Even More Bolts Of Lightning

By Brendon Rosenau
Love of Sports Correspondent

Usain Bolt is insane.

Bolt dominated the track unlike anyone has before him, winning the 200 meters by .66 seconds over his closest competitor. In a race that lasts less than 20 seconds, that distance is almost impossible to imagine.

He broke the world record in the event, previously held by Michael Johnson, with a time of 19.30. Bolt’s also set the world record in the 100 meter in this Olympics, becoming the first person to break both records in the same Games. He also became the first man since Carl Lewis (1984) to win gold in both events.

Churandy Martina of Netherlands-Antilles and Wallace Spearmon of the U.S. seemingly finished second and third, but both were DQ’d for running out of their lanes. As a result, the U.S. moved into silver and bronze. Shawn Crawford ended up second (19.96), with Walter Dix (19.98) coming in third.

In other track and field news, the USA’s Sheena Tosta won silver in the 400-meter hurdles, with a 53.70 finish. Melanie Walker of Jamaica won the race by over a full second. It was the seventh Jamaican medal in track and their fourth gold. The U.S. now has 14 medals in the first 26 events.

A special shoutout goes to Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain. His country had never won an Olympic medal until Ramzi took gold in the 1,500 Tuesday night.

The Americans lead 82-79 in the overall medal count, barely keeping the Chinese at bay. The race is far from over, as there are still 86 medals to be awarded.

All Good in Team Play

Basketball: Shhhhhh! If you listen very quietly, you might catch the murmurs of the few remaining outspoken critics of the Redeem Team.

Before the Games, the critics were loud and boisterous, banging their drums of negativity. A quick sampling of their beliefs; The U.S. is a bunch of prima donnas. They have poor attitudes. They can’t play as a team. They can’t play the international game. I could go on and on. There were, and still are, people openly rooting for the team to lose. Now, though, there isn’t much for them to say.

The U.S. waltzed into the semifinals with a 116-85 win over Australia. The U.S. had a minuscule 25-24 after one quarter (there’s the nit-picking point for critics), but pulled away late in the second. They increased their lead to 12 points at the half, then ran away to hide in the second half.

In the third quarter, the U.S. outscored the Aussies 34-18, holding the men from down under scoreless for the first four minutes. Kobe Bryant led the way with 25 and was one of five players in double figures. LeBron James had a line of 16 points, nine boards, four steals and three assists.

Next up is Argentina, who beat Greece 80-78. They’re the defending Olympic champions. Deep down, the U.S. has been waiting for this game four years. They’ll come out hungry and strong. If they win by 30, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.

Softball: If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. That’s exactly what happened to Japan in their semifinal game with the U.S. Japan became the first team to hold the softball powerhouse scoreless through seven innings. Alas, Japan was against the vaunted U.S. pitching and had donuts on the board as well.

The U.S. finally won the game 4-1 in nine eventful innings. Starting in the eighth, each half inning starts with a runner on second. Monica Abbot (eight IP, three hits, 11Ks) and Yukiko Ueno (nine IP, six hits) each stranded the runner in the eighth.

In the top of the ninth, Natasha Watley started on second and immediately scored the first run of the game on a single by Caitlin Lowe. Jessica Mendoza followed with a walk putting two on for Crystal Bustos. Bustos had lined into a double play with two on in the seventh and was chomping at the bit for revenge. She got it in the form of a towering three-run blast (her fifth of the Games).

Abbot gave up an unearned run in the ninth before Cat Osterman came on and retired the next three hitters, slamming the door shut. The U.S. could pack up and prepare for the finals, but Japan’s day wasn’t even close to being over. They immediately faced Australia, who had beat Canada, for the right to lose to the U.S in the finals. Ueno got the start again and once again went extra innings. This time, the game went 12 and ended with Japan on top 4-3.

The U.S. and Japan will now meet for the third time Friday morning at 8:30am EST with the last ever softball gold medal hanging in the balance.

Volleyball: The men’s team will simply not quit. Trailing Serbia two games to one, the U.S. rallied to win the fourth set 25-18 to set up a 15-point tie break for the right to advance to the semifinals. Serbia started the fifth game strong, taking a 7-4 lead.

The U.S clawed back on a block by Clay Stanley and a error on Serbia (four touches) to tie the game. The Americans then took their first lead, 10-9, when Stanley and David Lee snuffed out a attempted Serbian kill. After Serbia tied the score, the U.S. scored three straight points to take total control. Stanley (14 kills) converted his first kill of the fifth game, then Ryan Millar scored on a block. Stanley capped the small, but decisive, run with a shot that overpowered the Serbs. Riley Salmon had two monster spikes (12 in the game) to close out the final game 15-12.

The U.S. remained undefeated in China and advanced to the semis for the second straight Olympics. They’ll take on Russia next.

Tonight is the Night

This one is specifically for all the fellas out there. Set your TIVO, because tonight is the women’s beach volleyball final. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are taking on Tian Jia and Wag Jie of China.

Also tonight, the first Olympic gold will be handed out in BMX cycling. Donny Robinson, Mike Day and Kyle Bennett are in the semifinals for the men, while Jill Kitner is in the semis for the women. Both semifinal and final races will be held tonight.

The Modern Pentathlon will get underway tonight as well. The event looks like the brainchild of a few too many Jager Bombs, but is nonetheless extremely challenging. The event starts with the 10-meter Air Pistol, then goes to the Epee One Touch, a 200-meter freestyle swim, equestrian show jumping and finally a 300-meter run. The events will all be completed within a 12-hour time frame.

The men will start tonight with Sam Sacksen and Eli Bremer representing the U.S. The women, following the same program, go tomorrow. Sheila Taormina and Margaux Isaksen are the Red, White and Blue entrants.

Coffee and Medals

At 5:30 am EST Thursday morning, the U.S. women will take on the Netherlands for gold in water polo. Four hours later, at a much more tolerable hour, the women’s soccer team will go for gold against Brazil.

Also happening tomorrow morning: The U.S. women’s hoops team in their semifinal battle with Russia and more hardware on the track, the women have the javelin and 200-meter finals, the men will finalize the triple jump, the 400, the 110-meter hurdles and the 50 km road walk. Oh yeah, the decathlon will begin tomorrow as well.

(Brendon Rosenau’s continued Olympic coverage can be seen in this same spot each and every day of the Games.)

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