Day 4 at the London Olympics: Newell's '11 Medal chase comes to an end

Day four at the London Olympic Games was one of the bitter defeat for the lone Harvard alum in competition. Will Newell ’11 and his American boat narrowly missed out on the A final of men’s lightweight four at the Eton Dorney rowing complex. Racing in lane one of the first semifinal, Newell and co. stayed in contention for the first 1,500 meters of the course, alternating between third and fourth place with Germany as Great Britain and Switzerland led the pack.

But in a race where only the top three boats would advance to the A final, a torrid sprint from the Netherlands in lane two left both the Germans and Americans out of contention, as Newell’s boat came in fifth. The Olympics are not over for the USA boat, but the medal chances are. Newell will be racing in the B final on Thursday alongside Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and China.

Yesterday, in women’s basketball action, Temi Fagbenle ’15 and Great Britain missed out on their best chance at winning a game in this, their first ever Olympic basketball competition. After keeping it close against Canada most of the game, the Canadians pulled away in the last minutes of the fourth quarter, getting their first victory in Olympic competition and giving the UK its second loss. The rising sophomore Fagbenle turned in a solid—if not spectacular—performance, registering six points, six rebounds and three assists.

Tomorrow, you can catch Malcolm Howard ’05 and the defending Gold Medalist Canadian eight rowing in the A final of rowing’s most prestigious event, and Brodie Buckland ’06 rowing in the semifinal with his Australian pair. Fagbenle will be back in action, taking on Brazil in Great Britain’s third group game.