Olympic roundup
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Walsh Jennings, Ross lose Brazil beat the United States in the women’s beach volleyball semifinals Tuesday night and ended the gold medal run of three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings. Agatha and Barbara won 22-20, 21-18 to earn a matchup in the final against Germany. The best Walsh Jennings and her partner, April Ross, can do is a bronze medal when they play Brazil’s other women’s team, Talita and Larissa, today. Walsh Jennings had won three gold medals with Misty May-Treanor in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012), and had never lost an Olympic match. She had only lost two sets in her Olympic career before falling in straight sets at the Copacabana venue. “Kerri does so much for us and I didn’t step up today,” Ross said. “I’m very upset with myself.” Agatha and Barbara are the defending world champions, but they were the second-seeded team in the tournament to Talita and Larissa.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Americans to semis
Karch Kiraly’s top-ranked U.S. women’s volleyball team moved one step closer to its goal of capturing the program’s first volleyball gold, defeating familiar opponent Japan in straight sets Tuesday to reach the semifinals. The unbeaten U.S. (6-0) won 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 and has dropped just five sets all tournament. The Americans will face Serbia, a straight-set winner over Russia, in Thursday’s semifinals at Maracanazinho arena. The U.S. has faced Japan more times than any other team since 1983. The Americans have won the last three meetings on the Olympic stage against Japan, opening the 2008 Beijing Games with a four-set victory and sweeping Japan in a match at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
U.S. rolls to victory Tested for the first time at the Rio Games, Diana Taurasi and the United States women’s basketball team responded with another convincing victory. Taurasi and Maya Moore each scored 19 points to help the U.S. pull away from Japan in a 110-64 victory Tuesday night and advance to the semifinals. Coming into the quarterfinals, every U.S. game was virtually over at the half. Not this one. Japan, sticking to its up-tempo style of basketball, shooting three-pointers and pushing the pace, trailed just 56-46 at halftime. But the Americans, which won its five group games by an average of 40.8 points, had just too much offensive firepower and eclipsed the 100-point mark for the fifth time in six games, outscoring Japan 54-18 in the second half. The Americans will play France or Canada in the semifinals Thursday. While this game provided the first real test for the Americans, their road to a sixth consecutive gold medal got a little bit easier when Australia lost to Serbia 73-71 early Tuesday. The Aussies had been the only team to hold a halftime lead over the U.S. at the Olympics in the past 16 years when they led by four in the semifinal game in the 2012 London Games. The U.S. went on to win that game by 13 points. This was the first meeting in the Olympics between the U.S. and Japan since the 1996 Olympic quarterfinals, which the Americans won by 15 points. Spain wins on buzzer-beater
Alba Torrens found Anna Cruz after the guard’s buzzer beater and hugged her. It was one of the biggest shots women’s basketball in Spain. Cruz’s runner capped an exciting rally to help Spain advance to the semifinals by eliminating Turkey 64-62. Officials immediately ruled Cruz’s shot good, though the play was reviewed. Spain Coach Lucas Mondelo watched as the referee announced the basket counted, then turned to celebrate with his players. Spain scored 12 of the final 14 points with Cruz scoring three of the final four baskets. Cruz finished with 14 points as leading scorer Torrens who was held to six — well below her average of 18.6 points in Rio. Turkey appeared in control, leading 60-52 with 3:44 left. Instead, Spain will play Serbia on Thursday for a spot in the gold medal game.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Sweden tops Brazil Lisa Dahlkvist buried her penalty kick for Sweden to eliminate the host country Brazil, sending the Swedes to the Olympic soccer final. Sweden advanced to the gold medal match in women’s soccer for the first time by beating host Brazil 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw. And it was the second time Dahlkvist had come through under pressure on penalties: Her kick ousted the favored U.S. women in the quarterfinals. Brazil forward Marta, one of the biggest stars of the tournament, made the first kick of the shootout. But at 3-3, Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl stopped Andressa’s shot before Dahlkvist beat Barbara to end it, stunning the packed home crowd at the Maracana Stadium. Sweden, which has never before played in the gold match at the Olympics, will face Germany for gold Friday at the Maracana, the site of the men’s World Cup final in 2014. The Germans defeated Canada 2-0 in the later match Tuesday in Belo Horizonte. Brazil will play for the bronze on Friday in Sao Paulo against Canada.
SAILING
Lange, 54, wins gold Argentina’s Santiago Lange lost count of how many times he broke down during the celebration on the shore of Guanabara Bay, where one of the more remarkable stories of the Olympics played out. Lange became the oldest medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Lange, a cancer survivor and six-time Olympian, and crewmember Cecilia Carranza Saroli won the first Olympic gold medal in the Nacra 17 mixed catamaran class Tuesday at the sailing regatta. After receiving his gold medal, Lange hopped off the podium and ran over to hug his sons. Lange had to beat lung cancer before he had a chance to beat the fleet. He was diagnosed last year and had his left lung removed. Lange and Saroli took the gold by just one point over Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin of Australia. Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank of Austria won the bronze.