Friday, Aug. 27
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Manu Ginobili scored 29 points to lead
Argentina to another victory over the United States -- the country
that used to dominate men's basketball.
The Americans lost 89-81 and will have to settle for a spot in
the bronze medal game, where a rematch against Lithuania awaits.
The Argentines will play Italy for the gold Saturday night. The
Italians used 18-of-28 shooting from 3-point range to upset the
previously undefeated Lithuanians 100-91 in Friday's other
semifinal.
Argentina used almost the same roster that made history in 2002
by becoming the first team to defeat a U.S. squad of NBA players.
For the first time since 1988, the gold medal will not go to the
Americans. And for the first time since pro players were added for
the original Dream Team in 1992, the United States will not be the
Olympic champion.
The Argentines were the better passers, shooters and defenders.
They confronted the Americans with a mixture of man-to-man and zone
defenses, and confounded them with an assortment of back picks that
turned the start of the second half into a layup drill.
Stephon Marbury led the U.S. team with 18 points, and Tim Duncan
had just 10 while being limited to 191/2 minutes because of foul
trouble.
Last weekend Lithuania beat the U.S. team 94-90 in round-robin
play.
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Track and Field
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Tatyana Lebedeva led a Russian medal sweep
in the long jump, relegating Marion Jones to fifth place in her
only individual event of the Olympics.
One hour later, Jones' chance for a medal in Athens disappeared
when a failed baton handoff disqualified the U.S. 400-meter relay
team. Jones was unable to make the handoff to Lauryn Williams
midway through the relay. Williams left too early and Jones
couldn't reach her with the baton until it was too late.
Jamaica won the relay in a time of 41.73 seconds. Russia won the
silver medal at 42.27 seconds. France got the bronze at 42.54
seconds.
Lebedeva, who won a bronze in the triple jump four days earlier,
leaped 23 feet, 21/2 inches to take the gold. Irina Simagina was
second with a jump of 23-13/4 and Tatyana Kotova won the bronze.
Tim Mack cleared an Olympic-record 19 feet, 61/4 inches to lead a
1-2 American finish in the pole vault. Toby Stevenson cleared 19-41/4
for the silver medal as the United States took the top two places
in the event for the second Olympics in a row. Giuseppe Gibilisco
of Italy, the 2003 world champion, won the bronze with 19-21/2.
Liu Xiang of China tied the 110-meter hurdles world record and
set a new Olympic mark, winning the gold medal in 12.91 seconds.
Liu won the first gold medal in track for a male Chinese athlete.
U.S. trials champion Terrence Trammell won silver in 13.18, while
Anier Garcia of Cuba took bronze.
Osledidys Menendez of Cuba won the gold medal in the women's
javelin falling one centimeter short of her world record.
Menendez's best throw was her first one -- 234 feet, 8 inches (71.53
meters), shattering the Olympic record by more than eight feet.
Silver medalist Steffi Nerius of Germany was a distant second and
Mirela Manjani of Greece took the bronze.
Xing Huina of China surged past Ethiopia's Ejegayehu Dibaba in
the final turn night to win the women's 10,000 meters. Ethiopian
Derartu Tulu was third.
Robert Korzeniowski of Poland added to his record collection of
gold medals in race walking with his unprecedented third
consecutive Olympic victory in the 50-kilometer walk. It was a
final triumph for the 36-year-old Pole, who says he is retiring
after the Olympics. Russians Denis Nizhegorodov and Aleksey
Voyevodin were second and third.
The U.S. men's 400- and 1600-meter relay teams both advanced
past the first round.
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Men's Soccer
Bronze Medal
Italy 1, Iraq 0
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) -- Iraq's surprising Olympic soccer run
came up short with a loss to Italy in a bronze medal game that
couldn't escape reminders of violence in the war-torn country.
Just before kickoff, the teams exchanged words of condolence for
Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was killed by Iraqi militants
seeking to force Italy's troops out of Iraq. Italian players also
wore black armbands to honor Baldoni.
On the field, Alberto Gilardino scored his fourth goal of the
tournament in the eighth minute to seal Italy's first soccer medal
since it won gold at the 1936 Berlin Games.
The loss meant the Iraqis go home without a podium finish, after
seeking to win the nation's first medal of any kind since 1960.
Argentina and Paraguay meet in Saturday's final at Olympic
Stadium in Athens.
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Canoe-Kayak
SCHINIAS, Greece (AP) -- Germany's Birgit Fischer won her eighth
gold medal, becoming the first woman to win Olympic medals 24 years
apart. Fischer, 42, was part of the four-person kayak that rallied
to win the 500-meter final, edging Hungary by two-tenths of a
second. Ukraine took bronze.
