2012 Olympics, Day 9: Complete Coverage And Medal Results From Sunday

Having won gold in the men’s 10,000m, Great Britain’s Mo Farah had already had a successful 2012 Olympics heading into Saturday’s men’s 5000m final. However, he had a little extra incentive to add a second gold, something he accomplished with a winning time of 13:41:66.

Farah’s wife, Tania, is pregnant and expecting soon, giving him even more reason to add a second gold medal to the collection.

On Sunday, Usain Bolt confirmed that he is the fastest, and probably the baddest, man on the planet. His 9.63 in the 100 meters, a race that featured him finally sprinting (almost) as fast as he can, was definitely the thrill of the athletics portion of the 2012 Olympics so far, and might have gone down as the moment of these Games had NBC not held the broadcast of the final until after 11 p.m. ET.

But, in a rare moment of broadcasting savvy from NBC, the network showed the intros for the entire lineup of finalists in the 100 meters, collectively the eight fastest human beings currently breathing, in the calm before the sprint. All but one of them would go on to break 10 seconds in the race (and Asafa Powell likely only didn’t because he pulled up, injured), making it one of the fastest collective races in history.

On Sunday, Usain Bolt proved once again, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the fastest man alive. The Jamaican sprinter took home the gold medal in the men’s 100m final for the second straight Olympics.

Bolt actually got out to a slow start off the blocks. Early speculation was that Bolt was worried about being disqualified due to a false start. Bolt, via Reuters, confirmed as much after the race was done.

On Sunday, the 2012 Olympics witnessed one of the main events of track and field as the men’s 100m final was held in London. In the end, Usain Bolt overcame what at first appeared to be a slow start to run away with the gold and set a new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds. It was the most thrilling 9.63 seconds in recent memory.

Fellow Jamaican runner Yohan Blake captured the silver with a time of 9.75. Although lead U.S. runner Tyson Gay’s time of 9.80 was not good enough to warrant a trip to the podium, the United States did not miss out on a medal altogether. Justin Gatlin, from Brooklyn, will bring home the bronze medal after placing third at 9.79 seconds.

NBC has an affinity for calling them “The Golden Girls,” but Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are, at this point, simply too dominant for goofy nicknames. They have still never lost an Olympic volleyball match, and the two-time Olympic gold medalists continued their dominance Sunday in London with a straight-sets victory in the quarterfinals over Italians Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti.

Up next in the semifinals will be Zhang Xi and Xue Chen of Team China, the bronze medalists in Beijing. May-Treanor and Walsh Jenning’s chemistry is simply unmatched. They don’t fight on the court, they don’t have mental lapses, and are so mentally dominant that it’s hard to envision them losing, even though they’re not the top seed in the field.

After the completion of Sunday’s events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, China holds a slim lead in the overall medal count over the United States. The U.S. entered Sunday just a step ahead of China, but the two countries swapped places over the course of the day.

China now holds 61 total medals to the United States’ 60. They also sit in first place with 30 gold medals, against just 28 for the U.S.

The United States women had a fantastic showing on Sunday in the final of the 400m, taking home the gold and the bronze. Sanya Richards-Ross overtook the rest of the field with less than 100 meters to go and captured the first track and field gold medal for Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Richards-Ross, who is married to Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Aaron Ross, edged out Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain with a time of 49.55 seconds. Fellow U.S. runner DeeDee Trotter was leading before being overtaken in the home stretch, finished in third place to give the United States another medal to add to their total.

Day 9 at the 2012 Summer Olympics also marked the third day of track and field in London, with six medals decided at Olympic Stadium.

The night session was highlighted by Sanya Richards-Ross’s win in the women’s 400m -- Team USA’s first gold in track and field at the Games -- and Usain Bolt’s unbelievable performance in the 100 meters as he defended his title of The Fastest Man on Earth.

Despite a gold medal from Sanya Richards-Ross in the 400-meter dash (and a bronze from DeeDee Trotter in that same race), Team USA fell behind China in the overall medal count after Day 9. China now leads all countries in overall medals, with 61, and gold medals, with 30. The U.S. secured six medals on the day to bump its total to 60, and earned three golds. The U.S. is now two behind the Chinese, with 28.

Justin Gatlin finished third behind Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the 100-meter dash, McKayla Maroney finished a disappointing second in the vault competition in gymnastics and the mixed-doubles team of Bob Bryan and Lisa Raymond snatched a bronze away from Germany.

