Saturday, Aug. 28

   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The U.S. men's basketball team won its
last game in the medal round -- just not the game it expected to be
playing in.
   Argentina defeated Italy 84-69 on Saturday night to win the gold
medal, becoming only the fourth nation to win the title. Luis Scola
scored 25 points and Alejandro Montecchia hit two big 3-pointers in
the fourth quarter to lead Argentina, which was making just its
fourth Olympic appearance. San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili,
the only NBA player on the Argentine roster, had 16 points and six
assists.
   The United States has won 12 Olympic men's basketball gold
medals. The Soviet Union won two (1972 and 1988), while Yugoslavia
won in 1980 when the Americans boycotted the Moscow Games.
   The Americans took the bronze-medal game seriously and earned
some revenge in a 104-96 victory over Lithuania. But that wasn't
what they came to Athens for.
   Defeating one of three teams that beat them earlier in the
tournament, the Americans got 22 points from Shawn Marion, 15 from
Allen Iverson and 14 apiece from Lamar Odom and Stephon Marbury.
   The 104 points was the most by any team in the men's tournament,
topping the 102 the U.S. team had against Spain two nights earlier.
   In a classification game, Greece gave its basketball fans one
last day of cheering, chanting and celebrating with an 85-75
victory over Puerto Rico to finish fifth.
   Michail Kakiouzis scored 20 points for Greece, which surprised
many by advancing to the quarterfinals and then matching its best
Olympic finish. Greece was fifth in 1996. Elias Ayuso led Puerto
Rico with 14 points.
   Pau Gasol was 14-for-16 from the field and scored 37 points to
lead Spain over China 92-76 to take seventh place. The finish was a
disappointing end for Spain, which had finished preliminary play
unbeaten only to lose 102-94 to the United States in the
quarterfinals.
   Yao Ming, who fouled out with 3:52 to play and China trailing
81-63, had 14 points and seven rebounds.
   ------
Track and Field
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- A sloppy handoff in the men's 400-meter
relay forced the Americans to settle for silver, one hundredth of a
second behind Britain.
   U.S. anchor Maurice Greene took the baton in second place and
with a burst of speed in the final 30 meters, made up some of the
gap behind Britain's Mark Lewis-Francis -- but just failed to catch
him. The British won in 38.07 seconds, and the Americans won silver
in 38.08. Nigeria took the bronze.
   The U.S. relay was undermined by a poor handoff from its second
runner, 100-meter gold medalist Justin Gatlin, to Coby Miller.
   Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj became the first man in 80 years to
win the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at one Olympics.
   El Guerrouj passed Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia with about 50
meters left in the 5,000 and finished in 13 minutes, 14.39 seconds.
Bekele, who was trying to become the first man in 24 years to win
the 5,000 and 10,000 at an Olympics, finished second. Eliud
Kipchoge of Kenya, who led until the final lap, won bronze. The
first man to win the 1,500 and 5,000 in an Olympics was Paavo
Nurmi, who did it in 1924.
   Kelly Holmes surged from behind to take the women's 1,500 meters
gold and clinch a rare middle distance Olympic double. The Briton
already won the 800 earlier this week.
   In the final straight, Holmes kicked for home and easily beat
Tatyana Tomashova of Russia and Maria Cioncan of Romania. Holmes
finished in 3 minutes 57.90 seconds, holding a .22 second edge over
Tomashova. Cioncan was third.
   The United States swept the 1,600-meter relays after the men's
team handily won gold in 2 minutes, 55.91 seconds. Otis Harris,
Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson dominated while
Australia took silver and Nigeria won bronze.
   Earlier, the women's 1,600 relay team won in 3:19.01. The U.S.
women's team of DeeDee Trotter, Monique Henderson, Sanya Richards
and Monique Hennagan easily beat Russia, which took silver and
Jamaica, which won bronze.