Fischer won her first gold at 18 in Moscow, becoming the
youngest women ever to win an Olympic kayaking event. She now has
11 total medals and will be a strong contender for another on
Saturday, when she races in the pairs kayak final.
Spain's David Cal surged ahead of Germany's Andreas Dittmer, the
defending gold medalist and three-time defending world champion, to
win the 1,000-meter single canoe event. Attila Vajda of Hungary
ended up in third.
In the single kayak 1,000-meter race, two-time world champion
Eirik Veraas Larsen of Norway won the gold, Ben Fouhy of New
Zealand took the silver and Adam van Koeverden of Canada held on
for bronze.
The Swedish kayak pair of Markus Oscarsson and Henrik Nilsson
won their 1,000-meter event, improving on their silver in Sydney.
Italy was second and Norway third, giving Larsen his second medal
of the day.
The Germans took their second gold when the canoe pair of
Christian Gille and Tomasz Wylenzek won their 1,000-meter final.
Russia held off Hungary for second.
In the men's K-4 1,000, the Hungarians crossed the line first,
ahead of Germany in second and Slovakia in third.
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Cycling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Norway's Gunn-Rita Dahle dominated the
women's mountain bike field for her 15th consecutive win in an
internationally sanctioned race.
Since May 2003, Dahle -- whose time was 1 hour, 56 minutes, 51
seconds -- has won 28 of 32 races she's entered.
Mary McConneloug of Fairfax, Calif., the lone American in the
Olympic women's field, placed ninth. Canada's Marie-Helene Premont
won the silver in 1:57:50, and reigning world champion Sabine Spitz
of Germany got the bronze in 1:59:21.
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Men's Field Hockey
Gold Medal
Australia 2, Netherlands 1, OT
Bronze Medal
Germany 4, Spain 3, OT
Classification
Pakistan 4, New Zealand 2
India 5, South Korea 2
Britain 1, South Africa 1, Britain won 4-3 on penalty strokes
Argentina 4, Egypt 2
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Jamie Dwyer scored off a penalty corner in
overtime to give Australia its first men's field hockey gold medal
and snap the Netherlands' run of Olympic titles. The Aussies, who
trailed 1-0 after Ronald Brouwer scored in the 29th minute, tied
the game in 37th when Travis Brooks scored from the run of play.
Late in the first period of overtime, Australia was awarded a
penalty corner. With no time left on the clock, the Aussies put the
ball in play, and after a teammate distracted the Dutch with a
dummy swing, Dwyer shot and although Dutch goalkeeper Guus Vogels
got a piece of the ball, it went into the net.
The Netherlands won the gold medal at the past two Olympics,
while the Australians had to settle for bronze in Sydney and
Atlanta.
Earlier, Bjoern Michel scored 10 minutes into overtime to give
the Germans the bronze medal, the world champions' first Olympic
medal since winning gold in Barcelona in 1992.
Pakistan's Sohail Abbas scored on three penalty corners to carry
his team to fifth place. India beat South Korea to take seventh
place, dropping the Koreans, who won the silver in Sydney, into
eighth. Britain needed penalty strokes to claim ninth place after
playing South Africa to a draw. Mario Almada scored a hat trick to
keep Argentina out of last place.
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Men's Water Polo
Semifinals
Hungary 7, Russia 5
Serbia-Montenegro 7, Greece 3
Classification
United States 6, Australia 5
Italy 11, Croatia 7
Kazakhstan 15, Egypt 7
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Tamas Kasas scored three goals and Hungary
moved within one victory of an eighth Olympic water polo gold medal
after beating archrival Russia in the semifinals. The top-ranked
Hungarians led 4-2 before Russia rallied to 5-5 at halftime.
Captain Tibor Benedek scored the go-ahead goal for a 6-5 lead.
Later, Kasas scored a third time to give Hungary a two-goal
cushion.
Serbia-Montenegro, bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, led
all the way against Greece to set up a showdown with Hungary in the
championship match. Aleksandar Sapic scored Serbia-Montenegro's
last goal, increasing his haul to 16 for the tournament.
Tony Azevedo scored three goals and the United States advanced
to a playoff for seventh place. The Americans led 3-0 in the first
half and 5-2 in the third period. Pietro Figlioli scored three. The
U.S. team will face Italy, which defeated Croatia thanks to three
goals from center Fabio Bencivenga.
The Italians wore black armbands on their robes and shirts as a
memorial for journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was kidnapped and killed
by militants in Iraq.
