Almost a week into the games and the Americans are still atop of the medal table. Here’s some of the amazing things Team USA accomplished yesterday:
Stars of the day: Simone Manuel, USA, Swimming; Simone Biles, USA, Artistic Gymnastics
History Makers! ✨Two Simones, Two Golds ✨ #SimoneManuel #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/XLHLnqtYZL
— B. Scott (@lovebscott) August 12, 2016
Yesterday was a great day to be an Olympian named Simone from Houston. Earlier in the day, Simone Biles made us all cry our eyes out when she won the all-around competition by an astounding two full points, capping off four years of dominance in the gymnastics world.
August 11, 2016. Olympic Champion pic.twitter.com/d8VXRQ7vC5 — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 12, 2016
Later that evening, Simone Manuel made us all cry once again as she swam to a shock victory in the 100m freestyle, tying with Canadian Penny Oleksiak to bring home the gold. Manuel is the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming, and neither herself nor Oleksiak were favorites to medal in this race. When she touched the wall at the end of the race, her expression of pure shock and glee immediately went viral.
.@simone_manuel is the 1st African American female swimmer to win an individual #Gold.https://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/ymvkixzMf0
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2016
And of course, the proud gold medal mothers took a picture together:
Co gold medalist moms! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/oCLSvDVApf — Swimming Canada (@SwimmingCanada) August 12, 2016
Also shining brightly: Kayla Harrison, USA, Judo
Kayla Harrison WINS GOLD! Congratulations @Judo_Kayla! pic.twitter.com/xtKUSpwKRs
— USA Judo (@USAJudo) August 11, 2016
Harrison was able to defend her title in the 78k Judo competition, bringing home another gold.
Redemption for Raisman: After losing out on a medal in the all-around in London due to a bizarre tiebreak procedure, American Aly Raisman used the chance at medaling in Rio as her motivation to return to the gym. Yesterday, she hit four solid routines and won the silver medal. Raisman wrote on Instagram that her famously-stressed out parents can finally relax now as her only remaining event is the floor exercise final–where she’s the defending Olympic champion.
Aly’s crying. You’re crying. Courtney’s crying. Mihai’s probably weeping. pic.twitter.com/RfVFpQptM2
— Uncle Tim (@uncletimmensgym) August 11, 2016
Things are still going swimmingly for the U.S. men: Michael Phelps was feelin’ 22 when he won the 200m individual medley for the fourth Olympics in a row, and Ryan Murphy cemented his position as king of the backstroke with his victory in the 200m race. Murphy previously won the 100m backstroke gold. Phelps also swam in the 100m butterfly semifinals about a half hour after winning gold in the 200m individual medley.
And @ryan_f_murphy gave #TeamUSA it’s 991st GOLD of summer competition! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/dS8QSk9UsL
— U.S. Olympic Team (@TeamUSA) August 12, 2016
Congratulations are in order: To Fiji, who just won its first-ever Olympic medal, a gold, in rugby.
Fiji wins the country’s 1st #Olympics medal after defeating Great Britain 43-7 in the Rugby finals for the gold pic.twitter.com/xoyV2kjBDM
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 12, 2016
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