Highlights of action Sunday at the Athens Games

Sunday, Aug. 29

STARS

--Stefano Baldini of Italy took the lead two miles from the finish to win the gold medal in the Olympic marathon. American Meb Keflezighi won silver.

--Andre Ward became the only American boxer to win a gold medal, beating Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus to claim the light heavyweight title.

--Alina Kabaeva of Russia routed the field for the gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics. Four years ago in Sydney, she was favored but took bronze after her hoop skittered away.

--Gilberto Godoy Filho had 20 points to lead Brazil to victory over rival Italy for the men's volleyball gold medal. It was Brazil's first Olympic medal since a gold in 1992.

GYMNASTICS APPEAL

The South Korean gymnast who lost the all-around title to Paul Hamm because of a scoring error appealed to a sports arbitration panel, asking for help to get the gold medal. Yang Tae-young asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to order international gymnastics officials to correct the results from the all-around and adjust the medal rankings.

MARATHON INTRUDER

A defrocked Irish priest bolted from the crowd and grabbed marathon leader Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil three miles from the end. He recovered and finished, but had to settle for the bronze. An appeal by the Brazilian track federation for a duplicate gold medal was rejected.

The IOC said it will present de Lima with the Pierre de Coubertin medal in recognition of his "exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values."

BEIJING PROTEST

Tibetan protesters and police briefly scuffled at the main Olympic stadium complex, just hours before organizers of the 2008 Beijing Games were to receive the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony.

DAILY DOPE

--Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle Williams was stripped of her bronze medal in the points race after testing positive for a stimulant. The result gave Erin Mirabella of the United States a bronze medal.

COMING UP

Athens International Airport braced to handle thousands of departing passengers, with 878 flights scheduled on Monday alone. Officials imposed restrictions on passengers Sunday through Tuesday to cope with the enormous volume.

WEATHER

The mercury reached 89 degrees under mostly sunny skies at the main Olympic complex. Monday's forecast was for partly cloudy and 89.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm an extremely happy president of the IOC. We always expressed our confidence in our Greek friends. I've always said I believed there was enough time to finish the preparations in due time. Many did not believe me." -- IOC president Jacques Rogge.