Final thoughts on Tokyo 2020

Well the Tokyo games are complete! What a medal run for the USA, 113 total medals!. The USA has won more gold than China 39-38  after trailing China in golds won for most of these games. China finished with 88 total medals. Japan surprised by winning 27 gold medals and 58 medals. ROC did as well with 71 total medals but only 20 gold medals. Great Britain did well in the medal count as well with 22 gold and 65 total medals. The USA went on a medal run in the last 5 days of the games by winning men's and women's basketball golds, women's beach volleyball gold, women's indoor volleyball gold and several wrestling and boxing medals. I will be recapping the sports in the next few paragraphs.

USA swimming won 30 medals total with 11 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze.  Pretty good medal numbers but the medals were won by a great handful of USA athletes. USA swim stars Caeleb Dressel won 5 golds and Katie Ledecky won 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals and 4 medals total. Robert Finke won 2 golds in the long distance swim events. Zach Apple  and Blake Pieroni each won 2 golds in the relays. Ryan Murphy won 1 gold in the relays and 1 silver and 1 bronze in the backstroke for a total of 3 medals. Lilly King won 3 total medals, 2 medals in the breaststroke, 1 silver and 1 bronze and a silver in the relays. Regan Smith did well, winning 3 total medals as well. 1 silver medal in the butterfly, 1 silver medal in the relays and 1 bronze medal in the backstroke. USA teenage swim star Lydia Jacoby won 1 gold in the breaststroke and a silver in the relays. Watching these swim races and having some of our swim stars coming up with silver and bronze instead of gold was a bit difficult to watch but the USA did win medals in these events. even if they weren't gold. Decent swim medal haul for the USA. 

USA gymnastics did well, just not as well as 2012 and 2016, winning 6 total medals.The USA women's gymnastics team won a silver medal in the team competition behind the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee who won gold.. That is a good performance without the GOAT Simone Biles. USA gymnasts Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles did very well without Biles.  In the first rotation, the USA was on vault. Biles competed on her vault, only completing 1 1/2 twists instead of the 2 1/2 rwists she was supposed to do and landed awkwardly. The vault scored a 13.766. Biles has scored over 15 on vaults before. After the vault Biles was seen talking to her coach and then walking away from her team mates. I thought she had a physical injury. I learned on Twitter that Biles withdrew from the team competition due to her mental health. I was watching on Peacock TV. Peacock's John Roethisberger first said he was unaware of the reason why Biles withdrew from the team competition. It turns out that Biles had the "twisties". This is where a gymnast loses their place in the air. It sure looked like Biles lost her place in the air on the vault landing. Biles also withdrew from the all around competition and the vault and uneven bars apparatus finals. Biles did win a bronze medal on the balance beam to tie Shannon Miller at 7 gymnastics medals for the most by a USA gymnast all time. The competition was highlighted by Sunisa Lee winning gold in the all around competition. Lee also won bronze on the uneven bars apparatus finals and a silver in the team final for a total of 3 medals. Jade Carey won gold on floor exercise. MyKayla Skinner who replaced Simone Biles on the vault apparatus finals won silver. The USA men's gymnastics team finished 5th in the team finals for the third straight Olympics and Jordan Malone finished 10th in the all around and Sam Mikulak finished 12th for Team USA. 

USA diving faired well but China's divers were dominant. The USA diving team won 3 medals total. The USA 3M springboard synchro team of Michael Hixon/Andrew Capobianco won silver. Also 10M platform synchro divers Jessica Parratto/Delaney Schnell also won a silver medal. Krysta Palmer won bronze on 3M springboard. China's divers entered the water with no splash. Their scores were in the 9 to 10 range. 

The USA women's volleyball team was dominant from start to finish and won a gold medal. The USA went 4-1 in pool play, beating Argentina, 3-0, China, 3-0, Turkey 3-2, lost to ROC 3-0 when USA volleyball star Jordan Thompson injured her ankle and was not able to return to the match or compete in any other matches during the Olympics.  Annie Drews filled in for Jordan Thompson beautifully. The USA then beat Italy 3-2 where Jordyn Poulter also suffered a less severe ankle injury but returned in future matches. On their way to the gold medal match, the USA beat the Dominican Republic 3-0 in the quarterfinals, beat Serbia in the semifinals  3-0 and in the gold medal match beat Brazil 3-0 for their first ever gold medal in women's volleyball. Jordan Larson was spectacular for the USA. The USA men's volleyball team had a disappointing finish going 2-3 in pool play to not advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004. The USA men's team beat a good team from France 3-0, then lost to the ROC 3-1, beat Tunisia 3-1, then lost to Brazil 3-1 and finished off pool play by losing to Argentina 3-0. 

The USA beach volleyball team of Alix Klineman/April Ross won a gold medal! Incredible play from the first match until the end with the toughest match being against Keizer/Mepplelink of Switerland, which they won 2-1.  Klineman/Ross started out their first match against Xue/Wang of China and won 2-0, then defeated Liliana/Elsa of Spain 2-0, then beat Switzerland 2-1, then beat Lidy/Leila of Cuba 2-0 in the round of 16, beat Ludwig/Kozuch of Germany 2-0 in the quarterfinals, then defeated Verge-Depre/Heidrich of Switzerland 2-0 and then beat Australia's Artacho/Clancy in the gold medal match 2-0. 

The second women's beach volleyball team of Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil was eliminated in the round of 16 by losing to Canada's Wilkerson/Bansley 2-1 after going 3-0 in pool play. Both of the USA men's beach volleyball teams - Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Jake Gibb/Tri Bourne were eliminated in the round of 16. Dalhausser/Lucena won a great match against Alison/Alvaro of Brazil 2-1, winning the first set 24-22, losing the second set 19-21 then in a thriller, winning the 3rd set 15-13. Dalhausser/Lucena finished pool play 2-1 but lost to Cherif/Ahmed of Qatar 2-1 in the round of 16. Jake Gibb qualified for the Tokyo games with partner Taylor Crabb. Crabb tested positive for COVID before the games started and Tri Bourne came in to take Crabb's place. Gibb/Bourne finished pool play 2-1 but lost in the round of 16 to Germany's Thole/Wicker 2-1. 

