RIO DE JANEIRO – The Latest on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
9:55 p.m.
Gold-medal favorite Caster Semenya kept plenty in reserve in the semifinals of the women’s 800 meters and still posted the fastest of the qualifying times in 1 minute, 58.15 seconds.
The South African who was the silver medalist in London four years ago coasted through 500 meters in the middle of the pack before gradually picking up the pace and hitting the front rounding into the final straight.
Semenya has become the unwilling face of the controversial debate in track and field over women with very high levels of testosterone being allowed to compete. She is believed to be one of several female athletes at the Olympics with a condition called hyperandrogenism. The IAAF was last year forced to drop rules that regulated their testosterone levels.
She led the third and fastest heat, with Linsey Sharp of Britain and American Kate Grace advancing as well.
Margaret Wambui of Kenya won the first heat to advance along with Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, the world indoor winner.
Joanna Jozwik of Poland won the second heat and advanced along with Canada’s Melissa Bishop, the world championship silver medalist.
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9:40 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Ryan Crouser won the shot put gold medal with an Olympic record 22.52 meters, leading world champion Joe Kovacs in a 1-2 finish for the United States.
The 23-year-old Crouser recorded the three best throws of his career, starting with 22.22 on his second attempt to take an early lead and improving it to 22.26 before his biggest shot of the night on his fifth attempt.
Kovacs, who had the season-leading mark heading into the final, took silver at 21.78 and world indoor champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand won bronze at 21.36.
Tomasz Majewski, who won the Olympic gold for Poland in 2008 and 2012, was a distant sixth with a mark of 20.72 after opening with two fouls.
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9:10 p.m.
Three-time world champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Asbel Kiprop progressed smoothly in the last heat of the 1,500 meters, coming in ahead of defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria.
Kiprop initially hung back in the pack, then surged to the front with 250 meters to go and finished in 3 minutes 39.73 seconds. Makhloufi, who already won silver in the 800 meters, did not push the Kenyan, happy to advance in second place.
Kiprop’s teammate Ronald Kwemoi took the second heat in 3:39.42. Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti and Matthew Centrowitz of the United States also were among the automatic qualifiers.
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8:55 p.m.
The U.S. will be playing for a sixth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball after beating France 86-67, the closest contest of the Rio Games for the Americans.
Diana Taurasi scored 18 points as the U.S. won Thursday night without the services of Sue Bird. The U.S. turned up its defense to make up for not being as crisp offensively after routing opponents by an average of 41.7 points.
The Americans, who won their 48th straight game, will play Spain in the final Saturday.
Bird, the Americans’ starting point guard and team captain, was sidelined with a sprained right knee. The U.S. led only 40-36 at halftime but outscored France 25-8 in the decisive third quarter to finally get some separation from the team that they beat in the 2012 gold medal game.
France will play Serbia for bronze.
Reserve Marine Johannes led France with 13 points.
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8:35 p.m.
Kevin Mayer of France is creeping up on decathlon leader Ashton Eaton with only the closing 1,500 meters left to go.
Mayer threw 65.04 meters with the javelin Thursday while defending champion Eaton did not do better than 59.77, a poor performance by his standards. It meant that the American goes into the closing 1,500 meters with a lead of only 44 points.
Eaton has 8,104 points compared to Mayer’s 8,060. Eaton has a personal best time in the 1,500 that is about 4 seconds better than the Frenchman.
Damian Warner of Canada is in third place with 7,888.
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8:30 p.m.
Brazil’s acting president visited the Olympic Park Thursday to give an upbeat assessment of Rio’s Olympics.
Michel Temer told reporters there would be “worldwide recognition of the Brazilian capacity for organization.” He also said a “large number of tourists have had no incidents and are enjoying the games.”
His comments over about three minutes glossed over some organizational and security problems faced by the games, including a smattering of muggings, stray bullets flying at venues and an Olympic security officer fatally shot in a favela.
Temer also promised to attend the Paralympic Games, which are receiving a government bailout to guarantee they can take place. Rio organizers are expected to receive 150 million Brazilian reals ($46.5 million) in government money to help pull off the Paralympics, which open Sept. 7.
Taking government money breaks a pledge by organizers who have said they would use only private money in running their 7.4 billion real ($2.3 billion) operating budget.
Temer took over for President Dilma Rousseff, who faces an upcoming impeachment trial in the federal senate and is expected to be removed permanently from office.
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8:25 p.m.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s anti-doping agency has removed Indian wrestler Narsingh Yadav from the Rio Olympics and given him a four-year suspension.
Yadav had originally escaped a ban over two positive tests earlier this year for the banned substance methandienone after India’s national anti-doping agency accepted his explanation that his food or drink had been tampered with.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency disagreed and filed an appeal to CAS, which ruled that there was “no evidence” to support Yadav’s claim of sabotage.
Yadav had been due to compete Friday in the men’s 74-kilogram freestyle class.
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7:45 p.m.
American soccer player Megan Rapinoe is criticizing teammate Hope Solo’s comments after the U.S. team lost to Sweden in the Rio Games.
Solo called the Swedes “a bunch of cowards” for focusing on defense rather than attacking the three-time defending champion U.S. team.
Rapinoe told NBC Sports on Thursday she was “really disappointed” about Solo’s comments.
She said the team should be competitive but also gracious and humble whether losing or winning. Rapinoe said: “We’ve been on the winning side quite a bit, and when we find ourselves on the other side, we need to handle that graciously, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”
Sweden ousted the U.S. 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in a quarterfinal match.
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7:20 p.m.
The U.S. team made the most of its second chance to qualify for the women’s 4×100-meter relay final, recording the fastest time of the day in a solo re-run before the night session began.
The Americans dropped the baton during the morning preliminaries and appeared to be out of contention.
But track officials upheld the U.S. protest because Allyson Felix was jostled as she tried to hand the baton over to English Gardner.
Because relay finals must be limited to eight teams, the Americans were called back to run all by themselves, in the same order and in the same lane.
Their goal was to beat the time of 42.70 seconds run by China. They posted a time of 41.77, almost a second faster than the target and narrowly in front of Jamaica, the fastest of the automatic qualifiers in 41.79.
Their time marked the second-fastest 4×100 in the world this season. The fastest time this year was Germany’s 41.62 in July.
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7 p.m.
Two American swimmers have given testimony to Brazilian authorities after Ryan Lochte and some of the athletes claimed they were victims of an armed robbery.
Upon leaving a police station in the upscale neighborhood of Leblon on Thursday, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger walked through a crowd of dozens of journalists and onlookers.
The swimmers did not answer questions. A few people in the crowd shouted at them, calling them “liars” and “shameful.”
It was not immediately clear if Jimmy Feigen, who spoke to police on Sunday, was going to provide give another statement. Lochte’s father has said Lochte is back in the United States.
Police have said the teammates were not robbed after a night of partying in Rio de Janeiro as they had claimed.
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6:35 p.m.
Sue Bird won’t play for the U.S. women’s basketball team against France.
The American point guard sprained her right knee capsule in the win over Japan in the quarterfinals. The fact that it was only a sprain and not a tear was a relief to Bird, who told The Associated Press she heard a “pop” when the injury occurred. She had 30 assists and just three turnovers in the first six games.
Of the four Olympics Bird has competed in, this was only the second game she has not played in. She also didn’t compete in the semifinal matchup of the 2004 Athens Games when the U.S. beat Russia 66-62. That wasn’t because of injury.
She’s started every game at the point for the U.S. over the past three Olympics. She was wearing a blue sweatsuit while the team warmed up.
Seimone Augustus took her place in the starting lineup as the Americans tried to reach a sixth consecutive gold medal game. The U.S. has won 47 consecutive games at the Olympics.
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6:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Argentina won its first field hockey gold medal when Belgium was beaten 4r-2 in a gripping men’s final.
Argentine fans, more used to their women’s success after four straight Olympic medals, came in droves to make the Olympic Hockey Stadium seem like it was in Buenos Aires. Los Leones, the Lions, made their trip and support worthwhile.
Belgium scored first and quickly through Tanguy Cosyns but Argentina was 2-1 up before the end of the first quarter thanks to captain Pedro Ibarra and Ignacio Ortiz. Gonzalo Peillat’s 11th penalty corner goal of the competition made it 3-1 into halftime.
Belgium brought the tension back with a Gauthier Boccard goal, and a quarter left. The Belgians peppered the Argentine goal but goalie Juan Vivaldi was supreme, and Agustin Mazzilli scored into an empty net in the last seconds to cap the men’s team’s greatest achievement.
Belgium, also in its first final, earned silver for its first medal since a bronze on debut at its 1920 Antwerp Games.
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6:20 p.m.
Ryan Lochte’s old reality show is returning to television for a marathon airing after the swimmer’s troubles in Rio.
Esquire Network plans to re-air all eight episodes of “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” on Friday night. The show originally aired on Esquire’s sister network E! Entertainment in April 2013 after Lochte’s stellar performance at the 2012 London Olympics.
The short-lived series covered Lochte’s daily life, including training sessions, dating and his interest in fashion design.
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6:20 p.m.
Serbia is headed to the Olympic men’s water polo final for the first time.
Filip Filipovic, Andrija Prlainovic and Slobodan Nikic scored two goals apiece, and Serbia shut down Italy for a 10-8 victory in the Rio semifinals on Thursday. The world champions scored the first six goals of the game, and Italy never recovered from its early scoring drought.
It was sweet revenge for Serbia after it lost to Italy in the semifinals of the 2012 London Games.
Next up for Serbia is Croatia, which advanced with a 12-8 victory against Montenegro. The countries also met in the world championship final last year, with Serbia winning 11-4 in Russia.
Serbia won bronze in each of the last two Olympics.
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6:20 p.m.
Britain’s defending Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones has made it to the finals of the women’s 57-kilogram competition at the Rio Olympics and will fight for another gold medal on Thursday evening.
Jones defeated Sweden’s Nikita Glasnovic in the semifinal after scoring first and then landing some head kicks to keep her in front. Jones bowed to the crowd afterward, acknowledging the pockets of British fans in the crowd. Jones will face her longtime rival, second-seeded Eva Calvo Gomez of Spain in the final.
In the men’s 68-kilogram division, Russia’s Alexey Denisenko and Jordan’s Ahmad Abughaush will fight for the gold medal after both pulled off upsets of some of the category’s favored fighters.
Denisenko took out defending champion Servet Tazegul of Turkey while Abughaush defeated second-seeded Dae-Hoon Lee of South Korea and Olympic champion Joel Bonilla Gonzalez, who won the men’s 58-kilogram category in London before moving up a division.
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5:55 p.m.
Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira says the claim by American swimmer Ryan Lochte that he was robbed in Rio, which police dispute, hurt Brazil’s image.
Pereira told Brazilian news outlet Globo on Thursday that the story had “worldwide repercussions” and characterized the situation as “sad.” He says the claims “denigrated the image of our country, of the Olympics in our house.”
Police say claims that Lochte and three other swimmers were robbed early Sunday were not true. Police say the men, after a night of partying, broke a bathroom door, a soap dispenser and a mirror at a gas station and were confronted by armed security guards.
Police say the Americans were not harmed and were allowed to leave the gas station before police could arrive.
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5:50 p.m.
Two Australian swimmers have been disciplined by their country’s Olympic committee for failing to return to the athletes village or tell team officials where they were during a night out in Copacabana.
Emma McKeon and Josh Palmer won’t be allowed to participate in the closing ceremony Sunday and must remain in the athletes village between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. They also can only travel to events in official Olympic transport.
The punishment was handed out by Australian Olympic Committee Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller.
Swimming Australia said Thursday it supports the AOC’s decision. Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren says McKeon and Palmer conducted themselves professionally during the games and the punishment relates to the athletes’ safety.
McKeon won four medals in Rio – gold, two silvers and bronze. Palmer finished 30th in the 100-meter breaststroke.
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5:45 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Helen Maroulis of the United States defeated Japan’s Saori Yoshida 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for an American women’s wrestler.
Maroulis celebrated Thursday’s win by running around the mat in a circle and holding the United States flag with both hands while it was draped over her back.
Yoshida was a 16-time world champion who was going for her fourth gold. She hadn’t lost in a major tournament in years, but she had been less dominant in recent tournaments. Maroulis was on a two-year win streak of her own.
Yoshida was trying to become the second woman to ever win four Olympic gold medals in a single event across four Summer Games, and the second wrestler to win four Olympic golds. Yoshida’s teammate, Kaori Icho, accomplished the feats Wednesday by winning the 58 kilogram gold.
