Five things you missed last night
- You missed a coronation. The coronation of the U.S. as the dominant women’s gymnastics program on Earth. It’s inspiring little girls across America today – hoping they can become the next Simone Biles – or Aly Raisman – or Gabby Douglas – or Laurie Hernandez – or Madison Kocian. As for Biles’ coronation as the best female gymnast, perhaps, of all-time? Well, Tuesday was a dress rehearsal. The real show comes Thursday in the Individual All-Around.
And he made history as the oldest swimmer, male or female to win an individual Olympic gold medal – 31 years, 41 days old. Watch it here
Then Phelps was a surprise addition as the anchor of the U.S. Men’s 4x200 Meter Freestyle Relay team. Swimming an hour after his gold medal win, Phelps had a near disaster when his swimming cap broke as he was putting it on. He quickly donned teammate Connor Dwyer's cap, then cruised to his second gold of the night – winning by nearly three seconds. That’s 21 gold medals and counting for Phelps. If he were his own country, he’d be tied for 39th all-time. Watch the relay here
Katie Ledecky is a household name now. She added to her growing legend by winning the 200-meter freestyle. That’s three medals at these Games with two more possible at these Games. Watch her race again -- and stay tuned for more.
The Phelps Face Watch: After Phelps' scowl toward a South African rival on Monday sent the Internet into a tizzy, NBC wanted to make absolutely sure we didn’t miss a repeat. As the Women's 200-meter freestyle was getting lined up, the Peacock went split-screen to show you what Phelps was doing in the Green Room. Sorry. Nothing interesting to see here.
By the way: Chad le Clos, the swimmer who drew Phelps’ ire Monday, failed to medal in the 200-meter butterfly final.
Five things to watch today
- History on the line! Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian will try to win back-to-back gold medals in the Men’s 100 Meter Freestyle. Only three other men have ever done it in the 120-year history of the Olympics. It comes after he survived a scare in the prelims Tuesday.
- That’s not all. The U.S. swim team can pick up a total of six more medals tonight in primetime.
- The top U.S. Women’s Beach Volleyball Team of Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross try to make the Swiss miss at Copacabana Beach.
- Hoping to bring redemption to U.S. Men’s Gymnastics after a fifth-place finish in the team final, Sam Mikulak and Christopher Brooks are back in the Men’s Individual All-Around. See if they can bring home a medal for Team USA.
- Go Dawgs! UW rowers Megan Kalmoe and Adrienne Martelli try to add a second Olympic medal to their trophy cases. They won bronze in 2012 in the Quad Sculls and will try for more first thing in the morning when they row in the final. (UPDATE: Rowing events today have been canceled and rescheduled due to high winds).