Ivan Zaitsev scored seven goals as Kazakhstan got its first win
of the tournament in the 11th-place game. Egypt, the first African
team in Olympic water polo since 1968, finished last.
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Women's Basketball
Semifinals
United States 66, Russia 62
Australia 88, Brazil 75
Classification
Czech Republic 79, Spain 68
Greece 87, New Zealand 83
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Sheryl Swoopes made three big plays in the
final minutes to help the United States squeeze out a semifinal
victory over Russia. The Americans, who won gold at the past two
Olympics, will face Australia in the final on Saturday.
With her team clinging to a 60-58 lead, Swoopes buried a jumper
from the left wing with 3:54 remaining, just beating the shot
clock. She deflected a Russian shot at the other end, then scored
again, hitting a 10-footer from the left baseline to make it 64-58
with 3:15 left.
When Lisa Leslie fed Tina Thompson for a layup, it was 66-58
with 2:50 to go, enough of a cushion for the United States to hold
on for its 24th straight victory in the Olympics.
Lauren Jackson, the WNBA's MVP with the Seattle Storm last
season, had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead Australia past
Brazil. That set up a rematch of the gold medal game in Sydney four
years ago, when the United States beat the Aussies 76-54.
Evanthia Maltsi scored 29 points and Greece capped an impressive
debut in Olympic basketball, finishing in seventh place. Greece was
in the 12-team field because it was the host country. It had only
been in two major international competitions before, finishing 10th
in the 2001 European Championships and ninth in the same event last
year.
Hana Machova scored 22 points to lead the Czechs in the
fifth-place game. Zuzana Klimesova, who played at Vanderbilt, added
11 points and 14 rebounds for the Czech Republic.
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Men's Volleyball
Semifinals
Brazil 3, United States 0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-23)
Italy 3, Russia 0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-16)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Brazil showed why it's ranked first in the
world of men's volleyball with a dominant three-set win. With
Gilberto Godoy Filho, Dante Guimaraes Amaral and Gustavo Endres
leading a lightning-quick attack, the Brazilians crushed the
Americans' hope for a gold medal.
Brazil will play second-ranked Italy in Sunday's final at Peace
and Friendship Stadium, and the United States takes on Russia for
the bronze medal.
The Americans will play for their first medal since 1992, when
they won a bronze in Barcelona.
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Men's Team Handball
Semifinals
Croatia 33, Hungary 31
Germany 21, Russia 15
Classification
Greece 29, South Korea 24
France 29, Spain 27
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Ivano Balic scored nine goals to lead
Croatia, the reigning world champion, past Hungary. Mirsa Dzomba
scored eight and Goran Sprem had six goals for Croatia, while
Carlos Perez lead Hungary with eight.
Germany topped Russia in a low-scoring match and will face
Croatia for the gold medal on Sunday. The Germans used a four-goal
run in the second half to pull away. Goalkeeper Henning Fritz made
14 saves and Stefan Kretzschmar scored five goals for the Germans.
Host Greece advanced to the fifth-place game after beating South
Korea. Spyros Balomenos scored eight goals for the Greeks, who will
face France on Saturday. The French rallied from a two-goal deficit
at halftime to top Spain. Spain and South Korea will play for
seventh place.
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Diving
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Caesar Garcia and Kyle Prandi failed to
advance out of the 10-meter platform preliminaries, meaning that
American divers would have their first Olympic shutout in 92 years.
Garcia, of Baton Rouge, La., finished 23rd with 388.77 points.
Prandi, of Strongsville, Ohio, dropped from second place to 21st
after the second round and wound up 29th out of 33 divers with
346.53 points. Only the top 18 divers moved on.
Mathew Helm of Australia was the top qualifier with 513.06
points. Alexandre Despatie of Canada, silver medalist in 3-meter
springboard, was second with 500.55.
The United States was once the world's diving superpower,
winning 41 of the 62 gold medals available between 1904 and 1976.
The balance of power began to shift in the 1980s, despite the
brilliance of Greg Louganis, and this year's team joined the 1912
squad as the only ones that failed to win at least one Olympic
medal.
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Modern Pentathlon
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Three-time world champion Zsuzsanna Voros
of Hungary won the gold medal in the women's modern pentathlon.
Voros had a 41-second head start on her nearest rival entering
the final 3-kilometer run and had time at the end to grab a
Hungarian flag from the stands and unfurl it while jogging down the
home stretch.
Latvia's Jelena Rublevska was able to make up about half the
difference, but couldn't catch Voros and ended up with the silver
medal. Georgina Harland of Britain won the run, passing 11 women to
move up from 14th place to take the bronze medal.
