Saturday, August 6, 2016

XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 (Day 1)

Medal standings:

Afghanistan 0 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze
Albania 0, 0, 0
Algeria 0, 0, 0
American Samoa 0, 0, 0
Andorra 0, 0, 0
Angola 0, 0, 0
Antigua and Barbuda 0, 0, 0
Argentina 0, 0, 0
Armenia 0, 0, 0
Aruba 0, 0, 0
Australia 0, 0, 0
Austria 0, 0, 0
Azerbaijan 0, 0, 0
Bahamas 0, 0, 0
Bahrain 0, 0, 0
Bangladesh 0, 0, 0
Barbados 0, 0, 0
Belarus 0, 0, 0
Belgium 0, 0, 0
Belize 0, 0, 0
Benin 0, 0, 0
Bermuda 0, 0, 0
Bhutan 0, 0, 0
Bolivia 0, 0, 0
Bosnia & Herzegovina 0, 0, 0
Botswana 0, 0, 0
Brazil 0, 0, 0
Brunei Darussalam 0, 0, 0
Bulgaria 0, 0, 0
Burkina Faso 0, 0, 0
Burundi 0, 0, 0
Cambodia 0, 0, 0
Cameroon 0, 0, 0
Canada 0, 0, 0
Cape Verde 0, 0, 0
Cayman Islands 0, 0, 0
Central African Republic 0, 0, 0
Chad 0, 0, 0
Chile 0, 0, 0
China 0, 0, 0
Colombia 0, 0, 0
Comoros 0, 0, 0
Congo 0, 0, 0
Cook Islands 0, 0, 0
Costa Rica 0, 0, 0
Croatia 0, 0, 0
Cuba 0, 0, 0
Cyprus 0, 0, 0
Czech Republic 0, 0, 0
CĂ´te d'Ivoire 0, 0, 0
Denmark 0, 0, 0
Djibouti 0, 0, 0
Dominica 0, 0, 0
Dominican Republic 0, 0, 0
DPR Korea 0, 0, 0
DR Congo 0, 0, 0
Ecuador 0, 0, 0
Egypt 0, 0, 0
El Salvador 0, 0, 0
Equatorial Guinea 0, 0, 0
Eritrea 0, 0, 0
Estonia 0, 0, 0
Ethiopia 0, 0, 0
Fiji 0, 0, 0
Finland 0, 0, 0
France 0, 0, 0
Gabon 0, 0, 0
Gambia 0, 0, 0
Georgia 0, 0, 0
Germany 0, 0, 0
Ghana 0, 0, 0
Great Britain 0, 0, 0
Greece 0, 0, 0
Grenada 0, 0, 0
Guam 0, 0, 0
Guatemala 0, 0, 0
Guinea 0, 0, 0
Guinea-Bissau 0, 0, 0
Guyana 0, 0, 0
Haiti 0, 0, 0
Honduras 0, 0, 0
Hong Kong, China 0, 0, 0
Hungary 0, 0, 0
Iceland 0, 0, 0
India 0, 0, 0
Indonesia 0, 0, 0
IOA 0, 0, 0
Iran 0, 0, 0
Iraq 0, 0, 0
Ireland 0, 0, 0
Israel 0, 0, 0
Italy 0, 0, 0
Jamaica 0, 0, 0
Japan 0, 0, 0
Jordan 0, 0, 0
Kazakhstan 0, 0, 0
Kenya 0, 0, 0
Kiribati 0, 0, 0
Kosovo 0, 0, 0
Kuwait 0, 0, 0
Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 0
Lao PDR 0, 0, 0
Latvia 0, 0, 0
Lebanon 0, 0, 0
Lesotho 0, 0, 0
Liberia 0, 0, 0
Libya 0, 0, 0
Liechtenstein 0, 0, 0
Lithuania 0, 0, 0
Luxembourg 0, 0, 0
Madagascar 0, 0, 0
Malawi 0, 0, 0
Malaysia 0, 0, 0
Maldives 0, 0, 0
Mali 0, 0, 0
Malta 0, 0, 0
Marshall Islands 0, 0, 0
Mauritania 0, 0, 0
Mauritius 0, 0, 0
Mexico 0, 0, 0
Micronesia 0, 0, 0
Monaco 0, 0, 0
Mongolia 0, 0, 0
Montenegro 0, 0, 0
Morocco 0, 0, 0
Mozambique 0, 0, 0
Myanmar 0, 0, 0
Namibia 0, 0, 0
Nauru 0, 0, 0
Nepal 0, 0, 0
Netherlands 0, 0, 0
New Zealand 0, 0, 0
Nicaragua 0, 0, 0
Niger 0, 0, 0
Nigeria 0, 0, 0
Norway 0, 0, 0
Oman 0, 0, 0
Pakistan 0, 0, 0
Palau 0, 0, 0
Palestine 0, 0, 0
Panama 0, 0, 0
Papua New Guinea 0, 0, 0
Paraguay 0, 0, 0
Peru 0, 0, 0
Philippines 0, 0, 0
Poland 0, 0, 0
Portugal 0, 0, 0
Puerto Rico 0, 0, 0
Qatar 0, 0, 0
Refugee Olympic Team 0, 0, 0
Republic of Korea 0, 0, 0
Republic of Moldova 0, 0, 0
Romania 0, 0, 0
Russian Federation 0, 0, 0
Rwanda 0, 0, 0
Saint Kitts & Nevis 0, 0, 0
Saint Lucia 0, 0, 0
Samoa 0, 0, 0
San Marino 0, 0, 0
Sao Tome & Principe 0, 0, 0
Saudi Arabia 0, 0, 0
Senegal 0, 0, 0
Serbia 0, 0, 0
Seychelles 0, 0, 0
Sierra Leone 0, 0, 0
Singapore 0, 0, 0
Slovakia 0, 0, 0
Slovenia 0, 0, 0
Solomon Islands 0, 0, 0
Somalia 0, 0, 0
South Africa 0, 0, 0
South Sudan 0, 0, 0
Spain 0, 0, 0
Sri Lanka 0, 0, 0
St Vinc & Grenadines 0, 0, 0
Sudan 0, 0, 0
Suriname 0, 0, 0
Swaziland 0, 0, 0
Sweden 0, 0, 0
Switzerland 0, 0, 0
Syria 0, 0, 0
Taipei (Cn Taipei) 0, 0, 0
Tajikistan 0, 0, 0
Tanzania 0, 0, 0
Thailand 0, 0, 0
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0, 0, 0
Timor-Leste 0, 0, 0
Togo 0, 0, 0
Tonga 0, 0, 0
Trinidad and Tobago 0, 0, 0
Tunisia 0, 0, 0
Turkey 0, 0, 0
Turkmenistan 0, 0, 0
Tuvalu 0, 0, 0
Uganda 0, 0, 0
Ukraine 0, 0, 0
United Arab Emirates 0, 0, 0
United States 0, 0, 0
Uruguay 0, 0, 0
Uzbekistan 0, 0, 0
Vanuatu 0, 0, 0
Venezuela 0, 0, 0
Vietnam 0, 0, 0
Virgin Islands, GB 0, 0, 0
Virgin Islands, US 0, 0, 0
Yemen 0, 0, 0
Zambia 0, 0, 0

Zimbabwe 0, 0, 0

91 comments:

  1. The first gold medal of the Olympics, in shooting, went to a teenage girl from Fairfax County, Virginia.

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  2. I'm watching the NBC Sports "Gold Zone" on Roku right now. Supposedly we are going to jump from sport to sport as events warrant. Right now we are seeing heats in the women's 100 M butterfly.

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  3. They have Andrew Siciliano hosting the Gold Zone. For the last 10 years, he has hosted the NFL's Red Zone. This makes me feel much better about the Gold Zone coverage.

    Siciliano is another person from Fairfax County -- he went to South Lakes High School, just like Grant Hill. Having him on the mike makes me feel much better about the Gold Zone.

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  4. Virginia Thrasher, who won a shooting gold, attended West Springfield High School. She's now a student at West Virginia University.

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  5. The Gold Zone has switched over to men's tennis, where American Jack Sock is playing someone from Japan.

    According to Wikipedia, Jack Sock grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and went 80-0 in his high school career, with four consecutive state championships.

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  6. Now in the NFL Red Zone, we don't get commercials. But that's not true of the Gold Zone.

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  7. I hate to tell these kids, but there is literally no place on earth -- including Reidland -- where you can "win" the first day of school by shopping at Wal Mart.

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  8. Andrew Siciliano switches us to dressage, letting us know that the U.S. is not expected to medal here. He also points out that dressage is the only Olympic sport where men and women compete directly against each other.

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  9. No much is happening in dressage, so it's back to tennis. Sock is down 4-5 in the first set. The Japanese guy is serving for the set.

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  10. If I were an Olympian, I would definitely want to play on the first day of the Olympics.

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    Replies
    1. On the other hand, you might not get to march in the Parade of Nations. So I'd want to compete on the second day.

      Delete
  11. The announcers are really annoyed with Sock, so I assume they expected him to win this match.

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  12. And the Japanese guy wins the first set. So Sock has to win the next two, or he's done. The announcers confirm that this would indeed be an upset.

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  13. Now we are watching a Cycling Road Race. Andrew tells us that we are about 40 miles from the finish.

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  14. Thrasher, who won the 10-meter air rifle over two women from China, was ranked number 23 in the world. So a big upset for the good old U.S. of A.

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  15. And now we're at women's fencing: France v. Brazil. And France wins! This was a quarter-final match in women's individual epee.

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  16. The Japanese guy goes up a break in the second set, so I don't think Jack Sock will be in this tournament much longer.

    The Gold Zone switches to men's swimming.

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  17. These are the 400 M men's qualifying heats. For some reason, NBC has Australian announcers doing the swimming. Given that this is usually one of our best events, you'd think they would have American announcers.

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  18. American men have won a total of 127 gold medals in swimming. The Australians are second, with 31.

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  19. Now we're at the qualifying for men's team gymnastics.

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  20. There are lots of empty seats at all the venues. The Guardian reports that there are long lines outside the venues, and people are having a hard time getting inside.

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  21. There are 38.8 kilometers to go in the road race. That's 24.1 miles. This event is a big deal in Britain, and the Guardian tells us it's all up for grabs.

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  22. Meanwhile, Sock -- who was the 14th seed in the men's tennis tournament -- is about to be eliminated. He trails 4-5 and love-30 in the second set.

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  23. Sock whacks another forehead into the net, and he loses 6-4, 6-4. The announcers tell us that this was a "huge disappointment" for Jack Sock.

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  24. And now we go to basketball: Australia v. France. The Aussies lead 34-25 with 2:55 left in the 2d quarter.

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  25. The Guardian tells us that Richie Porte has crashed in the road race. They seem to believe that is a big deal, but it means nothing to me.

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  26. I wanted to stay with basketball, but now we're back to women's swimming.

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  27. The road race featured some crashes, and then a stirring three-way finish. It was won by Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium, who becomes the second person to win a gold medal at these Olympics.

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  28. In men's basketball, Australia is rolling over France -- they're up 86-64 with 30 seconds left.

    The air pistol men's final is also underway -- the shooters all wear glasses and visors that make them look like Bond villains.

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  29. The 10-meter air pistol comes down to a final shot by X.V. Huong of Vietnam. He needs to make a 10.4 on the last shot to beat Felipe Wu of Brazil. He waits for a long time. He finally shoots. 10.7! Vietnam wins its first ever gold medal!

