Rio Recap: Day Five

When Donald Trump said we didn’t win anymore, he definitely wasn’t referring to Team USA’s Olympians. Five days in to Rio, the U.S. is still on top of the medal table with 32 total medals–11 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze. Here’s what went down yesterday:

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Star of the day: Kristin Armstrong, USA, Cycling

Kristin Armstrong was Wednesday’s star of the day for her victory in the time trial event. At age 42, she is the oldest individual gold medalist in over 100 years, and she’s the first person to win three cycling gold medals in the same discipline. Armstrong briefly retired after winning gold in 2008 in Beijing to have a child, but was lured back to the sport for London.

Also shining brightly: Maya DiRado, USA, Swimming

DiRado was a late addition to the U.S. 4 x 200 freestyle relay team after coaches agreed that her earlier performance in the pool merited a spot. DiRado swam the third leg of the relay and helped to lower the gap between the U.S. and Australian teams, securing her first Olympic gold medal. DiRado will leave Rio with a bronze in the 200 individual medley, a silver in the 400 individual medley, and a gold in the relay. She plans on retiring from swimming after the games and working for McKinsey & Company.

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Very nice: Kazakh swimmer Dmitry Balandin won his country’s first-ever medal in swimming last night. Balandin won in a shock upset in the 200m breaststroke. Balandin was the slowest qualifier to the final (although that’s not saying much as they were all within a second of each other) and somehow pulled out the win.

One last time it’s Phelps vs. Lochte: Last night featured Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte in the 200m individual medley semifinals–an event where they’re nearly exactly stroke-for-stroke matched with each other. Phelps edged Lochte last night by about a second, and the two qualified about a second faster than the rest of the field. The finals will be tonight.

The king kept his crown: While readers of this blog know that Simone Biles has been tearing up the gymnastics world since 2013, most of you probably don’t know that there’s an equivalent on the men’s side: Japan’s Kohei Uchimura. “King Kohei,” as he’s called, was able to defend his all-around title on Wednesday, despite stiff competition from Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev. With yesterday’s win, Uchimura has won eight straight all-around titles at either the World Championships or Olympic games. The women’s all-around final will be held later today.

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David Strom 5:20 PM | April 15, 2024
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