The USA women's soccer team redeemed itself from 2016 but did not reach the gold medal match for the second straight Olympics. The USA women's soccer team won a bronze medal. Canada beat Sweden to win gold on penalty kicks. Some of the matches were on at 4 am and some were on at 7 am. I had to tape 2 matches. The USA suffered a humbling loss to Sweden 3-0. The USA was out hustled and outplayed. The USA women's soccer team regrouped against New Zealand winning 6-1 as Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan,  Christen Press and Alex Morgan scored goals. The next match was a 0-0 draw against Australia but that draw qualified the USA for the knockout round. The next match was so exciting to watch, it had me on pins and needles. After a 2-2 draw in regular time and two 15 minute extra scoreless periods the match went to penalty kicks. USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was the star, saving the first and last penalty kicks to advance the USA to the semifinals. Lavelle scored the first penalty kick after a Naeher save to make it 1-0 USA, then the Netherlands next two penalty kicks were good and the USA led 3-2 after successful penalty kicks by Morgan and Press. After the last Naeher save, Megan Rapinoe scored the last penalty kick goal to give the USA a 4-2 penalty kick win for the right to play Canada in the semifinals. The Canada match was depressing to watch. Canada dominated the match and won 1-0. The USA was forced play in the bronze medal match against Australia. This match was more exciting as the USA won 4-3. Megan Rapinoe put the USA up 1-0 before Canada evened it at 1 goal each, then Rapinoe scored another goal to make it 2-1, then at the end of the first half Carli Lloyd scored a goal to make it 3-1 at halftime. Early in the second half Lloyd scored again to give the USA a 4-1 lead. Australia scored the next 2 goals to make it 4-3 and secure the bronze medal for the USA.

The USA track and field team won 26 medals at Tokyo 2020, winning 7 gold, 12 silver and 7 bronze. There were so many memorable moments and some disappointing ones as well. USA women's 400 hurdler Sydney McLaughlin was a star, winning gold in the 400 hurdles in world record time of 51.46 seconds while another USA women's hurdler Dalilah Muhammad won silver in 51.58 seconds beating her own world record of 52.16 seconds.  McLaughlin and Muhammad each won gold in the women's 4 by 400 relay to finish with 2 medals each. Another great race was the men''s 400 hurdle race between Norway's Karsten Warholm and the USA's Rai Benjamin. Warholm shattered his own world record by almost an entire second, from 46.70 seconds to 45.94 seconds beating Rai Benjamin by 2 tenths of a second. Benjamin won silver in beating Warholm's old world record in 46.17 seconds. Warholm got out to a lead, Benjamin closed on Warholm and in the final hurdle pulled slighly ahead of Benjamin to win. An Amazing race. Benjamin won gold in the men's 4 by 400 relay to finish with 2 total medals. Both men's and women's 400 hurdle races were the highlight of this track and field competition for me. Another memorable moment was watching USA shot putter's Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs go head to head. Two of the best shot putters of all time. Crouser won gold with a throw of over 76 feet (an Olympic record) and Kovacs best throw was over 74 feet! Another great moment was watching track legend Allyson Felix win bronze in the women's 400 in 49.46 seconds with the gold won by Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas. Felix won another gold in the women's 4 by 400 relay to pass Carl Lewis as the most decorated USA track and field medalist of all time with 11 total medals. Amazing athlete!  A new women's 800 star has been born. Athing Mu of the USA won gold in the women's 800 meters and won another gold in the women's 4 by 400 relay to total 2 gold medals.  American Raevyn Rogers wins bronze in the 800 for a multi medal race for the USA. Katie Nageotte of the USA winning gold in the pole vault competition was something great to watch as she vaulted over 16 feet!  Another great moment was watching Armond Duplantis of Sweden win gold over Chris Nilsen of the USA in the men's pole vault. Nilsen won silver. There were several multi medalists in track and field for the USA. Kendall Ellis, Lynna Irby, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Trevor Stewart each won 2 medals in the mixed 4 by 400 relay and or men's/women's 4 by 400 relays. The USA won bronze in the first mixed gender relay at the Olympics. The women's sprints were dominated by Jamaica. Jamaica swept the podium in the women's 100 with Jamaica's Elaine Thompson Herah winning gold in 10.61 seconds in the second fastest 100 time ever. Thompson Herah won gold in the women's 200 in the second fastest time ever of 21.53 seconds.  Jamaica won gold in the women's 4 by 100 relay as well. Gabby Thomas of the USA won bronze in 21.87 seconds.  On the men's side, American Fred Kerley surprised in the men's 100 final winning silver in 9.84 seconds but the winner of the men's 100 in the absence of track legend Usain Bolt is Italy's Marcell Jacobs winning gold in 9.80 seconds. Americans Kenny Bednarek/Noah Lyles went 2-3 ( silver-bronze)in the men's 200 while Canada's Andre de Grasse won gold. Keni Harrison had her Olympic dreams fulfilled winning silver in the women's 100 hurdles. Harrison was beaten by Jasmine Camacho Quinn of Puerto Rico by 15 hundredths of a second.  Harrison did not qualify for the 2016 Rio games.Also 2 more great moments was American Paul Chelimo winning bronze in the men's 5000 and American Molly Seidel winning bronze in the women's marathon.

Some disappointing track and field moments were Americans not winning any medals in the men's 400, Clayton Murphy finishing last in the men's 800, American Matthew Centrowitz not making the final of the men's 1500 and American Sandi Morris's pole breaking in the women's pole vault competition causing her to be injured and not qualify for the finals. It was a bit disappointing to see Grant Holloway lose to Hansle Parchment of Jamaica in the men's 110 hurdles. Holloway won a silver medal but was the gold medal favorite. The biggest disappointment for me in the track and field competition was the failure of the USA men's 4 by 100 relay team finishing 6th in the heats after bobbling a hand off. The USA lost out on 5th place in the heat to Ghana by .02 of a second and did not make the finals. American track legend Carl Lewis tweeted his displeasure of the men's 4 by 100 relay team. 

The USA men's basketball team won the gold medal after a shaky start. The USA started out by losing to France 83-76, then defeated Iran 120-66 and the Czech Republic 119-84 to finish pool play 2-1. The Americans beat Spain 95-81 in the quarterfinals, beat Australia 97-78 in the semifinals and then again played but this time beat France 87-82 to win the gold medal! The USA men's team found their 3 point shot and Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard led team USA to the gold!

The USA women's team also won a gold medal and after a few slow first quarters won games in the second half. The USA started by beating Nigeria 81-72 but was losing 25-22 in the first quarter. The USA next beat Japan 86-69 but also was losing after the first quarter 30-28. The USA beat France next 93-82 but again was losing 22-19 after the first quarter to finish 3-0 in pool play. In the quarterfinals the USA beat Australia 79-55 in a dominant win, followed up with a 79-59 complete game win against Serbia in the semifinals and won the gold medal by beating Japan again 90-75. Sue Bird, Brittney Griner and A'ja Wilson were the stars for team USA. 

Also big surprises for the USA was winning 9 freestyle wrestling medals. For the men, David Taylor and  Gable Steveson won gold, Kyle Snyder won silver, Kyle Dake won bronze and Thomas Gilman won bronze for a total of 5 medals. The USA women's freestyle wrestlers won 4 medals. Tamyra Mensah Stock won gold, Adeline Gray won silver, Helen Maroulis and Sarah Hildebrandt each won silver. 

The biggest controversy of these games was Simone Biles withdrawing from the team final gymnastics competition, all around and apparatus finals except for balance beam. For several minutes no one knew why Biles wasn't competing. Then when it was determined that Biles wasn't physically injured the social media war ensued. People were calling Biles a quitter, but most Americans rallied to Biles side, including myself and put mental health at the forefront of athletes well being going forward.  A second controversy is a German coach named Kim Raisner was thrown out of the Olympics for punching a horse that wouldn't perform a jump in the modern pentathlon and faced heavy criticism for doing so. A newly developing controversy is that Great Britain's 4 by 100 silver medal winning relay team may be disqualified and stripped of their medals because British sprinter CJ Ujah has tested positive for illegal substances and is provisionally suspended. 

