Olympics are full of exciting stories

Drama.
What would sports be without a little bit of drama?
A week into the Summer Olympics and there has already been enough excitement and commotion in Rio to leave the sports world buzzing. There are still a number of sports that haven’t started competing yet either.
Track cycling, badminton and golf begin today. Starting Friday are track and field and trampolining. Synchronized swimming and wrestling kick off Sunday, and sprint canoeing starts Monday. Wednesday marks the beginning of BMX biking and taekwondo, with triathlon and modern pentathlon starting the next day. Mountain biking is the last event to start, beginning Aug. 20.
Here are a few observations of the first seven days of competition.

Domination
Any time Michael Phelps dives into the pool it’s a spectacle. The Baltimore native on Tuesday won his record 20th and 21st gold medals, solidifying his reign as the most decorated Olympian in history. For perspective, there are 79 countries whose total medal count does not equal the number of gold medals won by Phelps. He’s still got a shot at three more at this year’s Games.
Perhaps the most dominating performance in the pool so far came from fellow American Katie Ledecky, who on Sunday left the field in her wake en route to a world record in the 400-meter freestyle. The 19-year-old Ledecky swam to a time of 3 minutes, 56.46 seconds, beating the Olympic record she set during the prelims. In the final, Ledecky touched the wall, looked at her time and celebrated her new record before anyone else in the pool finished — silver medalist Jaxmin Carlin of Great Britain was nearly five seconds behind Ledecky.
The USA men’s basketball team is, as expected, blowing through the competition so far in Rio. The Americans are undefeated through their first three games, with a point differential of plus-111. USA defeated China 119-62 on Saturday before depositing Venezuela 113-69 two days later.
Wednesday, the United States was finally challenged, but prevailed over Austraila 98-88, during a game in which Carmelo Anthony passed LeBron James as the highest-scoring American Olympian in history. The Americans — they’ve won each of the last two gold medals — finish group play with Serbia on Friday and France on Sunday. Quarterfinals begin Tuesday.

Feel-good
What are sports without a storyline that makes you feel good?
First is the Refugee Olympic Team that, as it should have, received the biggest ovation during opening ceremonies on Friday night. There are 10 members of the team who are competing under the Olympic flag. Half of them originate from South Sudan, with two each from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria and one from Ethiopia. Six of them are track athletes, so they have not begun Olympic competition just yet, but the other three did not earn hardware. Nevertheless, the fact the International Olympic Committee gave these 10 athletes a chance to compete can pave the way for future refugees to participate in the Olympics.
Different from the Refugee Olympic Team is the Independent Olympic Athletes. The IOA is a group of seven athletes who are from various countries that have been banned by the IOC. Fehaid Al-Deehani, a military man from Kuwait, earned a shooting gold medal in men’s double trap, becoming the first IOA gold medalist.
American boxer Gary Russell comes from a boxing family. His bloodline includes a host of amateur and professional accomplishments, but the Russells — his father and five brothers all share the same first name — had never won an Olympic bout. That is, until Monday. The 20-year-old Russell won by unanimous decision to help the Americans to a 6-1 record so far at the Games, more wins than it had in London in 2012.
Kosovo made its Olympic debut in Rio, and it took four days for one of its eight athletes to medal. Majlinda Kelmendi, a decorated judoka, claimed the gold medal on Sunday in the 52 kg (114 pounds) event.

Controversies
What is an Olympics without a bit of controversy?
Leading up to the Games the focus was on Zika and the poor water quality. Since then, a few more instances have caused a ruckus, mostly on social media.
The water polo and diving pools are located outdoors. Over the course of the last couple days the diving pool has gone from crystal clear water to a shade of green. Initially thought of as an algae bloom, Olympic officials say it is from a change in alkalinity.
Indiana University student Lilly King took a jab at Russia’s Yulia Emifova after the prelims of the 100-meter breaststroke. King, who later went on to win the gold medal in the event, said “… You’ve been caught drug cheating. I’m not a fan,” to television reporters following her preliminary swim. She later went on to criticize all athletes who have been found guilty of cheating — including fellow American track sprinter Justin Gatlin — and said they should not compete in the Olympics.

We’re not even to the midway point of the Summer Olympics just yet and there’s been a number of exciting events in Rio. With a handful of competitions still to begin, there is sure to be more dominating performances, feel-good stories and even another controversy or two.