   Yelena Slesarenko of Russia set an Olympic record while winning
the gold medal in women's high jump. Slesarenko cleared 6 feet, 9
inches (2.06 meters). Hestrie Cloete of South Africa won the
silver. Viktoriya Styopina of Ukraine got the bronze.
   Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia relied on his trademark late kick
to sweep by four competitors and win the 800 meters. South African
Mbulaeni Tongai Mulaudzi won the silver. World record holder Wilson
Kipketer of Denmark took the bronze.
   Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway won the gold medal in javelin with
a personal-best throw of 283 feet, 9 inches. Vadims Vasilevskis of
Latvia won the silver and Sergey Makarov of Russia won the bronze.
   ------
Women's Basketball
Gold Medal
United States 74, Australia 63
Bronze Medal
Russia 71, Brazil 62
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Shannon Johnson and Tina Thompson gave the
United States a huge lift with their second-half scoring to help
the Americans beat Australia for their third straight Olympic
women's basketball title.
   The U.S. team rallied after falling behind by four points in the
second half. Johnson hit two baskets and sank four free throws to
help the United States take the lead for good. She finished with 18
points. Thompson made a clutch 3-pointer to make it 66-57 with just
under three minutes to play.
   Dawn Staley, playing in her third and final Olympics, put it out
of reach, sinking two free throws with 1:37 left for an 11-point
lead.
   It also was the third gold for Lisa Leslie, who has played with
Staley on U.S. teams for 16 years, and Sheryl Swoopes. Staley,
Leslie and Swoopes led the resurgence in U.S. women's basketball
internationally after bronze medal finishes in the 1992 Olympics
and 1994 world championships.
   Australia's Lauren Jackson, last year's WNBA MVP, was leading
these Olympics with a 24.4 scoring average, but scored just 12
points on 4-for-16 shooting.
   Russia ended a 12-year women's basketball medal drought with a
71-62 victory over Brazil to take the bronze.
   Diana Gustilina led Russia with 12 points, while Elena Baranova
had seven points, four rebounds and four assists in a team-high 30
minutes.
   ------
Men's Soccer
Gold Medal
Argentina 1, Paraguay 0
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Argentina won its first Olympic gold medal
in soccer, beating Paraguay on Carlos Tevez's eighth goal of the
tournament.
   Despite the loss, Paraguay captured its first medal in any
sport. Italy won the bronze Friday, beating Iraq 1-0.
   In a game the Argentines controlled from the beginning, Mauro
Rosales helped set up the winning goal in the 18th minute with a
cross from the right side. Tevez ran between Paraguay defenders
Julio Manzur and Carlos Gamarra and shot the ball into the net from
about 20 feet out.
   Already an underdog, Paraguay finished the game with just nine
men. Emilio Martinez was ejected for elbowing Andrea D'Alessandro
in the face in the 67th minute, and Diego Figueredo received his
second yellow card with six minutes left.
   ------
Wrestling
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American Cael Sanderson won the gold medal
in men's 185-pound (84 kg) freestyle, beating Moon Eui-jae of South
Korea, 3-1. While at Iowa State, Sanderson became the only
four-time unbeaten champion in NCAA history.
   Sazhid Sazhidov of Russia won the bronze.
   Russia's Mavlet Batirov won the gold in men's 121-pound (55 kg)
freestyle. He defeated Stephen Abas of Fresno, Calif., 9-1 in the
final. Chikara Tanabe on Japan won the bronze.
   Elbrus Tedeyev of Ukraine beat Jamill Kelly, of Stillwater,
Okla., 5-1 to take the gold in 1451/2-pound (66 kg) freestyle.
Makhach Murtazaliev of Russia won the bronze.
   Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov knocked off Iran's Alireza Rezaei to
win the gold in men's 2641/2-pound (120 kg) freestyle. Aydin Polatci
of Turkey took the bronze.