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5:35 p.m.
A Chinese swimmer and Brazilian road cyclist have been disqualified from the Olympics after failing doping tests.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport issued final verdicts Thursday in the cases of swimmer Chen Xinyi and cyclist Kleber Ramos.
The 18-year-old Chen, who finished fourth in the 100-meter butterfly, had previously accepted a “provisional suspension” after testing positive for a diuretic. She pulled out of her final event, the 50-meter freestyle.
After a hearing was held in the case, the court said she had been formally disqualified and her fourth-place result annulled. The international swimming federation, FINA, was asked to consider any further sanctions.
Ramos, meanwhile, tested positive for the blood-booster EPO in a pre-games test on July 31. He had accepted a provisional suspension “on a voluntary basis” and did not request a hearing.
The court said he has now been disqualified and kicked out of the games. His case was referred to the international cycling body, which could impose a two-year ban.
Ramos competed in the men’s Olympic road race on Aug. 6 but failed to finish.
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5:30 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Fifteen-year-old Ren Qian has captured another diving gold medal for China at the Rio Olympics.
The youngster turned in five brilliant dives in the women’s 10-meter platform to hold off her 17-year-old teammate, Si Yajie. Ren finished with 439.25 points, while Si was next at 419.40.
Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito grabbed the bronze at 389.20.
China has now won six of seven diving events, with only the men’s platform remaining.
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5:30 p.m.
Two-time BMX gold medalist Maris Strombergs has raced in his last Summer Olympics.
The cyclist from Latvia barely missed the cut in a crash-filled quarterfinal round in Rio on Thursday, knocking him out of the Games.
Strombergs’ coach Ivo Lakucs says Strombergs had decided before the Olympics that this would be it. Lakucs says the disappointing result on Thursday wouldn’t change Strombergs’ mind.
There was some confusion after the heats with Strombergs initially thinking he had advanced to the semifinals.
While other riders have praised the Rio course, Strombergs has been critical. He says the first straightaway was too narrow for racing. Strombergs also says the wind was a big factor Thursday.
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5:25 p.m.
A top Brazil police official has called on Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers to apologize after some of the athletes claimed they were victims of an armed robbery.
Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso says the four men became rowdy while at a gas station early Sunday after a night of partying. He says they were inebriated, and broke down the door of a bathroom, a soap dispenser and a mirror.
Veloso told a Thursday news conference that “no robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed.” He said there was confusion because people at the gas station didn’t speak English and the athletes didn’t speak Portuguese.
Lochte had said he was with the other swimmers when they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday in a taxi by men with a police badge as they returned to the athletes village from a party.
Veloso says the four should apologize because “Rio residents saw the name of their city sullied.”
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5:10 p.m.
Alba Torrens and Astou Ndour each scored 14 points as Spain defeated Serbia 68-54 Thursday and assured its first Olympic medal ever advancing to the women’s basketball final.
Spain will play for the gold medal Saturday, but being guaranteed at least the silver sparked a postgame celebration. Spain, which missed the 2012 Olympics, will play either the U.S. or France. In group play, Spain lost by 40 to the heavily favored Americans.
The Spaniards were barely able to contain their excitement as the final minutes ticked off the clock, dancing and hugging before running onto the court to celebrate. They posed for group photos after the buzzer; about the only thing they didn’t do was cut down the nets.
Spain had Serbia frustrated most the game. Late in the third quarter Sonja Petrovic’s pass went off a teammate’s hands out of bounds. Petrovic kicked the Rio 2016 boxes bordering the court along the baseline – smashing one into pieces.
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5 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: The top two men’s seeds at the Rio Olympics taekwondo competition have been knocked out of the fight for a gold medal.
Turkey’s defending Olympic taekwondo champion Servet Tazegul was beaten 19-6 by Russia’s Alexey Denisenko in their quarterfinal on Thursday afternoon in the men’s 68-kilogram division.
Tazegul cruised through his first fight of the morning, with a steady stream of spinning kicks that overwhelmed his opponent. But against Denisenko, the strategy was too risky; almost every time Tazegul tried to spin, Denisenko used an effective counter-attack.
