Contributed by Emma Booth.Regional Director, USA Sport Group.
Back to Olympic Round Up: Day 10
Kicking up a Racket
Okay, so tennis should have gone in my last post, but there were just too many sports to fit in! Andy Murray FINALLY beat Federer at Wimbledon – and did so to claim a gold medal in the men’s singles. He then went on to try and become a double gold medalist in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson – but they fell at the final hurdle to the Belarusian team; Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi. Serena Williams however did become a double gold medalist. Firstly on her own in the women’s singles beating Russia’s sweetheart Maria Sharapova, and then with her sister, Venus, in the women’s doubles as they defeated the Czech Republic’s Hlavackova and Hradecka. It was all relative in the men’s doubles as well, with (try and tell them apart) Bob and Mike Bryan snatching gold from Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who were unlucky as they pretty much served on a sixpence throughout most of the match. So there you go; all the winners from the All-England Club.
Horsing Around
It was a European domination in the Equestrian events (with the horses) at the Olympics. Germany and Great Britain taking two golds each, with Switzerland picking up one. One of the few events in which both men and women compete directly against each other, it was the men who took all three medals in the individual jumping – in a very particular order (gold through bronze): Steve Guerdat (SUI), Gerco Schroder (NED) and Cian O’Connor (IRL). The individual event was girl power, with the exception of Michael Jung of Germany who took gold. Sara Algotsson Ostholt of Sweden was dressed in silver, and Sandra Auffarth, also German, took the bronze. It was GBR who took the team dressage and jumping by storm – and the German who won the team eventing. I don’t normally watch the Equestrian in the Olympics, but I found myself transfixed, one question however… Do the horses get medals too?
Tri Your Hardest
And the closest race of the entire Olympic Games goes to… The 400m hurdles? No. The 100m sprint? No. In fact, it goes to the women’s triathlon, which saw Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig just edge out Sweden’s Lisa Norden to take the win. They had the exact same time – it was only a millimeter or two difference in the photo finish which decided it - which is remarkable, seeing as the event lasted nearly 2 hours! Australian Erin Densham was hot on their tails though to take bronze – a remarkable finish for such a grueling race. The Brownlee Brothers of Great Britain took home gold and bronze in the men’s triathlon. Alistair and Jonathon ran, swam and rode their way onto the podium in an impressive display, with Javier Gomez of Spain taking the silver. And before you ask, no, this is not a sport I’m thinking about taking up after being inspired by these athletes. I’ll just be an energetic spectator.
Olympic Round Up: Day 17
Okay, so tennis should have gone in my last post, but there were just too many sports to fit in! Andy Murray FINALLY beat Federer at Wimbledon – and did so to claim a gold medal in the men’s singles. He then went on to try and become a double gold medalist in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson – but they fell at the final hurdle to the Belarusian team; Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi. Serena Williams however did become a double gold medalist. Firstly on her own in the women’s singles beating Russia’s sweetheart Maria Sharapova, and then with her sister, Venus, in the women’s doubles as they defeated the Czech Republic’s Hlavackova and Hradecka. It was all relative in the men’s doubles as well, with (try and tell them apart) Bob and Mike Bryan snatching gold from Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who were unlucky as they pretty much served on a sixpence throughout most of the match. So there you go; all the winners from the All-England Club.
Horsing Around
It was a European domination in the Equestrian events (with the horses) at the Olympics. Germany and Great Britain taking two golds each, with Switzerland picking up one. One of the few events in which both men and women compete directly against each other, it was the men who took all three medals in the individual jumping – in a very particular order (gold through bronze): Steve Guerdat (SUI), Gerco Schroder (NED) and Cian O’Connor (IRL). The individual event was girl power, with the exception of Michael Jung of Germany who took gold. Sara Algotsson Ostholt of Sweden was dressed in silver, and Sandra Auffarth, also German, took the bronze. It was GBR who took the team dressage and jumping by storm – and the German who won the team eventing. I don’t normally watch the Equestrian in the Olympics, but I found myself transfixed, one question however… Do the horses get medals too?
Tri Your Hardest
And the closest race of the entire Olympic Games goes to… The 400m hurdles? No. The 100m sprint? No. In fact, it goes to the women’s triathlon, which saw Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig just edge out Sweden’s Lisa Norden to take the win. They had the exact same time – it was only a millimeter or two difference in the photo finish which decided it - which is remarkable, seeing as the event lasted nearly 2 hours! Australian Erin Densham was hot on their tails though to take bronze – a remarkable finish for such a grueling race. The Brownlee Brothers of Great Britain took home gold and bronze in the men’s triathlon. Alistair and Jonathon ran, swam and rode their way onto the podium in an impressive display, with Javier Gomez of Spain taking the silver. And before you ask, no, this is not a sport I’m thinking about taking up after being inspired by these athletes. I’ll just be an energetic spectator.
Olympic Round Up: Day 17
No comments:
Post a Comment