Final thoughts on Rio 2016

The USA had an incredible Olympics, winning 121 total medals with 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze. China was second with 70 total medals and Great Britain was third with 67 total medals. The USA won 33 total medals in swimming and 32 total medals in track and field. The USA achieved in almost every sport, winning medals in women's and men's boxing, rowing, fencing, men's and women's wrestling, triathlon, weightlifting, diving, judo and skeet shooting.

USA swimming Olympians were dominant, winning 16 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze. USA swimmer Michael Phelps won 6 medals, 5 gold and 1 silver. Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time! Phelps has won 28 medals in his career with 23 of those gold. Michael Phelps says he definitely is retiring and wont be back for the 2020 Tokyo games. Katie Ledecky of the USA won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Ledecky continues to write and re-write the record book in her swimming events. Simone Manuel was also a star of these games. Manuel won 4 medals total, 2 gold and 2 silver. Maya Dirado won 4 medals total, 2 gold, a silver and a bronze Some other USA swimming stars were Nathan Adrian with 2 bronze and Ryan Murphy who won 3 gold.

The USA was dominant in track and field as well. Allyson Felix now has 6 gold medals and 9 total medals in her career, which is the most of any American female track athlete in US history. Felix won gold in the 4 by 100 relay and 4 by 400 relay and silver in the women's 400. Felix was out leaned by a diving Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas at the finish line. Other stars for the USA in track and field include Jeff Henderson won gold in the long jump. Christian Taylor and Will Claye go 1-2 in the men's triple jump. Tori Bowie wins silver in the women's 100 and bronze in the women's 200. The USA swept the 400 hurdles with Brianna Rollins winning gold, Nia Ali, silver and Kristi Castlin, bronze. It was the first time in Olympic history that American's swept that event. Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs medal in the shot put with Crouser winning gold and Kovacs winning silver. Crouser set an Olympic record. Tianna Bartoletta won gold medals in the long jump and women's 4 by 100 relay. Justin Gatlin won silver in the men's 100 but did not advance to the finals of the men's 200. Other track stars for the USA include Michelle Carter winning gold in the women's shot put, Kerron Clement winning gold in the men's 400 hurdles and Ashton Eaton winning gold in the decathlon, Matthew Centrowitz's gold in the men's 1500 was the first time a USA had won gold in that event since 1908. Jenny Simpson also won bronze in the women's 1500. The men's and women's 3000 steeplechase was successful for the USA as Evan Jager won silver and Emma Coburn won bronze. Galen Rupp won bronze in the men's marathon. The USA 4 by 100 men's relay team was disqualified for passing outside of the zone while the women's 4 by 100 relay team won gold. Both USA men's and women's 4 by 400 relay teams won gold.
Internationally, Usain Bolt of Jamaica with a triple triple(100, 200, 4 by 100 relay gold in 2008, 2012, 2016 Olympic games) cements his legacy on the sport while Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa sets a new world record in the 400 in 43.03 seconds. It was a great performance by van Niekerk who ran out of the outside lane and surprised everyone. Jamaica still dominated the sprints with the worlds fastest woman Elaine Thompson winning gold in the women's 100 and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce winning bronze in the women's 100. Mo Farah of Great Britain won gold in the 5000 and 10000 in Rio, just like he did in London as he completes the double- double.

The USA women's gymnastics team won team gold for the second straight Olympics and was spectacular. They won the team gold by 8 points over Russia. Simone Biles is probably the best gymnast the USA has ever had winning 4 gold and one bronze in these games. Not too far behind is Aly Raisman with one gold and 2 silver medals. Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian were also great, winning medals on individual events. Gabby Douglas was not able to participate in the women's All-Around. That role went to Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. This team calls themselves the "Final Five" in a tribute to outgoing USA women's gymnastics coordinator Marta Karolyi, who has now retired. Bela and Marta Karolyi have been the head of USA Gymnastics(coaching, coordinator) for over 30 years in Romania and the USA and have built a powerhouse thanks to that ranch in Texas that the Karolyi's own. The Karolyi's will sell the ranch to USA gymnastics in the near future. The men's USA gymnastics team finished 5th in the team event but Danell Leyva won 2 silver medals on individual events and Alex Naddour also won bronze on an individual event.

The USA men's and women's volleyball teams each won a bronze medal. The men's team started out 0-2 in pool play with losses to Canada and Italy before winning 3 straight matches against Mexico, Brazil and Poland. In the semifinals, the USA had a lead on Italy in the 4th set but lost the lead and the 5th set and match to face Russia for the bronze medal. The USA faced a 2 set deficit but came back against Russia, winning the last 3 sets to win the bronze medal.
The women's team won all of their preliminary matches against Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, Serbia, Italy and China. In the quarterfinals the USA beat Japan but in the semifinals, lost to Serbia. The USA had a lead of 12-10 in the 5th set but lost the set 15-13 and the match to Serbia. The USA beat the Netherlands to win bronze. The women's national team will lose Christa Dietzen(Harmotto) and Courtney Thompson as they are both retiring. On the men's side David Lee and Reid Priddy will also retire.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won a bronze medal and was the only USA beach volleyball team men or women to medal. The loss in the semifinals to Agatha/Barbara of Brazil was hard to watch as the team from Brazil were digging everything. It was a shocking loss as it was Walsh-Jennings first loss in Olympic play. They rebounded with a great match against Brazil's Larissa/Talita to win bronze. Casey Patterson/Jake Gibb were eliminated in pool play as was Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena went as far as the quarterfinals where they lost a great match to Alison/Bruno Schmidt of Brazil who went on to win the gold medal. Dalhausser/Lucena outlasted a great Italian team of Nicolai/Lupo in 3 sets in a memorable pool play match. Nicolai/Lupo wound up winning silver.

USA diving had a decent showing. Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon won silver in men's 3M springboard synchro and David Boudia and Steele Johnson won silver in men's 10M platform synchro. Boudia won bronze in men's Individual 10M platform.

The USA women's soccer team had a decent tournament until they ran into a great Swedish team. They shut-out New Zealand and France before struggling against Columbia. Columbia tied it in the 90th minute to force the tie. The USA still won their group despite the tie and moved on to play Sweden in the quarterfinals. after 120 minutes of a draw, the USA lost on penalty kicks 4-3 after Christen Press missed her kick over the goal and Sweden made their final shot to send them to the semifinals. In the finals, Sweden lost to Germany 2-1.

The women's and men's basketball teams each won a gold medal. The USA women dominated every opponent while they men's team started out strong but then only won by 3 against Serbia(94-91) and France(100-97). The USA men only won by 6 against Spain(82-76) in the semifinals. The USA men's team defeated Serbia again for gold by 30 points.

In an amazing story of Olympic sprit, American runner Abbey 'D Agostino was tripped and fell along with Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand in a women's 5000 heat. Both helped each other finish the race. 'D Agostino was originally disqualified from the women's 5000 finals but was reinstated. Hamblin was able to compete in the women's 5000 final but 'D Agostino suffered an injury and did not compete in the finals. Both 'D Agostino and Hamblin formed a lifelong friendship.

The biggest controversy at these games was that Ryan Lochte came out in the media the second weekend of these games to say he and 3 other USA swimmers, James Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, were robbed at gunpoint. Lochte said they were pulled over by people pretending to be cops and forced to get on the ground, Lochte refused and according to Lochte's original story, a gun was pointed directly at his forehead and he was forced to give the robbers all of their money. When it came out in the media I was shocked and I guess most Americans would believe it because of the high crime rate in Rio. The USOC, at that time, did not confirm that story until hours later. Lochte's mother helped authenticate the story as she told the media what Lochte told her. In the final days of the games the story changed some. Lochte said that the gun was pointed in his direction after they refused to get out of the car. Once the Brazilian authorities started investigating it turns out that there was video of the 4 USA swimmers at a gas station in Rio vandalizing a sign. The Brazilian authorities also accuse the 4 USA swimmers of breaking the restroom mirror and soap dispenser. The Brazilian authorities did point a gun at the swimmers because they tried to get away in a taxi. The store owner were trying to get a settlement from the American swimmers for the damage they caused. The American's paid up to 50 US dollars to the store owners. Ryan Lochte had already left Brazil for the USA when a Brazilian court order was issued to seize Lochte's passport. The athletes were taken off of the plane back to the USA and held for an investigation. James Feigan paid $11,000 dollars to get his passport back and all of the swimmers left Brazil a few days later. Ryan Lochte was suspended by USA swimming until June 30, 2017 while Feigen, Conger and Bentz were suspended by USA swimming until December 31, 2016. All four swimmers will miss an appearance at the White House. Ryan Lochte has agreed to appear on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

The other controversy at these games was USA soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo who made comments after the tough loss to Sweden on penalty kicks. Solo commented that Sweden played like cowards. Her comments offended USA soccer and her teammates enough that USA soccer suspended her for 6 months and terminated her contract. The union that represents Solo will appeal on her behalf.

Also up to 15,000 Rio Olympics volunteers quit because of long hours and little food. The Rio games had approximately 35,000 volunteers actually working out of the 50,000 Rio organizers started with.

As far as predictions go, I had the order of the first 3 countries correct with the USA, China and Great Britain. The USA won 121 total medals which exceeded my prediction of 98 by 23 total medals. What was surprising was that Great Britain exceeded their medal total of London 2012 by two medals and China underperformed again, only winning 70 total medals, when I predicted they would win 92 total medals. Great Britain won 67 total medals. I got Germany and Russia order wrong as Germany only won 42 total medals while Russia exceeded my prediction of 49 total medals by 7. Russia won 56 total medals. Brazil did not perform as well, only winning 16 medals, well short of the 26 total medals I predicted.
Katie Ledecky won one silver in a relay and my prediction of Ledecky winning gold in every event did not come true. I predicted Michael Phelps winning 4 gold medals, he won 5 gold medals.

In beach volleyball, Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won bronze instead of at least silver and I predicted Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson to win bronze, they did not medal. I predicted Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena to win at least silver and they did not medal.

I predicted the USA women's volleyball team to win gold when they actually won bronze. I did, however, predict bronze for the USA men's volleyball team.

