Ladies and gentlemen, Leslie Jones arrived at the Olympics and she is PUMPED!
NBC invited the actress and comedian to join their broadcast efforts after she went viral for her enthusiastic couch cheering.
She took in some gymnastics and then watched some swimming.
She was joined by some other celebs, including Matthew McConaughey – he’s waaaay in the back.
Speaking of swimming, American Simone Manuel made history when she became the first black woman to win an individual Olympic swimming event. She tied for first in the 100m freestyle with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak in a time of 52.70 seconds – an Olympic record.
How often does a tie for gold happen in Olympic swimming? Twice, ever.
The historical significance was not lost on many
Many were not pleased that NBC didn’t air her medal ceremony live. They showed it about an hour later on tape, which is how NBC airs much of its prime time coverage.
Oleksiak set some records of her own, she’s the first Canadian to win four swimming medals at an Olympic Games. She was in 7th place halfway through the race – talk about a comeback.
Back to the gymnastics, the US took home the gold and silver in the women’s all-around final. Simone Biles won gold and Aly Raisman won silver – redemption for her after London 2012. The two women were each others’ biggest cheerleaders throughout the competition.
There were also a few Olympic firsts on Thursday. Golfer Justin Rose hit the first ever Olympic hole-in-one:
And tiny island nation Fiji dominated Great Britain to win the gold in rugby sevens.
It seems like the whole country paused to watch the game Thursday.
There were also at least one potential Olympic “last” during the day’s events. Thursday marked the last time Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will likely compete against each other at an Olympic event.
Canadian announcer Elliot Friedman had one job for the day– call the swimming races as they happened. Sometimes though, it’s the simplest things that are the hardest. Friedman confused his lanes during the men’s 200m individual medley. The poor guy thought Lochte took home the gold when it was really Phelps.
Even thought he apologized immediately afterward, it was a moment made for Twitter.
Not be be outdone by Leslie Jones, astronaut Buzz Aldrin is having a great time in Rio as well: