The Medal Race

[AimingforYoko]

Japan already has more golds than they won in Rio.

[ShellsandCheese]

Nice. Good for Japan! hate the medal race and the medal count though. It’s the worst part of the games for me. I know I’m probably outlier but I tend to root for who I like regardless of their nationality. 

[SnideAsides]

Australia is currently higher on the medal tally than Not!Russia.

And only one of Australia's medals so far was won on dry land.

[Bill1978]

39 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

And only one of Australia's medals so far was won on dry land.

What can you expect when we are girt by sea. 🤪

And Australia has already equalled it's Gold tally from the Rio game.

[AimingforYoko]

To date Canada has won 11 medals. All by women.

[SeanC]

43 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

To date Canada has won 11 medals. All by women.

The medalists' party might end up being Damian Warner and a whole bunch of ladies.

[galaxygirl76]

The Dutch are at 15 medals now, our record is 25 from Sydney and I think that should be possible to be broken. 

[Daisy]

16 hours ago, SeanC said:

The medalists' party might end up being Damian Warner and a whole bunch of ladies.

Andre Le Grasse is like "Excuse me, wot?"

[SnideAsides]

Australia's best result ever is 17 gold medals. We're at 14 with a week to go, with events remaining including track cycling and several team sports where we're looking good.

If Emma McKeon was on listed on her own on the medal tally, she'd be higher than Germany.

[Bill1978]

44 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

We're at 14 with a week to go,

And today's haul of 4 gold medals in one day makes it our most successful day ever in Olympic history. I wonder if we can beat the total medals collected in Sydney which was 58, currently we are at 31

[galaxygirl76]

With a gold in men's RS:X(three in a row!) and a bronze in women's Laser Radial sailing we are sitting nicely at 17 medals with a week to go. Need 8 more to equal the Sydney record and I can see that happen. 

[SeanC]

Canada effectively banks its fifteenth medal with the women's soccer team advancing to the gold medal game.

It may be a near-run thing to match Rio's total medal count, but we've already exceeded the silver medal count and I think will at least match if not exceed the gold medal count.

[Trey]

On 8/2/2021 at 10:15 AM, SeanC said:

Canada effectively banks its fifteenth medal with the women's soccer team advancing to the gold medal game.

It may be a near-run thing to match Rio's total medal count, but we've already exceeded the silver medal count and I think will at least match if not exceed the gold medal count.

Now we've matched our gold medal count from Rio and may exceed it.  I don't think there are enough events left for us to match the total medals from Rio.

eta: We were 20th overall in Rio and are currently 13th, so maybe we'll improve our overall standing.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Trey

[SeanC]

37 minutes ago, Trey said:

Now we've matched our gold medal count from Rio and may exceed it.  I don't think there are enough events left for us to match the total medals from Rio.

We're at 16 medals (again, counting the soccer team).  Halfway through the decathlon, Warner is an extremely solid bet for medal #17.  I'd bet on Vincent-Lapointe and the Vincent sisters to medal in their events, so #18-19.

Weirdly, all of the above outstanding prospects are potential gold medalists too.

Once you get beyond that, it's a bit thinner.  Lepage for a second decathlon medal? Katie Vincent joining Laurence on the individual podium? Both possible, if perhaps not likely. The 4x100 relay team probably has a shot at a medal as well.

Canada has only had one real surprise medalist of these games so far, but that was a surprise gold medalist, the women's eight rowing team.

Edited August 4, 2021 by SeanC

[galaxygirl76]

With gold in track cycling, silver in long distance swimming, bronze on the 400m hurdles(yeah, you are amazing Femke!!), and bronze in show jumping the Netherlands are at 23 medals now, we will exceed our record of 25 from Sydney. It's just a matter of who will do it. We have two guaranteed medals(boxing semi final and hockey final) to equal the Sydney record. 

[SeanC]

And mere hours after I wrote that Canada had only had one surprise medalist so far in these games, we get our second surprise medalist!  The unheralded Lauriane Genest takes the country's first bronze medal in women's keirin (track cycling).

