Redeem Team Recaptures gold

"That'll probably go down as one of the greatest Olympic games ever," LeBron James said after Team USA's thrilling 118-107 victory over Spain earned it the gold medal Sunday.

The moment he received his medal, James reached down, grabbed it and stared at it. He held it inches from his eyes and just gazed at it, transfixed. And when they handed him a bouquet of red roses, he held them to his nose and inhaled two huge breaths, the sweet smell of victory filling his nostrils and lungs.

Carmelo Anthony wiped a tear from his right eye as they raised the American flag above the court and played the U.S. national anthem, and Kobe Bryant sang along as James stood nearby, stone-faced, his right hand on his heart.

Moments earlier, the American players had locked arms and stepped onto the medal podium as one, then raised their arms in unison toward the American fans who had hung a U.S. flag over the railing in the upper deck.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski later blew kisses to that same group of fans before nearly all the American players took the medals off their own necks and hung them around his neck. They then draped their medals around the neck of USA Basketball director Jerry Colangelo, then did the same to the three assistant coaches: Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan.

It was an overwhelming sight to behold, the possession of those gold medals made so much more fulfilling because of what had transpired on the court for 40 immensely entertaining minutes. The members of Team USA didn't just win their gold medals, they earned them against the first opponent that finally gave them a game.

They didn't dominate in the final game; they performed. They didn't nearly blow it; they closed it out.

And when all the members of Team USA sat together after taking over that podium, their faces showed pure, unadulterated pride and gratification -- a gratification that wouldn't have been nearly as strong if they hadn't had to face such a tough final test and pass it with flying colors.

"What you saw today was a team bonding together, facing adversity and coming out with a huge win," Bryant said.

Said James: "If it wasn't for the determination and willpower we had, we wouldn't be back on top of the world, which is where we are."

Here's what it looked like once the outcome of this compelling game was finally sealed after Spain's Ricky Rubio was called for a technical foul with 26 seconds left to give the Americans two extra free throws and end all doubt:

With the final seconds ticking off, Jason Kidd and Coach K jumped into each other's arms, embracing and spinning in a circle. James and Anthony joined the crowd in a chant of "U-S-A, U-S-A!" before James started a procession of American players who hopped over the barrier near center court and embraced NBC commentator Doug Collins, one of the 12 members of the 1972 U.S. team that felt cheated of a gold medal at the Munich Games. (To this day, the team's silver medals still sit in a vault in Geneva, Switzerland, after the Americans refused to accept them.) And finally, as the Americans exited the court to wait for the medal ceremony to begin, Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." blared from the public address system.

This was a game Team USA couldn't easily wrap up, an offensive show by both teams in which Spain kept coming back and kept hanging around, refusing to go down as meekly as every other opponent Team USA had faced each of the past two summers.

It was 104-99 after Pau Gasol hit a jumper with more than three minutes left before Bryant had his biggest play of the tournament, when he took a drive-and-kick pass from Dwyane Wade (who was phenomenal with 27 points and four steals) and nailed a 3-pointer as he drew the fifth foul on Spain's Rudy Fernandez (who was spectacular in his own right with 22 points and five 3s), then converted the four-point play.

Juan Carlos Navarro hit a floater, Bryant missed a long 3 with six seconds left on the shot clock, and Carlos Jimenez knocked down a 3 from the corner to make it a four-point game again.

Then came the killer.

Wade made it, drilling a 3 off a pass from James for a seven-point lead with 2:04 left. The Americans scored on their next two possessions, a drive to the hole by Bryant and a pair of clutch free throws by Chris Paul with 48 seconds left to make it a 10-point game.

It was over. The emotion started spilling out, and it never ceased.

Many of the Americans had flags draped over their shoulders and around their waists as they paraded 12 strong into the interview room, sliding behind the long table that served as a podium, not realizing the microphones were picking up what they were saying.

"I'm oldest. I get to sit down," Kidd said, surveying the seven chairs for 13 bodies.

"You may not want to sit next to me, I smell like s---," Coach K said as he seated James to his right and Bryant to his left.

Krzyzewski then spoke to the audience: "We played with great character in one of the great games in international basketball history. Spain was fabulous, we couldn't stop them completely. Everyone played at the highest level, and it brought out the best in us -- and we're ecstatic, just ecstatic."

Anthony, who along with Wade, James and Carlos Boozer were the only returnees from the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, summed it up: "We were at America's lowest point in '04, and to have put USA Basketball back at the top of the world, it couldn't feel better."

You can make the argument that this was the biggest win in U.S. Olympic men's basketball history, given where the program has been in recent years after sitting on top of the world for so long.

Think about it:

2004: Played for bronze.
2000: Crushed France, but was expected to crush everybody.
1996: Did what was expected of it.
1992: Crushed everybody, erased years of national frustration, but didn't play a single tough game.
1988: Lost.
1984: Won, but didn't play the USSR because of a boycott.
1980: Didn't play (the U.S. boycotted over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).
1976: Beat Yugoslavia, but didn't get to play the opponent it wanted to play -- the USSR.
1972: Lost to the Soviets in the aforementioned controversial final.
1968: Won, just as the Americans had done in every single Olympics since the 1936 team defeated Canada 19-8 in the rain on a court made of sand and clay that turned into mud.

The 2008 team was a Redeem Team in every sense, and the sights and sounds of that redemption -- both during the game and after it -- will last each of them a lifetime.

USA softball falls short

Losing for the first time since 2000, the U.S. softball team was denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal Thursday, beaten 3-1 by Japan in the sport's last appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years -- and maybe for good.

Yukiko Ueno, Japan's remarkably resilient right-hander, shut down the Americans and handed them their first loss since Sept. 21, 2000 at the Sydney Games. The U.S. had won 22 straight since then, most of them with outrageously lopsided scores.

Another gold was certainly within reach. Instead, they walked off Fengtai Field with their heads bowed.


Yukiko Ueno, on top, and her Japan teammates ended America's run of 22 straight Olympic wins for the gold medal.

The U.S. team never led and made two uncharacteristic errors in the seventh inning to help the Japanese add an important insurance run -- one they didn't even need.

When Caitlin Lowe grounded to third for the final out, Vicky Galindo, who led off the U.S. team's seventh inning with a pinch-hit single, wrapped her hands over her helmet and cringed.

Moments later, U.S. coach Mike Candrea huddled his stunned players, many of whom couldn't even look up. Lowe choked back tears as slugger Crystl Bustos tried to console her overwhelmed teammates.

Bustos, who homered in the fourth for the Americans' only run, was first in line to congratulate the Japanese players. As she shook hands with the U.S. team, Japan catcher Yukiyo Mine was overcome by tears.

"You don't want it to end this way, but it's all we could do," said Bustos, who attended the medal ceremony wearing sunglasses.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end for the Americans, who had lost just four of 36 in Olympic play.

Not this team. Not this time. Not this tournament.

The U.S. has dominated the sport since its Olympic debut in 1996, winning all three golds, rewriting the record books and setting a new standard for a sport considered too All-American by some.

It was the Americans' utter domination -- they outscored the field 51-1 four years ago in Greece -- that may have contributed to the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop the sport in a close vote taken in 2005.

The U.S arrived in China determined to put on a show of power, precision and poise. And except for a tense, nine-inning win over Ueno and Japan in the semifinals, the Americans had done just that.

Usain Bolt breaks Michael Johnson's 200m World RECORD

Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

Bolt is the first man ever to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics. Not even Lewis or Jesse Owens managed that.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish -- something he hadn't done yet in the Beijing Games -- Bolt eclipsed the old record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.

Bolt was an astonishing 0.52 seconds ahead of silver medalist Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles.

Shawn Crawford of the United States, the defending Olympic champion, was third after teammate Wallace Spearmon was disqualified for running out his lane. The U.S. protested the ruling.

The performance marked Bolt as one of the breakthrough stars of these Summer Games, coming on the heels of his victory in the 100 Saturday night. He bettered his own world record in that race by winning in 9.69 seconds -- despite slowing down over the final 20 meters to showboat.

Usain Bolt sets freakish 100m World RECORD

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping Usain Bolt would showboat a little more at the end of the 100 meters.

You know, drop a Leslie Nielsen move from "Naked Gun" and moonwalk the last 10 meters, or perform a little Michael Flatley "Riverdance" routine. Or perhaps he could have modified Joe Horn's classic routine by pulling out a cell phone and actually placing a call to the Jamaican prime minister while waiting for the other runners to finish.


Usain Bolt after the race: "I didn't come here to break the world record because I already was the world-record holder. I came here to win."

Thank you very much, mon, but can't talk now. Have to see who wins the silver.

