Literally.

Sam Mikulak performs on the pommel horse during the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Associated Press

"The pommel horse skill was something where I just pushed an old skill to the limits, and just made it more exciting and a little bit more interesting," Mikulak said in a press release. "Having that skill, the Mikulak, in the books forever is something that I can look back on and say that I made a difference in the world of gymnastics. This is one of my biggest honors and it just makes me happy to be a part of (the Code)."

The "Mikulak" is defined as a double scissor with a hop from one end of the horse to the other. The skill begins with forward leg swings and half turn of the body, but ends with backward leg swings. A typical scissor on the pommel horse is a skill where the gymnast performs a pendulum swing with both legs individually, changing sides of the horse at its peak.

Here is a video of Mikulak performing the "Mikulak":

The "Mikulak" is valued as a D skill on a scale from A to F, with F being the most difficult. The 2013-16 "Code of Points" has three scissor skills for pommel horse bearing individual gymnast's names, all with a D value, and it does not have any other single leg scissor skills that have greater than a D value.

Mikulak is the second U-M gymnast in program history to have a skill with their namesake, as Wayne Miller (1966-68) had a skill named after him on trampoline, which is a double back somersault with one and a half twists in the first and one and a half twists in the second.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Allison reacts to the adoring hometown crown in Canton on Tuesday.

Dan Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Fresh off an Olympic performance that saw her captivate the nation and bring home five medals (three gold, one silver and one bronze), Schmitt -- who went to Canton High School but trained in Ann Arbor as a youth and throughout high school -- was anxious to get home to the people that supported her from the beginning.

“I’ve been excited to come home for a while now. I haven’t been home since Christmas,” Schmitt said. “Just being able to come home, this is my favorite place to be. It’s very welcoming place, I feel comfortable here and I love being here.

“With the fans, supporters and friends that are around this town, it’s a great atmosphere to be in.”

Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt at a press conference in Canton.

Dan Brenner | AnnArbor.com

“It hasn’t sunk in. Tomorrow I’m going to have time to relax and it will be the first day to relax since everything has been over. I’m excited for it. It definitely hadn’t sunk in when I stood up and heard the national anthem,” Schmitt said.

Over the past decade, Schmitt has become one of the fastest freestyle swimmers in the world. The beginning of that journey began with the Plymouth/Canton Cruisers. Eventually she started swimming with the Ann Arbor Swim Club, which eventually merged with Club Wolverine.

“All three of those clubs helped me get to where I am today. I’m thankful for all the coaches I had,” Schmitt said. “I’m willing to go back and thank them and help them out in any way I can.”

Although she trained in Ann Arbor, Schmitt still attended school in Canton. Making the trip back-and-forth trip each day was sometimes difficult, a sacrifice her parents were willing to make.

“At times it was very hectic, but we made the commitment to try what they wanted to try and the only requirements were that whatever they started they finished and that they gave all that they had,” said Ralph Schmitt, Allison’s father.

“The support that they’ve given me the past 22 years, giving me opportunities to even be a swimmer, is something that I can’t thank them enough,” Allison said. “Winning a gold medal is not only me, it’s all my support system. Having them there and watching me has been a blessing.”

It was during her time at Club Wolverine that Schmitt began training with fellow Olympian Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman. Through Bowman, she further developed skills and eventually became an Olympian in 2008.

While she had only been out of high school for a couple months, Schmitt trained with Bowman and Phelps in Baltimore to prepare for the Beijing Olympics. Schmitt was a part of the 4X200 freestyle relay team that took bronze in 2008.

Having worked next to Phelps for so long, Schmitt said that she was more nervous to watch him race in London than for her own races.

“He’s a great friend, he is like a brother to me. I think that I see him more as a person and as a brother more than I see him as the most decorated Olympic swimmer,” Schmitt said. “I was able to watch his 200-IM from the stands. I literally jumped over the seats cheering for him.”

Schmitt's time back home will be short-lived as she is set to return to the University of Georgia on Thursday where she will be a senior in the fall, studying psychology. Schmitt has one year of college eligibility remaining and said she'll retain her amateur status.

Schmitt said she plans to continue to swim with the idea of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

“I’m definitely thinking about Rio. I am planning on swimming for four more years. I had a great Olympics this past summer, it was a lot of fun and I want to repeat it."

Matt Durr covers sports for AnnArbor.com.

Ann Arbor resident Jake Herbert, front, reacts after losing his final match of the London Olympics.

Paul Sancya | Associated Press

Herbert, who represented the United States in the 84 kilogram division of the freestyle wrestling competition, won his opening match, but lost in the second round to eventual gold medalist, Sharif Sharifov, of Azerbaijan. A hotly contested scoring decision in the second period ended the match in Sharifov's favor, much to the dismay of Herbert and American coach Zeke Jones, an Ann Arbor native.

USA freestyle wrestling coach and Ann Arbor native Zeke Jones argues a scoring decision during Jake Herbert's match.

Paul Sancya | Associated Press

"That's how the sport is," Herbert said. "It's unfortunate it comes down to that. I wish I could find a more fair way. Some people are going to be in the ref's favor and some aren't. Unfortunately, I'm wearing the United States of America and it's the greatest country in the world. These guys are all mad about that and they have to prove it some other ways."

Sharifov closed out the match in the second period with a six point flurry that had Jones going after officials and resulted in him receiving a yellow card and a near ejection.

Jones challenged a scoring decision after Sharifov was awarded three points and Herbert none following a scramble, believing that Herbert had thrown Sharifov during the scramble and thus deserved points as well.

The challenge couldn't have gone any worse for Herbert as officials not only gave him zero points following video review, but also awarded Sharifov enough additional points to end the period. A six-point differential ends a period in international wrestling which is scored best out of three periods. Herbert had lost the first period and therefore lost the match with the decision.

"I can beat one guy on the mat but not one guy and three officials." said Herbert after the match.

Herbert recently relocated to Ann Arbor to train for the Olympics with the Cliff Keen wrestling club under University of Michigan assistant coach Sean Bormet.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Bormet was more politically correct, but questioned the scoring decision, nonetheless.

"It doesn't make sense," Bormet said. "To get to this point in this level of tournament and have a match decided on a lot of unanswered circumstances is difficult and disappointing."

Because Sharifov advance to the gold medal match, Herbert had a chance for a bronze medal, but later lost in his consolation round opener. Prior to the games Herbert was considered by most prognosticators to be a medal contender.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

Jake Herbert (right), who trains in Ann Arbor at Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, reacts after winning the 84-kilogram freestyle finals match at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials on April 22 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Charlie Neibergall | Associated Press

Jake Herbert says he isn’t concerned with the global audience watching his Olympic wrestling matches, just the man who will be standing in front of him.

“I’m looking at it as four matches, it doesn’t matter who is watching. It doesn’t matter if the whole world is watching," Herbert told AnnArbor.com before leaving for the Summer Games in London. "I’ve got to win that match. If you start focusing on those other factors it can make you nervous and I’m not going to worry about that stuff.”

Those words are said with an intensity that can only come from an athlete who spends his days slamming people to the mat.

Jake Herbert

Associated Press

It was a move that helped Herbert not only become an Olympian, but has put him in a spot to compete for a gold medal. Herbert's 84-kilogram (185 pound) freestyle round of 16 begins at 8 a.m. EST Saturday with the gold medal match scheduled for 2:21 p.m.

"That Michigan group and Cliff Keen Wrestling Club has just done a superb job. Sean Bormet, Joe McFarland, Andy Hrovat, they know what they're doing,” said USA freestyle head coach Zeke Jones, a Huron High School graduate. “There are several world class athletes there and there's just a really good system in place."

The 27-year-old Herbert said the biggest impact the club has made was providing a chance to focus solely on wrestling for the first time since college. The ability to hone in on his training alone was a giant factor in his quest to reach the Olympics.

“It’s so awesome to have a team to train with, and just focus on training full-time. We’re really blessed to have the Cliff Keen club here and everyone who brought it together,” Herbert said. “I have the best guys possible here. It has a great variety and it has everything we need to accomplish our goals.”

One of the guys helping Herbert is Bormet, a Michigan assistant coach and former two-time All-American. A former Wolverine on the mats, Bormet was Herbert’s coach when he took the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships.

LOCAL OLYMPIANS

Visit the AnnArbor.com Olympics page for stories on Olympians with Ann Arbor-area ties. Follow along with Michigan athletes at MLive.com/Olympics.

“He’s much better now than he was in 2009 as an athlete. He’s bigger, stronger,” Bormet said. “The biggest thing is he has a lot more international match experience. He is a lot more familiar with his opponents.”

Herbert is among the medal favorites in his weight class, along with Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan, Anzor Urishev of Russia and Denis Tsargush of Georgia.

“The whole cycle it’s been the same guys, I know the top five guys, but it’s not going to matter because I don’t have to beat them all, I’m going to have to beat whoever is in my way,” Herbert said. “Whoever those people are in front of me, that’s who I have to beat.”

Herbert was in London for the Opening Ceremonies, but the U.S. wrestling team headed to Belarus for one last week of practice immediately after so as to avoid the chaos that surrounds the games.

That’s not to say Herbert hasn't enjoyed his limited time in London. During the ceremonies he took a minute to tweet a photo of himself in the Olympic Stadium.

After that brief night of relaxation, Herbert was back at work focusing in on the four men that stand between him and a gold medal. And for Herbert, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I don’t think there is any point in life where I’m going to look back and think ‘man I worked too hard.’ That hard work is going to come out with a gold medal, or a medal, or a great experience.”

Tournament draw

Following a successful weigh-in on Friday morning in London, Herbert received his draw for the tournament.

Herbert drew the No. 10 spot, and will face Humberto Arencibia of Cuba. Herbert defeated Arencibia in the finals of the 2011 Pan American Games. Arencibia won the 2012 Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Should Herbert win, he will face the winner of the match between Ibrahim Bolukbasi of Turkey and 2011 World champion Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan. Bolukbasi was fifth in the 2011 European Championships. “He has a Cuban in the first round, a guy he wrestled in the Pan American Games. We are very familiar with him. Jake has had great preparation. We had him wrestle a lot of foreigners last week. That will make a big difference. He needed to get that foreign feel in competition. That will pay off at the end,” said Jones.

Matt Durr covers sports for AnnArbor.com.

Huron High School boys water polo coach Justin Thoresen reacts to a save by USA women's water polo goalkeeper and Huron graduate Betsey Armstrong during a gold medal match watch party with members of his team.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

• Related: Betsey Armstrong bringing Olympic gold back to Ann Arbor

After an hour-and-a-half of agony, Huron High School water polo coach Justin Thoresen finally allowed himself a moment of relief.

He clapped his hands loudly and yelled at the television one last time, as if his childhood friend Betsey Armstrong could actually hear him while leading the U.S. women's water polo team to Olympic gold over Spain on Thursday.

Armstrong -- a 2001 Huron graduate -- started in goal for the U.S. and had just wrapped up an 8-5 win, but it seemed as if Thoresen would soon have the gold medal draped around his neck.

"Way to go Bets," Thoresen said with an elated smile on his face, a current crop of Huron boys water polo players joining him in applause. Several team members, having just begun practice for the fall season, gathered at current player Grey Garrett's home to cheer Armstrong and Team USA on to gold.

Betsey Armstrong

Thoresen didn't care, proud to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

"When you have a friend in the Olympics, you'll understand," Thoresen told his players.

Armstrong gave Thoresen and the players plenty cheer about on Thursday and throughout the tournament. After recording the highest save percentage of any goalie in the tournament, including eight saves against Spain, Armstrong was named goalie of the tournament.

She added a punctuation to that in the fourth quarter, saving a penalty shot early in the frame to preserve a 7-2 lead.

Even the "too cool" teenagers couldn't contain themselves after that save, erupting in celebration and missing the Armstrong-led counter attack that resulted in the Americans' final goal.

"It gives me shivers every time I see her play," Thoresen said.

Thoresen -- who was a year behind Armstrong at Huron and played for the same youth clubs growing up -- takes pride in seeing her represent the Ann Arbor water polo community at the highest level.

"It’s almost selfish, but I just feel like she’s an extension of the Ann Arbor polo players and when I see her it just makes me proud that she's representing us," he said.

Huron assistant coach Trevor McIlwaine, who played at Pioneer, recalled scrimmaging against Armstrong during the offseason in high school as the time ticked down to the gold medal match. Not surprisingly, McIlwaine recalled her being who you wanted defending your goal in the co-ed matches.

Though not as nervous as his colleague, McIlwaine shared Thoresen's enthusiasm.

Armstrong won a silver medal with the U.S. in 2008. In an interview immediately after the game when asked if she might attempt to play in the 2016 Rio de Jeneiro Olympics, Armstrong said, "this might be it for me."

It would certainly be a great game to end a career on. In the immediate, she'll join the University of Michigan women's water polo team as an assistant coach, which both Thoresen and McIlwaine see as a huge benefit for the area.

"Having Betsey there is a huge draw ... I'll definitely send our goalies to Michigan's camps," Thoresen said. "Everyone's looking forward to what she'll do at Michigan and for the area."

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

Betsey Armstrong is golden.

The Huron High School and University of Michigan graduate gave a sterling performance Thursday to help the United States women’s water polo team beat Spain, 8-5, in the Olympic gold medal match.

One of only two non-California natives on the U.S. roster, and the only one that didn’t play college water polo there, Armstrong joins her Golden State teammates as the first Americans to win a gold in the sport.

Ann Arbor native Betsey Armstrong, far left, celebrates with United States teammates Lauren Wenger and Maggie Steffens after beating Spain 8-5 in the gold medal women's water polo match at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Thursday.

Associated Press

The Spaniards didn’t beat Armstrong for the third time Thursday until 5:40 remained in the game.

Hopes of another Spain comeback in the final dwindled when Armstrong stopped a penalty shot in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Maggie Steffens scored on the U.S.’s ensuing possession for an 8-2 lead.

The 19-year-old Steffens scored five goals in the game, giving her an Olympic-best 21 for the tournament.

A world power for years, the U.S. had medaled in the women's event at every Olympics since the game debuted in 2000 but had never won gold. It earned silver in Sydney, bronze four years later in Athens and then silver again in Beijing.

Armstrong was in goal in the 2008 final, when the U.S. fell one goal short against the Netherlands in the final of the Beijing Olympics.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Geena Gall advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 800-meter run while two other former Wolverines failed to advance from the semifinals of their events to an Olympic final.

Geena Gall

USA Track & Field

Porter, who won an NCAA championship in the 60-meter hurdles in 2007, is married to former Ypsilanti High School and Michigan standout Tiffany (Ofili) Porter. Representing host Great Britain, she missed reaching the final of the 100-meter hurdles by .08 seconds on Tuesday.

Nicole (Edwards) Sifuentes, who lettered at Michigan from 2005-08, represented Canada in the 1,500 run semifinals and finished 11th in her heat.

Gall finished fourth in her heat of the 800, missing an automatic bid into the semifinals, but advanced with the sixth-fastest time (2:03.85) of the non-automatic qualifiers from six heats.

Fellow Americans Alysia Johnson Montano (2:00.47) and Alice Schmidt (2:01.65) also advanced to Thursday’s semifinals.

Former University of Michigan runner Nick Willis (far right) during the final of the men's 1,500-meter run at the London Olympics on Tuesday. Willis finished ninth.

Sergey Ponomarev | Associated Press

"I did my absolute best. Sorry it was not enough I am very disappointed with myself," Willis said on Sky Sport, a New Zealand television station. Willis, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was the oldest competitor in the field on Tuesday, held an advantageous inside position for much of the race, He never made a charge toward the front in the late stages and he told the Sky Sport station he was tired down the home stretch.

"The other guys ran fantastic in the last lap. I just had nothing. I was totally shot. I should have been able to finish up at that pace but I was tying up over the last 100 something shocking. I am not overly excited about how it went."

LOCAL OLYMPIANS

Tuesday was a busy day for Olympians with ties to the Ann Arbor area. Check out AnnArbor.com's extensive coverage:

• Another Olympic near miss for EMU grad Jamie Nieto
• Ypsilanti native Tiffany Porter misses hurdles final, husband Jeff on to semis
• Olympian Sam Mikulak to have ankle surgery before return to UM
• Betsey Armstrong, U.S. women's water polo reach Olympic title game

Visit the AnnArbor.com Olympics page for stories on Olympians with Ann Arbor-area ties. Follow along with Michigan athletes at MLive.com/Olympics.

Leonel Manzano of the United States took silver in 3:34.79 and Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco earned bronze in 3:35.13.

Willis’ former Michigan teammate Nate Brannen experienced heartbreak two days before in the same event’s semifinal. Brannen, who is from Canada and competed for his home country, fell during his semifinal race and, despite a roaring comeback, failed to make Tuesday’s final. He left the track bloodied and inconsolable after finishing less than four seconds short of qualification for the medal race on Sunday.

Athletics Canada filed a protest in an attempt to get Brannen into the final, but was denied after review of the race tape. In an exclusive interview with TheRecord.com in Kitchener, Ontario, Brannen opened up about his emotions following the heartbreak, calling it “the lowest moment in my life.” (Click here to read the entire article)

“That’s the hardest thing for me to swallow right now. I felt like this was my opportunity to really do something big,” Brannen said. “Had I not made the final because the other guys were faster than me that would be a lot easier to take. But to not be given the chance to run my race, that’s hard for me to take.”

Brannen didn’t rule out trying to make the 2016 games in 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but recognized the difficult road that would lie ahead.

"For me, a chance like this is probably once in a lifetime. To be as fit as I am, to be really ready to go, and to have something like that happen, it’s awful,” he said.

Greco Roman team blanked

The American Greco-Roman wrestling team -- led by long-time coach Steve Fraser, a former All-American at Michigan -- failed to win a medal in Greco-Roman for the first time since the 1976 Montreal Olympics after Justin Lester was knocked out Tuesday.

It wasn't a surprising result. But it still stung for Steve Fraser, who became the first U.S. wrestler to ever win an Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics.

Fraser said the poor showing will force the program to re-evaluate what it's doing.

"It's tough. We're very disappointed because we take a lot of pride in our Greco-Roman program in the United States," Fraser said. "We have to go back to the drawing board and really sit down and talk about some things program-wise and coaching-wise and athlete-wise and development-wise."

Oh Canada

Former Michigan basketball player Krista Phillips scored two points for Canada in a 91-48 loss to the United States in the women's basketball quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Diana Taurasi scored 15 points and Candace Parker added 12 to lead the Americans to a 91-48 rout of Canada on Tuesday and advanced to the semifinals for the eighth straight time.

Eastern Michigan graduate Jamie Nieto clears the bar in the men's high jump final on Tuesday. A tie-breaker pushed Nieto out of third place.

Associated Press

Jamie Nieto's final Olympic appearance ended with another near miss.

The 1999 Eastern Michigan graduate matched a three-way tie for the bronze medal by clearing 2.29 meters (7-feet, 5-inches) at Olympic Stadium in London on Tuesday, but dropped to sixth place because he had more misses.

LOCAL OLYMPIANS

Tuesday was a busy day for Olympians with ties to the Ann Arbor area. Check out AnnArbor.com's extensive coverage:

• Nick Willis fails to repeat medal performance in 1,500 meters and more local Olympic results
• Ypsilanti native Tiffany Porter misses hurdles final, husband Jeff on to semis
• Olympian Sam Mikulak to have ankle surgery before return to UM
• Betsey Armstrong, U.S. women's water polo reach Olympic title game

Visit the AnnArbor.com Olympics page for stories on Olympians with Ann Arbor-area ties. Follow along with Michigan athletes at MLive.com/Olympics.

Nieto missed his first attempt at 2.29 meters. He cleared the height on his second attempt, leaving him among the final eight athletes.

Barshim, Drouin and Grabarz cleared 2.29 meters on their first attempt and all three missed three straight times at 2.33 meters.

Nieto missed twice at 2.33, then passed his third try and skipped up to 2.36 meters in a last-ditch attempt to secure a bronze medal. He missed.

The 2012 EMU athletic hall of fame inductee lost out on an Olympic medal chance in similar fashion in 2004. He tied for third place at the Athens Games, but Jaroslav Baba of the Czech Republic won the bronze medal because he had fewer misses.

In 2008, Nieto finished second at the Olympic trials but did not make the team because he had not reached the Olympic “A” standard. He cleared the standard after the deadline, but his appeal was declined.

The 35-year-old has said that 2012 will be his final year of competition.

Ypsilanti native Tiffany Porter, above, missed the women's 100-meter Olympic final by .08 seconds.

David J. Phillip | Associated Press

Ypsilanti native Tiffany (Ofili) Porter’s Olympic Games came to an end on Tuesday afternoon. Eight hundredths of a second and three places kept Porter, who competes for Great Britain, out of Tuesday afternoon’s final.

LOCAL OLYMPIANS

Tuesday was a busy day for Olympians with ties to the Ann Arbor area. Check out AnnArbor.com's extensive coverage:

• Nick Willis fails to repeat medal performance in 1,500 meters and more local Olympic results
• Another Olympic near miss for EMU grad Jamie Nieto
• Olympian Sam Mikulak to have ankle surgery before return to UM
• Betsey Armstrong, U.S. women's water polo reach Olympic title game

Visit the AnnArbor.com Olympics page for stories on Olympians with Ann Arbor-area ties. Follow along with Michigan athletes at MLive.com/Olympics.

Porter’s hopes to make Tuesday’s 4 p.m. final were temporarily alive as she held the second fastest non-automatic qualifying time after the heat. The top two finishers in each heat automatically qualify for the medal race as well as the two fastest times across all heats.

But in the third and final heat, Canadian Phylicia George and Russian Tatyana Dektyareva finished third and fourth, respectively, with times faster than Porter. Jones and George (12.65) claimed the two non-automatic berths. Americans Dawn Harper (12.46) and Kellie Wells (12.51) won the first and third heats.

Porter is a citizen of both Great Britain and the United States who competes for the country of her mother's birth rather than her own. Porter’s husband, Jeff Porter -- also a former national champion at Michigan -- qualified for the men’s 110-meter hurdles semifinal for the United States on Tuesday morning with a time of 13.53 seconds.

“Tiffany didn't make it through w/ 12.79 but she is & will always be my CHAMP. Love you babe #hurdlingbeyondlimits #running4u," Jeff posted on Twitter after Tiffany's race.

Jeff will compete in the men’s 110 hurdles semifinals Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. with the final scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com.

Great Britain's Tiffany Porter, an Ypsilanti native, competes in a women's 100-meter hurdles heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012.

David J. Phillip | Associated Press

Competing in the first heat of the women's 100-meter hurdles preliminaries, Porter took third place with a time of 12.79 seconds and secured a spot in Tuesday's semifinal.

Porter -- a citizen of both Great Britain and the United States who competes for the country of her mother's birth rather than her own -- received a rousing ovatation from the partisan home crowd at London's Olympic Stadium prior to her heat. If any host country supporters had lingering animosity for Porter, who prior to the games was vilified in the British tabloids for not being a 'True Brit', it was heavily drowned out by fans in her corner.

Porter started out of the blocks strong and led for most of the race before being caught at the end by Belarusian Alina Talay and Canadian Jessica Zelinka.

LOCAL OLYMPIANS

Visit the AnnArbor.com Olympics page for stories on Olympians with Ann Arbor-area ties. Follow along with Michigan athletes at MLive.com/Olympics.

"It's fine, I'm very confident and I will go out there and do my very best," Porter said of the injury to The Independent.

"It was very comfortable. The objective was just to qualify and get through to the next round and I did that," Porter said. "I have been very anxious and nervous but I am fine and very confident for the rest of the competition."

Porter -- who won seven state championships in her high school career at Ypsilanti High School and five NCAA titles in her college career at the University of Michigan from 2006-10 -- will compete in the semifinals at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday with the top eight finishers advancing to a 4 p.m. final. Porter had the eighth fastest qualifying time in preliminaries.

Americans Lolo Jones, Kellie Wells and defending Olympic champion, Dawn Harper all advanced to the semifinals as well with Jones and Wells each winning their respective heats. Australian Sally Pearson, the defending world champion and medal favorite, had the fastest qualifying time in preliminary history, clocking a 12.57.

Porter's husband Jeff Porter -- also a former national champion at Michigan, who competes in the 110-meter hurdles for the United States -- will compete in his first preliminary race on Tuesday at 5:10 a.m.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

Ann Arbor middle-distance runner Nick Willis qualified for the Olympic finals of the 1,500-meter run. His old college teammate wasn’t as fortunate.

Willis, who trains with former Michigan coach Ron Warhurst at The Running Institute and is representing his native New Zealand at the Games, finished third in the second of two semifinal runs at Olympic Stadium in London to advance to Tuesday’s final.

Nick Willis

U-M athletics

Video replays show Willis and Brannen -- who ran together at Michigan from 2003-05 -- among a pack of runners when Brannen attempted to get to the outside of the track and stumbled.

Willis' post-race reaction on Twitter focused only on his former teammate: "Have a heavy heart (f)or my close mate, Nathan Brannen, who was tripped in front of me," Willis wrote. "Brutal sport this can be."

Willis, who won a silver medal in the event at the 2008 Games in Beijing, finished his semifinal in 3 minutes, 34 seconds.

“It’s not easy running 3:34. Semifinals, it’s hard,” Willis told the New Zealand Herald. “But I’m through safely and very happy.”

Nieto advances in high jump

Former Eastern Michigan high jumper Jamie Nieto was one of three Americans to advance to the Olympic finals.

The 1999 EMU graduate finished fifth in his preliminary group Sunday with a jump of 2.26 meters (7-foot, 5-inches). Six athletes cleared 2.29 meters, including Americans Erik Kynard and Jessie Williams.

The finals will be held Tuesday at Olympic Stadium in London.

Nieto has had a series of near-misses in his Olympic career. His 7-foot-8 effort at the 2004 Games tied him for third place, but Jaroslav Baba of the Czech Republic won the bronze medal because he had fewer misses.

In 2008, Nieto finished second at the Olympic trials but did not make the team because he had not reached the Olympic “A” standard. He cleared the standard after the deadline, but his appeal was declined.

The 35-year-old has said that 2012 will be his final year of competition.

Ann Arbor native Betsey Armstrong makes a save during the United States' 9-6 win against Italy in a women's water polo quarterfinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Sunday.

Associated Press

Ann Arbor native Betsey Armstrong made 13 saves to lead the United States women's water polo team to a 9-6 win over Italy in an Olympic quarterfinal match on Sunday.

Italy capitalized on an American penalty in the first 15 seconds of the game on its way to a quick 2-0 lead. From there, goals were at a premium for the Italians at the Water Polo Arena in London.

The U.S. led 6-3 by halftime and Italy wouldn't get within two goals in the second half.

Betsey Armstrong makes one of her 13 saves during the United States' 9-6 win over Italy on Sunday.

Associated Press

Armstrong, a Huron High School and University of Michigan graduate, shifted the credit to the defense played in front of her.

"My defense was tight and I did really well because of them, they set it up for me," she said. "We were great. We were tight everywhere as a team. It was a lot of fun."

Melissa Seidemann scored three goals and Brenda Villa and Kelly Rulon each scored twice for the U.S., which faces a semifinal showdown with fellow gold medal favorite Australia on Tuesday.

The Aussies beat China in a high-scoring match, 20-18.

"They are the most talented team here," U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said of Australia. "They are big, strong physically, swim fast, shoot well, good goalies, they don't have any weaknesses."

Quarterfinal results
Hungary 11, Russia 10
Australia 20, China 18
United States 9, Italy 6
Spain 9, Britain 7

Tuesday's schedule
Classification: Italy vs. China, TBA Classification: Russia vs. Britain, TBA Semifinal: United States vs. Australia, TBA Semifinal: Hungary vs. Spain, TBA

Thursday's schedule:
Seventh Place, 9:30 a.m.
Fifth Place, 10:50 a.m.
Bronze Medal, 1:40 p.m.
Gold Medal, 3 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Connor Jaeger

U-M athletics

Jaeger, who has only been training for the long-distance event for two years, finished in 14:52.99, less than a second off his personal-best time (14:52.51) set at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Ryan Cochrane of Canada (14:39.63) and Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia (14:40.31) won silver and bronze medals, respectively.

As a freshman at Michigan in 2010-11, Jaeger focused on the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events. His third event was the 200 butterfly.

“After that first collegiate season, my coach (Mike Bottom) and I thought it was a smart idea to train for the 1,650 instead, the collegiate version of this event,” Jaeger told USA Swimming after his semifinal race. “So since then I've been playing catch-up in training."

The 21-year-old caught up quickly, finishing third in the mile at the NCAA Championships last March in 14:35.14, the fifth-fastest time in U-M history.

A personal-best time wasn’t enough to advance former Eastern Michigan track and field athlete Eric Alejandro into the 400-meter hurdles final.

Alejandro, representing Puerto Rico, finished seventh in his semifinal heat with a time of 49.15 seconds.

Eastern Michigan’s other Olympian, United States high jumper Jamie Nieto, competes in preliminary rounds on Sunday.

According to EMUEagles.com, Eastern Michigan has had a track representative at every Summer Games since 1960.

Bestey Armstrong

U.S. Water Polo

The game will air live on NBC.

After three preliminary-round games, the Olympic format now turns to an eight-team, single-elimination tournament.

"The nice thing about playing the quarterfinal now is you know that it's do or die, and you know you don't have tomorrow," U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said after 7-6 win over China on Friday. "So this team typically plays a little better when they're faced with a little pressure, a little adversity, and I'm excited to see what we can do in two days."

The Americans wrapped up the preliminary round unbeaten (2-0-1), but finished second in Group A behind Spain based on a tiebreaker. Italy finished third in Group B.

The U.S. has played Italy twice this year, winning both matches by a combined score of 32-12.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

China used a power play goal and a penalty shot to take a 3-1 lead with 3:31 left in the second quarter. The U.S. scored the next five goals, however, to lead 6-3 early in the fourth quarter.

Armstrong stopped a last second, full-tank shot at the horn to preserve the victory.

"We messed up a lot in the beginning of the match and missed many opportunities," coach Adam Krikorian told USA Water Polo. "But it is important that we found some momentum and we became much better offensively in the second half."

The U.S. (2-0-1) finished the preliminary round even with Spain (2-0-1) at the top of Group A with five points, but Spain earned the top spot because of the tiebreaker, making the Americans the group's second-seeded team for the knockout stage.

The U.S. will play 2012 European champion Italy in Sunday's quarterfinals.

China finished the group stage winless and will play Group B winner Australia in the quarterfinals.

Michael Phelps acknowledges the audience after he won the gold in the 100-meter butterfly on Friday.

Associated Press

Seventh at the turn, an Olympic champion at the end. Make it 17 gold medals for Michael Phelps.

What a way to go out in the final individual race of his career.

Phelps was next-to-last when he touched the wall at the far end of the pool in the 100-meter butterfly but in a familiar position when he made the touch that counted Friday — his name atop the leaderboard, a smile on his face, another gold medal around his neck.

"I'm just happy that the last one was a win," Phelps said. "That's all I really wanted coming into the night."

The former Michigan volunteer assistant coach and Club Wolverine member claimed his third gold of the London Games and 17th of his career, adding to an already absurd record total that should be twice as much as anyone else by the time he swims the final race of his career, the 4x100 medley relay Saturday night.

The Americans are huge favorites in a race they have never lost, and it's unfathomable to think the Phelps era could end with anything less than a performance that puts him atop the podium one last time.

Willis, Brannen advance in 1,500

Former Michigan teammates Nick Willis (New Zealand) and Nate Brannen (Canada) both qualified for the semifinal of the 1,500-meter run.

Willis, who ran at Michigan from 2003-05, won the third preliminary heat in a time of 3 minutes, 40.92 seconds. Brannen, a Michigan letterwinner in 2002-05, ran a faster time (3:39.95), but finished fifth in the second heat. The top six runners from each of three heats on Friday advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.

Willis, who was born and raised in Lower Hutt, New Zealand and now resides in Ann Arbor, told reporters the slower heat means good things for the semifinal round.

“My legs lacked zip but they will be better for the blowout,” he said, according to stuff.co.nz.

Alejandro qualifies for 400 hurdles semis

Eric Alejandro, one of two former Eastern Michigan track stars competing in the Olympics, had the 20th-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles prelims. That earned Alejandro - who is representing Puerto Rico - a spot in the semifinals, which will be run at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Another former Eagle, U.S. high jumper Jamie Nieto, kicks off his Olympics with Sunday’s qualifying round.

Previous results

Kara Lynn Joyce loses Olympic swim-off, fails to reach 50 free semifinals; Connor Jaeger qualifies for 1,500 final

Phelps and Cavic both qualified for the 100 fly final on Thursday and will square off Friday at 2:38 p.m. in the final in what Phelps -- a former University of Michigan volunteer coach and Club Wolverine member -- has said will be his final competitive individual race.

A photo finish in Beijing gave Phelps gold on his way an historic eight, while Cavic unsuccessfully protested the decision and became just as famous for his outspoken nature as his ability in the pool.

Cavic told the Detroit News that his experience as Phelps' rival changed his life. The outspoken Serb -- who completed his Olympic raining at Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor with Serbian national coach and current Michigan coach Mike Bottom -- said that he's confident in his ability, but has also learned not to underestimate Phelps, who with 20 medals (16 gold) is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history.

"I think I am in position to do something great," Cavic, said.

But, he added of Phelps, the gold medal favorite, "It is never worth underestimating that man. He is capable of anything."

• Read the full story Detroit News story.

Kara Lynn Joyce

AnnArbor.com file photo

Smith won the swim-off in 24.82, with Joyce finishing in 25.16.

The 50 freestyle was the only race of these Games for Joyce, a three-time Olympian. She won two silver medals on U.S. relay teams while becoming one of U.S. Swimming's biggest names, but has not won an individual medal.

She finished fifth in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and was sixth in the 50 four years ago in Beijing.

One swimmer with Ann Arbor ties was on the winning side of a close call Friday at the London Aquatics Centre. University of Michigan junior Connor Jaeger had the eighth-best qualifying time in the 1,500-meter freestyle, earning the final spot for Saturday's final.