Complete Coverage of Gators Competing at the Olympic Games on Aug. 1
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 | General, Olympics
Wednesday proved to be another busy and successful day of competition for Gator letterwinners competing at the 2012 Olympic Games, where 13 displayed their respective talents in the sports of basketball, swimming and tennis, collecting another gold medal along the way.
Wednesday's Gator Olympic PHOTO GALLERY! – courtesy US Presswire
Swimming
In the first of two finals, Jemma Lowe (Great Britain) swam in the women's 200m butterfly final. Lowe finished sixth in a time of 2:06.78.
Semifinal action saw Ryan Lochte (U.S.A.) and Omar Pinzon (Colombia) in the men's 200m backstroke. Lochte finished first in his heat with a time of 1:55.40. He advanced to the final as the second place qualifier. The final will take place August 2 at 2:48 p.m. ET. Pinzon was in the second semifinal heat and finished eighth in a time of 1:58.99. He did not advance to the final.
Lochte wasn't done though. He was back in the pool shortly after the 200 back for the 200 IM semifinals. He finished first in his semifinal heat with a time of 1:56.13 to advance to the final tomorrow at 3:19 p.m. ET. He will have about 30 minutes between his two final events tomorrow evening. The 200 IM will feature another showdown between Lochte and Michael Phelps.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for more Gators in preliminary action beginning at 6:46 a.m. ET with the women's 200m backstroke!
Basketball
Azania Stewart and her Great Britain basketball teammates returned to the hardwood and again fell just short of a victory, this time against Russia, 67-61, on Wednesday.
Great Britain, which is making its first-ever appearance in Olympic women's basketball, is coming off Monday's tough 73-65 loss to Canada in preliminary round group B action.
Stewart helped Great Britain get off to quick start, as she scored four of the game's first eight points and GB continued that pace and took a 12-2 lead.
Russia stormed back by using its keen outside shooting, hitting 7-of-13 from beyond the arc to fuel a 10-0 run that tied the game and put the visitors in control.
Stewart tallied four points, four rebounds and one block while playing 12 minutes in the first half, when GB found itself trailing 39-27.
Great Britain scored the first five points of the second half and cut its deficit to single digits, 39-32. Russia came back with its eighth 3-pointer of the game, before GB followed with a two-pointer and was within 10 points.
GB continued to battle and whittled its deficit to three points, 61-58, with 56 seconds remaining.
Russia then hit one free throw and an outside bucket off the miss to take a six-point advantage with 29 seconds left. Russian then sealed the win by connecting on 4-of-4 fro the free throw line in the final 17 seconds.
Stewart finished the game with four points, two rebounds, two steal and a blocked shot in 22 minutes of action.
Stewart and Great Britain (0-3) return to the court on August 3 when they play France at Noon ET.
Tennis
Gator great Lisa Raymond began the day winning her quarterfinal round doubles match with Leizel Huber, with the pair earning a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesina.
The only breaks in the second and final set were in the first and last games, as Raymond and Huber were the recipients en route to the straight set win. Similar to their quarterfinals match, unforced errors told the story, as Raymond and Huber had just six compared with the 17 committed by the Russian duo. Raymond and Huber also converted 5-of-7 break point opportunities, while Makarova and Vesina were 2-of-5.
Raymond and Huber, which lost their serve just twice during the match, won 67 percent of their first serves that helped put the pressure on event's sixth-seeded pair.
Raymond and Huber's semifinal opponent had not been determined at the time of this posting, nor had the date of that match.
Raymond returned to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club later and paired with Mike Bryan in the first round of mixed doubles action and the team posted an impressive 7-5, 6-3 victory against Italy's Sara Errani and Andreas Seppi. Raymond and Bryan dropped their serve to begin the match, but were able to earn a beak in the sixth game and held at love to get the frame even. Both teams held for the next couple games, before the USA capitalized on its second break and set-point chance to take the set.
There was only one break in the second set and Raymond and Bryan were the beneficiaries of it, earning the margin in the sixth game, as they rest of the frame served as expected and the USA pair clamed the straight-set victory.
Raymond and Bryan, who are the event's third-seed, play Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.
Raymond and Huber will play the winner of the quarterfinal match between the Czech Republic's Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka and Chinese Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang and Su-Wei Hsieh.
Raymond is not schedule to play either of her semifinal matches on Thursday.
Check HERE for a detailed schedule of all Olympics events involving Gators!
| Gator Letterwinners at the 2012 Olympic Games: Schedule & Results for Wednesday, August 1, 2012 | ||||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Time (ET) | Event | Opponent (if applies) | Result |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 5:20 AM | Heats: 200m Backstroke | -- | 1st in heat, 1:56.36, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Great Britain | 5:20 AM | Heats: 200m Backstroke | -- | 7th in heat, 1:58.72, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Colombia | 5:20 AM | Heats: 200m Backstroke | -- | 4th in heat, 1:58.20, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Tunisia | 5:47 AM | Heats: 200m Breaststroke | -- | 3rd in heat, 2:29.60, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Iceland | 5:47 AM | Heats: 200m Breaststroke | -- | 5th in heat, 2:31.15, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Barbados | 6:14 AM | Heats: 200m IM | -- | 3rd in heat, 2:00.85, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Poland | 6:14 AM | Heats: 200m IM | -- | 6th in heat, 2:00.45, did not advance | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 6:14 AM | Heats: 200m IM | -- | 1st in heat, 1:58.03, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Spain | 6:47 AM | Heats: 4x200m Freestyle Relay | -- | 6th in heat, 7:54.59, did not advance | |
| Tennis | U.S.A. | 9:30 AM | QF Doubles (w/ Leizel Huber) | Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesina (Russia) | Won: 6-3, 6-3 | |
| Basketball | Great Britain | 11:45 AM | Preliminary Round, Group B | Russian Federation | Russia won: 67-61 (started, 4 pts, 2 reb, 2 steals, 1 block) | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 2:47 PM | Semifinals: 200m Backstroke | -- | 1st in semifinal heat, 1:55.40, advanced to final | |
| Swimming | Colombia | 2:47 PM | Semifinals: 200m Backstroke | -- | 8th in semifinal heat, 1:58.99, did not advance to final | |
| Swimming | Great Britain | 3:09 PM | Final: 200m Butterfly | -- | Finished 6th, 2:06.78 | |
| Tennis | U.S.A. | 3:30 PM | Mixed Doubles 1st Round (w/ Mike Bryan) | Sara Errani/Andreas Seppi (Italy) | Won: 7-5, 6-3 | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 3:36 PM | Semifinals: 200m IM | -- | 1st in semifinal heat, 1:56.13, advanced to final | |
| Gator 2012 Olympic Games Medal Count: (5 Medals: 3 Gold, 2 Silver) | ||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Event | Medal |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 400m IM | Gold | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 400m IM | Silver | |
| Swimming | U.S.A | 4x100m Free Relay | Silver | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 4x200m Free Relay | Gold | |
| Swimming | U.S.A | 4x200m Free Relay | Gold | |
| All-Time Gator Olympic Games Medal Count (since 1968): Total: 96 medals (47 Gold, 25 Silver, 24 Bronze) Summer Games: 95 medals (46 Gold, 25 Silver, 24 Bronze) Winter Games: 1 medal (1 Gold) | ||||
For all of the latest information on Gators competing at the 2012 Olympic Games, please visit http://www.gatorzone.com/olympics/2012/ or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@OlympicGators.
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