15 Minutes of Olympian Rule 5

These are the athletes of Rio, not performances from Rio. There's a key to who's who at the Youtube link

And with that, I declare the Rio Olympics over. Linked at Pirates's Cove in the "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup", a weekly link and Rule 5 roundup. Wombat-socho snuck in late with "Rule 5 Sunday: Viva Los Lobos!" and "FMJRA 2.0: Day Late & A Dollar Short."

The Rio Report

Ryan Crouser

We'll get down to business, but first some Rule 5 (or is it 6?) for the ladies. Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs scored Gold and Silver in the Shot put final yesterday. Crouser threw the 16 lb iron ball 22.52 meters (that's a long ways, for you non-metric folk), breaking the Olympic record of 22.47 m set by his hero Ulf Timmerman of East Germany in 1988.

Ashton Easton

Ashton Easton won his second consecutive Olympic Gold in the Decathlon, with a score of 8,893 tying the Olympic record he has set previously in London. I have no idea how that score is generated, although I tried out for decathlon in junior high. Apparently, slow, short guys aren't cut out for the sport. Best known for the Visa commercial starring he and his wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who also competes in the heptathlon and pentathlon.

Brianne Theisen-Eaton

At least if this year's world's greatest athlete decides to change sex (or is it gender; I'm so confused these days?) he can just switch his name to Ashley and be done with it.

That's him, way ahead of everybody else

Of course, no mention of yesterday's results would be complete without relating how Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his third consecutive Gold in the 200 yard dash, and is hoping for third Gold in the 4 X 100 relay. You don't really need another picture of Usain, do you girls? Oh? OK.

Ren Qian

The Chinese women  Ren Qian and Si Yajie finished Gold and Silver diving from the platform with nearly flawless dives. A Canadian, Meaghan Benfeito managed the Bronze, and American hopeful Jessica Parratto fell to 10th with some sloppy entries.

Ren Qian is 15, so it's likely she will remain a dominant player in the sport for quite a while.

After Allison Felix was fouled by a Brazilian runner and dropped the baton, the ladies of the United States Track and Field team got a second chance to run the first heat of the  4×100-meter relay, on an empty track. It was a little strange, but they managed to qualify, which bumped China out of the contest. The Brazilian team was disqualified.

That's Helen on top

Finally, Helen Maroulis wins USA's first gold in women's wrestling

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

I Guess I Should Use This Before Rio is Over

Somebody made a very loving portrait of Brazilian platform diver Ingrid de Oliveira:



Part II

Alas, her team only scored 8th in the synchronized platform, and she was ranked 22 in the platform diving, so she didn't get a lot of air time.

Pedro Gonçalves

However, she was apparently involved in a minor escapade: Ingrid de Oliveira apologized for sexual scandal in Rio 2016, as badly translated by Google translator:

It all started when Ingrid de Oliveira asked his companion Giovanna Pedrosa , the room they shared at the Olympic Village for the night with Brazilian rower Pedro Gonçalves.

Pedrosa initially refused because the next day competed and had to rest, however, moments later he accepted and left the room so that his partner could have the passionate encounter.

The next day they competed and their performance was disappointing because competition in trampoline jumping 10 meters the pair came last. Anger made Giovanna inform the Brazilian Olympic Committee about what happened that night so determined the expulsion of the beautiful diver.

After the scandal Brazilian Ingrid de Oliveira said: "Everyone can make a mistake" while Gonçalves has not spoken about it .

You can read it in nonbutchered English at the New York Post:

More Rio Rule 5

First time ever: U.S. women 1-2-3 in Olympic track event

In the final event on a busy track and field calendar Wednesday at Olympic Stadium, Americans Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the women’s 100m hurdles, Rollins winning in 12.48 seconds.

Remarkable finish. Castlin won Bronze by a minuscule margin.

Amy Cozad and Jessica Parratto

We're in the middle of the 10m platform diving, and Jessica Parratto of the US, having scored 7th in the synchronized event is in contention still as it Katrina Young.

Katrina Young

Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst

Yesterday was the end of Women's Beach Volleyball, alas. First, in the final the German team of Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst rained on Brazil's Agatha and Barbara's parade as they fell quietly, 21-14 in the second set.








Then Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross dashed Brazil's second teams of Talita and Larissa hope for a Bronze, beating them in a tough match that went most of the distance, 17-21, 21-17, 15-9, with Kerri delivering a number of big blocks at the end.

