Peirsol claims gold after initial disqualification
Patterson wins U.S. women's first all-around gold since Retton in '84
 | Aaron Peirsol and Markus Rogan react in confusion after learning that Peirsol had been disqualified after winning the men's 200 backstroke Thursday. Peirsol's victory was later reinstated |
Mark J. Terrill / AP |
ATHENS, Greece - Aaron Peirsol of the United States reclaimed the gold medal in the Olympic 200-meter backstroke after initially being disqualified Thursday night over what an official deemed an illegal turn.
The United States filed a protest and the disqualification was overturned on appeal by FINA, the sport’s governing body, about 30 minutes after the race — just before the medal ceremony was held.
Peirsol, the world record-holder and current world champion, led most of the race and easily beat the field, touching in 1 minute, 54.95 seconds. He was more than two seconds ahead of Austria’s Marcus Rogan.
The silver went to Rogan in 1:57.35, while Romania’s Razvan Florea settled for bronze (1:57.56). Great Britain’s James Goddard, who initially had a bronze, dropped back to fourth in 1:57.76.
Michael Phelps from the United States won his fourth gold of the Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley, leading the entire race. Phelps set an Olympic-record of 1:57.14, lowering his own mark of 1:58.52 set in the semifinals one night earlier.
Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach, Fla., earned silver in 1:58.78. George Bovell of Trinidad took bronze in 1:58.80.
Amanda Beard captured the first individual gold of her career, in the 200-meter breaststroke. Only a victory by Australian Jodie Henry in the women’s 100-meter freestyle prevented an American sweep.
Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands won silver in 0:54.16 and American Natalie Coughlin got the bronze in 0:54.40.
Gymnastics
Carly Patterson, the 16-year-old from the United States who has drawn comparisons to 1984 champion Mary Lou Retton, delivered a dazzling floor routine to win the all-around gold medal Thursday night.
She spoiled Russian superstar Svetlana Khorkina’s final chance at the Olympic title in gymnastics’ premier event.
Patterson became the first American woman to win the all-around since Retton in 1984, and she matched Paul Hamm’s first-place finish on the same floor Wednesday.
“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Patterson said. “I’m so happy and excited. You dream about this your whole life. Then you win the gold medal, and it’s just amazing.”
Patterson scored a 9.712 on floor to finish with 38.387 points and defeat Khorkina by .176. Zhang Nan of China won bronze.
Softball
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Greece (2-4) did all it could. The United States (6-0) simply wore down the Greeks — whose team includes several Americans of Greek ancestry — and put an opponent away after five innings for the fourth time under the so-called mercy rule.
China (3-3) beat Taiwan, scoring the only run on a fifth-inning fielding error by first baseman Chang Li Chiu. Taiwan (2-4) missed a chance to tie it when Chen Miao Yi was tagged at home by Chinese catcher Guo Jia to end the fourth.
Also, Juri Takayama and Yukiko Ueno combined on a three-hitter for Japan. Another loss would have eliminated Japan (3-3) from the semifinals. Italy (1-5) got runners to first and third with none out in the third, but Takayama got out of the jam.
Melanie Roche pitched a complete-game shutout as Australia (5-1) clinched one of the top two spots in the playoffs and at least a bronze medal.
Simmone Morrow drove in the only run with a single in the second inning off Lauren Bay. Canada (2-4) can still make the semifinals but must beat Italy on Friday and hope China (3-3) beats Japan (3-3) in the preliminary round finale.
Men’s Basketball
Tim Duncan scored 18 points, Allen Iverson and Shawn Marion each added 16 and Dwyane Wade scored 12, leading the United States to an 89-79 win over Australia. The Americans shot 57 percent from the field: 71 percent from 2-point range, but 3-for-17 on 3-point shots.
The Americans improved their defense, kept their turnovers down and found better shots than in their first two games, which included an upset loss in the opening round to Puerto Rico.
Shane Heal led Australia with 17 points.
New Zealand rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 5 minutes to beat Serbia-Montenegro, but not before a controversial finish.
Dillon Boucher’s driving layup with 20 seconds left brought New Zealand (1-2) to 87-86. As Serbia-Montenegro was inbounding, New Zealand’s Mark Dickel wrapped his arms around Milos Vujanic to draw the foul and stop the clock.
Instead, an offensive foul was called on Vujanic, and Sean Marks dunked on the resulting inbounds play to give New Zealand an 88-87 lead.
Spain clinched a berth in the quarterfinals by pulling away over the final 6 minutes behind big men Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa.
Garbajosa, who had 17 points, and Gasol, who added 16, combined for all but five of the points in Spain’s closing 18-8 run.
Daniel Santiago blocked Carlos Almeida’s 3-point attempt as time expired to help Puerto Rico hold off Angola, 83-80.
Andres Nocioni had 17 points for Argentina, while Luis Scola added 15 and Manu Ginobili had 14, and Argentina used its press and passing to negate Yao Ming’s size for an 82-57 victory over China.
Ramunas Siskauskas had 25 points and Saulius Stombergas added 22 for Lithuania (3-0), which became the first team from Group B to clinch a quarterfinal berth. Nikolaos Zisis had 18 points for Greece (1-2).
Tennis
Third-seeded Martina Navratilova won’t win an Olympic medal after she and partner Lisa Raymond lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to fifth-seeded Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the quarterfinals, one step shy of the medal round.
In women’s singles, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne beat two-time major champion Mary Pierce of France 6-4, 6-4, while No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo outlasted No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2.
French Open champion Anastasia Myskina was the first woman to reach the semifinals, beating Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-1, 6-2.
The upsets continued on the men’s side, with No. 3 Carlos Moya joining Roger Federer and Andy Roddick on the sideline after a 6-2, 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Nicolas Massu of Chile.
Chile is guaranteed to win a tennis medal for the first time because Massu’s teammate, No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez, followed up his surprise victory over Roddick by beating No. 8 Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 10 Massu is the highest-seeded men’s player left.
Archery
Marco Galiazzo won Italy’s first archery gold medal while the South Korean men kept up an unsuccessful Olympic streak.
Galiazzo beat Hiroshi Yamamoto of Japan 111-109 for the gold. Tim Cuddihy of Australia, who beat two South Koreans along the way, took bronze.
The 21-year-old Galiazzo, who placed 49th at last year’s world championships, became Italy’s first-ever Olympic champion in the sport.
The South Korean men are still looking for their first Olympic individual medal. Their women have taken every Olympic gold medal since 1984.
Cuddihy and Park Kyung-mo of South Korea set Olympic records earlier. Park set an 18-arrow record of 173 in the round of 16. Cuddihy set a 36-arrow mark of 340 over three rounds on his way to the bronze.
He beat the record of 339 set only hours before by Szu Yuan Chen of Taiwan.
Badminton
China won the first two gold medals in badminton, with world champion Zhang Ning beating Indonesian-born Dutchwoman Mia Audina 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 in the singles final.
China also flaunted its dominance of the sport in mixed doubles, with Zhang Jun and Gao Ling edging the British pair of Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms 15-1, 12-15, 15-12 in a thrilling final.
The bronze medal in the mixed doubles went to Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager, who beat compatriots Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen 15-5, 15-5. China also won bronze in the singles, with Zhou Mi defeating fellow Chinese Gong Ruina 11-2, 8-11, 11-6.
Men's Beach Volleyball
Brazilians Emanuel and Ricardo routed Americans Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger 21-17, 21-10 to finish a perfect run through pool play.
Despite the loss, the 12th-seeded Americans advanced to the medal round.
Later, top-ranked American women Misty May and Kerri Walsh got their toughest test of the tournament but stayed unbeaten with a 21-17, 21-17 win over 10th-seeded Czechs Eva Celbova and Sona Novakova.
The Americans and second-seeded Brazilians Shelda and Adriana are the only duos — men’s or women’s — who have not dropped a set.
The Brazilian women, silver medalists in 2000, capped their run through pool play with a 21-14, 21-19 win over Cubans Fernandez Grasset and Larrea Peraza.
Boxing
U.S. medal prospect Andre Ward beat Italy’s Clemente Russo 17-9 to advance to the quarterfinals as the Americans finished 6-1 in preliminaries. The Americans sent eight fighters into the second round, with two advancing on byes.
Canoe-Kayak
Former Olympic champion canoe racer Joe Jacobi and partner Matt Taylor clinched a semifinal berth in whitewater slalom event. Single American kayakers Brett Heyl and Scott Parsons also advanced to Friday’s semifinals and finals.
Equestrian
Britain, France and the United States will jointly appeal a decision to award Germany the gold medal in the three-day equestrian event.
The judges gave Germany the gold Wednesday and France the silver, while Britain took bronze. The same officials, concerned that Germany’s Bettina Hoy might have crossed the start line twice on the show jumping course, probed further.
Judges docked Germany 14 points, dropping it from first to fourth in a decision that lifted the United States to the bronze.
Germany then lodged a protest, an equestrian appeals committee reversed the decision of the judges and the Germans reclaimed the gold. Once again, France was awarded the silver and Britain the bronze. The United States was left empty-handed.
Fencing
Keeth Smart’s rally fell short in the U.S. saber fencing team’s 45-44 loss to France, a semifinal that came down to a final point and left his opponent bleeding from his hand.
France went on to win the gold medal over Italy. Russia beat the United States for bronze.
The Americans trailed France 40-38 entering the final rotation of the bout, where 45 touches wins. Smart rallied, pulling within 43-42. Touya took the next touch, but Smart tied it at 44 and set up the deciding point.
Smart and Touya charged each other and recorded touches, but the referee awarded no point. On the play, Smart’s saber went through Touya’s glove, piercing his hand at the webbing of the fingers, and exiting through his palm.
Trainers bandaged the hand while replacement Boris Sanson warmed up. After a 10-minute break, Touya chose to return.
The two fencers attacked two more times but no points were awarded. On the decisive play, referee Jose Luis Alvarez ruled that Touya caught Smart while preparing to attack, giving the Frenchman the victory.
Field Hockey
Defending Olympic champion Germany pulled away from a 1-1 halftime tie with Egypt at the men’s field hockey tournament, moving into first place in Group A.
In other Group A matches, Pakistan shut out South Korea and Spain beat Britain.
In Group B play, the Netherlands edged South Africa and New Zealand beat Argentina. Australia beat India on three second-half goals in the final match of the day.
Judo
Noriko Anno won the 78kg class in judo, giving Japan its sixth gold medal in 12 judo classes with one day of competition remaining.
One of Japan’s surest hopes for a gold lost early in the men’s 100kg division.
Ihar Makarau of Belarus beat Jang Sung-ho of South Korea to win the gold medal in the 100-kilogram class after defending Olympic champion and three-time world champion Kosei Inoue lost in the quarterfinals, his first defeat in major international competition in four years.
Men’s Volleyball
Stanislav Dineykin had 20 kills to lead the Russians to a four-set victory over the Americans.
Russia, after a five-set loss to the Netherlands, has won two straight. With opposite Clay Stanley struggling against the towering Russian block, the United States fell to 1-2.
Russia took its first lead of the fourth set at 14-13, and things went back and forth until Alexey Kuleshov blocked a kill attempt by Stanley to make it 24-22.
The Americans were only able to fend off match point once.
Brazil remained the only unbeaten team in Pool B with a four-set victory over the Netherlands. Italy, bouncing back from a five-set loss to Brazil, stayed right behind with a sweep over Australia.
In Pool A, Argentina is 3-0 after handing host Greece its first loss. France picked up its first win by beating Poland in three sets, and defending gold medalist Serbia-Montenegro swept Tunisia.
