Olympics Roundup: Aly Raisman Redeemed, but Did Jordyn Wieber Actually Break a Leg?

17-year-old may have a stress fracture; plus, beach volleyball will have all-American final, Lolo Jones' respectable showing, a swimmer admits to cheating, a diver lands flat on his back and more!

By Natalie Finn Aug 08, 2012 4:53 AMTags
Lolo Jones, Aly Raisman, Illya Zakharov Michael Kappeler/DPA/ZUMAPRESS.com; Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Adam Pretty/Getty Images

After Gabby Douglas' lackluster finishes in the individual apparatus finals, the spotlight was again on Team USA gymnastics today in London.

And Aly Raisman didn't let anybody—including herself—down!

Not only did she win gold in the women's floor exercise, but the dratted tiebreaker rules that kept her off the podium following the all-around competition actually allowed her to walk away with the bronze in balance beam, as well!

That may have been it as far as American gold went Tuesday, but it was by no means an uneventful day. Here's what else popped around the Olympic park and beyond:

Worst Parting Gift: Jordyn Wieber finished seventh in the floor final—but that may not be the worst news she heard today. The 17-year-old, who was heavily favored to win more than team gold, was wearing a protective boot on her right leg after aggravating a possible stress fracture. Wieber told reporters she was "fine," but she stepped out of bounds early during her floor routine, an error that instantly took her out of medal contention.

Best Self-Reflection: Almost! Lolo Jones, whose extracurricular pursuits (or lack thereof) and model good looks unfortunately overshadowed her athletic prowess coming into these games, finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Sally Pearson of Australia won gold. "In room Singing Desert song by Hillsong. Its on repeat. Lord Jesus please comfort me , guide me & heal my broken heart," Jones tweeted after the race. "...Also want to Thank u Lord for technically giving me the best seat in the stadium to watch the 100mh final. Congrats Sally, Dawn & kellie."

Sterling Silvers: A bunch of Americans came in second: Dawn Harper in the women's 100-meter hurdles, Sarah Hammer in the track cycling women's omnium, Erik Kynard in the men's high jump and Leo Manzano in the men's 1,500-meter run. (Plus, a shout-out to Team USA's only other medalist, bronze 100-meter hurdler Kellie Wells.)

Full-Steam Ahead: Jamaican teammates Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake both easily qualified in separate heats for tomorrow's 200-meter semifinals.

Worst Juxtaposition: Russia's Ilya Zakharov ran away with the men's 3-meter springboard gold, but the most-watched dive of the day belonged to Germany's Stephan Feck, whose second dive ended in him landing flat on his back. (He climbed out of the pool physically OK, but we wouldn't want to be the thoughts in his head.)

Seeing Double: Brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of Team Great Britain won gold and bronze in the men's triathlon. Before today, Alistair's main bragging right was that his name sounded just that much more British than his younger brother's.

Hips Don't Lie: South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh admitted to the Sydney Morning Herald that he won the 100-meter breaststroke in world-record time because no one caught him doing more than his sanctioned allotment of dolphin kicks! Breaststrokers are allowed one upon take off and then one after each turn, but van der Burgh took a few extra without being detected. "If you're not doing it, you're falling behind," he said.

Postscript: "It was definitely a cheap shot," Carmelo Anthony said before practice today of the hit to the groin he took from Argentina's Facundo Compazzo during Team USA's 126-97 win on Monday. "If you're going to foul somebody...foul them hard, but you don't take a shot like that. So I don't agree with that, but at this point there's really nothing that nobody can do about it."

Hottest Civil War: After winning their semifinal match against China, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings will face fellow Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy (who topped Brazil) in the women's beach volleyball final.

Least Proud Moment: The U.S. men's boxing team will leave the Olympics without at least one medal for the first time in team history after Errol Spence, whose loss last week was overturned on appeal, unquestionably lost his welterweight quarterfinal to Russia's Andrey Zamkovoy.

Magic Numbers: China remains ahead with 73 medals, 34 of them gold, to Team USA's 70 medals, including 30 gold. Great Britain and Russia are tied for third with 48 medals apiece—but, in the spirit of gymnastics tiebreakers, we'll give the edge to Team GB because they have 22 golds to Russia's 10.