The U.S. Olympic Trials for Swimming will continue on Tuesday night, the top two finishers will qualify for the Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic Trials for swimming will be held this week and will be the first time since 2000 without Michael Phelps. The top two finishers in each event will qualify for the Olympic team in this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
These trials will be split into two separate waves, Wave I and Wave II, with Wave II being for the higher-ranked individuals. The Semifinals and finals will begin at 8 p.m. from June 13–17, at 9 p.m. on June 18 and 19, and at 8:15 on June 20.
June 13: 5:30 p.m. ET. June 14-17 and 19: 6:30 p.m. June 18: 6 p.m.
Finals
June 13-17: 8 p.m. ET. June 18-19: 9 p.m. ET. June 20: 8:15 p.m.
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Here’s a good reason to avoid pork as a professional athlete
Welp. Looks like avoiding pork is a pretty good idea if you’re an Olympic athlete. Take it from world record holding American distance runner Shelby Houlihan.
The Olympic hopeful said she’s been provisionally banned for four years from track by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug on Monday. Specifically, she said she tested positive for nandrolone.
Her suspension hasn’t been officially announced by the AIU yet, but if it holds up it comes just a week before Olympic Trials start and nearly a full month before the Olympics.
And it all might be…because of a burrito. At least, that’s what Houlihan says it is. And she has a case.
She posted the news of her positive test on Instagram and explained the situation.
“On January 14th, 2021 I received an e-mailf rom the Athletics Integrity Unit, informing me a drug testing sample that I provided on December 15th, 2020 has returned as an adverse analytical finding for an anabolic steriod called Nandrolone…I have since learned that it has long been understood by [the World Anti-Doping Agency] that eating pork can lead to a false positive for nandrolone, since certain types of pigs produce it naturally in high amounts.”
Wild, right? She wasn’t finished.
“In the following 5 days after being notified, I put together a food log of everything that I consumed the week of that December 15th test. We concluded that the most likely explanation was a burriot purchased and consumed approximately 10 hours before that drug test from an authentic Mexican food truck that serves pig offal near my house in Beaverton, Oregon.”
That’s just WILD. A burrito could cost Houlihan her chance to compete in the Olympics — the biggest stage of her career. That’s unheard of. She continued to explain that she filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, but that it didn’t accept her explanation.
The ban hasn’t been announced still, as of Monday evening, so maybe there’s hope that this can still be investigated and potentially overturned. Either way, this situation is pretty wild.
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The U.S. Olympic Trials for swimming and diving will be held on Monday night, the top two finishers will qualify for the Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic Trials for swimming and diving will be held this week and will be the first time since 2000 without Michael Phelps. The top two finishers in each event will qualify for the Olympic team in this year’s Olympics.
These trials will be split into two separate waves, Wave I and Wave II, with Wave II being for the higher-ranked individuals. The Semifinals and finals will begin at 8 p.m. from June 13–17, at 9 p.m. on June 18 and 19, and at 8:15 on June 20.
June 13: 5:30 p.m. ET. June 14-17 and 19: 6:30 p.m. June 18: 6 p.m.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
Smith became the first Florida swimmer to grab a spot on the USA Swimming Olympics Team. He finished first in the 400 free finals.
Florida men’s swimmer Kieran Smith launched himself into the water for the 400-meter freestyle finals.
Once he emerged from beneath the surface, he caught his breath and broke into form. Smith peeked to his left and right and saw that he was ahead. He cruised to victory as he never glanced in his rearview mirror to secure the win and recorded a blistering 3:44.86. He became the first Gators swimmer to qualify for the U.S. Swimming Olympic Team.
“I just had to tell myself that I belong here and I do,” Smith said, according to FloridaGators.com. “I think that 3:44.00 is pretty good for now, but I know I still need to do a bit more work and I know I can give more in the back half of the 400 free. For tomorrow, I feel confident and am ready for the 200 free.”
It’s not surprising to see Smith secure a spot in the Tokyo Olympics this summer. The junior is a 14-time All-American and has shattered several records donning the orange and blue. He holds the American record for the best time in the 500 free with a 4:06.32 at the 2020 SEC Championships.
Day three of U.S. team trials continue Monday from Omaha, Nebraska.