As far as predictions go, I came very close on the total medals won by the USA. The USA won 113 total medals and I had predicted 111 total medals for the USA.  I was 4 gold medals off 39 actual vs 43 gold predicted.  I was exactly correct on China's gold medal total of 38! I overestimated China's total medals by 4, 92 predicted vs. 88 total. The ROC exceeded my total medal predictions by 17 medals.. 71 actual vs, 54 predicted. Same goes for Great Britain, I underestimated the total medal count by 20 medals. 65 actual vs. 45 predicted. I was 4 total medals off on Australia's total medal count, 46 actual vs. 42 predicted. I was off by 8 medals in Japan's total medal count, 66 predicted vs 58 actual.

I was correct on predicting gold for USA women's basketball, USA beach volleyball team of Klineman/Ross winning gold, USA women's water polo team winning gold, and USA women's indoor volleyball team winning gold. I was correct on Joe Kovacs winning silver in shot put, and Ryan Crouser gold in shot put, Simone Biles winning bronze on balance beam, Allyson Felix winning bronze in women's 400 with Shaunae Miller-Uibo winning gold. I was correct in predicting Karsten Warholm winning gold in men's 400 hurdles and Rai Benjamin winning silver in men's 400 hurdles. I was correct in predicting that Sydney McLaughlin would win gold in the women's 400 hurdles and I was correct in predicting that Dalilah Muhammad would win silver in the women's 400 hurdles. I was correct in predicting that Krysta Palmer would win bronze in women's 3M springboard. I was correct in predicting Caeleb Dressel winning 5 medals(3 individual gold, 2 relay gold). I was correct in predicting that Katie Ledecky would win gold medals in the women's 800 freestyle and women's 1500 freestyle. I was correct in predicting that USA swimmers Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Hali Flickinger, Allison Schmitt, Chase Kalisz, Olivia Smoliga, Abbey Weitzeil, Annie Lazor, Regan Smith, Sinone Manuel and Kieran Smith would win a medal. All did! Lastly, I was correct in predicting that USA women freestyle wrestlers Helen Maroulis and Adeline Gray would medal!

I was not correct in predicting a gold medal for USA basketball, I predicted a silver medal because of how the USA men's team struggled against Nigeria in Las Vegas and several other teams played before the Olympics in pre-Olympics exhibitions. I was not correct on predictions for USA winning 33 medals each in swimming and in track and field. The USA won 30 swimming medals and 26 track and field medals. I was not correct on USA women's gymnastics winning a team gold medal, they won silver. I was not correct in predicting nearly all of Simone Biles results including gold in all around. Sunisa Lee winning silver in all around and all event apparatus finals. I was not correct in predicting the USA men's team winning a bronze medal- they finished 5th. I was not correct in predicting that Brody Malone would win bronze in men's gymnastics all around competition- Malone finished 10th I was not correct on Athing Mu winning bronze in women's 800, Athing Mu won gold. I was not correct on Gabby Thomas winning gold in the women's 200, Gabby won bronze. I was not correct in predicting Noah Lyles would win silver in men's 200, Lyles won bronze. I was not correct in predicting Erriyon Knighton winning gold in men's 200 - Knighton finished 4th. I was not correct in predicting Ronnie Baker would win silver in the men's 100- Baker finished 5th. I was not correct in predicting that Emma Coburn would win bronze in the women's 3000 steeplechase. She fell and eventually was disqualified. I was not correct in predicting Trayvon Bromell winning gold in the men's 100. Bromell did not qualify for the final. I was not correct in predicting that Matthew Centrowitz would win bronze in the men's 1500- he did not advance to the final. I was not correct in predicting that Sam Kendricks would win silver in the men's pole vault. Kendricks tested positive for COVID and withdrew from the games and American Chris Nilsen won silver in the men's pole vault. I was not correct in predicting that Keni Harrison would win gold in the women's 100 hurdles- Harrison won silver. I was not correct in predicting that Grant Holloway would win gold in the men's 110 hurdles- Holloway won silver. I was not correct in predicting that Michael Norman would win silver in the men's 400- Norman finished 5th. I was not correct in predicting that Andrew Capobianco/Michael Hixon would win bronze in men's 3M springboard synchro- Capobianco/Hixon won silver. I was not correct in predicting that Krysta Palmer/Alison Gibson would win bronze in women's 3M springboard synchro- Palmer/Gibson finished 8th. I was not correct in predicting that Tyler Downs would win silver in men's 3M springboard. Downs did not advance to the finals. I was not correct in predicting that Katie Ledecky would win gold in the women's 400 freestyle- Ledecky won silver. I was not correct in predicting that Katie Ledecky would win gold in the women's 200 freestyle. Ledecky finished 5th. I was not correct in predicting that Lilly King would win gold in the women's 200 breaststroke, King won silver. I was not correct in predicting Townley Haas would win a swimming medal. 

NBC showed the opening ceremony live at 6:55 am on July 23 with fewer commercials than the replay on prime time TV at 8 pm. I watched the morning live version. For the closing ceremony it was streamed on NBC Olympics but not shown live on NBC. It was shown from 8 pm eastern time to 10:30 pm eastern time and was a bit edited. During the Olympics coverage, commercials were excessive with two boxes in prime time with play by play on the left box and along with the commercials on the right box. NBC still has the habit of cutting off several beach volleyball/indoor volleyball points with commercials that last too long. When NBC came back to live action the beach teams would be in a timeout. NBC couldn't take another commercial break because they already took one. Also 10 second cut ins by Toyota were common right in the middle of play. Also the biggest complaint I have is NBC showing 2 sets of a 3 set volleyball match the next day. NBC would pick up coverage at 16-12 in the first set.  Another complaint is charging viewers 4.99 to watch USA men's basketball games on  premium Peacock TV.  I passed on watching several USA men's basketball games on Peacock TV. On the upside, USA women's soccer matches and  USA women's basketball games would be shown with limited commercial interruption on NBC networks. 

