APA Olympians Update 08-10-08
August 10, 2008
Here are the most recent updates for Asian Pacific American Olympic competitors
- Natalie Coughlin - Swimming - Silver Medal
- Kevin Tan - Gymnastics - Advances
- Logan Tom - Volleyball - Advances
- Eva Lee - Badminton - Wins a game, loses match
- Sayaka Matsumoto - Judo - Eliminated
- Natasha Kai - Soccer
Natalie Coughlin - Swimming - Silver Medal
Natalie Coughlin, a native of Vallejo California, won her first medal of the Beijing Games in the 400 freestyle relay team.
Coughlin, the team captain, led off the relay with a strong leadoff leg for teammates Dara Torres, Lacey Nymeyer and Kara Lynn Joyce. The team came in second after not being expected to place in the medal count. The Dutch team took the gold.
Coughlin adds to her 5-medal haul at the Athens Olympics in 2004. She expected to compete in six events in Beijing and has the potential to win a medal in each event.
Kevin Tan - Gymnastics - Advances
Kevin Tan of Fremont, CA and the rest of the U.S. squad advanced to the gymnastics final, which takes place Tuesday August 12. The team placed sixth in overall team scoring. China ranked first with a team score of 374.675. Japan and Russia ranked second and third as expected. Tan’s performance was not his best and due to sore muscles, he did not compete in all events. Tan scored only 15.725 on his specialty, the rings. The last time he failed to hit 16 was at the 2007 world championships, where he finished fourth in the event.
Logan Tom - Volleyball - Advances
The U.S. women’s Volleyball team, defeated Japan 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21) in pool play. Logan Tom from Stanford, CA was among the U.S. leaders in digs and had nine kills and 12 points.
Emotions were running high for the US. team after the murder of an ex-player’s father. Todd Bachman, father of former Olympian Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, was stabbed to death earlier in the day while at a tourist site in Beijing. “It’s hard to put it into words,” said a tearful Tom.
*****Keeping up with Olympics:*****
2008 Beijing Olympics Meet Your Asian American Olympians!
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Eva Lee - Badminton - Wins a game, loses match
22-year-old Eva Lee of Cupertino California had more success than any other Olympic singles player on the women’s U.S. badminton team, but still failed to advance losing to Canada’s Anna Rice in a two out of three game series
Lee was the first U.S. woman single to ever win a game, 21-19 in the second game of the set. But she lost the first game 21-15 and the third game as well, even though she was leading right up to the end.
In the third game, Lee moved Rice around the court effectively, but she never got comfortable judging shots. Up 16-13 in the third game, Lee lost five of the next six points, four of them on misjudgments in which she thought a shot was going to go wide or long.
Though eliminated from women’s singles, Lee also competes in Badminton doubles.
Sayaka Matsumoto - Judo - Eliminated
Sayaka Matsumoto of El Cerrito, CA was eliminated from the Olympics after two quick loses. Matsumoto lost her opening match to one of her idols, Japanese double gold medalist Ryoko Tani of Japan, and then to China’s Wu Shugen, eliminating her from the tournament.
Matsumoto went the distance with Tani in her first match, but was scoreless as Tani beat Matsumoto on points. Versus, China’s Wu Shugen Matsumoto was taken to the mat by a leg kick that ended the match with 54 seconds left. Wu was awarded victory via an ippon, roughly the equivalent of a pin in wrestling.
Natasha Kai - Soccer
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team beat Japan 1-0 and only needs to beat New Zealand next to advance to the quarter finals. However, Natasha Kai did not play in the opening game and was replaced by Amy Rodriguez. Coach Pia Sundhage’s plan was to throw speed at the Japanese, and that could explain Kai’s replacement.
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3 Responses to “APA Olympians Update 08-10-08”
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You forget Raj, of the men’s gymnastics team!
Another APA Olympian is Haley Ishimatsu, a 15 year old who will be competing in the diving event. This is her profile: http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=1169/bio/
Folks:
When each “nation,” not to mention tribe or claque, begins to recognize ALL “victors” and laurel-wreathed in the trumpeted contemporary “Olympics,” that will be the day when the original premise and ideal will be honored.
That, of course, will be the day, especially since the Greek city-states themselves indulged in petty vicarious “glory,” not to mention “praise singers,” including, I think, major literatteurs.
So, what did you think of that “opening ceremony” night before last?
Enough to hiver Gollywood timbers?
Yeah, eat your heart out, C.B
Frank Eng
P.S.: How much did Spielberg contribute before he “bowed out”? And who, besides Zhang, deserves some ccredit. Can you imagine the credit crawl were this a movie?