It was the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — an event still regularly referenced in swimming circles and by fans at large, partly because it helped Michael Phelps make history with an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Games.
Team USA wasn’t favored to win — France was — and wasn’t even close to the lead with just 50 meters left in the final relay leg. After Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones swam, the challenge of mounting what seemed like an impossible comeback fell to anchor Jason Lezak.
But in a truly astonishing moment, the then-32-year-old veteran dove in and swam the fastest relay split ever at 46.06, handing Team USA gold over France by .08 seconds. It was a thrilling and literally unbelievable moment during the Beijing Games (and For The Win has written extensively about it).
August 11, 2008: Men’s Olympic 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final in Beijing. Phelps’ 2nd of 8 golds. @JasonLezak w/ best final relay leg ever 🇺🇸@DanHicksNBC & @RowdyGaines on the call
“The Americans? We're going to smash ‘em. That's what we came here for.”- France’s Alain Bernard pic.twitter.com/PEih5VCjIJ
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) August 11, 2020
“If he went 46.10, they lost,” Gaines said. “And so [he] had to go 46-flat, and that’s what I can’t describe. I can’t describe 46-flat to you because I just don’t know how that’s possible.”
Thirteen years later, Gaines said he gets asked about the relay and his broadcast of it all the time, including for Peacock’s new documentary, The Greatest Race, which premiered Thursday.
For The Win spoke with Gaines — a U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member and three-time Olympic gold medalist — about the documentary, what made that relay so special and his prediction for Team USA’s breakout swimming star in the Tokyo Games.
[lawrence-related id=839369]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdT1iQeuoE
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
We talk about this race as the greatest relay leg or maybe the greatest swimming relay overall. How do you think it compares with other major sports comebacks, especially in the finals on such a big stage?
I look at look at it through rose colored glasses a little bit. But that’s why the documentary is so important because it literally goes behind the scenes and tells you why it was so fascinating. [Lezak] was this journeymen sprinter, who had failed a couple times before, on the last last leg of his career, basically, [and] doing something that no human being was ever even close to doing.
And then the stories of how Cullen Jones made [the finals relay team] by .01 of a second — it delves into the details of why this was, in my opinion, one of the great comeback stories in all of sports. Certainly, it’s the greatest race in Olympic history, in my opinion. And I’ve seen a lot. That’s how beloved this race is — at least in the United States. Not so much in France, but here in the United States, it’s a fascinating tale.
I definitely think the relay is on par with other types of sports comebacks — like the New England Patriots coming back from a 28-3 deficit in the Super Bowl and the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series after being down 3-1 — that are the unlikeliest of unlikely.
Absolutely. Especially if you know the dynamics of the relay. The first five or six relays all were under the world record. It’s a world record that still stands 13 years later. [Lezak] still has the fastest split in history 13 years later. It’s just like, you can’t make this up.
[lawrence-related id=940081]
On the on the broadcast during Lezak’s first 50, you said you didn’t think there was any way that he could come back against France’s Alain Bernard, which at that time, seemed like a certainty. Do you regret saying that, or do you think it’s kind of funny now?
Jason Lezak in second trails France’s Alain Bernard by almost a full body length going into the final 50 meters. (NBC Sports)
I don’t regret it at all. I have rarely regret things I say about predictions because I feel like my track records are pretty good on predictions. But this one, I almost enjoy getting wrong because I was like everybody else watching this race. There wasn’t one person in that building that thought the U.S. is going to win. At the 350-meter mark? No way. If they if they do tell you that they’re lying.
I was like everybody else. “I just don’t think they’re gonna do it.” I think it’s kind of funny now. The guys definitely give me grief. I was just talking to Michael [Phelps] a couple days ago, and I brought up the documentary, and he still gives me grief about it. And they all do. Every day, every time I see them, that’s it. “I just don’t think they can do it.”
And the problem is not only did I say it once, but I said it twice! That’s what they really dig in their heels with me: “Oh, my gosh, you fool! You not only said it once, you said it twice.”
I think it’s definitely more common than then we see. I hear about it a lot, but a lot of times, they like to keep it on the down low and not have that get out publicly. But yeah, there there are certain certain rivalries and certain certain smack talk. That definitely happens in swimming. A lot of personalities that clash, just like any sport.
