U.S. women’s hoops to play for gold medal
Diana Taurasi scored 18 points while Maya Moore added 15 as the U.S. women’s basketball team moved a win away from its sixth straight gold medal by beating France 86-67 in the semifinals Thursday.
RIO DE JANEIRO » Usain Bolt and Ryan Lochte commanded the Olympic spotlight Thursday for drastically different reasons.
Bolt completed an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100- and 200-meter sprints, an accomplishment that further elevated his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. But for most of the day, all anyone was talking about surrounding the Olympics was a drunken encounter at a gas station restroom in Rio de Janeiro.
Lochte originally said he and his teammates were pulled over in their taxi by men with a badge and robbed at gunpoint during a night of partying Sunday after their competition wrapped up. Police say the story was made up, and that the intoxicated athletes vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by guards before they paid for the damage and left.
The episode served as a distraction from several notable events on the field of competition, including a dazzling round by American golfer Stacy Lewis, a gold for Brazil in sailing and several medals at track and field. U.S. WOMEN INTO fINAL » Missing its starting point guard, the U.S. women’s basketball team struggled for a half to find its offensive rhythm before pulling away from France and moving one win away from capturing a sixth consecutive gold medal.
Diana Taurasi scored 18 points and Maya Moore added 15 to help the Americans beat France 86-67 on Thursday night in the semifinals.
It was the closest game of the Olympics for the Americans, who will face Spain on Saturday and advanced without injured guard Sue Bird. Spain and the U.S. played in the preliminary round and the U.S. won that one by 40. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship by 13. SHAKUR fOR GOLD » No American has won a gold in boxing since 2004, but Shakur Stevenson hopes to change that. The 19-yearold phenom advanced to the gold match and has the support of Floyd Mayweather, who has referred to Stevenson as “the next Floyd Mayweather.” SUSPENSIONS » It was a busy day for doping suspensions. Doping officials announced that a weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan, swimmer from China, cyclist from Brazil and canoeist from Moldova all tested positive for drugs. The weightlifter was taking strychnine, best known for its use as rat poison. Athletes use it in small doses to boost muscle recovery. BRAZIL WINS » The host country claimed a gold medal in sailing after a dramatic finish by Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze in the women’s 49erFX event. The winners tumbled into the bay as they celebrated the big win. BIRDIE fEST » You know it’s a good day on the golf course when a player starts losing track of the number of birdies she makes. Such was the case for Lewis, who carded 11 birdies and shot a 63. Her round could have been better if not for a double-bogey on the 14th hole. And it still wasn’t enough for the lead. Inbee Park of South Korea finished shot a 5-under 66 to lead by one. ALL IN THE fAMILY » Alistair Brownlee of Britain successfully defended his gold medal in the men’s triathlon. His younger brother Jonathan, who took bronze in London four years ago, moved up to silver this time around. BMX CRASHES » The BMX competition began on what many riders feared would be a treacherous course. They ended up being right. Several riders crashed in the BMX men’s quarterfinals, and twotime defending gold medalist Maris Strombergs of Latvia was eliminated. All three American riders advanced to the semifinals, including Connor Fields, who summed up the day like this: “The best I can describe it is, put 800 lions in a cage, throw out a big steak and open the doors. That’s BMX.”