I did predict that the USA Track And Field Team would win more than 27 medals, they actually won 32 medals. Allyson Felix did not win gold in the women's 400 as I had predicted, she won silver. I did predict correctly that Justin Gatlin would win silver in the men's 100 and Usain Bolt would win gold in the men's 100 and 200. I did predict Justin Gatlin winning silver in the men's 200 but he actually did not even qualify for the 200 finals. I came within .05 of a second in Usain Bolt's winning time in the men'a 100. I predicted 9.76 and he actually ran a 9.81. I did not correctly predict Lashawn Merritt winning silver in the men's 200, he actually won bronze. I did predict correctly that Ashton Eaton would win gold in the decathlon. I incorrectly predicted Tori Bowie would win gold in both the 100 and 200. She actually won silver in the women's 100 and bronze in the women's 200. I did not correctly predict that the USA men's 4 by 100 relay team would win silver. They did finish second but were disqualified for passing outside of the zone. I did correctly predict, however that both the men's and women's 4 by 400 relay teams would win gold.

I correctly predicted the USA women's gymnastics team would win gold and Simone Biles would win gold in all-around. I correctly predicted Simone Biles and Aly Raisman did win gold in Individual events. I was not correct on Gabby Douglas winning a medal in Individual event finals. I was also incorrect in predicting the USA men's gymnastics team would win bronze. They did not medal as a team.

I correctly predicted that Kayla Harrison would medal in Judo and Kim Rhode would medal in shooting. I was incorrect in predicting Jordan Burroughs and Adeline Gray would medal in wrestling.

Predicting Olympic results is difficult as I look at other predictions before I make mine.

Lastly, NBC's opening and closing ceremony coverage was quite bad. Too much editing for commercials and talking over the singing and dancing ruined the opening and closing ceremonies for a lot of viewers who used Twitter and the hashtag NBCfail to complain, that included myself. I was not happy with NBC's opening and closing ceremony coverage. The one hour tape delay of both ceremonies gave NBC a chance to edit for commercials, which disturbed the flow of the ceremonies. The Olympic coverage itself was decent. When NBC would show a basketball game it would be with "limited commercial interruption". Commercials did cut out some of NBC's live Olympic coverage in their indoor and beach volleyball matches but it was only a few points on each side. The next three Olympic games will be tape-delayed. That is understandable considering the time difference between the USA and Asia. There was no excuse for NBC to tape-delay any of the Rio games, especially the opening and closing ceremony.

The color commentators of NBC, whom I enjoy, are knowledgeable and excitable and add to broadcasts. Nastia Luikin did a good job replacing Elfie Schlegel in gymnastics coverage, Sanya Richards Ross, Trey Hardee, Todd Harris and Ato Boldon did a good job in track and field, Cynthia Potter and Laura Wilkinson are very knowledgeable in diving, Rowdy Gaines is very excitable in swimming. Kevin Barnett is very knowledgeable in indoor volleyball and Kevin Wong is very good at color commentating beach volleyball.

The asset of NBC's Olympic coverage is its commentators and not its editing crew. Ratings for this Olympics were the lowest in decades. Blame NBC's editing for some of the declining ratings. A completely live Olympics with "limited commercial interruption" with a presenting sponsor would probably have saved the ratings for NBC. NBC chooses to tape-delay events even when it is live and that thinking is making the viewers turn off their sets in droves. Live streaming of events was a good alternative to watch live coverage if one has complete cable coverage. Maybe by 2018 NBC will get it right, they will because it will be tape-delayed due to a time difference. NBC had a great chance to show a completely live Olympics and blew it. They are living in the past. Well, on to the next games...

Day 17 and Closing Ceremony

Galen Rupp of the USA wins bronze in the men's marathon in 2 hours 10 minutes and 5 seconds. Eluid Kopchoge of Kenya wins gold in 2 hours 8 minutes and 44 seconds. Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia wins silver in 2 hours 9 minutes and 54 seconds. Rupp wins the first marathon medal for the USA since 2004.

The USA men's volleyball team beat Russia for bronze 3-2, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13. Brazil wins gold over Italy 3-0, 25-22, 28-26, 26-24. Italy wins silver.

Kyle Snyder of the USA wins gold in the men's 97kg freestyle wrestling competition, 3-1 over Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan.

Clarissa Shields of the USA wins gold in the women's middleweight 165lb by beating Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands 3-0.

The USA men's basketball team wins gold by beating Serbia 96-66. The USA was leading 52-29 at halftime and was up 88-47 late in the 4th quarter. Kevin Durant led team USA with 30 points. Demarcus Cousins added 13 points for team USA. This is the 3rd consecutive gold medal for the USA. Serbia wins silver. Spain beat Australia for bronze 89-88.

The closing ceremony started at 8pm and was not live. NBC's coverage started at 7pm eastern and had a Olympic special on for an hour so it was taped delayed for an hour.

