Olympics Spotlight: One more week to go!

With the halfway point of this year’s Beijing games behind us, let’s check out how several Latin American and Caribbean athletes have performed:

* A few competitors from the region have gained the ultimate achievement: a gold medal.

• The island of Jamaica can claim to have the “World’s Fastest Man and Women” after sweeping the top spots in the 100 meters dash. Shelly-Ann Fraser took Olympic gold for the women with a time of 10.78 seconds, while compatriots Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart shared the silver medal. Meanwhile, Usain Bolt obliterated the rest of the field with a world record time of 9.69 seconds and thus becomes the first Jamaican to win gold in the men’s 100 meter dash. (Honorable mention goes to silver medalist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago).
• Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho became the first from his country to win an Olympic swimming gold medal after excelling in the men's 50 meters freestyle. “It was my best race ever,” said Cielo Filho whose 21.30 second finish was 0.02 seconds off the world record mark.
• Cuba can also claim a gold of its own after Mijain Lopez won the Greco-Roman wrestling 120-kg division after a hard-fought battle with Khazan Baroev of Russia.

* In other medal-winning performances:

• Fernando Gonzalez of Chile fought gamely yet could not upset Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the men’s gold medal tennis match on Sunday. Gonzalez can still be proud of his efforts especially after overcoming three match points against him to beat James Blake in the semis.
• Ecuadorian race walker Jefferson Perez- gold medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Games- ended his illustrious career after winning the silver medal at the men's 20-km walk.
• In the under 48 kg women’s judo competition, Cuba’s Yanet Bermoy and Argentine Paula Belen Paretto shared the medal podium with a silver and bronze medal, respectively.
• The poetry in motion of Mexico’s Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz led them to win the bronze medal in the women’s 10-meter synchronized diving.
• Weightlifter Diego Salazar and wrestler Jackeline Rentería earned silver and gold medals for Colombia.

* The accomplishments of several Latinos representing the U.S. cannot be overlooked:

• While most headlines regarding swimming have focused on Michael Phelps, 41-year-old Dara Torres performed marvelously and earned a trio of silver medals. Torres- the oldest female swimmer in Olympic history- was key in the 4x100 freestyle and medley relays, and missed out on the gold by 0.01 of a second in the 50-meter freestyle.
• The U.S. water polo squads have been spearheaded by a Latino presence; Brazilian-born Tony Azevedo scored a hat trick in upsetting world champions Croatia by a 7-5 score. Meanwhile, Mexican-American Brenda Villa helped lead the women’s water polo team into the semis after winning their prelim group.
• Softball will not be a part of the 2012 Olympics though that hasn’t stopped the U.S. squad from dominating the competition. Crystl Bustos and Jessica Mendoza hit home runs in Sunday’s 8-0 shutout of the Netherlands. That win was the team’s fourth shutout in five games including an 11-0 victory over Venezuela.
  

* In other competitions:

• A showdown of South American heavyweights is coming up this Tuesday as Brazil and Argentina face each other in one of the men’s soccer semis. Argentine wunderkind Lionel Messi netted a goal and an assist in the extra-time quarterfinal victory of the Dutch, while Brazil beat Cameroon with a pair of extra-time goals from Rafael Sobis and Marcelo.
• Not to be outdone, the Brazilian women’s soccer team faces a rematch of last year’s World Cup; FIFA world player of the year Marta and the Brazilians play champions Germany in the semis on Monday.
  
• Lastly, Cuba’s boxers have mostly buckled the criticism that they are too “young and inexperienced”. Three boxers from the island are assured medals after having qualified to the semis in the heavyweight, welterweight, and light welterweight classes. (Honorable mention goes to Dominican pugilist Felix Diaz who will earn his country’s first boxing medal since 1984).

Image- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Sources- Too many to list!