When the Olympics have packed up and gone home, there’s a good chance we’ll be talking about much more than medals. Here’s the best and worst of Day 11 and what you should be watching Wednesday.
WE LOVED IT WHEN …
Sportsmanship won the day. In what might be the best story to come out of these Olympics, two runners won a hell of a lot of fans Tuesday simply by showing kindness. Abbey D’Agostino of the U.S. and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand were competing in the 5,000 meters when Hamblin fell, causing her to unintentionally trip D’Agostino. So what did they do, start yelling and screaming at each other? No. D’Agostino stayed behind to make sure Hamblin was OK, and Hamblin returned the favor when D’Agostino’s leg buckled twice and she fell again shortly thereafter. Both eventually finished the race, and protest rules allowed both of them to advance to Friday’s final. D’Agostino will have to wait to see if her injury allows her to continue, but here’s hoping she’s good to go.
“I’m so grateful for Abbey for doing that for me,” Hamblin told reporters after the race. “That girl is the Olympic spirit right there.”
U.S. gymnastics stuck the landing. Make that four gold medals for Simone Biles, who topped the field in the floor exercise with a stirring routine that scored a whopping 15.966. Not far behind her on Tuesday, the last day of artistic gymnastics competition, was U.S. teammate Aly Raisman, who took the silver with a 15.500.
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“It’s been a long journey,” Biles said. “I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it. I know our team has. It’s been very long in competing so many times. It got tiring. But we just wanted to end on a good note.”
Their medals gave the U.S. women nine overall, the most ever by the U.S. at an Olympics. On the men’s side, American Danell Leyva took silver on the parallel bars as well as the high bar. It was the U.S.’ first medal on parallel bars since 1996.
Will Claye put a ring on it. After winning silver in the triple jump, Claye immediately went to the stands to propose to his girlfriend, fellow U.S. Olympian Queen Harrison. She said yes! And just because there have been a handful of these at the Rio Games doesn’t make theirs any less special, so don’t even think of raining on this romance parade.
WE HATED IT WHEN …
Lives were put in danger. Hacking is no joke, people. According to The Washington Post, two whistleblowers who helped expose Russia’s doping practices are reportedly looking for new safe haven in the United States after their whereabouts were compromised recently. Yulia Stepanova, a former Russian track athlete, said her email account with the World Anti-Doping Agency had been hacked and told reporters, “If something happens to us, all of you should know, it’s not an accident.” Stepanova and her husband relocated to the U.S. in 2015 after becoming informants.
Michael Conlan launched a vicious rant. The Irish boxer was upset, to put it mildly, after he lost his bantamweight fight to a Russian opponent Tuesday. According to The Daily Mail, he was quick to blame the judges, flipping them off and telling a TV reporter, “They’re known for being cheats. They’ll always be cheats. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.”
WATCH THIS
The best of the Olympics on Wednesday
Decathlon
The defending gold medalist in this event, aka “the dec,” is American Ashton Eaton. You may have seen him and his wife, Canadian heptathlete and fellow Olympian Brianne Theisen-Eaton, in that endearing Visa commerical where they try to be first at everyday things. Starting Wednesday, Eaton will try to re-earn the title of “world’s greatest athlete” by topping the competition in 10 events: 110-meter hurdles, long jump, discus, shot put, javelin, high jump, pole vault, 100-meter run, 400-meter run and 1,500-meter run. Don’t worry, it takes two days to complete; otherwise they’d all collapse from exhaustion. (7:30 a.m.)
Boxing
In 2012, Claressa Shields became the first American woman to win a boxing gold medal. Her request to repeat begins Wednesday in the middleweight (75kg) class. Another trip to the top of the medal stand would make her the first U.S. boxer to win consecutive golds. (noon)
Volleyball
The U.S. men take on Poland for a chance to reach the semifinals at noon. But the real barn-burner will be Argentina taking on host and archrival Brazil. Expect all those players to spike like they’ve never spiked before. (8:15 p.m.)
WORD OF THE DAY
Horyo chagi (ho-ree-oh cha-gee)
That’s the Korean term for reverse turning kick, one of the coolest looking and most devastating kicks in Olympic taekwondo. Just like in boxing, it’s not unusual to see victories by knockout in this sport. Good thing they’re wearing headgear. And keep an eye out for American Steven Lopez, who is back for his fifth Olympics and has won two golds and a bronze. The 37-year-old steps into the ring Friday, though taekwondo bows in these games Wednesday. (Competition begins at 7 a.m.)
