Olympic daily wrap, day 12: Usain Bolt strolls home, the Boomers hold court and Aussie BMX bandits fire
A roundup of what went down on day 12 in Rio: The Boomers ease in to the semi-finals, our BMX men and women fire and Usain Bolt laughs all the way to the 200m final ...
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THE AUSSIES MAKING THE NEWS
The Boomers have carried the weight of the nation and the pressure of the country’s self-destructing Rio campaign all the way into the medal rounds.
Seemingly impervious to pressure and bucking the trend of the shock Rio defeats, Australia’s ice-cool Boomers today shut-out Lithuania in a dominant 90-64 victory to make the semi-finals.
Ice cool Boomers freeze out Lithuania
Australia’s top-ranked male and female BMX riders have qualified in the top three in Rio ahead of tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Caroline Buchanan was second fastest and Sam Willoughby third fastest while their teammates also posted strong times.
Bodi Turner was 13th and Anthony Dean 20th in the men’s field while Lauren Reynolds was 10th in the women’s competition.
BMX big guns well set for semi-finals
Brooke Stratton finished seventh in the long jump final which was won in stunning fashion by American Tianna Bartoletta.
After an opening foul, Stratton produced her best effort of 6.74m — which is 31cm off her national record — at her fourth attempt. Bartoletta of the United States upset compatriot and defending champion Brittney Reese who took silver.
Bartoletta wins long jump gold, Stratton 7th
A late flurry of three birdies on the last four holes lifted Minjee Lee within four shots of the lead after day one of the women’s gold.
Birdies on 15, 17 and 18 move Lee up in the four-round competition headed by clubhouse leader Ariya Jutanugarn (-6) from Thailand.
Javelin star Kim Mickle said she had no problem with being left on the track in agony for a minute after dislocating her shoulder during a throw on Wednesday.
The bigger problem for Mickle came when she was left in agony for another three hours as doctors tried — and failed — to pop her left shoulder back in. Mickle was taken to hospital with Australia’s team doctor and her shoulder was eventually relocated under anaesthetic.
Mickle’s agony: ‘Put me under or chop it off’
Aussie diver Melissa Wu admitted her late sister was firmly in her thoughts in Rio and would be tomorrow when she contests the semi-finals of the platform after qualifying in fourth (342.80 points) position.
Wu will be joined in the semi-finals by rookie Brittany O’Brien, who was only added to the team this month after silver medallist Brittany Broben withdrew with a shoulder injury.
O’Brien overcome a third dive shocker to progress in 17th position with 290.30 points for the semis as China’s star duo Yajie Si (397.45) and Qian Ren (385.80) led the way.
How tragedy inspired Wu’s resurgence
THE BIG PICTURE
THE RIO LOWDOWN
The mystery surrounding the gunpoint robbery of US swimmer Ryan Lochte and teammate James Feigen has deepened after a Brazilian judge ordered their passports seized.
Rio police say there are inconsistencies in the stories of the four athletes who claim they were robbed by at least one man posing as a policeman during a night out celebrating their relay gold medal.
Judge Keyla Blank “issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the US swimmers,” a statement from her office said, though Lochte has already left the country.
Was Ryan Lochte really robbed in Rio?
Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympics history, as Brazil coasted into Saturday’s gold medal football match with a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras at Rio’s iconic Maracana.
The hosts now have the chance to ease some of the pain caused by a 7-1 humiliation at the hands of Germany on home soil at the 2014 World Cup by delivering Brazil’s first football gold medal against the same opposition.
Neymar makes history and Brazil seek revenge
Usain Bolt will race the 200m final on Thursday after comfortably winning his semi-final, but there was no place for American rival Justin Gatlin as he failed to qualify.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, tied up late in his semi-final, only finishing third in 20.13 sec and missing out on one of the eight final berths.
It was a different story for Bolt, however, who clocked a season’s best of 19.78 sec in the next step on his quest for an unprecedented sprint “triple triple”.
All smiles again for peerless Bolt in 200m semi-final
THE SOCIAL SCENE
hi friend let's run really fast pic.twitter.com/gRHZz6pkeW
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) August 18, 2016
Justin Gatlin's out! pic.twitter.com/WOxXhdinY7
— Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew) August 18, 2016
Runners in the Usain Bolt era must feel like Stuart MacGill did bowling in the Shane Warne era
— Ben Dorries (@Dorries_cmail) August 18, 2016
THE QUOTES
“People hot-dogging to further their own individual needs isn’t something we ever consider. It doesn’t happen. With our players already been established, no one has any agenda other than what is best for the team.”
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis on the not-so-secret secret behind his side’s success in Rio.
“It was about the two minute mark where I don’t think many nice words were coming out of my mouth. I just said this is game over, you need to stop. I need to be put under or chop it off.”
Australian javelin star Kim Mickle dispenses some medical advice to doctors struggling to fix her injured shoulder.
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