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Post by HappyFan on Jul 28, 2021 12:10:05 GMT
First ever gold medal for Bermuda in the women's triathlon.
Here is the medal ceremony. Although there is a song, Hail to Bermuda, that is often played at sporting events, here they play Good Save the Queen, the same anthem as Britain, since they are technically a British territory and not an independent nation. So the UK, which finished second and got silver, gets to hear their own anthem anyways!
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 28, 2021 12:25:16 GMT
Asians are really coming into their own this Olympics in swimming. Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey won silver in the 200 free, crushing Ledecky and everyone but the Aussie star Ariarne Titmus. In fact, Haughey was in the lead until the very end, but Titmus tracked her down and out-touched her. Bummer, a win would have been epic, but a silver is still the first swimming medal ever for Hong Kong. Congrats!
(for those wondering, her dad is Irish and her mom ethnic Chinese)
Yeah, she speaks Cantonese, although it's cute that you can hear English like 'take a break' sprinkled in there:
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 28, 2021 12:53:58 GMT
Meanwhile, Japan's Yui Ohashi has collected gold medals in both 200 and 400 IM, thrilling the home country. Her backstroke, which they call out in this video for the 400, is so smooth and powerful that she ends up taking five fewer strokes per length than Flickinger. Even Phelps was impressed.
The 400:
The 200:
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 28, 2021 13:03:42 GMT
Then there was Maggie MacNeil, the surprise 100m Fly winner, who touched out Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei. A Canadian with an Irish sounding name, MacNeil is a Chinese adoptee:
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 28, 2021 13:10:08 GMT
Another hapa: 20-year-old Japanese American swimmer Erica Sullivan won the silver medal in the 1500m freestyle behind Ledecky:
Sulivan made a huge move on Ledecky with a few hundred meters to go, but Ledecky's finishing kick was enough to easily win the gold. Here you can see how long it took Sullivan to make her move:
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 29, 2021 10:33:38 GMT
Zhang Yufei is a stud. She casually collects the gold in the women's 200 butterfly, wiping out the field in the process.
Then she goes to collect her gold, hears her anthem. Immediately after that, she rushes off stage, runs to the pool deck, and leads her team to the gold (and a world record) in the 4x200 freestyle relay, upsetting the heavily favored Aussies. Ledecky also hunted down the anchor for the Aussies to grab the silver for the US.
No joke, for Zhang it was less than five minutes between hearing her anthem and swimming her next race; they actually delayed the start of the race so she could receive her previous medal.
Also winning on this night was Zac Stubblety-Cook of South Africa, which I mention simply because I love typing Stubblety-Cook.
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Post by IceCat on Jul 29, 2021 15:01:47 GMT
Also winning on this night was Zac Stubblety-Cook of South Africa, which I mention simply because I love typing Stubblety-Cook. Slightly similar colors, wrong country: Zac Stubblety-Cook is Australian. The good thing about watching the Games on the 3rd party NHK feed is that there are no commercials. They do interrupt for news bulletins, however.Kevin
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Post by philknj on Jul 30, 2021 0:45:55 GMT
NHK G is currently showing a LIVE women's badminton match, best of three games. Japan won the first game handily, but China is up big in game two. Unlike soccer, there is no "pacing" in the sport ... it's been murder and it's only a quarter-final. Japan has Mizuno for racquet and shoes ... China has Yonex for the racquet, but I can't figure out the shoes.
UPDATE: China won 3rd game and match.
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 30, 2021 6:52:59 GMT
Haugheymania! Shiobhan Haughey made the finals of the 100m freestyle, and duked it out with Australian Emma McKeon and former champ Cate Campbell. McKeon won with a new Olympic Record, but Haughey once again achieved her career best (as she had in the prelims and semis) and grabbed a second silver. She is the first Hong Konger to ever win multiple medals.
And the crowd goes wild:
The race:
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Post by philknj on Jul 30, 2021 11:31:46 GMT
Team USA Karen just fell behind 1-0 to the Dutch. The broadcasters just said Miedema is a machine, has scored 8 goals in the Olympics so far ... and as I type this, the score is tied at 1-1!
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - JULY 30: Vivianne Miedema #9 of Team Netherlands (obscured) celebrates with team mates after scoring their side's first goal during the Women's Quarter Final match between Netherlands and United States on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at International Stadium Yokohama on July 30, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
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Post by philknj on Jul 30, 2021 12:41:31 GMT
80:00, tied at two, USA just stopped penalty kick and I have to drive to work now.
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 30, 2021 13:20:48 GMT
LOL Love it!
Alas, after qualifying for the semis in the 50m free, Siobhan Haughey's Olympics have come to an end: she pulled out of the race, which was her last of this year's games, due to back problems. But she managed to win 2 silvers, AKA 1/3 of the total of medals ever won by Hong Kong. She deserves a break today!
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Post by IceCat on Jul 31, 2021 1:12:25 GMT
When Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung won the city's first Olympic gold since 1996, fans watching the medal ceremony in the courtyard of a shopping mall booed and shouted in unison when China's anthem was played in his honor. Given the current stance of those in power the matter is under investigation and one person has already been arrested for "insulting" the anthem.Given Beijing's flagrant disregard for the 1984 Joint Declaration, the legally binding treaty it signed with the UK obliging them to preserve Hong Kong's freedoms and liberties for 50 years after the 1997 handover of the former British colony, one might wonder how the city can still have a separate Olympic committee. Some background information is in order:"As China absorbs Hong Kong, why do both get Olympic teams?" apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-china-hong-kong-dfd72fda3ad4d452b0111a10980c84c1"Olympic Success Gives Hong Kong an Emotional Lift in Hard Times - The New York Times" www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/sports/olympics/hong-kong-china-olympics-democracy.htmlKevin
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Post by HappyFan on Aug 1, 2021 16:14:47 GMT
Korean archer An San became the first archer since 1904 to win three golds in one Olympics when she won the individual gold medal. She had previously won the mixed team and team golds.
It was an exciting match against Russian Elena Osipova; they ended up each winning the same number of set points and even were tied to the number in total points. It all came down to one playoff arrow, with An just hitting the 10 ring and her opponent balking and scoring an 8.
An's back in Korea now; expect a hero's welcome!
How cool was An under pressure? This year, for the first time, they broadcast the archers' heart rates while they competed. An maxed out at 119 beats/minute. By contrast, her opponent in the finals got up to 167.
As a sad footnote, there is a small group of pathetic troglodytes who have relentlessly hounded her online in Korea, demanding that she be stripped of any medals she won/wins (this was happening while she was competing). Why did they hate her? Because she has short hair, they assumed she was a 'feminist' and thus hates men. Oh, and she's from Gwangju and like the pop group Mamamoo, more 'damning' evidence against her (don't even try to understand the logic in all that, there is none).
Yeah, it's total nonsense, but it has been brutal and non-stop. The cops in Korea need to root out these mouth breathers and give them a good stint on the North Korean border.
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Post by HappyFan on Aug 1, 2021 17:07:10 GMT
The most likely best women's volleyball player on planet Earth is Korean superstar Kim Yeon-koung.
She led Korea to the medal round following an epic five-set blowout against Japan. She created a little history there, becoming the first woman to ever score 30+ in a game four different times.
The 6' 4" Kim makes a ton of money playing volleyball in Turkey, where she is a huge star. If you haven't seen her play, I highly recommend it. She is frankly incredible, and if the Koreans had even one or two more comparable players on their team, we'd be talking gold possibilities here.
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