Gator Letterwinners Capture Five Olympic Medals on Aug. 9
Friday, August 10, 2012 | General, Soccer, Track and Field, Olympics
Gator letterwinners won five medals on Thursday, tying for the most successful day ever by Gator letterwinners at the Olympic Games. On Thursday, Christian Taylor (USA Triple Jump Gold), Abby Wambach (USA Women's Soccer Gold), Heather Mitts (USA Women's Soccer Gold), Will Claye (USA Triple Jump Silver) and Mel Booth (Canada Women's Soccer Bronze) each won medals on August 9.
On July 31, 1984, and on August 3, 1984, Gators also combined to win five Olympic medals, all coming in the sport of swimming at the Games held in Los Angeles.
On July 31, 1984, Mark Stockwell, Theresa Andrews, Mary Wayte, Frederic Delcourt and Dara Torres each won Olympic medals.
On Aug. 3, 1984, Tracy Caulkins won two gold medals, while Mark Stockwell, Theresa Andrews and Rafael Vidal each won medals in the pool.
Check out the PHOTO GALLERY from today's Olympic Gators – courtesy of US Presswire
Soccer
The U.S. Women's National Team, which includes Gator Greats Abby Wambach and Heather Mitts, captured the 2012 London Olympics gold medal with a 2-1 victory against Japan in front of a crowd of 80,203 at the famed Wembley Stadium in London.
Both U.S. goals Thursday came from Carli Lloyd. She scored in the eighth minute to give the U.S. the early lead. She added her second goal in the 54th minute. Japan's Yuki Ogimi tallied a goal in the 63rd minute to provide the final scoring for the match.
The USA won its fourth gold medal in the five Olympic competitions featuring women's soccer. The U.S. has also taken the overall soccer gold medal lead for combined women's and men's Olympic Games. Great Britain's and Hungary's men's soccer teams have both earned three gold medals.
A Gator has been on three of the U.S.'s four Olympic gold medal soccer teams. This is the third gold for Mitts, who also was part of the 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams. Wambach received her second gold as she was part of the 2004 team. She missed the 2008 Olympics after suffering a broken leg in the final friendly prior to the team departing for the Games.
The attendance at Wembley was an Olympic record crowd for women's soccer and the largest crowd the U.S. WNT has played in front of outside of the USA.
A third Gator Great, Melanie Booth, picked up a bronze medal Thursday. Booth and the rest of Team Canada claimed a 1-0 win over France to take the bronze. Diana Matheson scored the decisive goal in injury time to give Canada its first-ever Olympic medal for women's soccer team, as well as the first overall in soccer for Canada since the men's team won the gold medal in 1904.
Track & Field
Starting off the action for the Gators was Tony McQuay (U.S.A.), running the third leg of the U.S. men's 4x400-meter relay. The U.S. finished second in their heat and second overall in a season's best 2:58.87, tying for the leading time in the world. McQuay ran the fastest split of the preliminary round in 43.65. The finals of the event are on Friday at 4:20 p.m. ET.
Christian Taylor (U.S.A.) and Will Claye (U.S.A.) had a phenomenal afternoon, capturing the gold and silver medals, respectively, for Team USA in the men's triple jump. Taylor leapt a season's best 17.81m/58-5.25 to take home his first Olympic medal and the first Olympic gold for Team USA since Kenny Harrison in 1996. Claye jumped 17.62m/57-9.75 to win his second medal of the London Games, earning a silver in the men's triple jump and a bronze in the men's long jump. This is the first time since 1992 (gold: Mike Conley, silver: Charles Simpkins) that Team USA has finished 1-2 in the men's triple jump.
Check HERE for a detailed schedule of all Olympics events involving Gators!
| Gator Letterwinners at the 2012 Olympic Games: Schedule & Results for Thursday, August 9, 2012 | ||||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Time (ET) | Event | Opponent (if applies) | Result |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | 6:35 AM | Round 1: 4x400m Relay | -- | 2nd in heat (2nd overall), 2:58.87 (43.65 split), advances to final | |
| Soccer | Canada | 8:00 AM | Bronze Medal Game | France | Canada WON, 1-0 BRONZE MEDAL! (Booth did not enter game) | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | 2:20 PM | Final: Triple Jump | -- | WON SILVER MEDAL, 17.62m/57-9.75 | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | 2:20 PM | Final: Triple Jump | -- | WON GOLD MEDAL, 17.81m/58-5.25 | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 2:45 PM | Gold Medal Game | Japan | WON GOLD MEDAL, 2-1 (did not enter game) | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 2:45 PM | Gold Medal Game | Japan | WON GOLD MEDAL, 2-1 (started and played all 90 minutes, with 3 shots) | |
| Gator 2012 Olympic Games Medal Count: (15 Medals: 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze) | ||||
| 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 | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 200m Backstroke | Bronze | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 200m IM | Silver | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 200m Backstroke | Bronze | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | Long Jump | Bronze | |
| Tennis | U.S.A. | Mixed Doubles | Bronze | |
| Soccer | Canada | Soccer | Bronze | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | Triple Jump | Gold | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | Triple Jump | Silver | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | Final vs. Japan | Gold | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | Final vs. Japan | Gold | |
| All-Time Gator Olympic Games Medal Count (since 1968): Total: 106 medals (50 Gold, 27 Silver, 29 Bronze) Summer Games: 105 medals (49 Gold, 27 Silver, 29 Bronze) Winter Games: 1 medal (1 Gold) | ||||
For all of the latest information on Gators competing at the 2012 Olympic Games, please visit www.gatorzone.com/olympics/2012 or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@OlympicGators.
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