12:01 PM: Second match point for the United States! And a spike does the job!! The USA move on to the semis and will face the powerhouse Cubans. That's Day 11. Join me for a recap at 6:30 PM at www.blogtalkradio.com/hdsports! See you on Day 12!
11:59 AM: Two points to go for the United States!!
11:54 AM: Team USA has revealed their A Game in the last couple sets. They've taken a 9-2 lead and look to have unstoppable momentum.
11:45 AM: The United States have tied it at 2 sets all and we go to a tiebreak-the 5th and deciding set.
11:28 AM: Lindsey Berg pounds out jump serve after jump serve, the USA has opened up an 8-0 lead in the fourth set.
11:24 AM: The United States women are up 4-0 on Italy in the fourth set. Italy captured the 3rd set without much challenge. And now an ace serve for the USA...5-0!
11:05 AM: Just saw the medal ceremony of Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Got goosebumps again seeing that maple leaf. You can only imagine what she was thinking on the podium. She'll be a big story in Canada, huge breakthrough for confident Priscilla.
10:56 AM: Bahrain has got their first gold medal in Olympic history courtesy of Rashid Ramzi in the Men's 1500 M race!! Asbel Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya grabs silver with his long strides and Kiwi athlete Nicolas Willis takes bronze!
10:50 AM: The United States volleyball women are in a tight second set, leading the Italians 22-20 and down a set already.
10:33 AM: Look at this!!! A bronze medal for Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep!!!!!!!! At 12.64 s, the Canadian underdog came back with vengeance in the last 10 metres and leaned into 3rd place in a photo finish!! What a great race!! And what a moment for Canadian track and field, the first medal since Atlanta. The Canadians now with 13 medals, topping their total from 4 years ago.
10:30 AM: Dawn Harper of the United State prevails in the hurdles race. It was such a tight finish, I'm sure we'll have to go to a photo finish on this one!!!!
10:28 AM: It's another USA-Jamaica race in the Women's 100 M Hurdles final. Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is in lane 8 and don't be surprised if she does something special here.
10:24 AM: Italy takes the first set. Coach Lang Ping and the Americans have some work to do if they want to advance to the semis to face Cuba.
10:23 AM: In the women's indoor vball quarterfinals, the United States is down 20-24 to Italy in the first set. The Americans have made 8 errors.
10:14 AM: Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain sprints on the home stretch to gold! Sanya Richards of the US, world #1, was exhausted in the end and could not hold off the field. Shericka Richards of Jamaica stormed back to win silver and Richards has to settle for bronze.
10:10 AM: Right now at the Bird's Nest, the women are lining up the track for the 400 M race. Another US-Jamaica battle with Sanya Richards running side by side with Shericka Williams.
10:04 AM: It's another silver medal for Canada!! Alexandre Despatie will pick up his second Olympic silver. What a wonderful set of dives for Alex. An amazing last dive on which he score 96 points secured the silver. He was too far behind He Chong to win the gold, but having suffered that injury earlier this year, it is a superb comeback for Despatie! Canada now matching their medal total from Athens with a few more contenders to go! And how bout China, now 6-6 in diving golds!
9:50 AM: Alexandre Despatie is in 2nd place with one more dive to go! He is 7 points ahead of Qin Kai and more than 30 behind He Chong (both of China).
9:45 AM: Jeremy Wariner just won his semi-final in the 400 M dash. What a fast time: 44.14 s! This young man is something special, my favourite sprinter for sure.
9:30 AM: Alexandre Despatie is bringing it on in the Water Cube. In a rather difficult dive, he nails the entry and has been sensational as far. But the top 1-2-3-4 are becoming more and more separated now. Alexandre Despatie is in 2nd place.
9:13 AM: Canada was finally able to beat somebody in baseball last night. The pitching staff 2-hit the Dutch on the way to a 4-0 victory.
9:05 AM: When did athletes stop wearing their national colours?? You'd think the Russian trampolinist was from Latvia with his mahogany uniform. And oh yes, I think Japan's trampolonist is trying to impress the judges by wearing China colours.
8:50 AM: Jason Burnett has won another silver medal for Canada!!!! In men's trampoline, our Canadian boy duplicating what Karen Cockburn did yesterday! What a great routine from him, very risky as well. But finally, our Canadian athletes have stopped choking!
____________(Sleep)____________
11:56 PM: Here comes Colin Jenkins...so happy, celebrating as he jogs across the finish line knowing that he had contributed to this silver medal! What a great night for the Canadians! Hope Alexandre Despatie can put on an equally exciting show tomorrow morning! Canada still up 3-0 against Holland in top 7. See you in the morning!
11:48 PM: Frodeno outpaces Whitfield in the last 200!!!! Amazing finish for the Canadian, looked to be out of it in the last K, but he sprinted back with unbelievable speed. He was looking so good for that gold medal...but silver is pretty darn good for the 33 year old. What a finish! What a triathlon!
11:47 PM: Here comes Simon Whitfield, he is picking up the pace, trying to catch up to the top 3. Whitfield has pulled up side by side with the leader after trailing 15 metres behind. This is incredible and now Whitfield is going to push for gold!!!!!
11:43 PM: Two men have been dropped from the triathlon lead pack. Less than a lap to go for the leaders. Whitfield is right up there in 4th place and 4 guys will be jostling for 3 medals. Could be a heart-throbbing finish.
