Alia Atkinson swims in the Final of the 100m Breastroke tonight with the 5th fastest time of 1:06.52.
What exactly are Alia’s chances to medal in the event?
Let us recap the London 2012 Olympics where she came 4th with a time of 1:06.93.
Rūta  Meilutytė of Lithuania is currently the World Record holder. She set the World record of 1:02.36 at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Moscow. Of the medallists in London 2012, she is the only one that has returned to the Finals in Rio.
At the London 2012 Olympics, she was just 15 years old. By age 17, she was the first and only to win all possible swimming titles in all age groups.
She has been looking pretty consistent over the years at the different European Championships with times of 1.04.35 etc. She also edged out Alia at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan taking the silver and Alia, bronze.
How did she look in the Semis in Rio?
How did the others look in Alia’s Semi Final?
So, the questions are, how fast can Lilly King, Shi  Jinglin, Katie Meili and Yulia Efinova really go? And what kind of shape is World record holder, Rūta  Meilutytė in? Has she just been taking it easy? Has Alia just been taking it easy as well?
Because Alia is also capable of swimming as fast as RÅ«ta, which I don’t believe the others have proven just yet. Alia won the gold at the World Championships in DOHA 2014, beating RÅ«ta who got the silver. Alia not only won the gold but equalled RÅ«ta’s World record time of 1:02.36, which is now her Personal best.
If Alia swims even just a second slower than her Personal best in the Finals tonight, she is contention of not only an Olympic medal but that Olympic Gold medal.
Let’s go Alia! Strive for GOLD. You can do it!
In other RIO 2016 News,
GYMNASTICS:
Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Williams took Jamaican Gymnastics to the world, ending her floor routine with the famous Usain Bolt, ‘To di Worl’ pose. However she did not make it to the next round. Her weakest event was the uneven bars but she had a strong vault with 14.1 being her highest score. Great floor routine but low degree of difficulty, which factors into the scoring. The beam was ok for her as well. She remains in good spirits hoping she encouraged others from Ja and will see Gymnastics improve in Jamaica. Well tried Toni-Ann, you made history and made Jamaica proud.
TENNIS
Juan MartÃn del Potro of Argentina upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic from Serbia with a 7-6(4), 7-6 (2) win after being stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes before the match. The power went out, he had no phone signal and had no choice but to yell for help. He was rescued by his Argentinian handball team, nicknamed, ‘The Gladiators’.
Juan’s biggest accomplishment was winning the 2009 US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the Semifinal and Roger Federer in the Final.
