Sport
Rasiman and Ervin make history
Raisman and her USA team show why they rule the world, while swim star Ervin is a history maker
August 11, 2016 14:30
Raisman and her USA team show why they rule the world, while swim star Ervin is a history maker
August 11, 2016 14:30Anthony Ervin earned the accolade for being the first Jewish gold medal winner at Rio 2016.
Aged 35, Ervin made history by becoming the oldest American male swimmer to compete in an individual race at the summer Olympic Games since 1904.
Although a key part of the squad, Ervin did not feature in the 4x100m men's freestyle relay, but he helped the American team qualify from the heats. He competed the anchor leg in 47.65 seconds, the fastest of the team's four legs, as the USA won its heat in 3:12.38 seconds.
One of the team captains of the USA swimming squad, Ervin also won gold at the 2000 Olympics before selling his medal in support of Tsunami relief. He stopped swimming competitively for several years after complaining of burn-out before returning to action ahead of London 2012.
Aly Raisman's parents watch her routine anxiously.@Aly_Raisman mom is literally me every time I watch @USAGym #Olympics2016 pic.twitter.com/lRWY2qbUaZ
— katie. (@katelyndhall_) August 8, 2016
Captain Aly Raisman claimed her second Olympic gold when the USA proved for the fifth time they have the best women's gymnastics team in the world.
With Olympic gold already in the bag from London 2012, and world championship titles in 2011, 2014 and 2015, the USA women have made a seemingly unbreakable habit of winning.
And not by just edging out their competitors by a few tenths, but leading the competition from start to finish and claiming victory by multiple points.
Raisman, 22, who is nicknamed "Grandma" by her team-mates, said: "We came to Rio as the best team in the world, so we had to carry ourselves that way.
"We were not scared or shaky because we had that pressure. It was just the opposite. You know, you walk in like you are number one and I think that's intimidating to everyone else."
Yarden Gerbi salvaged a disappointing start to the Olympics for the Israeli squad by winning the bronze medal in the women's under 63 kilogram judo competition. This was Israel's eighth medal in Olympic history and Gerbi became the first woman to win a medal since Yael Arad won the country's first-ever in 1992.
Gerbi, 27, lost a close-fought contest in the quarter-final against Brazil's Mariana Silva with Israeli officials feeling that the referee had favoured the home fighter.
"After the quarter-final defeat I was gutted," said Gerbi. "If the tournament wasn't here, I wouldn't have lost."
But Gerbi picked herself up and beat China's Jang Yuxia and Japan's Miku Tashiro to win the consolation competition and bronze. Gerbi said: "The squad hasn't done so well, but this medal is for the entire squad, which has put so much effort into this. I hope this gives us all a boost. I'm so proud to represent Israel. I don't think my parents have slept for the past month but, after a difficult year, this is a dream come true."
Katie Ledecky is on course to win a famous Olympic freestyle treble after claiming gold in the 200m in Rio.
The teenage American swimmer who, though a Catholic, has been much inspired by the experiences of her Jewish grandmother, had already won the 400m freestyle and is the red-hot favourite for the 800m gold.
Ledecky, 19, from Bethesda, Maryland, who won gold at London 2012, has taken her medal haul to three, having won 4x100m freestyle relay silver earlier this week.
Should she defend the 800m title she won as a 15-year-old at London 2012, she will become only the second woman to achieve the freestyle treble since fellow American Debbie Meyer did the clean sweep in Mexico 1968.
Ledecky, world champion in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle, will attempt to complete the full set in today's final. She said of her second gold victory: "Everything was hurting and I knew I wasn't going to be able to see the field in the last 50, so I just had to dig deep and do my own thing. "When I saw it for real on the scoreboard, it all kind of sank in then.
"At least the really tough one's done. The 200 is such a more stressful event for me than the 400 or the 800."
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