Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #23 - Akinori Nakayama

Akinori Nakayama

Japan

Artistic Gymnastics

Overall Ranks

#6 among Gymnasts

#4 among Male Gymnasts

#2 among Japanese Olympians

Olympic Results

1968

Individual All-Around - Bronze

Team - Gold

Floor Exercise - Silver

Parallel Bars - Gold

Horizontal Bar - Gold

Rings - Gold

1972

Individual All-Around - Bronze

Team - Gold

Floor Exercise - Silver

Rings - Gold

Total

Events - 16

Gold - 6

Silver - 2

Bronze - 2

Akinori Nakayama was born on March 1, 1943 in Nagoya, Japan, and had his first big international victory in gymnastics in 1965, winning the all-around at the Summer Universiade. The next year, he won 6 medals at the World Championships, which helped him earn a spot on the Olympic Team in Mexico City in 1968.

Japan had won the team gold in each of the past 2 Olympics, and they were only getting stronger. In Mexico City, they defeated the Soviet team by 4.8 points to win the gold medal for the third straight time, which was the first Olympic medal for Nakayama, who was the #2 scorer on the Japanese team.

The individual all-around results came from the team competition, and Nakayama's scores were high enough to earn him the bronze medal, behind teammate Sawao Kato and Soviet Mikhail Voronin. He qualified for 5 of the 6 event finals, only missing out on the pommel horse.

In the floor exercise, he qualified #2 behind Kato, but the lead was too much to make up in the final, and he remained in second place and won the silver medal. In the vault, he was #7 before the final, and only the top 6 got in, but Kato gave up his spot to Nakayama, who was only able to improve his standing to 5th place.

In the parallel bars, he was the top qualifier, and had the top score in the final round, which earned him his first individual gold medal. In the horizontal bar, he and Voronin were tied for first after qualifying, and each put up an identical 9.8 score in the final, so they were each awarded the gold medal, the second for Nakayama.

In the rings, Nakayama was the #2 qualifier, again behind Kato, but this time, he easily posted the highest score of the final, and that score put him ahead of his teammate and earned him his third individual gold of the games. His 6 total medals were the most for any athlete in Mexico City, tied with Vera Caslavska.

In 1970, he again won 6 medals at the World Championships, and this time, 4 of them were gold. This made him one of the favorites again heading to Munich in 1972. Just as before, the Japanese team won the gold medal, this time even more easily, finishing 7.2 points ahead of the USSR, with Nakayama only the 4th-highest scorer on the team.

The individual all-around was different this time, as the top 36 athletes from the team event advanced to a final round, which included Nakayama, who qualified 4th, behind 3 teammates. In the final round, Nakayama had the highest score among the Japanese athletes, and the second-highest overall, which boosted him ahead of Shigeru Kasamatsu and into third place, earning him a repeat bronze medal in the all-around.

He qualified for 4 event finals, missing out on the pommel horse in a tiebreaker, and the vault as well. He was part of a 5-way tie for second in the floor exercise after qualifying, behind Kato, but Kato had a poor showing in the final, leaving the medals wide open. Nakayama posted the #2 score in the final, so he ended up winning the silver medal, just like 4 years earlier.

He was tied for third on the parallel bars after qualifying, but a low score of 9.25 in the final dropped him to 5th place. In the horizontal bar, he also finished 5th after not improving on his qualifying placement. In the rings, however, he had a big lead after qualifying, and performed well enough that no one was able to overtake him, so he was able to repeat as gold medalist.

He retired soon after those Olympics, and went on to become vice president of the Japanese Gymnastics Federation, and also worked as a college gymnastics coach. He never won the all-around at the Olympics, but he took the bronze both times, and won 4 individual gold medals over 2 Olympic Games, finishing his short career with 10 total Olympic medals, which makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #24 - Aladar Gerevich

Aladar Gerevich

Hungary

Fencing

Overall Ranks

#4 among Fencers

#2 among Hungarian Olympians

Olympic Results

1932

Team Sabre - Gold

1936

Individual Sabre - Bronze

Team Sabre - Gold

1948

Individual Sabre - Gold

Team Sabre - Gold

1952

Team Foil - Bronze

Individual Sabre - Silver

Team Sabre - Gold

1956

Team Sabre - Gold

1960

Team Sabre - Gold

Total

Events - 14

Gold - 7

Silver - 1

Bronze - 2

Aladar Gerevich was born on March 16, 1910 in Jaszbereny, Austria-Hungary, which is now part of Hungary. He ended up having one of the longest careers of any Olympian in history, and it all started in 1932, when he made his first Olympic team at the age of 22.

In his first Olympics, he only competed in the team sabre event, where Hungary was the defending champ and the favorite. Hungary won their opening pool easily, beating Denmark and Mexico by a total of 25 matches to 3, with Gerevich going 3-1 personally against Mexico. In the final pool, Gerevich competed in all 3 of their matches, and went 8-2 overall, while Hungary went 31-6 in winning every match to repeat as gold medalists.