Brief review of closing ceremony:

NBC's coverage started out with a reference to Brazil's assertion that they were the first in flight. Then Brazilian dancers formed the landscape of Rio to include Christ the Redeemer Statue, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Olympic Rings. Young children sung the Brazilian national anthem while the Brazilian flag was raised. Then the flag bearers of all nations came into the stadium followed by all of the athletes. Kygo from Norway performed along with Julia Michaels to promote the launch of the Olympic Channel.

References of Indigenous people of Brazil were used as they were in the opening ceremony. This refers to Brazil's slave culture in its past. Next, the men's marathon medal ceremony took place, The Greek flag was raised to the Greek national anthem and the Olympic flag was lowered to the Olympic hymn. This was the beginning of the handoff to Japan. The anthem of Japan was played while the Japanese flag was raised. There was a video tribute depicting the 2020 Tokyo games and its video game culture, followed by an appearance by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was seen dressed as Nintendo's Super Mario coming out of a Mario pipe in the middle of the stadium. There were displays on the floor of the stadium that read "Thank You for your Support," and the Tokyo 2020 emblem.

IOC President Thomas Bach declared the games closed and thanked the city of Rio de Janeiro. Mariene de Castro was singing with water coming down behind her as the flame was extinguished.

The last part of the ceremony was a Brazil carnival like atmosphere with costumes, singing and dancing. NBC's coverage ended at 10:25pm eastern time as Bob Costas provided final commentary on these games before signing off for an episode of the Voice.

While the closing ceremony seemed great, again, NBC's coverage was quite subpar again. Too many commercials, too much talking over the singing and dancing were the main complaints across Twitter. NBC's coverage was down about 25 percent in the key 18-49 age group. This may be a reason why. The next 3 Olympic games will be all on a tape delay due to the time difference. This was NBC's chance to show a completely live Olympics and they came up short. So short that NBC had to make up for low ratings with free commercial airtime for sponsors. Tape-delay is in NBC's rulebook, so expect it for any Olympics to come, even when its supposed to be shown live.

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Final Medal Count

USA 46 gold, 37 silver, 38 bronze - 121 total
China 26 gold, 18 silver, 26 bronze - 70 total
Great Britain 27 gold, 23 silver, 17 bronze - 67 total
Russia 19 gold, 18 silver, 19 bronze - 56 total
Germany 17 gold, 10 silver, 15 bronze - 42 total
France 10 gold, 18 silver, 14 bronze - 42 total

Day 16

Gwen Jorgensen of the USA wins gold in the women's triathlon in 1 hour 56 minutes and 16 seconds. Nicola Spirig of Switzerland wins silver in 1 hour 56 minutes and 56 seconds. Vicky Holland of Great Britain wins bronze in 1 hour 57 minutes and 1 second.

The USA women's volleyball team wins bronze by beating the Netherlands, 3-1, 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19. China wins gold by beating Serbia 3-1, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23. Serbia wins silver.

The USA women's basketball team beat Spain to win gold 101-72. Spain wins silver. The USA led 49-32 at halftime. The USA was led by Lindsay Whalen and Diana Taurasi who had 17 points each to lead team USA. Serbia beat France 70-63 to win bronze. This is the 6th consecutive women's basketball gold medal for team USA.

J'den Cox of the USA wins bronze in the men's 86kg freestyle wrestling competition. Cox beat Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba 5-0.

USA men's 10M platform diver David Boudia advanced to the finals in 10th place with 458.35 points. Steele Johnson of the USA finished 13th(447.85 points) and did not advance to the finals.
Boudia wins bronze with 525.25 points in the men's 10M Platform diving competition finals. Chen Aisen of China wins gold with 585.30 points. German Sanchez of Mexico wins silver with 532.70 points.

Matthew Centrowitz of the USA wins gold in the men's 1500 in 3 minutes 50 seconds. Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria wins silver in 3 minutes 50.11 seconds. Nicholas Willis of New Zealand wins bronze in 3 minutes 50.24 seconds.

Kate Grace of the USA finished 8th in the women's 800 in 1 minute 59.57 seconds.

Chaunte Lowe, Inika McPherson and Vashti Cunningham, all of the USA, finished 4th, 10th and 13th respectively in the women's high jump.

Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo of the USA wins silver in the men's 5000 in 13 minutes 3.90 seconds.
Mo Farah of Great Britain wins gold in 13 minutes 3.30 seconds. Hagos Gebrhiwet of Eithiopia wins bronze in 13 minutes 4.35 seconds. Bernard Lagat of the USA finished 5th in 13 minutes 6.78 seconds.

The USA women's 4 by 400 relay team of Courtney Okolo, Natasha Hastings, Phyllis Francis and Allyson Felix win gold in 3 minutes 19.06 seconds. Jamaica wins silver in 3 minutes 20.34 seconds. Great Britain wins bronze in 3 minutes 25.88 seconds.

The USA men's 4 by 400 relay team of Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts and Lashawn Merritt wins gold in 2 minutes 57.30 seconds. Jamaica wins silver in 2 minutes 58.18 seconds. The Bahamas wins bronze in 2 minutes 58.49 seconds.

The USA has won 31 track and field medals at Rio 2016!

