BASKETBALL

U.S. MEN ROUT ANGOLA IN FINAL PRELIMINARY America routed Angola, 89-53, in its final game of the preliminary round. Tim Duncan finished with a team-high 15 points, and the U.S. dominated with a 52-17 edge in rebounding.

The Americans had to wait until Greece defeated Puerto Rico 78-58 in yesterday’s final game to learn their next opponent, the unbeaten Spanish (5-0). The other quarterfinal matchups will be Greece-Argentina, Puerto Rico-Italy, and China-Lithuania.

Robertas Javtokas scored 23 points as Lithuania remained unbeaten through five games with a 100-85 victory over Australia. Spain beat New Zealand 88-84, knocking the Kiwis out of medal contention.

China then clinched the final quarterfinal berth in Group A by upsetting Serbia-Montenegro 67-66 behind 27 points from Yao Ming. Serbia-Montenegro, the two-time defending world champion, has no chance at a medal and will play Angola for 11th place.

Italy beat Argentina 76-75 after Massimo Bulleri made two free throws with 3.9 seconds left and Carlos Delfino of Argentina missed a layup at the buzzer.

SHOT PUT

RUSSIAN LOSES GOLD FOR DOPING Russia’s Irina Korzhanenko was stripped of her shot put gold medal, the first athlete of the Games to lose an Olympic title because of doping.

The 30-year-old Korzhanenko was the first woman to win a gold medal at the sacred site of ancient Olympia but tested positive for the steroid stanozolol after Wednesday’s competition.

The International Olympic Committee executive board expelled Korzhanenko from the games and ordered the Russian Olympic Committee to return the medal. The gold goes to Cuba’s Yumileidi Cumba Jay. Germany’s Nadine Kleinert moves up to silver, and Russia’s Svetlana Krivelyova to bronze.

CYCLING

AUSTRALIA TOPS BRITAIN FOR 4,000-METER GOLD Australia easily defeated Britain for the gold medal in the 4,000-meter team pursuit, adding the Olympic title to its three consecutive world championships in the event. Australia finished in 3:58.233 seconds. Britain finished in 4:01.760. Spain beat defending gold medalist Germany for the bronze.

Three quick races, about 40 seconds of hard pedaling time, and it was all over for U.S track cyclist Jennie Reed, who was eliminated from the opening rounds of the sprint competition. She finished second in the consolation race, placing her 10th in a 12-woman field.

WEIGHTLIFTING

BULGARIA’S DOBREV WINS GOLD Bulgaria’s Milen Dobrev lived up to his top seeding and took the gold medal in the 207-pound (94 kg) division.

Dobrev, the reigning world champion, made clean lifts on each of his first five tries. He failed on his sixth and final attempt, but just laughed and kissed the weights, knowing his total of 898 pounds (407.5 kg) already had clinched first place.

Junior world champion Khadjimourad Akkaev, a 19-year-old from Russia, took silver with a total of 893 pounds (405 kg).Fellow Russian Eduard Tjukin got the bronze.

BOXING

SLUGGISH ESTRADA LOSES CHANCE FOR MEDAL American super heavyweight Jason Estrada gave perhaps the most lackluster performance yet by a U.S. boxer, losing a chance for a medal by dropping a 21-7 decision to Cuba’s Michel Lopez Nunez.

Meanwhile, Russian featherweight Alexei Tichtchenko ousted world champion Galib Jafarov of Kazakhstan, winning 36-26 to advance to the semis.

On the second day of quarterfinals. Russian super heavyweight Alexander Povetkin and bantamweight Aghasi Mammadov both clinched a medal – since bronzes are awarded to both semifinal losers.

Two more fighters from the powerful Cuban team advanced to the semis. Bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux and super heavyweight Michel Lopez Nunez encountered no problems, but featherweight Luis Franco was beaten by Germany’s Vitali Tajbert.

VOLLEYBALL

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO REMAINS UNBEATEN Defending gold medalist Serbia-Montenegro grabbed their fourth straight win and the top seed in its pool with a grueling five-set victory over upstart Greece.

Poland qualified for the last open spot in the quarterfinals with a dramatic five-set victory over Argentina. The Poles (3-2) will play Brazil in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

America beat Brazil, the no. 1 team in the world. Both teams had already clinched spots in the next round. The Americans finished pool play at 3-2, winning a tiebreaker over Russia for third place, and will face host Greece in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

MAY AND WALSH ROLL INTO FINALS Misty May and Kerri Walsh beat fellow Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs 21-18, 21-15 in the semifinals. The no. 1 Americans will play for the gold today against second-seeded Brazilians Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar, who defeated Australians Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson 21-17, 21-16.

In men’s action, Spaniards Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera ousted Australians Julien Prosser and Mark Williams 21-18, 21-18. Spain will face top ranked Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, who outlasted fifth seeded Swiss pair Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel 21-14, 19-21, 15-12 in the other semifinal.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING

RUSSIA, JAPAN HEAD FIELD Russia and Japan held down their customary 1-2 spots, and the United States was in third after the duet technical routine of synchronized swimming. World champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova swam to the theme from “The Matrix” and scored 49.417 points.

As expected, the Japanese team of Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda claimed the second spot with 49.000 points in the technical routine, which will be combined with scores from tonight’s free routine to determine the 12 teams competing in the final tomorrow.

The United States’s duo, Anna Kozlova and Alison Bartosik, was in third with 48.334.

– Associated Press