In 1936, he competed in 3 events, starting with the team foil, even though he specialized in sabre. In their opening pool, they defeated Norway 10-6, with Gerevich going 2-2, and that was enough to advance to the quarterfinal. In that round, they destroyed Yugoslavia 14-2, with Gerevich winning all 4 of his bouts. In the semifinal pool, they beat only 1 country, Austria, and failed to advance to the final, with Gerevich struggling to a 2-6 record, including 4 losses to eventual champion Italy.

In the team sabre, things were very different. In their opening pool, they beat Denmark 16-0, then Uruguay 14-2 in the quarterfinal, though Gerevich didn't participate in that round. In the semifinal, they won 44 out of 48 bouts, with Gerevich winning all 8 of his. They also dominated the final, going 32-10 overall, with only Italy making it close at 9-6. Gerevich won 5 of his 7 bouts as Hungary won the gold medal again.

He also competed in the individual sabre that year, for the first time. In the first 3 rounds of the tournament, Gerevich lost only a single match, winning 13, and made the final pool easily. There were 3 Hungarians in the final pool of 9, and those other 2 accounted for both of his losses in the final pool, and he ended up with the bronze medal after going 6-2.

World War II took out a huge chunk of his prime, but he was still a top fencer when they finally returned in 1948. He competed in the team foil again, and was the only Hungarian to go 4-0 in the first round. He went 3-1 in the next round, and it was just enough for them to advance in a tiebreaker over Uruguay. They lost both of their matches in the semifinal round, which left them out of the final.

In the team sabre, he was a perfect 7-0 in the first two rounds, and Hungary advanced to the final pool easily, as expected from the 3-time defending champs. The final pool was a little more challenging, and Gerevich went only 5-3 in his bouts, but they won all 3 matches to repeat as gold medalists for the 4th time in a row, and the 3rd for Gerevich.

He also competed again in the individual sabre, where he had won the bronze before the war. He was given a bye out of the first round due to his participation in the team final, then went 12-1 over the next two rounds to reach the final easily. In the final, he went a perfect 7-0 to win the gold medal, highlighted by a 5-4 victory over teammate Pal Kovacs, who had led 4-2 before Gerevich scored three straight touches to win his first individual gold.

He competed in the same 3 events in 1952, despite being over 40 years old. He went 12-4 through the first 2 rounds in the team foil, struggling only against Argentina, who gave them their only defeat in those rounds, but they still advanced to the semifinals. He went 3-1 against Belgium in the semifinals, which earned them a spot in the final pool for the first time in his career. In the final, they only managed to beat Egypt, with Gerevich going 6-6, the best of any Hungarian, but it was still enough to take the bronze medal.

In the team foil, they were huge favorites again. They lost only 2 bouts in the first round, 1 of them by Gerevich, but 30-2 is pretty solid. He wasn't needed in the quarterfinal round, then went 6-2 in the semifinal pool as Hungary again advanced to the final easily. In the final pool, he was perfect against France, but struggled against Italy, going 1-3, but Hungary was able to pull off the victory 8-7 to win gold again, the 4th straight for Gerevich.

He also competed in the individual sabre, trying to defend his gold medal. He won 10 of his 12 bouts on the way to the final pool, which seemed like a foregone conclusion, and he was joined by the other 2 Hungarians as well. This time, he won every match but one, against Kovacs, who took away his gold medal, leaving Gerevich with the silver, and the full rainbow of medals in that event.

He returned for his 5th Olympics in 1956, this time only competing in the sabre events. In the team event, they received a bye to the semifinals, where they won 9-1, with Gerevich going 3-0. In the final pool, Hungary was dominant, winning 30 out of 45 matches, and won the gold medal for the 6th time in a row, the 5th straight for Gerevich. 

In the individual sabre, he easily made it back to the final for the 4th straight Olympics, where he had previously won one of each medal. This time, the final wouldn't go as well, as he only managed a 3-4 mark in that round, which was only good enough for 5th place, the first time he ever missed the podium in an individual event.

At the 1960 Olympic Trials, the committee told him that he was too old to make the team, so he challenged the entire team to individual matches, and he beat each and every one of them, which was enough to convince them to let the 50-year-old compete again in Rome.

In the team event, they won their pool easily to advance to the knockouts, which was a new feature that year. They were given a bye to the quarterfinals, where they beat Romania 9-3, though Gerevich only went 1-2 in that round. They faced Italy in the semifinal without him, and won 9-6 to reach the final. He again sat out the final against Poland, but watched as his teammates won 9-7, which earned him his 6th gold medal in the event, making him the first ever to achieve that.

In the individual sabre, he went 11-3 through the first 3 rounds, and made it all the way to the semifinals, but that would be where his journey ended. He finished 2-3 in that round, and missed out on advancing to the final pool on a tiebreaker, and his Olympic career was over. 

There were 28 years between his first and last gold medals, and he was the first athlete ever to win gold in the same event 6 times in a row, a feat since matched by Diana Taurasi. Isabell Werth has now won 7 golds in the same event, but hers were not consecutive. With his longevity, his trio of individual medals, plus his 6 team golds, Gerevich is definitely one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #25 - Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte

USA

Swimming

Overall Ranks

#7 among American Olympians

#5 among Male American Olympians

#3 among Swimmers

Olympic Results

2004

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

200m Individual Medley - Silver

2008

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

200m Backstroke - Gold

200m Individual Medley - Bronze

400m Individual Medley - Bronze

2012

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Silver

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

200m Backstroke - Bronze

200m Individual Medley - Silver

400m Individual Medley - Gold

2016

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

Total

Events - 14

Gold - 6

Silver - 3

Bronze - 3

Ryan Steven Lochte was born on August 3, 1984 in Rochester, New York, to a father who was a swimming coach, and when Ryan was in junior high school, he started seriously trying to be the best swimmer he could. After graduating from high school in 2002, he attended the University of Florida.

He qualified for his first Olympics in 2004 after coming in second to Michael Phelps in the 200m Individual Medley at the Olympic Trials. He started out by competing in the 4x200m relay, where he swam the second leg in both rounds. Phelps led off the final, giving the Americans a full second lead over Australia, the defending champs, and Lochte held off a charge from Italy to keep a lead of 0.39 seconds after his leg. Peter Vanderkaay stretched the lead to over a second after leg 3, but Ian Thorpe made a huge push in the anchor leg, nearly making the comeback, but America held on to win by 0.13 seconds, getting Lochte his first gold medal.

He made the final in the 200m Individual Medley after coming in a second behind Phelps in the semifinal, but Phelps was even better in the final, setting a new Olympic record, while Lochte was in a group of 3 more than 1.5 seconds behind that touched the wall almost simultaneously. As it turned out, Lochte took the silver by 0.02 seconds over George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago, while Laszlo Cseh Jr. of Hungary missed a medal by 0.04 seconds.

At the 2007 World Championships, he won 2 golds and 3 silvers as he prepared for another Olympic run. He qualified for 3 individual events and a relay in Beijing, starting out with the 400m individual medley, where he was expected to challenge Phelps. That wouldn't happen, as Phelps beat his own world record by almost 1.5 seconds, and Lochte finished more than 4 seconds behind, taking the bronze medal behind Phelps and Cseh.

In the 4x200m relay, the B team set a new Olympic record in the heats, then were replaced in the final by Lochte and the stars, who were expected to break the world record. Phelps gave them a lead of over 2.5 seconds on the first leg, then Lochte stretched it to almost 4. The lead was over 5 seconds when the final swimmer jumped in, and they finished 5.14 seconds ahead of Russia, and broke the world record by nearly 4.5 seconds.

Next was the 200m Backstroke, where Aaron Peirsol was the defending champ, but Lochte was the defending world champ. At the Olympic trials, Peirsol had beaten Lochte and broken his world record, so this one was expected to be a tough battle. In the final, Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia took an early lead and held it through 150m, with Lochte and Peirsol tied at the final turn, but Vyatchanin faded down the stretch, and Lochte pulled ahead of both to win the gold medal and break the world record by 0.38 seconds.

He finished up in Beijing with the 200m Individual Medley. Many felt that Phelps was in danger of tiring out, but in the final, he set another world record and won the event by more than 2 seconds. Lochte was in third place for most of the race, behind Cseh, but fell to 4th at the final turn, but he turned in a strong finish, and ended up coming in third to take the bronze medal, just 0.02 seconds behind Cseh.

At the 2009 World Championships, he won 4 golds and a bronze, but lost his backstroke world record back to Peirsol, who has held it ever since. He won 5 golds and a bronze in 2011, and qualified to swim in 6 events in 2012 in London. 

He started out in London with the 400m individual medley, where Phelps was the 2-time defending champ, but Lochte was the favorite, thanks to his defeats of Phelps at the world championships and the Olympic Trials. In the final, Chad le Clos of South Africa led at the first turn, just ahead of Lochte and Phelps, but Lochte took the lead by the end of the butterfly, then proceeded to pull away for the rest of the race, winning by 3.58 seconds in the second-fastest time in history to take the gold medal.

The next day he swam the anchor leg in the 4x100m relay, his first time competing in that event. The USA had a slight lead after the first leg, which Phelps extended to 0.76 seconds at the midway point. The lead was still half a second when Lochte started, but Yannick Agnel of France swam the fastest leg of the competition and caught and passed Lochte, leaving the Americans a silver medal.

His next event was the 200m freestyle, where he was the defending world champion and the favorite to win, but Agnel had different ideas. He led from the start, and finished 1.79 seconds ahead of anyone else, while Lochte fell from 2nd to 4th on the final lap, missing out on a medal for the first time in his Olympic career.

One day later, he swam the opening leg in the final of the 4x200m relay, where the USA had won 2 straight golds. He gave the Americans a lead of 0.98 seconds after the opening leg, and the next two swimmers stretched it to almost 4 seconds for Phelps, who easily brought it home for a gold medal by 3.07 seconds over France.

Next was the 200m backstroke, where he was the defending champ, and the favorite after Peirsol's retirement in 2010. He led through the final turn, but Ryosuke Irie of Japan and Tyler Clary of the USA were just behind him, and both were able to pass him on the final lap, with Clary setting a new Olympic record in winning gold, while Lochte took a disappointing bronze.

He finished up 30 minutes later in the 200m individual medley, where he was the defending world champion, but Phelps was going for a third straight gold. Phelps had a tiny lead over Lochte after the butterfly, Phelps' specialty, but pulled further ahead on the backstroke, which was Lochte's best stroke usually. He held on to the lead through the breaststroke, then held on as Lochte made a late charge in the freestyle, but fell 0.63 seconds short, and had to settle for silver.

By 2016, he was starting to age, but still qualified to compete in 2 events in Rio. The first was the 4x200m relay, which they had won 3 straight times, and they led the entire way in this one. Lochte swam the third leg, and was given a 2 second lead, and he kept that lead at 1.76 seconds when Phelps took the anchor leg, where he stretched it to 2.47 seconds to win the event for the 4th straight time.

He finished up with the 200m individual medley, where Phelps was the 3-time defending Olympic champ, while Lochte was the 4-time defending world champ. Lochte held a 0.01 second lead over Phelps after the backstroke, but faded after that, finishing in 5th place, the worst of his Olympic career in his final race.

During those Olympics, Lochte claimed that he and some teammates had been robbed at a gas station in Rio, but when more details came out, it turns out that the Americans had actually drunkenly vandalized the restroom at the gas station. Two years later, he received a 14-month suspension for taking a banned substance. He attempted to make the 2020 Olympic team, and reached several finals at the Olympic trials, but ultimately failed to qualify and retired from competitive swimming.

Though he was largely overshadowed by Phelps throughout his career, and won 4 of his gold medals in relays with Phelps, Lochte was a legitimately great swimmer in his own right. He set a world record in winning his backstroke gold, and won his individual medley gold very convincingly. His 12 total medals are the third-most ever for a swimmer behind only Phelps and Ledecky, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Football Predictions - 20 thru 26 Oct

Upset picks are in italics.

Tuesday

Middle Tennessee at FIU - Golden Panthers by 14

Missouri State at Delaware - Blue Hens by 7.5

South Alabama at Marshall - Jaguars by 7.5

Wednesday

New Mexico State at Sam Houston - Bearkats by 4.5

Thursday

James Madison at App State - Dukes by 12.5

Liberty at Kennesaw State - Flames by 6.5

East Carolina at Memphis - Tigers by 15

New England at Chicago - Bears by 1.5

Friday

Duke at Virginia - Blue Devils by 0.5

UMass at UConn - Huskies by 9.5

Army at Tulsa - Golden Hurricane by 5.5

Air Force at Wyoming - Falcons by 7.5

NC State at Stanford - Cardinal by 2.5

Saturday

Pittsburgh at (1) Miami - Hurricanes by 19.5

(6) Indiana at Michigan - Hoosiers by 10.5

(8) Texas Tech at Cincinnati - Red Raiders by 9

(18) LSU at Auburn - LSU Tigers by 6

Cal at (23) SMU - Mustangs by 12.5

Rutgers at (24) Northwestern - Wildcats by 22.5

West Virginia at TCU - Horned Frogs by 16.5

Rice at FAU - FAU Owls by 12.5

Western Michigan at Toledo - Rockets by 3.5

Baylor at Kansas - Bears by 3.5

Akron at Kent State - Golden Flashes by 12

Miami (OH) at Central Michigan - Chippewas by 2

Oregon at Illinois - Ducks by 6.5

(2) BYU at UCF - Cougars by 1

Michigan State at (9) UCLA - Bruins by 23

(11) Tennessee at South Carolina - Volunteers by 0.5

Texas A&M at (13) Alabama - Crimson Tide by 22

(15) Iowa at Minnesota - Hawkeyes by 3.5

Oklahoma at Mississippi State - Bulldogs by 9.5

Boston College at Georgia Tech - Yellowjackets by 8

North Texas at Navy - Midshipmen by 0.5

Hawaii at Northern Illinois - Huskies by 1.5

Sacramento State at Ball State - Cardinals by 16

Bowling Green at Buffalo - Bulls by 10

Kansas State at Arizona State - Wildcats by 3

Eastern Michigan at Ohio - Bobcats by 16

UL Monroe at Troy - Trojans by 18.5

San Jose State at Nevada - Wolf Pack by 7.5

Louisiana at Southern Miss - Ragin Cajuns by 10

Old Dominion at Louisiana Tech - Bulldogs by 16.5

(21) Boise State at Washington State - Broncos by 14.5

San Diego State at Colorado State - Rams by 2

Colorado at Oklahoma State - Cowboys by 19

Virginia Tech at Clemson - Tigers by 6.5

Georgia State at Arkansas State - Panthers by 1.5

(7) Ole Miss at (19) Texas - Longhorns by 5

Vanderbilt at (12) Kentucky - Wildcats by 23

(16) USC at Wisconsin - Badgers by 6.5

Iowa State at (25) Arizona - Wildcats by 12.5

Syracuse at North Carolina - Tar Heels by 15.5

Utah State at Texas State - Bobcats by 17.5

UTSA at Tulane - Green Wave by 3

North Dakota State at New Mexico - Lobos by 6.5

(14) Houston at (10) Utah - Utes by 2

Sunday

Pittsburgh vs. New Orleans - Steelers by 6

San Francisco at Atlanta - 49ers by 4.5

Cleveland at Tennessee - Browns by 9.5

Indianapolis at Minnesota - Vikings by 14.5

Miami at NY Jets - Jets by 7.5

Tampa Bay at Carolina - Panthers by 6.5

Cincinnati at Baltimore - Bengals by 3

NY Giants at Houston - Texans by 7

Denver at Arizona - Broncos by 8.5

Green Bay at Detroit - Lions by 0.5

LA Rams at Las Vegas - Raiders by 3.5

Kansas City at Seattle - Chiefs by 5

Monday

Dallas at Philadelphia - Cowboys by 1

Results

NCAA: 38-24 (.613) 384-126 overall (.753)

Upsets: 4-8 (.333) 31-64 overall (.326)

NFL: 9-5 (.643) 55-38 overall (.591)

Upsets: 1-0 (1.000) 8-11 overall (.421)

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #26 - Takashi Ono

Takashi Ono

Japan

Artistic Gymnastics

Overall Ranks

#7 among Gymnasts

#5 among Male Gymnasts

#3 among Japanese Olympians

Olympic Results

1952

Vault - Bronze

1956

Individual All-Around - Silver

Team - Silver

Parallel Bars - Bronze

Horizontal Bar - Gold

Pommel Horse - Silver

1960

Individual All-Around - Silver

Team - Gold

Vault - Gold

Parallel Bars - Bronze

Horizontal Bar - Gold

Rings - Bronze

1964

Team - Gold

Total

Events - 32

Gold - 5

Silver - 4

Bronze - 4

Takashi Ono was born on July 26, 1931 in Noshiro, Japan, and was an only child who was taught gymnastics at a young age, and he ended up having one of the longest careers of any male gymnast ever. His first international competition came at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.

The Japanese team had not yet established themselves as a world power in gymnastics at the time, and in those Olympics, they came in 5th in the team competition, with the Soviets taking the gold in their first Olympics as a nation. Japan came in more than 7 points behind Finland, who had won the bronze medal.

Back then, the medals in all of the individual events were determined by the scores in the team event. Ono came in 12th in the all-around that year, and was the top scorer for the Japanese team, 2.55 points away from the medals. His best two individual events were the floor exercise, where he finished 4th, 0.1 away from a medal, and vault, where he tied for the bronze medal with Tadao Uesako, his teammate. He was far from the medals in the other 4 events.

By 1956, the Japanese had built up a much stronger team, and they put up a good challenge against the USSR in the team competition, finishing only 1.85 points behind as they won the silver medal. His scores in that competition were good enough for 2nd place in the individual all-around, just 0.05 points behind Viktor Chukarin (#83), who took the gold.

He also won 3 individual event medals that year, with a bronze medal in the parallel bars, 0.1 points behind Chukarin, and a silver medal in the pommel horse, where he was 0.1 ahead of Chukarin, but came in behind Boris Shakhlin of the USSR. He won the gold medal in the horizontal bar, finishing 0.2 points ahead of anyone else, to earn his first Olympic gold, and the first ever for a Japanese gymnast.

He was nearly as good at the 1958 World Championships, winning 4 silver medals and a bronze, but he was still getting better, and he would show his full potential in Rome in 1960. That year, he finally led Japan to a gold medal in the team event, as they upset the Soviets by 2.5 points, a result that started decades of Japanese dominance in mens gymnastics.

He once again came up just short of the individual all-around gold, however, again finishing 0.05 points behind a Soviet gymnast, this time Shakhlin. That year, the individual events had a separate final round whose score was averaged with the athlete's qualifying score from the team event, with the top 6 on each apparatus competing in the final, and Ono qualified for all 6 finals.

He was tied for 4th in qualifying for the floor exercise, and remained in that spot after the final performance. In the vault, he was the top qualifier, but in the final, Shakhlin had a slightly better score, and the result was a tie between the two, with each being awarded a gold medal. He was also the top qualifier in the parallel bars, but was outperformed in the final by two others, dropping down to the bronze medal.

He was the defending champ in the horizontal bar, and had the top qualifying score as well, and he followed that up by posting the highest final score as well, giving him a repeat gold medal, the third that he earned in Rome. He qualified in third for the rings, and was able to maintain that spot for another bronze medal. He was #4 going into the pommel horse final, but scored only an 8.95 in that round to fall to 6th place.

