Summer Olympics News

Brazil beat the US 3-1 to take the gold medal in Women’s volleyball. The US team takes home the silver and China beat Cuba 3-1 for the women’s bronze medal.

For the US team it was a very hard earned silver medal, considering the stabbing incident that they went through when they first arrived in Beijing. For those who don’t remember, on August 9th the father of US player Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon was killed in Beijing by someone who then killed himself. Her mother was also injured in the stabbing attack.

Anyway, the whole tournament was very emotional for the US Women’s volleybal team, and they should proud of how well they performed under the circumstances.

There is a leaked list of next season’s competitors that came out this morning. Misty May-Treanor is listed as one of them. So, if you just can’t get enough of Misty May on the volleyball court, look for her in sequins and heels this fall.

Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States won the men’s beach volleyball gold medal in a great 3 set match with Brazil. Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil won the silver medal and Brazil also came away with the Bronze medal, when the Brazillian team of Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego defeated Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro of Georiga.

The finals was fun to watch. It is pretty amazing that Dalhausser and Rogers have only been playing together for three years. They look like they have been playing together a lot longer.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh winners of the Gold in Beach volleyball, did a terrific interview on the Today show this morning. You can check it out below.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball. I watched the end of the match and as usual Misty and Kerri looked unbeatable. Playing in the rain, they beat China’s team in straight sets, which extended their beach volleyball winning streak to 108 matches in a row. Not only that, but they didn’t lose a match in this Olympics or at the last Olympic games in Athens. That’s pretty amazing!

Congratulations to Misty and Kerri for another gold medal. All the best with your future goals off and on the court…

I watched some of the U.S. women’s Olympic volleyball team’s match against China today before I turned it off because it was stressing me out. After watching the women’s gymnastics last night and biting my nails through the commentary of Michael Phelps’ races (that’s the only really tense part— listening to the commentators make it sound like he MIGHT lose), I really wasn’t up to sitting through what turned out to be a five set match (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11). The team did end up winning, putting them in a good position to advance to the quarterfinals.

I was really interested to hear a bit of the story of the team’s coach, Jenny Lang Ping, though. If you’re big volleyball fans, you probably already know that she was a member of the 1984 gold medal winning Chinese women’s volleyball team. She’s quite the star in China, having coached the National team after she finished her career as a player.

You can read more about her on USA volleyball’s website.

Late night on NBC you can watch women’s volleyball and women’s 100m breaststroke semifinals. During the day tomorrow, it’s women’s water polo, men’s beach volleyball and more qualifying rounds for swimming. Then in primetime, Michael Phelps his march towards Olympic history in the 200m free. Teammates Aaron Peirsol and Natalie Coughlin have a chance to medal in the men’s and women’s 100m. Also on during primetime, U.S. women’s beach volleyball with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, the men’s team gymnastics final, and the men’s 10m synchro platform diving final.

MSNBC is broadcasting a full day tomorrow, as well, including women’s tennis, women’s handball, women’s basketball, women’s water polo and women’s volleyball. (Incidentally, U.S. women’s water polo is pursuing their third straight Olympic gold medal.) Men’s badminton (where U.S. competitor Raju Rai may actually have a chance), weightlifting and men’s archery are also available for viewing.

CNBC will be showing men’s beach volleyball, boxing, and women’s softball.

USA is broadcasting women’s beach volleyball, rowing, men’s tennis (featuring Wimbledon champion Rafael Nedal), women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball.

Oxygen will be covering gymnastics and equestrian.

Online, you can see archery, badminton, basketball, fencing, handball, field hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, tennis, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling.

All Olympic athletes are special, but we all know some are more exciting than others (who else was on the Olympic gymnastics team with Mary Lou Retton?). So, here are ten U.S. Olympic athletes that you should definitely watch.

1. Michael Phelps— Could potentially be one of the biggest stories of the China Olympics. Will he break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one Olympics? Will he tie his own record of eight medals (6 gold, 2 bronze) that he set at the Athens Olympics in 2004?

2. Shawn Johnson— She just might join the ranks of other women’s gymnastic greats Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson, who won all-around championships at the Olympics. At 16, she is the reigning world all-around champion.

3. Dara Torres— Dara hopes to increase the oldest age of the oldest gold medalist in swimming from 33 to 41 (she set the previous record at the Sydney Olympics). She also hopes to add to her current 9 Olympic medals.

4. The Lopez Family— Steven, Mark and Diana Lopez are siblings from Sugarland, Texas who will all be competing in TaeKwondo at the Summer Olympics. Even more amazing, they’re coached by older brother Jean. They are the first three siblings since 1904 to make an Olympic team. Since they won’t be competing against each other, they could conceivably bring home three gold medals.

5. Allyson Felix— The 22 year old track and field darling will be going for three gold medals. In the current climate of track and field, where the sport is reeling from recent performance-enhancing drug scandals, Felix has signed up for the enhanced testing program to prove that she is running clean.

6. Sheila Taormina— Sheila Taormina has already set a record before she even competes in Beijing. She’s the first woman to compete in four Olympics in three different sports. At this summer’s China Olympics, she’ll be competing in modern pentathlon. Previously, she has competed in swimming and triathlon. In 1996, she won a gold medal as part of the women’s 4×200 relay team. Taormina, age 39, will be joined on the U.S. Women’s Pentathlon team by teenage phenom Margaux Isaksen, who is only 16.

7. U.S. Women’s Softball Team— The U.S. Women’s Softball team, including several familiar faces from former Olympic teams, will be going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. Team member Laura Berg was on each of the previous winning teams and hopes to add to her collection of gold medals.

8. Lopez Lomong— You MUST visit his website. Lomong has an unbelievably inspiring story. A former “lost boy” of the Sudan, Lomong escaped from the Sudan and was relocated to the United States where he attended Northern Arizon University and began running track. Lomong will compete in the 1,500 m race in Beijing.

9. Laura Wilkinson— Laura Wilkinson is one of the United States’ best chances for gold in platform diving. After winning the gold in Sydney, Wilkinson was disappointed with a fifth place finish in Athens. However, she easily made the 2008 team and is looking really strong. Although she will be quite a bit older than many of the other competitors, she is working on some extremely complex dives and plans to go out with a bang at the Beijing Olympics. She will be retiring after the Games.

10. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh— They’ll be seeking to win the first back-to-back gold medals in beach volleyball. They’re coming into the Olympics with a 101-match winning streak and have won 18 tournaments in a row.

Beach volleyball has not been a staple of Chinese sports for long. They’re hoping for a good showing at the 2008 Olympics, so the team has been sent to Los Angeles to train.