Day 10
at the Olympic games was full of crucial team sports matches and individual
competition finals. From the track, to the soccer pitch, to the basketball
court, we treated to some great action on day 10 of the London Olympic games.
Here are some of the highlights from the day's action.
US and Canadian women produce a thrilling match
Earlier
in the day there was great women's soccer action in semifinal match number 1
between Japan and France. Japan won the tightly contested matchup by a score of
2-1. It seemed like the perfect situation for the United States, the
possibility of meeting the team that beat them in the World Cup final last year
in this year's Olympic final. All they had to do was get past Canada, a team
that they have beaten consistently since 2003. I'm not sure if they anticipated
it or not but they were about to earn one of the toughest victories in a game
that will probably go down in history as one of the best Olympic matches in any
sport. Canada's star forward Christine Sinclair probably realized that not only
might this be her last Olympics but also her last chance to play her neighbors
from the south in a major competition. Sinclair put on a performance that will
talked about by many Canadian soccer fans for a while. Putting her nation on
her back, Sinclair produced a hat trick against the mighty Americans but each
time Sinclair scored the Americans responded with goals from their stars. Megan
Rapinoe answered Sinclair's first two goals with 2 of her own. The real
decisive moment came in the last 15 minutes of the game when the Canadian
goalkeeper was whistled for holding the ball too long after picking it up off
the ground. That gave the U.S. an indirect free kick inside the Canadian 18
yard box. The free kick led to a handball call against Canada and a penalty
kick that was converted by Abby Wambach to tie the game at 3 a piece. The game
went into extra time where both teams played very scrappy, throwing their
bodies everywhere to prevent the other team from scoring. Several players
suffered knocks that kept them on the ground for a moment. At times you
wondered if any of these players would be still standing by the time the game
ended. Right when it seemed like we were headed for the first ever penalty
shootout in Olympics history American golden girl Alex Morgan fired a header
into the Canadian goal to give the U.S. the lead with literally 30 seconds left
in the match, and 4-3 is how it ended. It was pure joy for the Americans and
heartbreak for the Canadians. It was a game that both teams wanted badly and
fought their hardest for, and the U.S. emerged as the victor when the dust
cleared. So the stage is set for a rematch between Japan and the United States,
this time for the Olympic gold. Should be a great game.
Big Day on the Track for the Dominican Republic
After
many years of being around plenty of Dominicans and having several close
friends that are Dominican I have learned that they are proud of their country
and love to celebrate the achievements of their athletes. The Dominican
Republic is a country known for producing superb baseball players but over the
past decade they have put their athleticism to use in other sports, track &
field being one of them. Well on day 10 of the Olympics we saw a couple
Dominican track & field athletes make some noise on the track. First it was
their well established superstar 400 meter hurdle master Felix Sanchez taking
gold in the 400m hurdles final. Sanchez who won gold in the 2004 Olympics and
has been an elite 400m hurdler the past decade was thought to be washed up and
out of his prime. Sanchez had been in the final round of many major
competitions since 2004 but had not won any. Not many looked at him as a
favorite to win this year but after a great showing in the semis you could tell
Felix was on a mission. Sanchez surged down the final 100 meters alongside
Puerto Rican Javier Culson and pulled away from Culson after clearing the last
hurdle earning himself his second Olympic gold. You could tell this victory
meant a lot to Sanchez as he celebrated emphatically after crossing the line
and wept in joy as he received his gold medal and heard his country's anthem
being played in the Olympic stadium. Sanchez is one of the older athletes on
the Dominican squad and his career is probably heading into its' last few years
but there's no need for Dominicans to stress because they have an 18 wonderkid
in the open 400 meters. His name is Luguelin Santos and he is lightning fast.
The reason why most people haven't heard of this boy yet is because fellow
teenage phenom Kirani James has become the king of the 400 meters and very
publicized considering he is only 19. James who is from Grenada went into the
400 final as the clear favorite but not many expected the top 2 spots to be
taken by 2 teenagers from Caribbean island nations, but that's exactly what
happened. Santos took the silver medal behind James with a blazing fast time of
44.46 giving the Dominican Republic their 2nd track & field medal of the
day. Even if the Dominicans don't win another medal the rest of the Olympics
they will probably be celebrating the accomplishments of Sanchez and Santos at
least until the games are over. I wouldn't mind being in Santo Domingo right
now.
Those
were the two major highlights from day 10 of the Olympics but here are some
pictures from other action around London;
Aliya Mustafina wins gold for Russia in the
gymnastics uneven bars competition. Mustafina had won bronze in the all-around
final and silver in the team competition. Talk about earning the cycle of
medals.
American pole vaulter Jenn Suhr denied Russian star
Elena Isinbaeva a chance at a 3rd straight olympic title by beating her in the
pole vault final and taking gold.
Japan advance to the women's soccer final after
breaking the hearts of the french with a 2-1 victory. Japan will face the U.S.
in the final and have a chance to add an Olympic gold medal to their 2011 FIFA
World Cup title.
Kirani James of Grenada wins the men's open 400
meters, adding an Olympic gold medal to his gold medal from 2011 IAAF World
Outdoor Championships. The 19 year old has become the undisputed king of the
400m since leaving The University of Alabama early where he was NCAA Champion
as a 17 year old freshman.
USA men's basketball managed to pull away from
Argentina and win 126-97 after a very close first half.
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