Rio Olympics Recap Day 8: Michael Phelps Ends Career With Record 23rd Gold Medal
American swimmer Michael Phelps won his fifth gold medal of the Rio Games at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil on Saturday. The win gave Phelps 23 career gold medals -- an all-time Olympic record. Here’s a recap of the day’s action:
U.S. Swimmers Add More Gold
Team USA finished Saturday with 33 swimming medals at Rio 2016, including golds in the men’s and women’s 4x100-meter medley relays. The latter was Team USA’s 1000th gold medal of all-time.
U.S. swimming hero Michael Phelps put the American men's 4x100-meter team ahead in the butterfly leg and claimed gold with Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller and Nathan Adrian. Great Britain took silver, and Australia won bronze.
The victory gave Phelps five gold medals and one silver in the Rio Games, raising his career totals to a record 28 overall medals — and 23 golds.
The American women’s 4x100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and anchor Simone Manuel won gold on Saturday night. Australia took silver, and Denmark earned bronze.
Manuel also won silver in the 50-meter freestyle on Saturday night, finishing just behind Denmark's Pernille Blume. Aliaksandra Herasimenia took the bronze medal.
U.S. swimmer Connor Jaeger took silver in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle, finishing just under five seconds behind Italian gold medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri. Italian Gabriele Detti claimed the bronze medal.
Mo Farah Falls, Still Wins Gold
The track and field events awarded more medals on Saturday. Several decorated returning champs returned to the podium.
British distance runner Mo Farah fell in the 10,000 meters, but he recovered to defend the gold medal in the event he won in London in 2012. Paul Kipngetich Tanui of Kenya took silver, with Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola earning the bronze.
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson won the women's 100-meters with U.S. sprinter Tori Bowie claiming silver and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica earning the bronze.
Jamaican men’s sprinting legend Usain Bolt won his 100-meter heat in 10.07 seconds. Bolt's time was good for fourth overall after one round behind U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin, Ivory Coast’s Ben Youssef Meité and Canada’s Andre De Grasse.
American Jeff Henderson leaped past Luvo Manyonga of South Africa by 1 centimeter on his last jump to win the Olympic gold medal in the long jump. Defending champion Greg Rutherford of Britain took bronze.
Monica Puig Makes History for Puerto Rico
Tennis upstart Monica Puig won the first gold medal for Puerto Rico in any sport in Olympic history by shocking Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, in the women's tennis singles final on Saturday. Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic won bronze by beating American Madison Keys, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
Defending Olympic men’s singles champ Andy Murray of Great Britain beat Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the gold medal match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. Del Potro beat Spain's Rafael Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in the semifinals earlier Saturday.
U.S. mixed doubles tennis team Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram beat Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna of India, 2-6, 6-2, 10-3, on Saturday to advance to the gold medal match against fellow Americans Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who beat Lucie Hradecká and Radek Štěpánek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Other Notable U.S. Medals
The U.S. women’s rowing team continued to be unbeatable, with the American eight of Ellie Logan, Emily Regan, Amanda Elmore, Amanda Polk, Meghan Musnicki, Kerry Simmonds, Lauren Schmetterling, Tessa Gobbowinning and coxswain Katelin Snyder winning the gold medal in 6:01.49. The victory marked the 11th consecutive major title for the team — and third Olympic gold medal in a row. Great Britain won silver, with Romania taking the bronze. American rower Genevra Stone won the silver medal in women's single scull.
Elsewhere, the surging British women’s cycling team pursuit squad won the gold medal just ahead of the U.S. team of Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente, Sarah Hammer and Kelly Catlin. The Canadians won the bronze medal.
Medal Count
The United States added 10 more medals to their total on Saturday. The Americans are now 19 medals ahead of second-place China (41).
United States: 60 | 24 gold; 18 silver; 18 bronze
China: 41 | 13 gold; 11 silver; 17 bronze
Great Britain: 30 | 10 gold; 13 silver; 7 bronze
Japan: 24 | 7 gold; 3 silver; 14 bronze
Russia: 23 | 6 gold; 9 silver; 8 bronze