals will face off against the losers of the semifinals to determine the two bronze medalists in each event.

All Times ET
Monday July 30th
4:30 AM – Men’s 73kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
4:30 AM – Women’s 57kg – Round of 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 73kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
9 AM – Women’s 57kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11 AM – Women’s 57kg – Gold Medal Final
11:10 AM – Men’s 73kg – Gold Medal Final

Tuesday July 31st
4:30 AM – Men’s 81kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 81kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11:10 AM – Men’s 81kg – Gold Medal Final

Thursday August 2nd
4:30 AM – Men’s 100kg – Round of 64, 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
4:30 AM – Women’s 78kg – Round of 32, 16, and Quarterfinals
9 AM – Men’s 100kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
9 AM – Women’s 78kg – Semifinals, Bronze Medal Finals
11 AM – Women’s 78kg – Gold Medal Final
11:10 AM – Men’s 100kg – Gold Medal Final

Past Results:

Travis Stevens lost in the Round of 16 of the judo tournament in Beijing and then was knocked out in repechage round 3. He was the furthest advancing American in the field. In 2004 the best finish for the US was by Jimmy Pedro who won a bronze medal with a strong repechage after losing in the Round of 16. At Sydney the best finish was by Pedro as well who lost the bronze medal match.

The women’s best finish in Beijing came from Ronda Rousey who made the quarterfinals before losing and then made the bronze medal match where she won the bronze. In 2004 the women only had two competitors win a single match, none making it past the 2nd round of the repechage. Back in 2000 the best finish by an American was four women who made it to round two of the repechage. Rousey’s medal is the only one in women’s judo for the Americans.

At the 2011 World Judo Championship Kayla Harrison earned the only medal for the US, a bronze. She also earned the only US medal in the 2010 version when she won the gold medal. She is a real threat for a medal in London, maybe even the first gold for the US in Judo. Marti Malloy made it to the semifinals of the World Championship, but she lost in the semifinal and again in the bronze medal match.

Nick Delpopolo lost in the 1st round at the World Championship, but his opponent made it to the final eight before losing. Travis Stevens lost in the 1st round as well, as did Kyle Vashkulat.

If the US could win two medals in London, likely both on the women’s side, it would be the first time since 1988 that the US won two medals.

Gymnastics, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Gymnastics Preview

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Gymnastics is one of the original Olympic events and has been contested at every modern Olympics. Artistic gymnastics was the original form and women started competing in 1928. Rhythmic gymnastics was added in 1984 and trampoline was added in 2000. The Men’s program took on it’s current form in 1932 and remains unchanged since then. The women’s form reached it’s current look in 1960. The Us trails only the Soviet Union in medals in artistic gymnastics having won 95 medals and 30 golds. The US has never medaled in rhythmic gymnastics or trampoline.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of six men and seven women.  Only one of the competitors, Jonathan Horton, has been to the Olympics before.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Gymnastics
Men:
Jake Dalton – Artistic
Jonathan Horton* – Artistic
Danell Leyva – Artistic
Sam Mikulak – Artistic
John Orozco – Artistic
Steven Gluckstein – Trampoline

Women:
Gabrielle Douglas – Artistic
McKayla Maroney – Artistic
Alexandra Raisman – Artistic
Kyla Ross – Artistic
Jordyn Wieber – Artistic
Julie Zetlin – Rhythmic
Savannah Vinsant – Trampoline
* – Was part of team in Beijing

Schedule:

Artistic gymnastics will start with a qualification round where the team’s individuals will compete on all the apparatus. This will qualify eight teams for the team final, 24 gymnasts for the individual all-around final, and eight athletes per apparatus for the individual apparatus finals. The team final will see only three members per team compete on each apparatus.  The qualification day is obviously most important for individuals trying to get into the finals for their events, while the top teams should be fairly safe to make the team final.

Rhythmic gymnastics starts with all individuals competing in a qualification round each taking their turn on the four apparatus. After this round only the top 10 move on the final. In the final they will compete on each apparatus again and the best combined score wins.

Trampoline gymnastics starts with a qualification round with two routines. The first routine is restricted in difficulty and aims for execution. The second routine is where the competitors can show off the most difficult moves.  The top eight combined scores from the two routines will advance to the final. In the final there is a routine of ten skills that will provide the final scores.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
6 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 1
10:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 2
3 PM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 3

Sunday July 29th
4:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 1
6:15 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 2
9:45 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 3
11:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 4
3 PM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Qualification – Subdivision 5

Monday July 30th
11:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Team Final

Tuesday July 31st
11:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Team Final

Wednesday August 1st
11:30 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around

Thursday August 2nd
11:30 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around

Friday August 3rd
9 AM – Men’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Qualification
10:35 AM – Men’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Final

Saturday August 4th
9 AM – Women’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Qualification
10:35 AM – Women’s Trampoline Gymnastics – Final

Sunday August 5th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Floor Exercise Final
9:50 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Vault Final
10:41 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Pommel Horse Final

Monday August 6th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Rings Final
9:50 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Uneven Bars Final
10:41 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Vault Final

Tuesday August 7th
9 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Parallel Bars Final
9:47 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Balance Beam Final
10:37 AM – Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – Horizontal Bar Final
11:23 AM – Women’s Artistic Gymnastics – Floor Exercise Final

Thursday August 9th
7 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 1
8:18 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 2

Friday August 10th
7 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 3
8:18 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Qualification – Rotation 4

Saturday August 11th
8:30 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 1
9:03 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 2
9:37 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 3
10:10 AM – Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around – Final – Rotation 4

Past Results:

The men’s team has the only returning competitor, Jonathan Horton, who was the leading competitor for the men in Beijing. Horton led the US team to a 3rd place finish and the bronze medal and then finished 9th in the individual all-around and won a silver on the horizontal bar.

At the 2011 World Championships the US won the bronze medal, narrowly missing out on the silver by just .01 points. China was a strong 1st, but it showed the US has a real chance to improve on their bronze medal from Beijing. John Orozco might be this year’s Horton. He finished 5th in the individual all-around at the world championship, the 2nd best American being Danell Leyva finishing 24th. Horton narrowly missed out on the individual all-around, finishing 5th in the world in the qualification round, but behind Leyva and Orozco. Jake Dalton made the floor final and finished 9th, Horton made the rings final, finishing 7th, and John Orozco made the horizontal bar final, finishing 8th. Danell Leyva won the US a gold when he won the parallel bars final.

Steven Gluckstein will be looking to improve on 2008 when the men’s trampoline competitor for the United States finished in 15th place.

The women’s team brings back no competitors from Beijing and has big shoes to fill considering the remarkable success that was found there. The US women at Beijing won the silver in the team event and took the top two spots in the indvidual all-around (Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson). Johnson and Liukin also went one-two in the balance beam and two-there in the floor event. Liukin also added a silver in the uneven bars. The eight medals followed six medals in Athens, but just one in Sydney. The good news for the US is that the women’s team is the defending all-around champion at the world championship. They also won the individual all-around (Jordyn Wieber) and vault (McKayla Maroney). Wieber also won the bronze in the balance beam and Alexandra Raisman won the bronze in the floor excercise. Raisman was a point out of the bronze in the individual all-around and had narrowly qualified for the event over Gabrielle Douglas. The competition for the two-per country spots in the individual all-around on both the men’s and women’s teams will make the qualification round very important and exciting in London. It will take a strong effort to match the eight medals from Beijing, but don’t put it past this incredibly talented group.

The US was unable to qualify a rhythmic gymnast in 2008 and finished 15th in 2004. Julie Zetlin finished 35th in the qualification at the World Championship. In trampoline the Us finished 13th in Beijing and 14th in Athens. Both Zetlin in the rhythmic competition and Savannah Vinsant in the trampoline competition will be seeking the first medal for the US in those disciplines.

Fencing, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Fencing Preview

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Fencing has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympics with the women’s events starting in 1924.  The events have expanded from three in the first Olympic games to ten, as there has been since 1996.  Five of the events are in men’s fencing, with five in women’s. Four of the events are in the foil category, three in Épée, and three in Sabre. The US has only won 20 medals in fencing at the Olympics, a far smaller number than the 115 of France and the 114 of Italy. The US only has two gold medals, both in women’s individual sabre at the last two Olympic games.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 16 athletes, eight men and eight women.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Fencing
Men:
Seth Kelsey** – Individual Épée
Soren Thompson& – Individual Épée
Miles Chamley-Watson – Individual and Team Foil
Race Imboden – Individual and Team Foil
Alexander Massialas – Individual and Team Foil
Daryl Homer – Individual and Team Sabre
Tim Morehouse* – Individual and Team Sabre
James Williams – Individual and Team Sabre

Women:
Courtney Hurley – Individual and Team Épée
Maya Lawrence – Individual and Team Épée
Susie Scanlan – Individual and Team Épée
Lee Kiefer – Individual and Team Foil
Nzingha Prescod – Individual and Team Foil
Nicole Ross – Individual and Team Foil
Dagmara Wozniak – Individual Sabre
Mariel Zagunis** – Individual Sabre
* – Was on team in 2008
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
& – Was on team in 2004

Schedule:

What are the different forms? Foil is a light weapon. In this form the target is the torso. Double touches are not permitted. Épée uses a heavier weapon and allows the whole body to be targeted. Doubles touches are allowed. In sabre you are allowed to score with the side of the weapon and the upper body is the target area. Double touches are not allowed.  Fencing is a little hard to pick up at first. The basic point is to hit your opponent and avoid being hit, thereby scoring more points than them. Sabre in particular has become more about hitting first, getting hit 2nd doesn’t really matter.

All the fencing events are knockout style. In team events there are three fencers per team who will face the three fencers on the other team. Scores are summed up and the team with the most points at the end wins. Each fight is limited to three minutes. The first fight ends at three minutes or when a team reaches five points. The second fight ends at three minutes or when a team reaches ten points… and so on until the end.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Gold Medal Match

Sunday July 29th
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 64
6:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 32
8:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 16
9:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Semifinals
1:50 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Gold Medal Match

Monday July 30th
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Gold Medal Match

Tuesday July 31st
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 64
6:50 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 32
9:10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Quarterfinals
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Foil – Gold Medal Match

Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 32
6:15 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Round of 16
7:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Quarterfinals
8:10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 32
9:45 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Round of 16
10:40 AM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Quarterfinals
12:30 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Semifinals
1:30 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Semifinals
2:10 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:40 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
3 PM – Men’s Fencing – Individual Épée – Gold Medal Match
3:30 PM – Women’s Fencing – Individual Sabre – Gold Medal Match

Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Semifinals
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Foil – Gold Medal Match

Friday August 3rd
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Round of 16
6:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Quarterfinals
7:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Semifinals
9:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Placement 5-6
9:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Bronze Medal Match
1:45 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Sabre – Gold Medal Match

Saturday August 4th
4 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Semifinals
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Women’s Fencing – Team Épée – Gold Medal Match

Sunday August 5th
4 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Round of 16
5:30 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Quarterfinals
7 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Semifinals
10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 5-6
10 AM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Placement 7-8
1 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Bronze Medal Match
2:15 PM – Men’s Fencing – Team Foil – Gold Medal Match

Past Results:

Men’s fencing has been a challenge for the US. They have only won 13 medals, five silvers and eight bronze. They were able to win the team sabre silver in Beijing, that team sends one competitor, Tim Morehouse, back to London this year. In 2004 they were in the bronze medal match for both team foil and team sabre, but lost both to the Russians.

Seth Kelsey lost in the individual épée Round of 32 in Beijing, finishing 17th. Soren Thompson was a quarterfinalist in both team and individual épée in Athens. Unfortunately team épée is not an event in this Olympics, so the US will have to hope that these two can make a run at an individual medal. Tim Morehouse lost in the Round of 32 in Beijing in individual sabre, but his silver medal in team sabre should give him confidence heading into London.

The US has really come on strong in women’s fencing, winning five medals in Beijing, including a sweep of the medals in individual sabre, and two in Athens. That is much better than the zero they had before that. Mariel Zagnuis has been a major part of that, winning the last two golds in individual sabre and the team bronze. Unfortunately team sabre is not a part of London 2012, so she’ll only have one chance at a medal this year in the individual competition.

The US looks like a strong candidate to grab at least a medal or two from London. Hopefully the US can even exceed those numbers and continue the strong momentum from taking home six medals from Beijing.

Equestrian, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Equestrian Preview

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Equestrian competitions have been a part of the Olympic competition since 1912 and involves mixed-gender competition. The United States is the all time leader with 49 medals, including 11 golds, in the competition, though Germany has won 24 medals in the last five Olympics compared to only 17 for the United States. The US has medaled in every Olympics since 1960 (excluding the boycotted 1980 games).

The Team:

This year’s team features 13 competitors, 12 of whom will be competing in the team events and all of whom will be competing in the individual events.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Equestrian
Dressage:
Jan Ebeling
Tina Konyot
Adrienne Lyle – Individual only – She also has her own blog – http://adrienne-lyle.blogspot.com/
Steffen Peters^

Eventing:
Will Coleman
Tiana Coudray
Phillip Dutton*
Boyd Martin – has his own blog – http://boydandsilvamartin.blogspot.com/
Karen O’Connor&

Show Jumping:
Rich Fellers
Reed Kessler
Beezie Madden**
McLain Ward**
* – Was on team in Beijing
** – Was on team in Beijing and Athens
& – Was on team in Beijing, Sydney, Atlanta and Seoul
^ – Was on team in Beijing and Atlanta

Schedule:

Equestrian is a sport that probably is not familiar to many people. The dressage events are based on horses doing different movements and scored based off of how well they do those movements. There will be a grand prix round to start. The top seven teams and the top eleven individuals not on those teams move on to the grand prix special. The total score of the team from the grand prix round and the grand prix special will determine medals. Additionally the top 18 individual scores from the two rounds combined go through to the final, the grand prix freestyle. The grand prix freestyle scores determine the individual medals. Phew. And that’s just one of the forms of Equestrian…

Eventing is the decathlon of equestrian, involving a dressage portion, a cross-country portion, and a show jumping portion. Cross-country and show jumping are somewhat similar as they both involve a horse going through a course jumping over fences or other obstacles. The cross-country course is longer, linear and has more permanent bigger obstacles. Think logs, ditches, hedges. The show jumping course is smaller and set up in a ring. Additionally the fences are able to be knocked down. Think hurdles.