NBC's coverage of these games was good but a bit confusing and had me trying to keep up with the 8 sports I follow year round. NBC would show beach volleyball matches at 8pm eastern time, indoor volleyball matches on NBCSN or CNBC and live track and field on NBC at the same time, causing me to tape the live track and beach volleyball matches while watching NBC, then finding time the next day to try and watch through DVR or watch partial coverage on NBC the next day. The strategy for the second week differed from the first week. I would DVR NBC's prime time coverage with some beach volleyball, gymnastics apparatus finals and taped semifinals and finals of track and field events that happened 12 hours ago(shown in the morning  Eastern Time on Peacock)  to save. Soccer matches would start at 4 am or 7 am eastern time and would tape them to watch later. I would wake up at 6:45 am eastern time on 3 occasions to watch the USA women's gymnastics team final on Peacock TV, USA men's 100 meter dash and men's 200 final. There were beach volleyball matches at 9 am eastern time and track sprint finals between 8:45 am and 9 am eastern time, I had a hard time watching volleyball matches that started at 10 pm eastern time and some were shown live, some taped the next day. I could catch up during the days between noon and 5pm when it was nighttime in Tokyo. Another thing to get used to was watching live track on USA network with Bill Spaulding, Michelle Carter and Tim Hutchings and at the same time try to watch the track events I didn't see in the morning with Ato Boldon, Kara Goucher, Sanya Richards Ross, Trey Hardee and Leigh Diffey. All did a great job covering track and field. I watched live diving events on between 2 am eastern time and 3:30 am eastern time with Ted Robinson and Cynthia Potter. Both are great and so knowledgeable covering diving. The swimming team of Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines are top notch and so is NBC's new gymnastics play by play announcer Terry Gannon. Nastia Luikin and Tim Daggett always provide top notch coverage of gymnastics. All of the NBC studio hosts did a great job as well, Rebecca Lowe, Kathryn Tappen, Maria Taylor and Mike Tirico all did a great job hosting the Olympics.  Just 6 months until Beijing 2022 and 3 years until Paris 2024.

Day 17 and Closing Ceremony

The USA women's basketball team wins gold by beating Japan 90-75. Japan wins silver. The USA led at halftime 50-39. The USA shot 54% for the game. The USA was led in scoring by Brittney Griner with 30 points followed by A'ja Wilson with 19 points and Breanna Stewart has 14 points and also 14 rebounds for team USA. This is the 7th straight Olympics gold medal for the USA. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have now won 5 gold medals each. France wins bronze by beating Serbia 91-76.

Jennifer Valente of the USA wins gold in the Track Cycling Omnium race. Yumi Kajihara of Japan wins silver and Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands wins bronze. 

American Keyshawn Davis wins silver in losing to Andy Cruz of Cuba 4-1 in the men's light (57-63kg) boxing final bout.

Richard Torrez of the USA wins silver in losing to Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan 5-0 in men's super heavy 91 kg boxing final bout.

The USA women's volleyball team beat Brazil to win gold 3-0, 25-21, 25-20, 25-14. Brazil wins silver. Serbia beat Korea 3-0 for bronze. This is the first USA women's volleyball team gold. USA head coach Karch Kiraly has now won gold medals as a player in indoor, the beach and now as a coach. 

The closing ceremony started at 8pm on NBC.  NBC's Lewis Johnson interviewed the gold medal winning USA women's volleyball team followed by the song 'Remember This" performed by the Jonas Brothers. The opening ceremony was a collection of Japanese culture and a celebration of all of the athletes. The NBC hosts for the closing ceremony was Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. At the beginning of NBC's coverage all the flag bearers from different countries entering the stadium forming a circle and then all of the athletes joined them with lots of USA athlete smiles and tears. Then there was a high tech light presentation where all the athletes participated in a light show that formed the Olympic rings above the stadium. Then there was a presentation by The Tokyo SKA Paradise Orchestra with dancing in an effort to present contemporary Tokyo. Then the Olympic flag was lowered and IOC President Bach declared the games closed. Next was a presentation by Paris 2024 where a bike rider was riding on the buildings of Paris that stops with a shot of a big crowd near the Eiffel Tower cheering as a Paris 2024 flag was flown attached to the Eiffel Tower. More singing and dancing led to the Olympic flame bring extinguished and torch closed and the words "arigato" (thank you) on the video board, ending NBC's coverage. Mike Tirico had a final statement and showed highlights of memorable Olympic performances. NBC's coverage ended at 10:30pm.

Photos Credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media sources. For blog use only. 

Final Medal Count

USA                 39 gold, 41 silver, 33 bronze - 113 total

China               38 gold, 32 silver, 18 bronze - 88 total

ROC                20 gold, 28 silver, 23 bronze - 71 total

Great Britain   22 gold, 21 silver, 22 bronze - 65 total

Japan               27 gold, 14 silver, 17 bronze - 58 total

Australia         17 gold,   7 silver, 22 bronze - 46 total

Italy                10 gold, 10 silver, 20 bronze - 40 total

Germany         10 gold, 11 silver, 16 bronze - 37 total

Netherlands    10 gold, 12 silver, 14 bronze - 36 total

France            10 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze - 33 total

Day 16 - Mid Day Japan Time August 7 to Mid Day Japan time August 8

The USA men's basketball team wins gold by beating France 87-82. France wins silver. The USA led 44-39 at halftime. The USA shot 46 percent for the game. The USA was led in scoring by Kevin Durant with 29 points followed by Jayson Tatum with 19 points, and Damian Lillard/Jrue Holiday had 11 points each for team USA.  Australia wins bronze by beating Slovenia 107-93. 

Americans Jordan Windle (407.90 points) and Brandon Loschiavo (383.65 points) finish 9th and 11th respectively, in the men's platform diving finals. Yuan Cao of China wins gold with 582.35 points. Jian Yang of China wins silver with 580.40 points and Tom Daley of Great Britain wins bronze with 548.25 points. 

The USA women's water polo team wins gold by beating Spain 14-5. Spain wins silver. Maddie Musselman led team USA with 3 goals, followed by Aria Fischer, Alys Williams and Kaleigh Gilchrist with 2 goals each.  Hungary beats ROC 11-9 for bronze.

The USA baseball team won silver while losing to Japan 2-0. Japan wins gold. Nick Martinez of the USA was the losing pitcher. The Dominican Republic wins bronze by beating Korea 10-6. 

Emily Sisson (31 minutes  9.58 seconds), Karissa Schweizer (31 minutes 19.96 seconds) and Alicia Monson (31 minutes 21.36 second), all of the USA, finish 10th, 12th and 13th respectively in the women's 10000M finals. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands wins gold in 29 minutes 55.32 seconds, Kalkidan Gezahegne of Bahrain wins silver in 29 minutes 56.18 seconds and Letesenbet Giday of Ethiopia wins bronze in 30 minutes 1.72 seconds.

American Vashti Cunningham finished tied for 6th (6 Ft. 5 in) in the women's high jump final.

American Cole Hocker (3 minutes 31.40 seconds) finished 6th in the men's 1500 finals. Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway wins gold in 3 minutes 28.32 seconds, Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya wins silver in 3 minutes 29.01 seconds and Josh Kerr of Great Britain wins bronze in 3 minutes 29.05 seconds.

The USA women's 4 by 400 relay team of Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu wins gold in 3 minutes 16.85 seconds, Poland wins silver in 3 minutes 20.53 seconds and Jamaica wins bronze in 3 minutes 21.24 seconds.

Allyson Felix becomes the most decorated female in USA history with 11 medals and the most decorated USA track and field athlete ever man or woman passing Carl Lewis.

