Raisman wins gold on floor
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.
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 Wednesday night’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.
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.
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.
Pearson got the best of a strong field by clocking an Olympic record 12.35 seconds to edge defending champion Dawn Harper of the U.S. It was Australia’s fourth gold medal of the games.
While Bolt moved on with ease, Liu Xiang failed to make it out of the preliminary heats of the 110-meter hurdles for the second straight Olympics.
The 2004 Olympic champion from China stumbled into the first barrier, crumpled to the ground and stayed down for a few moments, clutching his lower right leg. The head of China’s track team, Feng Shuyong, said Liu might have ruptured his right Achilles tendon.
The last American boxer in the men’s tournament was eliminated, giving the U.S. team its first Olympic medal shutout.
Welterweight Errol Spence dropped a 16-11 decision to Russia’s Andrey Zamkovoy in the quarterfinals. The Dallas-area fighter started slowly and never got going in his team’s ninth loss in 10 fights.
Spence only reached the quarterfinals after the Americans successfully protested a loss to India’s Krishan Vikas over an accumulation of uncalled holding fouls last week.
Given a second chance to avoid the shutout, Spence said he had no reason to argue about this loss.
Track cycling wrapped up at the London Velodrome, and Chris Hoy gave the boisterous crowd one last memory.
Hoy broke the British record with his sixth Olympic gold medal, defending his keirin title to finish off a dominating performance by the home nation.
Hoy’s gold gave Britain seven out of 10 awarded at the London Velodrome, matching its haul from the Beijing Games.
Anna Meares of Australia won the women’s sprint earlier in the day, beating British rival Victoria Pendleton in the final, while Laura Trott gave the host country a win in women’s omnium.
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.
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.
The U.S. women’s volleyball 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.
