updated 7:21 p.m. ET Aug. 18, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - The United States women swept the 800-meter freestyle relay, taking down the oldest world record in swimming while leaving Australia in their wake.

Kaitlin Sandeno swam the final leg and cruised to the wall in a time of 7 minutes, 53.42 seconds, easily beating the mark of 7:55.47 set exactly 17 years earlier by East Germany.

Natalie Coughlin, who led off the record effort, leaned over the edge of the pool and yelled to Sandeno, “You did it!” The other Americans, Carly Piper and Dana Vollmer, hugged each other on the deck.

No one was close to the Americans. China, more than 2½ seconds behind, took the silver while Germany edged Australia for the bronze by just five-hundredths of a second.

Meanwhile, Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands repeated as the Olympic champion in the 100 freestyle, Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima completed a sweep of the men’s breaststroke events by winning the men’s 200 meters, and Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland won her third medal of the games with a victory in the 200 butterfly.

Another world record was set in the semifinals of the women’s 100 freestyle. Australia’s Jodie Henry won her heat in 53.52, lowering the mark of 53.66 set by Lisbeth Lenton at the Australian trials in March.

The fall of Communism brought to light evidence of massive cheating by the East Germans and tarnished that country’s numerous athletic achievements — including the women’s 800 relay record set Aug. 18, 1987.

Gymnastics
Paul Hamm fell onto the edge of the judges’ table while landing his vault, but recovered with two of the most spectacular routines of his career to win the men’s all-around gymnastics title Wednesday night by the closest Olympic margin ever.

Hamm was dazzling on the high bar, hitting three straight release moves to perfection, soaring higher with each toss. He became the first U.S. man to win gold in the all-around.

Kim Dae-eun of South Korea won silver and compatriot Yang Tae-young won the bronze. Brett McClure of the United States was ninth.

Hamm’s margin of victory was .012. The previous closest margin in the event was .017 by Leon Stukelj of Yugoslavia over Robert Prazak of Czechoslovakia in 1924. The women also had .012, in 1992 when Ukraine’s Tatyana Gutsu edged American Shannon Miller.

Track and Field
Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou withdrew from the Athens Games on Wednesday, nearly a week after missing a drug test and being hospitalized following a suspicious motorcycle crash.

“I’m withdrawing from the Olympics,” Kenteris said after meeting with the International Olympic Committee’s disciplinary commission.

He also said he cut ties with his coach, Christos Tsekos — suspended by the Greek Olympic Committee along with the two runners.

The IOC’s executive board proceeded with a hearing despite the runners’ announcement and referred the case to the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF will discuss the case Aug. 26 but won’t rule until after the Games.

Kenteris, the reigning 200-meter Olympic champion, is the country’s most celebrated athlete and was Greece’s best hope for gold in track at the Athens Games.

Matthew Fearn / AP The Athens 2004 Olympic Games accreditation handed back to the International Olympic Committee by Greek athletes Kostas Kenteris, Katerina Thanou and coach Christos Tzekos Wednesday. Both athletes withdrew from the Olympics nearly a week after they missed a drug test and were later hospitalized following a suspicious motorcycle accident.

Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog took a flag-draped victory lap while American Adam Nelson stood in the shot put ring for three minutes, pointing at officials and pleading.

Nelson led the entire competition, but Bilonog’s final throw tied Nelson for the best of the day at 69 feet, 5¼ inches. Nelson had one last chance to win and unleashed a great toss, but was called for his fifth consecutive foul.

Since Nelson had no other good throws and Bilonog had several, the Ukrainian won and left Nelson stunned at the ancient site that gave birth to the Olympics 28 centuries ago. Denmark’s Joachim Olsen won the bronze at 69-1½.

Earlier, thousands of spectators sitting on grassy slopes surrounding the pit watched Russian Irina Korzhanenko’s winning toss of 69-1¼. Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba won the silver with a throw of 64-3¼ on her last attempt, and Nadine Kleinert of Germany took the bronze.

Baseball
A pair of Japanese league veterans helped Australia down Japan 9-4. The loss came barely 12 hours after Japan’s victory over Cuba.

Jeff Williams had the save for Australia, pitching three innings and striking out three. The pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers has been one of the best closers in Japanese baseball over the past two years. Australia trailed 4-3 after five innings, but scored three runs apiece in the seventh and eighth.

Catcher Dave Nilsson, formerly of the Chunichi Dragons, went 3-for-5 for Australia with an RBI and two runs scored. Australia is 2-2 while Japan is 3-1.

The Netherlands beat Italy to improve to 3-1, while the Italians remain winless.

Women's Basketball
Lisa Leslie scored 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting, Tina Thompson added 18 points, and the United States hit South Korea with a big second half run to stay unbeaten. The Americans broke it open with a 19-2 run to start the second half.

Lauren Jackson had 31 points and nine rebounds as Australia, the 2000 silver medalist, remained unbeaten by dominating inside. The 6-foot-5 Jackson, the WNBA’s MVP last season with the Seattle Storm, came into the game averaging 21 points. She had that many in the first 15 minutes against Japan.

Jana Vesela scored 22 points and Eva Viteckova added 20 as the Czech Republic beat China 98-83 Wednesday to avoid a third straight loss.

Russia held Brazil 40 points below its scoring average in the tournament, leaving Australia as the only unbeaten team in Group A.

Laia Palau scored 15 points and Spain joined the United States as the only unbeaten teams in Group B after three games.

Spain, which plays the United States Friday, opened with a 16-4 run and was up 32-8 after one quarter. It never was close again, with Spain leading by as many as 34 points in the fourth quarter. Angela Marino had 21 points for New Zealand (1-2).

Boxing
United States super heavyweight Jason Estrada and heavyweight Devin Vargas advanced to the quarterfinals, capping an impressive 6-1 run through the preliminaries for a lightly regarded U.S. team.

The eight remaining Americans will fight in the next three days.

Estrada moved on to fight Cuba’s Michel Lopez Nunez, whom Estrada for a gold medal in last year’s Pan American Games.

Najah Ali, Iraq’s 4-foot-11 light heavyweight and the country’s sole boxer in Athens, outpointed Kwak Hyok Ju of North Korea 21-7 to advance to a second-round match.

Light flyweight Rau’Shee Warren was the only American eliminated in the first round. Warren, a 17-year-old from Cincinnati, struggled against Chinese veteran Zou Shiming, losing 22-9.

Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis duplicated his three-point victory over Russia’s Alexander Alexseev from last year’s world championships by winning 24-21. Solis, Cuba’s successor to three-time gold medalist Felix Savon, is a two-time world champion.

Softball
Jennie Finch pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and Lisa Fernandez went 3-for-4 with a home run as the United States won its fifth straight shutout, beating Canada 7-0 to clinch a spot in this weekend’s semifinals.

Crystl Bustos and Lisa Fernandez homered for the two-time defending gold medal-winning U.S. squad, which has outscored its opponents 31-0.

Hua Su Lin pitched a five-hitter to lead Taiwan to its second straight win after three opening losses. Fen Yan Weng drove in the game’s only run while Italy lost for the fourth time in five games.

Australia won its fourth game in five tries, with the only loss to the unbeaten United States. The Australians scored all their runs in the eighth.

Japan’s Hiroko Sakai shut out Greece allowing just two hits and striking out three in seven innings.

Soccer
Costa Rica scored its first four goals of the Olympic soccer tournament to knock Portugal out of the competition with a 4-2 win, setting up a meeting with Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Jose Villalobos, Alvaro Saborio and Pablo Brenes scored for Costa Rica, as did Portugal’s Fernando Meira, whose own goal in the 68th minute tied the game at 2.

Iraq won its group despite losing 2-1 to Morocco. After Salih Sadir had given Iraq a second half lead, Morocco hit back through a Bouabid Bouden penalty kick and the game-winner from Salaheddine Aqqal.

In Group B, Italy advanced on goals scored despite losing 1-0 to Paraguay. Ghana, which lost 1-0 to Japan, finished with the same points and goal differential as the Italians, but scored four goals to Italy’s five.

Tennis
In back-to-back tennis stunners, second-seeded Andy Roddick was upset by No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-4, 6-4, and defending gold medalist Venus Williams lost to Mary Pierce of France 6-4, 6-4.

For the first time since tennis returned to the Olympics as a medal sport in 1988, no U.S. woman will win a singles medal.

In addition to Williams’ exit, No. 16 Chanda Rubin lost to No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-3, 6-1, and Lisa Raymond was eliminated by Alicia Molik of Australia 6-4, 6-4.

Martina Navratilova, in her first Olympics at age 47, and Raymond advanced to the doubles quarterfinals when their opponents, Mauresmo and Pierce, pulled out. Mauresmo developed a rash from a skin allergy during her win over Rubin.

Cycling
Tyler Hamilton won the men’s time trial gold medal and teammate Bobby Julich took the bronze, hours after Dede Barry won a silver in the women’s time trial. No other nation in the Olympics won more than two medals in the four road competitions.

Hamilton edged defending men’s time trial gold medalist Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia by about 19 seconds, taking home the first American road gold since the boycotted Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

In the women’s race, Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel of the Netherlands — who suffered hip and shoulder injuries in a fall late in Sunday’s road race — successfully defended her gold medal by covering the 14.9-mile course in 31 minutes, 11.53 seconds.

Barry was 24.09 seconds back. Switzerland’s Karin Thuerig won the bronze.

Archery
South Korea’s Park Sung-hyun defeated countrywoman Lee Sung-jin in the final of the archery competition at Panathinaiko Stadium.

Tied at 100 after 11 shots, Park scored a 10 with her final arrow. Lee was unable to answer, scoring an 8, to give Park the gold.

Britain’s Alison Williamson, competing in her fourth Olympics, defeated Taiwan’s Yuan Shu Chi to win the bronze medal.

Canoe-Kayak
Rebecca Giddens of Green Bay, Wis., took the silver in the women’s kayaking singles slalom, while Elena Kaliska of Slovakia won the gold.

Slovakia had a chance for a second gold, but Michael Martikan was denied despite the best time when it was judged that he touched a gate during his run. The ensuing penalty dropped him to second.

The gold medal went to Frenchman Tony Estanguet.

Rowing
Aquil Abdullah of Washington, D.C., and Henry Nuzum of Chapel Hill, N.C., overtook Norway in a photo finish, winning a spot in the double scull finals.

At the halfway point of the 2,000-meter race, Nuzum and Abdullah — the U.S. crew team’s first black Olympian — trailed both Australia and Norway.

At the finish line, the time clock initially showed both the United States and Norwegians with 6:14.70. Officials took more than a minute to study a photo before posting the official result.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Matthew Pinsent remained firmly on track for his fourth gold medal as his four boat won its semifinal. And the Canadian eight, upset in their preliminary heat by the world record-setting U.S. crew earlier this week, won its repechage — or second-chance race — to get another crack at their North American rivals in Sunday’s eights final.

Equestrian
Germany reclaimed its gold medal in the equestrian three-day team event after an appeals panel reversed an earlier ruling that had dropped it to fourth place following a protest from France.

France, which had jumped to first after it complained about the scoring, retained its silver medal. Britain kept the bronze after briefly being awarded the silver. Lost in the shuffle was the United States, which for a fleeting moment was the bronze winner.

The French team had lodged a protest with judges, claiming that Bettina Hoy of Germany, riding Ringwood Cockatoo, had crossed the start line twice. The judges initially agreed.

But the Germans then countered the French protest and, after a second review, an appeals committee restored the original medal order, noting that the clock that runs during the event had malfunctioned while Hoy was competing.

In the individual three-day event at night, Hoy won the gold medal, again aboard Ringwood Cockatoo. Leslie Law of Britain won the silver with Shear l’Eau and Kimberly Severson of the United States won the bronze aboard Winsome Adante.

Shooting
American Kim Rhode won the gold medal in double trap shooting, staking a unique
claim as the first and last winner of the Olympic event.

Rhode won the 1996 gold when double trap was introduced at the Atlanta Olympics, and she now owns the 2004 medal in the event, which is being eliminated. She also won the bronze in 2000.

Lee Bo Na of South Korea took the silver, finishing one point behind Rhode. Gao E of China defeated countrywoman Li Qingnian in a shoot-off to win the bronze.

In women’s 25-meter pistol, Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria won the gold medal, while Lenka Hykova of the Czech Republic won the silver and Irada Ashumova of Azerbaijan took the bronze.

Judo
Two-time defending champion Masae Ueno earned Japan’s fifth gold medal in 10 judo events, extending her three-year undefeated streak in major international competition.

“I lost the gold medal in Sydney and I had to wait a long time to try again,” Ueno said after defeating Edith Bosch of the Netherlands.

Missing from the competition was defending world silver medalist, Regla Zulueta, who could not compete after defecting to the United States last year from Cuba.

The bronze was shared by Annett Boehm of Germany and Qin Dongya of China.

On the men’s side, Ueno’s teammate Hiroshi Izumi wound up with silver when he lost in the men’s 90kg title match to Zurab Zviadauri of Georgia. Khasanbi Taov of Russia took a bronze, along with Mark Huizinga of Netherlands.

Weightlifting
Zhang Guozheng won China’s third Olympic weightlifting gold medal in as many events, leading the men’s 152-pound (69kg) field from the start.

Nikolai Peshalov won a record-tying fourth Olympic medal — a bronze.

Lee Bae Young of South Korea had a chance to overtake Zhang, but missed a clean-and-jerk attempt of 430 pounds (195kg) that would have given him the gold by virtue of lower body weight.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Natalia Skakun overcame a big deficit to win the gold medal in 139-pound (63kg) weightlifting. Belarus’ Hanna Batsiushka settled for silver. Tatsiana Stukalava of Belarus won bronze.

Badminton
Shon Seung-mo of South Korea rallied from a set down to beat second-seeded Chen Hong, ending China’s hopes of a singles badminton medal.

China’s women fared a little better. The pair of Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei defeated Thailand’s Thungthongkam Saralee and Sathinee Chankrachangwong. In the other early quarterfinal, Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili of China beat Lee Hyo-jung and Hwang Yu-mi of South Korea.

In mixed doubles, Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of Britain beat Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen of Denmark.

Sailing
Skipper Tim Wadlow of Boston shot the starting line in race No. 4 of the 49er class and was over early, forcing him out.

In the 470 class, Paul Foerster of Rockwall, Texas, and Kevin Burnham of Miami remained in second place but trailed Great Britain’s Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield by six points with three races to go.

Laser sailor Mark Mendelblatt dropped from third to fifth overall after finishing sixth and 10th in his races. He had been one point out of the bronze medal chase but is now nine points out of third with five races left.

Yngling skipper Carol Cronin of Jamestown, R.I., won the seventh of her 11-race series, but finished next-to-last in 16-boat fleet to drop into 12th overall.

On the Europe course, Meg Galliard of Pelham, N.Y., ranks eighth overall after six of 11 races. Kevin Hall of Bowie, Md., was 13th and ninth in the Finn class to drop to 15th.

Finn leader Ben Ainslie of Great Britain continued his comeback from a protest loss in Race 2 by finishing second and third to open an eight-point lead with three races left.

Women's Beach Volleyball
The U.S. team of Elaine Youngs and Holly McPeak were perfect through pool play with a 22-24, 21-17, 15-12 win over Swiss pair Simone Kuhn and Nicole Schnyder.

The American men’s team of Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard ended a dismal Olympics with a 21-16, 13-21, 15-13 loss to Swiss pair Stefan Kobel and Patrick Heuscher.

Women’s Volleyball
A sluggish American start and some Dominican determination led to a big upset.

Milagros Cabral de la Cruz had the match-winning kill in the fifth set, giving the Dominican Republic a 26-24, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-17 victory over the United States.

Dropping to 1-2, the Americans must play Russia on Friday and Cuba on Sunday to close the preliminary round.

Cuba topped previously unbeaten China in five sets behind 24 points from Zoila Barros Fernandez. China, Cuba and Russia are tied for first in Pool A.

Ekaterina Gamova had 23 points, including 20 kills, to the lead the Russians past Germany in three sets.

In Pool A, So Yun Chang had 18 points to lead Korea to a sweep of Kenya. Tomoko Yoshihara had 16 points to lead Japan to a four-set victory over Greece.

Brazil edged Italy in five sets. On the 198th point of the game, Valeska Menezes spiked the ball to give Brazil the win.

Women's Water Polo

Johanne Begin scored three goals, including the last-minute clincher, and Ann Dow had a pair as Canada scored five unanswered goals in the last six minutes to upset the world champion United States 6-5.

The United States led 5-1 in the second minute of the last period after captain Heather Moody scored from 2-meters.

“From 5-1, no, we’ve never lost from there,” said Moody, who has been on the U.S. team since 1996. “It’s hard, but it’s the Olympics and that’s the way it works — it happens.”

Russia is 2-0 after it rallied to beat World Cup holder Hungary, with captain Sofya Konukh scoring three goals.

In Group A, defending Olympic champion Australia had a 9-4 win over Kazakhstan to improve to 2-0 and No. 2-ranked Italy rebounding from an opening loss to the Aussies by beating Greece 7-2.

Fencing
Valentina Vezzali beat longtime teammate Giovanna Trillini 15-11 to win the gold medal in foil in a matchup of two Italian greats.

Vezzali won her fourth Olympic fencing gold, equaling the most won by a woman. The silver was Trillini’s seventh Olympic medal, tying her for tops among women’s fencers. Trillini also has four golds.

Sylwia Gruchala of Poland beat Aida Mohamed of Hungary 15-9 to win the bronze.

Field Hockey
China and the Netherlands clinched spots in the semifinals of the women’s field hockey tournament after Wednesday’s victories. The Netherlands defeated Germany after scoring twice on penalty corners in the first 20 minutes. China shut out Spain, with goals from Tang Chunling, Fu Baorong, Gao Lihua. The Chinese are the only team yet to concede a goal in the tournament.

The Japanese women’s field hockey team won its first ever game at the Olympics by beating New Zealand, which has yet to score in the tournament. Rie Terazono made nine saves for Japan.

Table Tennis
Jan-Ove Waldner of Sweden, gold medalist at Barcelona in 1992, upset second-seeded Ma Lin of China 4-1 in the fourth round of men’s singles.

Top-seeded Wang Liqin beat Joo Sae-hyuk 4-1.

World champion Werner Schlager of Austria lost to Timo Boll of Germany.

Team Handball
Savvas Karypidis scored five-straight goals in the first half, and scored 10 overall as Greece won its first men’s handball game of these Olympics. Egypt trailed by eight at halftime but nearly pulled off the win.

Spain won its third game and clinched a place in the quarterfinals by beating Russia, avenging a loss in the gold-medal game in Sydney in 2000. Croatia, the 2003 world champion, beat South Korea and also clinched a spot in the next round.

France advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to a balanced attack led by Michael Guigou, who scored six goals.

Germany, the 2004 European champion, knocked of Brazil, which qualified by winning the Pan American Games title last year.

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