BOXING

WARD WINS FIRST AMERICAN GOLD SINCE 1996

Andre Ward won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division, beating Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus. Fighting in the last bout of the games, Ward found his mark with quick inside punches in the third round to win the first boxing gold for America since David Reid in 1996.

Ward, of Oakland, Calif., trailed after two rounds, but came on strong despite swelling around his right eye that coaches worked on in the corner between rounds. He won the third round 7-2, then remained aggressive in the final round to widen his margin of victory to 20-13.

Ward’s medal was one of two for the U.S. team, which brought nine boxers to Athens. Earlier, middleweight Andre Dirrell won a bronze. Alexander Povetkin of Russia won the gold medal in super heavyweight boxing when his opponent, Mohamed Aly of Egypt, was disqualified for failing a medical test. Aly got the silver. Roberto Cammarelle of Italy and Michel Lopez Nunez of Cuba shared the bronze.

GYMNASTICS

KOREANS MAKE FINAL APPEAL FOR GYMNASTICS GOLD

South Korea made a last-ditch push for the gymnastics gold medal given to Paul Hamm, appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reverse the results of the men’s all-around competition and award Yang Tae-younf the gold medal.

Only hours before the Olympics ended, Yang Tae-young asked the sports arbitration panel to order international gymnastics officials to correct the results, and adjust the medal rankings so he gets gold and the American gets a silver.

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said the appeal was a moot point. The International Gymnastics Federation, known as FIG, has already said it won’t change its results, and the International Olympic Committee has refused even to consider giving Yang a gold medal.

CAS said it would consider the appeal in Lausanne, Switzerland, where it is based. CAS put off setting a date for the hearing until the FIG and USOC could prepare responses. But there’s no guarantee the case will even be heard. CAS traditionally avoids reviewing “field of play” decisions. If CAS does decide to hear the case, though, Seibel said the USOC will “absolutely be there to protect Paul’s rights and his gold medal.”

Hamm repeatedly has said he believes he is the rightful winner and he won’t give up the gold unless ordered to.

VOLLEYBALL

BRAZIL TAKES GOLD WITH WIN OVER ITALY

Brazil backed up its no. 1 world ranking with a gold-medal finish to a near-perfect Olympics, beating rival Italy 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22 in the final for its first volleyball medal since a gold in 1992.

Russia overpowered a sluggish U.S. team 25-22, 27-25, 25-16 to win the bronze. Alexey Kuleshov had 16 points to lead the Russians to an easy sweep. The Americans played from behind almost the whole time, making poor hitting decisions that left them unable to get any of their spikes around the towering Russian triple block.

TEAM HANDBALL

CROATIAN MEN TAKE GOLD

Croatia, the reigning world champion, beat Germany 26-24 to win the gold medal in a physical match. