Our Olympic Stud of the Day will be hosting Saturday Night Live's 34th season premiere Sept. 13th. (Musical guest Lil Wayne.) My internal monologue upon reading the press release:
- Do the monologue in a Speedo. Do the monologue in a Speedo. (And not that full-body one.)
- Andy Samberg will make a great Ryan Lochte.
- Would Michael be too busy to do something with EW.com?
- Annie and I are going to fight over it.
What was your first-response internal monologue to news of Phelps' hosting duties?
Join me in a splashy round of Paula Abdul seal claps to congratulate OSOTD Matthew Mitcham, who single-handedly thwarted China's much-publicized chance at a diving sweep! Running on a precise power hybrid of solid, focused dives and OVERWHELMING ADORABLENESS, the 20-year-old Aussie struck gold in the men's 10-meter platform finals, tossing goofy "looks like I'm actually in the running, mate!" mugs to the camera all the way. Mitcham, a former world double mini trampoline champion at 15, is the first Australian to declare his homosexuality before going to the Olympics. Cheers queers!
Other studly beasts from Saturday's telecast: Sanya Richards made up for a disappointing solo race to anchor the U.S. women's gold-medal 4x400 relay -- and the U.S. men won, too, setting a new Olympic record. U.S. Women's Basketball trounced Australia in a gold-medal game made most memorable by the Australians' unforgiveable spandex uniforms. Canadian rower and extremely hot man Adam van Koeverden won silver in the K-1 500, after a crushing eighth-place finish in Friday's 1000 that had him profusely apologizing to viewers ("I was a spectator," he said). Oh, and speaking of sitting on your ass in total disbelief, I watched synchronized swimmers and rhythmic gymnasts for hours -- a fun quatra-annual Saturday tradition involving my utter shock that a select group of physiologically advanced humans actually can and do...do that. You know? Why? How? Wow.
I now feel compelled to create an evidential collage of Matthew Mitcham's cuteness -- not our standard operating procedure, but what the hell, it's the weekend and here I am.
Well, that was fun and time-consuming. Co-endorse Mitcham, or nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day, below!
Now officially the World's Greatest Athlete, Olympic decathlon winner Bryan Clay is also a serious Stud, as you can see by the normal, ripple-tastic press photo we received via email (left) and a gratuitous shot "from behind" (right...oh, so very right) which NBC decided to bestow upon us during the "Bryan Clay At Home" package, so to speak. It kind of looks like he's climbing out of a pool, but Clay is actually holding a javelin there. (Like the World's Greatest Athlete would bother to use the ladder.)
Other studs included Steve Hooker, who picked up Australia's first Beijing track and field gold in the pole vault and is the proud owner of this hair, and the Jamaican sprinters, who set a new world record by three-tenths of a second (HUGE!) in the 4x100-meter relay. Oh and I have to ask: Is anyone buyin' what those McDonald's "Chicken for Breakfast" commercials are sellin'? Because...I might.
Nominate your own Friday, Aug. 22nd Stud of the Day below -- keeping in mind that we'll (SPOILER ALERT) obviously mention Matthew Mitcham, women's basketball, rowing, and anything else that'll be televised today...tomorrow.
U.S. beach volleyball gods Phil "The Thin Beast" Dalhausser and his equally studly partner Todd "The Professor" Rogers annihilated hotshot Brazilian duo Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes in last night's gold-medal match that ended way past your bedtime. The 6'9" Dalhausser, now officially My Favorite Olympian, totally dominated the final set with three stuff blocks in a row, the most endearing of which was #3 because the ball knocked Fabio (himself nicknamed "Jaws," and this would be why) on the cheek on its way down. YEAH! Stuffed-crust pizza in yo' FACE, Jaws! U.S.A. sweeps the beach! Aside from Dalhausser's clutch finish, the best part of the v-ball telecast might have been the nonchalant manner in which the commentators used the guys' nicknames: "...unfortunately, the Thin Beast isn't getting many serves..." "...Jaws is just getting harpooned by the Thin Beast..." "...now, Karch, what do we think the Professor just said to Jaws up at the net?" And my favorite: "Jaws is upset."
PopWatcher Katja supports my pick -- she aptly labeled Rogers and Dalhausser "both physically and celebratorily studly - did you SEE the adorable man-hug-tackle they shared?" Oh, I did. And may have pretended I was included in it. But, uh, let's move on.
U.S. women's soccer won their final, too! I didn't get to
see it, but Carli Lloyd absolutely deserves triple-co-stud status --
the central midfielder scored the only goal, six minutes into overtime,
in the U.S.' second straight Olympic gold-medal triumph over Brazil. Canadian platform diver Emilie Heymans almost ruined China's 7-for-7 winning streak, but 15-year-old phenom Chen Ruolin kept it alive. If you combined all six of Ruolin's tiny non-splashes over the course of last night's final, they'd make up roughly one substantial ripple. Amazing. U.S. women's water polo took silver, and three Americans -- Mike Day, Donny Robinson, and Jill Kintner -- medaled in yesterday's inaugural BMX finals.
Meanwhile, the U.S. went 1-2-3 in the 400-meter track final. LaShawn Merritt pulled way ahead for the win -- I loved the way he denied, during his post-race interview, having any doubt it was possible to beat teammate Jeremy Wariner by a whole second. Aw hell to the no! And finally, be sure to press play on the video player below to see David Neville's so-ridiculous-you-have-to-see-it-in-slo-mo DIVE across the finish line for the bronze medal. Enjoy!
I accepted my duties as Olympic Stud Finder with the promise that I was going to be professional and choose someone based strictly on talent, without letting muscles cloud my judgment. But then the men's 200m came on. And who wasn't seduced by the line of fast fellas?
Taking my vote for hunkiest of the lot is the American runner Walter Dix, who placed fifth, but was moved up to third after the two runners in second and third places were disqualified. There was something about Dix that caught my eye from the beginning. Maybe it was his sexy shades and his cool 'do, or the fact that the announcer kept calling him a "gamer," but he was no Usain Bolt -- the event's record-breaking gold medalist and
reigning showboat. He handled the bronze medal news with grace and good sportsmanship, giving a glum smile and saying "I still lost," to his manager. Well, we have a first place finish for you, Walt, and your pickup line, "I'm not the world's fastest man," sounds way better than Bolt's.
My silver and bronze medals for yesterday's games go to the ladies. You couldn't help but feel that ol' red, white, and blue spirit when Misty May and Kerri Walsh won the gold in women's volleyball. At 5'2", I'm already jealous of these leggy glamazons, but playing in a torrential downpour? In white bikinis? They pulled it off with out looking like runner-ups in a wet t-shirt contest.
I had to give Haley Ishimatsu a mention and a big ol' virtual hug! My heart broke while watching her try oh-so-hard to keep her composure after not making the women's 10M diving finals. Her sniffles turned into the kind of awkward public sobbing and choking that only happens at the worst times -- like when you're being interviewed about the most gigantic loss you've ever suffered...
Now it's your turn! Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the last few days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
I had to -- they rhyme! And, of course, both Americans won gold. Dawn Harper (left) staged a huuuuuge upset over fashionably bespectacled U.S. teammate LoLo Jones in the 100-meter hurdles -- a win seemingly most shocking to Dawn herself. Mentor Jackie Joyner-Kersee's words of encouragement to Dawn (via email) rang especially true: "It's anyone's race on that day." But, aggggghhhh, that footage of Jones (possible long-lost sister of Rashida?) taking a private moment against the stadium wall, with only her crushed dreams and a herd of camera crews to keep her company, damn near broke my heart. I almost wanted to give her Stud distinction just for holding it together for a post-race interview ("I could feel the gold around my neck!")
Meanwhile, gymnast/dynamite stick Shawn Johnson (right; nicknamed "Minnie Mouse" by the Chinese) finally earned a gold of her own -- in the individual balance beam final -- to add to her three silvers from Beijing. I'm not sure what made me cry harder -- watching Shawn's parents' weepy embrace in the stands, or the ever-composed Shawn herself during the national anthem. I seriously don't understand how these impossible creatures don't totally lose it as a song plays JUST FOR THEM in front of the WORLD. Why am I crying and they're not?! The question only makes me cry even harder, every time. This, friends, is why I am Not Olympic Material.