It’s Usain Bolt’s world and everyone else is living in it. Once again, Bolt blew through the field and took home gold at the Olympics, finishing the 100m finals in a time of 9.63. After questions about whether Bolt was ready -- prompted by Yohan Blake’s win at the Jamaican trials -- the world record holder reminded everyone who’s the boss.

And the funny thing about it is that Bolt didn’t even get off to a great start. He was slow out of the blocks, lagging a bit behind and everyone hit their stride. And then he decided it was just time to go.

The title of The Fastest Man on Earth once again belongs to Jamaica’s Usain Bolt.

The Lightning Bolt won gold in the men’s 100 meters dash Sunday night at the Summer Olympics, defending his title from Beijing and establishing himself as one of the greatest sprinting athletes the world has ever seen. Bolt crossed the finish line in 9.63 seconds, 0.06 seconds faster than what he ran in 2008, which set a new Olympic record.

There are plenty more gold medal events in the books on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. China had gained a lead in the total medal and gold medal counts throughout the day, while the United States has just missed out on at least one trip to the podium.

Wrestling is just getting started at the summer games, but medals have already been handed out in the men’s 74kg and 55kg Greco-Roman events. In the 74kg division, Russian Roman Vlasov took home the gold medal by defeating Arsen Julfalakyan of Armenia. Alexsandr Kasakevic of Lithuania and Emin Ahvadov from Azerbaijan took home the bronze medals. In the 55kg division, Hamid Mohammad SoryanReihanpour claimed the gold medal for Iran, besting Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan in the final. Peter Modos of Hungary and Mingiyan Semenov of Russia took bronze.

Sanya Richards-Ross, one of the stars of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team, lived up to her massive potential and captured the gold medal in the finals of the 400m dash. Richards-Ross stormed ahead of the field after letting her competitors ahead of her for the first 250 meters or so. It was the first individual gold medal for Richards-Ross and Team USA’s first track gold medal of the 2012 London Olympics.

Richards-Ross, who won bronze in the 400 at Beijing, beat the defending Olympic champ, Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu, 49.55 to 49.70. American DeeDee Trotter, who was leading with less than 100 meters to go before Richards-Ross and Ohuruogu overtook her, finished with the bronze medal.

The signature event of the Olympics will take place Sunday afternoon as Jamaica’s Usain Bolt looks to defend his gold medal in the men’s 100m finals in track and field. Bolt will try to hold off three Americans and fellow Jamaicans Usafa Powell and Yohan Blake, who defeated the world-record holder in both the 100m and 200m races during their country’s Olympic trials. But Bolt looked like his old “fastest man on earth” self in the semifinals, putting it in cruise control over the final 20 meters and showboating his way across the line.

The semifinals featured seven times under 10 seconds, creating a buzz in the stadium in advance of the finals. American Justin Gatlin posted the fastest time, a 9.82 in the first heat. That’s the fastest Olympic time since Bolt ran a 9.69 four years ago in Beijing. In addition to Gatlin, American Tyson Gay looked impressive in the third heat with a 9.90 -- just behind Blake, who crossed in 9.85.

The signature event of the 2012 London Olympics is now set with the Men’s 100m semifinals completed. Usain Bolt moved through to the finals with a time of 9.87 seconds. The defending Olympic champion and world record holder went off in heat two in lane four and blew away the field in the second semi. He didn’t even get off to the best of starts, but still put the brakes on and put it into cruise control over the final 20 meters.

Bolt has had a tumultuous stretch between Beijing and London, from blazing a new world record in Berlin to taking some heat off the track for his partying ways to being beat out by countryman Yohan Blake during Jamaican trials. But he once again looked like the fastest man on earth with his performance in the semifinals.

Sheesh, some people have no sense of decorum. Hey, British press, why don’t you show some journalistic objectivity, you knuckleheads? You’ll never believe what happened when host country Great Britain’s Mo Farah became the first Briton to ever win the men’s 10,000m gold medal. “Fair and balanced,” my Aunt Fanny!

As Farah completed his historic sprint in the final lap of the grueling 10k, he was cheered on by an exultant stadium of his fellow countrymen, including members of the royal family. When he came in first to take the gold, it was an emotional moment and an immense source of national pride for those in attendance. But come on, now, reporters in the press box. There’s no call for this.

