Phelps' Final Race; Williams Dances Into Our Hearts
Michael Phelps has swam in his last Olympic race. The U.S. team was behind the Japanese team in the 4x100 meter individual medley relay race on Saturday. Thanks to Phelps' superhuman swimming ability, and everyone's favorite crush Nathan Adrian, the American team was able to come back and win the race. It's Phelps' 22nd Olympic medal, and his 18th gold. There's really no debating it anymore: Phelps is the greatest Olympian, sorry. [Deadspin]
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How fast can you run? Okay, write that time down. Now think of how fast you could run if you didn't have legs. Okay, not write that down. South Africa's Oscar Pistorius thinks you should stop making excuses for yourself. He's running on two prosthetic legs and he just made the semifinals in the 400 meter race. Pistorius came second in his heat, and now is the first double amputee to ever advance to an Olympic semi-final. We're going to go over here and feel bad for not accomplishing more in life. [New York Times]
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Serena Williams embarrassed Maria Sharapova in the Womens' singles tennis final. It was almost a shut out, which is almost unheard of in Olympic Tennis. Sharapova only won one game in the two sets played today, and struggled to even score points against Serena. After her win, Serena danced her way into America's heart:
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Serena Williams crip walking forever. [SB Nation]
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Oh no, someone catch Old Glory! During the Womens' tennis medal presentation, the flags of the three medalists were being hoisted in Wimbledon when the wind took the American flag from its hooks and it fell to the ground. Williams joked about it afterward. "It was probably flying to come hug me because the flag was so happy," Williams said. [Fourth Place Medal]
You may not know this, but Lithuania is a basketball powerhouse. They genetically engineer the most athletic, technically-skilled basketball players possible and house them in a Utopian basketball jail compound. Which is to say, the Lithuanian Men's team gave the stacked American team a run on Saturday. Cursed, devil-spawn Lebron James took over in the fourth quarter and led the Americans to a 99-94 win. [ESPN]
This is so nice! Great Britain is having, like, the best day ever at the Olympics today. They're already claimed five gold medals today, a first since 1908. The latest was Mohamed Farah winning the 10,000 meter marathon. [BBC/Twitter]
St. Kitts and Nevis athlete Kim Collins was stripped of his opportunity to compete in the 100 meter race qualifying heat on Saturday for sneaking out of the Olympic Village to spend time with his wife. The team says he missed training session and a registration session for his races, and avoided their phone calls. Collins says that even men in prison get to visit their wives. It's a toss-up, folks! Who do you think is right? [Guardian]
Canada is finally shedding its reputation as an Olympics bridesmaid. After a full week of only collecting silver and bronze medals, Canada's Rosannagh MacLennan won the country's first gold medal of the 2012 summer games. And she did it in a real sport, too! No, wait. She won for trampoline. Canada isn't expected to contend for gold again until the four square and hopscotch events on Friday. [CBC]
