Usain Bolt grabs another gold as Lochte saga consumes Rio Games

[webfact]

Bolt grabs another gold as Lochte saga consumes Rio Games 
JOSH HOFFNER, Associated Press

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Usain Bolt and Ryan Lochte commanded the Olympic spotlight Thursday for drastically different reasons.

 

Bolt completed an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100- and 200-meter sprints, an accomplishment that further elevated his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. He won the 200-meter race with a time of 19.78 seconds to defeat Andre de Grasse of Canada. He already claimed gold in the 100 in Rio.

 

Bolt did a lengthy victory lap around the stadium, proudly carrying a Jamaican flag and even taking a selfie as he jubilantly celebrated the win in what he has long said is his favorite race.

 

"I've proven to the world I'm the greatest," Bolt said. "This is what I came here for. That's what I'm doing. This is why I said this is my last Olympics — I can't prove anything else."

 

For all of the Olympic fanfare surrounding Bolt's win, American swimmer Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates attracted attention for all the wrong reasons.

 

Lochte has been in the news all week over his ever-shifting claim that he and his teammates were robbed in a taxi at gunpoint by men carrying a badge during a night of partying Sunday. Police now say the story was made up, and that the intoxicated athletes vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by guards about the incident before they paid about $50 for the damage and left.

 

The episode served as a distraction from several notable events in competition Thursday, including another haul of American medals in track and field, Jordan's first Olympic championship — in men's taekwondo — and the U.S. women's basketball team advancing to the Summer Games final yet again.

 

The U.S. track and field team is on a magnificent run in Rio. Americans took gold in the men's and women's 400-meter hurdles. They had a 1-2 finish in men's shot put. Ashton Eaton, largely considered the world's greatest all-around athlete, won gold in decathlon for the second straight Olympics. The feat may have garnered more attention if he weren't sharing the stage with Bolt.

 

That's 24 medals for the United States in track and field, including eight gold.

 

Brazil picked up two more gold medals, one in sailing and the other in beach volleyball. The men's volleyball team of Alison and Bruno set off a boisterous celebration in the rain on Copacabana Beach when they won the title match. Earlier in the day, the host country claimed gold in sailing after a dramatic finish in the women's 49erFX event. The winners tumbled into the bay as they celebrated the win.

 

Other highlights from Day 13 of the Rio Games:

 

SHAKUR FOR GOLD : No American has won a gold in boxing since 2004, but Shakur Stevenson hopes to change that. The 19-year-old phenom who was named after rapper Tupac Shakur advanced to the gold match and has the support of Floyd Mayweather, who has referred to Stevenson as "the next Floyd Mayweather."

 

SUSPENSIONS : It was a busy day for doping suspensions. Doping officials announced that a weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan, swimmer from China, cyclist from Brazil and canoeist from Moldova all tested positive for drugs. The weightlifter was taking strychnine, best known for its use as rat poison. Athletes use it in small doses to boost muscle recovery.

 

STILL UNDEFEATED : The U.S. women's basketball team didn't have its starting point guard, Sue Bird, in the semifinals against France after she injured her knee. They still won by 19 points. If the women beat Spain in the final Sunday, it will be six straight golds for the U.S.

 

BIRDIE FEST : You know it's a good day on the golf course when a player starts losing track of the number of birdies she makes. Such was the case for Lewis, who carded 11 birdies and shot a 63. Her round could have been better if not for a double-bogey on the 14th hole. And it still wasn't enough for the lead. Inbee Park of South Korea finished shot a 5-under 66 to lead by one.

 

DIVING DOMINATION : China has dominated the Olympic diving competition, and the result in the women's 10-meter platform suggests the success might be long-lasting. Ren Qian won gold, and she is only 15 years old.

 

BMX CRASHES : The BMX competition began on what many riders feared would be a treacherous course. They ended up being right. Several riders crashed in the BMX men's quarterfinals, and two-time defending gold medalist Maris Strombergs of Latvia was eliminated. All three American riders advanced to the semifinals, including Connor Fields, who summed up the day like this: "The best I can describe it is, put 800 lions in a cage, throw out a big steak and open the doors. That's BMX."

 

BADMINTON : It was a significant day at badminton. Carolina Marin of Spain beat the defending Olympic champion from China to advance to the gold medal singles match. Marin is world No. 1 but her win is significant because China had been badminton's superpower, sweeping all five gold medals at the 2012 London Games. And Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan won gold in women's badminton doubles.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-19

[spidermike007]

A counter narrative goes like this: Not sure its been proven to be a lie.  3 swimmers involved.  All the "evidence" against them is the claim by a very embarrassed and corrupt police department that "they found no evidence to support their claim". Between Brazil and a very weak Obama, they agree to throw lochte under the bus, to avoid an international scandal. He claimed they were law enforcement. Not security guards. So it would be an international incident with major repercussions. The Brazilian government may have gotten to Obama. And he is turn may have sacrificed Lochte. 

 

Now it could have happened exactly as it is being reported, but considering that he is worth $6 million plus, and ALL of that money is from endorsements, not sure he could possibly be stupid enough to walk away from that gravy train. it just smells funny. I admit it could be true. but it seems too pat. too easy a narrative to construct. it would have been a huge amount of egg on Brazil's face, if it had turned out to be true. there could have been tremendous pressure from both the Brazilian govt, which is teetering on the brink of disaster, and the US State Dept too, which does not want to embarrass a close friend in Brazil, with a huge economy and sphere of influence in S. America. 

 

Lochte is worth over $6 million. all from endorsements. he has to be have been lectured to a hundred times, by his advisors, accountant, lawyer, agent, and parents, about behaving responsibly, especially at the olympics, to be able to maintain that income stream. Entitlement and a sense of privilege does not answer these questions sufficiently.

[Skeptic7]

not looking good for Lochte...

 

 http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/17344136/us-swimmer-james-feigen-make-10800-payment-leave-brazil-amid-scandal

[JetsetBkk]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

not sure he could possibly be stupid enough to walk away from that gravy train

 

You don't need a lot of brains to swim good.

 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

You don't need a lot of brains to swim good.

 

 

 

Well, that is true. But he is an incredibly accomplished athlete, and has had the kind career most only dream of. To throw that all away over something as stupid as what this appears to be on the surface makes no sense at all. This just does not pass the whiff test. There is something else going on here. I suspect it has to do with diplomacy. 

 

Lochte attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2007, majoring in sport management. As a member of the Florida Gators swimming and diving team, he swam for coach Gregg Troy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 2004 to 2007. At Florida, Lochte was the NCAA Swimmer of the Year twice, a seven-time NCAA champion, a seven-time SEC champion, and a 24-time All-American. At the 2006 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, during his senior year, Lochte won national titles in all three of his individual events, setting U.S. Open and American records in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke. He also broke Tom Dolan's nearly decade-old NCAA record in the 400-yard individual medley.

Lochte's success has earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year three times. He has won a total of 90 medals in major international competition, 54 gold, 22 silver, and 14 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan American, and Pan Pacific Championships.

[pomchop]

yeah sure a bunch of Brazilians ROB the four swimmers but agree to only take $50 of their money and not their cell phones  wallets etc....and all of the video at the gas station was part of a great conspiracy theory against the americans...

 

young dumb drunk kids who vandalized private property and thought they just get in a taxi and carry on.....the security guards said no way you are leaving here without paying for the damage you have done.....

 

if lochte would have kept his big mouth shut that would have been the end of it and nobody would likely have ever known anything about it....

 

stupid is as stupid does

[gaburke]

So apparently SpiderMike believes that it is the President of the United States' responsibility to defend a punk kid, who thinks it's okay to get drunk and vandalize a gas station restroom because he's in a foreign country?

Really?

Ridiculous!

[GOLDBUGGY]

On 19/8/2559 at 8:46 PM, JetsetBkk said:

 

You don't need a lot of brains to swim good.

 

Yeah! Agreed!

 

You are also not the greatest just because you can run fast.

 

Mind you this could come in handy if a Grizzly Bear was chasing you. But then, since they can run as fast as a horse you would be screwed anyway. It would just take a few milliseconds longer, which may be enough to win races, but not with a Bear.