Athletes and their fans experience it all at Saturday’s Olympics
Today could be American golfer Xander Schauffele’s day at the Tokyo Olympics
If he survives the battle.
No fewer than nine players are within four strokes of Schauffele, and among them is the golfer who used to be No. 1 in the world: Rory Mcllroy.
On Saturday, Schauffele managed to keep a one-stroke lead over Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama, who is doing well at the Olympics despite the fact he’s recovering from COVID-19.
Today Schauffele goes into the final round with the hope of winning a gold medal.
In other Olympics news, Simeon Woods-Richardson, the youngest guy on Team USA’s baseball squad, got an unexpected phone call at 2 in the morning. But the 20-year-old didn’t mind this one. Even though he was half asleep, it was a happy awakening.
The Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect found out he had been traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he will join fellow Team USA pitcher Joe Ryan. Ryan learned recently that he had been traded to the Twins from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Woods-Richardson told a reporter he was happy to be going to Minnesota and was glad he would know someone there.
Saturday was a good day for Woods-Richardson, Ryan and their teammates. The U.S. beat South Korea 4-1, which puts Team USA in the quarter-finals with Japan on Monday. South Korea will play the Dominican Republic today.
Saturday definitely was not a good day for Serbian athlete Novak Djokovic. The Grand Slam winner won no medals and ended up breaking his tennis racket out of sheer frustration after losing the bronze to Spain’s Careno Busta. To be specific, Djokovic tossed his racket several times into the seats, and, after losing to Busta, Djokovic slammed it into the net.
Djokovic was in no mood for defeat after having just lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev. But Djokovic will see if things turn out better when he plays the U.S. Open.
On a much happier note, Melissa Gonzalez of Colombia got support from her biggest fan when she qualified for the semifinal for the 400-meter hurdles.
The fan was thrilled. For good reason. He’s her husband, and football fans know him as the Detroit Lions quarterback, David Blough, who was watching her with his teammates during a viewing party. The Lions tweeted their congratulations to Gonzalez.
When Gonzalez placed second with a time of 55.32 seconds in the first heat, she made her husband proud. Not only did she qualify for the semifinal, but she set a new Colombian record.
To see today’s triumphs, losses and suspense, watch the Olympics on NBC and its sister networks or peacock.com.
For the medals count, see the graphic on top of today’s front page.
email: dmason@newspress.com
