'Going to Fly Now...'

The Olys. In a nod to the Rocky's, here are some of the smaller stories
which flew under the radar in London, under the Missy's, Phelps, Kerri's, and lightening Bolts.

1. Claressa Shields. Already featured in a New Yorker piece profiling women's boxing, the 17 year old showed no fear stepping into the world's boxing ring, and ringing up Russian Nadrezda Torlopova to win the gold medal in the middleweight division. Impervious to the rocking sold out arena who had come to see Katy Taylor, the all world pugilist from Ireland, Claressa Shields took care of business and flashed glimmers of pride and hope back to her home town of Flint, Michigan. Hard scrabble life, father in and out of prison, living with an Aunt who stresses education, Shields has been boxing since she was 13 saying she knew it was real: how good she was. How light on her feet, and how the energy flowed from her fists. On the platform, draped with the gold,  her infectious smile for a nano second arced over and lit up the hood in Flint. Yeah, now they all know it was real, baby.

2. Kim Rhode. Bet you a hundie you don't who she is. Give up? Kim is the 1st American athlete to medal in 5 consecutive Oly's. Move over EII, Kim Rhode is the Queen of skeet. Under windy, gray, and drizzly weather, Rhode set an Oly record and tied the world record by nailing 99/100 targets tossed into the unpredictable sky. The road to London has been sketchy. Rhode survived a breast cancer scare, and during the Beijing games her prized custom made gun was ripped from her car. Scrambling to replace the hardware, Kim Rhode shot her way into the record books shooting with another rifle. For relaxation Rhode has been known to build a muscle car or 2. There is longevity in skeet. Rhode might like Rio.

3. David Rudisha, a Kenyan, set a world record in the 800m in a tremendous overpowering display of front running leaving elite middle distance runners in his wake. Three national records, four personal bests, and one season best were etched in the record books. On a night before the mercurial Jamaican, Usain Bolt, would set foot on the track, Rudisha, a Maasai warrior, who began his training on dirt tracks he pick-axed himself electrified London and the world.

4. Jamaican sprinters. Sponsored by the Puma. Instead of the Swoosh. Blitzed and smacked down in London. Just saying...