The first couple days are the dressage portion and the scores are translated to penalties (least penalties wins this competition). The third day is the cross-country portion where the riders will again attempt to avoid penalties (for jumping mistakes and time penalties). Finally on day 4 the showjumping is conducted with two rounds. After the first round the team medals are decided. The team of five will use the best three results to get their team score. The second round of jumping will only involve the top 25 individual riders at that point. Adding the final set of jumping penalties will provide the final results.

The jumping competition itself consists of five rounds, with two of those counting for the team competition. The first round is individual only and will narrow the field down to the top 60 and all team riders. The second round will narrow the field to the top 45, combined first and second round scores, and the best eight teams (second round only scores). The third round will narrow the field to the top 35 (first, second, and third round scores combined) and determines the team medalists (second and third round scores combined).  The fourth round narrows the field to the top 20 based only on the fourth round score and the fifth and final round determines the medals based off of the fourth and fifth round scores combined.  In case of a tie there is a jump-off conducted.

While it’s pretty confusing at first, I think the Equestrian competition could be interesting to watch, especially the jumping portions.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
5 AM – Eventing – Dressage Day 1

Sunday July 29th
5 AM – Eventing – Dressage Day 2

Monday July 30th
7:30 AM – Eventing – Cross-Country

Tuesday July 31st
5:30 AM – Eventing – Jumping
9:30 AM – Eventing – Individual Jumping

Thursday August 2nd
6 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Day 1

Friday August 3rd
6 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Day 2

Saturday August 4th
5:30 AM – Jumping – Round 1

Sunday August 5th
6 AM – Jumping – Round 2

Monday August 6th
9 AM – Jumping – Round 3

Tuesday August 7th
5 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Special

Wednesday August 8th
7 AM – Jumping – Final Round A
9:45 AM – Jumping – Final Round B

Thursday August 9th
7:30 AM – Dressage – Grand Prix Freestyle

Past Results:

Dressage has been a decent medal producer for the United States, they won the team bronze in four straight Olympics before losing that spot to Denmark in the Beijing games. The individual portion has not been the US’s strong suit, the last medal was in 1932.  Steffen Peters came in 4th in Beijing and is a serious threat for a medal this time around. Peters was also part of the team that won bronze in Atlanta.

Eventing has been a good event for the United States in the three Olympics before Beijing the American team had won a medal, though the last gold was in 1984.  The US has won a medal in the last four Olympics in the individual portion of the competition, the last gold being in 2000 when David O’Connor was victorious. In Beijing the US took home the silver in the individual eventing but finished 7th as a team. Phillip Dutton is actually a two-time gold medalist, both coming for Australia, from winning the 1996 and 2000 team events.  Karen O’Connor is a five-time Olympian now. She has competed in 1988 (Seoul), 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney) and 2008 (Beijing). She won the bronze in Sydney and the silver in Atlanta, both as part of the team event.

Jumping has been another good event for the US with team medals in 3 of the last four Olympics, including the last two golds, and individual medals in the last two Olympics. The US almost had two individual medals in Beijing but Beezie Madden and McLain Ward ended up tied for 3rd and Madden won the jump-off. Both were part of the team that won gold in Athens as well.

It seems a safe bet that the Us will win medals in Equestrian in London. It is simply a question of which events and which competitors.

Cycling, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Cycling Preview

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Cycling has been a part of every modern Olympics and has included women’s cycling since 1984. The program constantly seems to be changing, of the 18 events to be held in London, five are new from Beijing while five other events from Beijing are gone. Of the current events only men’s team pursuit, men’s/women’s individual sprint, and men’s/women’s individual road race have histories at the Olympics stretching earlier than Atlanta. France is the all-time leader in cycling medals with 86, but the US is 4th with 50, including 14 golds. The US won three bronze, one silver and one gold in Beijing.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 12 men and 12 women. Eight of the 24 athletes were part of the team in Beijing and three were around back in 2004 in Athens.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Cycling
Men:
Timmy Duggan – Road – Road Race
Tyler Farrar – Road – Road Race
Chris Horner – Road – Road Race
Taylor Phinney* – Road – Road Race & Time Trial
Tejay van Garderen – Road – Road Race
Jimmy Watkins – Track – Sprint
Bobby Lea* – Track – Omnium
Sam Schultz – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country
Todd Wells** – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country
David Herman – BMX
Connor Fields – BMX
Nic Long – BMX

Women:
Kristin Armstrong** – Road – Road Race & Time Trial
Amber Neben* – Road – Road Race & Time Trial
Shelley Olds – Road – Road Race
Evelyn Stevens – Road – Road Race
Dotsie Bausch – Track – Team Pursuit
Sarah Hammer* – Track – Team Pursuit & Omnium
Jennie Reed** – Track – Team Pursuit
Lauren Tamayo – Track – Team Pursuit
Lea Davison – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country
Georgia Gould* – Mountain Biking – Cross-Country
Arielle Martin – BMX
Alise Post – BMX
* – Was part of the team in Beijing
** – Was part of the team in Beijing and Athens

Schedule:

There are a lot of cycling competitions so we’ll try to explain them one at a time. Additionally there are various categories of events: road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, and BMX.

Road Cycling – Road Race –  The road race is a fairly straight forward event. All athletes will start at the same time, the first one to finish wins! The men’s race is a meager 156 miles, while the women’s race is only 87 miles.  No big deal. There is a section called Box Hill that is supposed to be very challenging and will be looped (nine times by the men, twice by the women).

Road Cycling – Time Trial – The time trial event will see competitors begin every 90 seconds. The fastest time for the course wins. The men will race 44km while the women race 29km.

Track Cycling – Sprint – The sprint event is a sprint, just three laps of the track long! There will be two riders racing, starting side by side, and the first one to finish wins. Win two of the three heats and you move on.  There will be a time trial before the tournament to develop seeding, then we will have the knockout tournament. This is the event you may have seen videos of where neither rider is even “trying” most of the time, perhaps basically stopping. Here is an example:

Track Cycling – Team Pursuit – Team pursuit is pretty cool concept. In team pursuit the two teams start on opposite sides of the track and try to catch the other team. They are only allowed 3km to do so, if they don’t catch the other team by that time then the team which finishes the 3km the fastest wins. To “catch” the other team the entire group of three must get within 1m.  After putting up qualifying times only the top four teams will be eligible for the gold. 1st will face 4th and 2nd will face 3rd with the winners facing off for gold. 5th faces 8th, 6th and 7th face off, and the two teams out of those four (along with the losers of the other two races) which had the fastest times in that round will compete for the bronze.  In all reality, most teams aren’t going to actually catch the other teams, it’s more of a quickest team to complete 3km competition despite the name.

Track Cycling – Omnium – The omnium is the cycling version of the decathlon, six events in all. In each event the winner receives one point, the 2nd two, and so on. Add up all the points from all the events and the lowest total wins. The events are: Flying lap – a race against the clock (fastest single lap). Points race – you get points for lapping competitors and sprints. The sprints occur every 10 laps. Requires endurance and then getting up to high gear quickly for the sprints. The men’s race lasts 30km, the women’s 20km.  Elimination race – one of my favorites – has everyone bunched together racing with a sprint every two laps. After each sprint the last rider is eliminated. Gets pretty crazy quick as riders are getting eliminated left and right. Individual pursuit – Much like team pursuit but with only one rider on each side.  Scratch race – 16km race for men, 10km race for women. Very simple. Time trial – 1km for men, 500m for women – fastest time (one at a time) wins.

Mountain Bike Cycling – Cross-Country – Riders all start at once and the first to finish wins.  The terrain, of course, is a challenging trail type ride. There’s even a few rock areas to ride over.

BMX Cycling – BMX – First of all let’s be clear… this is not BMX “trick” riding like we see at the X-Games. This is take your BMX bike and race and see who can go the quickest. 450m for the men, 44m0 for the women, both complete with jumps and other fun surprises for the riders.  In London each rider will ride once to get a seeding time. The men will move to quarterfinals. Each quarterfinal will have five runs where you pick up points based on your finish. After three of the five runs, the top two move on. The rest compete in the final two runs and the top two from there move on as well.  The women will go straight to the semifinals. For the men and women the semifinals will have three runs, the top four in each semifinal after the runs will move to the final. The final is a one-run competition where the winner takes the gold.

If you’re like me after reading all that you are excited to watch some cycling, and probably not just the “Tour de France” kind.

All Times ET

Saturday July 28th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Road – Road Race

Sunday July 29th
7 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Road Race

Wednesday August 1st
7:30 AM – Women’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial
9:15 AM – Men’s Cycling – Road – Time Trial

Friday August 3rd
11 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Qualification

Saturday August 4th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Qualification
5:25 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 250m Time Trial (Flying Lap)
5:55 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/16 Finals
11 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/16 Repechage
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Round 1
11:40 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/8 Finals
12 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 30km Points Race
12:40 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – 1/8 Repechage
12:45 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Team Pursuit – Finals
1:20 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Final (9-12)
1:25 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Elimination Race

Sunday August 5th
5 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Individual Pursuit
11:35 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Quarterfinals
12 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 15km Scratch Race
1:10 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 1km Time Trial
1:45 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Final (5-8)

Monday August 6th
11 AM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Semifinals
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 250m Time Trial (Flying Lap)
12:05 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 20km Points Race
12:40 PM – Men’s Cycling – Track – Sprint – Finals
1:20 PM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Elimination Race

Tuesday August 7th
5:15 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – Individual Pursuit
11:10 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 10km Scratch Race
11:50 AM – Women’s Cycling – Track – Omnium – 500m Time Trial

Wednesday August 8th
10 AM – Men’s BMX – Seeding
10 AM – Women’s BMX – Seeding

Thursday August 9th
10 AM – Men’s BMX – Quarterfinals

Friday August 10th
10 AM – Women’s BMX – Semifinals
10:08 AM – Men’s BMX – Semifinals
11:30 AM – Women’s BMX – Final
11:40 AM – Men’s BMX – Final

Saturday August 11th
7:30 AM – Women’s Mountain Bike – Cross-Country Race

Sunday August 12th
8:30 AM – Men’s Mountain Bike – Cross-Country Race

Past Results:

First we’ll deal with the men. Most of the male road competitors for the United States have some international experience.  Timmy Duggan was a part of the last Road World Championship, but was part of a group well off the pace  finishing almost nine minutes off the pace and in 174th place.  Tyler Farrar was the best American at the Road World Championship finishing in 10th place in the road race competition. Farrar has also won a stage of the Tour de France in 2011. While not participating in the Road World Championship, Chris Horner was the winner of the Tour of California last year. Taylor Phinney finished 15th at the latest Road World Championship in the time trial. He also had a good race in the road race portion, finishing in 24th place. Phinney competed in the Beijing Olympics in the track portion of cycling. He finished 8th in the individual pursuit competition. In Beijing the US did come home with a medal in the road competition as Levi Leipheimer won the bronze in the time trial.  In Athens the US won both the gold (Tyler Hamilton) and the bronze (Bobby Julich) in the time trial competition.

On the track,  Bobby Lea was a competitor in the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championship, so we have some feel for how he might do in the Omnium. At the World Championship Lea finished 17th, with his best finish being 13th in three events (flying lap, individual pursuit, 1km time trial). In 2008 Lea did not finish the points race he was entered in and finished 16th in an event called the madison.  The US last medaled in men’s track during the 2000 Olympics.

In the cross-country competition Todd Wells is the more experienced of the two male competitors having finished 43rd in Beijing and 19th in Athens.  The US has never medaled in men’s mountain biking. In the BMX competition the US won the silver and bronze in Beijing (the first time the competition was held) but have three new Olympians to rely on this year.

As far as women go, the road team will have high expectations heading into London. Why? Because Kristin Armstrong won the gold medal in the time trial event in Beijing and is back to defend that title. Armstrong also raced in the road race in Beijing finishing in 25th, barely beating Amber Neben who finished 33rd.  Armstrong also competed in the road race in Athens and finished in 8th place.

The track team brings back several members of the Beijing team, Jennie Reed and Sarah Hammer, but neither of them in the events they participated in. Sarah Hammer participated in the women’s point race and the individual pursuit while Jennie Reed participated in the individual sprint. Hammer placed 5th in the individual pursuit while Reed finished 7th in the women’s sprint. These two will now join together with Dotsie Bausch and Lauren Tamayo to form the first women’s team pursuit team (it’s a new event) the US will send to the Olympics.  Three of the four (minus Reed) participated in the UCI Track Cycling World Championship and qualified in 5th place, less than a second out of place to compete for the bronze.  Hammer will be the first woman to compete in the omnium at the Olympics for the US (it’s also a new event) and has a good result this Spring to look back at for motivation and encouragement. Hammer finished 3rd at the World Championships, 5 points out of 2nd.  Her best event was individual pursuit where she finished 2nd.  The US last medaled in a women’s track event in 1992, so Hammer could end that 20-year drought.

In mountain biking Georgia Gould will look to improve on her 8th place finish in Beijing and reach the medal stand this time.  The Us has only medaled once in mountain biking, a bronze medal in the inaugural event in Atlanta.  In BMX the women will look to improve upon the bronze medal that Jill Kintner won in Beijing. Arielle Martin had a crash in the World Championships ahead of Beijing that cost her the spot to Kintner, so she could be a real threat for the medal stand.