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Medal Count after Day 16

USA 43 gold, 37 silver, 36 bronze - 116 total
China 26 gold, 18 silver, 26 bronze - 70 total
Great Britain 27 gold, 22 silver, 17 bronze - 66 total
Russia 17 gold, 17 silver, 19 bronze - 53 total
Germany 17 gold, 10 silver, 14 bronze - 41 total
Japan 12 gold, 8 silver, 21 bronze - 41 total

Day 15

The USA men's volleyball team lost in the semifinals to Italy 3-2, 28-30, 28-26, 25-9, 22-25, 9-15. The USA will play for a bronze medal against Russia.

The USA women's water polo team beat Italy 12-5 to win gold. Italy wins silver. Russia beat Hungary 19-18 for bronze. The USA is the first water polo team to win 2 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics.

The USA men's basketball team beat Spain 82-76 in the semifinals to move on to the gold medal game vs Serbia. The USA led 45-39 at halftime. The USA was led by Klay Thompson with 22 points. Kevin Durant added 14 points for the USA.

David Boudia of the USA advances to the semifinals of the men's 10M platform diving competition with 496.55 points.

The USA men's 4 by 400 relay team advanced to the finals.

The USA women's 4 by 400 relay team advanced to the finals.

Shelby Houlihan of the USA finished 11th in the women's 5000 in 15 minutes 8.89 seconds. Abbey D Agostino of the USA was allowed to advance to this final but did not compete due to injury.

Sandi Morris of the USA wins silver in the women's pole vault. Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece wins gold. Eliza McCartney of New Zealand wins bronze. Jenn Suhr of the USA finished 7th.

The USA women's 4 by 100 relay team of Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Tori Bowie win gold in 41.01 seconds. Jamaica wins silver in 41.36 seconds. Great Britain wins bronze in 41.77 seconds.

The USA men's 4 by 100 relay team of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Trayvon Brommell finished 3rd in 37.62 seconds but then was later disqualified for passing outside of the lane. Jamaica wins gold in 37.27 seconds. Japan wins silver in 37.60 seconds. Canada wins bronze in 37.64 seconds.

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Medal Count after Day 15

USA 38 gold, 35 silver, 32 bronze - 105 total
China 22 gold, 18 silver, 25 bronze - 65 total
Great Britain 24 gold, 22 silver, 14 bronze - 60 total
Russia 13 gold, 16 silver, 19 bronze - 48 total
Japan 12 gold, 8 silver, 21 bronze - 41 total

Day 14

Chaunte Lowe, Inika Mcpherson and Vashti Cunningham, all of the USA, advance to the women's high jump finals.

Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the men's shot put.

The USA women's 4 by 100 relay team was originally disqualified after Allyson Felix was impeded by the elbow of a Brazillian. Felix then dropped the baton but the USA did finish and filed a protest. The protest was allowed and the USA will run a solo heat to qualify for the finals on Friday.

The USA men's 4 by 100 relay team advanced to the finals in 37.65 seconds.

Kerron Clement of the USA wins gold in the men's 400 hurdles in 47.73 seconds. Boniface Mucheru Tumuti of Kenya wins silver in 47.78 seconds. Yashmani Copello of Turkey wins bronze in 47.92 seconds.

The USA women's volleyball team lost to Serbia 3-2, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 25-16, 13-15. The USA women's team will play for the bronze medal.

Jessica Parratto and Katrina Young, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the women's 10M platform diving competition. In the finals Jessica Parratto finished 10th with 334.60 points.

Helen Maroulis of the USA wins gold in the women's 53kg freestyle wrestling competition with a win against Saori Yoshida of Japan 3-1. Its the first gold medal for a USA woman in the Olympic games.

The USA women's basketball team beat France 86-67 to advance to the gold medal game against Spain on Saturday. The USA overcame a slow start to lead 40-36 a halftime. Diana Taurasi led team USA with 18 points. Maya Moore had 15 points for team USA.

Ryan Crouser(73 ft 10 3/4 in) and Joe Kovacs(71 ft 5 1/2in), both of the USA, wins gold and silver respectively in the men's shot put. Tomas Walsh of New Zealand wins bronze with a throw of 70 ft 1 in. Ryan Crouser sets an Olympic record.

Kate Grace of the USA advanced to the women's 800 finals. Ajee Wilson of the USA did not advance to the finals.

The USA women's 4 by 100 relay team ran a solo heat and finished in 41,77 seconds. The USA displaced China who was 8th. Brazil was disqualified for impeding Allyson Felix. The USA advances to the finals.

Ben Blankenship and Matthew Centrowitz, both of the USA, advanced to the finals of the men's 1500.

Ashton Eaton of the USA wins gold in the decathlon with 8893 points, which is an Olympic record. Kevin Mayer of France wins silver with 8834 points. Damian Warner of Canada wins bronze with 8666 points.

Dalilah Muhammad(53.13 seconds) and Ashley Spencer(53.72 seconds), both of the USA win gold and bronze respectively in the women's 400 hurdles. Sara Peterson of Denmark wins silver in 53.55 seconds. This was the first Olympic medal ever for the USA in this event.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins gold in the men's 200 in 19.78 seconds. Andre De Grasse of Canada wins silver in 20.02 seconds. Christope Lemaitre of France wins bronze in 20.12 seconds. Lashawn Merritt of the USA finished 6th in 20.19 seconds.

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Medal Count after Day 14

USA 35 gold, 33 silver, 32 bronze - 100 total
China 20 gold, 16 silver, 22 bronze - 58 total
Great Britain 22 gold, 21 silver, 13 bronze - 56 total
Russia 12 gold, 15 silver, 17 bronze - 44 total
Japan 12 gold, 6 silver, 18 bronze - 36 total

Day 13

Bernard Lagat and Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the men's 5000. Hassan Mead of the USA did not advance to the final.

Ajee Wilson and Kate Grace, both of the USA, advance to the semifinals of the women's 800. Chrishuna Williams of the USA did not advance to the finals.

Evan Jager of the USA wins silver in the men's 3000 steeplechase in 8 minutes 4.28 seconds. Conseslus Kipruto wins gold in 8 minutes 3.28 seconds. Mahiedine Mekhissi of France wins bronze in 8 minutes 11.52 seconds.

The USA men's volleyball team beat Poland 3-0, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20, to move on to the semifinals.

Jessica Parratto 3rd (346.80)and Katrina Young 12th (313.85), both of the USA, advance to the semifinals of the women's 10M platform diving competition.

The USA men's basketball team beat Argentina after a slow start 105-78. The USA led Argentina 56-40 at halftime after trailing early in the first quarter 19-9. Kevin Durant led team USA with 27 points while Paul George had 17. The USA advances to the semifinals.

Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin, all of the USA, advance to the finals of the women's 100 hurdles.

Lashawn Merritt of the USA advances to the men's 200 finals. Justin Gatlin and Ameer Webb, both of the USA, do not advance to the finals.

Tianna Bartoletta (23 ft 61/4 in) of the USA wins gold in the women's long jump. Brittney Reese(23 ft 5 1/2 in) of the USA wins silver. Ivana Spanovic(23 ft 2 3/4 in) of Serbia wins bronze.

Ashton Eaton of the USA leads the decathlon after 5 events with 4621 points.

Tori Bowie of the USA wins bronze in the women's 200 in 22.15 seconds. Elaine Thompson of Jamaica wins gold in 21.78 seconds. Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands wins silver in 21.88 seconds.

The USA sweeps the medals in the women's 100 hurdles. Brianna Rollins wins gold in 12.48 seconds. Nia Ali wins silver in 12.59 seconds. Kristi Castlin wins bronze in 12.61 seconds.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross win bronze by beating Larissa/Talita of Brazil 17-21, 21-17, 15-9. Ludwig/Walkenhorst of Germany wins gold by beating Agatha/Barbara of Brazil 21-18, 21-14. Brazil wins silver.

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Medal Count after Day 13

USA 30 gold, 32 silver, 31 bronze - 93 total
China 19 gold, 15 silver, 20 bronze - 54 total
Great Britain 19 gold, 19 silver, 12 bronze - 50 total
Russia 12 gold, 14 silver, 15 bronze - 41 total
Japan 10 gold, 5 silver, 18 bronze - 33 total

Day 12

Shelby Houlihan and Abbey D' Agostino, both of the USA advanced to the finals of the women's 5000. D'Agostino was tripped and fell and finished her race. D' Agostino filed a protest and was reinstated but she suffered an injury and may not compete in the women's 5000 final. American Kim Conley did not advance to the final.

Americans Jenn Suhr and Sandi Morris advance to the women's pole vault finals.

Robbie Andrews, Matt Centrowitz and Ben Blankenship, all of the USA, advanced to the semifinals of the men's 1500.

Christian Taylor(58-7) and Will Claye, both of the USA, win gold and silver respectively in the men's triple jump. Bin Dong of China wins bronze.

Kristi Castlin, Nia Ali and Brianna Rollins, all of the USA, advanced to the semifinals of the women's 100 hurdles.

Ameer Webb, Justin Gatlin and LaShawn Merritt, all of the USA, advance to the men's 200 semifinals.

USA American divers Michael Hixon(4th) and Kristian Ipsen(7th) qualified for the men's 3M springboard finals.

The USA women's volleyball team beat Japan 3-0, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 to advance to the semifinals.

Simone Biles(15.966) and Aly Raisman(15.600), both of the USA, win gold and silver respectively in the women's floor exercise. Amy Tinkler of Great Britain wins bronze with a 14.933.

Danell Leyva of the USA wins silver on the men's parallel bars with a 15.900. Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine wins gold with a 16.041. David Belyavsky of Russia wins bronze with a 15.783.

Danell Leyva of the USA wins silver on the men's high bar with a 15.500. Fabian Hambuechen of Germany wins gold with a 15.766.
Nile Wilson of Great Britain wins bronze with a 15.466.

Kristian Ipsen of the USA finished 5th with 475.80 points in the men's 3M springboard diving competition. Michael Hixon of the USA finished 10th with 431.65 points.

The USA women's basketball team beat Japan in the quarterfinals 110-64. The USA led 56-46 at halftime. Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore led team USA with 19 points each. The USA moves on to the semifinals.

