Olympic roundup: Phelps makes it 6-for-6
Friday, August 15, 2008
Look out, Mark Spitz. Get the check ready, Speedo. Michael Phelps is closing in — quickly, of course.
Phelps made it 6-for-6 in winning gold medals, and in setting world records, by taking the 200-meter individual medley Friday. If he wins either of his last two races, he'll join Spitz as the only Olympians to win seven golds at one Summer Games and cash a $1 million bonus from his sponsor.
Win 'em both and Phelps will stand alone as the greatest Olympic champ for both a single games and for his career. This was his 12th gold, pulling him farther from Spitz and three others with nine. At only 23, he could end up doubling the long-standing career mark at London in 2012. Who would bet against him after this week?
Phelps was back in the pool before the session ended, qualifying second fastest for the 100-meter butterfly final Saturday. His final event is the 400 medley relay Sunday.
Across the street from the Water Cube, high-flying Nastia Liukin bested U.S. teammate and friend Shawn Johnson to win the women's all-around. It was the first time Americans went 1-2 in the event and the first time the U.S. has won two medals of any color. With Carly Patterson having won the event in Athens, this also is the first time the U.S. has won this prestigious crown at consecutive Olympics.
Johnson is the reigning world champion, having also beaten Liukin at the national championships and Olympic trials only a few weeks ago. Liukin's dad, Valeri, knew the feeling because although he won two golds for the Soviet Union 20 years ago, he finished second to a teammate in the all-around.
There was a dramatic finish as Liukin posted the top score on the floor, then had to wait through Johnson's routine, the last of the meet. She was good, but only good enough to match Liukin's mark in the event. She wound up 0.6 behind overall.
Through six of 18 medal events Friday, the United States led China 43-36, with American shooter Jason Turner getting moved up from fourth to bronze after a North Korea shooter was stripped of his third-place finish in 10-meter air pistol. Kim Jong Su also lost a silver medal in the 50-meter pistol.
A Vietnamese gymnast also was caught cheating, making it three ousted athletes so far.
In the gold chase, the hosts still set the pace with 22, more than the total prizes for every other delegation but the Americans. The U.S. has 13 golds, Phelps accounting for nearly half.
Phelps' victory was part of an impressive morning at the pool.
Ryan Lochte got gold and bronze, winning the 200-meter backstroke in a world-record time, then finishing third in the 200 IM a half-hour later. Rebecca Soni won the women's 200 back, also setting a world record. Aaron Peirsol got silver in the 200 back, and Natalie Coughlin took bronze in the 100 freestyle.
Shooter Matt Emmons finished second in the 50-meter prone rifle, an event he won in Athens. His wife, Katerina, a shooter for the Czech Republic, has won a gold and a silver at these games.
Friday in Beijing began under blue skies, the air scrubbed clean by rain that discombobulated Thursday's schedule. That also made things pleasant for the 90,000 or so folks headed to the Bird's Nest for the start of track and field.
American Tyson Gay, world record-holder Usain Bolt and previous world record-holder Asafa Powell all easily made it through the first round of the 100 meters. This was the first time Gay raced since injuring his left hamstring at the Olympic trials about six weeks ago. The quarterfinals were set for Friday evening, with the final Saturday night.
"I felt a little sluggish the first round," Gay said, "but my body is woke up now."
Weather remained a bit of an issue 300 miles away in Qingdao, at the sailing venue. Despite a moderate early afternoon breeze, the start of races was delayed. Boats were being towed back to the harbor, possibly fearing shifting winds and a thunderstorm that appeared brewing near the race courses.
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Men's gymnastics
While China's Yang Wei added the individual gold to the team title, Americans weren't able to add anything to their bronze collection. Jonathan Horton finished ninth and Sasha Artemev was 12th.
Things might have been different if reigning champ Paul Hamm was healthy. Without him, it was Yang's to lose and he never came close to that, winning by nearly three points over Kohei Uchimura of Japan. Benoit Caranobe of France won the bronze.
Hiroyuki Tomita, the only other man to win the world title since Athens, finished fourth. Fabian Hambuechen, the silver medalist at world's last year, fell from the high bar, his signature event, and wound up seventh.
"You can think about the what if, what if, what if," said Hamm's coach, Miles Avery. "But Paul isn't here so that isn't an issue."
Yang is China's second men's all-around champion, joining 1996 champion Li Xiaoshuang. Winning at home made it even better.
"The Chinese team is responsible for a lot of people's dreams," Yang said. "This year has not been very good for China. There's been a lot of disasters, so these Olympic Games, there's a lot of pressure. It's impossible not to be nervous, and it's how to cope with the nerves is our job. And right now, I feel very excited."
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Swimming
During qualifying Thursday night, Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler fizzled in 800-meter freestyle heats. With no American in the finals, the U.S. will be shut out. Americans had medaled in it at every Olympics except the 1980 boycott year and 1976, with five straight golds from 1984-2000.
For Hoff, it also means a second straight Olympics without a gold despite swimming five individual events. She settled for a silver, two bronzes and a pair of fourth-place finishes in her other races.
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Tennis
So much for a men's final between Federer and Rafael Nadal. Or the Williams sisters meeting in the women's final.
Blake, had won only a single set in his previous eight matches with Federer, knocked him out 6-4, 7-6 (2). Blake is the only American left in men's singles.
"If you play him enough times, he's bound to have an off day," Blake said.
Federer leaves with his third straight Olympic disappointment. He also goes away knowing his 4½-year reign as the world No. 1 will end next week, replaced by Spain's Rafael Nadal.
Serena Williams overcame two match points, but ultimately lost to Dementieva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Li beat Venus Williams 7-5, 7-5.
Top-seeded Mike and Bob Bryan advanced to the semifinals in doubles by beating Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione of Australia 6-4, 6-3.
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Men's basketball
The redemption the U.S. men's team is seeking won't come until gold medals are hanging around their necks. Still, beating Greece felt darn good.
Mixing passion with unmatchable athleticism, the Americans went up by 19 points before halftime on the way to an easy victory. Kobe Bryant and Chris Bosh each scored 18 points, Dwyane Wade had 17 and LeBron James 13.
Rockets star Yao Ming scored 30 points to lead China past Angola 85-68 for the hosts' first win of the tournament, and Lakers center Pau Gasol scored 13 in Spain's 72-59 victory over Dirk Nowitzki and Germany. Nowitzki was held to 11 points by a defense designed to shut him down.
Bucks center Andrew Bogut was less of a factor for Australia, but they still beat Iran 106-68 behind 24 points from Brad Newley. Also, Rimantas Kaukenas scored 20 points to lead Lithuania past Russia 86-79, and Argentina beat Croatia 77-53.
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Softball
After posting shutouts and no-hitters in its first two games, the Americans faced their first deficit since the gold-medal game in 2000. And it took some weird circumstances.
The Canadians scored a run without a hit when an umpire ruled that pitcher Monica Abbott made three illegal pitches; her violation was losing contact with the pitching rubber. One of the illegal pitch do-overs led to an error by center fielder Caitlin Lowe, her first in 123 games since joining the U.S. team in 2005. Before that, she went 237 games without a miscue during four perfect years in the field as an All-American at Arizona.
The game was postponed in the fourth inning because of the rain, and the teams will resume play Friday following the U.S.-Japan game, which begins at noon. Canada will play China at 9:30 a.m., and then will have to wait around to play the Americans, who have won 16 straight at the Olympics and are seeking their fourth gold medal in softball's last swing in the games until at least 2016.
"We don't want anyone pushing the panic button," coach Mike Candrea said. "This is a very good team. We've been talking about playing with our backs against the wall. This will be a good test for us."
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Baseball
Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Matt LaPorta hit a three-run homer and Matt Brown added a solo shot as the Americans bounced back from losing their opener by beating the Netherlands 7-0.
The game was called off after eight innings following a second rain delay. The Dutch protested the decision because they had loaded the bases with none out in the ninth inning, but it was denied by baseball's international federation.
Cuba beat Canada 7-6 and Japan beat Taiwan 6-1.
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Fencing
The Three Musketeers of the U.S. women's saber team weren't so good as a team. After sweeping the individual medals, Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward settled for bronze after a surprising loss in the semifinals. They were knocked off by Ukraine, which went on to win gold.
"It's just hard coming off the individual competition. You fence so hard, and you only have so many days later," Zagunis said. "I'm not looking for excuses, but we weren't fencing up to our potential."
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Wrestling
Remember Rulon Gardner's glorious victory in Sydney? Good, because there won't be one like it this time.
