The Climax on Day 15

12:00 AM: That's that for this Day 15. It's hard to believe that 24 hours from now, the Games will be over. It's certainly been a fun 2 weeks. But before we say goodbye, there's the signature event-Men's Marathon going later tonight. And join me for a recap of this highlightful Day 15 at 6:30 PM at www.blogtalkradio.com/hdsports! One more day to go!

11:43 AM: Team USA has won 4 straight Olympic titles!! 92-65's the final score. Congrats USA, this is an incredibly dominant "dynasty". And you can be sure that expectations will be high in 2012 for this Dream Team.

11:41 AM: A minute left in the fourth-as Chuck Swirsky would say: "Get out the salami and cheese mama, this ballgame is ova!". They're up 92-65, and the USA will dribble it out...

11:24 AM: Going into the fourth, the United States up 69-54 on the Aussies. They look to streak the Olympic title streak to 4!! Just 10 short minutes away.

10:42 AM: The United States has opened up a commanding lead of Australia at half time 47-30 in the women's basketball gold medal game. I thought the Aussies would be putting up a better fight.

10:28 AM: Listen to this Brazilian contigent sing their national anthem during the victory ceremony for women's volleyball! What a neat moment...the Brazilian flag reads "Order e Progresso" and that's exactly what this team used to capture this meaningful gold. Their fans are still chanting and voicing rejoice! And here comes the coach tossing...

10:24 AM: Second quarter just began in the women's basketball gold medal match between USA and AUS. The Americans lead 25-15. The Aussies aren't a bunch of wimps, so don't expect a 40 point blowout.

10:22 AM: It's case closed on field hockey. The men's final ended in a 1-0 win for the Germans over the Spaniards. Defending gold medallists Australia claimed bronze.

10:18 AM: Wow, Matthew Mitcham speaks French??! He just gave an interview in that language with Radio-Canada, the French speaking arm of CBC. Okay, it wasn't the most fluent or colourful French, but impressive nonetheless for the Aussie. Congrats Matthew!!

10:10 AM: From one Aussie to the next. The Australian women's basketball team is going for gold versus the American "Dream Team". This is a storied rivalry and both teams are potent and undefeated in these Games.

9:56 AM: I don't think I've ever seen a more ecstatic Olympic champion than Matthew Mitcham of Australia. He is jumping up and down, overwhelmed by joy, draped in the Aussie flag, high fiving the fans...what a great moment for Mitcham, who is the only openly gay competitor in these Games. He proved today that sexual orientation is no barrier to achievement in life!

9:46 AM: Get the party started in Rio!!!! The Brazilian women have captured volleyball gold, winning a tight fourth set 25-21. Lang Ping and Team USA settle for silver. China captured bronze earlier in the day.

9:36 AM: Australia's Matthew Mitcham spoils the Chinese diving sweep. Mitcham nailed an unbelievable last dive, receiving four 10's and a ridiculous score of 112.10 points. The Chinese finish second and fourth. Gleb Galperin snagged bronze. Tom Daley, at age 14, finishes a respectable 7th. I mean, he is 14!! Phenomenal future ahead of him. But the big news-Matthew Mitcham-snagging gold on a sensational last dive overcoming a 24 point deficit!!

9:31 AM: A few moments ago, Korea upset Cuba in the swan song tournament of baseball. The Koreans jumped out to a 3-2 but it was threatened in the 9th inning. Cuba loaded the bases with one out in the 9th, but the Koreans induced a twin killing. They win gold in Beijing after not even qualifying in Athens. Earlier, the United States won bronze.

9:27 AM: And it's Ma Lin who defeats the world champion Wang Hao to claim the men's singles table tennis crown. Again, it's a sweet sweep for the Chinese with Wang LiQin winning bronze.

9:20 AM: A couple minutes ago, the Americans lost set #3 to the Brazilians in the gold medal match of women's volleyball. The score wasn't even close, 25-13. Can you say Americans are running out of gas?? The Brazilians are leading 5-3 in the fourth set.

9:18 AM: Huo Liang of China missed his last dive, dropping to a competitve fourth. Zhou and Mitcham continue to lead. Tom Daley has climbed back up to 6th place after an awesome 5th round. Gleb Galperin is in the bronze medal position.

9:15 AM: The Chinese divers just don't crack a bit under pressure. Zhou LuXin, after seeing Gleb Galperin's huge dive, comes up with a huge one of his own getting three perfect 10's.