The USA men's 4 by 400 relay team of Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin wins gold in 2 minutes 55.70 seconds, The Netherlands wins silver in 2 minutes 57.18 seconds and Botswana wins bronze in 2 minutes 57,27 seconds.

The USA equestrian team of Laura Kraut, Jessica Springsteen and McLain Ward wins silver in the jumping team finals  jump off. Sweden wins gold and Belgium wins bronze.

Nelly Korda of the USA wins gold (shooting a 267) in women's gold Individual stroke play. Mone Inami of Japan shoots a 268 and wins a play off to win silver and Lydia Ko of New Zealand wins bronze also shooting a 268 but losing the playoff to Japan. 

American Kyle Snyder wins silver by losing to Abdulrashid Sadulaev (gold) of ROC 6-3 in the men's freestyle wrestling 97kg final.

Sarah Hildebrandt wins bronze by beating Oksana Livach of Ukraine 12-1 in the women's freestyle 50kg wrestling bronze medal match. 

American Galen Rupp finished 8th in the men's marathon in 2 hours 11 minutes and 41 seconds.

Photos Credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media sources. For blog use only. 

Medal Count as of 9:30pm Eastern Time August 7

USA                 36 gold, 39 silver, 33 bronze - 108 total

China               38 gold, 31 silver, 18 bronze - 87 total

ROC                20 gold, 26 silver, 23 bronze - 69 total

Great Britain   20 gold, 21 silver, 22 bronze - 63 total

Japan               27 gold, 12 silver, 17 bronze - 56 total

Day 15 Mid Day Japan time August 6 to Mid Day Japan Time August 7

The USA women's basketball team beat Serbia 79-59 to advance to the gold medal match. The USA led 41-23 at halftime. The USA was led in scoring by Brittney Griner with 15 points, Chelsea Gray added 14 points followed by Breanna Stewart with 12 points. 

The USA women's volleyball team advanced to the gold medal match vs. Brazil by beating Serbia 3-0, 25-19, 25-15, 25-23.

Americans Brandon Loschiavo finished 11th with 403.85 points and Jordan Windle finished 15th  with 390.05 points to advance to the men's10M platform diving semifinals. Top 18 advance from the prelims to the semifinals.

The USA men's water polo team beat Italy 7-6 in the 5-8 classification, Alex Bowen had 3 goals to lead team USA.

The USA men's 4 by 400 relay team of Trevor Stewart, Randolph Ross, Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood advance to the finals.

Americans Elle Purrier St. Pierre and Cory McGee finished 10th and 12th respectively, in the women's 1500 finals.

Paul Chelimo of the USA wins bronze (12 minutes 59.05 seconds) in the men's 5000M finals. Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda wins gold in 12 minutes 58.15 seconds and Mohammed Ahmad of Canada wins silver in 12 minutes 58.61 seconds.

American Allyson Felix wins bronze (49.46 seconds) in the women's 400. Felix has 10 medals total which now is the most of any female track and field athlete in history. Felix ties Carl Lewis with 10 total track and field medals. Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins gold in 48.36 seconds and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic wins silver in 49.20 seconds.

The USA 4 by 100 track and field team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini  and Gabby Thomas wins silver in 41.45 seconds. Jamaica wins gold in 41.02 seconds (second fastest all time) and Great Britain wins bronze in 41.88 seconds.

Italy wins gold (37.50 seconds) in the men's 4 by 100 relay. Great Britain wins silver in 37.51 seconds and Canada wins bronze in 37.70 seconds. The USA finished 6th in the semifinals and did not qualify for the finals.

American Molly Seidel wins bronze (2 hours 27 minutes and 46 seconds) in the women's marathon. Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya wins gold in 2 hours 27 minutes and 20 seconds and Brigit Kosgei of Kenya wins silver in 2 hours 27 minutes and 36 seconds.

American Kyle Dake wins bronze by beating Frank Chamizo Marquez of Italy 5-0 in men's 74kg freestyle wrestling bronze medal match.

Gable Steveson of the USA wins gold by beating Geno Petriashvili of Georgia 10-8 in the men's freestyle wrestling 125kg classification.

Jordan Windle ( 9th place - 409.80 points) and Brandon Loschiavo (10th place - 409.75 points), both of the USA, advanced to the men's 10M platform diving finals.

Photos Credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media services. For blog use only.

Medal Count as of 11:40pm Eastern Time August 6

USA                31 gold, 36 silver, 32 bronze - 99 total      

China              37 gold, 27 silver, 17 bronze - 81 total

ROC               17 gold, 24 silver, 22 bronze - 63 total

Great Britain  18 gold, 20 silver, 20 bronze - 58 total

Japan              24 gold, 11 silver, 16 bronze - 51 total

Day 14 Mid Day Japan time August 5 to Mid Day Japan time August 6

The USA men's basketball team beat Australia 97-78 to advance to the gold medal match against France. Australia led the USA 45-42 at halftime. The USA was led in scoring by Kevin Durant with 23 points. Devin Booker added 20 points and Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton each had 11 points for team USA.

American Delaney Schnell finished 5th (340.40 points) at the women's 10M platform diving finals. Hongchan Quan of China wins gold with an Olympic Record 466.20 points that included 2 perfect 10 dives. Quan is 14 years old. Yuxi Chen of China wins silver with 425.40 points and Melissa Wu of Australia wins bronze with 371.40 points.

The USA women's soccer team wins bronze by beating Australia 4-3. The USA was ahead at halftime 3-1. Megan Rapinoe scored 2 goals (8th minute and 21st minute) and Carli Lloyd scored 2  goals (51st minute and 45th +1 minute) for team USA. Canada wins gold by beating Sweden 1-1 (3-2 on penalty kicks). Sweden wins silver.

Americans Garrett Scantling finished 4th in the men's decathlon with 8611 points. Zack Ziemek finished 6th with 8435 points and Steve Bastien finished 10th with 8236 points. Damian Warner of Canada wins gold with 9018 points, Kevin Mayer of France wins silver with 8726 points and Ash Moloney of Australia wins bronze with 8649 points.

Americans Kendell Williams finished 5th in the women's heptathlon with 6508 points, Annie Kunz finished 6th with 6420 points and Erica Bougard finished 9th with 6379 points. Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium wins gold with 6791 points. Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands wins silver with 6689 points and Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands wins bronze with 6590 points.

The USA baseball team beat Korea 7-2 to advance to the gold medal game against Japan. Ryan Ryder gets the win.

The USA women's water polo team beat ROC 15-11 to advance to the gold medal match vs Spain. Maddie Musselman had 5 goals to lead team USA and Maggie Steffens added 3 goals.

Katie Nageotte of the USA wins gold (16ft 3/4 in) in the women's pole vault. Anzhelika Sidorova of ROC wins silver by vaulting 15 Ft. 9 in. and Holly Bradshaw of Great Britain wins bronze with a vault of 15 Ft. 9 in. 

The USA women's 4 by 400 relay team of Kaylin Whitney Wadeline Jonathas, Kendall Ellis and Lynna Irby advanced to the finals.

