To begin the evening the first event was the men's 200m breaststroke final. In most people's discussions about this event Brendan Hansen and Kosuke Kitajima from Japan were the favorites. Unfortunately, Hansen didn't even make it into the Finals. Instead Kitajima earned gold and for the Americans, making his Olympic daybeau is Scott Spann who came in 6th place. Another upsetting event for the Americans was the women's 200m butterfly where Elaine Breedan and Kathleen Hersey who earned 7th and 8th place respectively. But in China this will be the "talk of the town" for awhile with Zige Liu and Liuyang Jiao taken 1st and 2nd place respectively. Liu earn a WR (2:04.18) breaking Jessicah Shipper's record. Shipper placed 3rd.
There was a bit of tension between Alain Bernard from France and our very own Jason Lezak. And if you remember Lezak took the Gold away from Bernard by a fingertip in the 4x100 free relay. Bernard earned his title back by earning gold in the men's 100m finals. Lezak was not too far behind and earned his first medal in an individual event.
The Final event was the women's 4x200 free relay. The Stephanie Rice from Australia made the lead for her team and her team-mates followed. The race for 2nd and 3rd place was between China and USA. In the end China out touched the American team by .4 seconds. On a personal note, this is one of my favorite races because you never know what is going to happen. China and the US sure kept me on my toes as I watched this event at the edge of my couch!
Go USA!!
Medal Tally - 7 Gold, 5 Silver and 8 Bronze
