Chinese men’s gymnasts vault field to garner gold
LONDON – Their closest rivals were still on the floor competing when the Chinese whipped out five big gold stars and held them up in the shape of their flag.
Why wait?
The Chinese won their second straight Olympic title in men’s gymnastics and third in four games in a rout Monday, making fools of everyone who wrote them off after a dismal performance in qualifying.
“We don’t have any faults. That’s our secret to beat the Japanese and to beat everyone,” Zhang Chenglong said. “In preliminaries, we had a little bit of faults. But tonight was completely perfect.”
Well, almost.
It took five minutes and a video review to sort out the silver and bronze medalists after Japan questioned the score of its three-time world champion Kohei Uchimura on pommel horse, the last routine. Japan jumped from fourth to second after judges revised Uchimura’s score, bumping Britain down to bronze and Ukraine off the medals podium.
It was the British men’s first team medal in a century, and it set off raucous celebrations at O2 Arena. Even Princes William and Harry joined in.
“To win a medal in your home games, I’ll take that any day,” Kristian Thomas said. “We never actually had the silver in our hands, so there’s no real disappointment.”
Tell that to the Japanese, who were bested by the Chinese yet again. Japan was the runner-up to China in Beijing, as well as at the last four world championships.
And unlike last year’s world championships, where the Japanese had appeared to close the gap on China, this one wasn’t even close. China finished with 275.997 points, more than four points better than Japan.
The Americans weren’t all that happy, either.
Bronze medalists four years ago, they could practically feel their first gold since 1984 after finishing No. 1 in qualifying, with captain Jon Horton jokingly asking if they could claim their prizes. But everyone gets a do-over in team finals, and whatever momentum the Americans had evaporated when Danell Leyva and John Orozco fell on pommel horse, their second event.
They wound up fifth, six points behind China and almost two behind Britain.
“There’s definitely disappointment,” Horton said. “We are one of the best teams in the world.”
But China is in a class by itself.
The Chinese have been like playground bullies most of the last decade, sauntering into every competition and scooping up as many gold medals as possible: team golds at the last five world championships and Olympic titles in Sydney and Beijing, where they won all but one of the men’s gold medals.
TENNIS
There was a familiar sister act at Wimbledon, with Serena and Venus Williams each advancing in the singles tournament, then combining for a doubles win.
Other major champions to advance in singles included Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters, Petra Kvitova, Ana Ivanovic and three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick.
Venus Williams waited an extra day because of rain to begin her bid for a record fourth gold medal in Olympic tennis, then defeated recent French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy, 6-3, 6-1. Serena completed a July sweep of Poland’s Radwanska sisters by beating Urszula in the second round, 6-2, 6-3. She defeated Radwanska’s sister, Agnieszka, in the Wimbledon final this month. Federer also reached the third round, beating Julien Benneteau of France, 6-2, 6-2.
“What a good day for fans, between me, Venus, Roger and all the other players,” Serena Williams said. “It’s really such a great experience.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Candace Parker and the U.S. women’s team are 2-for-2 in London, and this one was a laugher. Parker had 14 points and 12 rebounds to help the United States to a 90-38 rout of Angola.
The Americans have won their last 35 games in the Olympics and four consecutive gold medals, while Angola is still looking for its first victory.
France had the most surprising win of the day, edging Australia 74-70 in overtime. Emilie Gomis scored all 22 of her points after halftime.
BOXING
Light heavyweight Damien Hooper rallied from a third-round deficit for a 13-11 victory over Marcus Browne, handing the U.S. team its first loss in London after a 4-0 start.
Hooper and Browne put on perhaps the best three minutes of the day after both fighters cautiously fought the first two rounds. The Australian raised his aggression in the third to overwhelm Browne, a Staten Island, N.Y., product.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. women’s team beat Brazil in an early rematch of the Beijing Games final.
Destinee Hooker had 23 points, and Jordan Larson added 18 for the top-ranked Americans, who won 25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21 to improve to 2-0 in pool play at Earls Court.
The American women have never won an Olympic gold medal in volleyball.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Two-time gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings earned their 16th consecutive Olympic victory, beating a team from the Czech Republic in straight sets.
It was May-Treanor’s 35th birthday when the match started, but because of TV schedules and a long match earlier in the session, it ended shortly after midnight.
Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal lost to Poland in pool play, the first setback for the American men or women in beach volleyball at the games.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Colombian soccer player Lady Andrade was suspended for two games after U.S. forward Abby Wambach said she was “sucker-punched” in the right eye by Andrade during the 3-0 win by the U.S. on Saturday. Wambach called for FIFA to take action, while Andrade called it “an accident.”
FIFA said its disciplinary committee suspended Andrade for a group match today against France and for the quarterfinals if Colombia advances.
EQUESTRIAN
Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter, raced through the difficult and dangerous cross-country portion of her first Olympic equestrian eventing competition, finishing clean and well under the pace time.
Princes William and Harry watched her from the main equestrian arena, joined by William’s wife, Kate, and Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles. Seated alongside them were Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew.
Phillips’ mother, Princess Anne, watched from the grounds of the twisty, hilly 3.5-mile course dotted with 28 obstacles.
WATER POLO
It was quite the Olympic debut for Maggie Steffens, who scored seven goals to lead the U.S. women’s team to a 14-13 victory over Hungary.
Despite a team full of veterans, it was the 19-year-old Steffens who led the way with sharp shooting from outside for the Americans, who are looking to win their first gold in the event.
DIVING
China is dominating the diving boards – again. Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan totaled 486.78 points in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform, giving the country its second gold medal in the sport at the games. Nick McCrory and David Boudia of the U.S. took the bronze with 463.47.
FENCING
Fencer Yana Shemyakina of Ukraine beat defending champion Britta Heidemann of Germany 9-8 to win the Olympic gold medal in women’s individual epee.
