We have witnessed two nations dominating sport for two weeks. The U.S. won the most medals (110) the most ever by the Americans in an Olympics not hosted in the states. But host nation China walked away with the most gold medals and it wasn't even close. The 'Redeem Team' men's basketball team grabbed the most headlines other than Michael Phelps' historic run but there were othrs who deserve recognition. The U.S. earned over 30 gold medals in Beijing, perhaps none more earned than decathlon champ Bryan Clay. Clay finished the 10-discipline decathlon competition with 8,791 points on Friday, a whopping 240 ahead of the silver medalist. It was the most one-sided decathlon triumph since the 1972 Munich Games. Clay joins the likes of Bruce Jenner and Jim Thorpe as Olympic champions in an event that an American has won 12 times in 22 Olympics but only twice since 1976.
But my favorite event turned out to be the 10 meter men's diving competition held on Day 15. The Chinese took gold in the first seven events and was heavily favored to sweep but the pressure was too much for Zhou Luxin and he choked on his final dive, leaving an opening for Australian Matthew Mitchum, who exercised incredible poise and nailed his final dive to earn the gold medal.
Matt made headlines several weeks ago (including in my Gay Pride post) by publicly announcing through an interview that he is gay But NBC never even mentioned it, which to some gay activists may be seen as a slight but another perspective might embrace this as gay athletes becoming more mainstream so it's not that relevant to his performance on the diving platform.
Two Americans made it to the finals and both are Hoosiers. Neither Thomas Finchum or David Boudia, both teens, medaled in Beijing so each now look ahead to London in 2012. But they most definitely will contend with the biggest surprise of the diving category, Tom Daley of great Britain who at 14, finished 7th, ahead of both Finchum and Boudia. Daley's story is an inspiring one and perhaps I will address it more in depth at a later time but for now he looks to be the early favorite four years from now as the games will be on his home turf.moreless
Episode Summary
EDIT
On Day 15 of the 2008 Summer Olympics, finals will be held in baseball, basketball, boxing, canoe/kayak competition, cycling, diving, handball, rhythmic gymnastics, soccer, synchronized swimming, table tennis, Taekwondo, track and field, and volleyball.
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Joe Magrane
Announcer - Baseball
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Mike Breen
Announcer - Basketball
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Doug Collins
Announcer - Basketball
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Craig Sager
Reporter - Basketball
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Bob Papa
Announcer - Boxing
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Teddy Atlas
Announcer - Boxing
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(Cuban taekwondo competitor Angel Matos intentionally kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden square in the face after Matos was disqualified from a bronze-medal match.) Jim Lampley: First rule of taekwondo -- you cannot kick the referee in the head.
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USA medal tracker
05/29/0962
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Women's Gymnastics
03/25/0952
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2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing
11/13/084
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Worst injury at the 2008 Summer Olympics
11/09/081
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Marathon and triathlon: news, notes and training
10/21/085
Season 1 Episodes
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Day 16 and Closing Ceremony
Ep 16
Day 15
Ep 15
Day 14
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Day 13
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Day 12
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Day 11
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Ep 9
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Ep 8
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Ep 7
Day 6
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Day 5
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Opening Ceremony
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