Highlights of action Monday at the Games

Monday, Aug. 23

STARS

--Jeremy Wariner won gold in the 400-meter run with a time of 44 seconds, leading a United States sweep. Otis Harris won silver in 44.16 and Derrick Brew took bronze in 44.42.

--Crystl Bustos homered twice and Lisa Fernandez pitched a four-hitter, leading the United States to a 5-1 win over Australia for the softball gold medal.

--All-around gymnastics champion Carly Patterson won her third medal in Athens and the sixth for the U.S. women's gymnastics team, taking silver in the balance beam.

--Heather O'Reilly scored in the ninth minute of overtime to give the United States a 2-1 win over World Cup champion Germany and a place in the gold-medal soccer game.

--Britain's Kelly Holmes held off three late chargers, including defending Olympic champion Maria Mutola and indoor world-record holder Jolanda Ceplak, to win a thrilling 800-meter final.

--Yao Ming scored 27 points to lead China to a 67-66 upset of Serbia-Montenegro, giving the Chinese a quarterfinal berth.

TAINTED GOLD?

The U.S. Olympic Committee will consider supporting South Korea's bid to pursue a duplicate gold medal to make up for a scoring error that gave American Paul Hamm the all-around gymnastics title. But the International Gymnastics Federation president said there are no rules to allow it to happen.

BIZARRE GYM

It was an extraordinary scene when Hamm won a silver on high bar and four-time Olympic gold medalist Alexei Nemov was fifth, much to the crowd's chagrin. Fans booed for 10 minutes, and Hamm had to wait to begin his routine, after Nemov's score of 9.275 was posted.

MEDAL HAUL

The six women's gymnastics medals for the United States surpassed the five won in 1992 and made the Athens squad the most successful U.S. team in a non-boycotted Olympics. The Americans won eight in 1984, led by all-around champion Mary Lou Retton.

STEROIDS FOUND

Small amounts of anabolic steroids were discovered during a search of a warehouse used by Christos Tsekos, the coach of Greek track stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou. The coach's lawyer said the supplements in the warehouse were legal.

STRIPPED AND KICKED

Russia's Irina Korzhanenko was stripped of her shot put gold medal, the first athlete of the Athens Games to lose an Olympic title because of doping. After a positive test for a steroid was confirmed, she was expelled from the games.

UP NEXT

Iraq continues its improbable run in men's soccer, playing Paraguay in the Olympic semifinals. ... Sydney gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner of the United States returns to the mat. ... Baseball moves into the semifinals, with Japan, Canada and Australia trying to keep Cuba off the medals stand. ... Middle-distance stars Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Bernard Lagat of Kenya face off in the 1,500 meters.

WEATHER

The temperature at the main Olympic complex reached 89 degrees under clear skies. Tuesday's forecast called for more sunshine and a high of 88.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I've never seen a white man run that fast. It was a blazing race, man. The kid is good."

-- Grenada's Alleyne Francique, who placed fourth in the 400, on the effort by Wariner, who is white.