All eyes are on London and for better or worse, NBC has been bringing it to us live (or delayed) – just do a quick Google or Twitter search if you want the popular opinion on that subject. Of everything out there, we know you’ve been spending primetime watching a lot of swimming and gymnastics – and even some great performances by parents in the stands. And we’ve been watching what you’re watching. But there are some golden moments – literally – that haven’t made the Top 5 that we think you should know about:
1) While the world was watching to see if Michael Phelps could become the most decorated Olympian in history, US women’s skeet shooter Kim Rhode (pronounced Roadie) was setting an impressive Olympic record of her own. On Sunday, Rhode became the first US athlete to win an individual sport medal at five consecutive Olympic Games – and she did it with style. Hitting 74 out of 75 targets in her qualifying round and a perfect 25 for 25 shots in the final.
2) After beating defending champions South Korea in the men’s team archery semi-final, Team USA missed gold by just one point when Italian archer Michele Frangilli hit bull’s-eye with the last arrow of the competition. The shot added 10 points for Italy, bringing the final score to 219-218. Silver medal for team USA and a first-ever Olympic gold medal for Italy in men’s team archery.
3) China’s Zhang Jike won the men’s singles table tennis gold medal as he completed a career grand slam by defeating compatriot Wang Hao in the final Thursday, adding Olympic gold to the World Cup and World Championship titles he won last year. Zhang became the first male player in history to win successive World Championship and Olympic titles. Zhang’s win gave China their second table tennis gold in London as Li Xiaoxia defeated Ding Ning in another all-Chinese clash in the women’s singles final.
4) US cyclist Kristin Armstrong won her second straight gold medal in the Olympic cycling time trial Wednesday, beating Judith Arndt of Germany by more than 15 seconds. A two-time world champion, 38-year-old Armstrong briefly retired after her win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to start a family, but she got back on her bike after son Lucas was born in 2010 – and we’re betting she’s glad she did.
5) If you asked us during the Opening Ceremony, we wouldn’t have predicted the words “badminton” and “scandal” would fit so easily together, but London 2012 is just full of surprises. Eight female badminton players from China were kicked out of the Olympic Games by the sport’s international federation on Wednesday for seeming to tank round-robin matches in the hopes of securing an easier draw in the quarterfinals. The fallout? The Chinese team has reportedly been asked to apologize publicly for their poor showing and Yu Yang, one of the disgraced players has decided that she will give up badminton forever.
Set your TiVo to try to catch some of these not-for-primetime events and don’t forget to check back here to see a daily recap of the most-watched moments.
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