Monday, Aug. 23
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The U.S. softball team won its third
straight gold medal with a nearly unblemished romp through the
Olympics, capped by a 5-1 victory Monday over an Australian team,
that, like the rest of softball's elite, never had a chance.
The Americans zeroed in on a gold medal, and were four outs from
a tournament-long shutout before the Aussies scored a run -- the
first given up by the U.S. pitching staff in 54 2-3 innings.
Lisa Fernandez pitched a four-hitter and Crystl Bustos homered
twice in the Americans' best all-around game of the tournament. The
U.S. team pounded three home runs off Aussie ace Tanya Harding.
The United States completed a three-game sweep of the silver
medal-winning Aussies. The Americans outscored Australia 20-1 at
the Olympics and finished the nine-game tournament by outscoring
the field 51-1. The run total was just one of more than a dozen
Olympic records that fell to the U.S. squad.
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Women's Soccer
United States 2, Germany 1, OT
Brazil 1, Sweden 0
IRAKLION, Greece (AP) -- Minutes after missing a wide open net,
Heather O'Reilly scored in the ninth minute of overtime to give the
United States a 2-1 victory over World Cup champion Germany and a
place in Thursday's gold-medal game.
The Americans will face Brazil for the gold. Brazil defeated
Sweden 1-0 in Patras in the other semifinal on a goal from Pretinha
in the 64th minute. Germany will play Sweden for the bronze.
Mia Hamm set up the goal with a short cross from the right,
pushing back the pass toward a cluster of three players about 6
yards from the net. O'Reilly, the only teenager on the team of U.S.
veterans, got her foot on the ball, pushing a shot to the left of
goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg.
The win gives the Fab Five -- long-standing U.S. stars Hamm,
Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Brandi Chastain and Kristine Lilly -- a
chance to go out as champions in their final tournament together.
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Men's Basketball
Spain 88, New Zealand 84
Lithuania 100, Australia 85
United States 89, Angola 53
China 67, Serbia-Montenegro 66
Italy 76, Argentina 75
Greece 78, Puerto Rico 58
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The United States routed overmatched
Angola in its final game of the preliminary round. Tim Duncan
finished with a team-high 15 points in limited minutes, and the
Americans dominated with a 52-17 edge in rebounding as NBA
commissioner David Stern watched from a seat 10 rows behind the
American bench.
The Americans had to wait until Greece defeated Puerto Rico in
Monday's final game to learn their next opponent, the unbeaten
Spanish (5-0). The other quarterfinal matchups will be
Greece-Argentina, Puerto Rico-Italy and China-Lithuania.
Robertas Javtokas scored 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and
Ksistof Lavrinovic added 18 as Lithuania remained unbeaten through
five games with a 100-85 victory over Australia.
Spain beat New Zealand, knocking the Kiwis out of medal
contention. Carlos Jimenez made two free throws for a four-point
lead with 12.4 seconds remaining.
China then clinched the final quarterfinal berth in Group A by
upsetting Serbia-Montenegro 67-66 behind 27 points from Yao Ming.
Serbia-Montenegro, the two-time defending world champion, has no
chance at a medal and will play Angola for 11th place.
Italy won after Massimo Bulleri made two free throws with 3.9
seconds left and Carlos Delfino of Argentina missed a layup at the
buzzer.
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Track and Field
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The United States swept the medals in the
men's 400 meters with Jeremy Wariner of Grand Prairie, Texas,
leading the way in 44.00 seconds. Otis Harris of Columbia, S.C.,
was second in 44.16 while Derrick Brew, of Raleigh, N.C., took the
bronze in 44.42.
Hungary's Robert Fazekas won the discus with an Olympic-record
toss of 232 feet, 8 inches (70.93 meters), beating the past two
gold medalists.
Lithuania's Virgilijus Alekna, the defending champion, settled
for the silver after never improving on his opening toss of 229-3
(69.89). Hungary also won the bronze: Zoltan Kovago went 219-11
(67.04).
Fazekas broke the Olympic discus mark of 227-8 (69.40), set by
Germany's Lars Riedel in winning the gold at Atlanta in 1996.
Riedel, the silver medalist in 2000, did not make the final group
Monday.
Frangoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon won the gold with a triple
jump of 50 feet, 21/2 inches (15.30 meters). Chrysopigi Devetzi of
Greece won the silver medal. Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia got the
bronze.
Kelly Holmes of Britain won the gold medal in the 800-meter run
with a time of 1:56.38. Hasna Benhassi of Morocco won the silver in
1:56.43, while Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia took the bronze with the
identical time, 0.08 seconds ahead of Maria Mutola of Mozambique in
fourth.
Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece won the gold medal in the
20-kilometer walk, holding off Olimpiada Ivanova of Russia in a
personal best of 1:29.12. Jane Saville of Australia, disqualified
after leading as she approached the stadium in Sydney four years
ago, took bronze.
Meseret Defar of Ethiopia won gold in the 5,000-meter run with a
time of 14 minutes, 45.65 seconds. Isabella Ochichi of Kenya won
the silver in 14:48.19 seconds. Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia took
the bronze.
After the first day in the decathlon, Dmitriy Karpov of
Kazakhstan leads with 4,689 points, while Roman Sebrle of the Czech
Republic is second with 4,594. Bryan Clay of Azusa, Calif., is
third, followed by Britain's Dean Macey and Tom Pappas of
Knoxville, Tenn., the reigning world champion.
Allyson Felix led three American women into the next round of
the 200 meters. Teammates Muna Lee and LaShaunte'a Moore also
advanced.
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Gymnastics
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Italy's Igor Cassina edged out American
Paul Hamm in a tiebreaker to win the gold medal in the high bar
finals, an event marred by a 10-minute delay while fans booed the
score of Russian star Alexei Nemov. Cassina and Hamm, the
all-around champion, each scored 9.812. Isao Yoneda of Japan won
the bronze and Nemov finished fifth.
Hamm's routine was delayed by nonstop booing after Nemov's score
of 9.762 was posted. Hamm and his coach, Miles Avery, finally had
to motion Nemov, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, to the podium
to ask the crowd for quiet.
Romania picked up two more medals in the floor exercise finals,
with Catalina Ponor winning her second gold of the night and
teammate Nicoleta Sofronie taking silver. Patricia Moreno of Spain
won bronze.
Ponor's floor exercise victory marked her third gold of these
games. She won another on beam Monday to go with the team gold
medal the Romanians captured earlier this week.
All-around champion Carly Patterson won her third medal of these
Olympics and the sixth for the U.S. women's team, taking silver
behind Ponor on the beam. Alexandra Eremia of Romania took bronze.
Romania also won six medals overall to match the United States for
the highest total among the women.
Gervasio Deferr of Spain won the men's vault title, giving Spain
its second Olympic gold medal in men's gymnastics. Evgeni
Sapronenko of Latvia won the silver, while former world champion
Marian Dragulescu of Romania took the bronze.
Valeri Goncharov of Ukraine won the gold medal in parallel bars,
defeating Hiroyuki Tomita of Japan by 0.012 points. Two-time
reigning world champion Li Xiaopeng of China took bronze.
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Doping
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- 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.
The 30-year-old Korzhanenko was the first woman to win a gold
medal at the sacred site of Ancient Olympia but tested positive for
the steroid stanozolol after Wednesday's competition. The backup B
sample confirmed the initial finding.
The International Olympic Committee executive board expelled
Korzhanenko from the games and ordered the Russian Olympic
Committee to return the medal.
The gold goes to Cuba's Yumileidi Cumba Jay. Germany's Nadine
Kleinert moves up to silver, and Russia's Svetlana Krivelyova to
bronze.
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Canoe-Kayak
SCHINIAS, Greece (AP) -- Seven-time kayaking gold medalist Birgit
Fischer of Germany -- trying to become the first woman to win
Olympic medals 24 years apart -- had a strong start. Her four-person
kayak never trailed in its 500-meter heat.
The American women's K-4 boat finished last in the same
five-kayak heat but remains in contention. An Olympic format allows
boats finishing outside the top three to enter a semifinal.
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Cycling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Three quick races, about 40 seconds of
hard pedaling time, and it was all over for U.S track cyclist
Jennie Reed, who was eliminated from the opening rounds of the
sprint competition.
She finished second in the consolation race, placing her 10th in
a 12-woman field.
Australia easily defeated Britain for the gold medal in the
4,000-meter team pursuit, adding the Olympic title to its three
consecutive world championships in the event. Australia finished in
3:58.233 seconds. Britain finished in 4:01.760.
Spain beat defending gold medalist Germany for the bronze.
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Diving
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Alexandre Despatie led the Olympic 3-meter
springboard preliminaries, keeping the powerful Chinese out of
their customary top spot. Despatie, the first Canadian to win a
world title on the 10-meter platform last year, was first with
517.59 points.
Peng Bo of China was second with 495.45. Russia's Alexander
Dobroskok was third with 489.75; Japan's Ken Terauchi was fourth
with 456.15.
The United States had mixed results in an event that Americans
have won 15 out of 17 Olympics from 1920 to 1992.
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Equestrian
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Debbie McDonald of Hailey, Idaho, moved
into contention for an individual dressage medal with an energetic,
fault-free round on Brentina that scored 74.840 percent. She moved
to fourth overall, with a two-day average of 74.067 percent.
The United States hasn't won a medal in individual dressage
since 1932.
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Sailing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American sailors John Lovell and Charlie
Ogletree held onto their lead in the Tornado catamaran class and
Paul Cayard jumped up three spots in the Star class on another
bizarre afternoon on the Saronic Gulf.
A northerly Meltemi -- the wind that whips through the hills
around Athens -- was predicted to bring at least 13 knots of breeze
onto the gulf, but it never developed.
While the Tornados got in their two scheduled races, the Stars
got in just one before the breeze died. The boats drifted under the
brutally hot sun for about three hours before attempts to start the
second race were abandoned.
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Table Tennis
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Ryu Seung-min beat China's Wang Hao in six
games, becoming the first South Korean to win the men's table
tennis gold medal since the sport was added at the Seoul Olympics
in 1988.
Ryu, ranked third in the world, won 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9,
11-13, 11-9, ending China's long run of men's singles titles. Wang
Liqin of China won the bronze.
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Men's Water Polo
Germany 6, Australia 6, tie
Croatia 5, Kazakhstan 4
Spain 12, Egypt 4
Hungary 7, Russia 6
Serbia-Montenegro 9, United States 4
Greece 6, Italy 4
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Hungary finished preliminaries unbeaten
and secured an automatic semifinal place in Olympic water polo by
edging Russia in a rematch of the Sydney 2000 final.
Aleksander Sapic scored three goals to lead Serbia-Montenegro to
a win over the United States, ending American hopes of making the
Olympic quarterfinals. The United States finished 2-3 after opening
with wins against Croatia and Kazakhstan.
The Serbians, bronze medalists in Sydney, improved to 4-1 and
advanced to the next round along with defending champion Hungary
(5-0) and 2000 silver medalist Russia (3-2).
Serbia-Montenegro will play 1996 champion Spain in Wednesday's
quarterfinals while Germany faces Russia.
Marc Torsten Politze and Heiko Nossek scored two goals apiece,
and Germany rallied for a tie with Australia to secure a place in
the quarterfinals from Group B.
Spain advanced thanks to its win, and Greece's upset of No.
2-ranked Italy.
Mile Smodlaka scored two goals, and Croatia held off a late
comeback against Kazakhstan for its first win of the tournament.
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Wrestling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Sara McMann couldn't hold an early lead in
her 1381/2 pounds (63kg) gold medal match with world champion Kaori
Icho of Japan and lost 3-2, meaning the United States exited the
debut of Olympic women's wrestling without any golds.
The Americans, who had four world silver medalists last year,
came away with only two medals: McMann's silver and Patricia
Miranda's bronze at 1051/2 pounds (48kg).
Irini Merleni of Ukraine beat Chiharu Icho of Japan to win the
gold medal in the women's 1051/2-pound (48 kg) class. Miranda took
the bronze by beating France's Angelique Berthenet.
Saori Yoshida of Japan shut out Tonya Verbeek of Canada to win
the gold in the 121-pound (55 kg) class. Anna Gomis of France took
the bronze.
Lise Legrand of France won the bronze in the 1381/2-pound (63 kg)
class, defeating Stavroula Zygouri of Greece.
Wang Xu of China beat Gouzel Maniourova of Russia to win the
gold the 1581/2-pound (72 kg) class. Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan took
the bronze.
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Men's Field Hockey
New Zealand 4, South Africa 1
Spain 3, Egypt 0
Netherlands 2, Australia 1
Germany 2, South Korea 2, tie
Pakistan 8, Britain 2
India 2, Argentina 2, tie
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Teake Taekema scored twice for the
Netherlands, which went undefeated in preliminary round play and
will face Germany in the semifinals. Klaas Veering saved a penalty
corner in the final moments to preserve the win. Australia placed
second in Group B and will face Spain, which topped Group A.
Germany needed only a tie to advance to the next round, but
trailed late in the second half until Bjoern Emmerling scored in
the 66th minute to make it 2-2 against South Korea.
Spain advanced to the semifinals with a win over Egypt behind
two goals by Eduardo Tubau. Hayden Shaw scored twice for New
Zealand, which beat South Africa to clinch third place in Group B.
Pakistan routed Britain to finish with three wins. Pakistan will
advance to 5th through 8th place classification rounds, while the
best Britain can place is ninth. Matias Vila scored on a penalty
corner in the final minute to lift Argentina into a tie with
India.
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Women's Team Handball
South Korea 30, France 23
China 28, Brazil 23
Ukraine 23 Hungary 22
Denmark 38, Angola 22
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- South Korea surprised world champion
France (2-2). Lim O-Kyeung scored eight goals for the South Koreans
(3-1). Isabelle Wendling scored eight for France which will finish
third in Group B. It also lost to two-time Olympic champion
Denmark. France and South Korea both advanced to the quarterfinals.
Denmark pounded Angola 38-22 in the other Group B game. Denmark
had already clinched the group and ended up 4-0. Angola finished
0-3-1.
In Group A, Ukraine rallied to beat Hungary, 23-22, in a game
that decided the top position in Group A. The Ukranians trailed by
four at halftime, but led by eight goals from Nataliya Lyapina,
they remained undefeated at 4-0. Hungary ended pool play at 3-1 but
both advanced to the quarterfinals.
China defeated Brazil, putting both teams at 2-2 -- enough to
advance to the quarterfinals.
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Weightlifting
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Bulgaria's Milen Dobrev lived up to his
top seeding and took the gold medal in the 207-pound (94 kg)
division of the Olympic weightlifting tournament.
Dobrev, the reigning world champion, made clean lifts on each of
his first five tries. He failed on his sixth and final attempt, but
just laughed and kissed the weights, knowing his total of 898
pounds (407.5 kg) already had clinched first place.
Junior world champion Khadjimourad Akkaev, a 19-year-old from
Russia, took silver with a total of 893 pounds (405 kg). Fellow
Russian Eduard Tjukin got the bronze.
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Boxing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American super heavyweight Jason Estrada
gave perhaps the most lackluster performance yet by a U.S. boxer
Monday night, losing a chance for an Olympic medal by dropping a
21-7 decision to Cuba's Michel Lopez Nunez.
Meanwhile, Russian featherweight Alexei Tichtchenko ousted world
champion Galib Jafarov of Kazakhstan, winning 36-26 to advance to
the semifinals.
Two world champions advanced with easy wins on the second day of
quarterfinals at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall. Russian super
heavyweight Alexander Povetkin and bantamweight Aghasi Mammadov
both clinched a medal -- since bronzes are awarded to both semifinal
losers.
Two more fighters from the powerful Cuban team advanced to the
semis. Bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux and super heavyweight
Michel Lopez Nunez encountered no problems, but featherweight Luis
Franco was beaten by Germany's Vitali Tajbert.
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Men's Volleyball
France 3, Tunisia 1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 25-19)
Russia 3, Italy 2 (25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 15-13)
Netherlands 3, Australia 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-16)
Poland 3, Argentina 2 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 20-18)
Serbia and Montenegro 3, Greece 2 (21-25, 38-36, 25-13, 23-25,
15-12)
United States 3, Brazil 1 (25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Defending gold medalist Serbia-Montenegro
grabbed the top seed in its pool with a grueling five-set victory
over upstart Greece. Veteran Vladimir Grbic slammed the winning
kill off blocker Theodoros Chatziantoniou to give the Serbs their
fourth straight win.
Poland qualified for the last open spot in the quarterfinals
with a dramatic five-set victory over Argentina after starter
Sebastian Swiderski sprained his ankle in the third set and
couldn't continue. Dawid Murek killed nine of his 10 attack
attempts in the first two sets for the Poles (3-2), who will play
Brazil in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
The United States beat Brazil, the No. 1 team in the world, in a
match where both teams used their reserves exstensively. Both teams
had already clinched spots in the next round. The Americans
finished pool play at 3-2, winning a tiebreaker over Russia for
third place, and will face host Greece in the quarterfinals on
Wednesday.
Serguey Tetyukhin scored 18 points to help Russia hold on for a
five-set victory over Italy, but the Italians -- by avoiding a sweep
-- won the tiebreaker and took second in Pool B.
Stephane Antiga had 14 points for France in a four-set victory
over Tunisia, but the French were eliminated with Poland's win.
In a match with no bearing on the medal round, the Netherlands
swept Australia behind 17 points from Richard Schuil.
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Beach Volleyball
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Misty May and Kerri Walsh beat fellow
Americans and friendly rivals Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs 21-18,
21-15 in the semifinals.
The No. 1 Americans will play for the gold Tuesday against
second-seeded Brazilians Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar, who
defeated Australians Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson 21-17,
21-16.
In men's action, Spaniards Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera ousted
Australians Julien Prosser and Mark Williams 21-18, 21-18. Spain
will face top-ranked Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos,
who outlasted fifth-seeded Swiss pair Patrick Heuscher and Stefan
Kobel 21-14, 19-21, 15-12 in the other semifinal.
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Synchronized Swimming
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russia and Japan held down their customary
1-2 spots, and the United States was in third after the duet
technical routine of synchronized swimming.
World champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova swam
to the theme from "The Matrix" and scored 49.417 points.
As expected, the Japanese team of Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda
claimed the second spot with 49.000 points in the technical
routine, which will be combined with scores from Tuesday night's
free routine to determine the 12 teams competing in the final
Wednesday.
The United States' duo, Anna Kozlova and Alison Bartosik, was in
third with 48.334.
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