Rowing
The American lightweight double sculls team of Steve Tucker and Greg Ruckman gave up too much distance in the six-boat semifinal and was fourth behind Poland, Greece and Denmark — one spot and 3.6 seconds out of contention for Sunday’s final.
The U.S. quadruple scull, which reached the semifinals with an impressive win in its repechage, placed fifth. Belarus and Estonia advanced.
The U.S. lightweight double sculls boat of Lisa Schlenker and Stacey Borgman also was eliminated, finishing .73 of a second behind Germany in fourth place.
The lightweight four, which includes coach Mike Teti’s younger brother, Paul, fell to last at the finish, 4 seconds behind Canada, the third and final boat to advance from that race behind Italy and Austria.
Sailing
Greek teammates Sofia Bekatorou and Aimilia Tsoulfa clinched the women’s 470 gold medal by building an insurmountable lead following 10 races.
Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sara Ayton of Great Britain clinched the gold medal in the Yngling class with one race left, then took a dip.
The silver and bronze medals in both events will be determined Saturday.
Shooting
Diana Igaly of Hungary went a perfect 25-for-25 to win the gold medal in skeet shooting, finishing with a score of 97 to easily outdistance silver medalist Wei Ning of China and bronze medalist Zemfira Meftakhetdinova of Azerbaijan.
Earlier, Manfred Kurzer of Germany had the worst final round of any shooter in 10-meter running target, but his world-record qualifying score gave the German a lead so big it didn’t matter.
He won gold with a 682.4. Alexander Blinov of Russia took silver, and Dimitri Lykin of Russia, the 2002 world champion, won bronze.
Table Tennis
World and Olympic champion Wang Nan of China was eliminated from the women’s table tennis quarterfinal by Singapore’s Li Jia Wei.
Wang, who won two golds in Sydney, was beaten 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8.
Top-seeded Zhang Yining of China advanced to the semifinals with a 12-10, 15-13, 13-11, 11-3 win over Tamara Boros of Croatia.
In doubles there will be all-China and all-South Korea semifinals. New Olympic rules put teams from the same country in the same bracket to avoid the all-Chinese final that occurred at the last three Olympics.
Team Handball
Two-time Olympic champion Denmark held off a late rally by Spain to win 23-21 in Olympic women’s handball, improving to 2-0-1 in Group B.
Denmark won gold in Atlanta and Sydney and beat current world champion France in the opening match in Athens, however the Danes are playing without most of the stars from their gold medal teams.
In another Group B match, South Korea broke open a close game to beat Angola 40-30.
In Group A, China routed Greece 33-13 and Ukraine beat Brazil 21-19, erasing an 18-17 deficit late in the game. Ukraine is 2-0 and tied with Hungary in the group.
Water Polo
Defending Olympic champion Hungary handed the United States its first loss in the men’s water polo preliminaries.
Tamas Varga scored his second goal on an extra-man play to seal the match with 1:27 remaining. Tony Azevedo scored two goals before he hit the post with an attempted equalizer at 6-5, then the Hungarians blocked shots by Layne Beaubien and Wolf Wigo to thwart a furious American comeback attempt in the last minute.
Serbia and Montenegro, Italy and Spain all improved to 2-1 in the group stage.
Ioannis Thomakos scored five goals and Christos Afroudakis had four for Greece. Egypt, Croatia and Kazakhstan are 0-3.
Weightlifting
Liu Chunhong of China broke three of her own world records in winning the 152-pound (69kg) weightlifting gold medal.
Taner Sagir of Turkey won the gold medal in the 77-kilogram class with 826.5 pounds (375 kg). Sergey Filimonov of Kazakhstan won silver and Oleg Perepetchenov of Russia the bronze.
The 19-year-old Chunhong, the defending world champion, set records in the snatch of 270 pounds (122.5kg), the clean and jerk of 337 pounds (153kg) and total lift of 606 pounds (275kg).
Five weightlifters were suspended for flunking drug tests they took before the Olympics. Twenty world-class weightlifters have been suspended this year.
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