Well, there's always the 200 meters. Maybe he'll express himself a little more if he wins that one.

What a performance.

Bolt won the 100-meter dash in a world-record time of 9.69 on Saturday even though he made Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson look restrained and humble by easing up and celebrating before the race was over. Then again, perhaps the race was over as soon as the gun sounded and the sleek, 6-foot-5 Bolt began taking his long, graceful strides down the track.

When he was introduced at the start of the race, Bolt struck a bold pose, one arm extended, as if he was drawing back a bow and arrow or imitating the classical Greek image of an Olympic athlete or auditioning for the Wheaties box. (Good luck with that, Usain, but General Mills already has it reserved for Michael Phelps.) So far ahead of the pack and so certain of victory, he eased up at the end. He dropped his hands with seven strides left in the race, flipped up his palms and gestured them up and down with five strides left and pounded his chest with two left. After crossing the finish line, he swiveled his hips in a little dance, blew kisses to the crowd and posed some more for the cameras.

He all but stopped and set up a grill for tailgating, complete with a "Kiss the Cook" apron and a Green Bay Cheesehead hat.

Supremely confident, Bolt shook off repeated questions about the prudence of coasting at the end when he could have absolutely shattered the world record. "I didn't come here to break the world record because I already was the world-record holder," he said. "I came here to win."

Bolt broke the record he set in May by three-hundredths of a second and teammate Michael Frater said Bolt could have run a 9.62 if he hadn't cruised the final meters. He beat silver medalist Richard Thompson by two-tenths of a second.

How fast could Bolt have run the race if he ran hard all the way through the finish line?

"I don't know. I've never seen him to do it," said Dr. Herb Elliott, a physician for the Jamaican Olympic team.

How cool was Bolt? His sleek, aerodynamic shirt was untucked and his left shoe was untied. It's surprising he wasn't wearing a beat-up pair of Chuck Taylors. Or flip-flops. He was so relaxed that he said he prepared for his record-setting performance by sleeping in, not eating breakfast, watching TV, eating chicken nuggets for lunch, napping, eating some more chicken nuggets for dinner, and resting. He devoured some snack cakes during the postrace news conference and said he might also go to Burger King.

Which, oddly enough, is the way most Americans spent their Saturday, as well. Except, you know, for the part where Bolt ran faster than anyone else ever had, won a gold medal and then took a call from the Jamaican prime minister smack in the middle of the mixed zone, while answering questions from hundreds of reporters.

"He said I made the country proud and they're looking forward to welcoming me home," Bolt said. "I'm looking forward to going home now."

Bolt's performance gave Jamaica its first gold medal in the event after many near misses.

"If you want to see something, come to Kingston when we run our high school national championships. Then you will see something," Elliott said of the country's track heritage. "But if you come there on a Saturday and you get there after 11, you won't get in. The stadium only holds 35,000 and it will be packed.

"We all have to catch up to Usain Bolt," said American Darvis Patton, who finished last, but was beaming with pride for just having been in such a historic race. "His own country will have to catch up to him."

Bolt has two more races -- the 200 and the 4x100 relay -- and said his goal is to win both and go home as a triple medalist. Perhaps he'll come up with something a little more elaborate by then.

Phelps the "GREAT 8"

Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal Sunday at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay team, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz for most golds in a single games.

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.

The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.

Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.

Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18

Week 1 Olympic Recap & Week 2 Preview:

We've seen cyclists ride past the Great Wall, a torch-bearer actually run on another one and a swimmer try to break through yet another in the pool. Of course, we've had to squint occasionally to see it all through the haze, but the first week provided some heart-pounding views.

Five highlights from the first week:


1. Michael Phelps
You might have heard of this guy. Spends more time in the water than the Queen Mary. Has more gold to hang around his neck than Rickey Henderson. Pulls his swimsuit down waaayyyyy, waaayyyy too low. (What is the deal with that, anyway?)

Phelps came into the Olympics with the audacious -- though (wink, wink) unofficial and unannounced -- goal of surpassing Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one Games. And after six events, that goal isn't looking so audacious anymore. Phelps broke multiple world records while winning the 400-meter IM, the 4x100 relay, the 200 free, the 200 fly, the 4x200 free relay and the 200 IM. And, as teammate Aaron Peirsol said, "He's not just winning, he's destroying the competition."

If we were Spitz, we would be feeling very nervous right now.

2. Opening Ceremonies
The Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics are usually a very, very long evening of bizarre (think Yoko Ono singing in Torino in 2006) and tedious presentations designed to showcase the host country's "culture" (think of the monster trucks in Atlanta). Then there was Beijing's show, a stirring artistic production overseen by acclaimed director Zhang Yimou and filled with spectacular acrobats, human pyramids recreating the Bird's Nest, dancers levitating and one very memorable athlete, Li Ning, running along the wall of the stadium to light the torch. It all made Cirque du Soleil look like a junior high performance of "West Side Story." Good luck topping it, Vancouver and London.

Oh, and the fireworks were nice, as well (even if some of the ones seen on TV were computer-generated).

3. Men's 4x100 free relay
That Phelps' drive for eight gold medals is still alive is thanks to Jason Lezak's epic leg in the men's 4x100, a finish that is among the most thrilling in Olympic history. Swimming the last leg, Lezak was half a body length behind France's Alain Bernard. That's so far behind in swimming that he might as well have been on an inflatable mattress with a drink in his hand. While Phelps saw his gold-medal quest sinking, Lezak briefly considered that the race was over, then rid himself of such thoughts and went all out those final 50 meters to catch Bernard and just outtouch him at the wall, winning the race by eight-hundredths of a second.

"That's the most exciting race I've ever seen, not just in swimming, but in all sports," said American teammate Matt Grevers, who won silver the next day. "The way Lezak finished really moved me inside and made me think that everything is possible. It made me think, 'Why not?'"

4. The Great Wall
For all the talk about the spectacular Bird's Nest (main stadium) and Water Cube (aquatics center), the most dramatic Olympic venue was at the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall, where the cycling road race and time trials were held. We love Boston's Green Monster, perhaps the most iconic landmark in American sports. But when you're talking walls, it's hard to beat one that is more than 3,000 miles long and has been around even longer than Fenway Park.


Yang Wei plays with the hometown crowd after winning the gold medal in the men's all-around event.
Not that American cyclist Dave Zabriskie was that impressed. "If I had been in charge back then, I wouldn't have built something like that," he said. "It seems like a waste of time. I would have put the research into something else. I mean, you can get over it with a grappling hook and a ladder, right?"

We prefer Fabian Cancellara's take after he won the gold in the time trial.

"I guess maybe I saw so much of this Wall, maybe this Wall was giving me the power and the strength today," the Swiss rider said. "Because when you see it's more than 4,500 kilometers long, and see how hard the work and the years that went into building it, maybe it inspired me to do the same and work harder."

5. Chinese gymnasts
While Phelps has dominated the pool, the Chinese got off to a roaring start on the mats, rings and bars, winning the first three gold medals in gymnastics. They won the men's and women's team finals, and Yang Wei won the men's individual all-around. You have to love Yang, who is such a ham. While waiting for his final score in the men's all-around, he flexed like a pro wrestler for the cameras, then cupped his ears, begging for more applause, when he won.

But, in the individual event finals, the Chinese need to watch out for Americans Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, who won gold and silver, respectively, in the women's all-around Friday.

And while they're watching those two, here are five things for you to watch this week:

1. Phelps (Saturday and Sunday mornings Beijing time)
Like you were expecting us to single out that intriguing 50K race walk next Friday? Phelps has two races left -- the 100 fly, which would tie him with Spitz, and the 4x100 medley relay, which would make him the early favorite for "Most Endorsements You'll See From One Athlete Not Named Tiger Woods" in the next six months.

2. The fastest men in the world (Saturday)
Track and field got under way Friday, and the marquee event is Saturday's showdown between American Tyson Gay and Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. Bolt broke the world record this May, but Gay ran the fastest 100 in history -- albeit wind-aided -- at the U.S. track trials. He's coming off a slightly injured hamstring, however. Ready, set …

3. Johnson and Liukin (multiple days)
Is either one the next Mary Lou Retton? We'll find out in the next few days when the gymnasts compete to add to their all-around medals.

4. Liu Xiang (Thursday)
You know the pressure on Phelps? Multiply it by three for Chinese hurdler Liu. He won the gold medal in the 110 hurdles in Athens, and 1.3 billion Chinese citizens want him to repeat the feat here.

