Rio 2016, Week One: Gold Medals and Bronze Behavior

Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics bid logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the first week of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro that just concluded, for all the environmental and political horrors that have been inflicted on the Brazilian city, we have yet to hear of an athlete that's been bitten by a Zika-infected mosquito.  But, according to a CBS News report, one Danish athlete had to be sent home for getting violently ill on the polluted waters of Rio.

Otherwise, how are things?

• The United States currently leads the medal count (54 total, according to ESPN), with most of them coming from swimming and women's--or is it little girls?--gymnastics.  Michael Phelps has been adding to his collection of every medal he's ever won since the 2004 Games in Athens, while Katie Ledecky is emerging as the new force in the pool.  Simone Biles and Aly Rosman led the Americans on the mat and balance beam with golds in individual and team gymnastics.
• Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim-American woman to compete while wearing a hijab, won a bronze medal in fencing.  And Simone Manuel tied with Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksick for the gold in the women's 100-meter freestyle, an event neither of them were expected to win.  But the fact that Manuel is the first African-American to win a gold medal in swimming, along with Muhammad's accomplishment, will certainly have a more cultural impact long after  these Olympics are over.
• Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova was defeated in the women's 100-meter breaststroke for the gold by American Lilly King.  Since the Russian track and weightlifting teams were banned from Rio for doping violations, Efimova and her fellow athletes are being viewed with suspicion, that they shouldn't be here because they might be 'juiced' too.  But the International Olympic Committee, afraid of upsetting Russian President Vladimir Putin, chose to let other athletic organizations do their dirty work.  So here we are.
• The U.S. women's soccer team is going home without any kind of Olympic medal for the first time in 20 years, having lost its quarterfinal match to Sweden on penalty kicks.  Goaltender Hope Solo, who's usually a lightning rod to begin with and an excellent example of American sportsmanship (that's called sarcasm, Mr. Trump), referred to the Swedish team as "a bunch of cowards" for the way they played the game.  Well, at least we (and she) won't have to hear "Boooooooooooooo ZIKA!" any more.
• When ABC televised the Olympics as far back as the 1980s, the telecasts were extended versions of "Wide World of Sports".   Since NBC took over the Games, their model has been the "Today Show", emphasizing the personal /family dramas of athletes over covering the competition.  And they have done very well with it, because this is the way NBC and its parent company Comcast does business.  So no matter how much we complain about too many commercials, sexist comments about female athletes, and an Opening Ceremony that was longer than the Academy Awards telecast, NBC doesn't care as long as people watch and the money keeps rolling in.  Jim McKay and Roone Arledge must be spinning in their graves.