If you didn’t know it, and somehow I’m a part of the club that didn’t even being an avid Olympic watcher for many years, the first weekend following the first full week of Olympic Games is known in the US as “Gold Rush Weekend”. After watching the games during this time period I can absolutely account that this is an accurate recap for what I witnessed and it just continued to start out the week.
I imagine it’s because this weekend included the finals of a ton of swimming and gymnastics events as well as the opening of Track and Field…a fan favorite in my house, as you already know. It was so much fun to watch that medal tally increase on regular intervals, and, as I thought we might, the USA has moved itself right back up to the to of the leaderboard across all medals with a total of 103 medals as of my publish today that look like 30 Gold, 38 Silver, and 35 Bronze!
How about a little Olympic “Gold Rush” Recap!
Friday Medal Update!
As of the time this article is published we are two weeks in and the USA Olympic Athletes are at the top of the leaderboard for overall medals won with 103 Total Medals. The next closest is the Peoples Republic of China (74) followed by Australia (46) .
Gold Medal Recap:
There was soooo much Track and Field this weekend and the US put on an absolutely dominant performance! I love the running, as I have said before, but, watching the US medal in Shot and Disc truly made my heart happy as those are areas I dabbled in myself in a past life.
We also finished up gymnastics with All Around and Individual Events from both the Men and Women who definitely have finished up putting their stamp on an incredible Olympic Games.
I don’t generally have an opportunity to watch a ton of Surfing since we are, in fact, in Arkansas and there aren’t a ton of big waves to catch, but I really enjoyed watching it during the games – not to mention the US pulled out a Gold Medal in Women’s Surfing! And I loved the win for Scotty Scheffler in Men’s Individual Stroke Play Golf. I’ve just started taking up golf in the last year or so (that’s another story all together) and truly appreciate what it took for him to take the top spot.
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Silver Medal Recap:
Lots and lots of swimming appreciation in the Silver Medal Category and then back again to the track to help further up the Silver Medal tally. But let’s not miss out on Women’s Fencing – since we got a silver medal there because we also took home the gold – an incredible feather in the cap for USA Women’s Fencing! Let’s also put the spotlight on Synchronized Diving…because…wow. That’s about all the expertise I have in that area but definitely much respect!
Pole Vault is also always super fun. The women coming in clutch with the Silver medal is incredible, but something super cool happened during the finals of the Men’s event – I plan to dig into this a little later. But, in the interim the short version is that there was a competitor that was not from the USA that completed an amazing, record breaking vault and his hype squad not only consisted of the entire melting pot of fans in the stands but every single one of his fellow competitors. That, my friends, is what the Olympics and Sports as a whole are all about!
Bronze Medal Recap:
In the Bronze Medal category our friend Pommel Horse Specialist Stephen “the nerd” Neodoroscik made another appearance bringing home the individual Bronze for Pommelling the Horse. I can’t help it y’all…I just love him.
We also caught the 3×3 Women’s Basketball games and let me just say, that 3×3 game is CRAZY! Other than pick up or the old 3 on 3 Tournament that used to play outside War Memorial Stadium I have always been a 5×5 girl, and now I know why. I could barely keep up watching…and I know what to look for. But, I loved every minute!
And did we talk about the Canoe Slalom…OMG. It was cut throat and intense and incredible! Another one of those sports that won themselves a new fan right along with their medal this week. Love it! If you missed it, you should definitely go back and check the highlights, you might find yourself a fan of a new sport as well.
What’s Next…
This weekend I will be glued to the television as all things Basketball come to an end. Both the men and women should be competing for Gold (barring some crazy happening) so I will definitely have my nose to the TV for those games. We will also be finishing up indoor and outdoor volleyball – those games have been excellent! Also be on the lookout for Men’s and Women’s Water Polo and Women’s Soccer.
Until our next update…that’s how the ball bounces.
Read more from How the Ball Bounces with Bekka in the archives at www.mysaline.com/bounces.
About the author: Bekka Wilkerson is a lifelong lover of all things sports. Raised in a super athletic household it was no surprise when she too began to love sports at a young age. It seems like from the time she could walk she had a softball bat in her hands, but her true athletic passion came from all things Basketball. That love served her well as a Bryant High School Lady Hornet and ultimately earned her a full scholarship to play at the University of Central Arkansas – among many other adventures.
These days Bekka can be found running around Saline County with her husband, Speedy, or chasing one of her grandsons. She is also the Executive Director of The EMpact One Foundation, a Saline County Nonprofit Organization that helps young people stay connected to extracurricular activities through tuition assistance and equipment provisions.
Reach out to Bekka with questions and/or ideas about things you want to see in this column at [email protected] and learn more about The EMpact One Foundation at www.empactone.org.