May-Walsh get their perfect ending, a third gold medal

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh did the impossible Wednesday at the beach volleyball venue. It wasn't that they won their third consecutive Olympic gold medal after splitting up, getting injured and having two babies (Walsh was responsible for that).
That's all quite impressive, but that's not their truly remarkable achievement of these Games. No, that would be something far grander, cutting to the very essence of their sport, to be remembered long after they have hung up their bikinis:

These two made us take beach volleyball seriously.
n the last match they said they'll ever play together, May-Treanor and Walsh won that third gold medal when they defeated fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 at beautiful Horse Guards Parade.

They end their Olympic run with a 21-0 record, stretching from Athens in 2004 through Beijing in 2008 to, finally, London.

Even Michael Phelps lost a race or two in his Olympic career. Not these two.

Beach volleyball players look to be having too much fun to be working as hard as other Olympic athletes, but talk to a couple of the foes vanquished by the greatest Olympic beach volleyball duo ever and it's interesting how quickly real, raw sport intrudes in the conversation.

"They really squashed us," Ross said.

"They are the best team of all time," Kessy added. "It doesn't feel too bad being second to them right now. I don't even know if they made any mistakes."

A few moments later, May-Treanor and Walsh came along to meet with news reporters and were told that Kessy had said they were basically perfect.

"You could tell us that on our best day, and we'd still disagree," May-Treanor said.

"Yeah," Walsh said, looking at her partner, "but what would you say, like truly? I'd give me a B."

"Like a B-plus," May-Treanor said.

"She played amazing," Walsh said. "That's why it's a great partnership."

USA Aly Raisman Wins Olympic Gold In Gymnastics Floor Exercise

Raisman won gold with her gorgeous floor exercise routine and bronze on balance beam Tuesday while the rest of the Americans came up empty-handed.

Miami’s Danell Leyva finished fifth on high bar, behind gymnasts whose routines were even more gravity-defying than his.

“We just didn’t have the stuff those crazy, amazing guys had,” Leyva said. “When I saw my score, I knew it wouldn’t be enough.”

Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands won the first Dutch gold medal in gymnastics since 1928 with a 16.533-point routine that had a start value seven-tenths of a point higher than Leyva’s. Silver medalist Fabian Hambuchen of Germany and bronze medalist Zou Kai of China also incorporated more difficulty in their maneuvers than the Americans and hit them all in a display of virtuosity that had fans inside North Greenwich Arena roaring their approval. Leyva’s score was 15.833 and Jonathan Horton (15.466) of Houston finished sixth.

Leyva won the sole medal for the U.S. men, capturing bronze with his dramatic comeback in the all-around event Tuesday.

“We just have to go home and get stronger,” Leyva said. “Before you get to the Olympics all you think about is gold, gold, gold. I’m extremely happy with my bronze because of the way I won it. But I’m not satisfied.”

Nor were the men happy with their fifth-place team finish, especially after they had placed third at world championships. But Horton said with Leyva and John Orozco still reaching for their prime, the United States should be able to convert its potential in the coming years.

“We had a young team that experienced the Olympic Games,” said Horton, who won two medals in 2008. “Mistakes were made, but we had to learn from this. I think we’ve awakened a sleeping giant because the U.S. can be a giant in this sport.”

The American women proved they are the team to beat with the team title and Gabby Douglas’ all-around gold — a double that was a first for the U.S. women. They nicknamed themselves the “Fierce Five” in a nod to the last U.S. team to win Olympic team gold, the “Magnificent Seven” of 1996.

Then Raisman finished with a red, white and blue flourish. Her floor routine was so clean she mopped up her erring opposition, and that included teammate Jordyn Wieber, the reigning world champion who was expected to dominate the podium in London. But Wieber didn’t qualify for the all-around final, scoring fewer points than Douglas and Raisman. Then, during her chance at individual gold on floor, she stepped out of bounds and flubbed a landing on her first two tumbling passes and had to settle for seventh place.

She frowned afterward at her 14.5 score and shouted, “Go, Aly!”

Raisman sprang across the floor with impressive height and snap. She mixed in clever dance moves and concluded with a thunderous run and perfectly timed, graceful split jump.

As Raisman came off the floor, Mihai Brestyan — her coach at his suburban Boston gym — pumped his arms and lifted her in a hug. Wieber patted her on the back.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose,” she said. “It was going to be my last memory of London, so I wanted to make it count and enjoy it.”

The five gymnasts who followed couldn’t match her 15.6 score. When Sandra Izbasa of Romania crash-landed, the usually ultra-composed Raisman knew she had won and broke into a big smile.

“It was definitely the best floor routine that I’ve ever done,” Raisman said. “It was the best feeling ever. That’s what you work for your whole life.”

Raisman won the first Olympic gold for an American woman. She finished fourth in all-around, missing a medal in a tiebreaker with Russia’s Aliya Mustafina. But on Tuesday a ruling in her favor enabled her to bump Romania’s Catalina Ponor from third to fourth on balance beam.