[SnideAsides]

It seems a bit silly to start a thread for it now that it's over, but congratulations to Belgium for winning only their second team-sport gold medal ever in the men's hockey.

[galaxygirl76]

With medals of each color(track cycling, two in track and field) the Dutch team has now exceeded our best ever result!! 

[SeanC]

Canada is now at 19 medals (18 plus the one banked in women's soccer, which will be gold or silver).  I think Vincent-Lapointe/Vincent can get us another canoeing medal to get us to 20, and the 4x100 relay has a shot.  Not sure if we can scrounge up another to equal the Rio tally, though we've surpassed Rio in both gold and silver medals.  Indeed, in the gold medal count this is already Canada's best Olympics since Barcelona and #2 all-time in non-boycotted Games.

[legaleagle53]

Meanwhile, the US has the most medals overall, but we are still trailing China in terms of the most Gold medals in these games. The latter metric is unacceptable. I'm a greedy American patriot -- I want us to win in BOTH metrics!

[SeanC]

Actually, now that I think more on it, I realize I had forgotten two other medal possibilities:  Mohammed Ahmed in the 5000 m and Evan Dunfee in the 50 km racewalk.

[Trey]

22 hours ago, SeanC said:

Actually, now that I think more on it, I realize I had forgotten two other medal possibilities:  Mohammed Ahmed in the 5000 m and Evan Dunfee in the 50 km racewalk.

And they both came through for Canada.

Now we've matched our Rio total, improving on both gold and silver.

Are there any events left that we might medal in?

We are also currently 11th in total medals, up from 20th in Rio.  That is likely to change.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Trey

[SeanC]

11 minutes ago, Trey said:

Are there any events left that we might medal in?

We have one more decent chance in canoe sprint.  Other than that, hope for a random cycling medal.

11 minutes ago, Trey said:

We are also currently 11th in total medals, up from 20th in Rio.  That is likely to change.

Indeed it did, we're now twelfth, heh.

 

[sally-can-wait]

On 8/5/2021 at 8:42 AM, legaleagle53 said:

Meanwhile, the US has the most medals overall, but we are still trailing China in terms of the most Gold medals in these games. The latter metric is unacceptable. I'm a greedy American patriot -- I want us to win in BOTH metrics!

Not to jinx it but the US should have golds coming in women's basketball and water polo. The women's volleyball team is also playing Brazil for gold and Nelly Korda is currently leading women's golf going into the final round. Leave it to the women to get things done!

[kittykat]

On 8/5/2021 at 6:42 AM, legaleagle53 said:

Meanwhile, the US has the most medals overall, but we are still trailing China in terms of the most Gold medals in these games. The latter metric is unacceptable. I'm a greedy American patriot -- I want us to win in BOTH metrics!

Part of it is the diving.  China has finished 1-2 in all individual events so far and won gold in all but one team event.  China has also upped their swimming program and the US was not as dominant as usual.  US has also fallen short on athletics.  I mean we're still winning the medal count we're just not running away with it.

[ferjy]

On 8/5/2021 at 9:42 AM, legaleagle53 said:

Meanwhile, the US has the most medals overall, but we are still trailing China in terms of the most Gold medals in these games. The latter metric is unacceptable. I'm a greedy American patriot -- I want us to win in BOTH metrics!

The Winter Olympics are our forté and you still beat us overall, except in Gold, we usually surpass everyone in Gold medals. That’s why we have to milk that win over you. 😁

 

[SeanC]

And there it is, Canada's historic medal #23!

Good job, Laurence & Katie.

[Daisy]

Best Canadian Olympics Ever! Wooo!
this is what happens when we learn how to swim + run. 

 

[greyhorse]

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Steve Kornacki was just flat out unnecessary.  Having him report on the "medal race" with the same pressured speech, the arm movements, trying to build suspense, etc., didn't work for me.  Watching him explain election results was riveting because he would do the math - the votes available, the predicted %, the calculation and margin, etc.  Having him tell me that the US could pick up a few medals in gymnastics?  I can do that.  Heck, a fifth grader could do it.

[Irlandesa]

40 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Steve Kornacki was just flat out unnecessary.

