LONDON — Aly Raisman’s reaction was right on. She put together a crisp floor routine Tuesday, then mouthed, “Wow” after she saluted the judges. LONDON — Aly Raisman’s reaction was right on. She put together a crisp floor routine Tuesday,
LONDON — Aly Raisman’s reaction was right on. She put together a crisp floor routine Tuesday, then mouthed, “Wow” after she saluted the judges.
Wow, indeed.
Raisman became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold on floor, and she picked up a bronze on balance beam on the final day of the gymnastics competition at the London Olympics.
“It definitely went better than I thought it would,” Raisman said.
Raisman just missed a medal in the all-around, finishing with the same score as Russia’s Aliya Mustafina but dropping to fourth on a tiebreak. She was on the right end of the rules for beam Tuesday, bumping Romania’s Catalina Ponor off the podium.
The U.S. captain initially finished fourth, with a score of 14.966. But she questioned it, and judges added an extra tenth to her routine’s difficulty after a review.
That gave her and Ponor identical scores of 15.066, but Raisman got the bronze because her execution score was higher.
“A gold medal is a gold medal, but I definitely felt like (beam) was redemption from the other night in the all-around,” Raisman said. “I was in the same exact position, but it went in my favor this time.”
China collected two more golds when Feng Zhe won the parallel bars and Deng Linlin the beam competition. Epke Zonderland won the high bar, the first medal for a Dutch man and only the second Olympic medal overall for the Netherlands in the sport.
It will be an All-American party at beach volleyball when Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor take on April Ross and Jennifer Kessy in tonight’s final.
Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor won gold medals in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008 without losing a match, and they ran their unbeaten streak to 20 with their victory over China in the semifinals.
Ross and Kessy advanced with a three-set win against top-ranked Brazilians Juliana and Larissa.
“We want to seal the deal that we’re the best team that’s ever happened,” Walsh Jennings said. “Misty has changed my life. I just love her. I want to win tomorrow for us.”
Usain Bolt is eyeing another gold after he cruised through 200-meter qualifying, jogging down the stretch on his way to a stress-free first-round heat of 20.39 seconds.
The World’s Fastest Man repeated in the 100 on Sunday night when his 9.63-second run set an Olympic record. He is trying to become the only man with two Olympic titles in the 200.
“I was taking it as easy as possible. It’s my first (200) run,” Bolt said Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi (men’s 1,500 meters), Australia’s Sally Pearson (100-meter hurdles), Germany’s Robert Harting (men’s discus) and Russia’s Ivan Ukhov (men’s high jump) won gold medals on the fifth day of the track and field competition.
Also on Tuesday:
BASKETBALL
Diana Taurasi scored 15 points and the U.S. women’s team forced 26 turnovers in a 91-48 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals. The four-time defending gold medalists have won 39 straight games in Olympic play and will play Australia in the next round.
Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker had 12 points apiece for the U.S., which harassed Canada into three shot-clock violations in the first seven minutes.
Australia advanced with a 75-60 victory over China. Aussie star Lauren Jackson scored 12 points to become the all-time Olympic scoring leader in women’s basketball, passing former Brazilian star Janeth Arcain.
Russia beat Turkey 66-63 and will play France in the other semi. The French moved on with a 71-68 victory against the Czech Republic.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. women’s team played without captain Lindsey Berg, but still managed a 25-14, 25-21, 25-22 victory over the Dominican Republic in the tournament quarterfinals.
Berg is day to day with a left ankle injury and her status for Thursday’s match against South Korea is uncertain. Courtney Thompson started at setter in the Americans’ sixth consecutive victory at the games.
Destinee Hooker scored 19 points for the United States, which has never won a gold in volleyball. The team took silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after falling in the final to Brazil. Brazil will meet Japan in the other semifinal.
WATER POLO
Maggie Steffens scored four goals and the U.S. women’s team topped Australia 11-9 in overtime, shaking off a potentially costly blunder by coach Adam Krikorian to reach the Olympic final.
In a bruising match between medal contenders, Australia’s Southern Ash converted a penalty with one second left in regulation to tie it at 9 and force overtime.
The officials awarded the penalty after Krikorian called a timeout without his team having possession of the ball.
Steffens put the U.S. ahead in the first of two three-minute extra-time periods with a skip shot, and Kami Craig followed up with another goal.
The U.S. will meet unbeaten Spain in Thursday’s final.
