While Ryan Lochte’s father was busy being the stereotypical Worst Sports Dad Ever, the Georgia Bulldogs were occupied with effectively representing the nation’s oldest state-chartered university at the Olympic Games. The Red and Black lead the SEC with four gold medals, and the Athenians’ success at swimming is translating to the track and field events, as well.
Though Elizabeth Reid’s British volleyball team fell on Friday, the same day that Andrew Gemmell and Sarah Poewe finished ninth in their respective events, a Bulldog turned in a medal-winning performance yesterday when Reese Hoffa claimed the bronze with a 69’8" throw in the shot put. The medal was Hoffa’s first, coming in his third Olympiad.
Hoffa’s fellow former Georgia track and field athlete, Hyleas Fountain, failed to finish in the heptathlon, but the most decorated Red and Black Olympian in London continued her dominant run when Allison Schmitt claimed another gold medal as part of the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay team. Their 3:52.05 time, which eclipsed that of the silver-medalist Australian squad by almost two seconds, established a new world record. Of the 14 medals captured by American women swimmers in London, Schmitt was wholly or partially responsible for five of them, including three of the U.S. ladies’ eight golds.
Go ‘Dawgs!