2016-08-15

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Latest on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

The German Olympic team says canoe slalom coach Stefan Henze has died from injuries sustained in a car crash last week in Rio de Janeiro.

Henze, a canoe slalom silver medalist at the 2004 Games, died surrounded by his family. He was 35.

He underwent emergency surgery after the Friday taxi accident.

Germany will commemorate Henze’s death in the Olympic Village on Tuesday when the country’s flag will be flown at half-staff at all Olympic sites in Rio.

IOC President Thomas Bach says the Olympic body “is mourning the loss of a true Olympian. Our sympathy is with the family of Stefan Henze, his friends and all of the German Olympic team.”

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5 p.m.

The Olympic Broadcasting Service now says seven people suffered minor injuries when a television camera it operates plummeted about 30 feet in the Olympic park.

The OBS says it dispatched workers to examine an issue with the pulling rope of the camera, which provides aerial views of the park. It says two guide ropes broke and sent the camera crashing down some 30 feet.

An eye witness says he saw the camera hit bystanders. Chris Adams says “it looked like a flying saucer coming through the air when it hit these two women.”

Rio organizers say at least one of the women was taken to a hospital.

OBS, which has operated cameras in Olympic parks and arenas since 2001, says it has launched an investigation into the matter.

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4:55 p.m.

The Brazilian world champions and a stiff Copacabana wind knocked the American men out of the Olympic beach volleyball quarterfinals on Monday.

Alison and Bruno advanced to the semifinals, beating Nick Lucena and 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser 21-14, 12-21, 15-9.

Rebounding from a disastrous first set to force a tiebreaker, Dalhausser and Lucena fell behind 12-6 in the second. Then Alison and the crowd took over.

With a block to force match point and then a spike off Dalhausser for the winner, the man known as the “Mammouth” moved within one win of a second-straight Olympic medal.

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4:40 p.m.

Olympic officials say an Egyptian judo athlete has been reprimanded and sent home after refusing to shake his Israeli opponent’s hand.

The International Olympic Committee says Islam El Shehaby received a “severe reprimand” for his behavior following his first-round heavyweight bout loss to Or Sasson last Friday.

When Sasson extended his hand, El Shehaby backed away, shaking his head. The referee called the 34-year-old El Shehaby back to the mat and obliged to him to bow; he gave a quick nod and was loudly booed as he exited.

The IOC says the Egyptian’s conduct “was contrary to the rules of fair play and against the spirit of friendship embodied in the Olympic values.”

The IOC says the Egyptian Olympic Committee also “strongly condemned” El Shehaby’s actions “and has sent him home.”

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4:30 p.m.

MEDAL ALERT: Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands has ended Simone Biles’ run at Olympic history.

Wevers topped Biles in the balance beam finals Monday, posting a score of 15.466 to finish well ahead of Biles, who took bronze after she grabbed the beam to steady herself in the middle of her routine. The 19-year-old was attempting to become the first female gymnast to win five gold medals in a single Olympics. She will get a chance to add to her three golds on Tuesday in the floor exercise finals.

Biles’ teammate Laurie Hernandez captured silver with a score of 15.333.

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4:25 p.m.

The mix zone at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium was showered with beer moments after the U.S. women’s water polo team advanced to the semifinals with a 13-3 victory over Brazil.

The beer dripped down from the ceiling while coach Adam Krikorian and the American players were talking to the press, but it looked as if everyone managed to dodge the falling beverage. A mix-zone worker speculated that a fan must have spilled their beer in the stands above, and towels were quickly brought in for the floor.

The Olympic Aquatics Stadium is a temporary facility.

Krikorian jokingly moved under the damp spot in the ceiling as if hoping for more, and then got his phone out to take a picture of the scene.

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4:10 p.m.

Simone Biles’ drive for five Olympic gold medals is over.

The Olympic all-around champion wobbled during the middle of her routine during balance beam finals Monday. She landed awkwardly while completing a front somersault and grabbed the beam with both hands to avoid falling down.

The 19-year-old already has three golds in Rio was attempting to become the first female gymnast to win five gold medals in a single Olympics. Her score of 14.733 was eclipsed by Sanne Wever of the Netherlands minutes later.

Biles will be in the mix for another gold on Tuesday in the floor exercise finals.

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4 p.m.

A television camera fell in the Olympic park, plummeting about 30 feet and injuring two women.

A witness says the large camera, which moved back and forth along wires providing aerial views of the main Olympic park, was being examined Monday on a bridge overlooking the entrance to the Carioca 1 arena.

Chris Adams says he heard a wire snap, which caused the camera to come falling down and hit two women before smashing into the ground.

Adams says “it looked like a flying saucer coming through the air when it hit these two women.”

Rio Games organizers confirmed two women were injured and said at least one was taken to a hospital. Organizers are not sure why the camera fell.

Adams, a gymnastics fan from England, says he saw medical personnel take the women away on stretchers.

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3:30 p.m.

MEDAL ALERT: Se Gwang Ri of North Korea picked up his country’s second gold medal in Rio, edging Denis Abliazin for gold in the men’s vault final Monday.

Ri’s two-vault average of 15.691 was better than Abliazin’s average of 15.516. The medal for Abliazin was his second in less than an hour. He earned bronze on still rings earlier Monday afternoon.

Japan’s Kenzo Shirai earned bronze in a tiebreaker over Romania’s Marian Dragulescu. The two vaulters both averaged 15.449 for their two vaults, but Shirai was awarded the bronze because he had the highest score on a single vault.

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3:30 p.m.

Rio’s mayor is appealing a federal court decision that forbids the city and federal government from transferring public funds for the Paralympics.

Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Monday that the city would funnel between 100 million and 150 million reals ($31.5 million and $47.3 million) for the sporting event.

Paes says the money is vital for the games, which he says have failed to attract sponsors and sell tickets.

A federal judge ruled this weekend that the city and federal government should stop sending funds to the Rio 2016 committee until the event organizers make information about revenues and expenses available to the public, including prosecutors and auditors.

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3:10 p.m.

The International Olympic Committee is taking extra security measures at the Olympic doping lab in Rio de Janeiro to prevent a repeat of the brazen manipulation of samples at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

IOC medical director Dr. Richard Budgett says “we can be very confident” that the thousands of doping samples at the Rio lab are secure.

Extra security was put into place following the scandal over state-sponsored doping in Russia, where tainted samples were swapped out for clean ones during clandestine, middle-of-the-night operations at the Sochi lab.

Budgett says there is a “huge” presence of security officers at the Rio lab, as well as an extensive network of surveillance cameras throughout the facility.

Budgett says he will personally review footage from the cameras, including those trained on the freezers where the samples are stored.

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2:45 p.m.

MEDAL ALERT: Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece has won the Olympic gold medal in men’s still rings.

The reigning world champion put together a precise routine, finishing with a stuck dismount to post a score of 16.000. Arthur Zanetti of Brazil captured silver, delighting the home crowd inside Rio Olympic Arena. The crowd repeatedly shushed itself during Zanetti’s set then exploded when his score of 15.766 flashed.

Denis Abliazin of Russia earned bronze

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2:45 p.m.

A leading Russian independent newspaper has issued a passionate appeal to lift a ban on Russian athletes competing at the Rio Paralympics.

The Novaya Gazeta, known for its biting criticism of the Kremlin and its exposure of official corruption, said in Monday’s letter that the ban “will hit absolutely innocent athletes, their relatives and friends, and everyone who see hope in the Paralympic Movement.”

Russia was banned from the games by the International Paralympic Committee last month. The Russian Paralympic Committee filed a formal appeal Monday, and the hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to issue its verdict next Monday.

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2:30 p.m.

Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova says she fears for her safety since hackers infiltrated both her email account and the anti-doping system that keeps track of her whereabouts.

Stepanova, the 800-meter runner who was denied a spot in the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee, says she, her husband and their young son recently moved to another undisclosed location in the United States.

Stepanova unveiled details that led to the discovery of a wide-ranging doping system inside her home country. The Russian track team has been banned from the Olympics, but the IOC has allowed 278 athletes in other sports to compete.