In 1962, he won his first and only individual World Championship gold medal, in his specialty, the horizontal bar. The Olympics came to Tokyo in 1964, and even though his skills were diminishing, he was chosen as team captain for the home team, and also recited the Olympic Oath at the opening ceremonies.

The Japanese repeated as gold medalists in the team event that year, earning Ono his 5th career gold medal, and 13 medal overall, which is still a record for any Japanese Olympian. He was the lowest-scoring member of the 6-man Japanese team, but that was still good enough for 11th place in the all-around.

He only qualified for one event final this time, in the horizontal bar, and he was in 3rd place after qualifying, but only scored a 9.3 in the final, finishing in 6th place. He retired soon afterward and began raising a family with his wife, Kiyoko, who had an Olympic bronze medal of her own in gymnastics. He won 2 silver medals in the individual all-around, coming up just short of gold both times, but won 8 other individual medals, and was the best gymnast on the team that started the Japanese dynasty, all of which makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #27 - Vitali Shcherba

Vitali Shcherba

Belarus

Artistic Gymnastics

Overall Ranks

#8 among Gymnasts

#6 among Male Gymnasts

#1 among Belarusian Olympians

Olympic Results

1992

Individual All-Around - Gold

Team - Gold

Vault - Gold

Parallel Bars - Gold

Rings - Gold

Pommel Horse - Gold

1996

Individual All-Around - Bronze

Vault - Bronze

Parallel Bars - Bronze

Horizontal Bar - Bronze

Total

Events - 16

Gold - 6

Bronze - 4

Vitali Veniadziktavich Shcherba (also spelled Scherbo) was born on January 13, 1972 in Minsk, USSR, now part of Belarus. He was trained in the Soviet gymnastic schools as a child, and made his international debut when he was 19 years old at the World Championships, where he won all-around silver, plus 2 more individual silvers and a bronze to go along with team gold.

By the next year, the Soviet Union no longer existed, but he was selected to be part of the Unified Team that represented the former Soviet Union in Barcelona. In the team event, the Unified Team had the highest overall score in all 6 apparatus, and they easily won the gold medal by just more than 5 points over China, giving Shcherba his first gold medal.

Shcherba was the top qualifier in the individual all-around based on his scores from the team event, with the highest score on 4 apparatus. Those scores no longer counted toward the individual all-around, just qualifying, but he had the best score on 3 apparatus in the final, which enabled him to beat his Ukrainian teammate, Hryhoriy Misiutin, for the gold medal by 0.1 points, reversing their places from the previous world championship.

The top 8 on each apparatus in the team event advanced to the individual event finals, with a maximum of 2 per country, and Shcherba qualified for 5 of the 6 event finals, only missing out on the horizontal bar. Previously, final scores were the average of the qualifying and the final performance, but by this point, that had been changed to only count the final performance toward the medal. 

He was the top qualifier in the floor exercise, but on his final pass in his final performance, he stepped out of bounds, and the deduction landed him in 6th place, causing him to miss out on a medal. In the vault, he was the #2 qualifier behind Misiutin, and the final score was determined by the average of 2 vaults in the final. Shcherba had the 2 best vaults of the final, and won the gold medal over Misiutin by 0.75 points, which is a pretty large margin for an individual event.

Shcherba was the top qualifier on the parallel bars, but the favorite was Li Jing of China, who was the two-time world champion, but on his dismount, Li took a step, while Shcherba was able to nail his, scoring a 9.9 to pull off the upset and win his 4th gold medal in Barcelona. He was also the top qualifier on the rings, and after a 9.937 in the final, he took another gold medal, also over Li, this one by 0.62 points.

Shcherba was also the top qualifier in the pommel horse, along with teammate Valery Belenky, but Belenky faltered in the final, and Shcherba posted a 9.925, which ended up tying for the top score in the final with Pae Gil-Su of North Korea, so the two shared the gold medal, with no silver awarded. It was Shcherba's sixth gold medal of the games, and he is still the only gymnast ever to win 6 golds at a single Olympics.

After the Olympics, Shcherba moved to the United State, settling in State College, Pennsylvania, but at that point began competing for his homeland of Belarus, newly independent after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He won 8 gold medals at the World Championships over the next 3 years, including all-around gold in 1993, but he took bronze and silver in the all-around the next two years. He was still an easy choice to represent Belarus in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

In the 1996 team event, the former Soviet republics had most of the best teams, with Russia taking the gold medal, China repeating as silver medalist, and Ukraine coming in bronze. Belarus, despite being much smaller, still managed a 4th place finish, and came in just 0.16 points behind Ukraine for the bronze medal.

Shcherba was the #2 overall qualifier for the individual all-around, thanks to 4 scores among the top 4 in an apparatus. He ended up matching those placements almost exactly in the final, but Li Xiaoshuang of China finished among the top 7 in every apparatus, and moved ahead of everyone else for the gold, and Shcherba ended up winning the bronze medal.