Talita and Larissa

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

The Morning Rio Review

Not much of a day for the US at the Olympics. 17 Year old New Jersey native Sydney McLaughlin placed 5th in the semi-finals of the 400-meter hurdles. An odd sport, for sure. Hopefully she'll be back as a more mature 21 year old in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

There was a touching moment of sportsmanship when American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin crossed legs on a 5,000 meter qualifying run. After picking herself up, D'Agonstino helped Hamblin to her feet:

"Get up. We have to finish this," then hoisted her to her feet to restart the run.

Turned out, D'Agostino took the worst of it, hobbled because she had hurt her ankle. So, when Hamblin got to the finish, she waited for her new friend, where they exchanged a warm hug before the American got carted off in a wheelchair.

Judges advanced them both to the finals without comment.

Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas

And of course, the news would not be complete without word that the American Women's Beach Volleyball team, Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross, were defeated in the semi-finals by the clearly superior (at least yesterday) Brazilian team of Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in straight sets. But it was a hell of a match, with many great digs and tough rallies. Senior member of the team Kerri Walsh Jennings puts blame for Olympic semifinal loss on herself.

Kerri and April will contend with the other Brazilian team, Larissa França and Talita Antunes for the bronze today at 9 PM, while Agatha and Barbara will play Germany for the Gold at 11. As for men's beach volleyball, who cares?

But the one really bright spot in yesterday's contests was  Simone Biles crushing her competition, including her teammate Aly Raisman (who won Silver) in the floor exercises, for her fourth Gold of the olympics. They're already starting to talk about her as the best women's gymnast ever. Who am I to judge?

Regrets from Rio

Yesterday was not a great day for America at the Olympics. For the first thing, it was a day off for the remaining Women's Beach Volleyball team. Then there was Allyson Felix, widely expected to get the Gold in the Women's 400 m only to be beaten by a last second, extremely painful looking lunge by the Bahama's Shaunae Miller, yielding her a 0.07 sec. victory.

I guess at the price of gold, it's worth the road rash.

And she does a mean imitation of Beyonce.

Allyson Felix's Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

17 Things You Need to Know About Team USA Sprinter Allyson Felix

Olympian Allyson Felix: 25 Things You Don't Know About Me

Simone Biles

And then there was Simone Biles, for whom the expectations of a Gold on the balance beam ran ahead of the facts. She had a bad bobble, and was forced to grab the beam or fall, and came in third after Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands and her own teammate, Laurie Hernandez.

Sanne Wevers

 Laurie Hernandez

But bad news did not fall on the Americans alone. Bronze Medal winner Fu Yuanhui of China blamed her teams 4th place finish on her period in the 4x100m medley relay, and was rewarded with praise from the home crowd: 'It's because I had my period': swimmer Fu Yuanhui praised for breaking taboo

“I don’t think I performed very well today. I feel I let my teammates down,” a visibly pained Fu told state-broadcaster CCTV in a brief poolside conversation following the race.

Asked whether she was suffering from stomach pains, the 20-year-old swimmer said her period had started the previous day. “It’s because my period came yesterday, so I felt particularly tired – but this isn’t an excuse, I still didn’t swim well enough,” she said.

Chinese sports fans used social media to praise Fu for breaking the silence surrounding the menstrual cycles of female athletes. Many said they had not realised it was possible for a woman to swim during her period. “Our Ms Fu dares to say anything,” wrote one user of Weibo, China’s Twitter.

As Ann Althouse notes:

When Michael Phelps failed to win his last individual race, the 100m butterfly, he didn't tell us about his substandard sleep last night or a recent unsatisfying bowel movement. He said to talk to the guy who won and "I’m happy right now" and other conventional good-sport remarks.

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

More Rio Rule 5

But first, some actual news and some Rule 5 for the ladies. Usain Bolt of Jamaica upheld his title as the fastest man in the world by running 100 yards in 9.81 seconds. Way to go, man! I mean that literally.

Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina

I watched just enough duet synchronized swimming to see that the US team of Anita Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva don't have a chance against the Russian duo Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina. Indeed, after the first performance they are  9th place.

Anita Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva

Maybe we can get them tossed out of the competition for using Meldronium.

Next off to mixed doubles tennis, where the US's Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sand took Gold away from Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram  7-6, 1-6, (10-7) also from the US. Speaking of socks:

Venus Williams did not divulge where she will store her fifth Olympic tennis medal. We do know where those stars-and-stripes socks worn by Bethanie Mattek-Sands are going, though.

“Definitely, the socks will get retired and put in a frame,” Mattek-Sands said.

