Two teenage sharks and a flying squirrel made their mark in London as outstanding new talents with their best years still ahead of them.
China’s Ye Shiwen stunned the swimming world by covering the penultimate, freestyle lap of the 400m individual medley faster than Michael Phelps in the men’s final and her last lap quicker than Ryan Lochte in winning the male equivalent.
“I was trying my best to come from behind,” said the 16-year-old, who won two gold medals and was forced to fend off doping insinuations that were unsupported by any evidence.
Photo: AFP
A year younger than China’s Ye, Lithuania’s unassuming Ruta Meilutyte seemed amazed by her victory in the 100m breaststroke.
“It came as a complete surprise when I touched. I was not looking round. I was not looking at which position I was in, whether I was last or I was first,” she said.
Watched by billions, the Olympics provide the ultimate stage for any athlete and each successive Games etches new names on the world’s sporting consciousness.
Some dominate a single Olympics, like US swimmer Mark Spitz at Munich in 1972, while others — like Phelps, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina or “Flying Finn” Paavo Nurmi — blaze a trail of victories over two or more Games.
Some, like boxing gold medalist Cassius Clay in 1960, use the Olympics as a platform for glory in a different arena. As Muhammad Ali, he became world heavyweight champion and one of the greatest sportsmen of the 20th century.
There is more at stake than sporting success.
Sponsors are salivating over the earnings potential of athletes such as 16-year-old US gymnast Gabby Douglas, nicknamed the “Flying Squirrel,” who won both a team gold and the all-around individual competition.
Within hours, cereal maker Kellogg Co adorned its Corn Flakes boxes with the smiling face of the first African-American to take the all-around title. Some estimate her earning power at up to US$10 million over the next four-year Olympic cycle.
“The gold medal alone doesn’t get you to first base in marketing. It’s the persona that goes with it,” said Lynn Lashbrook, a Portland, Oregon-based sports agent. “I can’t think of another person in this category — female, young, articulate, great smile, this is unique. This will be off the charts.”
In the velodrome, Britain’s Laura Trott emerged as the next big name in track cycling.
At her first Games, she claimed two golds, in team pursuit and the six-event omnium, and at 20 was the youngest female track rider to win gold at any Olympics.
Like Douglas, she has the magic combination of a winning performance and a winning personality, and she could easily have another three Olympics to look forward to.
“Her ability as a bike racer is phenomenal already, which is quite startling, but I think it’s more about her attitude, the way she approaches her life, her training, analysis of herself, of success. She’s just a joy to be around,” British cycling director Dave Brailsford said.
In athletics, the big headlines belonged to Jamaica’s Bolt, for his “double treble” of 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles, and Kenya’s David Rudisha for a world record-breaking run in the 800m final.
Not far behind them were athletes who laid down a marker as names to watch in the future.
Bolt’s countrymen Yohan Blake and baby-faced Warren Weir, both 22, took the silver and bronze in the 200m, while 18-year-old Nijel Amos from Botswana came second behind Rudisha in the 800m to claim his country’s first Olympic medal.
It could even be that a future Olympic legend may be lurking among the legions of athletes who left London empty-handed.
At the Sydney Games in 2000, a gawky-looking 15-year-old called Michael Phelps came fifth in the 200m butterfly. Twelve years and 22 medals later — 18 golds, two silver and two bronze — the American retired as the most successful Olympic athlete of all time.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB