The Latest on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
12:25 a.m.
Katie Ledecky was the fastest swimmer in the pool, and she brought her American teammates along for the ride.
The 19-year-old turned in another overpowering performance to carry the United States to victory in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay late Wednesday, capturing her third gold and fourth medal overall at the Rio Olympics.
The U.S. trailed through the first three legs of the race, as Sweden, China and then Australia swapped the top spot.
Then, it was Ledecky’s turn on the anchor leg.
She blew everyone else away.
Ledecky turned in a split of 1 minute, 53.74 seconds, which was nearly 2 1-2 seconds faster than her next-fastest teammate, Allison Schmitt in 1:56.21.
Only one other swimmer in the race, Australia’s Emma McKeon, got within a second of Ledecky.
The Australians settled for silver, and Canada took the bronze.
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12:15 a.m.
Brazil finally found its scoring touch at the Olympic tournament, defeating Denmark 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals and avoid another embarrassing elimination in front of the home fans.
Gabigol scored twice on Wednesday and Gabriel Jesus and Luan netted a goal each at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador to keep alive the nation’s hopes of winning the soccer gold medal for the first time.
The hosts will play Colombia on Saturday in Sao Paulo.
Brazil had been held to scoreless draws in its first two group games and needed a victory to guarantee a spot in the knockout round.
It finished first in Group A with five points, one more than Denmark, which also advanced and will play Nigeria.
South Africa and Iraq were eliminated after a 1-1 draw.
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12:05 a.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Katie Ledecky has led the United States to a gold medal in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, her third gold medal of the Rio Olympics. Australia claims the silver and Canada takes the bronze.
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11:45 p.m.
Michael Phelps has advanced to the final of the Olympic 200-meter individual medley as the top qualifier.
Swimming next to teammate and longtime rival Ryan Lochte, Phelps put up an effortless-looking time of 1 minute, 55.78 seconds Wednesday night to claim the prime middle lane in the final.
Lochte will be right next to him again, ranking second in 1:56.28. Thiago Pereira sent the Brazilian crowd into a frenzy by staying close to the two American stars, finishing third in 1:57.11.
Phelps will be seeking his fourth straight 200 IM title at the Olympics. He’s also got a chance to pull off that feat in the 100 butterfly.
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11:25 p.m.
Mireia Belmonte Garcia finally has her gold medal.
After two silvers and a bronze, the Spanish swimmer made it to the top rung of the podium with a victory Wednesday night in the women’s 200-meter butterfly.
Belmonte Garcia was silver medalist in that event at the 2012 London Games, where she also took silver in the 800 freestyle behind Katie Ledecky.
After picking up a bronze in the 400 individual medley earlier in the Rio Games, Belmonte Garcia used one last half-stroke to get to the wall ahead of Madeline Groves in 2 minutes, 4.85 seconds. The Australian settled for the silver, just three-hundredths of a second behind.
Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi claimed the bronze, beating out Cammile Adams of the United States.
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11:20 p.m.
Eighteen-year old Kyle Chalmers of Australia is the new king of speed at the Olympics.
Chalmers dethroned defending champion Nathan Adrian of the United States in the final of the 100-meter freestyle Wednesday night.
In a furious down-and-back sprint, Chalmers rallied on the return lap to win with a time of 47.58 seconds. Pieter Timmers of Belgium claimed the silver in 47.80, while Adrian made it onto the medal podium — albeit with a bronze this time — in 47.85
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11:10 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Kyle Chalmers of Australia has won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics. Pieter Timmers of Belgium earns the silver and defending Olympic champion Nathan Adrian settles for bronze.
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11:05 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain has won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 200-meter butterfly. Madeline Groves of Australia claims the silver, while the bronze goes to Natsumi Hoshi of Japan.
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10:50 p.m.
China’s Ding Ning has avenged her loss in the London Olympics to countrywoman Li Xiaoxia, taking gold over Li in the women’s table tennis finals in Rio and extending China’s supremacy in the sport.
When Ding, 26, lost to Li four years ago, she broke down in tears. On Wednesday, Ding dropped to her knees, the tears flowing again.
The 28-year-old Li was trying to become the third Chinese woman to win back-to-back Olympics. Chinese women have won every gold singles medal since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988.
The tense match came down to a deciding seventh game and was filled with long, exciting rallies, lighting quick smashes, looping topspin forehands and stretching defensive saves.