MEDAL COUNT
(As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday)
1. USA: 28 gold, 28 silver, 27 bronze (83 total)
2. Great Britain: 19 gold, 19 silver, 12 bronze (50 total)
3. China: 17 gold, 15 silver, 18 bronze (50 total)
USA! USA!
American medal winners at the Rio Games
(As of 6:30 p.m. Monday)
Gold (28): Simone Biles, floor exercise (gymnastics); Christian Taylor, triple jump (track and field); Simone Biles, vault (gymnastics); Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock, mixed doubles (tennis); Jeff Henderson, long jump; U.S. men, 400 medley relay (swimming); U.S. women, 400-meter medley relay (swimming); Katie Ledecky, 800-meter freestyle; Maya DiRado, 200-meter backstroke (swimming); Anthony Ervin, 50-meter freestyle (swimming); U.S., women’s eight rowing; Michelle Carter, shot put; Ryan Murphy, 200-meter backstroke (swimming); Simone Manuel, 100-meter freestyle (swimming); Michael Phelps, 200-meter individual medley (swimming); Kayla Harrison, judo (78 kg); Simone Biles, gymnastics, all-around; U.S. women, 800-meter freestyle relay (swimming); Katie Ledecky, 200-meter freestyle (swimming); Kristin Armstrong, women’s cycling, individual time trial; Michael Phelps, 200-meter butterfly (swimming); U.S. men, 800-meter freestyle relay (swimming); U.S. women, team gymnastics; Ryan Murphy, 100-meter backstroke (swimming); Lilly King, 100-meter breaststroke (swimming); U.S. men, 400-meter freestyle relay (swimming); Katie Ledecky, 400-meter freestyle (swimming); Ginny Thrasher, 10-meter air rifle
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Silver (28): Sarah Hammer, women’s omnium (cycling); Aly Raisman, floor exercise (gymnastics); Danell Leyva, parallel bars (gymnastics); Will Claye, triple jump (track and field); Allyson Felix, 400 meters (track and field); Justin Gatlin, 100 meters (track and field); Laurie Hernandez, balance beam (gymnastics); Madison Kocian, uneven bars (gymnastics); Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, mixed doubles (tennis); Connor Jaeger, 1,500-meter freestyle (swimming); U.S. women, team pursuit (cycling); Torie Bowie, 100 meters; Simone Manuel, 50-meter freestyle (swimming); Gevvie Stone, women’s single sculls (rowing); Michael Phelps, 100-meter butterfly (swimming); Aly Raisman, gymnastics, all-around; Josh Prenot, 200-meter breaststroke (swimming); Daryl Homer, fencing, individual sabre; Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon, 3-meter platform synchronized diving; Travis Stevens, judo (81 kg); Kathleen Baker, 100-meter backstroke (swimming); David Boudia and Steele Johnson, synchronized diving (10-meter platform); U.S. women, 400-meter freestyle relay; U.S. men, team archery; Maya DiRado, 400-meter individual medley (swimming); Chase Kalisz, 400-meter individual medley (swimming); Alexander Massialas, men’s individual foil (fencing)
Bronze (27): Danell Leyva, high bar (gymnastics); Caleb Paine, Finn class sailing; Sam Kendricks, pole vault (track and field); Clayton Murphy, 800 meters (track and field); LaShawn Merritt, 400 meters (track and field); Emma Coburn, steeplechase (track and field); Simone Biles, balance beam (gymnastics); Sarah Robles, +75kg weightlifting; Alexander Naddour, pommel horse (gymnastics); Matt Kuchar, golf; Nico Hernandez, boxing (light flyweight); U.S. women, team sabre (fencing); U.S. men, team foil (fencing); Nathan Adrian, 50-meter freestyle, (swimming); Kim Rhode, skeet shooting; U.S. team, dressage (equestrian); Brady Ellison, archery; U.S. men, tennis doubles; Nathan Adrian, 100-meter freestyle (swimming); Maya DiRado, 200-meter individual medley (swimming); Phillip Dutton, equestrian individual eventing; Conor Dwyer, 200-meter freestyle (swimming); David Plummer, 100-meter backstroke (swimming); Katie Meili, 100-meter breaststroke (swimming); Cody Miller, 100-meter breaststroke (swimming); Leah Smith, 400-meter freestyle (swimming); Corey Cogdell-Unrein, trap shooting (shooting); Dana Vollmer, 100-meter butterfly (swimming)
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Tribune news services contributed.