A Star Spangled Night in Rio: Phelps, Manuel, Murphy, Biles Strike Gold
Thursday turned out to be a historic night in Rio de Janeiro at the games of the XXXI Olympiad.
In more ways than one.
Michael Phelps won his 22nd Gold Medal and set another record in the pool, Simone Biles won the Women's Gymnastics All Around by a historic margin, and Simone Manuel made history herself.
What a night for the Americans.
MEN'S 200M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY--Michael Phelps became the first in history to win a gold medal in the same event in four straight Olympics by winning the 200 IM, running away...or swimming away from the competition. Phelps winning time was nearly two ,seconds faster than silver medalist Kosuke Hagino of Japan. Ryan Lochte, who was expected to challenge Phelps, finished a disappointing fifth
WOMEN'S 100 FREESTYLE--Twenty year old Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to ever medal in the pool, as she tied Penny Oleksiak of Canada for the gold medal in the women's 100m Freestyle. Manuel broke into tears after the race and tears streaked down her face as the Star Spangled Banner was played. The two set an Olympic record of 52.70.
MEN'S 200 BACKSTROKE--It was gold for the Americans again as Ryan Murphy was victorious in the 200m Backstroke, edging out Mitch Larkin of Australia by :0.34 to get another gold medal for the Americans in that event. It was the second gold for Murphy, who also won the 100m. Americans have not lost in either event since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS--It was a record setting night for Simone Biles, as she easily won the all-around competition. Her margin of 2.1 points was greater than the margin of the last nine Olympics COMBINED. The Americans finished 1-2 as Aly Raisman delivered a near-flawless floor exercise to win the silver medal. Raisman wept after her routine was completed, knowing she would get the silver medal, after losing the bronze on a tiebreaker four years ago. Raisman was fourth and Biles second after two events, but both were outstanding on the balance beam and floor to outdistance themselves from bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russia.