Well, here are a few notes regarding the Olympic Trials. First, if you've missed it all week, it's going to be shown live tonight on NBC from 5pm to 6pm (Track and Field) and from 8pm to 9pm (Swimming). Tonight will feature the finals of the men's 50m freestyle, the finals of the men's 100m butterfly (Michael Phelps' last race of the trials), the semifinals of the women's 50m freestyle, the finals of the women's 200m backstroke and the finals of the women's 800 freestyle.
Last night was quite a spectacle at Trials. Michael Phelps set the world record in the finals of the men's 200m IM, with Ryan Lochte swimming a close second less than a half hour after getting out-touched at the wall by Aaron Piersol in the 200m backstroke. "Out-touched" is perhaps a misnomer, since Piersol beat Lochte by 0.02 seconds. Piersol tied the world record in that event--the world record also held by Ryan Lochte. Dara Torres took second place in the women's 100m freestyle. It will be her fifth Olympics, which is incredible to begin with. However, it's even more incredible when you consider that she's skipped two Olympics since her first Olympics in 1984 (the 1996 games in Atlanta and the 2004 games in Athens). She is 41 years old (with a 2-year-old daughter as well). The word "supermom" takes a whole new meaning.
It's been a fantastic week watching the Olympic Trials (especially for me!), and it looks like the United States will bring a very strong contingent of athletes to Beijing in swimming, led by the versatile swimmers Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Hoff, and Natalie Coughlin.
In other (non-Olympic) sports news, the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, met in the ladies' finals of Wimbledon, with Venus winning the first two sets to claim the match and her fifth win at Wimbledon. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play tomorrow for the gentlemen's title. Also, the Tour de France starts today.
Anyway, I may have one more post about Olympic Trials, but in the next month before the Olympics start, I'll try to keep this blog updated with interesting tidbits about the Olympics, Beijing, and the United States Olympic Team.
UPDATE Tyson Gay, the defending world champion in the 200m dash, will not be going to Beijing in that event. He went down running in the quarterfinals of that event after suffering what looks to be a severe cramp. He has already qualified in the 100m dash, but the severity of the injury is not known, and it's possible he might not make it to Beijing. However, at this point, that doesn't look likely.
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