Not unpopular with me.  Heck, I think he's unnecessary even during elections.  There are much cooler heads who give the same information he does but with far less drama. 

I get he became popular after the elections but this definitely feels like an unforced error on NBC's part.

 

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Steve Kornacki was just flat out unnecessary.

Not at all.  When I saw him hyperventilating in front of his little screen on the second day of the Games, I thought to myself, "What is the point of a Steve Kornacki?"  I've since come to the conclusion that a Steve Kornacki does not have a point to it, but I do think if you put two Steve Kornackis in the same room, it would go something like this:

I think they'd eventually wear themselves out.

[Danny Franks]

Great Britain is looking fairly secure in fourth place at the moment, three golds ahead of Australia and the 'We're not Russia, honestly!' team. Probably not going to catch Japan for third place, but this has been a great games for us.

I think we'll probably fall just short of our total haul of 67 medals from Rio, which is a shame, largely due to the less successful rowing and cycling teams.

[Trey]

Canada is 11th if you go by total medals with New Zealand in 12th spot.  If you go by gold medals then New Zealand is 11th and Canada is 12th.  New Zealand is good company to be in.

[AimingforYoko]

The U.S. is two Gold medals behind China with four possibilities at Gold: Women's Volleyball, Women's Basketball and two boxing matches. It's going to come down to the wire, but mainly thanks to the Men's track performance, the U.S. will not match the 46 Golds of London and Rio.

[Trey]

5 hours ago, Trey said:

Canada is 11th if you go by total medals with New Zealand in 12th spot.  If you go by gold medals then New Zealand is 11th and Canada is 12th.  New Zealand is good company to be in.

Correction to my previous post: Canada is 14th if you go by gold medals.  Still a good improvement over Rio.

[xaxat]

I don't know what the numbers are, but I like the fact that there are apparently a lot of firsts occurring during these games.

First medal for a woman from country X, first Olympic medal for country X etc.

[Daisy]

Canada will leave with 24 medals won. 
that's so amazing.

[SeanC]

If Mitchell wins gold, this will officially become Canada's most successful non-boycotted Games by all metrics, as we'd tie Barcelona's gold medal tally and exceed it in silver and bronze.

[SeanC]

Gold!  This moves Canada up to 11th on the medal table for the moment.
 

[SeanC]

Looking into it more thoroughly, Canada will finish twelfth on the medal table at worst. The only country that can move ahead of us is Brazil, which has two gold medal matches later tonight and would move ahead if it wins either of them.

[Guest]

This doesn't really relate to the medal race, but it is about the medal ceremonies so I hope it's ok here.

I think someone should do a sociological/psychological study on the different techniques used by the athletes when there was more than one person getting a particular medal (e.g. a rowing 8 or a relay team). Did they just take their own medals? Pair off? Go down the line? Have one member of the team give all the medals out? And did the different techniques have anything to do with national cultures or gender? Were they influenced by what they saw others do?

Just a little aspect of this unusual Games that I found interesting.

[Daisy]

Kelsey Mitchell Wins a Gold - So that's 7 Golds for Canada!!
I will say I am always proud of Canada (London was kinda disasterous let's be real) but generally speaking we always do really well in the sports we're supposed to do well, and we get the random "hey! COOL!" medal. 

With Paris only 3 Years away (instead of 4) - I am curious what a shorter "Quadriennial" will mean for a few of our athletes.  But we had a lot of great finishes from our First Time Olympians which usually translates for medals for us. Honestly - I feel if we can pick it up (more) in swimming, have a horse team in Paris, and find a few medals in track we should be pushing that 30-35 medal mark.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Daisy

[SeanC]

25 minutes ago, Daisy said:

With Paris only 3 Years away (instead of 4) - I am curious what a shorter "Quadriennial" will mean for a few of our athletes.  But we had a lot of great finishes from our First Time Olympians which usually translates for medals for us. Honestly - I feel if we can pick it up (more) in swimming, have a horse team in Paris, and find a few medals in track we should be pushing that 30-35 medal mark.

To my surprise, Damian Warner has already announced that he intends to do another three years and compete in Paris.

