The United States remains atop the medal table eleven days into Rio.
Star of the day: Danell Leyva, USA, Gymnastics
From injured to alternate to two silver medals. @RachelAxon's story on an Olympics to remember for @DanellJLeyva https://t.co/AvKWPZ8UUO
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) August 17, 2016
Danell Leyva was initially left off the U.S. Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team, and was only added after John Orozco tore his ACL two weeks before the games. He’s now going to leave Rio as the most-decorated member of the team, after he won the silver medal in both the parallel bars and the high bar event finals yesterday.
Also shining brightly: Jennifer Simpson, USA, Track & Field
Jennifer Simpson runs Into history books, first U.S. woman to win Olympic medal in 1500mhttps://t.co/EBGrt9Nj1w 🔓 pic.twitter.com/yvB2nklTLm
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 17, 2016
Simpson placed third in the 1500m race, winning the first-ever medal in the event for the United States. This was Simpson’s third Olympic games and first time medaling. Like fellow New Balance athlete Emma Coburn, Simpson cleverly managed to skirt “Rule 40” and displayed her appreciation for her sponsor by tossing her shoes over her shoulder so they would be in the pictures.
The “final two” go 1-2 again: Women’s artistic gymnastics wrapped up competition yesterday with the floor exercise finals, and Americans Simone Biles and Aly Raisman took the gold and silver. (They also went 1-2 in the all-around final.) In an interview after the event, Biles and Raisman said they were Team Coordinator Marta Karolyi’s “final two” before her retirement and they were happy to come out on top. Biles will leave Rio with five medals, four of them gold, and Raisman’s silver was the sixth Olympic medal of her career.
Walsh Jennings and Ross fall to Brazilian team: Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross lost to Brazil in a nailbiter beach volleyball semifinal match. They will play another Brazilian team tonight for the bronze medal.
The Final Five met Zac Efron: Today Show host Hoda Kotb pulled some strings and managed to bring actor Zac Efron (aka Simone Biles’ celebrity crush) to Rio to surprise the girls. Needless to say, Simone had negative chill when she realized who had come to surprise her.
The moment when @ZacEfron made @Simone_Biles' life! #RioTODAY pic.twitter.com/cQNZvXpjyE
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 17, 2016
😘🌹 just call me mrs.efron already @ZacEfron pic.twitter.com/FF4NTgj4MP
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 16, 2016
@Simone_Biles OMG I LOVE U 😂😂😂😍😍 pic.twitter.com/iIDsnFuB7m
— Gabriel (@gabrielhenriqes) August 16, 2016
Another proposal of Olympic proportions: After Will Claye won the silver medal in the triple jump (finishing behind fellow American Christian Taylor), he proposed to his girlfriend, Queen Harrison. She said yes.
Will Claye proposed to his girlfriend after winning silver today. He's not 100% sure she said "yes," though. https://t.co/vDmPJZBA3x
— SB Nation (@SBNation) August 16, 2016
The Olympic spirit personified: Abbey D’Agostino of the United States didn’t know New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin before the 5,000m race. Midway through, Hamblin and D’Agostino collided and fell. D’Agostino encouraged Hamblin to get up and finish the race, and Hamblin returned the favor when it became apparent that D’Agostino was badly hurt. The two crossed the finish line in last place, but they forged a bond that will last forever. (Although both girls petitioned their way into the final, it was revealed that D’Agostino had suffered a torn ACL and would not be able to compete.) What a beautiful display of sportsmanship.
After colliding, @abbey_dags (#USA) & @NikkiHamblin (#NZL) show true #Olympic spirit. https://t.co/zCIBO09zPJ https://t.co/e6atyXudHH
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 17, 2016
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