Michelle Carter won the women’s shot put gold medal tonite, 32 years after her father, Michael Carter, won a silver medal in the men’s shot put at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. How rare is this. Let’s look at fathers and daughter in the Olympics:

• 230 father-daughters (F-D) have competed at the Olympics.
• 25 F-D have both won medals
• 3 F-D have both won gold medals – Reiner and Ingrid Klimke (FRG/GER-EQU); Carsten and Natascha Keller (FRK/GER-HOK); and Yoshekatsu and Saori Yoshida (JPN-WRE).
• 15 @TeamUSA F-D have competed at the Olympics – Champ Hough and Lauren Hough (EQU/EQU); Jim Ochowicz and Elli Ochowicz (CYC/SSK); Thomas Scott and Lida Howell (ARC/ARC); Wink Davenport and Lindsay Davenport (VOL/TEN); Robert Zagunis and Mariel Zagunis (ROW/FEN); John Foster and Jean Foster (SHO/SHO); Lones Wigger and Deena Wigger (SHO/SHO); Butch May and Misty May-Treanor (VOL/BVO); Owen Churchill and Antonia Churchill (SAI/SAI); Bill Horton, Sr. and Joyce Horton (SAI/SAI); Mike Carter and Michelle Carter (ATH/ATH); Rafer Johnson and Jenny Johnson-Jordan (ATH/BVO); Jack Nagel and Judy Nagel (ASK/ASK); Mike Devecka and Kirstin Holum (NCO/SSK); and Stan Dunklee and Susan Dunklee (CCS/BIA).
• 0 @TeamUSA F-D had both previously won medals (or gold medals) – the Carters are the first USA father-daughters to accomplish this.
• 27 F-D have both competed in athletics
• 1 @TeamUSA F-D have both competed in athletics – Michael and Michelle Carter – they were the first @TeamUSA F-D to do this in athletics
• 4 F-D in athletics have both won medals – Fritz and Brunhilde Hendrix (GER – 1932/1960); Lennox Miller (JAM-1968/72) and Inger Miller (USA-1996); Viktor Bryzhin (URS-1988) and Yelzaveta Bryzhina (UKR-2012); and now Michael and Michelle Carter.

Anthony Ervin won a gold medal tonite in the 50 metre freestyle, 16 years after he had won an individual gold medal in the same event at Sydney in 2000. This 16-year gap between gold medals, or medals, is unusual in Olympic history but this has occurred before. Here is where this unusual Phoenix-like gold medal puts Ervin in Olympic perspective, first looking only at swimmers:

• Among swimmers, Ervin ties Dara Torres with her 16-years between gold medals in 1984 and 2000
• In swimming, 16 years between individual medals ties by the mark set by Frank Beaurepaire (AUS, 1908-24)
• His mark of 16 years between individual swimming golds betters the mark held by Michael Phelps, from 2004-16, and Phelps didn’t hold that too long, did he?

Now in all sports, the mark is not that unusual for years between 1^st and last medal but the gap of 16 years is. This is where it puts Ervin on various Olympic lists, including all sports.

• His 16-year gap between medals ties the USA mark held by Jonathan McKee in sailing (1984/2000), Miguel de Capriles in fencing (1932/1948), and Earl Thomson in equestrian (1932/1948)
• His 16-year gap between gold medals ties the USA mark held by Earl Thomson in equestrian (1932/1948).
• His 16-year gap between gold medals is 4^th all-time, all nations, behind Hubert Van Innis (BEL-ARC, 1900/1920), Lars Jørgen Madsen (DEN-SHO, 1900/1920), and Manlio Di Rosa (ITA-FEN, 1936/1956), all with 20.
• His 16-year gap between individual medals is 4^th all-time, all nations, behind Hubert Van Innis (BEL-ARC, 1900/1920), Hiroshi Yamamoto (JPN-ARC, 1984/2004), and Nino Salukvadze (GEO/URS-SHO, 1988/2008).
• His 16-year gap between individual gold medals is 2^nd all-time, all nations, behind Hubert Van Innis (BEL-ARC, 1900/1920). The previous USA best was 8 years held by 10 Olympians.

---

How rare is that 3-way tie for silver medals in the men’s 100 fly tonite? Not all that rare. There have been 21 previous cases at the Olympics where there have been 3 (or more) tied for a medal. It has happened twice for gold medals, in the men’s pommel horse in 1948 and 1988; 8 previous times for silver medals – 5 at the Summer Olympics and 3 at the Winter; and 11 times for bronze medals, most recently at the 2012 men’s athletics high jump, and including once at the Winter Games. There was one 4-way tie, in the 1984 men’s gymnastics horse vault. Here are all the examples of this.

[table]

Year,Season,Sport,Class,Event,G,S,B,TM

1948,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Pommelled Horse,3,0,0,3

1988,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Pommelled Horse,3,0,0,3

1906,Summer,Athletics,Men,Standing High Jump,1,3,0,4

1908,Summer,Athletics,Men,High Jump,1,3,0,4

1956,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Floor Exercise,1,3,0,4

1964,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Individual All-Around,1,3,0,4

1984,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Horse Vault,1,4,0,5

2016,Summer,Swimming,Men,100 butterfly,1,3,0,4

1906,Summer,Weightlifting,Men,Unlimited Two Hands,1,1,3,5

1908,Summer,Athletics,Men,Pole Vault,2,0,3,5

1912,Summer,Athletics,Men,Pole Vault,1,2,3,6

1948,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Horse Vault,1,1,3,5

1980,Summer,Gymnastics,Women,Uneven Bars,1,1,3,5

1992,Summer,Athletics,Men,High Jump,1,1,3,5

1992,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Parallel Bars,1,1,3,5

1992,Summer,Gymnastics,Women,Floor Exercise,1,1,3,5

1996,Summer,Gymnastics,Men,Horizontal Bar,1,1,3,5

2012,Summer,Athletics,Men,High Jump,1,1,3,5

1948,Winter,Speedskating,Men,500 metres,1,3,0,4

1964,Winter,Speedskating,Men,500 metres,1,3,0,4

1968,Winter,Speedskating,Women,500 metres,1,3,0,4

1928,Winter,Speedskating,Men,500 metres,2,0,3,5

[/table]

Here is what Katie Ledecky has accomplished with her performance to date in Rio

• Moves to =3^rd among USA female swimmers with 4 Olympic gold medals, trailing Jenny Thompson (8), Amy Van Dyken (6), and tieing Janet Evans, Dara Torres, Missy Franklin, and Dana Vollmer.
• Moves to =4^th among @TeamUSA Olympians, any sport, with 4 Olympic gold medals, trailing Thompson and Van Dyken, as above, and tied with 12 other USA women.
• Moves to =3^rd among @TeamUSA Olympians, any sport, with 3 Olympic golds at one Olympics, trailing only swimmers Missy Franklin (2012) and Amy Van Dyken (1996), with 4 each, and tied with 22 other USA women, including 17 swimmers.
• Moves to =7^th among all female Olympians (any sport) with the most individual gold medals with 4. The record is 7 by Věra Čáslavská (TCH) in gymnastics, with Larysa Latynina (URS-GYM) and Lidiya Skoblikova (URS-SSK) having won 6 individual golds.
• Ties Debbie Meyer (1968) and Janet Evans (1988) among US female swimmers with 3 individual gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
• Ties Janet Evans (SWI) and Pat McCormick (DIV) among summer female US Olympians (any sport) with 4 individual gold medals. Among @TeamUSA Olympians, Ledecky trails only Bonnie Blair, who won 5 individual gold medals in speed skating at the Winter Olympics.
• Moves to =2^nd among all Olympic female swimmers with 4 individual gold medals, trailing only Hungarian Krisztina Egerszegi, who has won 5. Four females have won 4 individual Olympic swimming golds – Janet Evans (USA), Kristin Otto (GDR), Inge de Bruijn (NED), and Yana Klochkova (UKR).