Paris should be when most of the 2016-era stars of the women's swimming team hit their physical peak (fingers crossed for no injuries, obviously), and more and more young talent coming into full strength.  I think 2024 will be a huge year for the ladies in the pool.  Titley has also said that he thinks the men's team might finally be in a position to compete a bit more by then.

I'm a bit unsure what's going to happen in athletics in general.

[sally-can-wait]

On 8/6/2021 at 11:23 AM, sally-can-wait said:

Not to jinx it but the US should have golds coming in women's basketball and water polo. The women's volleyball team is also playing Brazil for gold and Nelly Korda is currently leading women's golf going into the final round. Leave it to the women to get things done!

Quoting myself to say all 3 of the US women’s teams plus Nelly Korda in golf won the gold. Amazing stuff!

[legaleagle53]

12 minutes ago, sally-can-wait said:

On 8/6/2021 at 9:23 AM, sally-can-wait said:

Not to jinx it but the US should have golds coming in women's basketball and water polo. The women's volleyball team is also playing Brazil for gold and Nelly Korda is currently leading women's golf going into the final round. Leave it to the women to get things done!

 

 

12 minutes ago, sally-can-wait said:

Quoting myself to say all 3 of the US women’s teams plus Nelly Korda in golf won the gold. Amazing stuff!

And the men's 4x100 and an American woman in Cycling - Omnium also won gold. We have now just passed China for most gold medals as well as everyone else for most medals overall. WOOT indeed!

[Daisy]

5 minutes ago, SeanC said:

To my surprise, Damian Warner has already announced that he intends to do another three years and compete in Paris.

Paris should be when most of the 2016-era stars of the women's swimming team hit their physical peak (fingers crossed for no injuries, obviously), and more and more young talent coming into full strength.  I think 2024 will be a huge year for the ladies in the pool.  Titley has also said that he thinks the men's team might finally be in a position to compete a bit more by then.

I'm a bit unsure what's going to happen in athletics in general.

Woowwww.. well Go(ld!) Damian!. Depending on birthdays he'll be 34 or whatever, but I don't know the best age cycle for this sport. (I just know i kinda like watching it haha). But they said he was the oldest at 31, so. yah. 

Yeah - the pool (strangely now) I'm not too worried about the NWST is great and I saw really good stuff from the NMST this year. a lot of Semifinals, (and a few final berths) = experience imo. 

Our Judo Medalists, our Weightlifting Medalist, the Cycling Medalists are all relatively young. 

I legit have zero idea what's happening in Rowing (like i'll give the world their due like yay for being awesome). but 2 medals in the entire regatta is just mindboggling to me. (and ironically still better than Rio). and 2 medals in Women's Canoe, nothing in Kayak. It's legit as frustrating as it is for the Canadian Ski Team. they get all this money and it's not showing in results. 

We won't have softball/baseball in Paris so we'll have to pick up a medal somewhere else.

[NUguy514]

11 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

We have now just passed China for most gold medals as well as everyone else for most medals overall. WOOT indeed!

And if I'm not mistaken, China's last shot to tie us has now passed with Li Qian's silver in the women's middleweight boxing final.  We could still win one more gold in the men's super heavyweight, but we've officially secured the lead for most golds, whether we win by one or two.  And that's largely due to our women, who have won six of the eight (so far, maybe) gold medals we've won in the last two days.

[Danny Franks]

So Britain secured fourth place with two golds on the last day, and Jason Kenny wins yet another gold medal to become Britain's most successful Olympian of all time.

It's a shame Laura Kenny crashed in the Omnium, although the two of them have twelve gold medals between them so I guess she's not too crushed over it.

[Ceindreadh]

12 hours ago, xaxat said:

I don't know what the numbers are, but I like the fact that there are apparently a lot of firsts occurring during these games.

First medal for a woman from country X, first Olympic medal for country X etc.

First time for Ireland to get two gold medals in different events (rowing and boxing)

[galaxygirl76]

7th in the medal stand, highest EU country above power houses like Germany, Italy, France. 36 medals, 11 more than our previous record. It looks like we can do more than skate fast on ice 🤣

 

Speaking of ice, see you all for the Beijing games! It's was fun.