Not surprisingly, Michael Phelps won his first medal. He's never been beating in the 400m Individual Medley before, so why should he now? I really hope he wins gold in his 7 remaining events, giving him the record for the most golds won in a single Olympics. Michael just seems like a really nice guy, and I love his mom! NBC showed footage of her going crazy and cheering him on for his last 100 meters. Quite entertaining. Another thing I found amusing was that they showed all the photographers there. Tons of guys packed along the sidelines, all with HUMONGOUS lenses on their cameras.
Dara Torres has an interesting story. She's a 41-year-old swimmer, and this is her 5th Olympics! She's an old woman in athlete years, the oldest Olympic swimmer ever, in fact. That doesn't mean she's not good, though! In the 400m freestyle relay she had the fastest split time of anyone.
We ended up sweeping all three medals in Women's Fencing. That was cool. Those matches go by so fast! I can't say I was surprised to learn that all three girls are from Ivy League schools. :P Anyway, it was the first time any country has swept the event, and the US is usually well-known for fencing, so that's an accomplishment. Also, Zagunis, who won gold, won it last time, as well.
I also watched some Men's Gymnastics. Major feats of strength those events are. The most interesting thing about it to me, though, is comparing the different styles of different countries. China's team is better than the US team in terms of consistancy, but their routines are safer. The US has athletes that go for more difficult moves for high points, but they aren't a sure thing. Alexander Artemev, for example, has a pommel horse routine that was crazy awesome, WAY more interesting than anything the Chinese or Japanese did, but he's hit and miss on whether he can pull it off.
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