11:37 PM: The Canadian baseball team is leading 3-0 in the top of the 5th. Must win game for Canada to keep them in this tournament!!
11:34 PM: Simon Whitfield is in 6th position with about 4.5 KM to go in the run. He is among the lead pack and trying hard to keep up there to contend for a medal.
11:29 PM: Alexandre Despatie qualifies for the final in 2nd place behind He Chong of China but ahead of Qin Kai of China. Very impressive set of dives from Alex today. He Chong scored a ridiculous 102 points in his last dive and the 4th place Mexican was even higher with an 103! This will be an exciting final tomorrow morning!
11:24 PM: Alexandre Despatie garners 91.50 points on his final dive in the semi-finals of the 3 M Springboard. Very nice scores and he is for certain into the final, and likely in a good position as well.
11:21 PM: That's the match!!! Tian and Wang go on to face Misty and Kerri in the gold match final later this week!!! They take the set 15-8 and Xue Chen looks to be in some pain. It's an emotional moment for Tian and Wang and they come over to shake hands with their compatriots and make sure Xue is okay. Classy!!
11:19 PM: Tian and Wang have match point right here!!!! Leading 14-8 in the third and final set, they want to go for gold!
11:18 PM: Canada's Simon Whitfield is in 14th place at the bike-foot transition. Gomez of Spain is in 15th place. Canada is looking to move up and they're doing it with good strategy.
11:14 PM: I love the super slow mo in beach volleyball...very very engaging!!!! The score in the third set is 7-6 for Tian and Wang.
11:11 PM: Wow...American whiners!!!!!!! NBC's gymnastic commentators are just non stop in complaining about Chinese's marks. They call the uneven bar marks for Nastia Liukin "shocking...crazy...not right..." And they are questioning the tiebreaking process of the FIG...just because the US is not winning?? Come on, where's the grace and class?
11:05 PM: Tian Jia and Wang Jie finally capture the set on their 6th opportunity. It's tied up 1-1 and this third set could be extremely enthralling!
11:04 PM: Xue and Zhang are relentless, coming back again to tie it up at 27-27! This is by far the most exciting beach vball match in these Games!
11:03 PM: Tian Jia and Wang Jie lose their 4th match point. It's 26-26, and we've seen some incredible rallies. Oh wait...5th match point for Tian/Wang.
11:00 PM: Alexandre Despatie is in 2nd place after 4 dives in the semi final of the men's 3 M board. Or as the French commentators I'm watching say: "Despatie en deuxieme position!" Keep it up, Alex!!
10:58 PM: Xue and Zhang lose a match point...we are deadlocked at 22!!!
10:54 PM: Tian Jia and Wang Jie are down 18-19 to Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. This game is going down to the wire! What an entertaining match for the Chinese fans!
10:50 PM: How bout that, on the shoes of 400 M bronze medallist Hershawn Jackson is inscripted "BATMAN", his invincible nickname!
10:48 PM: Simon Whitfield is 19th with 3 laps to go in the 40 KM bike stage.
10:46 PM: That all-Chinese beach volleyball semi is very competitive. Tian Jia and Wang are up 13-12 while Xue and Zhang Xi won the first set.
10:34 PM: Here's an intriguing question: Why do divers get in the Jacuzzi right after their dive? Is it to keep warm??
10:26 PM: Xue/Zhang Xi win the first set 24-22. Haha, they are chanting "Let's Go China!" when there are two Chinese teams facing eachother...just who are they cheering for???
10:23 PM: Tight tight match on the sand. The two Chinese pairs are tied 20-20 in the first set.
10:19 PM: Colin Jenkins and Simon Whitfield of Canada are 15th and 18th respectively coming out of the water, transitioning to the biking stage.
10:12 PM: Look at all those Chinese flags at Chaoyang Park as the two Chinese beach volleyball duos go head to head in the second semi finals. Xue/Zhang are leading Tong Jia/Wang 15-13 in the first set.
10:08 PM: Discovered that Radio-Canada, the French speaking arm of CBC is airing live coverage of the Men's 3 M Springboard Semi-Final. Goes to show that Canada is still a little segragated (no racist intentions there).
10:00 PM: There go the triathletes!!! At a beautiful site (Ming Tombs), the men leap into the reservoir and swim, bike and run for the title. I'd die doing this event. Hats off to all these guys!
9:55 PM: Wow, not a single channel is showing anything live. That's just pathetic. CCTV (Chinese state network) does such a better job covering the action of these Games than the North American channels.
9:45 PM: May-Treanor/Walsh will be going on to face one of the Chinese pairs for Gold!! They defeat the Brazilians 21-12, 21-14 in just 39 minutes. What's the win streak up to now?? 105? 110?
9:30 PM: Wow, what a rally. Walsh gets called for the lift. This is more of a finesse game than power game.
9:26 PM: Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh are up a set and leading 7-6 in the second against Brazilian crew Talita/Renata. Winner goes on to the gold medal match.
7:08 PM: Alot of sports are entering their knockout stages now. Basketball, volleyball...you name it. Canada has gone through to the semi finals of women's softball while our men's baseball team will look to keep their medal hopes alive vs. the Netherlands. Track cycling closes out action today at the Laoshan Velodrome. Men's triathlon gets underway at 10 PM. More gymnastics tomorrow morning. And of course, I'm looking forward to diving-3 M Springboard. Alexandre Despatie of Canada will look for a medal while the Chinese will try to keep its hopes of a diving sweep alive!
-D
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