Just a short while after winning the men’s singles tennis gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, Andy Murray was back in action at Wimbledon, going for a second gold in the mixed doubles final. Murray and Laura Robson faced off against the Belarus mixed doubles team of Max Mirnyi and top women’s singles player Victoria Azarenka. Murray would have to settle for winning one gold medal in front of his countrymen as Belarus prevailed in the final tennis event at the Summer Games.

Murray and Robson had little trouble taking the first set, winning 6-2. In the second set, however, the Great Britain players began to struggle, most notably Robson, who continued to send plenty of returns well wide and out of bounds. Belarus claimed the second set 6-3, sending the match to a gold medal tiebreak.

Midway through competition on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the United States has dropped off the pace set by China in the medal count. The United States entered Sunday’s competition with a one-medal lead over China in both total medals and gold medals. The U.S. has now fallen behind in both categories.

Aided by badminton wins and a gold medal in the men’s floor gymnastics competition, China has jumped ahead with 59 total medals and 29 gold medals. The United States has 56 total medals and 27 gold, although there are plenty more events left to come on Sunday.

China’s Zhou Lulu won gold in the women’s +75kg weightlifting division and set a world record in the process.

Downing Russia’s Tatiana Kashirina, who took silver, Lulu executed a world record 187kg in the clean-and-jerk part of the competition. The lift also gave her the world record for the combined total across both clean-and-jerk and snatch with 333 kg.

Just three days after the Team USA men’s basketball team set the Olympic record for most points scored in a game, the women’s team matched the total points record by blowing out China 114-66 on Sunday afternoon. China came out and challenged the Americans in the first quarter, but the heavy favorites then turned up the pressure on defense to outscore the Chinese 83-38 over the final three quarters.

Diana Taurasi led Team USA with 22 points, hitting four of five from behind the arc to lead the offensive explosion over the last thirty minutes. Her fellow UConn alums Maya Moore and Tina Charles chipped in 12 points apiece. Team USA really moved the ball and pushed it up and down the floor to break their own record with 30 team assists. The ball movement led to three straight 30-point quarters before Geno Auriemma took his foot off the gas over the final ten minutes.

The 2012 Summer Olympics continue on Day 9 with a handful of events finishing early on Sunday. Sweden was able to add a gold medal in the men’s sailing Star, as Max Salminen and Fredrik Loof led the way, while a pair of either members of Deadliest Catch or homeless bros Great Britain found on the street finished up with a silver. The Brazilian team took home the bronze in the event.

When reached for comment, the Great Britain team stated they were “confused, hungry and jonesing for smack.” (This did not actually happen.)

Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London brought with it the first three individual-discipline gold medal finals in gymnastics. All three of those finals are now in the books following the conclusion of the men’s pommel horse.

Hungary took home the gold medal in the event, as Krisztian Berki took the top honors by the slimmest of margins over Great Britain’s Louis Smith. Britain further added to their medal count by picking up the bronze as well, as Max Whitlock claimed the third spot on the podium.

American McKayla Maroney already has one gold medal at the Summer Olympics, helping Team USA win with her absolutely ridiculous vault, and on Sunday, she was a heavy favorite to win her second of the Games as gymnastics began its individual medal events. The 2011 World Champion was in the lead after her first attempt, and with just one vault to go, gold was was seemingly all but certain. But then the unthinkable happened: she fell.

You know what they say: Any given Sunday (I never saw that movie; I assume it was about women’s gymnastics?). Here’s the story of Maroney’s shocking silver, in photos.

While Andy Murray and Roger Federer duel for the gold medal, Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro won the bronze medal over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Del Potro needed less than two hours to dispatch Djokovic, winning 7-5, 6-4. He gave his country their first medal of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The gold medal finals in the individual gymnastics disciplines are underway on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There was a big upset in the finals for the women’s vault, as United States gymnast McKayla Maroney -- who was a favorite in the event and ahead on points with one vault left to go -- fell on her second attempt and, as a result, ceded the gold medal to Sandra Raluca Izbasa of Romania.

Maroney stumbled on her landing and sat down, resulting in a huge loss of points, dropping her behind Izbasa and into second place, where she would have to settle for silver. It was a very rare flub for Maroney, who falls on landings so infrequently that longtime observers couldn’t remember the last time it had happened.