Adam Wheeler unexpectedly won bronze at 96 kilograms, but that was it as Dremiel Byers and Brad Vering, Americans' top Greco-Roman wrestlers, were bounced.
Golds went to Cuba's Mijain Lopez in the 120-kilogram division, Aslanbek Khushtov in 96 kg and Italy's Andrea Minguzzi in 84 kg.
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Boxing
China, which has never won a gold medal in a sport long banned by Mao, has seven boxers left in the tournament. So does Russia, which produced three champions and eight medals at last year's world championships.
Russia's disappointment, and China's elation, came together in a light heavyweight bout, with Zhang Xiaoping upsetting Artur Beterbiev 8-2.
Chinese welterweight Hanati Silamu also beat overmatched Joseph Mulema of Cameroon 9-4 to advance within one victory of a medal. Cuban welterweight Carlos Banteaux avenged a loss earlier this year to Britain's Billy Joe Saunders; Egyptian welterweight Hosam Abdin upset Thailand's Non Boonjumnong, who finished second at last year's worlds; and Croatian light heavyweight Marijo Sivolija-Jelica lost in his first bout since seeing his first-round foe taken from the ring on a stretcher after losing his equilibrium and collapsing.
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Shooting
China's Du Li was supposed to win the first gold of the Olympics. When she finished fifth, she considered dropping out of the games. She stuck around, though, and got a gold after all, winning the women's 50-meter, three-position rifle event and setting an Olympic record in points.
Katerina Emmons, the Czech Republic shooter who won that first event, took the silver. She is married to American shooter Matt Emmons. American Jammie Beyerle was fifth.
In skeet shooting, American Kim Rhode was part of a three-way tie decided by a shoot-off — in the rain. Rhode wound up with a silver to go with the double trap gold she won in 1996 and 2004; the women's version was eliminated before Beijing.
Italy's Chiara Cainero took the gold.
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Women's field hockey
No tie for the U.S. this time. They lost instead.
The Americans let a 2-1 lead turn into a 4-2 loss to Germany, dropping to 0-1-2. They'll be hard-pressed to make the medal round with games left against New Zealand and Britain.
"It's been a tough three games for us, but the tournament is still in progress," U.S. coach Lee Bodimeade said.
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Men's water polo
The Americans had plenty of chances to upset Serbia, but they were 2-of-27 shooting and couldn't score on three of their five power-play opportunities against a backup goalkeeper. Team captain Tony Azevedo was 0-for-8, including a missed penalty shot.
"After missing the first couple, it seemed like I kept forcing it," he said. "It was totally in my head, not taking the time to relax and put it where I needed to put it."
Two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Hungary improved to 2-0-1 with an 8-5 win over Spain, and top-ranked Croatia thumped Germany 13-5. The Croats are next up for the Americans. Also, Canada's coach was ejected in a loss to Australia, triggering a one-game suspension.
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Judo
Fire up the barbecue! Mongolia has won its first-ever gold medal in any sport. Kudos to Tuvshinbayar Naidan for taking the men's 100-kilogram division.
China's Yang Xiuli flipped her first four opponents then won in an overtime decision over Cuba's Yalennis Castillo to take the gold medal in the women's 78 kg.
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Badminton
Second-seeded Lee Chong Wei kept Malaysia's best hope for an Olympic gold medal alive with a straight-sets win over Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in men's singles quarterfinals.
Lee is bidding to win Malaysia's first gold medal in the Olympics. His girlfriend, Wong Mew Choo, lost in the quarterfinals of the women's singles Wednesday, but was in the stands for Lee's match.
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Table tennis
While the Chinese women easily reached the semifinals and China's top-ranked men defeated Australia, the pressure of the Olympics seems to be getting to Wang Liqin. The two-time medalist needed four close games to beat a 147th-ranked foe and acknowledges he's struggling to live up to gold-or-bust expectations.
The U.S. women advanced to the bronze medal round.
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Archery
China's Zhang Juan Juan defeated South Korea's Park Sung-hyun 110-109 to win the women's individual gold. She's the first non-South Korean to win the event since 1980.
"I am very sad in a way because I feel I may have broken the tradition set by those archers who were before me," Park said. "However, I feel that by winning the silver, it will make me crave the gold more and make me appreciate the gold more in the future, so I think it's a good experience."
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Equestrian
Some things don't change: Germany won the grand prix dressage, just like it's done every Olympics since 1984. The Netherlands took silver and Denmark the bronze.