5. Kiss 'Em Goodbye (Thursday)
This is the last year for softball and baseball in the Olympics, though there is a chance they'll be brought back in 2016. Can the U.S. women continue their gold-medal dominance? We'll see (as long as the haze clears).

2016 Olympics headed to the Windy City?

Getting to the final phase was one thing. Now, Chicago has some hard work ahead to overcome weaknesses in its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago was one of four cities selected as bid finalists Thursday, along with Tokyo; Madrid, Spain, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The lineup sets up a high-profile contest featuring major cities from the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Failing to make the International Olympic Committee shortlist were three cities -- Doha, Qatar; Prague, Czech Republic, and Baku, Azerbaijan.

The IOC said Doha had the potential to host the Olympics and even rated the Qatari capital tied for third with Chicago in its technical assessment. But the IOC said it turned back Doha because it proposed holding the games in October.

The finalists now advance to a 16-month race that will culminate on Oct. 2, 2009, with a secret ballot by the full IOC at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"It's a very competitive field," said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who is trying to take the Summer Olympics back to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games. "The competition begins now."

Chicago got a strong dose of reality in the IOC's report assessing the technical bids, which cited problems with finances and transportation, among other things.

"We really respect the experts who have done the evaluation," said Chicago bid leader Patrick Ryan, who had not yet read the report. "We're going to learn from that. We're going to respect it and we're not going to alibi to ourselves about it. We're going to do everything we can to correct all the deficiencies."

Tokyo scored highest in the technical evaluation, which rated cities in 11 categories -- including infrastructure, venues, transportation, security and finances -- on a scale of 1 to 10.

The Japanese capital scored an overall average of 8.4, followed by Madrid with 8.2. Chicago was back at 7.0 with Doha, with Rio at 6.5. Chicago didn't rank first in any of the categories, and lagged in fifth in three.

The early ranking is not crucial, however. When the IOC picked the finalists for the 2012 Olympics in 2004, London was ranked third behind first-place Paris and Madrid in the technical report. London went on to win the games in 2005.

"We'll evaluate the report, look at the strong points and any weaknesses," Daley said. "There's always a wakeup call for everything. If there is any negative, you take it and try to be able to correct it, simple as that."

The IOC report said Chicago's wording on government guarantees "does not fully confirm" with requirements; questioned the $27 billion figure listed for highway and transit projects; said sports venue construction budgets "appear low and may warrant review," and cited a "lack of detail" in plans for transportation between venue clusters.

"We're very pleased, but at the same time sober knowing we have to improve and have a tremendous amount of work ahead," U.S. IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik said. "This is the first hurdle. ... We'll keep improving until we submit our bid book."

Cities must submit their detailed bid files to the IOC by Feb. 12, 2009. After that, a panel of IOC experts will visit each of the cities, tour the proposed sites and meet with bid and government leaders. The panel will release an evaluation report to the IOC members a month before the October 2009 vote.

Madrid is back again after a third-place finish in the vote for the 2012 Olympics.

"I think there are about 40 million Spaniards that want us to bring the games home," bid leader Mercedes Coghen said.

Tokyo, which held the Summer Games in 1964, hopes to bring the Olympics to Asia eight years after Beijing.

"Now it's full steam ahead for my team and the Japanese people," Tokyo bid chief Ichiro Kono said. "We have no time to lose in preparing the best possible candidature file for the IOC."

Rio would become the first South American city to host the Olympics.

"We're very happy -- the emotion to have a city of a country that never organized the Olympic Games among the others that have already organized. It's a great challenge but I think we are ready," Rio bid president Carlos Arthur Nuzman said.

Whether to include Doha in the final mix shaped up as the main issue for the IOC executive board. In the end, the IOC said it couldn't accept Doha's proposal to hold the games from Oct. 14-30 to avoid the searing summer heat. The IOC prefers the July-August time slot.

The board "unanimously decided not to grant this exception as it conflicts with the international sporting calendar and would therefore be bad for the athletes and for sports fans," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "It would disrupt athletes' training programs and overload the sports schedule at an already busy time of the year."

Doha, capital of a tiny but wealthy Arab Gulf country of about 1 million people, had loomed as the wild card as it sought to bring the games to the Middle East for the first time.

"While we are of course disappointed, we remain extremely proud to have been given the opportunity over the past 12 months to demonstrate that Doha is a truly modern and developing city, able to compete with some of the world's largest capitals and able to host international sporting events of the highest standard," Doha bid chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali said.