Day 17- Final day

The USA men's basketball team wins gold for the first time since 2000 by beating Spain in a very close game 118-107.

The USA men's volleyball team wins gold by beating Brazil 3-1. Coach Hugh McCutcheon overcomes tragedy to win gold for the USA.

The USA men's water polo team wins silver as they lost to Hungary 14-10.

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Final Medal Count

1. USA 36 gold, 38 silver, 36 bronze 110 total
2. China 51 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze 100 total
3. Russia 23 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze 72 total
4. Great Britain 19 gold, 13 silver, 15 bronze 47 total
5. Australia 14 gold, 15 silver, 17 bronze 46 total

Day 16

In women's volleyball the USA lost to Brazil 3-1 and wins silver. China wins bronze.

In women's basketball, the USA wins gold in beating Australia 92-65.

In men's 10m platform diving, Americans David Boudia and Thomas Finchum finished 10th and 12th respectively.

In the men's marathon, Dathan Ritzenhein of the USA finished 9th while Ryan Hall finished 10th.

In track and field, in the men's 4 by 400m relay, Americans Angelo Taylor, Lashawn Merritt, David Neville and Jeremy Wariner win gold and set an Olympic record of 2m 55.39sec. Bahamas wins silver and Russia wins bronze.

In the women's 4 by 400m relay, Americans Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards win gold. Russia wins silver and Jamaica wins bronze.

In the women's 1500m final, American Shannon Rowbury finished 7th.

In the men's 5000m final, American Bernard Lagat finished 9th.

In the women's high jump, American Shaunte Howard finished 6th.

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Medal Count after Day 16

1. USA 34 gold, 37 silver, 36 bronze 107 total
2. China 49 gold, 19 silver, 28 bronze 96 total
3. Russia 21 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze 70 total
4. Great Britain 19 gold, 13 silver, 15 bronze 47 total
5. Australia 14 gold, 15 silver, 17 bronze 46 total

Thoughts as the games wind down

We are having a successful Olympics as far as medals are concerned. We have 107 total medals and China has 96. China has more gold 49 to the USA's 34. In my earlier predictions I predicted that the USA would win 95 total medals and China 91 and both have exceeded that with one day to go.

As far as successful USA sports go I would rank swimming first, beach volleyball second, gymnastics third, indoor volleyball fourth and track and field 5th. In track we lost at least 10 medals(several in the men's and women's 100m, 200m, men's 1500m men's shot put and men's and women's 4 by 100 relays.) We did not put anyone in the finals of the men's long jump, high jump, and men's 800m.

The Chinese owned the diving, gymnastics gold and were surprising in beach volleyball and indoor volleyball.

There were controversies like suspicions of underage Chinese women gymnasts, fake fireworks(computer animated) replacing a Chinese opening ceremonies singer with a better looking one who lip synched a song. There were doping violations that expelled athletes(heptathlete Lydmila Blonska of Ukraine) from these games and an athlete(wrestler Aru Abrahamian of Sweden) who protested the results so he threw his medal down and walked off.

These games were about Michael Phelps with 8 gold medals(I predicted 7 gold) with 7 world records, Dara Torres, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Luikin, Jonathan Horton, USA women's basketball team winning gold, Misty May Treanor/Kerri Walsh winning beach volleyball gold for 2 straight Olympics and Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers winning gold in men's beach volleyball. Usain Bolt of Jamaica winning 3 gold medals in track and set 3 world records in the men's 100, 200 and 4 by 100m relay.

The USA track and field's new rival is Jamaica. They beat us soundly in 100m and 200m sprinting. Jamaican track athletes are up and coming and a serious threat to the USA winning gold in sprinting events in future Olympics.

Day 15

In late night in dramatic fashion the USA men's volleyball team beat Russia 3-2 to advance to the gold medal match.

Today, the USA men's basketball team beat Argentina 101-81 to advance to the gold medal game vs Spain. The USA got out to a 30-11 lead but Argentina closed it to 49-40 USA at halftime. Manu Ginobili of Argentina was hurt in the first quarter and never returned.

In men's water polo the USA beat Serbia 10-5 to advance to the gold medal game.

In track and field women's 5000m final, Americans' Kara Goucher was 9th, Shalane Flanagan 10th and Jen Rhines 14th.

In the women's long jump, Americans Brittney Reese finished 5th, Grace Upshaw 8th, and Funmilayo Jimoh 12th.

In the decathlon, American Bryan Clay wins gold with 8791 points.

In the men's pole vault, American Derek Miles finished 4th.

In the men's 4 by 400m relay semifinals, Americans David Neville, Regi Witherspoon, Kerron Clement and Angelo Taylor qualified for the finals.

In the women's 4 by 400m relay semifinals, Americans Monique Henderson, Sanya Richards, Mary Wineberg and Natasha Hastings qualified for the finals.

In the women's 4 by 100m relay, Russia wins gold, Belgium silver and Nigeria bronze.

In the men's 4 by 100m relay, Jamaica wins gold and sets a world record at 37.10 seconds as Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell anchored that team.

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Medal count after Day 15

1. USA 31 gold, 36 silver, 35 bronze 102 total
2. China 47 gold 17, silver, 25 bronze 89 total
3. Russia 17 gold, 18 silver, 23 bronze 58 total
4. Great Britain 18 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze 44 total
5. Australia 12 gold, 14 silver, 16 bronze 42 total

Day 14

In late night, the USA women's volleyball team beat Cuba 3-0 to advance to the gold medal match.

Today in women's water polo, the Netherlands beat the USA 9-8 to win gold. The USA wins silver.

In the women's 10m platform diving final, Laura Wilkinson finished 9th.

In track and field, in the men's 800m, Nick Symmonds of the USA advanced to the semifinals. Americans Andrew Wheating and Christian Smith did not qualify.

In the men's 800m semifinals, American Nick Symmonds did not advance to the final.

In the women's 200m final, American Allyson Felix wins silver. American Muna Lee finished 4th and Marshevet Hooker of the USA finished 5th. Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica wins gold. Kerron stewart of Jamaica wins bronze.

In the 4 by 100m relay, the USA men's team of Rodney Martin, Travis Padgett, Doc Patten and Tyson Gay were disqualified when Tyson Gay dropped the baton on a bad hand off from Doc Patten. They will not be in the finals.

In the 4 by 100m relay, the USA women's team of Angela Williams, Mechelle Lewis, Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams also were disqualified because Lauryn Williams dropped the baton on a bad handoff from Torri Edwards. They also will not be in the finals.

In the men's 400m final, the Americans swept the medals. Lashawn Merritt wins gold, Jeremy Wariner wins silver and David Neville dove for the bronze.

In the men's 110m hurdles, David Payne of the USA wins silver while David Oliver of the USA wins bronze. Cuba's Dayron Robles wins gold.

In men's beach volleyball, the American team of Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers wins the gold medal by beating Marcio/Fabio of Brazil 2-1, 23-21, 17-21 and 15-4.

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Medal count after Day 14

1. USA 30 gold, 35 silver, 34 bronze 99 total
2. China 46 gold, 15 silver, 22 bronze 83 total
3. Russia 16 gold, 16 silver, 20 bronze 52 total
4. Great Britain 17 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze 40 total
5. Australia 11 gold, 14 silver, 14 bronze 39 total

Day 13

In track and field, women's 5000m semifinal, all 3 Americans Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Jen Rhines advance to the final.

In the men's 110 hurdles, Americans David Payne and David Oliver advance to the finals.

In the women's 200m, all 3 Americans Muna Lee, Marshevet Hooker and Allyson Felix advance to the finals.

In the men's 200m final, Jamaican Usain Bolt wins gold and sets a new world record of 19.30 seconds. Shawn Crawford of the USA wins silver, Walter Dix, also of the USA wins bronze. American Wallace Spearmon originally wins bronze but he was disqualified along with Churundy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles for stepping on the line of another lane.

In the women's 400 hurdles final, American Sheena Tosta wins silver. Tiffany Ross-Williams of the USA finished 8th.

