Sprinter Allyson Felix added another gold to the United States’ total as she beat two-time 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica. Felix finished with time of 21.88 seconds, whule Fraser-Pryce finished at a time of 22.09 seconds. Carmelita Jeter of the U.S. earned the bronze medal by finishing in 22.14 seconds.
Coming into the beach volleyball final at the London 2012 Olympics, one thing was for certain – USA would land gold…and silver. Jennifer Kess and April Ross came in to try to dethrone the two-time champion team of Kerry Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor on Wednesday. Unfortunately for the challengers, Walsh and Treanor were too much, and earned their third consecutive gold medal in the event winning 2-0 (21-16, 21-16).
The 17-year-old middleweight U.S. boxing sensation Claressa Shields has a chance at gold in the first ever Olympic women’s boxing tournament, as she is set to face Nadezda Tolopova of Russia in the finals on Thursday. Shields is the last American boxer remaining in London after flyweight Marlen Esparza lost 10-8 to Chinese world champ Ren Cancan. Esparza will get a bronze medal, but Shields is the only one on the 12-member American team who has a shot at gold. Shields advanced to the finals after dominating Kazakhstan’s Marina Vonova in the semifinals 29-15. “I’m still kind of shocked,” Shields said. “I’m thinking in my head, ‘Is it really true? Am I fighting for a gold medal tomorrow?’ ”
American Ashton Eaton broke Bill Toomey’s 44-year-old decathlon record in the 100-meter dash and built a 105 point lead over teammate and world champion Trey Hardee after the first three events on Wednesday. Eaton ran the 100-meter dash in 10.35 seconds, which was .06 seconds faster than Toomey’s 10.41 in Mexico City in 1968. Eaton followed that with the top performance in the long jump, and was 11th in the shot put. The high jump and 400 meter dash still remain to round out the day. “I feel good. My body feels good,” Eaton said. “Nothing special, but they were all solid, which is what it takes to be good in the decathlon.” The Americans are looking for their first 1-2 finish in the decathlon since Milton Gray Campbell and Rafer Johnson in 1956.
The United States passed China for the medal lead, and now has 81 overall medals. China has 76 overall medals, but has a small lead with 35 golds, compared to 34 gold medals for the U.S.
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