• Kim Rhode wins her 6^th medal, the most ever by a woman in Olympic shooting. Rhode was previously tied with 5 medals with three other women – Jasna Šekarić (IOA/SCG/SRB/YUG); Marina Dobrancheva-Logvinenko (EUN/RUS/URS); and Mariya Grozdeva (BUL).
• She equals the Olympic “modern” shooting record with 6 medals, currently held by Chinese male shooter Wang Yifu, who won 6 medals in 1984-2004. “Modern” record is of some importance. Most of the Olympic records for medals won in shooting are still held by shooters from 1908-24, because in those years there were multiple events, including team events. After shooting was excluded from the Olympics in 1928, it returned in 1932 with a drastically reduced program. The overall Olympic shooting record is 11 medals by Carl Osburn (USA), who competed in 1912/1920/1924.
• Rhode moves to =7^th among all female Olympians with 6 individual medals. All of Rhode’s medals have been won in individual events.
• She ties Jackie Joyner-Kersee (ATH) for the most individual Olympic medals among @TeamUSA Olympians, with 6. Rhode’s 5 individual medals was previously tied with 5 other @TeamUSA Olympians – Shirley Babashoff (SWI), Janet Evans (SWI), Shannon Miller (GYM), Amanda Beard (SWI), and Natalie Coughlin (SWI).
• She wins a medal in her 6^th Olympic Games, which ties the mark for female Olympians (any sport), currently held by Birgit Fischer-Schmidt (GDR/GER-CAN), Anky van Grunsven (NED-EQU), and Elisabeta Oleniuc-Lipă (ROU-ROW).
• Rhode ties the female record for most years between individual Olympic medals with 20, held by Merlene Ottey (JAM-ATH; 1980-2000) and Nino Salukvadze (URS/GEO-SHO, 1988-2008) (who will compete in Rio). Rhode previously stood =3^rd on this list with 7 other women.
• Rhode becomes the 2^nd oldest American female shooting medalist, trailing only Ruby Fox, who was aged 38-353 when she won a silver medal in sport pistol in 1984. Rhode will turn 37 about 3 weeks before the Rio Olympics start.

If you had asked me one week ago who or what Penny Oleksiak was, I would have said an inexpensive vegetable oil. But all Olympic fans and swimming fans should know her now. The 16-year-old Canadian swimmer has come from Cathal Dennehy’s virtual “Depths of Hell” to win 4 medals at the Rio Olympics, through Thursday, 11 August. Last night Oleksiak tied Simone Manuel for first place in the women’s 100 freestyle, adding that gold to her silver in the 100 fly and bronzes in the two freestyle relays. Four medals at her first Olympics, and she turned 16 less than 2 months ago.

• First Canadian to win 4 medals at a single Summer Olympics. Only Cindy Klassen (5) has more at the Winter Olympics.
• Her gold was Canada’s first in swimming since Mark Tewksbury in 1992 in the 100 backstroke
• It was only Canada’s second swimming gold by a woman, after Anne Ottenbrite in the 1984 200 breaststroke
• Oleksiak was the first individual Olympic gold medalist to have been born in the 21^st century
• Oleksiak becomes the 22^nd youngest woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal
• At 16-059, she is Canada’s youngest ever gold medalist, surpassing George Genereaux, who won the 1952 trap shooting gold at 17-148.
• She is the 6^th youngest Canadian Olympic medalist, after 5 other Canadian female swimmers: Robin Corsiglia (13-341; 1976), Shannon Smith (14-296; 1976), Nancy Garapick (14-301; 1976), Allison Higson (15-195; 1988), and Angela Coughlan (16-022; 1968)
• She is the 3^rd youngest Canadian individual Olympic medalist, after Nancy Garapick and Shannon Smith (see above)
• Oleksiak became the first Canadian to ever win medals on the first two days medals were awarded at an Olympic Games
• Oleksiak has won a complete set of medals in Rio (gold-silver-bronze), which has only been done by a Canadian at one Games by Anne Ottenbrite in 1984.

And Canada thought they got rid of the penny!

(With thanks to Canadian OC stat mavens Mike Christie, Paula Nichols, and Michele Walker – I stole the last line from Michele)

 

The new things Michael Phelps pulled off last nite in Rio:

• First person to win 4 gold medals at 4 Olympic Games – 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. Phelps was the only person to have done this 3 times. Nobody else has ever done it more than once.
• Won the 200 IM for the 4^th consecutive time. Only 3 other Olympians have won the same individual event 4 consecutive times – Paul Elvstrøm (DEN-SAI) in one-person dinghy sailing from 1948-60; Al Oerter (USA-ATH) in athletics discus throw from 1956-60; and Carl Lewis (USA-ATH) in athletics long jump from 1984-96). If you include the 1906 Olympics, this list also includes Ray Ewry (USA-ATH), who did it twice, in the standing high jump and standing long jump from 1900-08.
• Now has 22 Olympic gold medals and 26 medals. If he was an NOC, Phelps would stand 39^th on the list of most gold medals won, and 57^th on the list of most medals won.
• Only 23 NOCs have won as many gold medals at 4 consecutive Olympic Games as Phelps has.
• With 13 individual gold medals, Michael of Baltimore has broken the record held by Leonidas of Rhodes, who won 12 titles at the Ancient Olympics from 164-152 BCE, however …
• Some shadows have been cast on Leonidas’ records. Apparently the IOC has started to re-test the doping samples from 152 BC, and there is a rumor that Leonidas’ A Sample was positive. He is appealing this to the Αθλητικό Διαιτητικό Δικαστήριο.  More on this important story to come.

