RIO DE JANEIRO – The Latest on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
9:15 p.m.
Catalina Usme scored on a free kick at a tight angle in the 90th minute to pull Colombia into a 2-all draw with the United States on Tuesday night.
The top-ranked U.S. still finished atop Group F for good position in the women’s soccer quarterfinals at the Rio Games.
Usme also scored in the 26th minute to give the Colombians an early 1-0 lead. It was the team’s first-ever Olympic goal, and first-ever goal against the United States.
Teenager Mallory Pugh became the youngest player to score for the United States in an Olympics a 59th-minute goal that gave the Americans a 2-1 lead. Crystal Dunn also scored for the defending champions.
The top-ranked U.S. women’s team, the reigning World Cup champion, is vying for its fourth straight Olympic gold medal.
___
9 p.m.
A large contingent of Lithuania fans stood and chanted constantly for all 40 minutes, decked out head-to-toe in green, red and yellow as their national men’s basketball team defeated Nigeria 89-80 to improve to 2-0 at the Rio Games.
Lithuania had to rally for the victory as Nigeria surprisingly led 41-36 at halftime behind a barrage of 3-pointers. The Nigerians hit 6 of 9 shots from long range in the second quarter.
That was much different from Sunday’s game when Lithuania sprinted out to a 30-point lead against Brazil and held on to win 82-76.
Jonas Maciulis jump-started the comeback with eight points during a 12-0 third-quarter run that gave Lithuania a 59-49 lead. The Lithuanians never trailed again. Maciulis finished with 21 points while Mantas Kalnietis also scored 21 and had 12 assists.
Ike Diogu scored a team-high 19 points for Nigeria for Nigeria (0-2).
___
8:50 p.m.
Former North Carolina star Laura Sanders scored 36 points to help Turkey knock off previously undefeated Japan 76-62 in women’s basketball Tuesday.
Sanders turned in the best scoring performance yet in group play. Japan’s loss leaves only Australia undefeated at 3-0 in Group A, while the United States and Canada are 2-0 in Group B.
Sanders, known as LaToya Pringle when she played in college, scored 10 of Turkey’s first 20 points in taking control. Turkey led 38-13 on a layup by Sanders with 3:04 left in the second quarter before Japan started whittling away and trailed 38-23 at halftime. Japan (2-1) got within eight on a Yuka Mamiya’s layup with 4:20 left. Sanders answered with back-to-back jumpers.
Nevriye Yilmaz added 15, and Isil Alben had 14 for Turkey.
Ramu Tokashiki, who plays for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, led Japan with 13.
___
8:45 p.m.
Michelle Heyman scored twice and Australia defeated Zimbabwe 6-1 in Salvador. With the win, the Matildas are assured a spot in the quarterfinals.
Lisa De Vanna, Claire Polkinghorne and Alanna Kennedy scored in the opening half, before Kyah Simon’s goal and Heyman’s pair in the second at Fonte Nova Arena.
Emmaculate Msipu scored in stoppage time for Zimbabwe, which was already eliminated.
Playing in Group F, Australia will not learn its opponent for the quarterfinals until after the day’s other matches.
___
8:45 p.m.
Melissa Tancredi scored both goals and Canada defeated Germany 2-1 on Tuesday night in Brasilia.
Melanie Behringer scored on a penalty kick in the 13th minute, but Tancredi scored the equalizer in the 26th before the game winner in the 60th at Mane Garrincha Stadium.
Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
With three wins in the opening stage, Canada finished atop Group F. Germany, ranked No. 2 in the world, finished second on goal differential.
Canada, the 2012 Olympics bronze medalists, are ranked No. 10. Coach John Herdman rested captain Christine Sinclair and striker Janine Beckie for the match.
___
8:30 p.m.
Ireland middleweight boxer Michael O’Reilly has dropped his appeal of a provisional suspension for failing a doping test, ruling him out of the Olympics.
The Olympic Council of Ireland issued a brief statement Tuesday night confirming O’Reilly won’t fight in Rio.
O’Reilly says he took a nutritional supplement that may have contained a prohibited substance. He failed a test conducted by Sport Ireland before leaving for the Olympics.
O’Reilly might have been a medal contender in the middleweight division. After receiving an early bye as the No. 3 seed, he was scheduled to fight Friday against Mexico’s Misael Rodriguez, who will advance to the quarterfinals.
Last year, O’Reilly won a gold medal at the European Games and a bronze at the world championships.
___
8:20 p.m.
Taiwan’s Lin Tzu-Chi missed her world weightlifting record being broken Tuesday because of problems with a drug test.
The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, which fields the Taiwan team, says Lin had abnormalities in a drug test sample taken in Taiwan before the Olympics and is provisionally suspended as a result.