Cole Hocker of the USA advanced to the men's 1500 finals.  American Matthew Centrowitz finished 9th in the other 1500 semifinals and did not advance to the finals.

Michael Cherry (44.21 seconds) and Michael Norman (44.31 seconds), both of the USA, finished 4th and 5th respectively, in the men's 400 finals. Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas wins gold in 43.85 seconds, Anthony Zambrano of Columbia wins silver in 44.08 seconds and Kirani James of Grenada wins bronze in 44.19 seconds.

American Cory Juneau wins bronze with a score of 84.13 in the skateboarding park final. Keegan Palmer of Australia wins gold with a score of 95.83 and Pedro Barros of Brazil wins silver with a 86.14 score.

American Nathaniel Coleman wins silver in sports climbing-men's combined. Alberto Lopez Gines of Spain wins gold and Jakob Schubert of Austria wins bronze.

American Thomas Gilman wins bronze by beating Reza Atrinagharchi of Iran 9-1 in freestyle wrestling 57kg bronze medal match

American David Taylor wins gold by beating Hassan Yazdanicharati of Iran 4-3 in men's freestyle wrestling 86kg class. Yazdanicharati wins silver.

American Helen Maroulis wins bronze by beating Khongorzul Boldsaikhan of Mongolia 11-0 in women's freestyle wrestling 57kg bronze medal match.

The USA women's beach volleyball team of Alix Klineman/April Ross wins gold by beating Artacho/Clancy of Australia 2-0, 21-15, 21-16. Artacho/Clancy wins silver. Verge-Depre/Heidrich of Switzerland beat Graudina/Kravcenoka of Latvia 2-0, 21-19, 21-15 to win bronze.

Photos Credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media services. For blog use only.

Medal Count as of 11;55pm Eastern Time August 5

USA                 30 gold, 35 silver, 27 bronze - 92 total

China               34 gold, 24 silver, 16 bronze - 74 total

ROC                16 gold, 22 silver, 20 bronze - 58 total

Great Britain   16 gold, 18 silver, 18 bronze - 52 total

Japan               22 gold, 10 silver, 14 bronze - 46 total

Day 13 Mid Day Japan time August 4 to Mid Day Japan Time August 5

The USA women's volleyball team advanced to the semifinals by beating the Dominican Republic 3-0, 25-11, 25-20, 25-19. The USA women will play next on Thursday August 5.

The USA baseball team beat the Dominican Republic 3-1. Scott Kazmir got the win and David Robertson got the save.

The USA women's basketball team beat Australia 79-55 to advance to the semifinals. The USA led 48-27 at halftime. The USA was led in scoring by Breanna Stewart with 23 points, Brittney Griner had 15 points and A'ja Wilson had 10 points for team USA.

Americans Delaney Schnell (3rd place-360.75 points) and Katrina Young (17th place - 286.65 points) advance the the women's 10M platform diving semifinals.

Through the first 5 of 10 events of the men's decathlon, USA athletes totals are: Steve Bastien with 4369 points, Zack Ziemek has 4322 points and Garrett Scantling has 4318 points.

Through the first 4 of 7 events of the women's heptathlon, USA athletes totals are: Annie Kunz with 3870 points, Erica Bougard has 3837 points and Kendell Williams has 3776 points.

Elle Purrier St. Pierre and Cory McGee, both of the USA, advanced to the women's 1500 finals.

Allyson Felix and Quanera Hayes, both of the USA, advanced to the women's 400 finals.

Courtney Frerichs of the USA wins silver (9 minutes 4.49 seconds) in the women's 3000 steeplechase. Peruth Chemutai of Uganda wins gold in 9 minutes 1.45 seconds and Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya wins bronze in 9 minutes 5.39 seconds. Valerie Constien of the USA finished 12th in 9 minutes 31.61 seconds and Emma Coburn of the USA  finished 14th in 9 minutes 41.50 seconds after falling over one of the barriers. Coburn was later disqualified. 

American Clayton Murphy finished 9th (1 minute 46.53 seconds) in the men's 800M final.

Americans Ken Bednarek wins silver (19.68 seconds) and Noah Lyles wins bronze (19.74 seconds) in the men's 200. Andre de Grasse of Canada wins gold in 19.62 seconds. American Erriyon Knighton finished 4th in 19.93 seconds.

The USA beach volleyball team of April Ross/Alix Klineman advanced to the gold medal match by beating Verge-Depre/Heidrich of Switzerland 2-0, 21-12, 21-11. 

Delaney Schnell of the USA (3rd - 342.75 points) advanced to the women's 10M platform diving finals. American Katrina Young finished 17th with 263.60 points and did not advance to the finals.

The USA women's 4 by 100 relay team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, English Gardner and Aleia Hobbs advanced to the finals.

The USA men's 4 by 100 relay team of Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley. Ronnie Baker and Cravon Gillespie finished 6th in 38.10 seconds and did not advance to the finals. Bad handoff between Kerley and Baker puts the USA behind. Ghana finishes 5th in the relays and beats out the USA by .02 of a second.

American Will Claye finishes 4th (57 Ft. 2 3/4 in.) in the men's triple jump.

After 7 of 10 men's decathlon events USA athletes Garrett Scantling has 6065 points, Zach Ziemek has 5996 points and Steve Bastien has 5970 points.

After 6 of 7 women's heptathlon events USA athletes Annie Kunz has 5540 points and Erica Bougard has 5499 points. Kendell Williams's group will be up on the javelin at 12:40 am Eastern time.

American Grant Holloway wins silver (13.09 seconds) in the men's 110 hurdles final. Hansle Parchment of Jamaica wins gold in 13.04 seconds and Ronald Levy of Jamaica wins bronze in 13.10 seconds. Devon Allen of the USA finished 4th in 13.14 seconds.

Americans Ryan Crouser wins gold (76 Ft. 3 3/4 in. ) and Joe Kovacs wins silver ( 74 Ft. 3 3/4 in.) in the men's shot put. Tom Walsh of New Zealand wins bronze with a throw of 73 Ft. 8 3/4 in. 

Photos Credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media sources. For blog use only.

Medal count as of 11:55pm Eastern Time August 4

USA                  27 gold, 33 silver, 23 bronze - 83 total

China                32 gold, 23 silver, 16 bronze - 71 total

ROC                 14 gold, 21 silver, 18 bronze - 53 total

Great Britain    15 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze - 49 total

Japan                21 gold,   7 silver, 12 bronze - 40 total

Day 12 Mid Day Japan time August 3 to Mid Day Japan time August 4

The USA men's basketball team beat Spain 95-81 to advance to the semifinals. The game was tied at halftime 43-43. Kevin Durant led team USA with 29 points followed by Jayson Tatum with 13 points and Jrue Holiday added 12 points for team USA.

Andrew Capobianco of the USA finished 10th (401.70 points) in the 3M springboard diving finals. Siyi Xie of China wins gold with 558.75 points, Zongwong Wang of China wins silver with 534.90 points and Jack Laugher of Great Britain wins bronze with 518.00 points.