Simone Biles won the gymnastics all-around gold medal for the USA yesterday and Simone Manuel won a 100 metre freestyle gold medal for the USA yesterday. This was the 21^st time in Olympic history that two people from the same country, with the same first names, won gold medals in individual events on the same day.  This is the 6th time it has been done by USA athletes. Here are the previous times it has happened. (With thanx to Michele Walker for bringing up this thought)

[table]

Name,Gdr,NOC,Year,Spt,Event,Date

Aleksandr Ivanitsky,M,URS,1964,WRE,Heavy FS,14 Oct 1964

Aleksandr Medved,M,URS,1964,WRE,Sub-Heavy FS,14 Oct 1964

,,,,,,

Aleksandr Popov,M,RUS,1996,SWI,100 m free,22 Jul 1996

Aleksandr Karelin,M,RUS,1996,WRE,Heavy GR,22 Jul 1996

,,,,,,

Aleksandr Dityatin,M,URS,1980,GYM,Rings,25 Jul 1980

Aleksandr Tkachov,M,URS,1980,GYM,Parallel Bars,25 Jul 1980

,,,,,,

Bill Smith,M,USA,1948,SWI,400 m free,4 Aug 1948

Bill Porter,M,USA,1948,ATH,110 m hurdles,4 Aug 1948

,,,,,,

Georgi Kostadinov,M,BUL,1972,BOX,Supra-Light,10 Sep 1972

Georgi Markov,M,BUL,1972,WRE,Light-Middle GR,10 Sep 1972

,,,,,,

Harry Mallin,M,GBR,1924,BOX,Supra-Middle,20 Jul 1924

Harry Mitchell,M,GBR,1924,BOX,Sub-Heavy,20 Jul 1924

,,,,,,

Ioannis Frangoudis,M,GRE,1896,SHO,Pistol,11 Apr 1896

Ioannis Malokinis,M,GRE,1896,SWI,100m free for sailors,11 Apr 1896

,,,,,,

Ioannis Georgiadis,M,GRE,1896,FEN,Sabre Individual,9 Apr 1896

Ioannis Mitropoulos,M,GRE,1896,GYM,Rings,9 Apr 1896

,,,,,,

Krisztián Pars,M,HUN,2012,ATH,Hammer Throw,5 Aug 2012

Krisztián Berki,M,HUN,2012,GYM,Pommelled Horse,5 Aug 2012

,,,,,,

Mark Breland,M,USA,1984,BOX,Middle,11 Aug 1984

Mark Schultz,M,USA,1984,WRE,Supra-Middle FS,11 Aug 1984

,,,,,,

Olga Kuzenkova,F,RUS,2004,ATH,Hammer Throw,25 Aug 2004

Olga Slyusareva,F,RUS,2004,CYC,Points Race,25 Aug 2004

,,,,,,

Ralph Craig,M,USA,1912,ATH,200 m,11 Jul 1912

Ralph Rose,M,USA,1912,ATH,Shot Put 2-Hands,11 Jul 1912

,,,,,,

Shinji Morisue,M,JPN,1984,GYM,Horizontal Bar,4 Aug 1984

Shinji Hosokawa,M,JPN,1984,JUD,Light,4 Aug 1984

,,,,,,

Steve Hegg,M,USA,1984,CYC,Individual Pursuit,1 Aug 1984

Steve Fraser,M,USA,1984,WRE,Middle-Heavy GR,1 Aug 1984

,,,,,,

Svetlana Khorkina,F,RUS,1996,GYM,Uneven Bars,29 Jul 1996

Svetlana Masterkova,F,RUS,1996,ATH,800 m,29 Jul 1996

,,,,,,

Tom Burke,M,USA,1896,ATH,100 m,10 Apr 1896

Tom Curtis,M,USA,1896,ATH,110 m hurdles,10 Apr 1896

,,,,,,

Valery Shary,M,URS,1976,WLT,Supra-Middle,24 Jul 1976

Valery Rezantsev,M,URS,1976,WRE,Middle-Heavy GR,24 Jul 1976

,,,,,,

Viktor Kapitonov,M,URS,1960,CYC,Road Race Individual,30 Aug 1960

Viktor Zhdanovich,M,URS,1960,FEN,Foil Individual,30 Aug 1960

,,,,,,,

Viktor Shamburkin,M,URS,1960,SHO,Small-Bore Rifle 3 Pos,8 Sep 1960

Viktor Bushuyev,M,URS,1960,WLT,Sub-Middle,8 Sep 1960

Viktor Tsybulenko,M,URS,1960,ATH,Javelin Throw,8 Sep 1960

,,,,,,

Vladimir Engibaryan,M,URS,1956,BOX,Sub-Middle,1 Dec 1956

Vladimir Safronov,M,URS,1956,BOX,Sub-Light-Middle,1 Dec 1956

[/table]