Second-seeded Dae-Hoon Lee of South Korea went out shortly afterward, in a closely fought battle with Jordan’s Ahmad Abughaush. Abughaush scored early and never relinquished the lead. Lee smiled and raised Abughaush’s arm in victory after the result was announced.
Both Tazegul and Lee might have the chance to fight in the repechage competition for a bronze medal Thursday evening.
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5 p.m.
The French women’s handball team has secured its first ever Olympic medal after beating the Netherlands 24-23 in the semifinals Thursday.
Overwhelming crowd support and the presence of Dutch King Willem-Alexander couldn’t lift the Netherlands, who spent most of the game narrowly behind.
A nail-biting finish saw a big save from French goalkeeper Laura Glauser as her team tried to hold on for the win on a Dutch power-play. On the final whistle, the French team embraced on court and jumped up and down in front of their fans.
Laura van der Heijden was the top scorer for the Dutch with eight goals, while Allison Pineau led France with seven. The tournament’s joint top-scorer Alexandra Lacrabere had six.
The French will play either Russia or Olympic champion Norway in Saturday’s final.
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4:45 p.m.
A top Brazilian police official says Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers were not the victims of a robbery as some of the athletes had claimed.
Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso says the four men became rowdy while at a gas station early Sunday after a night of partying. He says they were inebriated, and broke down the door of a bathroom, a soap dispenser and a mirror.
Veloso told a Thursday news conference that “no robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed.”
Veloso says police had interviewed the taxi driver with the men that night and two security guards who confronted them at the bathroom.
He did not say whether the guards pulled their guns on the swimmers but says investigators had found no excessive use of force. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing told The Associated Press earlier Thursday that two security guards pointed guns at the swimmers.
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4:30 p.m.
Ashton Eaton has increased his lead to 124 points with only the javelin and 1,500-meters to go and is on track to defend his Olympic decathlon title.
The 28-year-old American, who won last year’s world championship with a world-record setting 9,045 points, has 7,370 points after eight disciplines. He cleared 5.20 meters in a 2 ½ -hour pole vault section on Thursday afternoon, the third-best mark in the event.
Kevin Mayer of France cleared 5.40 in the pole vault to overtake world championship silver medalist Damian Warner in second place. He has 7,246 points, 142 clear of the Canadian.
Kai Kazmirek of Germany is fourth, 333 points behind with two events remaining.
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4:15 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Cuban boxer Julio Cesar La Cruz has defeated Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov to win the light heavyweight gold medal.
La Cruz is the first Cuban to win a light heavyweight medal. He already had secured Cuba’s first medal in the weight class since 1980.
La Cruz taunted and toyed with Niyazymbetov in the third round in his unanimous decision victory. La Cruz won 29-28 on all three scorecards.
He bowed to fans on all four sides of the ring.
Niyazymbetov was also a silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. Britain’s Joshua Buatasi and France’s Mathieu Bauderlique won bronze.
La Cruz won gold 2½ years after he was shot in his home province of Camaguey.
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4 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze have won the women’s 49erFX gold medal in a dramatic finish to the Rio Games sailing regatta.
The duo won Brazil’s only medal in the Olympic regatta, taking the lead from New Zealand’s Alex Maloney and Molly Meech late in the medal race Thursday and holding off the Kiwis by two seconds.
Grael is the daughter of Torben Grael, who counts two golds among his five Olympic sailing medals.
Martine Grael and Kunze hugged right after the finish and tumbled into Guanabara Bay. They then capsized their boat.
Denmark’s Jena Hansen and Katja Steen Salskov-Iversen won the bronze.
3:35 p.m.
A law enforcement official is telling The Associated Press that two security guards pointed guns at Ryan Lochte and three other swimmers during a dispute at a gas station.
The change in the version of events came after police interviewed one of the security guards on Thursday. It further deepened the mystery of what truly happened inside the station and set off an international dispute.
The official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, spoke on the condition of anonymity Thursday because he was not authorized to speak about an ongoing probe.
The official said the swimmers broke the bathroom door and the soap dispenser inside. Security footage from inside the station shows the swimmers vandalizing the bathroom.
The official said workers at the gas station went to see what the commotion was about. At that point, a security guard also came and confronted the swimmers, and pointed a gun. A second guard came behind him and pointed another gun.