   ------
Canoe-Kayak
   SCHINIAS, Greece, (AP) -- Birgit Fischer settled for silver,
leaving the 42-year-old Olympian with two medals in two days. The
two-woman crew from Hungary overtook Fischer and her German partner
in the second half of the 500-meter kayak race, ending her quest
for a ninth gold medal. Natasa Janics and Katalin Kovacs won the
gold. Poland got the bronze.
   It was a remarkable performance by Janics, who won the 500-meter
single kayak race only 70 minutes earlier. Janics, 22, wasn't even
born when Fischer won the first of her eight gold medals in Moscow
in 1980. Fischer got her fourth silver since she started competing.
   In single kayak, Janics beat Josefa Idem of Italy, who finished
second, and Caroline Brunet of Canada, who finished third.
   Germany's Andreas Dittmer beat Spaniard David Cal by .34 seconds
to win the 500-meter canoe event, while Russia's Maxim Opalev took
bronze.
   Canadian single kayaker Adam van Koeverden took his second medal
of the game -- this one a gold in the 500-meter final. He beat
Australia's Nathan Baggaley by .55 seconds, with Britain's Ian
Wynne taking bronze.
   In the 500-meter pairs kayak, Germany's Ronald Rauhe and Tim
Wieskoetter won handily. Australia ended up with the silver, .07
seconds ahead of Belarus, which took the bronze.
   The Chinese canoe pair of Guanliang Meng and Wenjun Yang
delivered a surprise victory in a race where five canoes crossed
the line in a photo finish.
   ------
Cycling
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Julien Absalon, whose focus had been on
Athens since failing to make France's Olympic team four years ago,
pulled away in the second half of the mountain bike race and eased
to victory in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 2 seconds. Jose Antonio Hermida
of Spain finished second, exactly a minute behind Absalon. Bart
Brentjens of the Netherlands, the world's top-ranked rider and 1996
Olympic champion, took the bronze.
   It was the final cycling event of the Athens Games. Australia,
with 10 medals, dominated the overall standings; Germany, with six
medals, finished second; the United States won three medals, all in
the road time trials on Aug. 18.
   ------
Sailing
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher of
Austria won the gold medal in sailing's Tornado class. John Lovell
and Charlie Ogeltree of the United States won the silver. Santiago
Lange and Carlos Espinola of Argentina got the bronze.
   In the Star class, Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs of Canada won
the silver medal while, Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau of France
got the bronze. Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira of Brazil
clinched the gold on Thursday with one race remaining.
   ------
Women's Volleyball
Gold Medal
China 3, Russia 2 (28-30, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12)
Bronze Medal
Cuba 3, Brazil 1 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 25-17)
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Ping Zhang led a determined rally past
Russia with 25 points in the Olympic final. After dropping the
first two sets, China came back to tie -- staying a step ahead of
the Russians in the final set. Yuehong Zhang ended it with a spike
from the left side.
   China's players began hugging and crying with joy on their side
of the court, while a stunned Russia team sat on its bench in
tears. This was China's first medal since a silver at Atlanta in
1996 and first gold since 1984.
   A hard-hitting, high-jumping attack led by Nancy Carillo de la
Paz and Zoila Barros Fernandez sparked the Cubans to an easy
victory over Brazil in the bronze medal match.
   Cuba won each of the last three Olympic championships, but
several stars have since retired and the transition hasn't been
entirely smooth.
   ------
Taekwondo
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American Steven Lopez won his second
Olympic gold medal by defeating Bahri Tanrikulu of Turkey 3-0 in
the under 80-kilogram final.
   Lopez won gold in Sydney in 2000 at 68 kilograms, but has since
switched weight classes. He won the world championship at 78
kilograms last year, and had to beat two other world champions to
earn the gold. In the semifinals, Lopez faced Iran's Yossef Karami,
who won the world title at 84 kilograms in 2003. Tanrikulu was
champion in the same class in 2001. Karami took the bronze.
   In the women's under 67-kilogram event, Luo Wei of China beat
Elisavet Mystakidou of Greece, disappointing a raucous home crowd.
Hwang Kyung-sun of South Korea won the bronze.
