Warning, spoilers ahead: The U.S. gymnastics team competition airs at 6:30 p.m. MT on NBC tonight
With the second week of the Tokyo Olympics starting, three Coloradans have already earned gold medals this past weekend.
Colorado Springs’ Anastasija Zolotic secured the United States’ first-ever gold medal in taekwondo, winning in the women’s featherweight division on Sunday. Zolotic scraped past fifth-ranked Russia’s Tatiana Minina, 25-17. The 18-year-old only needed one trip to the Olympics to secure the top spot on the podium.
Zolotic is only the second woman from Team USA to reach an Olympic taekwondo final and the fourth American overall. This year, she won the Pan-American Championships silver medal and brought home gold at the 2018 junior world championships.
The United States’ shooting team got off to a strong start this past weekend that included two Colorado Springs natives, Will Shaner and Amber English. Shaner made his Olympic debut in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event on Sunday. Shaner capped his gold-medal win by setting an Olympic record of 251.6 points and the first ever gold medal for Team USA in men’s air rifle. The 20-year-old junior at the University of Kentucky already has a plethora of accomplishments on his resume, including a freshman All-American honor, second in the NCAA championships and impressive showings at previous international championships.
Following right behind Shaner’s shooting success was Amber English. After barely missing the past two Olympic Games, English — along with fellow American teammate Vincent Hancock — completed a sweep of the men’s and women’s skeet on Sunday. English hit 56 of 60 targets in the opening shotgun event to set an Olympic record, edging out reigning skeet champion Diana Bacosi of Italy by one. English hit her final 10 attempts while Bacosi missed her third shot to earn the gold.
On Monday, the men’s gymnastics team placed fifth in the team final (254.594), coming up short against fourth-place Great Britain, third-place China, second-place Japan and the gold medal winner Russian Olympic Committee. Fort Collins native Yul Moldauer has another chance to reach the podium when he competes for the floor exercise final on Aug. 1.
USA Cycling’s Christopher Blevins placed 14th in the men’s cross-country mountain biking event on Monday morning with a time of 1:28:13, two minutes and 59 seconds behind the gold medal winner, Thomas Pidcock of Great Britain.
What’s on tap
Here are the Colorado athletes to watch for tomorrow:
Triathlon — Women’s Individual (July 26, 3:45 p.m. MT)
- Summer Rappaport, Thornton
Volleyball — Women’s Preliminary Round, Pool B vs. China (July 26, 8:05 p.m. MT)
- Jordyn Poulter, Aurora, Eaglecrest High School
- Haleigh Washington, Colorado Springs, Doherty High School
Men’s Rugby – Pool C (July 26, 8:30 p.m. MT)
- Cody Melphy, Denver, Heritage High School
Cycling – Women’s Cross Country (July 27, 12 a.m. MT)
Women’s Soccer – Group G (July 27, 2:45 a.m. MT)
- Lindsey Horan, Golden, Golden High School
- Janine Becker (Canada), Highlands Ranch, Valor Christian High School
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