Ronnie Ash and Devon Allen, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the men's 110 hurdles. Jeff Porter of the USA did not advance to the finals.

Erik Kynard of the USA finished 6th in the men's high jump.

Brittney Reese and Tianna Bartoletta, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the women's long jump.

Ashley Spencer and Dalilah Muhammad, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the women's 400 hurdles. Sydney McLaughlin of the USA did not advance to the finals.

Kerron Clement of the USA advanced to the finals of the men's 400 hurdles. Byron Robinson of the USA did not advance to the finals.

Deajah Stevens and Tori Bowie, both of the USA, advance to the women's 200 finals. Jenna Prandini of the USA did not advance to the finals.

Jenny Simpson of the USA wins bronze in the women's 1500 in 4 minutes 10.53 seconds. Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon of Kenya wins gold in 4 minutes 8.92 seconds. Genzebe Dibaba of Eithiopia wins silver in 4 minutes 10.27 seconds. Shannon Rowbury of the USA finished 4th in 4 minutes 11.05 seconds.

Devon Allen(13.31 seconds) and Ronnie Ash(13.45 seconds), both of the USA, finished 5th and 8th respectively in the men's 110 hurdles. This is the first time in Olympic history that the USA has not medaled in the men's 110 hurdles.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross lost to Agatha/Barbara of Brazil 20-22, 18-21 in the semifinals. Walsh Jennings/Ross play Larissa/Talita of Brazil for the bronze medal. This was the first Olympic loss for Walsh Jennings. Her record is now 26-1 in Olympic matches.

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Medal Count after Day 12

USA 28 gold, 28 silver, 28 bronze - 84 total
China 17 gold, 15 silver, 19 bronze - 51 total
Great Britain 19 gold, 19 silver, 12 bronze - 50 total
Russia 12 gold, 12 silver, 14 bronze - 38 total
France 7 gold, 11 silver, 11 bronze - 29 total
Japan 7 gold, 4 silver, 18 bronze - 29 total

Day 11

Tori Bowie, Jenna Prandini and Deajah Stevens, all of the USA, advance to the women's 200 semifinals.

Christian Taylor and Will Claye, both of the USA, advance to the men's triple jump final.

Emma Coburn of the USA wins bronze in the women's 3000 steeplechase in 9 minutes 7.63 seconds. Ruth Tebet of Bahrain wins gold in 8 minutes 59.75 seconds. Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi wins silver in 9 minutes 7.12 seconds.

Amber Campbell of the USA finished 6th in the women's hammer throw in 238.8 ft.

The USA men's volleyball team beat Mexico 3-0, 25-23, 24-11, 25-19 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Byron Robinson and Kerron Clement, both of the USA, advance to the semifinals of the men's 400 hurdles. Michael Tinsley of the USA did not advance.

Evan Jager, Donn Cabral, and Hillary Bor, all of the USA, advance to the finals of the men's 3000 steeplechase.

The USA women's water polo team beat Brazil 13-3.

The USA men's beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena lost to Alison/Bruno of Brazil 14-21, 21-12, 9-15. Dalhausser/Lucena are eliminated in the quarterfinals. They finished 5th.

Laurie Hernandez of the USA wins silver on the women's balance beam with a 15.333. Simone Biles of the USA wins bronze with a 14.733. Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands wins gold with a 15.466.

USA men's 3M springboard divers Kristian Ipsen and Michael Hixon advanced to the semifinals.

No one from the USA men's gymnastics team competed on the rings or vault in the Individual event competition.

Haley Anderson of the USA finished 5th in the women's 10K open water competition.

Jeff Porter, Devon Allen and Ronnie Ash, all of the USA, advanced to the semifinals of the men's 110 hurdles.

Sydney McLaughlin, Ashley Spencer and Dalilah Mohammad, all of the USA, advanced to the semifinals of the women's 400 hurdles.

Clayton Murphy of the USA wins bronze in the men's 800 in 1 minute 42.93 seconds. David Rudisha of Kenya wins gold in 1 minute 42.15 seconds. Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria wins silver in 1 minute 42.61 seconds.

Sam Kendricks of the USA wins bronze in the men's pole vault. Thiago Braz da Silva of Brazil wins gold. Renaud Lavillenie of France wins silver.

Allyson Felix of the USA wins silver in the women's 400 in 49.51 seconds. Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas dived for the finish line just ahead of Felix to win gold in 49.44 seconds. Shericka Jackson of Jamaica wins bronze in 49.85 seconds. Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis, both of the USA, finish 4th and 5th respectively.

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Medal Count after Day 11

USA 26 gold, 23 silver, 26 bronze - 75 total
China 15 gold, 14 silver, 17 bronze - 46 total
Great Britain 16 gold, 17 silver, 8 bronze - 41 total
Russia 11 gold, 12 silver, 12 bronze - 35 total
Japan 7 gold, 4 silver, 16 bronze - 27 total

Games thoughts after 10 days.

