updated 7:38 p.m. ET Aug. 16, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Michael Phelps’ quest for seven gold medals ended after just three events, when he had to settle for another bronze Monday night in the most anticipated race at the Olympic pool — the head-to-head showdown with Australia’s Ian Thorpe in the 200-meter freestyle.

Thorpe has ruled this event for years, but Phelps couldn’t resist seeing what he could do against him — part of his larger goal to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games.

Defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands won the silver medal.

Natalie Coughlin, the top female swimmer on the American team, won the 100 backstroke, holding off Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe. France’s Laure Manaudou took bronze, her second medal of the games.

Aaron Peirsol won gold in the men’s 100 backstroke. Markus Rogan of Austria claimed silver, and Japan’s Tomomi Morita held off American Lenny Krayzelburg for the bronze.

Luo Xuejuan of China won gold in the women’s 100 breaststroke. Australians Brooke Hanson and Leisel Jones took silver and bronze.

Gymnastics
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team, long overlooked and often unappreciated, won the Olympic silver to take home a medal for the first time since the 1984 Games.

After faltering in the middle two rotations, Paul and Morgan Hamm led a rally. The Americans hit their last six routines, on parallel bars and high bar, to push past Romania and finish with 172.933 points.

The Japanese went last and needed to average about 9.5 over three sets on the high bar to win. They did it with ease, winning by 0.888 points.

This was only the third team medal for the U.S. men, and their first at a non-boycotted Olympics since 1932.

Tennis
Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin lost 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to eighth-seeded Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian of China in the first round of the Olympic doubles tournament.

Williams won the doubles gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games with her sister, Serena, who pulled out of these Olympics last week because of a left knee injury. Rubin filled in, marking the first time Venus Williams ever played a tournament doubles match with anyone except her sister.

In men’s doubles, the top-seeded Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, routed Russians Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-2.

In singles play Roger Federer of Switzerland, the top-ranked player in the world, struggled but rallied to beat Russia Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Women's Basketball
The U.S. women’s team overcame another slow start to defeat the Czech Republic 80-61. With key contributions from Tina Thompson and reserve Yolanda Griffith, the United States went on a 14-point spurt to take the lead for good, then blew the game open with a 16-2 run at the start of the second half.

Lisa Leslie led the United States with 15 points, Thompson scored 12, and Griffith had 10.

Quicker than their taller opponents, the Americans outrebounded the Czechs 43-22.

In other women's basketball action, Ryoko Yano had 21 points and Mutsuko Nagata added 20 to help Japan rebound from an opening loss with a 79-73 victory over Nigeria. Donna Loffhagen had 19 points and 14 rebounds as New Zealand bounced back from a 52-point loss to the United States with a 81-73 triumph over South Korea.

Spanish forward Madariaga Valdemoro scored 30 points in a 75-67 win over China as Spain clinched a berth in the quarterfinals.

Brazil rallied to defeat Greece 87-75. The game was tied 64-64 after three quarters. Brazil opened the final quarter with a 14-0 run to take control and silence a frenzied home crowd of 2,200. Penny Taylor had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead Australia to a 75-56 victory over Russia.

Softball
Helped by two errors, the United States scored three runs in the eighth inning to edge Japan 3-0. The Americans extended their winning streak to 73 games.

Cat Osterman pitched a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the United States (3-0) remained the only unbeaten squad in the eight-team tournament.

In other softball action, China rallied for four unearned runs in the sixth inning for a 4-2 victory over Canada. China is now 2-1 in the preliminary round.

Sarah Farnworth pitched a six-hitter as Greece (2-1), making its first appearance in Olympic softball, defeated Italy 2-1 for its second-straight win. The Greeks, who have 13 American-born players on their roster, scored both runs in the first inning on RBI bunts by Farnworth and Jessica Bashor.

Tanya Harding pitched a two-hitter as Australia  topped Taiwan 1-0. Harding, a three-time Olympian, has given up only two hits in 13 1/3 innings so far in the Athens Games.

Women's Volleyball
The U.S. women bounced back from an opening loss to China by beating Germany in four sets. Olympic rookie Tayyiba Haneef (17 kills) and veteran Keba Phipps (16 points) led the Americans. Angelina Grun had 20 points, three on aces, for the scrappy Germans, who beat Cuba on Saturday.

Cuba, the three-time defending Olympic champion, rebounded to outlast Russia in five sets. Nancy Carillo De La Paz's 20 kills led the Cubans. The Russians staved off match point twice, until Carillo De La Paz — with her fingertips — dumped a ball over the net to end the final set at 15-13. Lioubov Shashkova had 27 kills for Russia.

Pool B leader China swept the Dominican Republic in a match that lasted only 75 minutes.

