The US swim team totally owned the 2012 Olympics

I really like Ryan Lochte. He such an easy-going guy, but he worked his butt off to win 5 medals at these Olympics. Though he didn't win as many golds as was expected, he did get one in the 400m IM, beating Phelps soundly, so he can add that to his list of accomplishments. Plus, he wore grills on his teeth during that gold medal ceremony--so silly, but hilarious!

Missy Franklin won gold in the 200m backstroke, smashing the world record by nearly a whole second. Then she went on to win her 5th medal with an all-star relay team for the 4x100m medley. Every leg of our team had the gold from their individual events, so it was no surprise that they easily won gold again together. Missy is only 17 years old, so we'll mostly likely see her, along with some of her teammates, at Rio in 4 years, and maybe even the Olympics after that, as well. I definitely look forward to watching them swim more in the future.

Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, has set the bar at 22 medals, 18 of those gold. There's no doubt that this record is going to last quite some time. Our whole swim team was just so damn good this year! The US medaled in 26 out of 32 swimming events, and in 4 of those we had 2 medalists! IN-freaking-CREDIBLE! A-freaking-MAZING!
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British athlete Jessica Ennis won gold in the heptathlon, one of my favorite events of the games. The heptathlon and decathlon are so fun to watch because it's amazing that these athletes can do all of those events so well. Strength, stamina, speed, and flexibility are all required at the highest level, making them the best overall athletes in the world. To me, that is seven times (for the heptathlon) or ten times (for the decathlon) more impressive than being the best in just one event.

Funniest thing I've seen in a while:

The discus officials use a remote-control car to return the discs from the field back to the ring. When I saw that I could NOT stop laughing. Ha! :P  (Perkovic of Croatia won gold with a distance of 226 ft.) Randomly, here's a video of the top 5 screams from women's discus.

Oscar Pistorius of South Africa ran in the 400m, making it to the semifinal race, but not the finals. That doesn't sound all that special... until you find out that he's a double amputee. Both of his legs were amputated below the knee, so to compete, he wears artificial limbs made especially for sprinting. It's the first time an amputee has ever qualified for the Summer Olympics, to compete against able-bodies athletes (that's not counting the Paralympics). It's a huge accomplishment and inspiration. Love it!

Missy Franklin is on a roll!

Individual diving is pretty amazing, but synchronized diving is double the awesome. Not only are the dives cool-looking and super difficult, two people have to do the exact same thing at the exact same time! And the US did great, too! The women's team won silver and the men's team, bronze. So neat!

The American men really messed up the team gymnastics competition, but the Brits pulled through to medal for the first time in a hundred years with a bronze. Originally, Britian had silver, Ukraine had bronze, and Japan got fourth, but Japan disputed a score and was moved up to second, bumping Ukraine off the medal stand. You can't blame a coach for looking out for his team, but I, for one, thought the Japanese guy's score was fair--his pommel horse dismount looked pretty terrible to me. I feel sorry for the Ukraine.

US swimmer Missy Franklin (17 years old) has a really great story. She and her family decided to stay in Colorado to train instead of moving to a bigger swimming state (like California), and they have turned down numerous sponsorships and prize money offers so she could stay eligible to swim with her high school team. I think that's really cool--that her parents are allowing her to stay a normal kid as much as possible, not pushing her talent to the breaking point or weighing down her shoulders with high-stakes pressure. As a result, swimming has remained a fun activity for her instead of an obligation and a job. That's the way it should be done... and it has worked out splendid for Missy! In addition to the bronze she got with the US team in the 4x100m freestyle, she won GOLD in the 100m backstroke 14 minutes after swimming in a heat for the 200m freestyle. Looks like I have a new favorite swimmer.