Tag: tokyo olympics

Caeleb Dressel won gold in the 50 freestyle and smashed the Olympic record without taking a breath

This underwater angle of Caeleb Dressel’s win is awesome.

Caeleb Dressel won his fourth gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics and third in an individual event by crushing the men’s 50-meter freestyle and breaking the 13-year-old Olympic record. And he did it without taking a breath the entire time.

With his exceptional and explosive start off the blocks, Dressel shot out ahead of the field with his first stroke and finished with a time of 21.07 — breaking Brazil’s Cesar Cielo’s Olympic record of 21.30 from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and .16 seconds shy of Cielo’s 2009 world record.

And an efficient way to get 50 meters across the pool is not to breathe, so Dressel didn’t.

When swimmers barely turn their heads to the side to steal a quick breath, it slightly slows them down. It’s much more efficient for swimmers to keep their heads down when the race is only one length of the pool, so it’s very common for them to just opt not to breathe during the shortest race.

Here’s the overhead view of the race:

But the underwater view of the entire thing really highlights how hard they’re working beneath the surface. Plus, the underwater angle is just generally awesome.

This was Dressel’s final individual event of the Tokyo Olympics. He also won gold in the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and he was part of the fifth-place 4×100-meter mixed medley relay team.

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This rhythmic horse stole the show during dressage event at the Tokyo Olympics

The Internet can’t get enough of Mopsi, an Olympic horse with a ton of rhythm.

One horse is taking the Internet by storm following an equestrian dressage event, where he showed off his rhythm at the Tokyo Olympics.

Team USA’s four-time Olympian Steffen Peters and his horse Suppenkasper (or Mopsi) have gone viral following the dressage Grand Prix Freestyle individual final, which is basically the riders and horses dancing to music while incorporating some tricks into the mix.

Mopsi stole the show with his uncanny rhythm as he danced to an upbeat mix created by musician Taylor Kade, which has garnered Mopsi the moniker of “rave horse.” Mopsi and Peters scored 80.968, earning them 10th place in the event final just one day after winning the silver medal as part of the team dressage for the United States.

And people just couldn’t get enough of Mopsi:

Simone Manuel reflects on her Olympics after missing 50 free final: ‘I didn’t give up’

“The flame inside of me is still burning.”

Simone Manuel’s run at the Tokyo Olympics ended Saturday in the 50-meter freestyle semifinals, and even though she didn’t quite accomplish what she wanted after a challenging year, the two-time Olympian is proud of herself.

“I’ll remember this point in my career forever,” Manuel wrote in part on her social media channels. “Not the fact that I didn’t make the Olympic final or come home with an individual medal, but the fact that I gave it my all. That I didn’t give up.”

After winning the 100-meter freestyle gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games, 24-year-old Manuel qualified for this summer’s Olympics in one individual event, the 50 free. She was also part of Team USA’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay earlier this week and won a bronze medal.

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Manuel — one of the most decorated swimmers in history — advanced to the 50 free semifinals and finished in a tie for sixth in her heat with a time of 24.63, but that wasn’t fast enough to advance to the final Sunday morning in Tokyo (and Saturday night in the U.S.). To give you an idea of how fast and competitive this event is, all 16 semifinal swimmers finished in the 24-second range, and the top-8 swimmers who advanced to the final are separated by just .23 seconds.

Below is the finish of the second 50 free semifinal, but you can watch the full video of Manuel’s race here.

That was Manuel’s last swim of the Tokyo Olympics, as she’s unlikely to be part of the remaining women’s 4×100-meter medley relay team on the final day of swimming Sunday morning in Tokyo.

And on social media, she posted a long, thoughtful message about her perseverance through a particularly draining year and how she views these Games as a victory for her, as the “flame inside of me is still burning.”

Posted on her social channels, Manuel — a five-time Olympic medalist with two golds, two silvers and a bronze — wrote:

“I’m in the midst of it, so I don’t quite understand it yet, but I know that God has a purpose and plan for my life. This may not be how I would have written my story, but I’m at peace knowing that God is the ultimate Author of my journey. He is always in control, and He always has much bigger plans for our lives than we can even imagine.

No doubt, I’ll remember this point in my career forever. Not the fact that I didn’t make the Olympic final or come home with an individual medal, but the fact that I gave it my all. That I didn’t give up. That I finished what I started. I faced adversity at every turn this year, and at times, I didn’t know if I would make it this far or if it was even worth putting myself out there to possibly fail. I didn’t reach my goals this time around, but I didn’t fail.

I can confidently say I’m a champion! Not because of the medals I’ve won but because of how I’ve consistently fought for what I believe in, my perseverance, and my fiery passion to always be me! I’m proud of Simone the 2X Olympian/5X Olympic medalist, but most importantly I’m proud to just be ME… Simone Ashley Manuel.

Time to rest up and heal my mind, body, and spirit! The flame inside of me is still burning, and I’m ready for whatever God has prepared for me next! ♥️

At U.S. swimming trials in June after Manuel didn’t make the final for the 100 freestyle, she opened up about her mental health.