Harland struggled in the opening pistol competition -- scoring a
three with her eighth shot. She was ranked 30th out of 32 after the
shooting, but placed 12th in fencing, second in swimming, sixth in
riding and dominated the run to take the bronze.
American Mary Beth Iagorashvili, of Munkwonago, Wis., was 15th
overall. She was fourth in Sydney in 2000, the first women's
Olympic pentathlon. Teammate Anita Allen, a captain in the U.S.
Army from Star City, Ind., was 18th.
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Taekwondo
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American Nia Abdallah won the silver medal
in taekwondo, advancing all the way to the final before losing 2-1
to Jang Ji-won of South Korea in the under 57-kilogram class.
Iridia Salazar Blanco of Mexico won the bronze.
Later, Hadi Saei Bonehkohal of Iran won the gold medal in the
men's 68-kilogram division, beating Chih Hsiung Huang of Taiwan
4-3. Song Myeong-seob of South Korea got the bronze.
Abdallah, from Houston, was the first American woman to win an
Olympic match in taekwondo, added as an official sport in Sydney in
2000.
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Boxing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Andre Ward advanced to the final of the
81-kilogram division by defeating Uzbekistan's Utkirbek Haydarov
17-15. Ward, from Oakland, Calif., boxer scored two punches in the
final seconds to become the only U.S. fighter to advance to a
gold-medal bout.
In the final Sunday he will face Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus.
Andre Dirrell of Flint. Mich. lost his semifinal bout to
Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan 23-18 in the 75kg class.
The powerful Cuban team advanced seven fighters to the finals
and British teenager Amir Khan came advanced in the 60kg division.
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Rhythmic Gymnastics
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Mary Sanders, the only U.S. rhythmic
gymnastics representative, failed to make it out of qualifying,
finishing 15th out of 24 gymnasts. Only the top 10 advanced to
Sunday's all-around final.
Defending world champion Alina Kabaeva of Russia was first with
105.875 points. Fellow Russian Irina Tchachina finished second.
Anna Bessonova of Ukraine was third.
Though Sanders was ninth at last year's world championships, she
had little chance of making the final after a questionable score on
the first day of qualifying in the hoop routine.
The Americans protested, but it was rejected by the
International Gymnastics Federation. That left Sanders in 18th
place after half of qualifying, too far down to make any kind of
meaningful move.
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Synchronized Swimming
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The Russians, overcoming a glitch in their
music that forced them to start over, completed a sweep of the
synchronized swimming golds with a team performance that received
perfect 10s across the board in artistic impression. The Japanese
took silver and the Americans were third.
Tammy Crow helped the Americans win the bronze. The 27-year-old
Californian pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter in a
February 2003 wreck that killed her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, and
12-year-old Brett Slinger. The sentence was delayed so Crow could
compete in the Olympics.
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Wrestling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Kerry McCoy was tossed by Marid Mutalimov
of Kazakhstan 11 seconds into overtime, a 3-point move that sent
Mutalimov into the medal round at 2641/2 pounds (120kg) and a somber
McCoy home to Bethlehem, Pa. He announced his retirement
immediately afterward.
McCoy's was the only American loss in 11 matches.
Cael Sanderson, the most successful college wrestler ever while
going 159-0 at Iowa State, won three times at 185 pounds (84kg) and
will meet Cuba's Yoel Romero in the semifinals Saturday.
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Equestrian
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Chris Kappler, of Pittstown, N.J., took
bronze in show jumping and was relieved not just to win a medal but
to learn his horse -- which broke down on the course -- was not
seriously hurt.
Kappler's horse, Royal Kaliber, was taken from the Olympic arena
in a trailer and examined at the onsite veterinarian clinic.
Officials said the horse, which strained a front leg tendon during
a timed jumpoff, would be fine.
Ireland's Cian O'Connor won the gold riding Waterford Crystal.
Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa won silver by default after Kappler pulled
up. He had eight faults in the first round and jumped clean in the
second.
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Women's Team Handball
Semifinals
Denmark 29, Ukraine 20
South Korea 32, France 31
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Denmark moved within one game of its third
consecutive gold medal by beating Ukraine. Katrine Fruelund scored
nine goals for Denmark, while Line Daugaard added five and
Josephine Touray had four. Nataliya Lyapina scored five goals for
Ukraine.
South Korea knocked out France, the current world champion.
After trailing 30-23, France scored five straight goals, but the
Koreans held on for the win. It was the fourth straight time that
South Korea has beaten France in a major competition.
Lee Gong-joo scored seven goals for South Korea and Huh
Soon-young and Oh Yong-ran had five each. Stephanie Cano led France
with six goals.
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