   ------
Women's Team Handball
Bronze Medal
Ukraine 21, France 18
Classification
Spain 27, China 23
Hungary 36, Brazil 31
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Ukraine beat 2003 world champion France to
win the bronze medal. Maryna Vergelyuk six goals on seven shots for
Ukraine, while goalkeeper Nataliya Borysenko made 15 saves.
   Denmark faces South Korea for the gold Sunday.
   Spain and Hungary won classification games and will face each
other for fifth place Sunday. Bojana Radulovics scored seven goals
to lead Hungary past Pan American Games champion Brazil. China and
Brazil will play for seventh.
   ------
Men's Team Handball
Bronze Medal
Russia 28, Hungary 26
Classification
France 33, Greece 15
Spain 31, South Korea 24
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russian goalkeeper Andrei Lavrov, playing
in his fifth and final Olympics, earned a bronze medal when Russia
beat Hungary.
   Lavrov, 42, won his first Olympic gold medal playing for the
Soviet Union in 1988. After the Soviet collapse, Lavrov won another
gold in Barcelona in 1992 for the Unified Team. He was part of
Russia's fifth-place finish in Atlanta in 1996 and won another gold
in 2000.
   Lavrov made 15 saves and Eduard Kokcharov scored eight goals to
lead Russia.
   Jerome Fernandez scored nine goals on ten shots to lead France
in a rout of the host nation in the fifth-place game.
   Spain, led by seven goals from Manuel Colon, beat South Korea to
finish in seventh place. Yoon Kyung-shin scored seven for the
Koreans.
   Germany faces Croatia in the men's final Sunday.
   ------
Rhythmic Gymnastics
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russia, the defending Olympic champion,
won another gold in group rhythmic gymnastics, scoring 51.100
points to edge Italy and Bulgaria.
   Eight teams of five women each vied for the championship. Each
had two turns on the mat -- one with five ribbons, the other with
three hoops and two balls.
   The Russians also won a bronze in 1996, the year group rhythmic
was added to the games. Italy won its first Olympic medal in the
sport. Bulgaria, which won silver at the Atlanta Olympics, returned
to the medal stand after being shut out in 2000.
   ------
Boxing
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Thailand's Manus Boonjumnong pulled the
biggest upset of Saturday's five gold medal bouts, using ring
movement and speed to beat Yudel Johnson of Cuba 17-11 in a light
welterweight bout. Two other Cubans, heavyweight Odlanier Solis and
flyweight Yuriokis Gamboa, won their gold medal bouts.
   Boonjumnong made sure the powerful Cuban team wouldn't tie its
record of seven gold medals in Barcelona by beating Johnson in a
tactical bout that had the Cuban team and its fans upset.
   Gamboa promptly won the first Cuban gold of the games against
Jerome Thomas of France. Thomas, who captured a bronze medal in
Sydney, was aggressive but Gamboa was too fast for him inside,
winning 38-23.
   Solis, who replaced retired three-time Olympic champion Felix
Savon as the Cuban heavyweight, beat Viktar Zuyev of Belarus in a
lackluster 22-13 bout.
   Two Russians also won golds. Alexei Tichtchenko beat Song Guk
Kim of North Korea 39-17 at featherweight, while Gaydarbek
Gaydarbekov beat Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan 28-18 in a
middleweight bout.
   Four more Cubans fight for gold medals Sunday when the final six
weight classes are contested. Among them is the light heavyweight
final, where American Andre Ward faces Magomed Aripgadjiev of
Belarus.
   ------
Diving
   ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Hu Jia overtook teammate Tian Liang on his
next-to-last dive to win the 10-meter platform title, giving China
a record sixth Olympic diving gold medal.
   Hu totaled 748.08 points to upset defending champion Tian in the
last diving event of the Athens Games.
   Mathew Helm of Australia edged Tian for silver by 0.90 points,
finishing with 730.56. Tian totaled 729.66. World champion
Alexandre Despatie of Canada was fourth with 707.46.