Venus Williams was ill before leaving for Rio de Janeiro, and she was upset in the first round of both singles and doubles. She and Ram had a series of tight matches leading up to the final.

“It's been an amazing experience, five Olympics for me,” she said. “It's surreal that I even came out with any hardware at all.”

She did not rule out a sixth Olympics at Tokyo in 2020, when she would be 40.

Nadine Zumkehr and Joana Heidrich

Sadly, women's beach volley ball is slowly coming to a close, with the Brazilian team of Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes sneaking past Switzerland’s younger team, Nadine Zumkehr and Joana Heidrich, 21-23, 27-25, 15-13 in yesterday's quarter finals. Based on what I saw yesterday, Joana Heidrich has the potential of becoming a Kerri Walsh-Jennings style dominant player.

Later, the Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross topped Australia’s Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy 21-14, 21-16.

Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy.jpg

The semi-finals are to be played tomorrow, with one Brazilian team facing Germany in the afternoon, and another (Larissa/Talita) facing the United States in the evening.

Why do women beach volleyball players wear bikinis while men wear shorts and tank tops?

“The athletes are allowed to wear long sleeves, they’re allowed to wear shorts, tank tops,” Calabro said. “But we’ve gotten a lot of athletes on record saying they prefer to wear a two-piece because there are less places for sand to hide. They don’t view it as swim wear or anything like a fashion statement. For them, that’s their uniform.”

Kerri Walsh Jennings has been especially vocal about their decision to compete in two-pieces. She told The Huffington Post:

“When it comes to beach volleyball, we’re playing in 100-degree-plus weather. I think we’ve just gotta educate the public, take it with a grain of salt and make sure that we’re working hard and not playing up the sex appeal because it’s inherent anyway.”

Simone Biles wins women's vault

Biles owned the vault. Now she’s owning the podium.

In the vault final, gymnasts vault twice and the scores are averaged. Biles scored 15.900 on her first -- an Amanar -- with a short hop back. She spoke briefly with her personal coach, Aimee Boorman, between vaults and came back with an even better showing on her second one, the Cheng, and scored 16.033.

Biles is the first U.S. woman to win the Olympics on vault and the first to win three Olympic golds in a single Games in gymnastics.

I was more impressed by the 41 year old Ukrainian vaulter Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina who competed, not because she did it so well, but that she could do it at all. When asked why she did, she said it's because no one makes her.

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

What's Up in Rio?

They figured out who the fasted woman alive is, for the time being. Elaine Thompson of Jamaica defeated her fellow countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, winner of the event in the previous two Olympics, who got bronze behind American Tori Bowie in the 100-meter dash. Shockingly, there was even a white woman in the race, Daphne Schipper of the Netherlands, who came in 5th with a time of 10.90 seconds.

In swimming, pock marked aquatic ape Michael Phelps secured what he claims will be his final Olympic medal swimming the butterfly leg of the team victory in the 4 X 100 meter medley.

Simone Manuel of the United States has good day, winning Silver in the 50 m free style behind Pernille Blume of Denmark. Later the same day she swam the critical freestyle leg of the 4 X 100 meter women's medley, for a Gold, her second, for a total of two golds and two silvers.

Simone Manuel making sure it's real

We now know why the diving pools turned ugly green:

Rio 2016 officials said Saturday it was because a a contractor poured hydrogen peroxide into the diving well and the large pool in the center last week. The chemical reacted with the chlorine and turned the water an emerald green and increasingly murky.
.
Hydrogen peroxide is a de-chlorinating agent, which means it undoes what chlorine is supposed to do — kill germs and keep water clear. That could explain the murkiness that resulted, and, as the days went by, only got worse.

Pernille Blume, yes, really

Rio officials maintained that the water was not a health hazard to athletes, and training sessions and competitions continued in the green pools.

But on Saturday, the pools were drained so the increasingly swampy water could be replaced with fresh water in time for synchronized swimming, which requires competitors and judges to have good visibility underwater. The process will take six hours, according to the AP, and another four hours to fill the pool, which will hopefully be ready for athletes by Sunday morning.

Almaz Ayan

Ethiopian runner Almaz Ayan crushed the women's 10,000 meter run with a time 29 minutes, 17.45 seconds, 14 seconds faster than the previous record. She will also compete in the 5,000 and 3,000 meter runs.