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  30. Here are the current medal standings by gold medals:

    T1. USA: 1
    T1. BEL: 1
    T1. VIE: 1

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  31. And that's it for the Gold Zone. Where do I go now?

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  32. Well, that Gold Zone coverage was great, but it is NBC, so I should have known that wouldn't last. I'm going to try the USA coverage. They're showing equestrian eventing.

    As usual, no one is in the stands. Brazilians love sports about as much as people in Mayfield, and yet somehow no one can get into any of these events. I can't tell you how wrong that is. In a just world, every one of these events would be packed.

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  33. Here is the medal count by total medals:

    1. CHN: 3
    Six-way tie for second with 1.

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  34. Now that the Gold Zone is off the air, I have no idea if anything is live or not. So I can't really comment on what's happening.

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  35. I suggest you go to the Guardian, which has a nice live-blog covering the whole games.

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  36. The Guardian reports that Jack Sock is suffering from walking pneumonia, which may explain how he played today.

    I have found the streaming channel for table tennis, and I'll just watch that until 4 Eastern, when I think I'll switch to the Red Sox and the Dodgers.

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  37. Medal Count:

    1. CHN: 0 + 1 + 2 = 3
    T2. USA: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2
    T2. KOR: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2
    T2. JPN: 0 + 0 + 2 = 2

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  38. I'm not going to lie. Maybe it was the end-of-summer-vacation blues; maybe it was the Jack Sock disappointment; maybe it was just getting tired of everybody yelling about everything. Whatever, I was having a hard time getting going on these Olympics.

    But then I woke up from a nap to some women's table tennis on Bravo, and Yue "Jennifer" Wu of New York and Team USA was storming back to upset some Slovakian woman. And now I'm watching the women's rugby team rock Colombia. And I think I'm in.

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  39. I think I would love--LOVE--to play rugby. This is the first rugby I've watched since seeing WKU's club team a few times in the late 1980s. It looks like a lot of fun. Tim Tebow really would be great at this game.

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    1. I have long wanted to put together a USA Rugby team of guys who just barely missed the NFL. I've watched a lot of rugby over the last 10 years, and I'm pretty sure a USA team would crush everyone else.

      Delete
  40. Medal Count:

    1. CHN: 0 + 1 + 3 = 4
    T2. USA: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2
    T2. KOR: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2
    T2. KAZ: 0 + 1 + 1 = 2
    T2. JPN: 0 + 0 + 2 = 2

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  41. OK, Team USA clobbered Colombia in women's rugby, and now the CNBC curling guy sends us over to a developing story at the soccer pitch (!), where Australia surprisingly leads Germany, 1-0, near the end of the first half.

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  42. Now on Bravo: A Canadian woman beating Sloane Stephens of Plantation, Florida, in tennis.

    Now on both Channel 6 and NBC Sports Network: Team USA beating France, 1-0, late in women's soccer.

    Now on USA: Australia, 56-51, over Brazil in the third quarter of women's basketball.

    Now on MSNBC: "TRUMP ENDORSES RYAN, AYOTTE & MCCAIN."

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  43. I think there's a pretty good chance this is my last Olympics with a customary cable-TV package, so I think I'm going to concentrate mostly on the coverage offered on NBC's channels. If rugby turns out to be my break-out sport of these games, I might get into following that event on the NBCOlympics.com streaming. But, at least initially, my plan is to look mostly at the TV channels.

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    1. I'm going to watch the Gold Zone whenever it's on, and then after that I think I'm mostly just going to watch basketball and highlights. I can't abide how NBC hides the results from all the interesting sports until after 10 P.M. Eastern.

      I'll also watch all the events where I know the Americans are going to win.

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    2. The streaming is very limited if you don't have cable. And even if you have cable, like we now do, if you don't have the right kind of package they will not give you access to the streaming.