He qualified for 4 of the event finals, all but the rings and the pommel horse, both of which he had won at the last Olympics. He was the number 2 qualifier in the floor exercise, but again had a big mistake in his final routine, and ended up finishing in 7th place. He qualified 4th in the vault, but had won the last gold and 2 recent world championships, so he was a threat to medal. In the final, he had two very good vaults, but was only able to finish in third place, winning another bronze medal.

He was also 4th in qualifying in the parallel bars, but was the defending Olympic and world champion in the event. He received a 9.8 for his final routine, but two others beat that score, and he ended up winning his third bronze. He was the #2 qualifier in the horizontal bar, and again scored a 9.8 in the final, which was again good enough for just a bronze medal.

In 1997, he broke his hand in a motorcycle accident, and retired soon afterward. 20 years later, Tatiana Gutsu, who had been his teammate on the Unified Team in 1992 and had won the women's all-around, accused him of raping her when they were training together in 1991, when he was 19 and she was 15. He has denied the allegations, and no charges were ever filed. 

Shcherba's performance at the 1992 Olympics alone would be enough to put him on this list, as the only gymnast ever to win 6 gold medals at the same Olympics, but coming back to win 4 bronzes in 1996, including one in the all-around, helped move him much higher on the list of the greatest Olympians of all time.

NCAA Football Rankings - 18 Oct

Yesterday was full of upsets, as 5 of my top 10 lost, 4 more struggled in games they should have dominated, and one played a team so weak that even a blowout hurt their ranking. Because nobody in the top 10 played well, there wasn't as much shuffling as you would expect, and Alabama remained in the top spot despite 2 straight losses, which has never happened before in the 17 years that I have been ranking teams. LSU moved up to #4 after a 31-0 shutout of Mississippi State, and Tennessee moved up to #10 after upsetting Alabama, while BYU sits just outside the top 10 after their close win over Notre Dame. Here are my full current rankings:

						Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L
1	1	Alabama	-23.45	5	2	9	3
2	2	Notre Dame	-23.14	6	1	11	1
3	3	Miami	-21.56	6	0	11	1
4	11	LSU	-20.62	5	2	8	4
5	6	Ohio State	-20.4	6	1	10	2
6	4	UCLA	-19.09	6	0	12	0
7	5	Georgia	-17.87	6	1	9	3
8	10	Indiana	-17.71	6	1	10	2
9	7	Houston	-17.21	6	1	10	2
10	21	Tennessee	-16.27	6	1	9	3
11	14	BYU	-16.22	6	0	11	1
12	30	Ole Miss	-16.13	5	1	9	3
13	8	Texas	-15.82	4	2	8	4
14	9	Texas Tech	-15.78	6	0	10	2
15	19	Wake Forest	-14.93	6	1	10	2
16	17	Nebraska	-14.36	5	2	9	3
17	13	Oregon	-14.22	4	2	8	4
18	15	Utah	-13.8	6	0	10	2
19	26	Oklahoma State	-13.25	4	2	9	3
20	24	James Madison	-13.07	7	0	11	1
21	25	Kentucky	-12.84	6	1	9	3
22	18	Boise State	-12.61	5	1	9	2
23	12	Missouri	-12.33	5	2	8	4
24	36	Florida	-12.22	5	2	8	4
25	22	Northwestern	-12.13	5	2	9	4
26	29	Arizona	-10.9	5	1	9	3
27	27	South Carolina	-10.74	3	3	6	6
28	28	Wisconsin	-10.72	3	3	7	5
29	20	Oregon State	-10.66	5	2	8	3
30	45	TCU	-10.6	3	3	7	5
31	37	North Carolina	-10.41	4	2	8	4
32	42	Louisville	-10.33	4	3	7	5
33	16	Mississippi St	-10.25	4	2	8	4
34	31	UCF	-9.829	3	3	7	5
35	40	USC	-9.52	6	1	8	4
36	55	Auburn	-9.198	4	2	7	5
37	23	New Mexico	-9.131	5	1	10	2
38	32	Baylor	-9.098	4	2	7	5
39	35	North Dakota State	-8.061	6	1	10	2
40	33	Pittsburgh	-7.488	5	2	7	5
41	52	Florida State	-7.322	3	4	6	6
42	39	Liberty	-7.289	5	1	10	2
43	48	Iowa	-7.036	5	1	8	4
44	46	Duke	-7.033	4	2	7	5
45	38	Memphis	-6.871	5	2	9	3
46	49	Texas A&M	-6.858	4	3	5	7
47	51	North Texas	-6.784	4	2	8	4
48	34	Oklahoma	-6.133	3	3	5	7
49	47	Clemson	-6.115	4	2	7	5
50	50	Penn State	-5.929	4	3	8	4
51	44	Virginia Tech	-5.148	5	2	7	5
52	43	Georgia State	-4.553	4	2	8	4
53	80	Army	-4.533	4	2	7	5
54	68	Tulsa	-4.467	4	3	7	5
55	69	SMU	-4.378	5	1	8	4
56	62	Kansas State	-4.277	4	2	6	6
57	70	Texas State	-3.803	3	3	6	5
58	82	Louisiana	-3.776	5	2	9	3
59	56	Iowa State	-3.67	3	3	5	7
60	54	Fresno State	-3.398	4	3	6	5
61	57	Air Force	-3.378	5	1	9	3
62	41	Purdue	-3.362	3	4	5	7
63	53	UT San Antonio	-3.235	6	1	9	3
64	66	South Florida	-3.075	5	2	8	4
65	58	West Michigan	-2.636	5	2	9	3
66	86	Louisiana Tech	-2.602	4	2	8	4
67	64	Illinois	-2.396	3	3	5	7
68	59	Michigan	-2.109	4	2	6	6
69	67	Georgia Southern	-1.976	3	4	6	6
70	78	Ohio	-1.767	5	2	9	3
71	76	Navy	-1.686	2	4	5	7
72	73	Michigan St	-1.428	2	5	4	8
73	83	Cincinnati	-1.38	4	2	6	6
74	61	UNLV	-1.361	4	3	7	5
75	74	Virginia	-1.306	4	3	6	6
76	89	Toledo	-0.947	5	2	9	3
77	94	Tulane	-0.797	3	3	6	6
78	84	South Alabama	-0.653	4	2	8	4
79	91	Arkansas	-0.482	3	4	4	8
80	81	Florida Intl	-0.391	3	3	7	5
81	60	Syracuse	-0.384	2	4	4	8
82	72	Kansas	-0.216	2	4	4	8
83	71	Connecticut	-0.052	3	3	6	6
84	101	Washington	0.0152	4	3	5	7
85	79	Jacksonville State	0.3033	5	2	8	4
86	88	Colorado	0.3502	2	4	4	8
87	65	Florida Atlantic	0.4323	4	2	7	5
88	87	West Virginia	0.8116	4	3	5	7
89	63	Maryland	1.1958	2	5	4	8
90	85	Minnesota	1.5572	4	2	5	7
91	99	Arkansas State	2.0676	3	4	6	6
92	105	Georgia Tech	2.4456	2	4	3	9
93	75	California	2.6314	3	4	5	7
94	97	NC State	2.7253	3	3	5	7
95	77	East Carolina	2.8303	3	3	6	6
96	98	San Diego State	3.2432	3	4	5	6
97	100	Arizona State	3.8868	3	3	4	8
98	92	UMass	4.0521	4	3	7	5
99	96	Miami (OH)	4.1027	4	3	6	6
100	104	Kennesaw State	4.5325	1	5	4	8
101	103	Vanderbilt	4.5957	3	4	3	9
102	111	Appalachian St	4.678	4	2	6	6
103	107	Nevada	4.834	2	4	5	7
104	112	UAB	4.9786	4	3	6	6
105	124	Boston College	4.9978	3	3	4	8
106	125	Rutgers	5.0119	2	4	3	9
107	117	West Kentucky	5.0305	3	4	5	7
108	90	Troy	5.2905	3	3	5	7
109	115	Stanford	5.6562	3	4	4	8
110	114	New Mexico St	6.4752	2	4	5	7
111	102	Colorado State	6.7242	2	4	4	7
112	108	Coastal Carolina	6.7926	2	5	3	9
113	119	Buffalo	6.8069	4	3	7	5
114	120	San Jose State	6.9248	4	3	6	7
115	123	Washington St	7.0373	1	6	2	9
116	106	Temple	7.1029	2	5	4	8
117	110	Central Michigan	7.2192	3	4	6	6
118	93	Sam Houston	7.3225	1	5	4	8
119	95	Rice	7.4825	1	6	2	10
120	121	Delaware	8.1668	2	4	4	8
121	122	Utah State	8.2315	2	4	3	8
122	113	Old Dominion	8.3292	2	5	4	8
123	116	Kent State	8.3821	2	5	5	7
124	118	Mid Tennessee	8.4959	3	3	5	7
125	109	Eastern Michigan	8.7045	4	4	5	7
126	127	Ball State	9.3413	2	5	4	8
127	126	Wyoming	9.6471	4	3	5	7
128	131	Missouri State	10.567	2	4	4	8
129	128	Bowling Green	11.357	2	5	3	9
130	129	Southern Miss	11.587	1	5	2	10
131	130	Marshall	12.117	3	3	5	7
132	134	Hawaii	13.204	1	6	3	9
133	138	Charlotte	13.559	1	6	2	10
134	133	Akron	15.061	1	6	2	10
135	132	UTEP	16.457	1	6	2	10
136	135	Northern Illinois	17.138	0	6	2	10
137	136	Louisiana Monroe	18.208	0	6	1	11
138	137	Sacramento State	19.989	1	6	2	10