SWIMMING
SWIMMING: A FINAL
BOW FOR PHELPS?
We’ve heard this song before: The 2016 Games at Rio will be Michael
Phelps’ final Olympic appearance.
Indeed, the Olympics’ most decorated athlete has said that at the grand old
age of 31, he will be hanging up his trunks after the Rio games, happy with
whatever he adds this month to his 22 medals over three Olympiads.
But there’s still life left in this old boy. After a short-lived retirement that includ-
ed a reality-show appearance, a visit to the White House and a drunken driving
arrest, Phelps came back to the 2015 Nationals and set record times in the
100m and 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, so consider him a major
factor at Rio in these events.
As for other contenders for hardware, look to Americans Ryan Lochte,
Nathan Adrian and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
On the women’s side, American Missy Franklin will try to add to her five-med-
al haul in London, where she won gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke, the
4x100 medley and the 4x200 freestyle. Others in the medal mix include
Americans Katie Ledecky and Katie Meili and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu.
On a side note, Natalie Coughlin needs one medal to become the most deco-
rated female swimmer.
Swimming
8/6-13 M; 8/15-16 M
Synchronized Swimming
8/14-15 Q; 8/16 M; 8/18 Q; 8/19 M
Michael Phelps
TABLE TENNIS
• The i rst bicycle is thought to have been created in 1790 by Frenchman Comte Mede de Sivrac.
• After his right hand was injured by a grenade in 1938, world-class Hungarian shooter Karoly Takacs taught
himself to shoot left-handed and won gold medals at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
• Judo rules require judoka to bow at the beginning and end of contests and when entering and leaving the
mat.
• On average, it takes a taekwondo athlete three years of training to achieve black belt status.
pg 12 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS VIEWER’S GUIDE
CHINA SMASHES TABLE
TENNIS COMPETITION
China has dominated since table tennis debuted as an
Olympic sport in 1988, winning 24 gold medals and 47
medals in all. In Rio, the script should read much the
same, given the Chinese count four of six of the world’s
top-ranked men’s players and five of six on the women’s
side. China also enters having swept gold medals at the
2015 and 2016 World Championships. Current world No.
1 Ma Long is the man to beat in singles, followed by
second-ranked Fan Zhendong. Also watch for German
duo Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll. The ladies hierar-
chy includes China’s Li Xiaoxia, the defending singles
gold medalist, compatriot Liu Shiwen, and Japan’s Ai
Fukuhara and Kasumi Ishikawa, London silver medalists
in the team competition.
8/6-9 Q; 8/10-11 M; 8/12-15 Q; 8/16-17 M
• In mountain biking, riders can make their own repairs and can accept assistance only in dedicated as-
sistance zones.
• Reconstructed from the ruins of the ancient Greek venue, Athens’ Panathinaiko Stadium is the only sta-
dium in the world to be made entirely of white marble.