After Raisman’s initial score of 14.966 was shown, U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi and husband Bela requested a video review. Judges added a tenth to her difficulty, which tied her with Ponor, but Raisman got third on the basis of her higher execution score.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/07/2938872/aly-raisman-closes-strong-for.html#storylink=cpy

Michael Phelps Finishes London Olympics Program With Gold In 4x100-Meter Medley Relay

Swimming the butterfly leg for the U.S. team in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay, Phelps has completed his program at the London Olympics -- and his swimming career -- with yet another gold medal. That makes 18 gold and 22 total medals over four career trips to the Olympics, including a pair of unprecedented individual three-peats. Having accomplished more than any other Olympian in history, the 27-year-old from Maryland is ready to walk away.

"I told myself I never want to swim when I'm 30," Phelps told reporters after his final race, making it clear that he won't be back in the pool for the 2016 Olympics. "No offense to those people who are 30, but that was something I always said to myself, and that would be in three years. I just don't want to swim for those three years."

Entering the London Olympics, the U.S. had never lost the 4x100-meter medley relay. The American team swam in the fourth lane after recording the fastest qualifying time (3:32.65). Turning over the team after that performance, the swimmers representing the U.S. in the final were among the most impressive of the London Games. Phelps swam the fly leg and was joined by Matt Grevers (who had won gold in backstroke), Nathan Adrian (who won gold in freestyle) and Brendan Hansen (who won bronze in the breaststroke). Not surprisingly, this star-studded quartet captured the gold medal, finishing in 3:29.35.

Leading off with the backstroke, Grevers staked the U.S. team to an early lead. Swimming second, Hansen swam the breaststroke but surrendered the lead to the Japanese team. The U.S. trailed only briefly, however, as Phelps grabbed first place back. In the anchor leg, Adrian extended the lead that Phelps' delivered. According to Swimming World, this was a "textile best" time for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay.

Team USA Vs. Lithuania Final Score: LeBron James Saves Americans In 99-94 Win

LeBron James scored 9 of his 20 points in the final four minutes for the U.S. (4-0), which had looked nearly invincible in thrashing Nigeria 156-73 on Thursday night and breaking several records. But the Americans were reminded that the path to the gold medal is loaded with traps and Lithuania nearly sprang one.

"You want to get tested. The best teams want to be tested. We love the competition," James said. "I think we've got some of the greatest competitors in our league, in this world, so you want to have a game where you feel like you were tested, and we had that today."

Carmelo Anthony added 20 points, Kevin Durant 16 and Chris Paul added seven rebounds, six assists and four of the U.S. team's 17 steals.

Linas Kleiza scored 25 to lead Lithuania, which led by 84-82 with 5:50 to play. After the U.S. took a three-point lead, Lithuania would not go away and pulled within 87-86 on Darius Songaila's bucket with 4:12 left.

That's when James, who has already won an MVP trophy and NBA title this year, took control of the offense.

"I've been kind of doing everything else, which I'm OK with. I'm here to do all the little things, do whatever this team needs, especially from Coach K's perspective, but like I told you guys I can also score," James said. "I'm blessed and happy that I was able to make a few buckets down the stretch."
James knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and after Paul stole the inbounds pass, James took a pass down the right side and delivered one of his trademark dunks, a basket that brought the American players off the bench and seemed to restore world basketball order.

Serena Williams Beats Maria Sharapova In Final, Wins Gold Medal In Olympic

Serena Williams became only the second woman to complete a career Golden Slam, winning the most lopsided women's final in Olympic history Saturday by beating Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1.

The victory completed a remarkable run of domination by the No. 4-seeded Williams, who lost only 17 games in six matches en route to her first singles gold medal. She went 13-0 this summer at the All England Club, where she won her fifth Wimbledon title a month ago.

The career Golden Slam was first achieved by Steffi Graf, who did it when she won at the Olympics in 1988 after sweeping all four major titles. Williams can add the gold medal to her 14 Grand Slam singles championships, the most of any active woman.

And she's not done in London. Williams and her sister Venus, pursuing their third gold in doubles, were scheduled to play in the semifinals later Saturday.

It took the No. 3-seeded Sharapova 45 minutes to win a game, and by then she trailed 6-0, 3-0. Williams dominated with her serve and repeatedly blasted winners from the baseline, taking a big swing with almost every stroke despite gusty conditions on Centre Court.

The wind was so strong it blew the U.S. flag off its pole during the medal ceremony.

When Sharapova wasn't lunging or whiffing as the ball whizzed past, she was caught off-balance trying to block back shots at her feet. Williams finished with 10 aces, 24 winners and only seven unforced errors.

Sharapova completed a career Grand Slam in June by winning the French Open, but Williams beat her for the eighth consecutive time. The most one-sided previous women's final was in 1920, when Suzanne Lenglen of France beat Dorothy Holman of Britain 6-3, 6-0.

Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the bronze by beating No. 14-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4. Sharapova's loss allowed Azarenka to retain the No. 1 ranking.