Honorable mentions abound: Canadian springboard diver (and way hotter version of Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick) Alexandre Despatie picked up a silver last night, which I realized in between obligatory DVR pauses to count the ripples on 4 percent body fat-boaster Troy Dumais' 20-pack. Great Britain track star Christine Ohuruogu astounded fans of U.S. armwarmer queen Sanya Richards by pulling ahead in the straightaway portion of the women's 400-meter final to win gold. 34-year-old Russian cutie Dmitry Sautin endured countless commentator references to his ancientness to (probably) wrap up his own diving career, while the amazing He Chong continued the China-Only streak of gold medals in diving. And I know a lot of you tire of all the volleyball coverage, but as a former 'baller I must geek out for a moment: Indoor setter Linsday Berg absolutely ruled games 4 and 5 of the U.S.' match against Italy, jump-serving aces all over the place and finally utilizing her middle blockers (holla!) to score the U.S. a spot in the quarterfinals -- they'll next face the scary-awesome power attackers from Cuba. And, um, let's talk about chicks, man (chicks, man)... Italian outside hitter Francesca Piccinini: Are. You. Kidding me? (I will be her in another life!)
Oh, and granted it was only the semis, but U.S. runner Wallace Spearmon gets a special shout-out for jokingly wagging his tongue at showboaty Jamaican runner Usain Bolt during their heat. (SPOILER ALERT: This just happened in today's final.)
Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
One of the Studliest things I've ever read about is Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper falling asleep on the launch pad while awaiting liftoff. Therefore, it should be no surprise that my Stud of the Day is Russia's princess of the pole vault, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva. She didn't even have to compete until the bar rose to 15' 5" — how common are those free passes in the Olympics? — so she just reclined right there in the infield. When she finally joined the competition, she not only clinched her second gold medal, she also set her 24th world record. And she did it all while wearing black nail polish, which I love. (Special shout-out to American beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh, whose black nail polish I've admired many times during close-ups of her blocking. Look for Walsh and partner Misty May-Treanor to be Studded when they win their second gold.)
Now, of course, Isinbayeva would like to make the jump to Hollywood, with a "small but important role." We think she'll need more than three attempts at that. But then again, she would look great next to Jean-Claude Van Damme...
Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
I remember hearing once that some Olympians will go into a depression after the Games. Why? After finally achieving their goals, they can't escape the overwhelming sense of what now? I wonder if viewers can experience that, too... I've spent so many hours watching swimming in the last week that when I go to turn off the air conditioner in the wall just above my bed in the morning, my right arm actually swings around to tap the off button as if I were finishing the 100M free. Though NBC did its best to keep the feel-good Phelps-story alive on Sunday (I'm convinced the network will now track down the kids who bullied him when he was younger), I was definitely feeling a bit of a letdown.
The equestrian team jumping event, aired in the afternoon, provided a few awe-inspiring moments — how high are those jumps and how awesome is it that Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa rides a horse named Rufus? But it was as though the evening broadcast wanted to break my spirit. Two of the favorites on the men's floor, Romania's hunky Marian Dragulescu and Brazil's inconsolable Diego Hypolito, sat down. Alicia Sacramone finished fourth on the vault (cue uncomfortable scoring rant by Bela Karolyi). Alexander Artemev fell off the pommel horse and ended his fairytale. Shawn Johnson took silver on floor (okay, that's not so bad), and China's Cheng Fei left the mat in tears. Over at the Bird's Nest, native Kenyan Bernard Lagat, now competing for the U.S., didn't even make into the 1500M final, and China's 110M hurdler/hero Liu Xiang had to withdrawal with an injury.
Luckily, I got a morale-boost from 21-year-old sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser (pictured), who led a Jamaican sweep in the 100M and celebrated accordingly. It looked like she passed out, but no, she just collapsed with her back on the track, put the flag over her face, and kicked her feet in the air. After so much heartbreak, it was nice to see pure joy. (See also: China's men's badminton champ, Lin Dan, a.k.a. "Super Dan" to Bob Costas, who threw his racket and sneakers into the stands when he took gold.)
Now it's your turn: Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
There's no better pick-up line than "Hey baby, you ever been with the World's Fastest Man?" After breezing past the competition in yesterday's 100M final, gold medal finisher Usain Bolt of Jamaica has earned the right to use that line. The 21-year-old "Lightning" Bolt was already the world record holder in the event when he smashed it again in a record 9.69 seconds.
Back in college, a friend and I coined the term "dutch section" for any group of hotties that were together in one space. Beijing's Bird's Nest was clearly the dutch section of the Olympics. Bolt, who is himself more than six feet of lean muscle, beat out other studly contenders Walter Dix of the US, top collegiate sprinter Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, and former world record holder Asafa Powell, also of Jamaica.
Bolt's jubilant victory lap and triumphant wave of the Jamaican flag has edged out Cool Runnings as the best Olympics-related moment for the country.
Now it's your turn: Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
We knew this day was coming. We held out as long as we could (honest!), but who else could be our Olympic Stud of the Day but the unstoppable Michael Phelps? The 23-year-old human fish not only captured his seventh gold medal in the 100M butterfly, tying Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record for most golds won in a single Olympiad, but Phelps did it by the narrowest margin possible — one one hundredth of a second. The race was so infinitesimally close, that if it weren't for the electronic touch pads fixed to the pool wall, no one would have believed Phelps had finished first. (His own mother was waving two fingers signaling a silver medal finish.)
What made his seventh win even more jaw dropping (and believe me, my jaw dropped), was the fact that at the turn he was seventh out of eight swimmers. He made up significant ground (or would it be water?) in the final seconds, but when frontrunner Milorad Cavic of Serbia reached for the wall while Phelps was in the midst of his final half stroke, it looked as though the University of Michigan student's dream of eight gold medals was done for. But this is Michael Phelps we're talking about. The phenom inexplicably managed to circle his beanstalk arms around and touch the wall just before Cavic could glide to victory. Races just don't get better — or closer — than that. Phelps will have the chance to best his and Spitz's record tomorrow as he swims his last race, the butterfly leg of the 4 x 100M medley relay. Whether he wins or loses, Phelps has accomplished something only one other person in history can say he's done. And in my book, that's pretty neat.
Honorable mentions: Though Phelps stood atop the medal podium, it was the tall, dark, and dreamy silver place finisher Cavic and blond bronze medalist Andrew Lauterstein of Australia who held my attention. Meanwhile, another swimmer, 41-year-old mom Dara Torres, deserves props for halting the start of her 50M heat until a fellow competitor could slink into a new suit after hers ripped. And on the track, Jamaica's Usain Bolt ran his quarter final 100M dash in a speedy 9.92 seconds but made it look as though it required no more energy or concentration than a Sunday afternoon jog through Central Park.
Now it's your turn: Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Luckily, no one expects "journalistic objectivity" in a blog called "Olympic Stud of the Day," because watching last night's women's gymnastics all-around competition, I was about as objective as Bela Karolyi. I was rooting for Shawn Johnson, largely because I think I could talk to her if we were stuck together at an airport. We'd talk about how really, if you need to say you live a normal life, you don't. (We'd also talk about whether she was on a date, like that radio deejay said. About whether people will actually go visit Des Moines just because she's from there. About what would have happened to that sculpture of her in butter.) I have no idea how Nastia Liukin (pictured) and I would pass the time.... Maybe chatting about her decision to wear a pink leotard rather than a red, white, or blue one? (I know that shouldn't bother me, but it kinda did.) All that said, Liukin deserved the gold (and Stud of the Day title) for making her stuck landings on the vault and beam as beautiful as her bars routine.
Other contenders: Belgian beach volleyball players Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet van Breedam, who almost pulled off an upset against the U.S. golden girls, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. (How incredible was that first set?) Mouha and van Breedam had to beg their Olympic committee to even send them to Beijing when they qualified 13th. Then there's U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni, who did upset Australia's Leisel Jones in the 200M breaststroke. That finish was almost as exciting as Jason Lezak's in the 4X100M freestyle relay. And finally, we've got Michael Phelps, who earned his sixth gold at Beijing for the 200M individual medley — then got a rubdown (which I may have rewound) — before taking to the pool again. Milorad Cavic, an American representing his parents' homeland, Serbia, could be trouble for Phelps in the 100M butterfly. But you know, I'm suddenly twice as excited to watch that final.
Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (And click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Phelps, schmelps -- as much as I love watching lithe bodies slice the water via the under-the-pool cam, for me, there's little that makes me gawk so much as the men's gymnastics. (Oh, and I'm totally joking about Phelps -- he's truly a Titan among mere titans.) But China's incredible Yang Wei (pictured, left), a superstar in Asia, won the men's gymnastics all-around Olympic title last night, finally getting his hands on the gold medal that has eluded him for eight years. The 28-year-old hunk finished with 94.575 points, nearly three points ahead of Kohei Uchimura of Japan (silver) and Benoit Caranobe of France (bronze). Yang didn't even bother waiting for his marks on the high bar, his final event, leaping onto the podium and thrusting his fists in the air while the crowd went bananas. There's something mesmerizing about the way Yang flips over the still rings and holds his poses, like he was more bird (well, a very strong bird) than man. And those muscles! Maybe not the biggest on the block, but just fine for this gal.
Honorable mention must go to Zhang Liang (pictured, right), the Chinese rower and gold-medal hopeful who somehow missed (!) his race on Saturday. (Dawdling with groupies? Shaking off Friday's night's hangover?) The director of China's water sports governing body told reporters that Zhang thought he was supposed to be in the next heat, thus missing his shot at glory by ten minutes (ouch!). Ten minutes, people. Because of this, Zhang was also disqualified from the men's double sculls event that followed later in the day, and cost his teammate the opportunity to qualify as well (double ouch!). In a culture that indoctrinates children as young as six into the Olympic way of life, this is big, bad news for Zhang, so the least we could do is give the 6' 4" champ a little love on PopWatch.
Now it's your turn: Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
In one of the brief moments where Michael Phelps wasn't dominating the Olympic pool, Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini not only clinched the gold medal in the women's 200m freestyle but also broke her own world record, set at the European championships earlier this year. Federica's gold-medal win edged out American favorite and recurring fourth-place finisher Katie Hoff.
But she's not just a super Olympian: Under that heinous swim cap and aerodynamic (but seriously unflattering) swimsuit lies a super hottie. Federica sports a bad ass Angelina-Jolie-in-Wanted-like tattoo that runs down her neck from her left ear to her shoulder. The tat is way cooler than the Olympic rings a lot of athletes are sporting this year. And thanks to one of those overly sentimental behind-the-scenes-with-the-athletes packages that NBC is running every five minutes, we learned that Federica is currently dating the ex-boyfriend of rival French swimmer Laure Manaudou. It's so Days of Our Lives!
When Pellegrini isn't smashing world records, the 20-year-old swimming phenom is also an Italian cover girl. If you're still not convinced of Federica's blend of athleticism and total hottie status, check out the video embedded after the jump (and featuring a song by Anastacia).
Now it's your turn! Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the last few days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
You may be wondering why we haven't "Studded" Michael Phelps yet. It's a fair question: After all, last night he broke his own world record in 200M freestyle to win his ninth career gold — tying him for the most gold medals in Olympic history. (He should break that record today.) He also got back in the pool 50 minutes later and won his semifinal in the 200M butterfly. And did you hear Bob Costas rattle off what the boy eats for a typical breakfast? Three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise, an omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar, and three chocolate chip pancakes. If that is the breakfast of champions, sign. me. up. (But hold the mayonnaise on the breakfast sandwich. Eww.)
As impressive as he is, Phelps has yet to reach his Studliest. So in the meantime, we take the opportunity to honor another Mr. Consistency, Jonathan Horton (pictured, with teammate Raj Bhavsar in the background) of the underdog U.S. men's gymnastics team. That boy knows how to stick a landing. On the parallel bars, on the high bar, on the floor exercise. A team that's had to call up two alternates needs a constant, and it's Horton, with his solid performances and rousing speeches. ("No fear. No regrets.") Of course, he didn't win the team bronze by himself. We've also got to give it up for Justin Spring, who obliterated his knee on a vault a year ago at Nationals, fought his way back through eight months of rehab, somehow survived the long wait before his high bar routine and delivered seriously Stud-worthy release moves and a stuck triple-back dismount. And then there's alternate Alexander Artemev, who had to clinch the U.S.'s place on the podium with the final set on the evil pommel horse. He didn't make the team originally because he wasn't dependable. He'd just watched two of his teammates falter. And now the team's fate rested in his hands, literally? You couldn't have scripted a better ending. Especially since we got shots of David Durante, the only U.S. alternate not to make it onto the floor, cheering and tearing in the stands after Alexander (aka Sasha, which is a Stud name, y'all) nail it.