In 10m women's diving, American Laura Wilkinson qualified for the finals.

In men's volleyball, the USA beat Serbia 3-2 to advance to the medal round.

In women's beach volleyball, Americans Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh win gold over Tian/Wang of China 21-18 and 21-18. The Americans have not lost a set in these Olympics and the Athens games too.

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Medal count after Day 13

1. USA 27 gold, 28 silver, 28 bronze 83 total
2. China 45 gold, 15 silver 21 bronze 81 total
3. Russia 14 gold, 14 silver, 18 bronze 46 total
4. Great Britain 16 gold, 11 silver, 11 bronze 38 total
5. Australia 11 gold, 12 silver, 13 bronze 36 total

Day 12

USA women's volleyball beats Italy 3-2.

In the men's 3m springboard final, American Troy Dumais finished 6th while Chris Colwill of the USA finished 12th.

In track and field, in the women's 200m, all three Americans Allyson Felix, Marshevet Hooker and Muna Lee qualified for the semifinals.

In the men's 110 hurdles, Americans David Payne and David Oliver advanced to the semifinals.

In the men's 200m semifinals, all 3 Americans Walter Dix, Shawn Crawford and Wallace Spearmon qualified for the finals.

In the men's 400m, all 3 Americans Jeremy Wariner, Lashawn Merritt and David Neville advanced to the finals.

In the women's 400m final, the USA's Sanya Richards wins bronze.

In the women's 100m hurdles finals, American Dawn Harper wins gold. Damu Cherry of the USA finished 4th and American Lolo Jones tripped over the 9th hurdle and finished 7th.

In women's gymnastics, American Shawn Johnson wins gold on the balance beam. Nastia Luikin of the USA wins silver on balance beam.

In men's gymnastics. Jonathan Horton of the USA wins silver on high bar.

In men's beach volleyball USA's Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers advance to the gold medal match by beating Gomes/Terceiro of Georgia 2-0,  21-11 and 21-13.

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Medal count after Day 12

USA 26 gold, 26 silver, 27 bronze 79 total
China 43 gold, 14 silver, 19 bronze 76 total
Russia 11 gold, 14 silver, 18 bronze 43 total
Great Britian 16 gold, 10 silver, 9 bronze 35 total
Australia 11 gold, 12 silver, 12 bronze 35 total

Day 11

In men's volleyball, the USA beats Japan 3-0.

In track and field women's 400m hurdles, American's Tiffany Ross Williams and Sheena Tosta qualify for the finals. Queen Harrison does not qualify.

In the women's 3000m steeplechase Jenny Barringer(Simpson)finished 9th while setting an American record, Anna Willard of the USA finished 10th.
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In the women's pole vault final, American Jenn Stuczynski wins silver in 15ft 9in and April Steiner-Bennett of the USA finished 8th. Russian Elena Isinbaeva set a world record at 16ft 6in 3/4.

In the women's discus, American Stephanie Brown-Trafton wins gold.

In the women's 100m hurdles, Americans Damu Cherry, Dawn Harper and Lolo Jones advance to the finals.

In the men's 200m quarterfinals, Americans Shawn Crawford, Wallace Spearman and Walter Dix advance to the semifinals.

In the men's 110 hurdles, American Terrence Trammel pulls out of event because of injury. Americans David Oliver and David Payne advance.

In the men's 3000m steeplechase, American Anthony Famiglietti finished 13th.

In the 400 hurdles final, Americans sweep with Angelo Taylor winning gold, Kerron Clement wins silver and Bershawn Jackson wins bronze.

In women's beach volleyball, American's Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh advance to the gold medal match by beating Talita/Renata of Brazil 21-12 and 21-14.

In women's gymnastics, American Nastia Liukin wins silver in the uneven bars.

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Medal count after Day 11

1. USA 22 gold, 24 silver, 26 bronze 72 total
2. China 39 gold, 14 silver, 14 bronze 67 total
3. Russia 8 gold, 13 silver, 15 bronze 36 total
4. Australia 11 gold, 10 silver, 12 bronze 33 total
5. France 4 gold, 11 silver, 13 bronze 28 total

Day 10

In women's beach volleyball USA's Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh advanced to the medal round by beating Ana Paula/Larissa of Brazil 2-0,  21-18, 21-15.