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    3. Hmmm ... that's good to know.

      A guy I went to college with has put out an ebook about getting rid of cable TV.

      Delete
  44. 57-53, Australia, after three quarters of women's hoops vs. Brazil. When I was following the ABL and WNBA closely, these two countries probably supplied more players to the leagues than any countries but the United States.

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  45. I like Taco Bell fine. I prefer Taco John's, but I'm OK with Taco Bell.

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    1. Taco Bell is to Taco John's as Pepsi is to Coke.

      We don't have Taco John's up here, and every year I tell myself that I'll just go ahead and eat more Taco Bell. And then I end up going there two or three times a year at most.

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  46. Australia stretches to 14 up on Brazil in women's hoops.

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  47. The USA color commentator is someone who played in Atlanta with Érika de Souza from Brazil. This might be Chamique Holdsclaw.

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  48. In their first game of the Olympic Tournament, the USA Men's Basketball team leads China 52-24 in the second quarter.

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  49. Here was the starting lineup for the USA: Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins, Klay Thompson, and Kyrie Irving.

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    1. One of my favorite UK players ever. That loss to West Virginia hurts me about five times more than any other loss of the Calipari era, including the loss to Wisconsin.

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  50. On Bravo now, Venus Williams has fought back to tie a Belgian, 4-4, in the first set ...

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  51. Dodgers lead the Red Sox 3-0 after 8. It is amazing that Vin Scully, the Dodgers, Dodger Stadium, and I are all still here for big games on Saturday afternoon in the sunshine.

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  52. For the record, I'm not acknowledging any medals won by any athlete from Russia.

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  53. I can comment on the basketball game because NBCSN is showing it live: USA leads CHN 78-40 with 3:22 left in the 3d quarter.

    I cannot express how pleased I am with the job Coach K has done with respect to Team USA.

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  54. USA now up 87-43. When you watch all the sports in one day like this, you really appreciate how amazing baseball and basketball are.

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  55. USA in dark blue for this basketball game. I prefer the USA to be in blue, although I like some red trim -- and I don't mind having red be the main color for the track uniforms.

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  56. China is the home team in this game, so their score is listed first. After three quarters:

    CHN 47 - 91 USA

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  57. After thinking about it for years, I would be willing to replace the NCAA rules with the FIBA rules, even if that meant going to a 24-second shot clock and four quarters. The FIBA game is just much more open and fluid than the modern college game.

    5:45 left in the fourth:

    CHN 55 - 105 USA

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  58. Australia gives different nicknames to its various Olympic teams. The women's soccer team is called the Matildas. The men's basketball team is called the Boomers. I don't know what the others are.

    This is the sort of idea that I think is clever for another country but I would not like it if we did it.

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  59. Final Score:

    CHN 62 - 119 USA

    119 points in only 40 minutes! Now that is basketball!

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  60. OK, I don't know that we'll have any other live action tonight. I'm off to watch the Nats and the Giants.

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  61. Top ten nations by 2015 GDP (according to the World Bank) (in Trillions of $):

    1. USA: 17.9
    2. CHN: 10.9
    3. JPN: 4.1
    4. GER: 3.4
    5. GBR: 2.8
    6. FRA: 2.4
    7. IND: 2.1
    8. ITA: 1.8
    9. BRA: 1.8
    10. CAN: 1.6

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  62. Nats are playing terrible behind Strasburg; they trail 3-0 in the top of the 5th. This is pretty much a preview of what will happen if these teams meet in the playoffs -- I saw the exact same thing two years ago.

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  63. Giants lead 4-0 going into the bottom of the 5th. The Nats have pulled Strasburg, who looked absolutely exhausted. There's a reason the Giants have won three World Series since 2009.

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  64. Top five countries by percent of world GDP.

    1976 (the world of my childhood):
    1. USA: 23.85 percent
    2. JPN: 10.18
    3. FRG: 7.53
    4. URS: 5.57
    5. FRA: 5.51

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  65. Here are the top five countries in 2014:

    1. USA: 22.43 percent
    2. CHN: 11.35
    3. JPN: 7.79
    4. GER: 4.97
    5. FRA: 3.76

    I don't know why these figures -- which come from the USDA -- rank France ahead of Britain.

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    Replies
    1. On the other hand, I don't know why the World Bank ranks Britain ahead of France. The World Bank figures are from 2015 and the USDA figures are from 2014; that could be the difference.

      Delete
    2. Here are the tope five countries in 2021:

      1. USA: 23.83 percent
      2. CHN: 18.58
      3. JPN: 5.25
      4. GER: 4.14
      5. GBR: 3.51

      Delete
  66. As Go Heath mentioned earlier, Ginny Thrasher of Springfield, Virginia, and a sophomore at West Virginia University, won the first gold of the games, in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting event. Per Wikipedia, she was more interested in figure skating until going hunting one day with her family.

    Gold: United States
    Silver: China
    Bronze: China

    This was a great medal pickup for Team USA, as we won none of the medals in this event at London 2012. The Chinese woman who won bronze today won the gold at the previous Olympics.

    Later today, here were the medal winners in the men’s 10m air pistol …

    Gold: Vietnam
    Silver: Brazil
    Bronze: China

    This was a whole new slate of countries winning medals in this event, compared to 2012. In fact, Vietnam failed to medal in London, and it had never won a Summer Games gold. So, thanks to HoĂ ng Xuân Vinh, it’s already been a banner Olympics for Vietnam.

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  67. Greg Van Avermaet, a 31-year-old who won a Tour de France stage earlier this year, won the men's road race cycling event. Belgium failed to medal in cycling at London 2012.

    Gold: Belgium
    Silver: Denmark
    Bronze: Poland

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  68. Kazakhstan was one of the medal winners in that cycling event in 2012 and failed to match this time. But it made up for it with a strong opening day in judo after failing to medal in that sport in London.

    Judo, women’s 48kg: Argentina gold, South Korea silver, Kazakhstan bronze and Japan bronze

    Judo, men’s 60kg: Kazakhstan silver and Uzbekistan bronze

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  69. Team USA won one archery medal at London 2012--in the men's team event. Today, Brady Ellison of Glendale, Arizona, and Jake Kaminski of Buffalo, New York, were joined by a new teammate (Zach Garrett of Chula Vista, California) and repeated with silver in the same event.

    Archery, men’s team: South Korea gold, United States silver and Australia bronze

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  70. Hungary has zipped to the top of the medal standings today. Emese Szász, a 33-year-old from Budapest, got things rolling for the Hungarians with fencing gold.

    Fencing, women’s epee: Hungary gold, Italy silver, China bronze

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  71. Thailand didn’t win a gold in London, but it already has one in Rio. Sopita Tanasan, a 21-year-old from Champion Province, won an event in which China won gold in 2012.

    Weightlifting, women’s 48kg: Thailand gold, Indonesia silver and Japan bronze

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  72. Finally, there were four swimming events completed today ...

    Swimming, men’s 400m individual medley: Japan gold, United States silver and Japan bronze

    — Ryan Lochte won gold in this event at London 2012. The silver winner this year was Chase Kalisz of Bel Air, Maryland.

    Swimming, men’s 400m freestyle: Australia gold, China silver and Italy bronze

    — China won and Team USA got a bronze in this event in London.

    Swimming, women’s 400m individual medley: Hungary gold, United States silver and Spain bronze

    — Maya DiRado of Santa Rosa, California, earned Team USA’s second-straight silver in this event. China won gold in London.

    Swimming, women’s 4x100m freestyle: Australia gold, United States silver and Canada bronze

    — Australia repeats, and Team USA improves on its bronze-medal performance at London 2012.

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