With Lin absent, China’s Deng Wei took the gold in the 63-kilogram category with a total of 262 kilograms, breaking Lin’s world record from 2014 by one kilogram, while Choe Hyo Sim of North Korea took silver and Karina Goricheva of Kazakhstan won bronze.
Lin’s withdrawal, hours before her event, had come as a surprise to International Weightlifting Federation officials, who said they had received no information about why she was absent. Lin was the 2014 Asian Games champion.
___
8:05 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: Defending champion Serena Williams is out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after a stunning loss in the third round of singles.
The No. 1-seeded American was beaten 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night by Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Williams made 37 unforced errors, including eight double-faults – five in one game.
She entered the night with a 4-0 record against Svitolina.
But all those mistakes added up, and now the 2012 London gold medalist in singles and doubles is finished in Rio.
She and sister Venus lost in the first round of doubles.
___
8 p.m.
Colombia scored its first-ever Olympic goal against the United States in the 26th minute Tuesday night in Manaus and the teams were tied at halftime.
Catalina Usme’s free kick went around the wall and bounced between Hope Solo’s legs to give Colombia an early lead.
Crystal Dunn scored the equalizer for the Americans in the 41st minute and the match was knotted at 1 at the break.
The match marked the return of midfielder Megan Rapinoe, who had ACL surgery last December. Rapine was replaced in the 33rd minute by teenager Mallory Pugh. Temperatures at the Amazonia Arena in Manaus were in the upper 80s.
___
7:40 p.m.
Serena Williams’ bid for a second consecutive Olympic singles gold medal is in a bit of trouble.
The No. 1-seeded American lost the opening set of her Rio de Janeiro Games third-round match against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine by a score of 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Williams was not playing all that well for those initial 33 minutes: Of the 29 points Svitolina won in the set, only two came via clean winners of her own doing. Her other points came from 15 unforced errors and 12 forced errors by Williams.
If Svitolina can close the deal, it would be a significant upset. She has never before played in the Olympics and only once been to a major quarterfinal. She also entered the night 0-4 against Williams, an owner of 22 Grand Slam singles championship, the 2012 Olympic singles title and three Olympic doubles golds.
___
7:20 p.m.
The Belgian Olympic committee says judo competitor Dirk Van Tichelt was hit in the face during celebrations of his bronze medal performance on Copacabana beach.
It said that his phone was stolen late Monday on the popular strip and that he was hit as he was chasing the local thief.
Van Tichelt was taken to hospital for observation but needed no further treatment. He appeared with a black eye at a media event on Tuesday.
___
7 p.m.
Megan Rapinoe was in the starting lineup for the United States on Tuesday night against Colombia at the Olympic.
The winger tore her right ACL during a training session in Hawaii before a scheduled World Cup victory tour match last December and required surgery. She hasn’t played in a competitive match since October.
Rapinoe, who helped the United States win the gold at the 2012 London Games and clinch the World Cup title last year in Canada, has looked fit during warmups since the team arrived in Brazil.
The start for Rapinoe was one of several changes U.S. coach Jill Ellis made to the lineup for the match in Manaus. With victories in the first two matches, the Americans were already assured a spot in the quarterfinals.
___
6:55 p.m.
No more throwing volleyballs into the stands at the Copacabana venue.
After a collision going for one of the signed souvenirs earlier Tuesday, organizers are now pulling a child out of the stands and having a member of the winning team hand them the ball.
The new system makes for feel-good video and eliminates the chaos of fans fighting for the ball.
For the first few days, the winning team would be given a ball to sign and kick, throw or hit into the stands. A nasty collision later, the process was changed.
___
6:55 p.m.
The International Olympic Committee has stripped a Ukrainian javelin thrower of his silver medal from the 2012 London Olympics after he tested positive in a new analysis of his doping samples.
The committee says Oleksandr Pyatnytsya tested positive for the steroid turinabol and was retroactively disqualified from the games and ordered to return his medal.
He was one of four more athletes sanctioned by the IOC on Tuesday after the retesting of stored samples from London and the 2008 Beijing Games. A total of 98 athletes were caught in those retests.
Also disqualified Tuesday were Turkish weightlifter Nurcan Taylan, Armenian weightlifter Hripsime Khurshudyan, and Belarusian hammer thrower Pavel Kryvitski. None of those were medalists.
___
6:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: The US women’s gymnastics team has won gold for a second consecutive Olympics.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team gave retiring national team coordinator Martha Karolyi a fitting send-off in the Olympic finals, putting on a two-hour display of precision and class. Their score of 184.897 was more than eight points points clear of silver medalist China, a blowout that Michael Jordan’s “Dream Team” should envy.
___
6:35 p.m.
For American archer Brady Ellison, there’s no better feeling than moving on – and no worse feeling that it was at the expense of his best friend.