9:11 AM: It's an Olympic Record for Jeremy Wariner and the relay team. Team USA annihilated the field, crossing about 20 metres ahead of Bahamas-the silver medallists. The Americans have never lost this event since 1984 and they do it at the Bird's Nest in Olympic Record time. Wariner's last leg was a mind-blowing 43.23!!

9:07 AM: It's a clean start in the men's 4 by 400 relay. The United States are incomparable in this field of 8 teams. They may try for a world record with Merritt running leg 1 and Jeremy Wariner running the anchor.

9:02 AM: China is guaranteed of a table tennis sweep today. Wang LiQin obliterated his Swedish opponent earlier. Ma Lin currently leads Wang Hao 2 games to 1. Now, China will haul 8 medals out of table tennis alone.

8:55 AM: The United States takes the second set 25-18 in the final of the women's volleyball tournament. Brazil won the opening set.

8:48 AM: After 3 rounds of diving in the Men's 10 M final, the Chinese sit 1-3, sandwiching Cuban diver Guerra Oliva. Fourth and eighth are not that far apart. Tom Daley is in that eighth position. Thomas Finchum is totally out of it with a horrible first dive.

8:45 AM: In the javelin final that just concluded. Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen won the gold with the world's longest distance this throw this season. Latvia wins silver and Finland settles for bronze, though they finished 3-4-5.

8:41 AM: In the bottom of the 8th inning of the gold medal match, Korea is leading Cube 3-2. What a story the Koreans have been! They began this tournament by knocking the United States. And now are in position to win the gold medal.

8:29 AM: Matthew Mitcham, the diver with AUSTRALIA written on the back of his trunks, nailed his second dive, receiving four perfect 10's. He was a bit shocked with that result too, but the guy deserved it.

8:26 AM: In the women's volleyball final, Brazil is leading the Americans 1 set to none, after winning the first 25-15. They're currently down 1-4 in the second.

8:22 AM: Another historic double for Ethiopia-Kinenisa Bikele-wins gold in Olympic Record time in the men's 5000 M. It was a painfully slow first lap, but Bikele ran away in the end. The Kenyans take silver and bronze. This duplicates what Kirunesh Dibaba did last night.

8:12 AM: Adam van Koeverden won silver in the K1 500 overnight. For most people, that's very good, but it is kind of disappointing for Adam. Gary Reed also misses out on a dream, finishing 4th in the men's 800.

____________(Sleep)____________

11:48 PM: That's it for now. I'll be up early tomorrow morning to catch the diving final. See you then!!
11:46 PM: Sabine Spitz of Germany cruises to a sweet victory in the women's mountain cycling race. Poland and Russia grab the rest of the medals. Catherine Pendrel of Canada misses out on the podium by 9 seconds, taking the pressure on her shoulders after Premont's disappointing drop out.

11:44 PM: In the second all-Chinese table tennis semi-final, Ma Lin is leading Wang LiQin 3 games to 2 and down 2-3 in the sixth game. The Chinese crowd is lovin every minute of this.

11:41 PM: Jacque Rogge is at Wukesong taking in some baseball action. It's the bronze medal match between Japan and the United States. Team USA has come back from a 4-1 deficit to knot it at 4 all in the bottom of the 3rd.

11:38 PM: The men's 10 M semi-finals have wrapped up. Huo Liang of China qualifying first. Matthew Mitcham of Australia looking very strong followed by the other Chinese. David Boudia of the USA is in 5th. His teammate and roommate Thomas Finchum finished 7th. Tom Daley goes through in 8th position. Peter Waterfield was edged out in 13th place and the two Canadians were way back.

11:33 PM: Apparently, Premont had difficulty breathing. We should get more on this as the race ends. It is uncharacteristic of her. And by the way, Tom Daley stands in good position to advance to the semis while his Team GB fellow Peter Waterfield is on the edge of elimination. Daley missed his last dive, but his previous dives are strong enough to keep him in the hunt.

11:26 PM: Sabine Spitz of Germany is flying on the course, with a major lead on the rest of the riders. Again, the Canadians are having a mixed race. Premont has dropped out. Pendrel is in bronze medal position. Still no explanation as to why Premont was unable to continue.

11:19 PM: Peter Waterfield, also from Team GB just overrotated like a Russian roulette wheel. The nuclear splash gets him 4's...this will help with the British press' Daley-mania.

