Streak ends: Americans finally lose Olympic backstroke race
TOKYO » For the first time since 1992, the American men have lost a backstroke race at the Olympic pool.
Russia swept the top two spots in the 100-meter back Tuesday, with Evgeny Rylov claiming the gold medal in 51.98 seconds and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov taking the silver in 52.00.
Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy settled for the bronze in 52.19.
It was the first backstroke defeat for the U.S. men at the Olympics since the Barcelona Games. They won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy’s sweep of the 100 and 200 back at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But the streak finally ended at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
It was also a good morning for Australia and Britain.
World record-holder Kaylee McKeown gave the Australian women another gold medal with a victory in the women’s 100 backstroke, setting an Olympic record.
Her winning time of 57.47 was just off the world mark she set this year of 57.45. The silver went to Canada’s Kylie Masse in 57.72, while former world record-holder Regan Smith of the United States settled for the bronze at 58.05.
Coming into the Olympics, Australia had not an individual women’s title since 2008. Now they have two, with McKeown’s gold coming after Ariarne Titmus’ victory Monday in the 400 freestyle.
Britain went 1-2 in the men’s 200 freestyle. Tom Dean captured the gold in 1 minute, 44.22 seconds, while teammate Duncan Scott picked up the silver in 1:44.26. The bronze went to Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer at 1:44.66.
American Kieran Smith settled for a sixth-place showing after capturing a bronze in the 400 free.
Defending 200 free champion Sun Yang was banned from the Tokyo Olympics for a doping violation. He is serving a more than four-year ban, though he could be eligible to return for the 2024 Paris Games.
Titmus and Katie Ledecky both advanced to Wednesday’s final of the 200-meter freestyle, setting up another showdown after their thrilling race in the 400 free.
Titmus was the top qualifier in the 200 semis at 1:54.82, while Ledecky — the defending Olympic champion — cruised to the thirdbest time in 1:55.34. The Aussie Terminator will be looking for her second straight gold after rallying to beat Ledecky in the 400 free.
US men seek momentum after promising Olympic performance
TOKYO » Sam Mikulak walked off the floor, turned his palms up and laughed.
Well, sorta.
The three-time Olympian’s last performance in a gymnastics team event didn’t exactly go as planned.
Looking to preserve a fourth-place finish for the U.S. during Monday night’s finals, the 28-year-old’s feet came out from under him. Any chance of holding off Great Britain vanished in the process.
Oh well. That’s gymnastics. Nobody knows that better than Mikulak, who has spent nearly a decade as the standard-bearer for a men’s program in flux. The Americans arrived at Ariake Gymnastics Center knowing they would need major mistakes by either the Chinese, the Japanese or the Russians to have a shot at the medal stand.
They didn’t happen. Yet for the first time since earning bronze at the 2014 world championships, the U.S. appears to be gaining momentum. The three Olympic rookies — Shane Wiskus, Yul Moldauer and Brody Malone — were solid and occasionally spectacular while competing alongside eventual Olympic champion Russia.
No blow-ups on pommel horse. No falls on high bar. No major errors of any real kind other than Mikulak’s ill-timed slip. The group that broke into an impromptu version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” rarely wobbled and never wavered.
It’s a start.
“We really have a strong future for Team USA,” said Mikulak, who is retiring after the Games. “I know these guys are going to go (up their difficulty) and then all of a
sudden coming to Paris (in 2024), I know these guys are going to be cranking it out trying to get up on that medal podium. So I’m excited for what they’re all going to do with this experience to grow from.”
The biggest obstacle for the U.S. at the moment isn’t talent, it’s math. The difficulty of their routines can’t quite match up with the kind put together by Russia, Japan and China. The Americans are trailing before they even step onto the competition floor, something that needs to change over the next three years if they want to close the gap on the sport’s three superpowers. And they know it.
“Playing it safe is not worth it in the long run,” Wiskus said. “I’ve been guilty of this
many times, and taking skills out just for a clean hit routine. But when it comes to advancing USA gymnastics and getting us on the medal podium, it’s not going to help us. We really need to think about our priorities and focus on energy on getting our difficulties up and making that the priority.”
There’s time. Malone is
21. Wiskus is 22. Moldauer is
24. They hardly looked overwhelmed by the sport’s biggest stage. Starting on pommel horse — long a place where U.S. medal hopes have gone to die — they cranked out hit set after hit set. It wasn’t enough to track down the top three, but the Americans did spend most of the night bumping their head up against the ceiling.