She said she was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome in March and had been dealing with depression, anxiety and insomnia, which began to impact her physically this year. She also said the postponed Olympics adding another training year and being a Black woman in the U.S. were both taxing factors.

At trials, Manuel said she was proud of herself before she even dove in, and now that her Tokyo Olympics are over, she’s still proud. And it definitely doesn’t seem like she’s calling it a career yet.

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See Elaine Thompson-Herah lead Jamaican sweep of 100 meters, break Florence Griffith Joyner’s Olympic record

Elaine Thompson-Herah is the fastest woman in the world.

Track and field legend Florence Griffith Joyner’s 100-meter Olympic record stood for a remarkable 33 years, and even as athletes collected their Olympics gold medals in the decades since, her mark of 10.62 from the 1988 Seoul Olympics was unbeatable.

Enter Elaine Thompson-Herah.

The two-time Olympian from Jamaica not only defended her Olympic gold from the 2016 Rio Games, but she also broke Griffith Joyner’s Olympic record by .01 seconds with a blistering 10.61 sprint in the women’s 100-meter dash final on Saturday at the Tokyo Olympics.

And with that gold-medal run, Thompson-Herah led a Jamaican sweep of the event, as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won silver with a time of 10.74 and Shericka Jackson won bronze at 10.76.

Thompson-Herah posted the second fastest time ever in the event behind Griffith Joyner’s world record of 10.49 — which she set in 1988 before the Olympics that year.

As the Associated Press noted, this was the first Jamaican sweep of the 100 meters since the women did it at the 2008 Beijing Games, when Fraser-Pryce won gold. Fraser-Pryce — who was favored to win Saturday after she clocked a 10.63 sprint ahead of the Tokyo Games — now has two Olympic golds, a silver and a bronze in the 100 meters.

It was an incredible 100-meter final, and Thompson-Herah is, once again, the fastest woman in the world.

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Katie Ledecky confirms she’s not even close to retiring after winning final gold of Tokyo Olympics

“That was *not* my last swim,” Katie Ledecky said after winning gold in the 800-meter free.

After her final race of the Tokyo Olympics, Katie Ledecky answered the question no one — except, apparently, NBC — was asking. She has no intention of calling it a career after these Games and confirmed she’s eyeing Paris in 2024 and maybe beyond.

Ledecky completed her three-peat victory in the women’s 800-meter freestyle Saturday morning in Japan (Friday night in the U.S.), winning gold in the event at the 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and, now, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

With a time of 8:12.57, Ledecky swam to victory with little competition, as her Australian rival Ariarne Titmus won silver after finishing more than a second behind Ledecky at 8:13.83. Italy’s Simona Quadarella won bronze.

This was her seventh Olympic gold medal in total and 10th Olympic medal overall. At the Tokyo Games, she also won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle, silver in the 400-meter freestyle, silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and finished 5th in the 200-meter freestyle. She raced for 6,200 meters — or about 3.7 miles — this week.

“It’s awesome,” 24-year-old Ledecky told NBC in her on-deck, post-800 interview while panting. “I just wanted to finish on a really good note, and I’m so happy. In a lot of pain too.”

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And then she was asked about retiring. Specifically, NBC’s Michele Tafoya asked Ledecky: “How will you decide if this is the last swim for Katie Ledecky?”

Ledecky seemed as taken aback by the question as so many others in the swimming world and immediately shut down any discussion of retirement.

“Oh, that was not my last swim,” Ledecky responded. “I’m at least going to ’24, maybe ’28. We’ll see.”

The 2024 Olympics are in Paris, while the 2028 Games are in Los Angeles. Ledecky continued:

“I just knew it was going to be my last swim here. You never take anything for granted. You don’t know if you’re going to be back at the next Olympics, so just try to soak it all in.”

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Watch Caeleb Dressel smash his own 100 butterfly WR and win another gold medal

Caeleb Dressel broke the first men’s swimming world record of these Olympics.

Caeleb Dressel is coming home with another gold medal after cruising to victory in the men’s 100-meter butterfly final Saturday morning at the Tokyo Olympics (Friday night in the U.S.).

And this time, he broke the world record — his own world record.

With one of the best starts at the Olympics, Dressel was already ahead of the field by the time he took his first stroke. He charged through the first 50 with a super fast time of 23.00 before finishing at 49.45.

Dressel’s previous world record from 2019 was 49.50, and it was pretty clear from the beginning of this race that the world record was probably going down. This was just the second individual world record to fall at these Games, following South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker breaking the 200-meter breaststroke world record earlier this week.

Hungary’s Kristof Milak won the silver medal and was just .23 seconds behind Dressel with a time of 49.68. But the pair separated themselves from the field in a big way, as bronze medal-winner Noe Ponti of Switzerland finished nearly 1.5 seconds behind Dressel at 50.74.

This was Dressel’s fifth Olympic medal of his career, and they’ve all been gold. At the Tokyo Games, he also won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

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Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad made their 400-meter hurdles heats look so easy

Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad were cruising.