Boxing, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Boxing Preview

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Boxing has been at every Olympics since 1912 and has given us some big moments for some of Boxing’s biggest names. Oscar de la Hoya, a young Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali), Joe Frazier, and George Foreman all won Gold for the United States.  In all there have been 48 gold medals in Boxing for the United States and 110 total medals.  While the men have the historic legacy to look back at. this will be the first Olympics to include women’s boxing.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of nine men and three women. Only one of these, Rau’shee Warren, has been to the Olympics before. Warren, who qualified for Athens as a 17-year old, is making his 3rd Olympic trip, something no American boxer has ever done before.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Boxing
Men:
Rau’shee Warren – Flyweight
Joseph Diaz – Bantamweight
Jose Ramírez – Lightweight
Jamel Herring – Light Welterwight
Errol Spence – Welterweight
Terrell Gausha – Middleweight
Marcus Browne – Light Heavyweight
Michael Hunter – Heavyweight
Dominic Breazeale – Super Heavyweight

Women:
Marlen Esparza – Flyweight
Queen Underwood – Lightweight
Claressa Shields – Middleweight

Schedule:

The boxing tournaments are single-elimination and feature five or four rounds (depending on the event).  A bout is three rounds and scored based off of successful punches over the entire bout. This makes for exciting quick bouts where both boxers must go for it right away. Bronze medals are awarded to both boxers who lose the semifinal matches.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 32
10 AM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 32
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 32

Sunday July 29th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 32
10 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 32
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 32

Monday July 30th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 32
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 32
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 32
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 32

Tuesday July 31st
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 32
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 32

Wednesday August 1st
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Round of 16
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Round of 16

Thursday August 2nd
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Round of 16

Friday August 3rd
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Round of 16

Saturday August 4th
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 16
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Round of 16
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Round of 16

Sunday August 5th
8:30 AM – Women’s Flyweight – Round of 16
9:30 AM – Women’s Lightweight – Round of 16
10:30 AM – Women’s Middleweight – Round of 16
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Quarterfinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Quarterfinals

Monday August 6th
8:30 AM – Women’s Flyweight – Quarterfinals
9:30 AM – Women’s Lightweight – Quarterfinals
10:30 AM – Women’s Middleweight – Quarterfinals
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Quarterfinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Quarterfinals
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Quarterfinals

Tuesday August 7th
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Quarterfinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Quarterfinals

Wednesday August 8th
8:30 AM – Women’s Flyweight – Semifinals
9 AM – Women’s Lightweight – Semifinals
9:30 AM – Women’s Middleweight – Semifinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Quarterfinals
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Quarterfinals

Thursday August 9th
11:30 AM – Women’s Flyweight – Final
11:45 AM – Women’s Lightweight – Final
12:15 PM – Women’s Middleweight – Final

Friday August 10th
9 AM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Semifinals
9:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Semifinals
10 AM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Semifinals
10:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Semifinals
3:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Semifinals
4 PM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Semifinals
4:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Semifinals
5 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Semifinals
5:30 PM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Semifinals

Saturday August 11th
3:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Bantamweight – Final
4:15 PM – Men’s Boxing – Light Welterweight – Final
4:45 PM – Men’s Boxing – Middleweight – Final
5:15 PM – Men’s Boxing – Heavyweight – Final

Sunday August 12th
8:30 AM – Men’s Boxing – Flyweight – Final
8:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Lightweight – Final
9:15 AM – Men’s Boxing – Welterweight – Final
9:45 AM – Men’s Boxing – Light Heavyweight – Final
10:15 AM – Men’s Boxing – Super Heavyweight – Final

Past Results:

As mentioned at the start, the US has had great success in past Olympics. An outlier was the US performance in Beijing where only Deontay Wilder, a heavyweight, medaled. Wilder won the bronze when he lost to Clemente Russo of Italy.  In addition to Wilder only one other boxer made the quarterfinals.  Rau’shee Warren lost in the first round to Oksung Lee in Beijing, a disappointing result in his second Olympic trip.

In 2004 the US won a gold when Andre Ward, a light heavyweight, beat Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus in the final. Andre Dirrell, competing as a Middleweight, won the bronze when he lost to Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan.  Rau’shee Warren lost in the first round to Zou Shiming of China in his first Olympic bout. Two Americans other than Dirrell and Ward made the quarterfinals, and no American other than Warren lost in the first round.

2000 was a great year for the Americans as they won two bronze medals and two silver medals.  1996 was another strong year as the US won five bronze medals (including one by Floyd “no money yet” Mayweather Jr.) and a gold. 1992 featured a gold (Oscar de la Hoya) , a silver, and a bronze.  You have to go all the way back to 1988 to find the last time the US won multiple gold medals in a single Olympics. that year the Us won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. It was a remarkable haul that saw the US medal in eight of the 12 events.

Rau’shee Warren has shown the ability to compete Internationally before having won the Gold in 2007 at the World Amateur Championship. He finished 3rd in the latest championship, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joseph Diaz was able to make the quarterfinals at that championship to earn his spot, and is only 18 years old.  19-year old Jose Ramírez was only able to get to the 2nd round in Baku, but finished 4th in the American (North and South) tournament to qualify for London.  Jamel Herring, a 26-year old Marine boxer, didn’t advance out of the 1st round in Baku, but also finished 4th in the American tournament to qualify. 22-year old Errol Spence had a strong run in Baku before losing in the quarterfinals, qualifying him for London. Terrell Gausha, a 24-year old, was unseeded in the USA Olympic Trials but went all the way, winning the tournament. He then went to the American tournament and proceeded to win that as well. He’s definitely carrying a lot of momentum into London. Marcus Browne was able to make the 3rd round in Baku, but a loss there cost him a chance to qualify for London. Browne then went to the American tournament and was able to qualify, winning the Light heavyweight division. Michael Hunter, America’s Heavyweight, earned his spot in a similar manner by winning the American qualifying tournament too. The final member of the American team, the Super Heavyweight Dominic Breazeale, is surprisingly a former quarterback at Northern Colorado. Breazeale qualified when he finished 3rd at the American tournament.

On the women’s side, Marlen Esparza, who despite being only 22, has already won a bronze medal at a world championship six years ago, made the quarterfinals of the world championship this year to make the Olympics.  Quanitta Underwood lost in the Round of 16 at the world championship by a single point to Ingrid Egner of Norway. She was rewarded for her strong performance by receiving an invitation to the Olympics.  Claressa Shields, only 17 and still in high school, was knocked out in the 2nd round at the world championship by Savannah Marshall of England (who went on to win the tournament) but was still able to qualify for the Olympics thanks to advancing as far as anyone else from the Americas.

Once again it looks like  Rau’shee Warren will be the best chance the US has at a medal, being the only one to medal at the World Championships during the last year. Hopefully some of the other boxers from the US can make a good run at the games as well echoing something many great American boxers have done over the years.

Beach Volleyball, London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics

Beach Volleyball Preview

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Beach Volleyball has become a more popular sport in America over the last decade for.. well… I guess obvious reasons. It doesn’t hurt that Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are two time defending gold medalists. Can they win it one more time though, or has their prime passed?

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of eight athletes, four men and four women. All of the men are going to their second Olympics. Two of the women are first time Olympians while Walsh is a three time Olympian and May-Treanor is going to her fourth.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Beach Volleyball
Men:
Jake Gibb*
Sean Rosenthal*
Phil Dalhausser*
Todd Rogers*

Women:
Misty May-Treanor***
Kerri Walsh**
Jen Kessy
April Ross
* – Was on team in 2008
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
*** – Was on team in 2000, 2004, and 2008

Schedule:

The tournament will begin with the teams divided into six four-team pools for round robin play. All the group winners and runner-ups will advance to the Round of 16. Two of the 3rd place finishers will get automatic spots for the Round of 16 while the other four will battle for the other two spots. After that it is a straight knockout tournament.

All Times ET
Saturday July 28th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Sunday July 29th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Monday July 30th
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Tuesday July 31st
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Wednesday August 1st
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Thursday August 2nd
4 AM – 3 PM – Men’s and Women’s Group Stage Matches

Friday August 3rd
4 AM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Round of 16

Saturday August 4th
4 AM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Round of 16

Sunday August 5th
1 PM – 5 PM – Women’s Quarterfinals

Monday August 6th
1 PM – 5 PM – Men’s Quarterfinals

Tuesday August 7th
12 PM – 4 PM – Men’s and Women’s Semifinals

Wednesday August 8th
1 PM – Women’s Bronze Medal Match
4 PM – Women’s Gold Medal Match

Thursday August 9th
1 PM – Men’s Bronze Medal Match
4 PM – Men’s Gold Medal Match

Past Results:

The US is home to the defending champions in both the Women’s and the Men’s event. The women’s title was of course won by May-Treanor and Walsh and the men’s title was won by Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal made it to the quarterfinals in 2008.

In 2004 May-Treanor and Walsh won again and the other US women’s team won the bronze. The top men’s team that year made it to the quarterfinals. Back in 2000 the men’s team of Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana won gold while Misty May’s team was the top women’s team for the US advancing to the quarterfinals.

So if the past is any indication the US should be a strong competitor for medals in both the women’s and the men’s tournament. It will be interesting to see if May Treanor and Walsh can win one last gold medal as they are now eight years removed from their first gold medal.