Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Friday, April 26, 2024 75° Today's Paper


Sports

Maroney falls from gold to silver

McKayla Maroney was all set to add the vault title to her team gymnastics gold with the U.S. when she made a costly mistake. She appeared to land her second vault on the backs of her heels. Her feet slid out from under her, and she plopped on the mat, a look of shock crossing her face.

"I really didn’t deserve to win a gold medal if I fall on my butt," Maroney said. "I was still happy with a silver, but it’s still just sad."

Sandra Izbasa of Romania won the gold, and Russia’s Maria Paseka took the bronze.

Britain’s Louis Smith and Hungary’s Krisztian Berki finished with identical 16.066 scores on the pommel horse, but Berki got the gold because his execution score of 9.166 was .10 points better. A tiebreaker also cost Smith in Beijing, when he dropped from second to bronze on the same event.

TENNIS

Serena Williams added another Olympic title when she teamed with sister Venus to beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 in the women’s doubles final.

Serena also won the women’s singles tournament and is tennis’ first double gold medalist at an Olympics since Venus won singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. The sisters also won the doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Third-seeded Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova of Russia took the bronze by beating the top-seeded U.S. pair of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

BASKETBALL

Diana Taurasi had 22 points and the U.S. women matched their Olympic scoring record in a 114-66 rout of China.

The Americans’ 38th consecutive victory in Olympic play gave them the top seed in the group for the quarterfinals. The U.S. will meet Canada on Tuesday.

Angel McCoughtry scored 16 as the women equaled the 114 points they scored against Spain in 1992, but fell well short of the women’s Olympic mark of 128 points set by Brazil in 2004.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor beat Italy in straight sets in the quarterfinals to remain on track for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The Americans earned a berth in the semifinals against Beijing bronze medalists Xue Chen and Zhang Xi.

VOLLEYBALL

The undefeated U.S. women’s team lost captain and three-time Olympian Lindsey Berg, of Punahou, to a left ankle injury during a straight-set victory over Turkey.

The Americans breezed through the second set and took a 9-5 lead in the third before Berg limped off the court. The setter removed her shoe, and a trainer wrapped the ankle in ice.

Berg said she didn’t think the injury was serious and she should be ready to play in Tuesday’s quarterfinal.

Destinee Hooker scored 19 points in the 27-25, 25-16, 25-19 victory for the U.S., which had clinched the top seed in its pool.

WATER POLO

The United States will face Australia in a matchup of gold-medal contenders in the semifinals of the women’s tournament.

The Americans beat European champion Italy 9-6 to reach the last four, and Australia moved on with a dramatic 20-18 win over China.

Melissa Seidemann scored three goals and captain Brenda Villa added two more as the U.S. recovered from a 2-0 deficit.

DIVING

China’s Wu Minxia won the women’s 3-meter springboard for her first individual gold and record-tying sixth career medal.

Wu led all but one round of the five-dive final, totaling 414.00 points. She tied retired countrywoman Guo Jingjing with six medals. Wu and partner He Zi also won the 3-meter synchronized title in London.

He took the silver with 379.20, giving China its sixth diving medal of the games, including five gold after sweeping the synchro events.

Laura Sanchez Soto of Mexico earned the bronze at 362.40.

CYCLING

Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark won the gold medal in the men’s omnium following a crash in one of the six races of the event.

Hansen hit the wooden boards in a curve after connecting with the rear wheel of Briton Edward Clancy in the scratch race but was uninjured and got back on the track.

He managed to rejoin the peloton after regaining a lap and finished sixth at the line. Hansen then produced a big effort in the 1-kilometer time trial to win the inaugural Olympic title in the multidiscipline event with a total of 27 points.

SAILING

Britain’s Ben Ainslie earned another gold in the Finn class to become the most successful sailor in Olympic history.

After trailing the entire regatta, Ainslie was spot-on with his tactics in the medals race and got a little help from the front of the fleet. He won his fourth straight gold and fifth straight games medal overall, eclipsing Denmark’s Paul Elvstrom, who won four straight gold medals from 1948-60.

BADMINTON

Lin Dan led the way as China swept all five badminton gold medals, defending his title by beating Malaysian rival Lee Chong Wei 15-21, 21-10, 21-19 in men’s singles.

WRESTLING

Hamid Soryan is the first Iranian to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, taking the men’s 55-kilogram division.

The five-time world champion beat Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan 2-0, 1-0 in the final. Peter Modos of Hungary and Mingiyan Semenov of Russia won bronze medals.

Comments are closed.