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| William Priddy digs a spike from Russia while American teammates Richard Lambourne (5) and Ryan Millar (9) look on during the semifinals Friday. Associated Press Photo. |
Olympic Roundup: United States men stand out in the team sports
By Jaime Aron, AP Sports Writer
Saturday, August 23, 2008 8:16 AM PDT
BEIJING — Put up a net, put American men in action and watch out. At these Olympics, that’s becoming an unbeatable combination.
From volleyball to water polo to basketball, the guys in red, white and blue made their country proud Friday.
Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers got it started by winning gold in beach volleyball. Then the U.S. indoor volleyball squad continued its surprising, emotional run by beating Russia and advancing to the gold-medal match for the first time since 1988.
Next came the fun at the pool. The water polo team, which came to China ranked ninth in the world, pulled off the latest in a string of upsets, beating Serbia to also reach the gold-medal match for the first time since ’88.
Last, and certainly not least, was the basketball squad.
Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and their NBA All-Star pals chewed up and spit out Manu Ginobili and Argentina in the semifinals to clinch their spot in the finals. Winning with the ease of the original Dream Teams, this “Redeem Team” can put the U.S. back atop the sport for the first time since 2000 with one more win — against Spain, a team they clobbered by 37 points earlier this tournament.
At day’s end, the U.S. had 102 medals. With more guaranteed from events like volleyball, water polo and basketball, the Americans will have more than the 102 medals won four years ago in Athens, and is closing in on the 108 won in Barcelona in 1992.
China is second in total medals with 89, but is the runaway leader in golds with 47. The Americans are second with 31.
Those medal counts can change, though. Ukraine lost a silver Friday when the International Olympic Committee officially stripped Lyudmila Blonska of her second-place finish in women’s heptathlon because of doping. American Hyleas Fountain moves up to second, with a Russian getting bronze.
The IOC also asked China to provide additional proof that five of the six members of its gold-winning women’s gymnastics team were old enough to compete. If the IOC finds them to be underage, four medals could be affected.
Volleyball
The Americans played their first three games without coach Hugh McCutcheon, who was with his wife’s family after her father was killed and her mother wounded by a knife-wielding attacker during a visit to a Beijing tourist site.
They didn’t lose without him. And they haven’t lost since he’s returned.
By beating Russia 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 15-13, the U.S. clinched its first medal since bronze in 1992. They will play Sunday against Brazil, which beat Italy in the other semifinal.
The Americans won gold in 1984 and ’88.
“We’ve got motivation coming out of our ears,” veteran Lloy Ball said.
Water polo
Between Tony Azevedo’s scoring and Merrill Moses’ goaltending, these guys can’t be beat.
After upsetting world No. 1 Croatia to win their group, the U.S. pulled off another shocker with a 10-5 win over Serbia. Azevedo scored three times, with two assists, two steals and two blocks. Merrill stopped 16 shots, including every one in the final period.
“I knew I had to play the game of my life to keep us in this,” Moses said. “It’s my best game as of yet. But there’s more to come. You’ll see.”
Next up: two-time defending gold medalist Hungary on Sunday. The Hungarians beat Montenegro 11-9 in the other semifinal.
Baseball
The U.S. baseball team had to settle for bronze, certainly not the medal color the Americans had planned to bring home.
Taylor Teagarden hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the fifth and Jason Donald followed with a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole, lifting the United States to an 8-4 victory over Japan today.
The Americans bounced back 15 hours after a demoralizing 10-2 semifinal loss to defending champion Cuba, finding an answer on offense each time Japan took a lead.
Japan won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and had been widely considered the favorite to win gold in the Beijing Games, so the result marked a disappointing finish for the Japanese in baseball’s final Olympic tournament for now.
Men’s soccer
Angel di Maria has fired Argentina to its second Olympic football title in a row in a 1-0 victory over Nigeria.
Di Maria collected a through ball from Lionel Messi in the 58th minute to give 2004 winner Argentina another gold medal and leave the Nigerians, champions in 1996, the silver. Brazil won the bronze on Friday by beating Belgium 3-0 in Shanghai.
The only football game to be played in Beijing’s Olympic stadium, today’s match was watched by a crowd of 89,102 but hampered by very hot conditions and the referee took the rare step of twice allowing players to stop and take drinks.
Taekwondo
The Lopez family isn’t going home with a single gold medal. But all three of them have something to show for their games.
Steven Lopez fell short in his bid for a third straight gold, taking bronze, just like his brother Mark did the day before. Sister Diana got silver.