John Walters at Newsweek thinks Almaz Ayana's record-breaking win may be too good to be true:

Has anyone measured the track and pool in Rio? Are they the appropriate distances? It’s not unusual for a world record of three to fall at an Olympics, but what transpired at the Olympic Stadium on the first morning of the track and field program will only draw more skeptical eyes to a sport that has long been the jewel of the Olympics.

It's not like she's carrying any excess baggage.

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

The Morning Rio Report

Pock-marked hairless beach pool ape Michael Phelps actually made the news, losing a gold medal by coming in second in the 100 m buttefly to Singapore's Joseph Schooling. Shortly afterward, he announced  'I am not coming back in four years'. However, teammate Ryan Lochte guarantees Michael Phelps will return in 2020 . Phelps gets one more chance to win gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay today.

Speaking of schooling, Katie Ledecky won her fourth gold medal when she took the rest of the swimmers to school in the 800 m freestyle, almost lapping the field, and breaking her own world record mark with 8 min 4.79 seconds. That girl ain't quite human.

Maya Dirado 

Teammate Maya Dirado won her first individual gold medal in 2:05.99 ahead of “iron lady” Katinka Hosszu from Hungary (2:06.05) and ahead of Hilary Caldwell from Canada (2:07.54).

Italian team in better weather

It was so cold in Rio's winter weather (remember, they're south of the equator), that the girls of the beach volleyball squad had to wear long long sleeve tops while defeating the similarly insulated Italian team of Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini in straight sets. Come on, can't we get some warmer weather for the girls?

The US women's soccer team had their quest for glory cut short when a 1-1 tie was decided by penalty kicks against the the Swedish women.

Gracious as always, alleged domestic abuser and goalie Hope Solo said:

"I'm very proud of this team. But I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I think you saw American heart. You saw us give everything we had today," she told reporters.

"Sweden dropped off. They didn't want to open play. They didn't want to pass the ball. They didn't want to play great soccer." "I don't think they're going to make it far in the tournament," she added. "I think it was very cowardly."

She apologized later, and said she wasn't a very good loser. Yep. Practice, practice, practice!

And last, for now, the US's Michelle Carter got the Gold in Women's Shot Put, with a throw of 20.63 meters. Her father, Michael Carter took a Silver Medal in Los Angeles, 1984, making them the first US father/daughter team of medal winners. Her dad also went on to become a professional football player, and won three Superbowl rings with the 49ers.  Hey, maybe she could save the Redskins!

Wombat-socho's "Rule 5 Sunday: Post-Olympics Edition" is open for business at The Other McCain.

More News from Rio

Simone Manuel

That pock-marked aquatic aquatic ape, Michael Phelps swam to another gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley, then turned around and qualified for another in less than 40 min. He now has four golds in Rio, and  with Katie Ledecky winning 2 more,  this makes  Maryland currently one of biggest gold medal winners of the Olympics, number 4,  ahead of Australia with 5 and just behind Japan at 7 currently. In swimming, Simone Manuel of the US, Penny Oleksiak of Canada tied for Olympic gold in 100m freestyle. 

Penny Oleksiak

Isn't it time to end this ridiculous split and conquer Canada once and for all? Hey, Putin got Crimea, and part of Ukraine!

Simone Biles

The big news, of course, for those of us that follow the US, is the gold and silver finish of Simone Biles and Aly Raisman in the gymnastics overall. It was dog walking time when it came on last night, but I did catch Simone's mat exhibition. Am I wrong, or do these girls look like they were drawn by Marvel Comic illustrators, with bulging muscles and flying through the air like they've been bitten by radioactive spiders or something?

Aly Raisman

All they need is web shooters.

The next mini-scandal is that Gabby Douglas forgot to put her hand over her heart during the playing of the Stars Spangled Banner at the medal ceremony of the team all arounds: The LA Times was pretty harsh, but

. . . she issued what was at least an explanation if not a full blown apology. (USA Today)

First I want to say thank you everyone for all your support! It’s a huge honor for me to be able to represent #TeamUSA. In response to a few tweets I saw tonight, I always stand at attention out of respect for our country whenever the national anthem is played. I never meant any disrespect and apologize if I offended anyone. I’m so overwhelmed at what our team accomplished today and overjoyed that we were able to bring home another gold for our country!

Apology accepted.

So much time, so little material: The six month process of designing, sponsoring and fittings that led to Team USA's customized beach volleyball bikinis

So let's have another look at that:

That's worth every second of  the time and every penny of the expense!

Wombat-socho has a plain vanilla "Rule 5 Sunday" ready at The Other McCain.