BEIJINGTIANJIN, China — The U.S. men’s volleyball players huddled, had a moment of silence and then set out on their mission — to do what little they could to ease the pain of their grieving coach and his shattered family.
Coach Hugh McCutcheon and his wife, 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman, missed this game, spending the day at a Beijing hospital. A day before, her father, Todd Bachman of Lakeville, Minn., was killed and her mother, Barbara, critically injured by a suicidal, knife-wielding attacker at the Drum Tower, a Beijing landmark.
Sunday, the U.S. men’s team was determined to play its best — for its coach and for his in-laws, both devoted fans. Despite a mid-match letdown, the Americans defeated Venezuela 3-2.
Ron Larsen, the U.S. interim coach and McCutcheon’s assistant since 2005, expressed hope that the team would feel no burden in playing to honor the Bachmans.
“The best way we can honor them at this juncture . . . is to go out and compete every day and play hard every day, and enjoy and love the game of volleyball,” he said.
U.S. men’s soccer settles for tie
The United States was within seconds of a major win and a quarterfinal berth in men’s soccer. Now it’s a tie away.
The Americans allowed a goal on a free kick by Gerald Sibon in the third minute of injury time, forcing them to settle for a 2-2 tie with the Netherlands.
The result left the United States with four points, tied atop Group B with Nigeria and two ahead of the Netherlands. Japan has zero. Only two teams advance.
The U.S. faces off against the Nigerians on Wednesday in Beijing in the final group game for both. The Dutch will need a victory against Japan. The U.S., with a superior goal difference over Nigeria, will require only a tie to advance.
Injury sidelines top seed.
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the top-seeded women’s tennis player, withdrew because of inflammation in her right thumb that has bothered her for several weeks.
In one of the few matches completed on a rain-plagued opening day of tennis, James Blake, the highest-seeded American in the men’s bracket at No. 8, defeated Chris Guccione of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Footnotes.
Tyson Gay of the U.S., one of the favorites in the men’s 100 meters next weekend, had a long, strenuous workout in Beijing, his first public practice since he suffered a leg injury July 5 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.
• U.S. boxer Javier Molina lost his light welterweight match to Bulgaria’s Boris Georgiev, a former Olympic bronze medalist, 14-1. After the bout, team officials announced Molina had been cleared to fight after doctors found a tiny hole in his right lung.
• Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno has been kicked out of the Games after testing positive for EPO. She is the first athlete to fail a drug test during the official Olympic doping control period. She had been scheduled to compete in the women’s individual time trial.
• Long Qingquan, 17, claimed China’s second weightlifting gold, winning the men’s 56kg category by lifting 643.7 pounds.
The Associated Press
