USA women win sixth straight Olympic gold medal in basketball
Published 2:14 pm Sunday, August 21, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — One team that has won loads of gold is the U.S. women’s basketball team. The Americans won a sixth straight gold medal, routing Spain 101-72. It is the final Olympic game for Tamika Catchings, who is retiring after the WNBA season. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have also hinted that this might be their Olympic finale, too.
Two talented young boxers who could wind up being the future stars of the sport faced off in the bantamweight gold medal bout. Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba won in a split decision over American Shakur Stevenson in an entertaining match in front of a fired-up, pro-Cuban crowd.
Seven medal events are being held in track and field, giving plenty of athletes a chance to shine on the big stage now that Bolt has exited. Competitions include the men’s 1,500- and 5,000-meter races and the women’s 800 and high jump. Mo Farah of Britain is going for another gold in the 5,000.
The U.S. men’s 4×400 relay team, led by LaShawn Merritt, is heavily favored to win and extend the country’s remarkable run in Rio — 27 medals in track and field.
Chaunte Lowe is considered the favorite in high jump, but faces competition from teenager and rising star Vashti Cunningham, who is the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.
Brazil — the five-time World Cup champion — won the only championship it was still missing on Saturday, defeating Germany 5-4 in a penalty shootout and winning a soccer gold medal for the first time.
Neymar scored with a superb free kick in regulation and converted the decisive penalty in the shootout after Brazilian goalkeeper Weverton stopped Nils Petersen’s shot.
It was the crowning achievement of the 2016 Olympics for Brazil, restoring some of the nation’s soccer pride after a series of disappointing results. Neymar fell to the field sobbing after he was mobbed by his teammates as the crowd at iconic Maracana Stadium roared.
The victory avenges the embarrassing 7-1 home loss to Germany’s senior team in the World Cup semifinals two years ago. Brazil was also coming off a demoralizing elimination in the group stage of this year’s Copa America.
Other highlights from Day 15 the Rio de Janeiro Games:
GOLD IN GOLF : Inbee Park hasn’t won all year on the LPGA. She has been recovering from ligament damage in her thumb and didn’t play in the last two majors. But on Saturday, the seven-time major winner took command with a 5-under 66 and won a gold medal.
TRIATHLON WINNER : Coming into the Rio Games, the U.S. had never won an Olympic triathlon gold medal. Gwen Jorgensen changed that, easily winning over the 2012 gold medalist. Jorgensen was an All-American track athlete and swimmer at the University of Wisconsin and had settled into her first job as an accountant in Milwaukee before deciding to take up triathlon. To win gold, Jorgensen ran 6.2 miles, swam a mile in the ocean and cycled 24 miles in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 16 seconds.
BADMINTON DUEL : Chen Long of China and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia are considered by many to be the best players of their era in badminton. They faced each other in the gold medal match, and Lee — the world’s No. 1 player — won again.
———
AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org
———
Follow Associated Press Writer Josh Hoffner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshHoffner