Published : Aug. 2, 2012 - 19:57
LONDON (AP) ― Like pretty much everybody, Danell Leyva thinks Kohei Uchimura is the greatest male gymnast who’s ever lived.
For now.
While the three-time world champion was solidifying his exalted status with the Olympic title Wednesday, all but wrapping up the gold midway through the meet, Leyva gave a glimpse of what the young American hopes could be the sport’s next great rivalry. Closing with perhaps the two most spectacular routines of the night, the 20-year-old rallied to land in third place.
It was only the second all-around medal for a U.S. man since 1984, and added yet another chapter to Leyva’s incredible story. He fled Cuba as a sickly toddler with his mother and older sister, making their way to Miami through Peru and Venezuela.
“I’m going to keep working to beat him,” Leyva said. “His gymnastics is just so beautiful. ... I’m not trying to copy his style. I have my own style. I need to perfect me more to beat him.”
Uchimura finished with 92.690 points, almost two in front of Leyva. Marcel Nguyen won the silver, giving Germany its first Olympic medal in the men’s all-around since 1936.
Japan’s Kohei Uchimura celebrates with his gold medal. (UPI-Yonhap News)
When Uchimura finished floor exercise, his final routine, he gave a slight bow to the crowd before breaking into a wide grin. He pumped his fist toward several fans waving Japanese flags as he trotted off the podium, then graciously accepted congratulations from his competitors.
“I have been a world champion three times, three years in a row,” Uchimura said. “But this is different. It’s once in four years, and the wait was there. I felt like the demon was chasing me this time.”
That demon had about as much luck as the rest of the world.
Uchimura has been untouchable since winning the silver medal in Beijing, so stylishly sublime that Germany’s Philipp Boy, runner-up at the last two world championships, lamented he had been born in “the wrong age.”
“He’s in a different world,” German coach Andreas Hirsch said. “He wasn’t part of this competition.”
What makes Uchimura so special is that he doesn’t seem to have any flaws. When Yang Wei was running roughshod over the competition in the last Olympic cycle, winning a pair of world titles and the gold medal in Beijing, he did it through sheer strength. He bulked up his routines with so much difficulty he started most meets two or three points ahead.
But there’s “art” in artistic gymnastics, and Yang didn’t have it. He managed to win one of his world titles despite taking such a big fall on high bar that he rolled off the mat to the edge of the podium.
Uchimura has the tough tricks, but does them with such elegance and precision that his routines look more like performance art. Even in photographs, there are no signs of the flaws ― bent legs, crossed ankles, crooked lines ― that bedevil other gymnasts.
“I like perfection,” Uchimura said.
Adrian, Schmitt roll
LONDON (AP) ― Nathan Adrian took out the Missile by a fingertip. Then Allison Schmitt dealt more heartache to the team from Down Under.
Adrian, a 23-year-old largely overshadowed by American stars such as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, made a name for himself by winning the 100-meter Olympic freestyle Wednesday. He lunged to the wall to edge James “The Missile” Magnussen by one-hundredth of a second ― the slightest margin possible ― and again deny Australia its first individual swimming gold of the London Games.
Nathan Adrian of the U.S. reacts after the men’s 100-meter freestyle final.( Xinhua-Yonhap News)
Adrian pounded the water, then put his hands over his eyes while dangling over the lane rope, as if he couldn’t believe the “1” beside his name. Magnussen hung at the end of the pool, staring straight ahead at the wall in disbelief, the wall he got to just a fraction of a second too late.
“It’s not who swims the fastest time this year,” said Adrian, a not-so-subtle dig at Magnussen posting the best time ever in a textile suit back in March. “It’s who can get their hands on the wall first here tonight.”
The Aussies took another bitter defeat in the final event of the evening, again to their American rivals as Schmitt chased down Alicia Coutts for gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay.
Schmitt dived in the water about a half-second behind but passed Coutts on their first return lap and won going away in 7 minutes, 42.92 seconds. The Australians settled for another silver in 7:44.41, while France took the bronze.
Schmitt is turning into one of the biggest American stars of the games, picking up her second gold to go along with a silver and a bronze. Seventeen-year-old Missy Franklin also claimed her second gold swimming the leadoff leg, and Dana Vollmer now has two golds in London. Shannon Vreeland rounded out the gold medal-winning quartet.
Aussie hoops win
LONDON (AP) ― Lauren Jackson has had a memorable London Games: She carried the Australian flag in the opening ceremonies and Wednesday passed Lisa Leslie to become the second leading scorer in Olympic women’s basketball history.
Initially, FIBA said Jackson had become the all-time leading scorer after Australia’s 67-61 victory over Brazil. But in a statement released late Wednesday night, FIBA said there had been a mistake because Brazilian Janeth Arcain’s name was entered two different ways in its record books.
The statement from FIBA ― a French acronym for International Basketball Federation ― said the error means Jackson is actually second on the list with 497 points, behind Arcain’s 535.
Jackson, who scored 18 points against Brazil, needed just 10 entering the contest to pass her one-time American rival. Leslie scored 488 points in her Olympic career while leading the U.S. to four consecutive gold medals from 1996-2008 ― three coming at Jackson’s expense.
The London Games are the fourth Olympics for the 31-year-old Australian star.
Jackson passed Leslie by hitting a free throw with 53 seconds left in the third quarter which gave Australia a 51-40 lead.
Brazil (0-3) couldn’t get within four the rest of the way.
The Aussies were coming off a 74-70 overtime loss to France ― their first defeat in the Olympics to a team other than the United States since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Bus kills cyclist
LONDON (AP) ― A double-decker bus carrying journalists at the London Olympics hit and killed a bicyclist Wednesday night, police and organizers said.
The Metropolitan Police said the cyclist, 28, was pronounced dead half an hour after the accident near the boundary of Olympic Park, the complex surrounding Olympic Stadium. Police said a man in his mid-60s was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and is currently in custody at an east London police station.
The accident happened near facilities for Paralympic athletes and the Olympic Velodrome. Bus transportation in and out of the park was halted for more than two hours. Police said no one aboard the bus was reported injured. “The police are investigating the accident, and our thoughts are with the cyclist’s family,” the London Olympic organizing committee said.