Ellison made it through the second round of the men’s archery tournament Tuesday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics by knocking off teammate/hunting buddy Jake Kaminski. At one point in the match, the second-seeded Ellison put six straight arrows in the top scoring ring in a 6-2 win.
“I look at it two ways: It sucks because you train for years and have an American bracket, just like an American tournament,” said Ellison, who’s been drawing comparisons to actor Leonardo DiCaprio on social media. “On the other side, we advanced someone. For Team USA, it’s good. For the individuals, it sucks.”
___
6:35 p.m.
American beach volleyball team Brooke Sweat and Lauren Fendrick lost to the defending world champions on Tuesday and fell to 0-2 at the Olympics.
Larissa and Talita won 21-16, 21-13. The Americans now need to win their final match, against Russia on Thursday, to guarantee themselves of at least one more day on the sand in at the Copacabana venue.
“There’s moments of greatness there,” Fendrick said. “We’ve got to capture that and have that connection more often.”
The United States and Russia are tied with two losses and no victories at the bottom of their pool. The loser of their match is eliminated, and the winner will either advance to the quarterfinals or a play-in game in the “lucky loser” round..
During a referee challenge, the scoreboard put up the wrong names in place of Fendrick and Sweat. It listed them as Kerri Walsh Jennings and partner April Ross.
___
6:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: South Korean Sangyoung Park stormed back to score the final five points and take gold in men’s epee Tuesday in a matchup of the youngest and oldest fencers in the field.
Park, just 20, beat 41-year-old Geza Imre of Hungary Imre 15-14.
Despite the loss, Imre is fencing’s oldest Olympic individual medalist since 1952 when another Hungarian, Aladar Gurevich won the silver in men’s sabre at 42.
Top-ranked Gauthier Grumier won the bronze.
___
___
6:25 p.m.
Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat already have a lot to live up to as the No. 2 women’s beach volleyball team in the United States. Kerri Walsh Jennings is a three-time gold medalist, and her partner April Ross won the silver medal in London.
So it probably didn’t help when the scoreboard misidentified them as Walsh Jennings and Ross during their match against Brazil on Tuesday.
During a referee challenge, the scoreboard put up the wrong names. Fendrick seemed to notice, but had bigger concerns. The Americans lost the first set 21-16.
___
6:25 p.m.
Belarus got into the win column in women’s basketball on Tatyana Troina’s 3-pointer with 52.6 seconds left in a 65-63 victory against Brazil on Tuesday.
Brazil (0-3) forced a turnover with 14 seconds left, but captain Iziane Castro’s off-balance shot at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim. Still, the loudest and biggest crowd yet at the Youth Arena gave the Brazilians a standing ovation for their effort.
The Brazilians were up 18 points in the second quarter, but Belarus (1-2) fought its way back and turned the final two quarters into a thrilling battle with fans clapping, whistling and yelling at every opportunity.
But Belarus, which lost its first two games by a combined five points, had Troina. She finished with 18 points, hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range, and scored six of the final eight points for Belarus.
Damiris Dantas led Brazil with 23 points.
___
6:05 p.m.
Green, not gold, was the color of the day at the Olympic diving venue.
Sure, China won its third consecutive gold medal on Tuesday, but the buzz was about the color of the water in the diving pool.
It was a murky green, in stark contrast to the pool’s previous day’s color and also that of the clear blue water in the second pool at the venue.
British diver Tom Daley tweeted a photo of the two pools next to each other and captioned it, “Ermmm…what happened?!”
Water quality has been a major issue surrounding the Rio Olympics, but in the ocean and lagoons, not the venue pools.
A statement from Rio 2016 organizers says water tests were conducted and there is no risk to athletes. Organizers say they’re investigating what caused the color change.
6:05 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: American Travis Stevens has won a silver medal in the men’s 81-kilogram division in judo, losing to Russia’s Khasan Khalmurzaev in the final.
Stevens was in top form on Tuesday, winning most of his fights by the maximum score in judo, including a hard-fought semifinal where he caught his opponent in a stranglehold, forcing him to tap out in submission. Stevens finished fifth at the London Games and was determined not to leave Rio empty-handed.
Khalmurzaev had not been beaten all year.
The men’s bronze medals were won by Sergiu Toma of the United Arab Emirates and Takanori Nagase of Japan.
5:45 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: It’s another Olympic diving gold for the Chinese.
Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia won the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform title Tuesday, making China 3-for-3 in the competition so far.
Chen and Liu led all five rounds and totaled 354.80 points, winning by just over 10 points in the closest diving contest yet in Rio.
The Chinese have never lost the event at the Olympics. Chen earned her third consecutive gold medal in 10-meter synchro, having won in 2008 and 2012 with different partners.
Malaysia earned silver with 344.34 points. Canada took bronze with 336.18.
The United States finished seventh among eight teams.
___
5:45 p.m.
Top seed Slovenian Tina Trstenjak has won the women’s judo gold in the 63-kilogram division, following in the footsteps of fellow Slovenian and London Games champion Urska Zolnir, who is now on her coaching team.
After pinning second-seeded Clarisse Agbegnenou of France to the mat for 20 seconds – just two minutes into the fight – Trstenjak scored an automatic ippon victory on Tuesday. Trstenjak is a former world judo champion and also holds a European title.
The women’s bronze medals were won by Yarden Gerbi of Israel and Anicka Van Emden of the Netherlands.
___
5:30 p.m.
The Italian women’s beach volleyball team of Laura Giombini and Marta Menegatti had its first win.
Not just at the Olympics.
In any event since they last played as juniors.
In a sport where teams stay together years so they can learn and anticipate each other’s every move, the Italians were thrown together last week with Menegatti’s regular partner failed a drug test.
Menegatti then had to find an Italian partner who had played in enough qualifying events or risk staying home herself. On Tuesday, the pair beat Egypt in straight sets.
In all, they trained together three times before stepping on the sands at the Copacabana venue for their first match on Sunday, a loss to Canada. They are now 1-1 with one match left in pool play.
Giombini says she hadn’t earned her spot in the Olympics, but she still hopes to play well and enjoy it.
___
5:10 p.m.
WORLD RECORD: China’s Deng Wei broke the world record as she won Olympic weightlifting gold in the women’s 63-kilogram category Tuesday.
Deng lifted 147 kilograms in the clean and jerk and 115 in the snatch for a world-record total of 262 across the two lifts.
Silver went to North Korea’s Choe Hyo Sim, who briefly broke the Olympic clean and jerk record at 143, but had finished too far behind Deng in the snatch to challenge for gold. Kazakhstan’s Karina Goricheva took bronze.
Weightlifting has been ravaged by doping in recent years, with the women’s 63kg class particularly badly hit.
Kazakhstan’s 2012 gold medalist Maiya Maneza missed the Olympics after failing a drug test, while two of the top four from last year’s world championships were also out for doping-related reasons.
___
5 p.m.
There was a Brazilian celebration in men’s basketball after Marcus Marquinhos’ offensive rebound tip-in with 5.5 seconds left in the game gave the host team a 66-65 win over Spain. The boisterous crowd erupted with a deafening, flag-waving celebration.
The Spanish team – silver medalists in 2008 and 2012 – fell to a disappointing 0-2 start to the Rio Games.
Brazil (1-1) led most of the game, but Spain rallied in the fourth quarter and used a 6-0 run late to take its first lead since the second quarter. But Pau Gasol missed two free throws with 23 seconds remaining that left the door open for Brazil.
Marcelinho Huertas led Brazil with 11 points and seven assists while Marquinhos added 10 and the biggest bucket of the night.
Gasol scored a game-high 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds, but was just 5 for 12 from the free-throw line.
___
5 p.m.
The first day of competition in the Finn class at the Olympic sailing regatta has ended with a jumbled leaderboard thanks to wildly shifting wind coming off Sugarloaf Mountain in the opening race.
Britain’s Giles Scott, the overwhelming favorite, had finishes of 17th and third and is in 10th place overall. Jonas Hogh-Christensen of Denmark, the 2012 silver medalist, went 13-2 and is sixth. American Caleb Paine of San Diego sits eighth after going 7-10.
Scott has been practically perfect the last four years.
Hogh-Christensen said the first race was “a mockery of sport” and should have been abandoned because of the wind, which shifted 40 to 50 degrees.
Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar is in the lead after finishes of third and first.
___
4:40 p.m.
Rafael Nadal’s first tennis tournament in 2½ months is going exactly to plan.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist is into the third round at the Rio Games after beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Spain’s Nadal had been sidelined since May, when he withdrew from the French Open because of an injured tendon sheath in his left wrist.
He has lost nine games through two matches in singles in Brazil, and is scheduled to play in the third round of men’s doubles later Tuesday.
Nadal also is entered in mixed doubles with Garbine Muguruza, the French Open champion who lost in singles Tuesday to Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-1, 6-1.
___
4:25 p.m.
The Brazilian crowd has taken a liking to the Egyptian women’s beach volleyball team.
Overmatched on the sand, the partnership of Doaa Elgobashy and Nada Meawad lost their second match in as many tries on Tuesday.
But they stood out in their full-length uniforms ?- Elgobashy also wears a hijab -? amid all the bikinis and board shorts.
The crowd serenaded the players with “E-Gi-To!” during their points.
They lost 21-10, 21-13 in only 38 minutes.
___
4:25 p.m.
The Iron Lady is finally taking a break.