The second American women's team of Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs were eliminated and finished 5th losing to Xue/Zhang of China 0-2, 17-21, 13-21.

The USA women's basketball team beat New Zealand 96-60.

In track and field, Bershawn Jackson, Angelo Taylor and Kerron Clement of the USA advance for the finals of the 400m hurdles.

In the women's 100m semifinals, Americans Lauryn Williams, Muna Lee and Torri Edwards advance to the finals.

In the men's 1500m, both Americans Lopez Lamong and Bernard Lagat failed to qualify for the finals.

In the women's 400m, Sanya Richards qualified for the finals, Dee Dee Trotter and Mary Wineberg did not qualify.

In the women's 100m final, Shelly Ann Frasier of Jamaica wins gold in 10.78 seconds and Jamaican's Sherone Stewart and Kerron Stewart tied for silver. The USA's Lauryn Williams finished 4th, American Muna Lee finished 5th and Torri Edwards of the USA finished 8th. There was a controversial false start by Lauryn Williams that was protested because the American's did not get good starts. The protests were rejected.

In the women's 100m hurdles, Americans Lolo Jones, Damu Cherry and Dawn Harper advance to the semifinals.

China's 110 men's hurdler Lui Xiang was injured an dropped out of the Olympics.

In women's gymnastics event finals, American Shawn Johnson wins silver in the floor exercise, Nastia Liukin of the USA wins bronze. Alicia Sacramone finished 4th in the vault.

In men's gymnastics Alexander Artemov finished 7th in the pommel horse. No American men qualified for the event finals in floor exercise.

In women's 3m springboard diving, Americans Nacilea Foster and Christina Loukas finished 8th and 9th, respectively.

In men's beach volleyball, Americans Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers beat Klemperer/Koreng of Germany 2-0,  21-13 and 25-23.

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Medal Count after Day 10

1. USA 19 gold, 21 silver, 25 bronze 65 total
2. China 35 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze 61 total
3. Australia 9 gold, 10 silver, 12 bronze 31 total
4. Russia 7 gold, 12 silver, 12 bronze 31 total
5. Great Britain 11 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze 25 total

Day 9

In the track and field men's 400 hurdles, the USA's Angelo Taylor, Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement advance to the semifinals.

In the men's 1500m, America's Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lamong advanced to the semifinals.

In the men's 100m semifinals, American Tyson Gay finished 5th and did not advance to the finals.

In the women's heptathlon, the USA's Hyleas Fountain wins bronze.

In the women's 100m qualifying, all 3 Americans Lauryn Williams, Muna Lee and Torri Edwards advance.

In the women's 400, all 3 Americans Mary Wineberg, Sanya Richards and Dee Dee Trotter advance to the semifinals.

In the men's 100m final, Jamaica's Usain Bolt sets a world record and wins gold in 9.69 seconds, the USA's Walter Dix wins bronze in 9.91 seconds, Richard Thompson of Trinidad-Tobago wins silver in 9.89 seconds. Doc Patten of the USA finished 8th.


American Deena Castor was injured and dropped out of the women's marathon. No American medaled.

In men's basketball the USA beat Spain 119-82.

In men's swimming 4 by 100 medley relay, Michael Phelps of the USA wins his 8th gold medal of these games while setting another world record. His USA gold medal winning teammates are Jason Lezak, Brendan Hansen and Aaron Piersol. Australia wins silver, Japan wins bronze.

In the 4 by 100 women's medley relay, the USA team of Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, Christine Magnuson, and Rebecca Soni win silver, Australia wins gold, China wins bronze.

In the women's 50m freestyle, USA swimmer Dara Torres wins silver, American Kara Lynn Joyce finished 6th.

In the men's 1500 freestyle, American Larsen Jensen finished 5th.

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Medal Count after Day 9

1. USA 17 gold, 18 silver, 22 bronze 57 total
2. China 27 gold, 13 silver, 9 bronze 49 total
3. Australia 8 gold, 10 silver, 11 bronze 29 total
4. France 3 gold, 9 silver, 10 bronze 22 total
5. Russia 5 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze 21 total

Day 8

In the daytime, the USA women's beach volleyball team of Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs beat Fernandez/Larrea of Cuba 2-0, 21-15 and 21-13.

In Track and Field, American Hyleas Fountain leads the heptathlon after 4 of 7 events.

No USA women will advance in the women's 800m.

Tyson Gay of the USA advances to the men's 100m semifinals along with Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt both of Jamaica.

American Christian Cantwell wins silver in the men's shot put. American's Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa did not medal.

In the women's 10,000m final, American Shalane Flanagan wins bronze. Kara Goucher of the USA finished 10th, American Amy Yoder-Begley finished 26th.

In the evening, the USA men's beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers defeated Laciga/Schnider of Switzerland 21-16, 21-23 and 15-13.

In men's swimming, Michael Phelps of the USA wins his 7th gold medal tying him with Mark Spitz. Phelps won gold by .01 of a second ahead of Serbian Milorad Cavic in the men's 100 butterfly. Ian Crocker of the USA finished 4th.

In the women's 200m backstroke, Margaret Hoelzer of the USA wins silver.

In the men's 50m freestyle, American Ben Wildman Tobriner finished 5th.

The USA men's volleyball team beat China 3-0.

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Medal Count after Day 8

1. USA 15 gold, 14 silver ,19 bronze 48 total
2. China 26 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze 41 total
3. Australia 5 gold, 7 silver, 10 bronze 22 total
4. Russia 4 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze 20 total
5. France 3 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze 20 total

Day 7

Today I watched the USA men's basketball team defeat Greece 92-69.

The USA men's beach volleyball team of Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal beat Shiratori/Asahi of Japan 21-15, 19-21 and 18-16.

During the evening, I watched the men's USA volleyball team beat Bulgaria 3-1.

The USA beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh beat Mouha/Van Breedam of Belgium 24-22 and 21-10 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In men's swimming, American Michael Phelps wins his 6th gold medal of these games and sets another world record in the 200IM. Ryan Lochte of the USA wins bronze.

In the men's 200 backstroke, American Ryan Lochte wins gold and Aaron Piersol of the USA wins silver.

In the women's 200 breaststroke, Rebecca Soni of the USA wins gold.

Natalie Coughlin of the USA wins bronze in the 100 freestyle.

In the women's gymnastics all around competition, Americans Nastia Liukin wins gold and Shawn Johnson wins silver. Yang Yilin of China wins bronze.

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Medal Count after Day 7

1. USA 14 gold, 12 silver 17 bronze 43 total
2. China 22 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze 36 total
3. Australia 5 gold, 6 silver , 8 bronze 19 total
4. Korea 6 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze 16 total
5. Russia 3 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze 15 total

Day 6- evening

In the evening, I watched men's 3M springboard synchronized diving. The USA team of Chris Colwill/Jevon Tarantino finished 4th. China wins gold.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh beat Hakedal/Torlen of Norway 21-12, 21-15 to move on to the next round. They finished 3-0 in pool play.

In men's swimming, in the 100m freestyle, USA swimmer Jason Lezak wins bronze.

In swimming, in the 4 by 200 freestyle relay the USA wins bronze. Australia wins gold and China wins silver.

In the women's 200 butterfly, USA swimmers Elaine Breeden and Kathleen Hersey finished 7th and 8th respectively.

In men's swimming 200m breaststroke, USA swimmer Scott Spann finished 5th.

In the men's gymnastics all around competition, Jonathan Horton finished 9th and Alexander Artemov of the USA finished 12th. Yang Wei of China wins gold, Kohei Uchimura of Japan wins silver, Benoit Caranobe of France wins bronze.

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Medal count after Day 6

1. China 20 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze 32 total
2. USA 10 gold, 8 silver, 13 bronze 31 total
3. Australia 5 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze 16 total
4. France 2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze 14 total
5. Korea 6 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze 13 total