USA Basketball Defeats Spain [107 - 100]To Win Gold Medal At London Olympic

There may still be no doubt of that after the Americans 107-100 victory at North Greenwich Arena, but Team USA's second consecutive gold medal game win over Spain was hardly a leisurely ride down the adjacent River Thames. The Americans led by one at the half, trailed briefly in the third quarter and never really had a comfortable margin.

As good as Spain is with Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro and Serge Ibaka - all either current or former NBA players - when the U.S. replaces All-Star with All-Star, it wears down an opponent. It might be possible to stop one star. But to stop one after another after another?

The U.S. has won 14 of the 16 gold-medal games in which it has played and is now 130-5 in Olympic games. The U.S. has now won 17 consecutive Olympics games and furthered distanced itself from the bronze-medal debacle at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Not coincidentally, the U.S. turnaround in this decade began when Jerry Colangelo took over as USA Basketball's chairman in 2005, stabilizing the program by naming Mike Krzyzewski coach and securing long-term commitment from the USA's best NBA players.

The ability of James, Chris Paul and Deron Williams to create open shots for themselves and others, namely Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant - made it near impossible for an opponent to stop the U.S. from scoring.

While the rest of the world has closed the gap in 20 years since the 1992 Dream Team at the Barcelona, James, Bryant, Anthony, Durant, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and the rest ensured the world lags behind. With Colangelo's leadership, the U.S. is in outstanding shape headed into the 2014 World Cup in Spain and the 2016 Rio Olympics, especially given the tentative plan not to make the competition 23-and-under for Rio.

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann said, "It would probably be premature right now …… to make any changes in the Olympic program.

"The feeling is that we will not be proposing an under-23 for 2016."

That sounds good to NBA players, such as Bryant, James and Durant, who have bought in to the USA Basketball do not want to see an age limit.

Earlier Sunday, Russia beat Argentina 81-77 for the bronze medal. It was the Russians' first Olympic basketball medal since 1988 when the Soviet Union won gold. That was the last Olympics before professional basketball players were allowed to compete.

Mexico vs Brazil [2-1] Full Match Highlights I Mexico Wins Soccer Gold Medal

Mexico’s performances have improved throughout the tournament, and El Tri seems to be peaking at just the right time. Unfortunately, standout striker Giovani Dos Santos will miss the final with a leg strain, which will make winning that little bit harder. Still, of all the 16 teams, Mexico alone looks like it could upset Brazil’s quest for gold.

Oribe Peralta and Marco Fabian will likely start up front, while Miguel Ponce could fit the bill as Dos Santos’ replacement. Like Brazil, Mexico is also looking for its first gold medal at soccer and has beaten Brazil in two other finals­ the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and the Under-17 World Championship in 2005.

And then there’s Brazil. The team has everything you’d fear from previous teams–a wobbly goalkeeper (Gabriel replaced Rafael Cabral on the eve of the tournament and looks like a kid who’s won a “keep goal for Brazil” contest), and some suspect defending has left the Brazilians needing to win games simply by scoring more goals than they concede.

And they have bagged three goals per game.

This game is a huge test for Brazil. The squad will form the nucleus of Brazil’s World Cup team in 2014, a tournament they’ll be both hosting and expected to win. Manolo Menezes also knows that a win today will give him some breathing space from the press and public. Lose, and the prospect of a pink slip increases.

“We all know that we need to win the gold,” Menezes said. “Brazil has to win every tournament it plays, it needs to win every match it plays, even if it’s a friendly. And this time even more because it’s it’s something the nation has never won before.” (That first scoop of muesli is on us.)

Brazil’s players have also been at the forefront of a sluggish European transfer window ­ Lucas Moura has snubbed Manchester for the lights of Paris and the petrodollars of Paris St. Germain, Oscar has joined Chelsea, while the leading scorer, Leandro Damaio, and the aptly-named Hulk are also the subjects of intense transfer speculation. The big prize remains Neymar, who has the pick of the world’s clubs waiting for him, should he choose to leave home.

U.S. Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Team Win Gold

Tianna Madison, 200-meter champion Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight gave the U.S. a big lead heading into the anchor leg by Jeter, who already owned a silver medal from the 100 and a bronze from the 200 in London.

Their final time cut more than a half-second off the old record of 41.37 run by East Germany in 1985.

Jamaica won the silver medal Friday in a national record of 41.41 seconds, with 100 champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart bringing the baton around.

The bronze went to the Ukraine in 42.04.

With Knight approaching for the final handoff, Jeter took nine strides, reached her hand back and took a perfect exchange. Jeter was staring at the clock as she covered the final 10 meters and used the stick in her left hand to make sure everyone else also had their eyes trained on the bright orange numbers on the trackside clock.

Afterward, the quartet of champions paused to watch a replay of their record performance on the scoreboard at 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. When Jeter was shown crossing the finish line, Knight punched the air.

The perfect trip around the track ended a string of disappointments for the U.S. in the event. At Beijing four years ago, the Americans didn't even reach the final because Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams bobbled the last exchange in the semifinals.

That marked the first time since 1948 that the U.S. wasn't involved in the women's 4x100 medal race at the Summer Games.

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Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix have been battling head-to-head throughout the 2012 Olympics, but on Friday the two best American runners were able to put their substantial talents together in leading the United States to a gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter relay race in world record time, finishing in 40.82 seconds. The team blew past the previous record of 41.35, set by East Germany in 1985.