Already a two-time swimming gold medalist at the Rio Games, Katinka Hosszu of Hungary dropped the 200-meter butterfly from her program Tuesday. She swam each of the first three days of the Olympics and will be in action Tuesday night, going for a third gold in the 200 individual medley.
By dropping the fly, Hosszu gives herself more time to prepare for the IM final. If she had advanced in the 200 fly, she would have had to swim the semifinals at 10:28 p.m. and return
___
4:10 p.m.
France’s Denis Gargaud Chanut paddled his way to gold at the Rio Olympics, ending a two-man stranglehold in men’s canoe slalom that dated to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Slovakia’s Michal Martikan and France’s Tony Estanguet had won every gold medal in men’s C1 since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but Estanguet retired and Martikan failed to make the Slovakian team.
Gargaud Chanet qualified third and covered the churning course in 94.17 seconds to beat Slovakia’s Matej Benus by 0.85 seconds.
Japan’s Takuya Haneda captured bronze and began weeping in his canoe after the final paddler went past the finish line to secure his medal.
___
4 p.m.
Defending champions Michael Jung of Germany and Sam FBW won a second successive gold medal in eventing, with another clear round in the showjumping.
Jung, who had picked up no penalties in the cross-country phase or the first jump Tuesday, had another perfect round to become only the third rider in Olympic history to win back-to-back individual gold medals.
He is also the only rider to have finished on his dressage score in the Olympics – and already achieved that feat in London, four years ago.
Nicolas Astier and Piaf de B’Neville added individual silver to the team gold they won with France earlier in the day.
Phillip Dutton of the United States, who had come to thin one fence of an individual medal in every major championship since 1994, won bronze on Mighty Nice.
___
4 p.m.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza has been upset in the third round of the Olympic tennis tournament by 37th-ranked Monica Puig of Puerto Rico.
Puig routed the third-seeded Spaniard 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday.
After beating Serena Williams in the final at Roland Garros for her first major title, the 22-year-old Muguruza lost in the second round at Wimbledon. She had 29 unforced errors to 15 winners Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Puig has never been past the fourth round at a Grand Slam.
___
3:55 p.m.
Penny Taylor turned in the best performance of her Olympic career, scoring 31 points Tuesday to help Australia take down France 89-71.
The 35-year-old Taylor plays with the Phoenix Mercury and is retiring from women’s basketball after the WNBA season ends and wants to go out a winner.
Taylor opened the second with a 3-pointer and a three-point play to start a 15-0 run to take control and led 46-29 at halftime. The three-time Olympian hit her first seven shots and came off the bench whenever France threatened to trim Australia’s lead under double digits.
It was a big win for the Aussies against the team that beat them in overtime in the 2012 London Games and keeping them from the silver medal.
___
3:50 p.m.
FAILED TO QUALIFY: In the biggest surprise of the swimming preliminaries, defending Olympic champion Daniel Gyurta of Hungary failed to qualify in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Gyurta’s time of 2 minutes, 11.28 seconds landed him in 17th. He missed out on the last available spot for the 16-man semifinals by two-hundredths of a second. He won gold in the event four years ago in London.
The top qualifier was Anton Chupkov of Russia in 2:07.93. His teammate Ilya Khomenko advanced in fourth.
Americans Kevin Cordes and Josh Prenot also moved on.
___
3:45 p.m.
Britain has qualified fastest for the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay in the Olympic pool.
Stephen Milne, Robbie Renwick, Dan Wallace and Duncan Scott posted a time of 7 minutes, 6.31 seconds in the heats.
The U.S. team of Clark Smith, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Ryan Lochte was second quickest in 7:06.74. Lochte was competing for the first time in Rio. He figures to return for the nighttime final, joined by three new teammates.
Russia advanced in third in 7:06.81.
___
3:45 p.m.
Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain is the top qualifier in the women’s 200-meter butterfly heats.
Her time of 2 minutes, 6.64 seconds leads 15 other swimmers into the semifinals Tuesday night.
U.S. teammates Hali Flickinger and Cammile Adams tied for the second-fastest time of 2:06.67 while swimming in different heats.
Belmonte earned bronze in the 400 individual medley on the first day of the swimming competition.
___
3:20 p.m.
Pele hopes to make an appearance at the closing ceremony for the Rio Olympics.
The soccer great, who has been in poor health, tweeted Tuesday: “I am continuing my physiotherapy and focused on joining you for the closing festivities on August 21. I love you! #olympics”
Pele was the preferred choice of organizers to light the cauldron during the opening ceremony, but he first said sponsorship commitments and later cited health concerns for keeping him away.
The 75-year-old Pele had hip surgery recently and walks with a cane.
The Olympic cauldron was lit by Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima.
___
3:20 p.m.
Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain is the top qualifier in the women’s 200-meter butterfly heats.
Her time of 2 minutes, 6.64 seconds leads 15 other swimmers into the semifinals Tuesday night.
