TOKYO (AP) — It’s a breakthrough for the U.S. women’s volleyball team and old hat for the country’s women’s basketball team at the Tokyo Games.
The volleyball team will leave Japan with the first Olympic gold medal in the program’s history. The Yanks took the final with a straight-sets victory over Brazil.
The U.S. had won silver three times and bronze twice previously for the most medals by any country that hadn’t won gold. But the Americans finally completed that quest by beating the country that denied them gold in the final match in both 2008 and 2012.
The women’s basketball team has run its Olympic winning streak to 55 games and seven gold medals.
Brittney Griner poured in 30 points on 14 of 18 shooting as the Americans knocked off Japan, 90-75. The U.S. jumped out to an 18-5 lead and was up 24-13 after one quarter behind Griner’s 10 points.
The outcome leaves Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi as the only basketball players to win five gold medals. Dawn Staley became the second woman to win a gold medal as a player, assistant and head coach, joining Anne Donovan.
Also in Tokyo:
— Jennifer Valente overcame a crash in the omnium-ending points race to hang on for the gold medal, capping what had been an otherwise frustrating and disappointing Olympics for American cycling. Valente won the opening scratch race, picked up three sprints in the points race, and performed well in the elimination race to take an eight-point lead into the points race.
— Andy Cruz won Cuba’s fourth boxing gold medal by defeating U.S. lightweight Keyshawn Davis 4:1 in the final. Cruz had to rally with an impressive third-round after Davis swept the second on all five judges’ cards.
— American Richard Torrez Jr. also had to settle for boxing silver with a 5:0 loss to Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan in the super heavyweight division. The U.S. had its most successful Olympics since 2000 in terms of total medals, but the country still hasn’t won a men’s gold medal since 2004.
— Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge (EHL’-ee-uhd kihp-CHOH’-gee) pulled away late and defended his Olympic marathon title. Kipchoge finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 38 seconds along the streets of Sapporo.
— Serbia won its second straight gold medal in men’s water polo, beating Greece 13-10 in the final event of the Tokyo Olympics. Serbia became the first country to repeat as Olympic champion since Hungary won three in a row from 2000 to 2008. It earned its fourth medal in its fourth appearance in the Olympics’ oldest team sport. Hungary took the bronze medal with a 9-5 victory over Spain.
— World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says it’s “inevitable” that questions will be asked about the integrity of breakthrough track and field results at the Olympics. Coe said he would not speak about a specific case, but he acknowledged that after “performances that are outstanding, it is inevitable people will always ask questions.” He was questioned following reports that suggested that Marcell Jacobs’ victory in the men’s 100 had not been clean. Coe also said the effects of climate change will force sports bodies to rethink their calendar of events. Extreme heat and humidity in Japan forced changes to the track schedule, as well as tennis and women’s soccer.
— The International Olympic Committee has given itself more power to remove sports from the Olympic program. It can now remove a sport if its governing body does not comply with a decision made by the IOC’s executive board or if it “acts in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic movement.” The change approved by IOC members comes amid prolonged issues with the leadership of weightlifting and boxing. Weightlifting could lose its place at the 2024 Paris Olympics because of long-term doping problems and governance issues.