Looking ahead to the Tokyo Olympics this summer, if you had to pick a breakout star who’s not currently a household name but will be come August, who would you pick?
Claire Curzon, trust me. Nobody’s heard of her. She’s gonna be really, really good, and it’d be a great story because a year ago, she wouldn’t have made the Olympic team.
The pandemic has been tragic for everybody, and, I’m sure, including her. But she’s going to come out and it’s going to be better for her. To have that extra year, it’s going to help her. And she could be a huge breakout star. She could be sort of a Missy Franklin or a Katie Ledecky of 2012.
Speaking of, Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel have a chance to win possibly five gold medals each, which would be a record for U.S. woman at a single Olympics. Do you think one or both of them could do that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvIctUc7b3A
Definitely. First of all, Katie Ledecky is Katie Ledecky. She’s the greatest female swimmer in history, so there’s no doubt in my mind that she could do this.
And Simone Manuel — all three times at the Olympics in 2016, at the world championships 2017 and in the world championships in 2019, she went in, and nobody predicted her to win. And each time she won the gold medal. Those are the three biggest meets over the last five years, so if you plan to bet against Simone, do it at your own peril because I am not going to bet against her. Never ever again.
After retiring from gymnastics in 2012, Olympian Chellsie Memmel is back.
After retiring from gymnastics in 2012, Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion Chellsie Memmel returned to competition Saturday at the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis.
And the 32-year-old gymnast and mother of two came out of retirement with an inspiring message about never being too old to chase something you want because, she said: “No one should be stopping you. Just don’t hold yourself back.”
Saturday, Memmel competed on vault and beam, and after nearly a decade away from competition, she delivered stunning performances, despite falling off the beam for a moment.
“I feel like this is a win,” Memmel told NBC Sports after her day ended. “I didn’t know what to expect, honestly, when I got out on the floor. Was I just going to fall over and faint of nerves? Like, I don’t know. It felt really good.”
2008 Olympic silver medalist Chellsie Memmel came out of retirement today to compete at her first gymnastics meet in 9 years.
“It felt great to start on vault with one of my best vaults of the weekend,” she continued. “Obviously, beam didn’t go as well as I wanted, but I’m happy. I put myself out there, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”
Of course, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist was also asked about her comeback, and Memmel took that opportunity to reiterate that “backwards” thinking about what’s often considered too old for competition should be abandoned.
"I just wanted to put that message out to anybody who thought they missed their chance at something or didn't get a chance to try it. No one should be stopping you. Just don't hold yourself back."@CMemmel after competing at her first meet in 9 years. #USClassic@OnHerTurfpic.twitter.com/TdhrAf02Vm
When Nastia Liukin — who won five Olympic medals at the 2008 Games, including the all-around gold — described the comeback as “a true inspiration to so many people.” Liukin asked what motivates Memmel to continue pushing herself training every day, Memmel said:
“I love doing it. And I am not going to get sick of saying this, and I’m not going to stop saying it because that’s really the biggest driving force of just enjoying doing gymnastics. I love doing gymnastics, and there definitely are those hard days.
“But those days are the ones where I’m remembering like, you’re just pushing yourself, you’re having fun, you’re seeing how far you can actually take this when people said you should have retired when you were 20 or when you were 24. ‘You can’t have kids and come back to a sport.’ It’s that kind of thinking, I feel, is so backwards, but that’s what we think is true. And it’s not true.
“And that’s, for me, I just wanted to put that message out to anybody who thought they missed their chance at something, or didn’t get a chance to try it, or wanted to go back to their sport even just for fun. No one should be stopping you. Just don’t hold yourself back.”
If Memmel makes the Olympic team for the Tokyo Games this summer, she would be older than any U.S. Olympic gymnast in the last 60 years, as NBC Sports noted last year.
SO incredibly proud of you Chel. You are inspiring the entire world – every generation – showing that age is truly just a number AND your true love and passion for the sport ❤️ @CMemmelpic.twitter.com/76jswxcMRE
Biles returns to competition Saturday for the first time since the 2019 world championships — where she became the most decorated gymnast at worlds and increased her medal count to 25, 19 of them gold — and will compete in the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis.