Italy and Brazil, both 2-0, are tied for the Pool A lead after each team posted another sweep. The Italians beat Japan behind 16 points from Simona Rinieri-Dennis.

Brazil, paced by 15 kills from Welissa Gonzaga, was tested in its win against overmatched Kenya — which staved off set point five times in the second set. Korea won its first match, beating Greece in four sets.

Beach Volleyball
Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard, the top American men’s pair, were flat and out of synch for the second straight match, losing to Canadians John Child and Mark Heese 21-16, 21-10 in preliminary pool play.

The eighth-seeded Americans must upset the fifth-seeded Swiss pair, Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel, on Wednesday to have any chance of reaching the single-elimination medal round.

In women's competition, Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs overcame a sluggish second set to beat Canadians Guylaine Dumont and Annie Martin 21-13, 12-21, 15-9.

The fourth-seeded U.S. team looked sharp at the start, then fell behind 9-2 in the second set after a flurry of unforced errors. The Americans resumed their solid play midway through the final set and finished the match with a 7-2 spurt.

Boxing
Vicente Escobedo dominated from the opening bell to stop Jose David Mosquera of Colombia in the third round and keep the United States undefeated through three Olympic bouts.

The fight was stopped 31 seconds into the third round by the mercy rule with Escobedo ahead 30-10.

Shooting
Zhu Qinan of China set a world record, winning the gold medal in 10-meter men’s air rifle.

Zhu scored 702.7, topping the mark of 702.5 set by American Jason Parker in 2003. China’s Li Jie took the silver and Slovakia’s Jozef Gonci won the bronze.

Suzanne Balogh of Australia pulled away from the field to win the gold medal in trap shooting. Maria Quintanal of Spain took the silver. American Collyn Loper, of Indian Springs, Ala., finished fourth, one point behind Lee Bo-na of South Korea, who won the bronze.

Women's Field Hockey
Reigning world champion Argentina defeated Japan 3-1 in the second round of the women’s field hockey tournament.

Tied 1-1, Argentina took control with goals by Agustina Soledad Garcia and Marina Emilce di Giacomo.

Australia bounced back from Saturday’s surprising loss to Germany by blanking South Africa 3-0. In its first match of the Olympics, New Zealand lost to China 2-0. Two goals from Macha van Der Vaart helped the Netherlands erase an early 1-0 deficit against South Korea in a 3-2 victory.

Women's Water Polo
Brenda Villa scored four goals and Kelly Rulon had two as the world champion United States team began its pursuit of an Olympic gold medal with a 7-6 win over Hungary.
The Americans led by three goals after the first quarter, but the Hungarians rallied to tie 5-5 late in the third quarter and took a 6-5 lead in the final period.

Villa tied the game for the United States, and then Rulon — celebrating her Olympic debut and her 20th birthday — scored the winning goal a minute later.

In the other Group B match, Russian captain Sofya Konukh scored three goals and Maria Yaina scored twice in an 8-6 victory over Canada. Susan Gardner had two goals for the Canadians.

In Group A, defending Olympic champion Australia edged No. 2-ranked Italy 6-5, with Kelly Heuchan and Kate Gynther contributing two goals apiece. In another game, Greece defeated Kazakhstan 8-6.

Baseball
Taiwan's Wang Chien-ming combined with reliever Tsao Chin-hui to shut out Australia 3-0. Wang gave up three hits and no walks in seven innings, and Tsao finished to earn the save.

In other action, Canada scored seven runs in the second inning and went on to defeat Italy 9-3. Atsushi Fujimoto went 2-for-4 with a home run to lead Japan to an 8-3 win over a Dutch team that is coached by former major league manager Davey Johnson. Greece nearly upset Cuba, scoring three runs in the ninth to pull within 5-4, but Pedro Luis Lazo struck out James Kavourias to end the rally.

Rowing
Forecasts of strong winds prompted organizers to postpone Monday’s races. Organizers hoped to move them to Tuesday.

Sailing
A strong Meltemi wind that led to the cancellation of rowing claimed the 49er event in sailing after sailors weren’t able to get their boats in the water.

The wind didn’t help Kevin Hall of Bowie, Md., who finished 16th and 14th in the two Finn races to drop to 14th overall.

He was buried in 19th at the first mark of the first race because he was unable to gain from a wind shift.

Monday’s wind averaged 21 knots, gusting higher at times, and the swell was down from Sunday, when at least 30 boats capsized on the wild Saronic Gulf.

While the conditions had the Finns flying across the waves, the anticipated first three races of the 49er class were postponed because of the stiff breeze that kept the flags at the Agios Kosmas Sailing Center whipping toward the gulf.

Fencing
France’s Brice Guyart rallied from an early deficit in the final to defeat Italy’s Salvatore Sanzo and win the gold medal in men’s foil. Guyart trailed 4-0 but quickly tied the bout and won 15-13. Andrea Cassara of Italy defeated Russia’s Renal Ganeev 15-12 to take the bronze.

Dan Kellner, of Warren, N.J., fell one touch short of reaching the quarterfinals. He upset No. 7 seed Cedric Gohy of 15-12 in the round of 32, and led 14-12 in his next bout but couldn’t close out the win, as Britain’s Richard Kruse rallied to win 15-14.

Judo
World champion Lee Won-hee of South Korea defeated American Jimmy Pedro in the third round and went on to claim the gold medal in the 73-kilogram class, beating Vitaliy Makarov of Russia in the final.

Pedro bounced back for a bronze, which he shared with Leandro Guilheiro of Brazil.

Lee and Pedro had been the focus of the competition ever since the draw was announced.
Pedro, a 1996 bronze medalist and four-time Olympian, ended Lee’s 48-match winning streak in December. Pedro, who lives in Lawrence, Mass., retired after the Sydney Olympics before making a comeback.

After losing to Lee, Pedro had to fight his way through the repechage bracket to win the bronze medal.

In the women’s 57-kilogram final, Yvonne Boenisch of Germany beat North Korea’s Kye Sun Hui, the two-time world champion, to win the gold medal. Deborah Gravenstijn of the Netherlands and Yurieleidys Lupetey of Cuba shared the bronze.

Diving
Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis of Greece won the gold medal in synchronized 3-meter springboard diving with a score of 353.34. It was Greece’s first gold at the Athens Games.

Andreas Wels and Tobias Schellenberg of Germany won the silver medal. Robert Newbery and Steven Barnett of Australia got the bronze.

Lao Lishi and Li Ting earned China its third diving gold medal in these Olympics by easily winning the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform competition.

Natalia Goncharova and Yulia Koltunova of Russia won the silver and Blythe Hartley and Emilie Heymans of Canada took the bronze at 327.78.

Weightlifting
China swept gold medals in two events and finished 1-2 in the men’s 62-kilogram division.
Shi Zhiyong, not deterred by either the pro-Greece crowd or his own teammate, held off countryman Le Maosheng, and Greece’s Leonidas Sampanis to win the gold.

Le won the silver and Sampanis, a silver medalist in the last two Olympics, was happy to get the bronze at age 32. His was Greece’s first medal of its homeland Olympics.

Chen Yanqing won gold at 58 kilograms, her first major title since winning the 1999 world championship in Athens. North Korea’s Ri Song Hui took the silver, and Thailand's Wandee Kameaim won the bronze.

Archery
Defending Olympic champion Simon Fairweather of Australia was knocked out by Anton Prylepav of Belarus in the first men’s elimination round at Panathinaiko Stadium. Fairweather, seeded 20th, lost 141-137. Australia’s David Barnes also was eliminated.

Vic Wunderle of Mason City, Ill., who won a silver in individual and bronze in the team competition in Sydney, was the only American to advance. Butch Johnson (Worcester, Mass.) and John Magera (Carterville, Ill.) lost.

Bhutan’s Tashi Peljor pulled the biggest upset of the day, beating 13th seed Jocelyn de Grandis of France. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan.

Handball
Croatia, the 2003 world champion, trailed 3-0 but then turned up the pressure after Slovenia lost Zoran Jovicic, who broke his nose and could be out the remainder of the tournament.
Spain stayed even with Croatia atop Group A by topping Iceland. France, a world champion twice since 1995, defeated host Greece for its second straight victory in Group B. Hungary edged Pan Am Games champion Brazil 20-19 to stay even with France on top of their first-round group.

Equestrian
Britain led the team competition of the three-day dressage event with 113.2 penalty points after two days. France is second with 113.6 and Germany is next with 114.4. The United States is fourth.

Current European champion Nicolas Touzaint, riding Galan De Sauvagere for France, led the individual standings with a score of 29.40. Britain’s Philippa Funnell atop Primmore’s Pride was second. The top American is Kim Severson of Keen, Va., riding Winsome Adante in fourth.

Table Tennis
Two doubles teams and a singles player lost for the United States, leaving Gao Jun as the lone American left in the table tennis competition.

Ilija Lupulesku lost in men’s singles — and in doubles with Mark Hazinski. Gao and Tawny Banh lost their doubles match, but Gao will play her first women’s singles match Tuesday in the round of 32.

Badminton
Americans Kevin Han and Howard Bach were eliminated by Denmark’s Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard 15-6, 15-4 in the doubles round of 16.

China’s Gong Ruina, Zhou Mi and Zhang Ning all reached the semifinals in women’s singles.
South Korea had a surprise loss in the mixed doubles quarterfinals, with Kim Don-moon and Ra Kyung-min losing to Danes Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen.

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