The media blitz by U.S. Olympians on the talk show circuit continued last night, with the five members of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team appearing on CBS’ “Late Show.” The five athletes sat down on a couch instead of chairs, prompting CBS’ David Letterman to say he “spent all day at IKEA.” MCKAYLA MARONEY said of breaking her toe at the Olympics, “When you’re at the Olympics, you can kind of ignore your pain.” Letterman asked about preparing for a competition, “You don’t drink coffee before?” Maroney, referencing USA Gymnastics sponsor Kellogg’s, said, “We eat Corn Flakes.” ALY RAISMAN added, “That is the secret to our success.” Letterman: “She’s figured something out, hasn’t she?” Letterman said, “I don’t get the (balance) beam. I think that should be outlawed.” Maroney: “I kind of agree with you.” Letterman asked, “There’s no trapeze involved here, is there?” Meanwhile, Maroney discussed a popular picture taken following her receiving the Silver Medal for the vault in which she looks less than pleased. She said, “It is pretty funny.” Letterman asked, “Is this an expression that comes to you frequently in life?” Maroney: “After I did it, the girls keep pointing it out, like, ‘You’re doing the face again’” (“Late Show,” CBS, 8/14).
THE GOLD STANDARD: Wrestler JORDAN BURROUGHS was on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” and host Jay Leno introduced Burroughs by saying, “You always hear about swimming and gymnastics at the Olympics, but sometimes other sports get overlooked. But not tonight.” Leno asked, “Where’s your medal? Did you bring it?” Burroughs: “I keep it in my back pocket.” Leno replied, “That’s very cool, keeping it in your pocket.” Burroughs said his Twitter name is “@alliseeisgold” and Leno added, “That's very cool, but some people (say), ‘Oh, that seems kind of stuck up.’” Burroughs: “It’s just a confidence level. I hold myself to a high standard, so every time I compete, I expect to win.” Leno said, “Now you've won, did you splurge? We had GABBY DOUGLAS here last night. She splurged, she bought herself an Egg McMuffin right after she won. Did you do anything?” Burroughs: “I splurged. I bought myself a double cheeseburger from McDonald's … (and) used my Gold Medal to get to the front of the line at McDonald’s.” After hugging his mom in the stands after winning the Gold Medal, Leno said his “other favorite part (was when) you beat the Iranian guy.” Leno asked, “Do politics ever creep into it when you're wrestling Iran and Iran is an enemy of the United States?” Burroughs: “No. We're all from different countries but we're all athletes, so I had that level of respect for everyone that I competed against” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 8/14).
BEACH-FRONT PROPERTY: Beach volleyball player MISTY MAY-TREANOR appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” and the studio audience began chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as she walked on stage. May-Treanor said, “It doesn’t get old, believe me. I wish I could bottle that sound.” Host Jon Stewart said at the London Games, “the women drove us to victory.” May-Treanor said of the reasons for the women’s success, “Obviously, there’s Title IX that happened. I wouldn’t be doing what I am unless the women before me kind of gave us that foundation.” But another reason is “just the amount of young kids that are out there playing has grown tremendously.” Stewart said, “From what I saw of the male side (at the Olympics), it was a lot of like, ‘What time does the club close?’” (“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central, 8/14).
