Olympic Obsession: Day 13

A good part of Thursday was dedicated to the women of the United States.

From the gold medals won by the water polo and soccer teams to the semifinal victories of the volleyball and basketball teams, Day 13 was pretty darn good to some of our top female athletes.

But all of them were paled story-wise by a 17-year-old girl from Flint, Mich.

All you really have to do in the United States is say the name Flint and you know immediately what comes with living in that part of the country. Once a home to numerous automotive industry jobs, the town fell apart as GM closed up shop, putting 30,000 people out of work – famously documented by Michael Moore in 1989.

Claressa Shields lives in that world. A world populated with drug dens and people who believe they have no future. She has a father who has been in and out of prison all her life.

And now, she’s an Olympic gold medalist. Not just a gold medalist, but also a historic one at that.

Shields became the first American woman to win a gold medal in women’s boxing – the first time the discipline has been contested at the Olympics. She also became the second youngest American gold medalist in boxing, period.

Watching her after being declared the winner and then on the medal stand, you could see the joy, pride and overwhelming sense of disbelief on her face.

Not only did she win, she won with style and a youthful swagger. Using her speed to dodge a series of punches from opponent Nadezda Torlopova of Russia, she stuck her tongue out at her opponent.

It was a difficult Olympics for the U.S. boxing team. It left with only two medals – both from women (Marlen Esparza won a bronze Wednesday). Boxing, with its long history of confusing titles, different governing bodies and corruption, has been supplanted in this country by MMA fighting.

But with this 17-year-old’s gold medal (completing Flint’s medal case, after Chris Byrd won a silver in 1992 and Andre Dirrell won bronze in 2004), might help spark interest in the sport again in gyms across the country.

And if the guys want to go fight in the cage, well, then maybe the girls will take over the ring.

HOLDING ON: You could see the American women were tired. They had survived a mentally and physically grueling match against Canada on Monday. To have to come back three days later and play the defending World Cup champs was going to be a daunting task.

But somehow, some way, the U.S. Women’s National soccer team was able to hold off a patient Japanese team that threw everything but the kitchen sink at the American goal.

and I counted at least three shots the American defense cleared off the line. Hope Solo made two spectacular saves to help her team stay in the lead. And, again, they got the right breaks on a potential handball.

Was it a handball? Well, no, because the referee didn’t call it. Should it have been? Probably, yeah.

What we’ve seen over the last three years (two World Cups and an Olympic tournament) is that soccer – long derided in this country as a “slow” game – is getting to be too fast for its officials.

It wasn’t long ago that the only calls the linesmen would make would be offside and out-of-bounds. They were renamed “assistant referees” a few years back, deputized to make more foul calls. You have the fourth official who handles substitutes and helps keep time. Some leagues have even added goal judges.

But all those helpers can’t overcome the fact that person in the middle is charged with making the most decisions on fouls – and can’t see everything at once. The NHL uses two referees and two linesmen (and they don’t always get it right, either). But is it time for FIFA and soccer to start thinking about adding a second on-field referee?

Oh, and credit where it's due. NBC Sports Network did a fabulous job of covering the game, from an extended pregame show to staying live with it through the medal ceremony. They treated it as the big event it was. At over 80,000 people, it was the largest crowd for a women's soccer game ever in Europe, and in Olympic history.

OTHER WINS: The win by the U.S. women’s water polo team was the first gold medal for the squad. They got five of their nine goals from Maggie Steffens, -- whose older sister Jessica was one of her teammates, and previously won a silver medal in 2008. The U.S. beat Spain, 8-5.

The Americans had some success on the track as well, earning the top two spots in two events on Thursday. Ashton Eaton beat out Trey Hardee for the title of world’s greatest athlete by topping the decathlon field. It’s the first time since 1956 that Americans had the top two spots on the medal stand (thanks Dan and Dave). Meanwhile Christian Taylor and former college teammate Will Claye took the top two spots in the triple jump.

One of the wins that got the biggest play throughout the day was the historic run by Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprinter cemented his place among the all-time sprint greats by winning the 200 meters. It was the first time ever an athlete won the 100 and 200 meters in back-to-back Games.

ONE OTHER THING: While these Olympics have been dubbed the Social Media Games, it has also spawned a subtitle: The Tabloid Games.

Another athlete – a Belgian cyclist -- was sent home after being photographed leaving a club looking drunk and disoriented.

The 20-year-old cyclist joins a long list of athletes who have been sent home from these games for various infractions – from racist tweets to eating pot brownies.

It’s partially a byproduct of where the Games are being held. London is a bustling metropolis with plenty of clubs and places to party, especially when you compare it to somewhere like Beijing or even Athens. There have been reports and photos of athletes out on the town having a good time once their events are done. And considering England’s glut of tabloids, well, pictures have been everywhere.

Oh, man, can you imagine what the party is going to be like in Rio in 2016.

UPCOMING: The U.S. men’s basketball team has a rematch from pool play with Argentina, with the winner playing for the gold medal. The Argentineans won the gold in 2004 that led to a stepped up commitment from USA basketball. Tip off is 1 p.m. Russia and Spain will play in the other semi starting at 9 a.m. The 4x400 meter relay will be raced on the track, with South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius getting one more shot to run at these Games after his team were granted a spot in the finals after being interfered with during their prelim race. The U.S. team got into the final despite Manteo Mitchell feeling his leg break during his leg Thursday. That goes off at 1:20 p.m., forty minutes after the women’s 4x100 relay. The Americans qualified for that race by nearly setting an Olympic record. Japan or South Korea will win the first Asian soccer medal in 44 years when they play in the bronze medal game at 11:45 a.m. And the BMX finals will be raced Friday, with the women starting at 8:30 a.m., and the men at 8:40 a.m.