Brazilian police previously said no gun was pointed at the swimmers.
(Information from Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese.)
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3:10 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: Serbia has stunned the top-ranked U.S. women’s volleyball team that was chasing its first ever Olympic gold.
With star player Foluke Akinradewo injured early, the Americans came back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set before falling 15-13.
Serbia won 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13 on Thursday – handing the U.S. its first defeat in Rio.
Akinradewo’s teammates took over after she hurt her left knee late in the opening set.
With two-time defending Olympic champion Brazil also ousted in a five-setter by China in the quarterfinals, Serbia will now face either the young Chinese squad led by former U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping or the surprising Netherlands team, which is back in the Olympic volleyball competition for the first time in 20 years.
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3:10 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke capped a dominant four years of sailing by winning the medal race in the men’s 49er class at the Rio Games to confirm the gold they’d clinched two days ago.
The Kiwis upgraded the silver they won at London in 2012.
Showing just how much better they are than the rest of the fleet, the Kiwis sailed a tactically perfect final race, leading the whole way. They put their arms around each other and clenched their fists in triumph just before crossing the line, and then capsized their boat in celebration.
Defending gold medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia took the silver. They sail for Sweden’s Artemis Racing in the America’s Cup.
Bronze went to Germany’s Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel. They both jumped into the water in celebration, and tipped their boat over. Last year, Heil was treated for infections he blamed on the polluted water in Guanabara Bay.
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2:45 p.m.
The International Canoe Federation says canoe sprint bronze medalist Serghei Tarnovschi of Moldova has been suspended after failing a pre-competition doping test.
The 19-year-old Tarnovschi placed third in the 1,000 meters canoe single final Tuesday and was due to compete in the 1,000 meters double on Friday with his older brother Oleg.
The ICF said he would “now no longer be eligible and will face provisional suspension” under anti-doping rules.
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2:55 p.m.
Two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has been elected as an athletes’ representative on the IOC.
Isinbayeva was one of four candidates elected to the International Olympic Committee’s athletes’ commission. She was elected to an eight-year term in a vote by athletes in the Olympic Village.
Isinbayeva and 66 other Russian track and field athletes were barred from the Rio Games by the IAAF following allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia. She appealed but failed to overturn the ruling.
Isinbayeva, the world record-holder in the women’s pole vault, won gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Games. She took bronze four years ago in London.
The three other athletes elected to the IOC were Daniel Gyurta of Hungary, Britta Heidemann of Germany and Ryu Seung-min of South Korea.
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2:50 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia have won the gold medal in the men’s 470 class in the Rio Games sailing regatta.
Thursday’s win is the first sailing gold medal for Croatia. Tonci Stipanovic won Croatia’s first ever sailing medal two days earlier when he took the silver in the Laser class.
The Croatians came into the medal race with an 11-pont lead and finished eighth among the 10 boats for a final 15-point margin.
Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan took the silver after a tight battle against Greece’s Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis, who got the bronze.
Belcher won the gold medal in London four years ago with Malcolm Page, who then retired from Olympic sailing.
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2:30 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan have won gold in women’s badminton doubles against Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.
The Japanese battled back Thursday from a late deficit in the deciding game to win the match 2-1.
Carolina Marin of Spain earlier beat Li Xuerui, the defending Olympic champion from China, to advance to the gold medal singles match against P.V. Sindhu of India.
Marin is world No. 1 but her win is significant because China had been badminton’s powerhouse, sweeping all five badminton gold medals at the 2012 London Games. Li’s gold was a big part of that dominance. Li will play Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara for bronze.
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2:25 p.m.
Stacy Lewis made 11 birdies and was atop the leaderboard in women’s golf after an 8-under 63 at Olympic Golf Course.
Lewis made so many birdies she lost count. She wasn’t aware of her score until she signed her card. The American was at 9-under 133 after two rounds and had a one-shot lead over Britain’s Charley Hull. Several players, such as Inbee Park, were still on the course.
Marcus Fraser had a 63 last week in the opening round for the men.
Lewis, however, had a double bogey in her round when she three-putted the 14th from 25 feet. That made her determined to get the shots back, and she did just that by closing with four birdies. On the final hole, a tee shot in the face of a bunker left her 199 yards away for her third shot. She hit a hybrid to 4 feet for a surprise birdie.
