BEIJING — The U.S. women’s volleyball team had all sorts of emotions, from coach Jenny Lang Ping being in her hometown, where she remains a star, to the attack on the parents of former player Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman McCutcheon, wife of the U.S. men’s coach.
The wave was ridden all the way to the final by the Americans. But the Brazilians proved to be too tough and the U.S. took silver.
Brazil won a tight deciding set to beat the U.S. 25-18, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21 and finish the Olympic tournament without a loss.
“We have nothing to be disappointed for,” U.S. star Logan Tom said. “You see tears. They’re tears of happiness, though. We came a long way in this tournament.”
The United States has never won this event, taking silver in 1984 and bronze in 1992.
Gymnastics age investigation.
China’s deputy sports minister has attributed the confusion about the age of one of its gold-medal gymnasts to a paperwork mistake during a team transfer.
At last year’s China’s Cities Games, Chinese officials decided to move He Kexin, who won two gold medals during the Beijing Games, from a local team to the national team. China’s deputy sports minister Cui Dalin said today that it was during this transfer that a “misunderstanding appeared” about her age.
During the China’s Cities Games, He was identified in a report Nov. 3, 2007, by the Chinese government news agency Xinhua with her age listed as 13.
If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible.
Cui’s explanation comes as officials from the International Gymnastics Federation pored over documents in hopes of putting to rest persistent questions about the ages of all but one member of the six-person team.
Ukrainian weightlifter fails doping test.
Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov became the sixth athlete caught doping during the Games. He faces a two-year ban from the sport.
The IOC has carried out more than 4,600 doping tests, with the figure expected to surpass 5,000 by the close of the Games tonight.
Footnotes.
In temperatures that topped 107 degrees, Angel di Maria scored off a pass from Lionel Messi in the 58th minute, helping Argentina defeat Nigeria 1-0 and win its second straight Olympic men’s soccer title.
• South Korea finished the baseball tournament unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over Cuba in the sport’s final Olympic game until at least 2016. The United States beat Japan 8-4 to claim the bronze medal.
• Georgia Gould of Fort Collins finished eighth in the 16.6-mile women’s mountain bike race, won by Sabine Spitz of Germany. In the 22.1-mile men’s race, Todd Wells of Durango had to drop out, placing 43rd. France’s Julien Absalon won his second straight gold medal.
• Russian heavyweight Rakhim Chakhkiev and British middleweight James Degale were among the winners of the first five gold medals for boxing. Six more golds will be decided today.
• China clinched all six individual table tennis medals, with Wang Liqin winning bronze in men’s singles. China’s Ma Lin outlasted teammate Wang Hao to take gold.
Denver Post wire services