Note that it has never happened in the Winter Olympics – far fewer events to choose from there. Also note the 8 September 1960 occurrence, when Viktor Shamburkin, Viktor Bushuyev, and Viktor Tsybulenko all won golds for the former Soviet Union on the same day – the only time 3 different athletes with the same name pulled this off on the same day.

And you guys thought I slept at night!

After Day 6 of the Olympics (Day 1 = day of Opening Ceremony), @TeamUSA is pretty much on a par with its performance at the previous 6 Olympic Games. After Wednesday, 10 August, the USA has 11 golds, 11 silver, 10 bronzes, and 32 medals. Here is what @TeamUSA has done since 1992.

[table]

Year,DayOly,Date,Rank,G,S,B,TM

1992,6,30 July 1992,2,11,11,10,32

1996,6,24 July 1996,1,10,13,4,27

2000,6,20 September 2000,1,11,6,6,23

2004,6,18 August 2004,1,10,11,9,30

2008,6,13 August 2008,1,10,8,12,30

2012,6,1 August 2012,2,12,8,9,29

[/table]

Tonite Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte swim in the 200 IM finals. Both can set all sorts of Olympic bests.

• If Michael of Baltimore wins, it is his 13^th individual Olympic title, breaking the tie with Leonidas of Rhodes, who won 12 individual titles in the stadion, diaulos, and hoplite races at the 164, 160, 156, and 152 BC Ancient Olympic Games.
• If the Phelps OC wins, this gives him 22 Olympic gold medals, moving him ahead of Czechia and Ethiopia, and to 39^th place among all NOCs. His 26 Olympic medals would also rank him 58^th among NOCs in terms of medals won.

If Ryan Lochte wins gold tonite, he moves up on all sorts of Olympic lists, as follows:

• His 7^th gold medal would move him to =13^th among all male Olympians; =7^th among all @TeamUSA Olympians; =6^th among all @TeamUSA male Olympians.
• His 7^th gold medal in swimming would move him to 4^th among male Olympic swimmers, trailing Michael Phelps (21 – as of yesterday), Mark Spitz (9), and Matt Biondi (8) (he is actually 4th on this list with 6 golds). He would thus also be 4^th among US male Olympic swimmers. He would also move to 5^th among Olympic swimmers, trailing Phelps, Spitz, Biondi, and Jenny Thompson (8). He would thus also be 5^th among US Olympic swimmers.
• If Lochte wins, he becomes the oldest individual gold medalist in swimming, previously (before Rio) held by Inge de Bruijn (NED-2004), who was 30-363 in the 50 free; but the mark was broken by Phelps gold medal in the 200 butterfly, when he was 31-040. Lochte will be 32-008 tonite.
• Lochte would move to 3^rd on the oldest gold medalist list in swimming, trailing only 2 @TeamUSA swimmers – Dara Torres, who was 33-162 in the 2000 medley relay; and Jason Lezak, who was 32-279 in the 2008 medley relay. Lochte will turn 32 two days before the Rio Opening Ceremony.

By winning her 3^rd gold medal of the Rio Olympics tonite in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay, Katie Ledecky has now won 4 Olympic golds, including the 2012 800 free. Here is where she places on various Olympic lists:

• Ledecky moves to =3^rd among USA female swimmers with 4 Olympic gold medals, trailing Jenny Thompson (8), Amy Van Dyken (6), and tieing Janet Evans, Dara Torres, Missy Franklin, and Dana Vollmer.
• Ledecky becomes =4^th among @TeamUSA Olympians, any sport, with 4 Olympic gold medals, trailing Thompson and Van Dyken, as above, and tied with 12 other USA women.
• She is now =3^rd among @TeamUSA Olympians, any sport, with 3 Olympic golds at one Olympics, trailing only swimmers Missy Franklin (2012) and Amy Van Dyken (1996), with 4 each, and tied with 22 other USA women, including 17 swimmers.
• Among American females in any Olympic sport, her 3 gold medals at one Olympics trails only Missy Franklin (2012) and Amy Van Dyken (1996), both with 3, and is tied with 22 other @TeamUSA athletes.

More to come with the 800 freestyle still coming up.