The USA women's water polo team beat Canada 16-5 to advance to the semifinals. Maggie Steffens, Makenzie Fischer and Alys Williams had 3 goals each to lead team USA. 

American Sam Mikulak finished 6th on Parallel Bars with a score of 15.000 in the men's gymnastics event finals. Jimyan Zou of China wins gold with a 16.233. Lukas Dauser of Germany wins silver with a 15.700 and Ferhat Arican of Germany wins bronze with a 15.633.

Simone Biles of the USA wins bronze on Balance Beam with a score of 14.000 in the women's gymnastics event finals. American Sunisa Lee finished 5th on the Balance Beam with a 13.866. Chenchen Guan of China wins gold with a score of 14.633 and Xijing Tang of China wins silver with a 14.233.

American Brody Malone finished 4th on High Bar with a score of 14.200 in the men's gymnastics event finals. Daiki Hashimoto of Japan wins gold with a score of 15.066. Tin Srbic of Croatia wins silver with a 14.900 score and Nikita Nagornyy of ROC wins bronze with a 14.533 score.

Grant Holloway, Devon Allen, and Daniel Roberts, all of the USA. advanced to the men's 110 hurdles semifinals.

American Chris Nilsen wins silver (19 Ft. 7 in.) in the men's pole vault. Armond Duplantis of Sweden wins gold and Thiago Braz of Brazil wins bronze. 

Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs and Payton Otterdahl, all the USA, advanced to the men's shot put finals.

Woody Kincaid, Paul Chelimo and Grant Fisher, all of the USA, advanced to the men's 5000M finals.

Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles, all of the USA, advanced to the men's 200 finals.

Americans Athing Mu (1 minute 55.21 seconds) and Raevyn Rogers (1 minute 56.81 seconds) win gold and bronze respectively, in the women's 800. Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain wins silver in 1 minute 55.88 seconds.

American Gabby Thomas wins bronze (21.87 seconds) in the women's 200 finals. Elaine Thompson Herah of Jamaica wins gold in 21.53 seconds and Christine Nboma of Namibia wins silver in 21.81 seconds.

American Tamyra Mensah Stock wins gold in women's 68kg freestyle wrestling by beating Blessing Oborududo of Nigeria 4-1. 

Devon Allen and Grant Holloway, both of the USA, advanced to the men's 110 hurdles finals.

Americans Sydney McLaughlin (51.46 seconds - world record) and Dalilah Muhammad (51.58 seconds) wins gold and silver respectively in the women's 400 hurdles final. Femke Bol of the Netherlands wins bronze in 52.03 seconds. McLaughlin and Muhammad have the 2 fastest times in this event ever. 

Americans Garrett Scantling earned 2627 points after the first 3 events of the decathlon(100, long jump, shot put) followed by Zack Ziemek with 2614 points and Steve Bastien with 2592 points.

Americans Eric Bougard earned 2157 points after the first 2 events of the heptathlon( 100 hurdles, high jump), followed by Kendell Williams with 2107 points and Annie Kunz with 2030 points. 

Photos credit: Getty Images, UPI, AP and other media sources. For blog use only.

Medal Count as of 11:45pm Eastern Time August 3

USA                  25 gold, 29 silver, 21 bronze - 75 total

China                32 gold, 21 silver, 16 bronze - 69 total

ROC                 13 gold, 21 silver, 18 bronze - 52 total

Great Britain    13 gold, 17 silver, 13 bronze - 43 total

Japan                19 gold,  6  silver, 11 bronze - 36 total

Day 11 - Mid day Japan time August 2 to mid day Japan time August 3

The USA women's volleyball team beat Italy 3-2, 21-25, 25-16, 25-27, 25-16, 15-12. The USA finished Pool B with a 3-1 record heading into the quarterfinals.

The USA women's basketball team beat France 93-82. The USA led 50-44 at halftime. A'ja Wilson led team USA with 22 points followed by Breanna Stewart with 17 points and Tina Charles had 15 points for team USA.

Andrew Capobianco (17th place - 385.50 points) of the USA advanced to the men's 3M springboard diving semifinals.  Only the top 18 divers qualify for the semifinals. Tyler Downs of the USA (23rd place - 348.70 points) did not advance to the semifinals.

Simone Biles of the USA has decided to compete in Tuesday August 3, women's gymnastics balance beam event finals.

The USA women's soccer team lost to Canada in the semifinals 1-0. Canadian Jessie Fleming scored the only goal on a penalty kick in the 74th minute. The penalty was given to Tierna Davidson of the USA. USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had to leave the match in the 30th minute due to a knee injury and was replaced by Adrianna French. The USA will now face Australia again on Thursday August 5 in the bronze medal match.

American Jade Carey wins gold (14.366 score) on the vault at the women's gymnastics event finals. Vanessa Ferrari of Italy wins silver with a 14.200 score and Mai Murakami of Japan/Angelina Melnikova of ROC tied for bronze with a score of 14.166.

Katie Nageotte and Morgan LeLeux, both of the USA, advanced to the women's pole vault finals. American Sandi Morris had her pole break during a pole vault attempt and suffered an injury which prevented her from advancing to the finals.

Gabby Thomas of the USA advanced to the women's 200M finals.

Valarie Allman of the USA wins gold in the women's discus with a throw of 226 Ft. 4 in. Kristin Pudenz of Germany wins silver and Yaime Perez of Cuba wins bronze. 

Michael Cherry and Michael Norman, both of the USA, advanced to the men's 400 finals.

Anna Cockrell, Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, all of the USA, advanced to the women's 400 hurdles finals.

American's Karissa Schweizer finished 11th and Elise Cranny finished 13th in the women's 5000M finals.

The USA baseball team lost to Japan 7-6. Edwin Jackson was the losing pitcher for team USA.

USA wrestler Adeline Gray wins silver in losing to Aline Rotter Focken of Germany 7-3 in the women's freestyle 76kg. Rotter Focken wins gold.

The USA men's water polo team lost to Greece 14-5. Alex Obert scored 2 goals to lead team USA. The USA will advance to the next rounds despite the loss.

American Sarah Robles wins bronze in women's weightlifting 87kg class. Wenwen Li of China wins gold and Emily Jade Campbell of Great Britain wins silver. 

The USA beach volleyball team of Alex Klineman/April Ross beat Ludwig/Korzuch of Germany 2-0, 21-19, 21-19 to advance to the semifinals.

Will Claye and Donald Scott, both of the USA, advanced to the men's triple jump finals.

Cole Hocker and Matthew Centrowitz, both of the USA, advanced to the men's 1500 semifinals.

Quanera Hayes, Allyson Felix and Wadeline Jonathas, all of the USA, advanced to the women's 400  semifinals.

American Maggie Malone advanced to the women's Javelin throw finals.

Erriyon Knighton, Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, all of the USA, advanced to the men's 200 semifinals.

American Andrew Capobianco (10th place - 419.60 points) of the USA advanced to the men's 3M Springboard diving finals. 

American Brittney Reese wins silver (22 Ft. 9 in) in the women's long jump. Malaika Mihambo of Germany wins gold jumping 22 Ft. 11 1/4 in. and Ese Blume wins bronze with a jump of 22 Ft. 9 in.

Rai Benjamin of the USA wins silver (46.17 seconds) in the men's 400 hurdles. Karsten Warholm of Norway wins gold and sets a world record of 45.94 seconds. Alison dos Santos of Brazil wins bronze in 46.72 seconds.

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Medal Count as of 11:55 PM Eastern Time August 2

USA                 22 gold, 27 silver, 17 bronze - 66 total

China               29 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze - 63 total

ROC                12 gold, 21 silver, 17 bronze - 50 total

Great Britain   11 gold, 12 silver, 12 bronze - 35 total

Japan               17 gold,   6 silver, 10 bronze - 33 total

Australia         14 gold,   4 silver, 15 bronze - 33 total

Games thoughts after 10 days

After 10 days of these Tokyo games I am amazed how well the athletes can compete without big crowds. Although I saw swimming events with lots of USA swimmers and worldwide media in attendance some evenings. 

I really enjoyed the Opening Ceremony which NBC televised live at 6;55 am on July 23. The evening showing of the Opening Ceremony had more commercials than the live morning version. I was watching the opening ceremony as I blogged my "book  report" of the opening ceremony.

The USA has done fairly well so far after 10 days, leading the medal count over China 60-51. However, the USA is behind China in the gold medal count 24-20. The USA is not winning as many gold medals and may be short of 43 gold medals I predicted before the games. I think now my predictions for the USA  medal count will be between 100 and 110 medals won after seeing their haul for 10 days with 37 gold. I will stick with the original predictions I made. however. The USA won 30 medals in swimming, a bit short of the 33 medals won I had predicted but Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel did not disappoint. Track and field is off to a show start with no gold medals after 2 days of competition. 6 shooting medals are something good to see. Also USA medals in fencing are great too. Diving medals compliment USA medal haul as well. It was tough to see 3 USA volleyball teams(1 indoor and 2 beach teams) be eliminated in a 24 hour period(July 31- August 1). Also sweating out USA soccer matches. the loss to Sweden 3-0, which I watched and the Netherlands match which ended in penalty kicks, which the USA won!

Some of my predictions for USA women's gymnastics and USA softball winning gold were not accurate. Also predictions for Trayvon Bromell winning gold, Simone Biles winning gold in team final, all around finals and event finals were not accurate, 

The Simone Biles withdrawal from the team competition, and most event finals due to mental health is the biggest story of these games so far. I saw Simone's first vault in the team competition and Biles truly looked lost in the air. her vault landing was not sharp and her reaction after landing the vault said something was wrong. I was quite surprised that Simone would withdraw knowing the competitor she is but I've been in mental health funks before and competition would be too dangerous for Simone. I've seen Simone compete on June, 6, 2021 at the USA Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. She was incredible! Simone Biles is the GOAT of women's gymnastics and not performing at the Tokyo games wont change that. Now Suni Lee is the next GOAT, having won a silver in the team competition,  Gold in the All Around and bronze on the Uneven Bars. 

NBC's coverage of these games is a first for me. Never have I ever stressed to watch the 8 sports I follow so much. NBC has decided to show events live, which is great but if indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, swimming and gymnastics are all on in prime time on different networks or some sports are not shown at all until the next day. I DVR the USA beach volleyball and indoor volleyball matches along with USA women's soccer matches but didn't watch them all so now I will DVR only the NBC prime time coverage. I did not record any gymnastics team finals or all around competition these games. Olympic sports are shown on 4 NBC networks now, not including the Olympic Channel. NBC, NBCSN, USA Network are the main networks for the Olympics and CNBC shows nighttime and weekend Olympic sports programming. Something new: USA network showing live track and field events from 8-11pm each night at the same time that NBC has their prime time coverage, which today(August 1) included some track and field events too. I have to flip back and forth. Some early USA beach volleyball matches were shown on USA network at the same time (8pm) as NBC's prime time coverage. 

Then there's the times of these events. USA women's soccer times are 4 am eastern time and 7 am.. I'm up watching USA men's and women's basketball games that start at 12:40am eastern time and then diving is shown at 2 am live or a soccer match at 6 am on USA network, gymnastics and track events are shown live. I have waken up twice around 6:45 am for the women's gymnastics team final and yesterday(Sunday August 1) for the men's 100 finals and women's gymnastics event finals on Peacock. The only times I will take a break is in the afternoon's if I've already seen an event live earlier in the day or between 5 pm and 8 pm weekdays and 6pm to 7pm on weekends. These are the 24 hour Olympics. Events are at midnight, 2 am, 4 am, 6 am, track finals are at 8:45 am, Indoor volleyball matches start at 8:45am. There is no time to watch anything on DVR.. The first Saturday of these games I watched from 7:30 am to midnight with about a 3 hour break so that's about 14 hours a day. On Saturday/July 31 I stayed up all night to watch diving and NBC's late night coverage and was up at 6 am to watch women's gymnastics and track and field finals on Peacock, then watched the USA men's volleyball team play at 9:30 am to about 11:30 am before taking a nap until late afternoon. Its 3 am and I've been up since. 

My conclusion is that I will miss events and will sleep over some events like the USA women's soccer team vs Australia at 7 am a few days ago. I cant watch everything I'm used to watching due to the time of the events. I'm having trouble keeping up with programming and its frustrating. No Olympics I've watched has had multiple sports I follow and watch on at the same time on different networks where one has to choose which to watch, even with a DVR. Also I spend 2 times a day blogging the games. The first is in late afternoon, the second is between 11:30pm and midnight eastern time. Blog days are published at about 11:45 pm eastern time every day. Why? the last swimming medal events weren't until 11:30pm eastern time. Track and field events go to 11 pm eastern time most evenings.

NBC's coverage is another story. quick pre-emptions of live action to commercials are normal and lots of commercials, even on videos on twitter i think twitter . I'm watching a USA beach volleyball match and it goes immediately to commercial. Sometimes NBC shows the commercial in one box and the beach volleyball on another box. That's usually in prime time only. NBC is up to its miss several volleyball points each time due to commercials. If the score of a beach volleyball match is 9-9 before the commercial, after the commercial the score is 11-10, therefore I missed 3 points. Also NBC starts airing matches with a 1-1 or 2-1 score in beach volleyball. Its never 0-0.  Sometimes commercials are so long 4-5 points are missed. I may be the only one who notices that NBC might only show 70 percent of a volleyball match. Also NBC shows a set of volleyball only, like parts of matches. Nothing NBC shows viewers in its entirety except USA women's soccer matches and USA men's and women's basketball games. They are broadcast with "limited commercial interruption". Overall, minus the excessive commercials, NBC is doing a decent job covering the games, adding Maria Taylor as host from ESPN. Extra sports analysts add to the broadcasts. Mike Tirico is doing a good job as evening host for NBC.