Track stars Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad put on a show Saturday morning at the Tokyo Olympics (Friday night in the U.S.). And in fact, they made the 400-meter hurdles look easy — and that event is definitely anything but.

But after the five opening heats of the event, Team USA’s medal favorites reminded fans why the semifinals and final of this event are must-see events. (The top-4 finishers in each heat and the next four fastest athletes advanced to the semifinals.)

McLaughlin — who broke Muhammad’s world record in June at the U.S. Olympic Trials and lowered it to 51.90 — easily won the third heat of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.65. And then Muhammad — who won gold in the event at the 2016 Rio Games — comfortably won the fifth heat at 53.97.

Look how far ahead McLaughlin and Muhammad are in their respective heats, and neither of them are going at full speed.

And in addition to the pair, Team USA teammate Anna Cockrell finished third in her heat, so all three American women advanced to the semifinals.

The three semifinals for the women’s 400-meter hurdles are set for Monday night in Tokyo (Monday morning in the U.S.).

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Tokyo Olympics: Our favorite moments from the opening week and what’s to come with track and field

Track and field is just getting started!

We’re at the end of the first week of the Tokyo Olympics, and so far, there have been some incredible moments, like Team USA’s Suni Lee winning the gymnastics all-around competition, British diver Tom Daly’s victory message to the LGBTQ+ community, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz winning the first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines and so many more.

So after the first week, Charles Curtis, Andy Nesbitt and Michelle Martinelli share their top moments from (more or less) the first half of the Tokyo Games. They talk swimming, families cheering for their athletes from afar and the challenges of navigating NBC’s Olympic coverage.

But, obviously, there’s still so much more to come, so our Olympic team also breaks down what it’s looking forward to about the weekend and upcoming week, as the track and field competition is underway.

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Lilly King slams ‘bull-[expletive]’ mentality of not celebrating silver and bronze medals at Olympics

Lilly King wishes Olympic silver and bronze medals were celebrated like golds.

Swimmer Lilly King often candidly calls it like she sees it — whether she’s talking about Olympic athletes doping, being the “bad guy” in the pool or making very bold predictions.

So when it came to the popular American sentiment that any Olympic performance less than a gold medal-winning one is a loss, King didn’t hold back. She called that mentality “bulls—,” Yahoo Sports reported from Tokyo, after she and teammate Annie Lazor won silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter breaststroke Friday morning at the Tokyo Olympics (Thursday night in the U.S.).

From the U.S. women’s gymnastics team winning the silver medal in the team competition to Katie Ledecky finishing second in the 400-meter freestyle to Team USA’s softball squad, reactions and headlines had a common theme: They “settled” for silver.

Here’s what King said, via Yahoo Sports:

“Excuse my French,” she said, “but the fact that we don’t celebrate silver and bronze is bulls—. …

“Just because we compete for the United States, and maybe we have extremely high standards for this sort of thing, that doesn’t excuse the fact that we haven’t been celebrating silver and bronze as much as gold.”

The “if you’re not first, you’re last” approach doesn’t work in the Olympics.

Sure, winning Olympic gold might be the ultimate goal, but being on the podium at a major international event like the Olympics is a huge accomplishment — as is qualifying for the Games at all — and one that should be celebrated, even if the athletes went in competing to win it all.

Gymnast Jordan Chiles addressed how her team’s silver medal was being talked about in an interview with NBC this week, saying in part:

“We still got a medal for the United States of America. For the medal count, it’s a huge thing, but in our minds, this silver medal is a gold medal. We didn’t just get silver, we won silver.”

Before finishing second to South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker in the 200 breaststroke, King won the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke — one of two events she won gold in the event at the 2016 Rio Games — after finishing behind Schoenmaker and gold medal-winner 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby. King said she was disappointed in herself, but she didn’t show it and spoil Jacoby’s special moment.

But that doesn’t mean King is indifferent about her bronze medal, and after finishing 12th in the 200 breaststroke in Rio, the two-time Olympian is pretty happy with silver this summer.

More from Yahoo Sports:

“I might be more happy with this medal than I’ve been with any of my previous medals, including the two golds in Rio,” King said. “We really should be celebrating those silver and bronzes, because those are some of the greatest moments of that athlete’s career, and why would we not celebrate that?”

Listen to the athletes.

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Gators News: Olympics roll along and other stories from around the Swamp

A week’s worth of Olympics is now in the bag and so far things are looking pretty darned good for current and former Florida Gators competing in the Tokyo Games this summer.

A week’s worth of Olympics is now in the bag and so far things are looking pretty darned good for current and former Florida Gators competing in the Tokyo Games this summer. While things have been rolling along in some sports such as swimming, others like track and field are just getting started. Speaking of which, over a dozen members of the Orange and Blue will be active in latter events in the coming days, among many others still out giving it their all. Then there is some news to report on back in Gainesville as well. Here is a look at everything you need to know heading into the weekend.

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