Jeter has the overall medal lead on Felix at these Games, winning a silver in the 100-meter dash and bronze in the 200 meters. She added a third to that collection thanks to Team USA's impressive run today.

What Felix has lacked in overall success—which is a relative term since she now has two medals—she has made up for in wins. Unlike Jeter, she already had a gold medal to wrap around her neck thanks to a victory in the 200-meter race on Wednesday.

Team USA entered the race as one of the favorites to medal, especially after posting the fastest time in qualifying at 41.64 seconds. That was nearly seven-tenths of a second better than Trinidad and Tobago in the first heat.

Granted, there are a lot of teams that will pull up late as long as they know they qualified for the finals, but that is still an impressive margin of victory under any circumstances.

This is sweet redemption for the Americans. Four years ago, Team USA didn't even make it to the finals of this event after being disqualified in the first round.

All it took was four years, and a new collection of talent, but the United States was able to find itself with a medal in the 4x100-meter relay once again.

1 United States 40.82
2 Jamaica 41.41
3 Ukraine 42.04
4 Nigeria 42.64
5 Germany 42.67
6 Netherlands 42.70
7 Brazil 42.91
8 Trinidad and Tobago DNF

Manteo Mitchell U.S. 4x400M Runner Finishes Olympic Relay After Breaking Leg

Manteo Mitchell heard the POP! and knew it wasn't good. "It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half," he said.

The American sprinter had 200 meters to go in the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay preliminaries Thursday and a decision to make: keep running or stop and lose the race. To him, it was never much of a choice.

He finished the lap and limped to the side to watch the Americans finish the race and qualify easily for the final. A few hours later, doctors confirmed what he suspected: He had run the last half-lap with a broken left fibula.

"I heard it and I felt it," Mitchell told The Associated Press. "But I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation."

Mitchell finished his heat in a more-than-respectable 46.1 seconds, and the United States tied the Bahamas in the second heat in 2 minutes, 58.87 seconds – the fastest time ever run in the first round of the relay at the Olympics.

The 25-year-old sprinter from Cullowhee, N.C., said he was diagnosed with a complete break of the left fibula – but it was not a compound fracture and the bone is expected to heal on its own in four to six weeks.

He knew what the stakes were when he lined up to run the first leg of his first Olympics. The Americans have won gold in the last eight long relays they've entered at the Olympics.

"Even though track is an individual sport, you've got three guys depending on you, the whole world watching you," Mitchell said. "You don't want to let anyone down."

He said he slipped on the stairs a few days ago in the athletes village but didn't think much of it. Training went well and he felt good when he lined up to kick things off for the Americans. He said he was feeling great, as well, when he looked at the clock while approaching the 200-meter mark, somewhere in the high-20 or low-21-second range.

Allyson Felix Wins Gold In 200M

Denied twice on the world's biggest stage, Felix won the Olympic gold medal she's been yearning for, taking the 200 meters Wednesday night to fill in the last, and biggest, hole in her otherwise stellar resume.

Felix won the race in 21.88 seconds, topping Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won the 100 four nights earlier, by .21 seconds. American Carmelita Jeter added bronze to go with her silver in the 100 meters.

One more spot back was Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown, who defeated Felix in the Athens and Beijing Games and was trying to become the first woman to win the same individual track and field event in three consecutive Olympics.

Instead, the Americans were the ones celebrating three straight.

Felix's win was quickly followed by Aries Merritt's victory in the 110 hurdles and Brittney Reese's long jump title.

Felix won easily, leaving nothing to chance - or a coin flip - as she burst ahead of Fraser-Pryce with 40 meters to go.

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.

Oscar Pistorius Reaches Men's 400-Meter Semifinals

Oscar Pistorius, a 25-year-old South African and probably the most celebrated track athlete at the Games this side of Usain Bolt, made his much-anticipated Olympic debut a resounding success Saturday morning, when Pistorius, the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics, ran his 400-meter heat in 45.44 to advance to Sunday night's semifinals.
Announced to the Olympic Stadium crowd by both his name and nickname ("The Blade Runner"), Pistorius received a massive ovation from the 80,000 fans, and then ran a blistering lap around the red track, every step of it on his J-shaped carbon-fiber prostheses.
"It was just an amazing experience," Pistorius told hundreds of waiting reporters from around the world. "It's moments like this when you step back and say, 'Wow, I've been blessed by the Lord.'"
Pistorius' time was his second fastest of the year, and enabled him to finish second in his heat. He was the 16th fastest of the 24 qualifiers for the semifinals.
"It just show me my coaching staff has done a great job getting me to peak at the right time," Pistorius said.

Born without a fibula in both legs, Pistorius has been a world-class runner for several years, having qualified for the world championships last year and making it to the semifinals. Track's international governing body barred him from running against able-bodied competition early in 2008, arguing that his lightweight prostheses actually gave him a competitive advantage. The decision was overturned in May, 2008 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled that there was no credible evidence to indicated Pistorius had an unfair advantage.
Pistorius was officially named to the South African Olympic team one month ago. He will run in the 4 x 400 relay, as well.
"He motivates all of us," said Bryshon Nellum, the U.S.'s top qualifier for the semis, with a time of 45.23. "For him to continue to run against people with legs, it's unbelievable."
With a day to prepare for the Olympic semifinals, Pistorius, who was smiling so much he said his cheeks were beginning to hurt, apologized and said he had to go.