11:13 PM: Just to close the case on field hockey. China scored in extra time to win 11th place in the tournament.

11:01 PM: I've always been impressed by the handstand dives. Can you imagine being up 3 stories up on the edge of a platform, performing an act that requires tremendous balance and strength...it's scary to say the least!!

10:56 PM: Hoooo!! What a dive from Tom Daley!! That was incredible. It was one of those handstand dives. Beautiful vertical entry...almost splashless. Three 9's gives him 86 points and into the lead for now.

10:49 PM: Wang Hao just handily defeated Jorgen Persson of Sweden 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9. Wang, the world champion, takes the first step toward a Chinese sweep, advancing to the gold medal match.

10:40 PM: Catherine Pendrel of Canada is now all alone on the course. She is in 5th position and about a minute back of the German leader. Wow, interesting how life works eh? Premont, who was so favoured, will have DNF beside her name and that's just downright disappointing after all the work an athlete does in preparation for the Olympics.

10:31 PM: Marie-Helene Premont has dropped out of the race. There seems to have been a huge problem after she crashed. It may be an injury, it may be a mechanical dilemma. This is tough tough news. She was world #1 and it just had to happen to her on this special day.

10:25 PM: Whew...what a dive by Huo Liang. Three perfect 10's from the judges, literally splashless!! He had a mediocre prelim round, but is looking good in the semis. This is diving, so don't ever count out the Chinese!!

10:23 PM: The women cyclists have completed one lap on the mountainous course. Marie Helene Premont sits at about 20 seconds back in 5th position. Five more laps to go, no way to tell who's going to win right now.

10:21 PM: Beautiful dive from Tom Daley-the 14 year old wonderboy from Team GB. Three 8's on that one...he just looks so mature yet so small. You can only imagine what it's like for him to be at the Olympic Games at that tender age. It really does make me feel underachieved.

10:04 PM: Okay, I see, they go to extra time when there's a tie in field hockey. But back to mountain cycling, Premont is leading as they go up and down the soily hills. And China is a "powerhouse" in this sport?? Never knew that...

10:00 PM: Marie Helene Premont of Canada is going for gold in the women's mountain biking. Premont won silver in Athens and is ranked first in the world this World Cup season. It's a long long course but at least the weather's cooperating-it's warm, sunny...no mud to splatter around.

9:58 PM: The South Africans tie the game at 3 with 5 seconds remaining on the clock. Being a dummy when it comes to field hockey, I don't know what happens next.

9:50 PM: RSA strikes back on a penalty shot. It's 3-2...seems like a reasonable hockey score.

9:42 PM: The Chinese clearly better in this game, outshooting the South Africans 11-5. Hey, I got an idea, why don't we turn the Toronto Maple Leafs into a field hockey team. Maybe they'd have more success that way? BMO Field looks like a good place to do it. And as soon as I start typing, China scores again!! Make it 3-1, this one sailing high into the net!

9:37 PM: The Chinese came within a feet of scoring their second goal. Oops...spoke a minute early...they DO score their second goal. This one coming from the top of the crease. Boisterous crowd too...zhong guo dui-jia you!!!! Let's Go China!!

9:31 PM: The Chinese and South African men's field hockey teams are fighting for 11th place in an early one in Beijing. There are 23 minutes left in the 2nd half and they're knotted at 1. That's about the only half-exciting event going on at the Games right now.

8:05 PM: Okay, seeing nothing is going on in Beijing...let's talk politics. Obama has teased us big time. The running mate of the Senator is expected to appear with him in Springfield, IL tomorrow afternoon. Who is it?? Only Obama knows! I've signed up for the email alert and has been checking my box every minute. Nothing yet...and this is turning into one hyped poker game. Hands down, Obama has got the best poker face ever! No body knows for sure what's in the cards??

7:04 PM: It may be the second last day of competition, but it doesn't look it with 32 gold medals ready to be handed out. Every event will be a medal event today. Lots of Canadian hopes today too. Obvious contenders include Adam van Koeverden in the K1 500 Final and mountain cyclist Marie Helene Premont. Lots of team finals also taking place today-men's field hockey, women's handball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, men's baseball and men's football. The Chinese will look to sweep the diving golds by winning in the men's 10 metre. Looking forard to that as well as a potential podium sweep for China in men's singles table tennis. Lots of news to come!!

-D