U.S. Women's Basketball Wins Gold
Brazil Beats U.S. Women's Volleyball Team In Finals Match
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U.S.A.'s Kara Lawson goes against Australia's guard Tully Bevilaqua during the first quarter of their women's gold medal basketball game at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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U.S.A.'s LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville and Jeremy Wariner celebrate winning the gold in the final of the men's 4x400-meter relay in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Aug. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
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Cuba's Angel Valodia Matos kicks match referee, Sweden's Chakir Chelbat, in the face after being declared the loser in his bronze medal match against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov in the men's taekwondo +80 kg. class Aug. 23, 2008. Matos may be banned from the sport for life. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Blog Beijing Daily Dispatch CBS News staffers file insider impressions and share their experiences throughout the day.
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Interactive Beijing 2008 Photos, medal counts, history and more from the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad.
She joined former teammate Teresa Edwards as the only basketball players ever to win four Olympic gold medals.
Russia took the bronze, beating host China 94-81 as Becky Hammon scored 22 points.
The Australians have now lost to the Americans in the gold medal game in the past three Olympics with all three defeats coming by double-digit margins. Australia had seen this as its best shot to beat the Americans as Penny Taylor and Erin Phillips missed the first half of the WNBA season so that they could train for the Beijing Games. Lauren Jackson left the Seattle Storm two weeks before the Olympic break so she could join her teammates.
Even with their extra training and Taylor returning to the starting lineup after missing the semifinals with a sprained right ankle, the Australians just couldn't match the Americans' depth.
Kara Lawson led the U.S. with 15 points, Candace Parker added 14, and Sylvia Fowles added 13 as the American reserves outscored Australia's 59-11.
Trailing 13-10 late in the first quarter, U.S. coach Anne Donovan inserted her second unit, led by Lawson. Once again, the bench delivered just as it had throughout the Olympics with Lawson scoring the first six points of a 12-2 run to close the quarter as the U.S. took a 22-15 lead.
Then Parker, who has had a relatively quiet Olympics averaging only 8.7 points, took over. She scored eight of the Americans' 10 points to open the second quarter, including two three-point plays. On her second, the forward took the ball from the top of the key, went through her legs and drove to the basket for a layup - a play that thrilled the men's basketball players watching from the stands and even had LeBron James rising to his feet to stand on his seat.
Brazil Defeats U.S. 3-1 For Volleyball Gold
Brazil won its first gold medal in women's volleyball on Saturday, beating the U.S. 3-1 and ending an emotional run by an American team struck by tragedy hours after the opening ceremony.
The Brazilians won a tight and tense deciding set in their first Olympic final to win 25-18, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21, and blemish the return of U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping to her hometown. Lang led the Chinese team to the gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, with a final match victory over the United States.
"We have nothing to be disappointed for," U.S. wing-spiker Logan Tom said. "You see tears; they're tears of happiness, though. We came a long way this tournament."
Brazil finished the Olympic tournament without a loss, while China beat Cuba 3-1 earlier in the day for the women's bronze medal.
The Olympics started on a tragic note for the U.S. team when the father of former U.S. player Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman McCutcheon was fatally stabbed Aug. 9 at a popular Beijing tourist site by a man who then committed suicide. Her mother was seriously injured in the attack.
Todd Bachman was also the father-in-law of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose team will also face Brazil Sunday for the gold medal.
More From Beijing:

Men's Track: Jeremy Wariner ran the anchor leg as the American won the men's 1,600-meter relay in an Olympic record time. The win gave the U.S. a sweep in the men's and women's 1,600 relays. LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville and Wariner finished in 2 minutes, 55.39 seconds.
Baseball: If baseball never returns to the Olympics, the United States can say it went out a winner. The Americans defeated Japan to win the bronze medal in the final Olympic baseball game until at least 2016. South Korea upset Cuba 3-2 for the gold.
Soccer: With temperatures on the field hitting 107 degrees and the referee twice stopping play because of the heat, Argentina defeated Nigeria to win the gold medal in soccer when Angel di Maria took a pass from Lionel Messi and lobbed it over the goalkeeper.
Taekwondo: The World Taekwondo Federation recommended Cuban Angel Matos and his coach be banned from the sport for life, after Matos kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. Matos was declared the loser for taking too much injury time after hurting his leg. Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.
Doping: Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov became the sixth athlete kicked out of the Beijing Olympics for doping, testing positive for the steroid nandrolone. Another Ukrainian, Lyudmila Blonska, was stripped of her heptathlon silver medal a day earlier after testing positive for a banned steroid.
Diving: Matthew Mitcham of Australia earned four perfect 10s on his last dive to win the men's 10-meter platform and prevent China from sweeping the Olympic diving gold medals.
Boxing: Rakhim Chakhkiev of Russia has won the heavyweight boxing gold medal, avenging a loss to Italy's Clemente Russo at last year's world championships.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- CHINA SPECIAL OLYMPICS/CHEATING,,,
http://www.google.com/search
?hl=en&q=2008+OLYMPIC CHEATING
china stinks,,,
always has,,,
always will,,,
2008 Medal Count
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html
USA ROCKS,,,
United States 36 38 36 110
China 51 21 28 100
Russia 23 21 28 72
UNDERAGE Chinese Gymnasts CHEAT TO GET GOLD MEDAL -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmf5GTALw6o&feature=related
How old are the Chinese Olympics Gymnastics Girls?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5MDa1U2nE&feature=related
Underage gymnasts : Is China cheating?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbwVhuSUTIU&feature=related
International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin''s age
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece - Reply to this comment
- 2008 OLYMPIC CHEATING
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=2008+OLYMPIC CHEATING - Reply to this comment
- CHINA SPECIAL OLYMPICS/CHEATING,,,
see medal counts of previous olymics,,,
as this link shows,,,
2008 Medal Count
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html
2008
United States 36 38 36 110
China 51 21 28 100
Russia 23 21 28 72 - Reply to this comment
- CHINA SPECIAL/CHEATING OLYMPICS,,,
International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin''s age
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece
china stinks,,,
always has,,,
always will,,,
USA ROCKS,,,
United States total medals 107
China total medals 96
Russia total medals 70
"A new chapter in the ongoing controversy surrounding China''s women''s gymnastics team opened today, as search engine hacker stryde.hax found surviving copies of official registration documents issued by China''s General Administration of Sport of China. The incriminating documents, expunged by censors from the official site and from Google''s document cache, still appear in the document translation cache of Chinese search giant Baidu, here (1) and here (2), showing the age of one of China''s gold medal winning gymnasts to be 14 instead of 16, the minimum age for competition presented on her government-issued passport. Now that official government documentation is available, how long will the IOC be able to keep a lid on this scandal?"
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/20/1259253 - Reply to this comment
- Butthurt Americans are crying cause they''re trailing in the Gold medal count. Cry me a *** river.
China gold medals 49
United States gold medals 34
Russia gold medals 21 - Reply to this comment
- ...that should be "Konichiwa B******" sorry about the typo
- Reply to this comment
- "onichiwha Bee-itches"...appropriate song for the occaision, by Swedish Pop/Rap singer ''Robyn''.
- Reply to this comment




