Showing posts with label 2021 Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2021 Olympics. Show all posts

Saturday, August 07, 2021

Allyson Felix Wins 11th Olympic Medal in 4x400 Relay

Allyson Felix won her 11th career Olympic medal Saturday, combining with her American teammates to finish the 4x400-meter relay in 3 minutes, 16.85 seconds for a runaway victory.

The team of Felix, Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu was never in jeopardy in this one. Poland finished second, 3.68 seconds behind, and Jamaica finished third.

Felix, who became the most-decorated woman in Olympic track history when she won bronze in the 400 the night before, now passes Carl Lewis with the most track medals of any U.S. athlete. Of the 11 medals, seven are gold.

Tuesday, August 03, 2021

Tamrya Mensah-Stock: 1st Black US woman to win Olympic gold in wrestling

As Tamyra Mensah-Stock celebrated winning her Olympic gold medal, she hoped her victory would encourage Black girls in the United States to consider wrestling.

When she defeated Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu 4-1 in the women’s 68-kilogram freestyle wrestling final on Tuesday, she became the first American Black woman to win Olympic gold in wrestling and the second American woman overall.

“These young women are going to see themselves in a number of ways and they’re going to look up there and go, I can do that,” she said. “I can see myself.”

Mensah-Stock, the No. 1 seed, blitzed through a formidable field. She defeated Japan's Sara Dosho — a 2016 Olympic gold medalist — 10-0 in the first round.

She beat China’s Feng Zhao 10-0 in the quarterfinals, then beat Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova — a former world champion — 10-4 in the semifinal.

She finished the dominant run by defeating Oborududu, the No. 2 seed and a three-time Olympian, in the final.

“Well, you’ve got to beat the best to know that you’re the best,” Mensah-Stock said. “And that’s what I keep telling myself. It doesn’t matter the draw. You go out there and you beat whoever is in front of you because that’s how you tell somebody that you were the best. I’m the bad draw.”