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2:15 p.m.
A judge says the Rio Games organizing committee can take public money in order to put on the upcoming Paralympic Games.
The decision amounts to a government bailout, an embarrassment to Rio organizers who have promised they could run their operating budget using only private money. The games run Sept. 7-18.
Federal judge Guilherme Couto de Castro said Thursday the organizing committee can accept 150 million Brazilian reals ($46.5 million) in government money to fill the budget gap.
Rio spokesman Mario Andrada says the revenue shortfall was “because the level of ticket sales and sponsorships (for the Paralympics) has been below our expectations.”
Andrada said only 12 percent of 2.3 million Paralympic tickets had been sold.
Andrada suggested that even the government bailout might not be large enough. Asked how much money was needed, he said about 200 million reals ($62 million) “to fulfil the obligation at the level of service that we have agreed with the International Paralympic Committee.”
Andrada says “the final figure is still being assessed.”
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2:15 p.m.
Germany, winner of the last two men’s field hockey finals, came away with the bronze medal in Rio after beating the Netherlands 4-3 in a shootout.
Goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi saved the Netherlands’ first attempt by Billy Bakker, and stole the ball away from Sander de Wijn to secure Germany’s 10th men’s field hockey medal, second only to India’s 11.
Tobias Hauke, Mats Grambusch, Timm Herzbruch and Linus Butt scored for Germany in the shootout.
The only regulation goals of the match came in the third quarter. Jorrit Croon rounded the defense to the backline where he pushed the ball between Jacobi’s legs, and Germany leveled with another superb solo effort by Martin Haner, on a run from 30 meters out.
Germany also beat the Dutch in the pool round, and in the 2012 London final.
First-time men’s finalists, Argentina and Belgium, will play for gold later Thursday.
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2:10 p.m.
Croatia has moved one step closer to a second straight gold medal in men’s water polo.
Andro Buslje scored four goals, Marko Bijac made 10 saves on Thursday as Croatia advanced to the Rio Games final with a 12-8 victory over Montenegro. It also beat Montenegro in the semifinals of the London Games.
It was the highest scoring game in Rio for Croatia, which was coming off a 10-6 victory over Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Montenegro got within two on two occasions down the stretch, but Andelo Setka responded each time for Croatia. Setka’s power-play goal with 2:44 left made it 11-8.
Darko Brguljan and Aleksandar Ivovic had three goals apiece for Montenegro, which finished fourth in each of the previous two Olympics.
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2:10 p.m.
Two more top riders have crashed during the BMX cycling men’s quarterfinals at the Summer Olympics.
Reigning world champion Joris Daudet of France and the Netherlands’ Niek Kimmann both went down Thursday in what appeared to be separate wrecks near the same spot going into a hill just before the second turn.
It was the second of three heats for both riders. Daudet did not finish, while Kimmann got up and walked to the finish line carrying his bike.
A crash in one of the first heats involved Latvia’s Maris Strombergs, Britain’s Liam Phillips and Switzerland’s David Graf. Phillips did not start his second heat. Strombergs and Graf did return, but Graf went down again, this time around the second turn.
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1:55 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Britain have won the medal in the women’s 470 class at the Rio Games sailing regatta.
Mills and Clark clinched two days ago and needed simply to finish Thursday’s medal race.
Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha of the United States jumped into an early lead in the medal race and were in silver medal position. But they dropped to sixth and then fouled the Japanese boat, dropping them to last place in the 10-boat race and out of the medals.
New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, the 2012 gold medalists, rallied for the silver medal after two disqualifications in the preliminary series. Camille Lecointre and Hélène Defrance won the bronze.
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1:50 p.m.
Three of the top riders have crashed during the BMX cycling men’s quarterfinals.
Liam Phillips of Great Britain was coming around the first turn when his bike appeared to swerve and fell sideways off the track.
Switzerland’s David Graf also went down in the wreck on Thursday, as did Latvia’s Maris Strombergs, who is going for his third gold medal.
Graf and Strombergs biked away and finished their laps. Phillips did not finish and stayed down for a couple minutes before being helped to his feet. He walked away looking a little woozy, at one point rubbing his upper left chest.
Each rider has two more heats.