U.S. teammates Hali Flickinger and Cammile Adams tied for the second-fastest time of 2:06.67 while swimming in different heats.
Belmonte earned bronze in the 400 individual medley on the first day of the swimming competition.
___
3:20 p.m.
Penny Taylor turned in the best performance of her Olympic career, scoring 31 points Tuesday to help Australia rout France 89-71.
The 35-year-old Taylor, who plays with the Phoenix Mercury and is retiring from women’s basketball after the WNBA season ends, wants to go out a winner.
Taylor opened the second with a 3-pointer and a three-point play to start a 15-0 run to take control and led 46-29 at halftime. The three-time Olympian hit her first seven shots and came off the bench whenever France threatened to trim Australia’s lead under double digits.
It was a big win for the Aussies against the team that beat them in overtime in the 2012 London Games and keeping them from the silver medal.
____
3:20 p.m.
Defending champions Michael Jung of Germany and Sam FBW won a second successive gold medal in eventing, with another clear round in the showjumping.
Jung, who had picked up no penalties in the cross-country phase or the first jump on Tuesday, had another perfect round to become only the third rider in Olympic history to win back-to-back individual gold medals.
He is also the only rider to have finished on his dressage score in the Olympics – and already achieved that feat in London, four years ago.
Nicolas Astier and Piaf de B’Neville had four jumping penalties and two time as they added individual silver to the team gold they won with France earlier in the day.
Phillip Dutton of the United States, who had come to within one fence of an individual medal in every major championship since 1994, won bronze on Mighty Nice.
___
3:15 p.m.
Flip out! Cameroon’s Wilfried Seyi wowed the crowd when he performed a backflip in the middle of the ring following his win in a middleweight bout.
Maybe his next stop should be the Karolyi ranch and a spot on the U.S. gymnastics team.
He had perhaps the best celebration move among the victorious boxers. The boxers like to point to the crowd and dance for what have been wildly enthusiastic crowds.
___
2:55 p.m.
Rowing officials say there’s a risk races may have to be canceled for a second day as strong winds are expected on the Rio lagoon where the Olympic regatta is taking place.
Powerful gusts made racing impossible on Sunday, and after two days of calm conditions, the winds are expected to pick up again.
World rowing federation executive director Matt Smith told reporters on Tuesday that officials will decide at 7:30 a.m. local time whether to Wednesday morning. If not, they will make another call at 12 p.m. whether to hold races in the afternoon.
Smith said the weather forecast showed a 48-hour weather system moving in and that Thursday could also get complicated.
Even if races are canceled on both days, he said the regatta could be completed by the Sunday noon deadline, when rowing needs to hand over the course to canoe sprint.
___
2:40 p.m.
Vladislav Yakovlev has spent as much time in the boat as in the water during the Olympic regatta in Rio.
The Kazakh rower flipped his scull for the second time Tuesday in a heat for lower ranked athletes.
Yakovlev was leading his heat in the single sculls when he caught a crab, meaning the oar blade got stuck in the water. Next thing his boat was upside down and Yakovlev beside it.
He had some trouble getting back in, but eventually managed to continue the 2-kilometer race, finishing in last place, 3 minutes behind Thailand’s Jaruwat Saensuk.
It was Yakovlev’s second capsizing in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. He also flipped in a heat Monday but finished the race.
He’ll have one last chance to finish a race without getting wet on Friday, in the final heat for the lowest-ranked scullers.
___
2:40 p.m.
As the upsets accumulate all around him, 2012 singles gold medalist Andy Murray is having an easy time so far at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Britain’s Murray, who is seeded No. 2, breezed into the third round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Juan Monaco on Tuesday. Murray committed only 10 unforced errors ?- Monaco had 26 -? and was broken just once.
Murray has dropped a grand total of nine games in the tournament, looking very much like the favorite to become the first tennis player in Olympic history to collect two singles golds.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic lost in the first round, and the men seeded Nos. 5 and 7 already are gone, too.
Seventh-seeded David Ferrer of Spain lost 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Tuesday to Evgeny Donskoy of Russia.
___
2:15 p.m.
U.S. women’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian choked back tears as he described his whirlwind week after the death of one of his two older brothers.
Blake Krikorian died Wednesday at 48. He had gone paddle boarding in the San Francisco Bay Area and was found lying next to his car in the parking lot. A county coroner told the San Francisco Chronicle it appears he died of natural causes.
Adam Krikorian left the team to be with his family and returned to Rio on Monday where he coached the U.S. to an 11-4 victory over Spain in its Olympic opener on Tuesday.
He says he feels for his brother’s wife and two children, and the support from his players helped lift him up.
___
2:10 p.m.
Defending Olympic champion Nathan Adrian has narrowly advanced in the 100-meter freestyle heats.