Ding, the reigning world champion, took the first game 11-9. Li bounced back in the second 11-5. Ding won the third 14-12. Li then pulled away, winning the next two games. But Ding played herself back into a tie by winning the sixth game and taking the seventh for the gold.
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10:35 p.m.
The Campbell sisters will face each other in the final of the women’s 100-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics.
Cate Campbell posted the fastest time in the semifinals Wednesday night, an Olympic-record 52.71 seconds. Her younger sister Bronte was fifth-fastest at 53.29. Bronte is the reigning world champion, but Cate is the world-record holder.
They’ve already teamed up to lead Australia to a gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay. Now, they’re competitors seeking the same prize.
Defending Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo also advanced, along with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, Simone Manuel of the United States, Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark, and Abbey Weitzeil of the United States.
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10:25 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: Kazakhstan has its first Olympic swimming medal. A gold one, at that.
Dmitriy Balandin pulled off a stunning upset in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke on Wednesday night, winning from the eighth lane to put his central Asian country on the swimming medal stand for the first time.
Yosuhiro Koseki of Japan went out fast and was more than a second under world-record pace at the final turn. But Balandin was right with him in the outside lane, and Koseki couldn’t keep up the pace.
Balandin touched in 2 minutes, 7.46 seconds. Josh Prenot of the United States claimed silver in 2:07.53, while Russia’s Anton Chupkov landed the bronze in 2:07.70.
Koseki faded to fifth.
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10:15 p.m.
Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross have finished the Olympic group stage unbeaten, but not before losing their first set of the Summer Games.
The U.S. women beat Switzerland 21-13, 22-24, 15-12 on Wednesday night to win their pool with a 3-0 record. They now await news on an opponent for the round-of-16, which begins Friday.
Walsh Jennings is going for her fourth straight Olympic gold medal. Ross won silver in London.
The Swiss team of Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre did win the second set. The Americans fought off three set points before the Swiss converted the fourth.
It’s just the second set Walsh Jennings has ever lost at the Summer Games. She won three gold medals with Misty May-Treanor, sweeping Athens and Beijing before losing a single set in London.
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10:15 p.m.
Switzerland’s Isabelle Forrer needed a medical timeout in the third set of her match against Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross after she crashed to the sand on the point that gave the U.S. a 10-9 lead.
She stood up, holding her head in both hands before walking over to her bench and lying on the sand while the Swiss staff looked her over.
With a few minutes left in the five minute timeout, the other three players returned to the sand to warm up. Forrer came back out to a huge cheer from the crowd and a hug from Verge-Depre. Forrer then proceeded to deliver the winning hit on the first point.
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10:10 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Dmitriy Balandin of Kazakhstan has won the gold medal in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Rio Olympics. Josh Prenot of the United States takes the silver and Anton Chupkov of Russia claims the bronze.
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9:45 p.m.
Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross have lost their first set of the Olympics.
Switzerland won 24-22 in the second set after failing to convert on its first three set points.
It’s just the second set Walsh Jennings has ever lost at the Summer Games. She won three gold medals with Misty May-Treanor, sweeping Athens and Beijing before losing a single set in London.
Ross lost to Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor in the London gold medal game, earning silver. Now she’s teamed up with Walsh Jennings.
The Americans won the first set 21-13 on Wednesday night.
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9:45 p.m.
With Wednesday’s cooler weather, away went the bare skin on the beach and out came the full leggings.
Temperatures cooled into the low 60s (18 Celsius) for the fifth day of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament at Copacabana, and teams chose a variety of techniques to deal with the weather.
Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross went with long sleeves under their bikini top uniforms but kept their legs bare. The Brazilian women wore long sleeves on their shirts and full pants. Switzerland wore short sleeves and long leggings.
Many men’s teams also wore longer sleeves under their tank tops and board shorts. In a steady rain during the day, hats helped keep the rain out of the players’ eyes.
Beach volleyball gets a lot of attention for the bikinis, but players insist it’s the most comfortable uniform for playing in the sand.
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9:40 p.m.
If Missy Franklin is going to claim her first swimming medal of the Rio Olympics, it will have to come while she’s on dry land.
Franklin competed in the preliminaries of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, but her time wasn’t fast enough for the coaches to give her a spot in the evening final. Allison Schmitt posted what was by far the fastest split time for the Americans, and she’s the only swimmer from the afternoon to be picked for the final.
