Ten things to know from what happened in the world of sport. August 3-9, 2021. Olympics and Messi.
- Track and Field. Alyson Felix (USA) became the first female athlete to win seven gold medals in Olympic Athletics, after winning her third 4×400 meter relay gold medal. Sifan Hassan (NED) was also quite impressive. She became the first athlete to win the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters events at the Games. She beat Kalkidan Gezahegne (BAH) and World Record-holder Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) after a great last lap n the 10,000 meters event. Anita Wlodarczyk (POL) became the first female athlete to win three consecutive golds in the same discipline, after winning the Hammer Throw again. The Men’s shot put was the first repeat podium in Olympic athletics, with Ryan Crouser (USA), Joe Kovacs (USA) and Tom Walsh (NZL) taking the medals again.
- More multiple medalists. Lisa Carrington (NZL) won three gold medals in Women’s Kayak, winning the K-1 200, K-1 500 and K-2 500 meters events. Jason Kenny (GBR) won gold in the Men’s Keirin, his 7th Olympic gold in Cycling. There were several athletes with two gold medals, including Daiki Hashimoto (JPN), who won the Individual All-Around and High Bar Gymnastics events. He was the only multiple gold medal winner in his sport. Swimmer Caeleb Dressel (USA) won the most gold medals at the games, with five.
- Karate controversy. Karate made its Olympic debut in Tokyo, with eight different nations taking each of the gold medals that were available. The Men’s +75 kg Kumite division had a controversial ending, as Sajjad Ganjzadeh (IRI) won the gold medal after having been knocked out by Tareg Hamedi (KSA) due to excessive force, although Ganjzadeh did not protect himself well from a kick that was not intended to hit his neck.
- Horse tragedy. Horse Jet Set (SUI), ridden by Robin Godel (SUI) had to be euthanized after an injury in the Olympic Cross-Country event last week.This week the horses also were a controversial area of Modern Pentathlon, as several riders failed to put on a correct ride. A German trainer was expelled after she hit one horse when it refused to jump for Annika Schleu (DEU), who was leading the competition until that point. The British fared well with the horses: Kate French and Joe Choong won the Modern Pentathlon Events, Scott Brash and Explosion W won Equestrian’s Individual Jumping Event, and Great Britain won the Team Eventing category.
- Fast and steady Italians. Italy had an excellent last week at Tokyo 2020, winning the Men’s 4×100 athletics event -after Marcell Jacobs (ITA) won the individual-, while in cycling their Men’s team pursuit also won gold, breaking the World Record both in the First Round and the Finals. They also excelled in longer distances, taking both 20-kilometer Race Walk events, with Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano. Poland’s Dawid Tomala won the last planned 50-kilometer Olympic event, while Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) repeated his Olympic gold in the Men’s Marathon and Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) beat World Record holder Brigid Kosgei (KEN) in the Women’ Marathon.
- Messi leaves Barcelona. In a Press Conference Messi announced his farewell to the only professional football club he has played for, amid budget caps in LaLiga prevented FC Barcelona to continue paying a salary of his level. He is set to join Paris Saint-Germain. Messi won three FIFA World Cups with Barcelona and has been widely regarded as the most popular player of the team in the last decade.
- USA again. The USA Basketball Women’s National Team extended their record with record seventh consecutive gold medal in Olympic competition, after winning every match they faced in Tokyo 2020, including beating Japan 90-75 in the Final. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi won their record-extending fifth consecutive gold medal with the team, which puts them joint 5th of all-time in the list of most Olympic gold medals won in the same sport.
- Russia not as Russia. The Russian Artistic Swimming Team won its record sixth consecutive double gold medals, by taking both the Team and Duet competition, this time under the ‘Russian Olympic Committee’ banner. Svetlana Kolesnichenko won both competitions. Her partner, Svetlana Romashina, won a record seventh gold medal, a record in the sport that makes her one of the most decorated Olympians of all time. Alexandra Patskevich and Alla Shishkina have now won three in a row and Vlada Chigireva and Maria Shurochkina two.
- Three out of four. France won its third Olympic gold medal in of the last four Olympic Games. This made Nicola Karabatic the most successful handball player of all time in Olympic Handball, with three gold medals and one bronze. France won seven out of eight matches, including beating the current two-time World Champions, Denmark, in the Final (25-23).
- Close to perfection. Quan Hongchan (CHN) is a 14 year-old that won the 10 meter platform gold medal for diving at the Olympic Games. Of her five dives, three were perfect, with two of them scoring a score of “10” from every single judge. 19 year-old Wang Zongyuan (CHN) won the Men’s 3-meter trampoline while Xie Siye (CHN) concluded a great Olympic cycle by winning the Men’s 10 meter platform. Tom Daley and Matty Lee (GBR) won the Men’s Synchronized 10 m platform event to prevent China from taking every available gold.