Steven Lopez lost for the first time since 2002. He was knocked out in the quarterfinals, paving the way for Iran’s Hadi Saei to win the 80-kilogram class.
South Korea’s Hwang Kyung-seon defeated Canada’s Karine Sergerie with a kick in the final seconds to win the women’s 67-kilogram class.
Modern pentathlon
American Sheila Taormina will have to settle for becoming the first woman to compete in three Olympic sports. In this one, she finished 19th — one spot ahead of the defending gold medalist.
A swimmer at the 1996 Olympics, and competitor in the triathlon in 2000 and 2004, she can take solace in having had the fastest swim and tying for the best horse ride.
“So worth it now,” Taormina said. “I’m just thanking God over and over and over. So thankful I want to cry.”
Germany’s Lena Schoneborn won it.
Canoe/kayak
The Hungarians found a perfect way to remember their former teammate Gyorgy Kolonics — winning gold, silver and bronze.
Wearing black armbands to remember the two-gold winner who died in his canoe while training for these Olympics, Hungarians won gold in the men’s 1,000-meter canoe singles (C-1); silver in the women’s 500-meter kayak four (K-4); and bronze in men’s 1,000-meter canoe double (C-2).
Germany’s Nicole Reinhardt now has a gold medal to wear if Playboy asks her to pose again. She was part of the winning team in the women’s 500-meter kayak four.
Brothers Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich of Belarus won the men’s 1,000-meter canoe double, beating Germany by a nose. One of the Germans, Thomasz Wylenzek, fainted afterward and was treated at a hospital for dehydration.
Other golds went to Britain (men’s 1,000-meter kayak single); Germany (men’s 1,000-meter kayak double) and Belarus (men’s 1,000-meter kayak four).
Boxing
One measly bronze medal is all the U.S. has to show for these games, its worst performance ever.
Deontay Wilder was the lone recipient. It was his consolation prize after being outclassed and outpointed by amateur heavyweight world champion Clemente Russo of Italy in the semifinals.
“To be here and win a medal is great,” Wilder said. “I’m not a guy to complain. I’ll get back in the gym to work and get better.”
The Americans won only one medal in 1948, too, but that was a silver.
Also, the International Boxing Association will investigate claims made by a now-suspended official who alleges improprieties in the process used to give refereeing and judging assignments at the Beijing Olympics.
Rudi Obreja, a Romanian boxing executive who served as a technical delegate to the games, made a litany of lurid allegations against AIBA and its officials during an impromptu interview between sessions in Friday’s semifinal bouts.
Table tennis
As expected, China swept the women’s singles, just like it did in 1988.
Zhang Yining got gold, Wang Nan got silver and Guo Yue the bronze.
Rhythmic gymnastics
Russia’s Evgeniya Kanaeva is the ribbon-twirling, club-throwing gymnast to beat.
She was second entering Friday’s competition but passed teammate Olga Kapranova, who led after the rope and hoop portions Thursday. The individual finals are today, with the team finals Sunday. Scores from qualifying do not carry into the finals.
Women’s field hockey
Give it up for the Dutch.
The Netherlands beat China 2-0 for it’s first gold since 1984. The silver is China’s first medal in women’s field hockey.
Argentina defeated Germany 3-1 to win the bronze.
Synchronized swimming
The gold-winning pair of Anastasias are headed toward more hardware, along with six friends.
The Russians received a near-perfect score of 49.5 in the technical portion of the team competition, putting them in first place going into the free routine Saturday. The United States is fifth.
“The Russians perform from their hearts. No matter what we do, we do it (with) heart and soul,” Anastasia Davydova said.
Men’s handball
France and Iceland will play for gold, and whoever wins will be a first-time gold medalist.
Iceland beat Spain 36-30, while France defeated reigning Olympic champion Croatia 25-23.
France has only earned a medal once, a bronze in 1992, while Iceland has never won a medal in men’s handball.
Mountain biking
Germany’s Sabine Spitz won the gold medal in the women’s mountain bike race, adding it to the bronze she won at the Athens Games four years ago.
Spitz finished six laps around the 2.75-mile course in 1 hour, 45 minutes, 11 seconds. She stopped about five meters (yards) from the finish, hopped off her bike and carried it across the finish line.
Poland’s Maja Wloszezowska won the silver, finishing 41 seconds behind Spitz. Russia’s Irina Kalentieva won the bronze, another 36 seconds back. |
