US Men Take Gold in Beach Volleyball

We're 'back on top,' boasts ecstatic LeBron James

(NEWSER) - The US Men's Basketball Olympic team pulled off a hard-fought victory to beat Spain 118-107 today to grab the gold medal. The US team has won gold every Olympics but three, including embarrassing defeats in 2004. "Much respect to Spain, but the US is back on top again," boasted player LeBron James. The US women's basketball team nailed gold yesterday. Spain brought on a surprisingly tough game after being trounced by the Yanks earlier in the competition. More»

(AP) - The US men's and women's teams swept the 1600-meter relays today, ending a string of frustrations for the Americans that included dropped batons in two earlier races. For the women, Sanya Richards anchored her team in a come-from-behind victory over Russia in 3:18.54, the world's fastest time since 1993. On the men's side, Jeremy Wariner crossed the line 12 strides ahead of Christopher Brown of the Bahamas, finishing in 2:55.39 to break the Olympic record by 0.35 second. More»

Hand-off gaffes disqualify both men and women

(NEWSER) - US track and field was hit by two nearly identical disasters today, when both the men’s and women’s teams flubbed the last handoff of the preliminary 400-meter relay, the Los Angeles Times reports. A wet, slippery night in the Bird’s Nest proved tough for the relay squads, with the British men’s team also blowing an exchange. More»

Americans denied top prize for first time since sport's Olympic debut in 1996

(AP) - The US softball team was denied a chance for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal today, beaten 3-1 by Japan in the sport's last appearance in the Olympics for at least 8 years. Japanese pitcher Yukiko Ueno shut down an American squad that ruled the sport since its Olympic debut in 1996, handing the US its first loss since 2000, in Sydney. More»

(NEWSER) - Six for six. Michael Phelps swam to another gold medal with an easy win in the 200 individual medley, the AP reports. Phelps, who continued his perfect streak of world records, beat Hungary's Laszlo Czeh (silver) and fellow American Ryan Lochte (bronze). He's got two races remaining to set a record of 8 golds in a single Games—the 100 butterfly Friday night (10:10pm ET) and the 4x100 medley relay Saturday night (10:58pm ET). More»