You know what's next: Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day* — or second ours — below. (Then click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous three days in Beijing.)
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Sunday's coverage of the Olympics brought multiple contenders for Stud of the Day, as usual. Would it be U.S. gymnast Nastia Liukin, who fell on her dismount from the bars but had a routine that badass that she still made it into the individual finals of the event? Or maybe Bob Costas, who grilled President Bush about America's relationship with China, then asked him if he was going to any more events before he left Beijing: "I'm going to swimming here, if you'd ever let me off this set..." the president joked. "You are dismissed," Costas said. (How many congratulatory text messages do you think Costas received after uttering that sentence?)
Of course, neither Liukin nor Costas could compete with Jason Lezak, who swam the fastest split in 4X100M freestyle relay history to keep Michael Phelps' hope of winning eight gold medals at the games alive. (Pictured left to right are Cullen Jones, Lezak, Phelps, and Garrett Weber-Gale.) I just watched the race, a new world record, for the fifth time and got chills as Lezak, the U.S. anchor, chased down France's Alain Bernard in the final seconds. Bernard, you'll recall, is the Frenchman who'd been quoted as saying, "The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for." (If anyone's interested in quoting me watching that race live on my couch, I actually yelled "USA!" in a moment of intense patriotism. Then I screamed something like "Suck it!" in a moment of extreme unsportsmanlike conduct.*)
Nominate your own Olympic Stud of the Day** — or second ours — below. (And click here to check out our winning Studs from the previous two days in Beijing.)
* To make up for that, I will point out that Bernard finished first in NBCOlympics.com's Ab Fab: Guess the Swimmer gallery.
** Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Watching Saturday's coverage of the Olympics, we certainly could have found a Stud of the Day* from the United States: Michael Phelps set a world record in the 400m IM to win his first gold medal in Beijing. Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson, and Becca Ward swept women's individual sabre, the "punk rock of fencing." Alexander Artemev, an alternate, reminded us why men's gymnastics doesn't just do away with the dreaded pommel horse (and helped the U.S. qualify for the team finals). So why did we go with Latvia's first Olympic beach volleyball team, Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs (pictured)? Because they made us root against our own country.
Plavins and Samoilovs scored the biggest upset in beach volleyball history, beating gold medal favorites Phil Dalhausser ("The Thin Beast") and Todd Rogers ("The Professor"). The facts:
• The teams had met only once before, and the Latvians (ranked 23rd in the Olympic pool of 24) were destroyed in 32 minutes.
• To prepare for Beijing, they trained up to eight hours a day on the Baltic Sea — scrimmaging two on six to simulate the kind of talent they'd face.
• Announcers Karch Kiraly and Chris Marlow said all the international players were quaking in their boots at the thought of meeting 6'9" Dalhausser, "the most intimidating player in the world," at net. Not these two. Whereas most teams serve to Rogers, Plavins and Samoilovs gunned for the big man (President Bush's nickname for Dalhausser) and made him work more than he's used to. That's straight out of Rocky IV, and we love it.
Who was your Olympic Stud of the Day?
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Our first Olympic Stud of the Day* was, of course, chosen for his performance at last night's opening ceremony. (Read our best and worst moments.) We were looking for enthusiasm. First, we considered Liechtenstein's flagbearer, Marcel Tschopp, a track and field athlete who didn't let the fact that he was one of two people representing his country stop him from fist-pumping. Then, we were drawn to Kevin Cordon, the smiling flagbearer from Guatemala who apparently heard Bob Costas when he said that Cordon had drawn one of China's badminton standouts in the first round of competition, so perhaps he should enjoy himself now. But in the end, Italian flagbearer Antonio Rossi (pictured) had three things those gentlemen didn't: Three hundred plus countrymen acting as though they'd hit the vino while awaiting their walk in the parade of nations. (Probably with Brazil and Spain.) The ability to reduce broadcast-fatigued Costas and Matt Lauer to a "Marco ... Polo" joke. And a sport jacket that hugged his back muscles.
So, congratulations, Antonio Rossi. We look forward to watching you compete in Flatwater — as soon as we find out what that is. (Something involving a canoe or kayak, allegedly.)
Nominate your own Stud of the Day from last night's opening ceremony below. Come back daily for our next pick.
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