Schmitt will swim the leadoff leg before handing off to three more rested swimmers: Maya DiRado, Leah Smith and Katie Ledecky, who will be going for her third gold medal of these games.
Franklin said after the prelims that she was fine with whatever the coaches decided and merely wants what’s best for the team.
Even though Franklin isn’t swimming, she would receive whatever medal the team earns in the final, as would the other preliminary swimmers. With Ledecky as the anchor, the Americans are favored to win gold.
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9:40 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Third-ranked Aron Szilagyi of Hungary beat upstart American fencer Daryl Homer to win gold in men’s sabre.
Despite the Wednesay loss, Homer earned the second silver medal for the U.S. men’s fencing team in Rio.
Homer’s final touch gave him a thrilling 15-14 victory over Iran’s Mojtaba Abedini in the semifinals and put him within a win of the first gold for the U.S. men in the modern era. But Szilagyi proved to be too much for the 10th-ranked American, who fell 15-8.
Junghwan Kim won bronze.
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9:40 p.m
Kim Song I of North Korea has won a bronze medal over veteran Ai Fukuhara of Japan in women’s table tennis.
Kim’s 4-1 victory on Wednesday caps a surprising run through the tournament. She was ranked 31st at the Olympics and is currently world No. 50, but the “chopper,” or defensive specialist, took down higher-ranked opponents repeatedly in Rio.
Fukuhara who has been famous for her table tennis in Japan since she was a toddler, had rolled easily through the tournament until getting obliterated 4-0 in the semifinals by China’s Li Xiaoxia.
Later Wednesday, Li will face China’s Ding Ning in the women’s table tennis finals. Both women played for gold in London, too, with Li winning that match.
Ding is now the favorite.
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9:25 p.m.
WORLD RECORD: Kazakhstan’s Nijat Rahimov shattered the clean and jerk world record to take gold in the men’s 77-kilogram weightlifting class.
With reigning champion Lyu Xiaojun of China looking a surefire bet for gold, Rahimov took the audacious step of moving up 12 kilograms on his second clean and jerk attempt for a world-record 214.
That gave him a total of 379, equal with Lyu. Rahimov won thanks to weighing in lower for the competition. Lyu took silver.
Rahimov served a doping ban between 2013 and 2015 and had been in doubt for the Olympics after the International Weightlifting Federation tried to exclude the entire Kazakh team over repeated doping positives, but the procedure was not completed in time for Rio.
Bronze went to Egyptian Mohamed Mahmoud on 361.
Armenia’s Andranik Karapetyan had been second after the snatch but an arm injury during a lift left him screaming in pain and he had to withdraw.
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9:20 p.m.
Third-ranked Aron Szilagyi of Hungary beat upstart American fencer Daryl Homer to win gold in men’s sabre.
Despite the loss, Homer earned the second silver medal on Wednesday for the U.S. men’s fencing team in Rio.
Homer’s final touch gave him a thrilling 15-14 victory over Iran’s Mojtaba Abedini in the semifinals and put him within a win of the first gold for the U.S. men in the modern era. But Szilagyi proved to be too much for the 10th-ranked American, who fell 15-8.
Junghwan Kim won bronze.
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9:20 p.m.
Teo Gutierrez and Dorlan Pabon scored a goal each as Colombia defeated Nigeria 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s Olympic soccer tournament.
Nigeria had already advanced, but Colombia needed a win to guarantee a spot in the knockout round. Japan defeated Sweden 1-0 in the other Group B game, but both teams were eliminated.
Nigeria won the group with six points, one more than Colombia. Japan ended with four points and Sweden with one.
Gutierrez’s opened the scoring for Colombia on Wednesday in the fourth minute and Pabon sealed the victory in the 63rd minute at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.
Japan’s winner at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador was scored by Shinya Yajima.
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9 p.m.
Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving had the answers in the first test for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.
Anthony scored 31 points on the night he became the U.S. men’s Olympic career scoring leader, combining with Irving for all of the Americans’ baskets in the fourth quarter of a 98-88 victory over Australia on Monday night.
Kevin Durant capped off the scoring with two free throws, making him the only other player than Irving or Anthony to score in the period.
Irving — born in Australia — added 19 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:35 left after Australia had closed within four.
A U.S. team that had won its first two games without breaking a sweat trailed early in the fourth quarter before Anthony hit a flurry of 3-pointers to put the Americans on top.
Patty Mills scored 30 points for Australia
[Source:- USA Today]