Stepanova said she would of course like to be in Rio De Janeiro, but she has heard stories about crime and lack of security in the Olympic city and thinks it would be easy for someone to hurt her if she were in Brazil right now.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said last week that hackers had accessed their system. Included in that was information about Stepanova’s whereabouts. All athletes are required to provide that information so they can be reached in case they’re chosen for an out-of-competition drug test.

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2:20 p.m.

Germany has defeated the United States 2-1 in the women’s field hockey quarterfinals.

Germany’s Marie Mavers opened the scoring Monday with a goal midway through the first period. Lisa Altenburg knocked in a backhanded shot high over USA goalie Jackie Briggs to put Germany up 2-0 late in the first.

The Americans came up empty on a penalty corner with two minutes left in the third period. Katelyn Falgowski’s goal with 3:54 remaining gave the Americans a chance, but the Germans held on.

The United States failed to medal after a strong start. The Americans beat No. 2 Argentina and No. 3 Australia in their first two matches at the Games, then beat Japan and India to take the lead in their pool.

The United States led their final pool play match against Britain heading into the fourth period before losing 2-1.

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2:05 p.m.

MEDAL ALERT: Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro have clinched a second successive gold dressage medal, setting an Olympic record in the process.

To the sound of samba music, the British rider posted a score of 93.857 percent and beat the record she set in London four years ago, also on Valegro.

Dujardin was the only rider to surpass the 90 mark on Monday. She finished ahead of Isabell Werth and Kristina Broring-Sprehe, who were both part of the Germany team that won Friday.

It was a fourth silver medal for Werth and a 10th overall.

Werth had a score of 89.071 on Weihegold OLD, with Broring-Sprehe posting 87.142 on Desperados.

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2 p.m.

Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone has become the first commercial sponsor of the new Olympic Channel.

The International Olympic Committee says Bridgestone signed a four-year deal to become a “founding partner” of the digital channel, which will launch after the opening ceremony of the Rio Games on Sunday night.

Terms of the deal, which lasts through 2020, were not announced.

The channel, which will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is designed to promote Olympic sports and ideals between the games.

The IOC says Bridgestone will initially sponsor the channel’s “Against All Odds” series, an eight-episode documentary that follows eight athletes.

Bridgestone has been one of the IOC’s official worldwide sponsors since 2014.

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1:30 p.m.

Russia is atop the standings after the duet technical routine in synchronized swimming.

Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina scored 96.4577 points for their routine Monday. They also led after the free routine a day earlier, giving them a combined score of 194.5244.

Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan of China were second at 191.4355. Yukiko Inui and Risako Mitsui of Japan were third at 187.5214.

Americans Anita Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva was ninth. The duet free final is Tuesday.

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1:20 p.m.

New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington, the world’s top female kayaker, made paddling look easy as she made the final of the 200-meter sprint.

The four-time world champion and defending Olympic titleholder cruised through two heats in first place to win a spot in the Tuesday final. She looked relaxed, which pleased her coach Gordon Walker.

Carrington, 27, is also competing in the 500-meter sprint.

In the men’s 1,000-meter canoe singles, defending Olympic champion Sebastian Brendel is through to the final along with home crowd favorite Isaquias Queiroz of Brazil and Serghei Tarnovschi of Moldova. All three won their heats Monday.

Danuta Kozak and Gabriella Szabo paddled into the final of the women’s 500-meter kayak doubles while Australia’s Murray Stewart is set to race for medals in the men’s 1,000-meter kayak singles after clocking the fastest time in the semifinals.

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1:20 p.m.

Through the first half of the Olympics, women have seen more screen time on NBC in the evening – particularly in beach volleyball.

A study issued Monday found women athletes were featured in 58.5 percent of the competitions show on NBC’s prime-time. That’s the highest percentage since three college professors began keeping track in 1994. London 2012 was the first Olympics competition where the U.S. broadcaster showed women more often than men.

Much of the advantage was because of a disparity in beach volleyball coverage, where most women wear bikinis. Through Saturday, NBC showed two hours, 45 minutes of women’s beach volleyball, and 35 seconds of men.

There’s been criticism of the media, including NBC, for commentary perceived as sexist during the Olympics. The most-cited case was NBC crediting the husband of a Hungarian gold medal swimmer for his wife’s success.

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