Grainger and U.S. coach Chris Walker missed the 4:40 shuttle
bus from the Athletes’ Village to the Squash venue
and nearly missed the match, arriving just minutes before
the 7:30 p.m. start.
Once they arrived at the venue, Grainger didn’t miss
much of anything.
Grainger was nearly flawless, running down everything in
sight along with excelling with her superior power and precision
shot-making ability in a 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 win over Miller on
Monday night at the Miecimo da Silva Sport Complex. The
match was over in less than 20 minutes.
“It is awesome to win this – I’m really,
really excited to win a gold medal for the United States,”
said Grainger, who grew up in South Africa and became a
U.S. citizen in February. “I know I was the No. 1
seed and I was expected to win, but it feels great to actually
produce the goods. This is a tournament I’ve been
looking forward to for a long time. I’m really, really
pleased to be able to do it.”
American Julian Illingworth, who won two huge matches Sunday
to reach the final round, finally saw his magical run end
in Monday’s gold-medal finals. Mexico’s Eric
Galvez used his cat-like quickness to sweep Illingworth
9-0, 9-4, 9-7 in the finals late Monday night.
As for Grainger, her trip to the venue was much more eventful
than her match.
Grainger, Walker and U.S. team physician
Andrew Hunt actually arrived a few minutes early for the
4:40 bus at the Athletes’
Village, but it inexplicably had already taken off. Scrambling
to find a solution, they contacted a U.S. Olympic Committee
official. They were instructed by the USOC to walk back
from the bus area of the Athletes’ Village to the
international zone. Once there, they would get in a car
that would take them to the venue.
After arriving in the international zone, the player, coach
and physician waited another 20 minutes before the car arrived
at 5:25. By that time, rain was pouring down and the Rio
traffic had slowed down to a crawl like New York City or
Los Angeles in rush hour. The bus ride from the Village
to the Squash venue normally takes about 90 minutes.
They still were in good shape to make it to the venue until
their driver, who spoke only Portuguese, accidentally took
them to the Field Hockey venue. The driver then made a phone
call to get directions to the Squash venue. After a couple
more wrong turns and a couple more calls by the driver,
Grainger, Walker and Hunt arrived at the venue around 7:15.
“Thank God for the USOC bailing us out – they’ve
been unbelievable to us on the trip. We can’t thank
them enough for their help today and their support the whole
time we’ve been here. They’ve been fantastic,”
Walker said. “I wasn’t really that worried until
we ended up at the Field Hockey stadium. Natalie is an experienced
player and we’ve dealt with situations in other countries
where things don’t go exactly according to plan. She
was fine and she kept her focus and didn’t panic.”
Grainger was asked just how concerned she was about possibly
missing the finals match.
“Oh my God, it was pretty scary,” Grainger said.
“The bus left before 4:40 and by the time we got down
there the bus was gone. We couldn’t believe it. The
USOC really came through, getting us a car. I was kind of
nervous because it was raining and we were stuck in traffic
and we weren't moving. I was stretching in the car and trying
to get myself ready. It was a pretty wild trip. I basically
got out of the car and ran into the venue to compete. It
was pretty nerve-racking and stressful. Thank God everything
worked out.”
Miller wasn’t sure what was going to happen after
Grainger missed the 4:40 bus, which Miller was on.
“I knew Natalie didn’t make the bus that she
wanted to make,” Miller said. “But I also knew
she would be resourceful enough to figure out a way to get
here. I knew it would work out for her.”
Miller credited Grainger, who is ranked fifth in the World,
for her dominating performance.
“Natalie is playing at such a high level right now,”
Miller said. “She was just too strong for me. It wasn’t
my night.”
Walker came away impressed as well.
“Natalie is one of the top players in the World,”
Walker said. “and tonight you saw why.”
Team play also started Monday morning. The U.S. women rolled
to a 3-0 win over Columbia as Grainger, Michelle Quibell
and Latasha Khan each rolled to straight-set victories in
pool play.
“It looks like Canada has a real tough team and it
should be a real good challenge against them,” Grainger
said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge
in the team competition and we’re going to go for
another gold medal.”
The U.S. men begin team competition Tuesday morning.
MONDAY’S MEDALISTS
Women’s singles
Gold – Natalie Grainger (USA)
Silver – Alana Miller (Canada)
Bronze – Runa Reta (Canada)
Bronze – Samantha Teran (Mexico)
Men’s singles
Gold – Eric Galvez (Mexico)
Silver –Julian Illingworth (USA)
Bronze – Miguel A. Rodriguez (Colombia)
Bronze – Shawn Delierre (Canada)
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Women’s singles gold medal match - Natalie Grainger
(Washington, D.C.) dec. Alana Miller (Canada) 9-1, 9-0,
9-1
Men’s singles gold-medal match - Eric Galvez (Mexico)
dec. Julian Illingworth (Portland, Ore.) 9-0, 9-4, 9-7
Women’s team play - USA 3, Columbia 0
1. Natalie Grainger (Washington, D.C.) dec. Silvia Angulo
9-0, 9-0, 9-0
3. Michelle Quibell (Washington, D.C.) dec. Catalina Pelaez
9-2, 9-1, 9-3
2. Latasha Khan (Seattle, Wash.) dec. Maria Isabel Restrepo
9-2, 9-0, 10-8