On vault, the 24-year-old gymnast could perform a new move, a Yurchenko double pike, as USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour reported. It’s a super intense and dangerous vault, and Biles could become the first woman to attempt it.
And fans got a little preview of this revolutionary vault, and it’s absolutely jaw-dropping.
Earlier this year, one of Biles’ coaches, Laurent Landi, explained the risks associated with attempting a Yurchenko double pike. Via 60 Minutes, Landi said:
“It’s very, very challenging. And what’s scary — it’s that people can get hurt, you know? You do a short landing, you can hurt your ankles. It’s a very dangerous vault.”
Simone Biles could be the first woman to attempt a Yurchenko double pike in competition, say her coaches. Only men have landed it. “It's very, very challenging… people can get hurt… it's a very dangerous vault,” says Biles’ coach, Laurent Landi. https://t.co/ovlrulJYIOpic.twitter.com/qQTxKeUuNk
Biles’ recent practice video is an exciting teaser for what she could do this weekend, at Olympic trials and at the Tokyo Games, where she has a realistic shot at adding five more Olympic golds to her already stunning medal count.
Who is the most talented athlete that was enrolled at Notre Dame during the 2020-21 school year?
If you answered with star-linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah then you are wrong.
Yared Nugusa is a name you should get to know if you don’t already because he certainly has a chance to be headed to the Olympics later this year.
Nuguse, a senior runner that stars in both cross country and track and field, put on a show at the opening night of the ACC Track and Field Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Nuguse ran a 3:34:68 1500-meter dash in the prelim which qualified him for the Olympic A standard, set an all-time ACC record, and set an all-time NCAA record for the event.
Yared Nuguse.
If you don’t know the name yet then get familiar with it now because you very well might be rooting for him at the next Olympics.
Running out of ways to describe Yared Nuguse’s greatness so we’ll stick with facts. He just ran a 3:34.68 in the 1500.
“With the world being the way it is, Adam is gone 4-5 weeks at a time this year during his playing blocks,” Johan Elliot said in a statement to GolfChannel.com. “With three young children at home, this time in the schedule will be devoted to family. It is pretty much the only time up until October when he has a chance to see them for a stretch of time and not only a few days/a week.”
Scott also skipped the 2016 Games. The men’s competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club near Tokyo is July 29-Aug. 1 and falls two weeks after the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s and a week before the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis.
In January, when Scott was asked at the Sentry Tournament of Champions if he would consider playing, he seemed to be leaving the door open.
“I would consider it. It’s still not my priority for the year, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I wouldn’t rule it out because you can never really say never, but it will certainly be something I’ll look at. Who knows where we are in the summertime.”
Well, where he’s at now is to not aim to be one of the two Australians heading to Tokyo.
The Summer Games were pushed back a year because of the global coronavirus pandemic. The Games are less than 100 days away but organizers still haven’t ruled out the possibility of cancelling them altogether, should health concerns become a major factor once again.
Scott tied for 10th at the Farmers Insurance Open, his lone top-10 in 11 starts on Tour this season.
The latest Olympic Golf Ranking has Cameron Smith (12) and Marc Leishman (17) as the highest ranked Australians. Smith and Leishman are teammates at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
For fans of both sports and musical theater, Lindsey Vonn and Hugh Jackman recently created some pretty spectacular content.
The Olympic gold medal-winning skier and Oscar-nominated actor went skiing a few weeks ago at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, according to Vonn’s Instagram account. And, of course, they shot and posted several photos and videos of their time on the slopes on social media.
In addition to racing each other at one point — obviously, Vonn gave Jackman a huge head start — they also put on a little show. Well, Jackman did anyway, and with the help of a skiing violinist, he reprised his role of Jean Valjean from the 2012 movie, Les Misérables.
Accompanied by the skiing violinist, Jackman sang One Day More — the song performed at the end of the iconic show’s first act that also went viral late last year ahead of Election Day. And it was fantastic.
📢 Calling all Wolverine and Les Mis fans:
Hugh Jackman recently went skiing with @lindseyvonn and a skiing violinist while singing songs from Les Misérables and it is amazing. 😆