The USA is doing well in these games, winning 69 medals so far and 26 gold. China is next with 45 total medals. After a slow start in swimming the USA won 33 total swimming medals with 16 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze. USA swimmer Michael Phelps won 6 medals, 5 gold and 1 silver. Katie Ledecky of the USA won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal and Simone Manuel won 4 medals total, 2 gold and 2 silver. Some other swimming stars were Nathan Adrian, Maya Dirado, and Ryan Murphy. The USA women's gymnastics team lived up to expectations with a team gold and Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Madison Kocian shined for the USA.

USA 10M synchro divers David Boudia/Steele Johnson won silver!

The biggest disappointments so far were the elimination of the USA women's soccer team by Sweden in penalty kicks and the USA men's beach volleyball team of Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson being eliminated after going 1-2 in pool play. Serena Williams also losing early in the tennis tournament also disappointed. USA 3M women springboard divers Abby Johnston and Kassidy Cook did not medal and finished way out of the running for a medal with Johnston finishing 12th in the finals and Cook finishing 13th in the semifinals;
Lastly, the USA men's gymnastics team faltered a bit and finished 5th.

The USA women's volleyball team went undefeated in pool play, while the men's team went 2-2 in pool play but did beat Brazil.

Track and Field has started well for the USA with gold by Jeff Henderson in the long jump and silver medals for both American men and women in the 100. Silver medals by Tori Bowie and Justin Gatlin had mixed emotions for me because they both lost to Jamaica, the USA's biggest rival.

Look for Brazil vs USA semifinals and or finals in beach and indoor volleyball. Should be interesting to watch.

Also successes in rowing, weightlifting, mixed doubles tennis, judo and shooting have contributed to the big USA total in medals won.

Even though I had predicted 98 total medals of the USA, the USA will surpass that easily. Look for the USA to do well and top 100 medals and well over 40 gold. After 10 days, I have correctly predicted the top three countries medal totals as being the USA, China and Great Britain. Russia is currently 5th. Japan has surprised many at these games.

Looking forward to the last week of these games!

Day 10

In the women's marathon, Americans Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden and Amy Cragg finished 6th, 7th and 9th respectively.

The USA women's basketball team beat China 105-62. The USA led China 60-26 at halftime. Tina Charles and Brittney Griner led team USA with 18 points each.

The USA men's basketball team just got by France 100-97. The USA led France 55-46 at halftime. Team USA was led by Klay Thompson with 30 points.

The USA men's water polo team beat Italy 10-7. The USA does not advance.

In the men's gymnastics individual event finals - Floor Exercise, Americans Jake Dalton(15.133) and Sam Mikulak (14.333) finished 6th and 8th respectively. Max Whitlock of Great Britain wins gold(15.633). Diego Hypolito(15.533) of Brazil wins silver. Arthur Mariano(15.433) wins bronze.

Simone Biles of the USA wins gold in the women's gymnastics Individual event finals - Vault, with a 15.966.
Maria Paseka of Russia wins silver with a 15.253. Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland wins bronze with a 15.216.

Alex Naddour of the USA wins bronze in the men's Pommel Horse with a 15.700.
Max Whitlock of Great Britain wins gold with a 15.966. Louis Smith of Great Britain wins silver with a 15.833.

Madison Kocian of the USA wins silver in the women's uneven bars with a 15.833. Aliya Mustafina of Russia wins gold with a 15.900. Sophie Scheder of Germany wins bronze with a 15.566. Gabby Douglas of the USA scored a 15.066 on the uneven bars.

Abby Johnston of the USA finished 12th in the women's 3M Springboard diving finals.

The USA women's volleyball team defeated China, 3-1, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19. The USA finished undefeated in pool play.

In women's 75kg weightlifting, Sarah Robles of the USA wins bronze with total lift of 286kg
Suping Meng of China wins gold with a total lift of 307kg. Kuk- Hyang Kim of Korea wins silver with total lift of 306kg.

Phyllis Francis, Natasha Hastings and Allyson Felix, all of the USA, advance to the womens's 400 finals.

Trayvon Brommell and Justin Gatlin, both of the USA, advance to the finals of the men's 100.

Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson, both of the USA, advance to the women's 1500 finals.

Lashawn Merritt of the USA wins bronze In the men's 400 in 43 85 seconds. Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa sets a new world record in winning gold in 43.03 seconds. van Niekerk broke USA sprinter Michael Johnson's 1999 record of 43.18 seconds. Kirani James of Grenada wins silver in 43.76 seconds.

Justin Gatlin of the USA wins silver(9.89 seconds)in the men's 100. Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins gold in 9.81 seconds.
Andre De Grasse of Canada wins bronze in 9.91 seconds. Trayvon Brommell finished 8th in 10.06 seconds. Bolt defends his title as worlds fastest man. Bolt has now won gold in 3 consecutive Olympics in the men's 100.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross beat Bawden/Clancy of Australia 21-14, 21-16. Walsh Jennings/Ross advance to the semifinals.

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Medal Count after Day 10

USA 26 gold, 21 silver, 22 bronze - 69 total
China 15 gold, 13 silver, 17 bronze - 45 total
Great Britain 15 gold, 16 silver, 7 bronze - 38 total
Russia 9 gold, 11 silver, 10 bronze - 30 total
Japan 7 gold, 4 silver, 15 bronze - 26 total