The American sprinter grabbed the 16th and last spot for Tuesday night’s semifinals with a time of 48.58 seconds. He was 0.68 seconds behind top qualifier Kyle Chalmers of Australia, who was timed in 47.90.
The other American, Caeleb Dressel, was second fastest in 47.91.
Other notable names moving into the semifinals are Santo Condorelli of Canada and Russian Vladimir Morozov. Morozov was one of the Russian swimmers initially banned from the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Rami Anis, a member of the refugee Olympic team, didn’t qualify, finishing 56th of 59 swimmers.
___
2:10 p.m.
The International Judo Federation says that “a procedure” is under way to assess the status of Olympic judo champion Majlinda Kelmendi, after the Kosovo star refused to submit to an unannounced drug test in France in June.
The IJF said in a statement on Tuesday that a French doping controller arrived at a training camp in Saint-Cyprien on June 16 and had was surprised by the presence of foreign athletes in addition to French nationals.
When the controller asked foreign judo fighters to submit to their doping controls, several coaches consulted the IJF, who said that “they had no obligation to do the test in those conditions.”
In addition to Kelmendi, Germany’s Martyna Trajdos refused to submit to the test. When IJF president Marius Vizer was told, he tested all athletes who didn’t submit to the control the following week; those results were all negative.
___
2:05 p.m.
Food is so scarce at many of Rio’s Olympic venues that organizers are taking drastic action.
Rio organizing committee spokesman Mario Andrada says we are “allowing people to leave the venues for food and water because this eases the pressure” to supply food and drink inside the gates.
Fans have complained about the lack of food or ?- when it’s available -? the monstrous lines to pay for it.
Organizers say several suppliers failed to deliver supplies.
Andrada says it will get better “with new food trucks, more efficient water supply, and free water supplies for the public standing in line.”
___
2:05 p.m.
Venus Williams’ Rio Olympics isn’t over yet: The four-time gold medalist will play mixed doubles for the U.S. with Rajeev Ram.
Williams was not originally expected to enter the event but lost in the first round both in singles and in doubles with sister Serena.
As expected, the biggest-name team announced Tuesday was 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal paired with French Open winner Garbine Muguruza. The Spaniards are seeded third.
Another top women’s player who lost in the first round, Agnieszka Radwanska, will also get an additional shot at an Olympic run. She’ll play with Lukasz Kubot for Poland.
___
1:45 p.m.
The Australian women’s pursuit team was back at the Olympic velodrome one day after a harrowing crash sent rider Melissa Hoskins to the hospital on a stretcher.
Hoskins was released a few hours later but remained at the athlete’s village Tuesday to rest her sore hip while Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure and Georgia Baker put in a workout.
There are five riders on a pursuit team but only four compete at a time.
Their coach, Gary Sutton, said Hoskins was in good spirits and still hopes to compete in the Rio Games. Team pursuit qualifying is Thursday and the semifinals and finals are Saturday.
Ankudinoff and Cure were bandaged for their workout. Edmondson and Baker appeared to avoid injury.
___
1:45 p.m.
American judoka Travis Stevens has made it to the semifinals of the men’s 81-kilogram judo division at the Rio Olympics after winning his preliminary three fights on Tuesday morning.
Stevens dominated his matches with an aggressive style and won two of them automatically by ippon, one with a match-ending throw and the other by pinning down his opponent for 20 seconds, which also instantly ends the bout.
Stevens finished fifth at the London Olympics and recently won the World Master’s tournament in May, which features only the world’s top 16 judo athletes
He will face top-ranked Georgian Avtandili Tchrikishvili in the semifinals. If Stevens advances, he is guaranteed at least a silver.
___
1:40 p.m.
Netherlands women’s volleyball captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues will not play in Wednesday’s third group match against Italy because of an ankle injury she received in a five-set loss to the United States.
Coach Giovanni Guidetti told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Balkestein-Grothues might need more than four or five days to recover, a blow for a determined Dutch team that has played spectacular volleyball thus far at the Rio Olympics.
Balkestein-Grothues posted on Twitter Tuesday that her bone wasn’t broken but it was difficult to say what the exact damage was.
The Netherlands pulled off an upset against No. 3 China in Saturday’s opener before pushing the top-ranked Americans to five sets Monday. Balkestein-Grothues was hurt in the fourth set and didn’t return.
___
1:40 p.m.
Geraint Thomas will join British teammate Chris Froome in the Olympic time trial.
Thomas was added to the start list Tuesday, one day before the race, after several riders were forced to withdraw with injuries sustained in the road race. Among them were Australia’s Richie Porte and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, both of whom broke bones while crashing on a descent.
Thomas also crashed in the race and said “my hip took a pretty big shock, but other than that my legs are feeling good and I’m looking forward to racing again on Wednesday.”
Froome is considered a favorite in the time trial, though Thomas is no slouch in competing against the clock. He was part of two track team pursuit squads that won Olympic gold.
___
1:25 p.m.
Double-clear showjumping rounds helped France win eventing gold in equestrian.
Nicolas Astier rode Piaf de b’Neville and Thibaut Vallette was on Qing du Briot for the win. France also included Mathieu Lemoine on Bart L. They finished with a score of 169.0, 3.8 ahead of Germany, which was bidding for a third straight Olympic title.
It is France’s second ever Olympic gold medal in eventing after victory in Athens in 2004.
Germany had started the day in fourth but superb double-clear rounds for reigning World Champions Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo, Ingrid Klimke and Hale-Bob OLD, and Olympic champion Michael Jung and Sam FBW propelled the team to silver.
Australia slipped to third after Christopher Burton put two rails down. Sam Griffiths went clear but Stuart Tinney had 16 jumping and one time penalties.
___
1:10 p.m.
Sonny Bill Williams was helped off the field with an injured left ankle during New Zealand’s shocking 14-12 loss to Japan in its first game of rugby sevens at the Olympics.
The 12-time world series champions and one of the leading contenders for the first rugby medals awarded at an Olympics in 92 years, the New Zealanders struggled against the high-energy team from Japan.
Williams, the highest-profile player in the tournament and a two-time World Cup winner in the traditional 15s rugby, had limited impact on his Olympic debut. He went into a tackle just after halftime and stayed on the ground. He held up his hand and limped off with the help of medical staff.
___
12:55 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: Japan beats medal favorite New Zealand 14-12 in opening round of Olympic rugby sevens.
___
12:35 p.m.
Cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten’s face is still black-and-blue after her horrific crash late in Sunday’s road race, but at least, she has a smile on her face again.
The Dutchwoman Tweeted a picture of herself on Tuesday marked by scars and swellings and tape to the left side of her face.
“Hard to deal with my disappointment but also proud about our performance,” Van Vleuten said.
Van Vleuten crashed hard during the descent toward the finish line when she led the race. She lay motionless on the curb until medics got to her and was taken to hospital. Despite the heavy crash and three minor back fractures, she was not expected to have lasting damage.
Instead of her winning, the Olympic title went to her teammate Anna van der Breggen.
___
12:30 p.m.
China’s Lijia Xu has some serious work to do if she’s going to defend her gold medal in the Laser Radial class in the Olympic sailing regatta.
Xu was disqualified from her fourth-place finish in the second race Monday, tumbling from first overall to 23rd.
Acting on a protest by Paige Railey of the United States, the jury determined that Xu performed her penalty turn too late after she fouled Railey approaching the windward mark.
The disqualification moved Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands into the lead going into Tuesday’s two races. She won silver in 2012. Railey moved up one spot to sixth.
British sailing star Ben Ainslie was in a similar position in Athens in 2004. He lost in the protest room early in the regatta but sailed nearly perfectly the rest of the way to win the gold medal in the Finn class. Ainslie finished his Olympic career with four straight gold medals and five medals overall.
___
12:20 p.m.
A Brazilian judge has ordered Olympic organizers to allow peaceful protests inside venues after several fans were escorted out of stadiums for holding up anti-government signs.
The ruling Monday night by a federal judge threatens fines of up to $3,200 for anyone violating the court injunction.
Some Brazilians attending Olympic events have been holding up signs and wearing T-shirts saying “Fora Temer,” a call for the removal of interim President Michel Temer. A video shot on a cell phone that has been shared widely shows heavily-armed commandos forcibly removing one such protester from the stands of an archery event.
The International Olympic Committee bans political statements during the games. But the court ruling said nothing in special legislation passed ahead of the games restricts peaceful protests that don’t disturb competition.
___
12:05 p.m.
The boxing tournament is down to one professional. Italian fighter Carmine Tommasone became the second of the three professional fighters who decided to compete in the Olympics and lose.
Italian fighter Carmine Tommasone became the second of the three professional fighters who decided to compete in the Olympics and lose. Tommasone lost a unanimous decision to Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez in a lightweight bout.
French-Cameroonian fighter Hassan N’Dam was ousted over the weekend.
Thailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng is the lone pro left and he fights Tuesday night.
The 32-year-old Tommasone, who won his first Olympic bout, wasn’t exactly the kind of professional the International Boxing Association (AIBA) had hoped to compete when it decided earlier this year to allow any boxer to attempt to qualify for the Olympics.
The big-name boxers never materialized in Rio.
Tommasone never found his stride against Alvarez, a three-time world champion in two classes.
“I consider them professional amateurs,” Tommasone said. “They are professional players of three rounds. I tried to adapt to the three-round matches but it was difficult to adapt.”