Bolt runs 9.63 to win Olympic 100 gold

Olympics Day 9 - Athletics
Usain Bolt of Jamaica crosses the line to win gold in the men's 100-meter final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 5, 2012 in London.
Alex Livesey/Getty Images

LONDON (AP) -- Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his second straight Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 meters Sunday, crossing the line in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds.

Bolt joined Carl Lewis as only the second man to go back-to-back in track's biggest race.

Bolt's training partner and fellow Jamaican, Yohan Blake, finished second in 9.75. American Justin Gatlin took bronze in 9.79.

Bolt fell shy of his world record of 9.58 seconds but improved on the 9.69 he ran four years ago in Beijing to enter his name, once again, in the Olympic record book.

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After taking half a victory lap around the track, he stopped, kissed the track and gave his now-famous "To the World" pose, pointing both fingers in the air while the fans screamed.

Women's track and field

LONDON (AP) -- Sanya Richards-Ross accelerated through the stretch to win the Olympic 400-meter race Sunday for the first U.S. gold in track and field at the London Games.

Capping a four-year wait for a second chance with the finish she wanted, Richards-Ross won in 49.55 to edge out the defending champion, Christine Ohuruogu of Britain, who finished in 49.70.

American DeeDee Trotter finished third in 49.72.

Richards-Ross ran to the stands and hugged her husband, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Aaron Ross, a quite different scene from 2008 in Beijing, when she finished third and was found crying under the stands at the Bird's Nest.

Volleyball

By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) -- Destinee Hooker scored 19 points and the undefeated U.S. women's volleyball team wrapped up preliminary pool play at the London Olympics with a straight-set victory over Turkey on Sunday night.

The top-ranked U.S. team was hurt in the third set when captain and three-time Olympian Lindsey Berg appeared to injure her left ankle.

Foluke Akinradewo added 15 points in the 27-25, 25-16, 25-19 victory for the top-ranked United States, which had clinched the top seed in its pool for the Tuesday quarterfinals.

Neriman Ozsoy scored 14 for Turkey, which had to wait until the conclusion of the late match between Brazil and Serbia to learn whether it would advance.

Turkey, which came into the match 2-2, was fired up at the start and took a first-set 11-5 lead to the delight of a big turnout of Turkish fans at Earls Court. The U.S. came back with an 11-3 run and won it on Christa Harmotto's block.

The U.S. team breezed through the second set and took a 9-5 lead in the third, but then Berg limped off the court. The setter removed her shoe, and a trainer wrapped the ankle in ice.

Her team prevailed without her, winning the match on Akinradewo's kill. Berg limped to congratulate Turkey after the match.

The U.S. women have never won a gold medal in indoor volleyball. The team fell just short at the Beijing Games under coach Lang Ping, taking home the silver after falling in the final to Brazil.

Now playing under Hugh McCutcheon, who led the U.S. men to the gold in Beijing, the United States is among the favorites.

Sunday was the final day of the preliminary round. Nataliya Goncharova scored 33 points and Russia clinched the top spot in its preliminary round pool with a five-set victory over Italy.

Ekaterina Gamova added 31 points in the 26-28, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16 15-11 victory for ninth-ranked Russia. Simona Gioli had 21 points for the No. 4 Italians.

Both teams were undefeated going into the match, and both had dropped just two sets. The teams had also earned spots in the quarterfinals, so the match decided pool finishing order.

Russia and Italy were joined by Japan and the Dominican Republic in advancing. Britain and Algeria were eliminated.

The top seeds will play the fourth-ranked pool teams, while lots are drawn for the other matches.

China defeated South Korea 3-2 with both teams earning a spot in the quarterfinals because of the five-set result.

A five-set match was the only way mathematically for both teams to advance to the quarterfinals. Had one team won all three points, the other team would have had to depend on results later in the day.

China won it 28-26, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10, taking match point on Xu Yunli's kill.

Both coaches emphatically denied that they had purposely pushed the match to five sets to ensure a quarterfinal berth for both teams.

Japan defeated Britain 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-12), eliminating the home team from the Olympic competition.

The 69th-ranked British women, who earned a spot in the Olympics as the hosts, surprised the field with a five-set victory over Algeria earlier in the preliminary round. Britain was not expected to win many sets, let alone a match.

The British, who had to raise money themselves to train and practiced in a small fire station gym, were given a sustained standing ovation from the crowd at Earls Court after Sunday's loss. One fan held up a hand-lettered poster that read "Thank You!"

"It has been unforgettable," British middle blocker Ciara Michel said. "We've been playing against the best teams in the world. It has been a phenomenal experience."

The Dominican Republic defeated Algeria 25-15, 25-16, 25-13 to advance. Algeria, was winless in London.

Men's tennis

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andy Murray had Centre Court rocking Sunday, winning gold for the home team and beating Roger Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the tennis final at Wimbledon.

The result was a royal rout. Murray swept nine consecutive games, breaking Federer's serve four times in a row.

The victory marked a breakthrough for the Scotsman, who has lost all four of his Grand Slam finals, three against Federer.

For Federer, the drubbing marked another Olympic disappointment. Playing in the games for the fourth time, he sought a victory to complete a career Golden Slam but still earned his first singles medal.

From the start, there was no doubting fans' loyalty as the crowd waved Union Jacks throughout.

Women's doubles tennis

By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Serena Williams relishes her role as copycat little sister. Even if it takes her 12 years.

Now, she has that remarkable Olympic double -- just like Venus.

The overpowering American pair teamed to win the women's doubles title at the Olympics on Sunday, with Serena adding to the singles gold she won on Centre Court at Wimbledon a day earlier.

"Crazy," Serena said. "I'm always copying her. I forgot that she did it in Sydney and I do it here. We're the same doubles team, we just split this to singles, so it's cool."

The sisters beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 under the roof on a rainy afternoon at the All England Club. Venus -- with her red, white and blue braids pulled back into a bun -- closed out the match on the very grass she has long loved with a backhand volley winner after the Czechs saved a pair of match points.

"We all talk about this, 'We have so many medals,' but to be able to add to that, it's like an unbelievable feeling," Venus said. "You know that in that count, there you are. It feels amazing."

On Saturday, Serena beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 for the singles gold. She joined Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam -- winning the Olympics and the four majors.

When the Americans in the crowd at Centre Court broke into a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" as the players left the court, the sisters each pumped their fists, turned around to wave, then slapped a high-five. The medal ceremony had to wait for the outdoor bronze-medal match, which was delayed by rain.

With Bob and Mike Bryan capturing gold in men's doubles Saturday, make it three golds for U.S. tennis in two days.

"It's great because America's added three gold medals to our medal count just in the tennis," Venus said. "I feel great to be a part of this U.S. team this year."

Serena became tennis' first double gold medalist at an Olympics since Venus won singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. The sisters also won the doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

With Sunday's victory, they each have a record four Olympic tennis gold medals, and the sisters didn't drop a set through their five matches at the London Games.

While Serena was thrilled to win on her own Saturday, with Venus rooting her on from the family box, the doubles is what she most cared about coming to the London Games.

Especially considering all the emotional and physical struggles for Venus, who was diagnosed last year with an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue.

"This is all I wanted," said Venus, who had all of about two months to raise her ranking and qualify for the Olympics. "Boy, was that a battle. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I really feel proud of what happened here at the Olympics."

But for years Venus has been comfortable on the lawn at Wimbledon, where she has won five of her seven Grand Slam titles.

"Venus has been going through so much and she's so strong and so she's so amazing," Serena said. "And to win this was my goal."

The Williamses also became the first tennis players to win Olympic gold indoors since the 1912 Stockholm Games, a match played in a pavilion on wood courts painted black.

On Sunday, they won the fourth game of the second set at love on Venus' ace, the first of three straight games in which they didn't lose a point.

Serena overcame two break points trailing 1-0 in the second set. She pumped her fist and cheered after a forehand winner down the alley past a poaching Hradecka, who was aggressive at the net all afternoon.

The Czechs held in four of their first five service games, including Hlavackova's first that went to deuce four times.

Venus Williams joins Conchita Martinez of Spain as the only tennis players to win medals at three different Olympics. Martinez's medals all came in doubles -- silver in Barcelona in 1992, bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games and silver in Athens in 2004.

Gigi Fernandez and current U.S. coach Mary Joe Fernandez are the only others to win back-to-back Olympic tennis gold medals after they teamed for doubles titles in 1992 and 1996.

And the sisters insist they're not done yet.

"We're looking forward to Rio," Serena said, "and trying to get some sort of medal there."

Women's marathon

By PAT GRAHAM, AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) -- Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia won the women's Olympic marathon in a race that began in heavy rain, saw the sun briefly come out and ended in another downpour.

Gelana finished in 2 hours, 23.07 seconds Sunday, holding off Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya by five seconds. Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova of Russia captured the bronze.

There were four runners in a bunched pack over the last three miles. But with the finish line ahead, Gelana made her move, grimacing as she surged to the front. With the rain falling, she kept glancing over her shoulder to see if Jeptoo was gaining ground.

Gelana coasted in and raised her hands as she crossed the line, soaking in the moment.

Shalane Flanagan was the top U.S. finisher in 10th place.

Women's basketball

By DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer

LONDON (AP) -- The U.S. women's basketball team tied their own Olympic scoring record Sunday with a 114-63 rout of China.

A few days after the U.S. men's team shattered the Olympic scoring record for points in a game, the women put on their own show.

Diana Taurasi scored 22 points and the women matched the 114 points they scored against Spain in 1992, but and fell well short of the women's Olympic mark of 128 points set by Brazil in 2004.

China was able to hang with the U.S. for a quarter behind its own hot shooting before the Americans turned the game into a rout with a huge second quarter run.

The victory was the Americans' 38th-straight in Olympic play and gave them the top seed in the group for the quarterfinals. The U.S. will meet Canada on Tuesday.

The other quarterfinal matchups will be undefeated France against the Czech Republic; Australia plays China; and Russia will take on Turkey.