Complete Coverage of the Gators Competing at the Olympic Games on Aug. 3
Saturday, August 4, 2012 | General, Olympics
Friday was a very busy and successful day for Gator letterwinners competing at the 2012 Olympic Games, as rising junior Elizabeth Beisel earned her second medal of the Games and several other Gators advanced in their respective sporting events.
Click here for the PHOTO GALLERY from today's Gator Olympic action – courtesy of US Presswire
Basketball
Gator Azania Stewart and Great Britain lost to France, 80-77, in an overtime thriller. The preliminary round game was close throughout
GB hit a bucket with 17 seconds remaining in regulation to take a 65-64 lead and then connected on two free throws to build a three-point lead with 10 seconds left. France, however, nailed a three-pointer four seconds later to tied the game and the contest headed into overtime.
The extra session was just as tight as the final seconds of regulation, as France scored the first two points from the free throw, before GB canned a trey for the lead. France countered with a three-pointer and took the two-point advantage, but GB converted a pair of free throws and the game was tied with 3:23 left in overtime.
GB then hit four consecutive shots from the free throw stripe and held a 76-72 lead with 2:11 remaining.
France added to its tally again from the line, making one of two free throws with 10 seconds left and tied the score at 77. France's Celine Dumerc then drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer and denied the hosts its first-ever Olympic basketball victory, as the team is making its debut at the Olympic Games.
Stewart, who has started all four Olympic games, played 21 minutes and collected three rounds and one steal in Friday's heartbreaker against France.
Great Britain plays its final preliminary game on Sun., Aug. 5, hosting Brazil beginning at 5:15 p.m. ET.
Soccer
Gator great Abby Wambach provided the game-winning goal in the 27th minute to send the U.S. to the Olympic semifinals with a 2-0 win over New Zealand in quarterfinal action Friday at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England.
USA advances to its fifth consecutive Olympic semifinal and will face Canada on Aug. 6 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. That match can be seen live on NBC Sports Network at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Alex Morgan's cross in the box found Wambach's sliding right foot as she scored her eighth career Olympic goal. Wambach holds second on the all-time international career list, upping her total to 142 goals. Mia Hamm owns the international goals record (158).
Sydney Leroux, making her third Olympic appearance, scored an insurance goal in the 87th minute. Morgan notched her third assist in this year's Olympic Games with the cross to Wambach.
Heather Mitts did not enter the U.S.-New Zealand match.
Wambach and Mitts will square off against fellow Gator Mel Booth, who helped Canada earn a 2-0 victory against Great Britain on Friday.
Swimming
The Gator swimmers earned one more medal for the London Olympics as Elizabeth Beisel (U.S.A.) finished third in the 200m backstroke to win bronze. Beisel finished in a time of 2:06.55. She finished the London Games with two medals, one silver and one bronze.
Also competing in the 200 back was incoming freshman Sinead Russell (Canada). Russell finished eighth with a time of 2:09.86.
The Gators have completed their events in the 2012 London Olympics finishing up with 10 medals total from four different swimmers. They received five gold, three silver and two bronze medals during the span of these games.
Tennis
Gator great Lisa Raymond paired with Mike Bryan and advanced to the semifinals of the mixed doubles draw after their 6-2, 7-5 victory on Friday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, home to Wimbledon.
Raymond and Bryan earned the first break of the match in the sixth game of the opening set against Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Juan Martin del Potro, before Raymond held at love for a 5-2 lead. The USA team then broke Dulko to win the first set.
The second set remained on-serve until the 12th game, where Raymond and Bryan earned the lone break in what was the final game of the match.
Raymond and Bryan will play the winner of the match between the top-seeded team from Belarus Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi or India's Sania Mirza and Leander Paes.
Raymond began the day dropping her semifinal women's doubles contest 6-1, 7-6 (2) with Leizel Huber to the Czech Republic's fourth-seeded team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Raymond will still have a chance to claim a medal, as the USA pair will play in the bronze-medal match.
Raymond and Huber will face either fellow Team USA members Serena and Venus Williams or Russia's Maria Kirilenko and Nadio Petrova.
The date of Raymond's next matches had not been determined at the time of this release.
Track & Field
Kerron Clement (U.S.A.) finished second in his heat and second overall to automatically advance to Saturday's semifinals in the men's 400-meter hurdles. The 2008 Olympic silver medalist turned in a season's best time of 48.48 in the fourth heat of the day to solidify his spot in the semifinals.
Novlene Williams-Mills (Jamaica) won her heat and finished sixth overall to advance to Saturday's semifinals. Williams-Mills finished in 50.88. She'll compete at 3:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Will Claye (U.S.A.) finished eighth overall in the qualification round of the men's long jump on Friday, leaping 7.99m/26-2.75 to finish sixth in his flight. Claye will compete in the finals of the men's long jump on Saturday at 2:55 p.m. ET.
Kemal Mesic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) was the first track & field Gator to compete at the 2012 London Games. Mesic finished 12th in his flight and 24th overall with a mark of 19.60m/64-3.75.
Joining Claye, Clement and Williams-Mills in competition on Saturday will be Genevieve LaCaze (Australia, 3,000m steeplechase) and Tony McQuay (U.S.A., 400m). LaCaze will race in the first heat of Round 1 of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase (6:35 a.m. ET) and McQuay will line up in the fifth heat of Round 1 of the men's 400 meters (5:35 a.m. ET) on Saturday.
Check HERE for a detailed schedule of all Olympics events involving Gators!
| Gator Letterwinners at the 2012 Olympic Games: Schedule & Results for Friday, August 3, 2012 | ||||||
| Gator | Sport | Country | Time (ET) | Event | Opponent (if applies) | Result |
| Swimming | Iceland | 5:00 AM | Heats: 50m Freestyle | -- | 1st in heat, competed in swim-off but did not advance to semifinal | |
| Track & Field | Bosnia | 5:00 AM | Qualification: Shot Put | 12th in flight (24th overall) 19.60m/64-3.75, did not advance to final | ||
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | 6:15 AM | Round 1: 400m Hurdles | -- | 2nd in heat (2nd overall), season's best 48.48, advanced to semifinal | |
| Swimming | Iceland | 6:35 AM | Heats: 4x100m Medley Relay | -- | 8th in heat, 4:07.09, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Iceland | 6:35 AM | Heats: 4x100m Medley Relay | -- | 8th in heat, 4:07.09, did not advance | |
| Swimming | Spain | 6:35 AM | Heats: 4x100m Medley Relay | 7th in heat, 4:03.05, did not advance | ||
| Tennis | U.S.A. | 7 AM | SF: Doubles (w/ Leizel Huber) | Hlavackov/Hradecka (CZE) | Lost: 6-1, 7-6 (2) | |
| Track & Field | Jamaica | 7:00 AM | Round 1: 400m | -- | 1st in heat (6th overall), 50.88, advanced to semifinal | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 9:30 AM | Quarterfinals | New Zealand | US 2, NZ 0; did not play | |
| Soccer | U.S.A. | 9:30 AM | Quarterfinals | New Zealand | US 2, NZ 0; scored first goal of match | |
| Tennis | U.S.A. | 11:30 AM | QF: Mixed Doubles (w/ Mike Bryan) | Dulko/del Potro (ARG) | Won: 6-2, 7-5 | |
| Swimming | U.S.A. | 2:30 PM | Final: 200m Backstroke | -- | WON BRONZE MEDAL, 2:06.55 | |
| Soccer | Canada | 2:30 PM | Quarterfinals | Great Britain | Canada won 2-0; entered game | |
| Swimming | Canada | 2:30 PM | Final: 200m Backstroke | -- | Finished 8th, 2:09.86 | |
| Track & Field | U.S.A. | 2:50 PM | Qualification: Long Jump | -- | Finished 6th in flight (8th overall), 7.99m/26-2.75, advanced to final | |
| Basketball | Great Britain | 3:00 PM | Preliminary Round, Group B | France | France won: 80-77 (OT); (started, 3 reb, 1 steal) | |
| Gator 2012 Olympic Games Medal Count: (8 Medals: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 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 | |
| All-Time Gator Olympic Games Medal Count (since 1968): Total: 99 medals (47 Gold, 26 Silver, 26 Bronze) Summer Games: 98 medals (46 Gold, 26 Silver, 26 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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