Bobbing for Medals

We watch the Olympics all day so that you don’t have to.

Diving isn’t one of my favorite events, in large part because I don’t tell all that much difference between most dive, since they all tend to look the same and pretty good to me.  But yesterday in the women’s springboard competition there were two that even I could figure out weren’t especially good.  On one, the Japanese diver did what can only be describe as a “belly flop on her back.  It was awful, but she at least got some points for it, what with all the spins and twirls she made in the air – she just didn’t complete the dive…er, very well.  For the other, Canadian diver Pamela Ware did her normal run-up on the board, make her hop at the end and sprang up in the air – but instead of twisting and turning and flipping…stayed completely vertical and just plummeted straight down into the pool.  (It was the kind of dive I’d make…)  The shame was that she was having a good competition, but scored a 0.0 on the dive.  I found a video, but can’t can’t embed it, however happily you can see it here.  It's worth it since my description doesn't do it justice.

But this photo that at least gives an idea of what went very wrong –

​​Calab Dressel has certainly exploded at these games, and impressively won another Gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle sprint.  In all, he won a tremendous five Gold medals at these games.  Before the race, the announcers commented that the race was American Michael Andrew’s last chance at these Olympics to win an individual medal – and normally I’d root for the guy, but not here.  Andrew has chosen to not get vaccinated and not wear a mask.  Yes, yes, I know, personal choice and all that – swell, but he’s at the Olympics, and if he got infected and then infected someone else (and it could be a lot of someone else’s in these conditions), it would ruin their lifetime dream of competing in the Olympics.  Yes, it’s his choice, but there should be consequences to a choice like that – like, fine, you don’t have to get vaccinated, wear a mask or participate.

It should be noted, too, that Australia’s swimmer Emma McKeon won seven medals in Tokyo, only the second woman to accomplish that.

Great in-studio interview with Katie Ledecky, who brought four of her medals and who has won seven Gold medals in her Olympic career, including winning the 800-meter freestyle three Olympics in a row, one of the few in history who have done that.  She was asked to describe the fulfillment she gets from all the medals she’s won, and if she gets the same fulfillment from winning more medals.  She said, “I don’t really get fulfillment from medals.  I get fulfillment from the friendships and people I have in the sport.  The medals are just a symbol of the hard work I put in.”  She was also asked how she can be such a tough, aggressive competitor in a race, but within seconds of it ending, she’s known for smiling and hugging those she was racing with, including her top opponent Ariarne Titmus of Australia, and coming American star 15-year-old Katie Grimes.  She said it’s just because we all know how much hard work we put in “and you really respect that and what it’s taken to get there.  You just have to appreciate it and be happy for each other’s accomplishments.”  Just one of the many reasons I’m a big fan of hers – and why I wrote what a boorish churl  Ariarne Titmus’s coach was.

And I’m in awe of the “final gear” that long distance American swimmer Bobby Finke has.  He won the 800-meter freestyle with a remarkable last-50 meter sprint.  And in the 1,500-meter race, he did it again, coming from slightly behind on the final 50-meter length and just churned past everyone, with a “last 50” time even faster than in the shorter 800 meter race.  When the reporter told him that after the race, even Finke was knocked for a loop.

I believe this is the most I’ve written about swimming in my life.

What was surprising is how exciting the golf event was.  As I’ve written here, I like golf and watch it a lot, but I didn’t think it would be much of a tense Olympic event.  But I watched it live late last night, and it was so good I stayed until 12:40 AM.  Rory Sabbatini from Slovakia came from 36th place to shoot a tremendous 10-under par 61 and tied for first place. With two holes to go, American Xander Schauffele (pronounced Shaw-flee) got a birdie, and held on with some recovery shots to win the Gold medal.  But then there was a seven player tie for the Bronze, so they held a playoff.  I admit to dozing off, but woke up again with the TV still on, and caught the end, where the Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama finally won.

More to come…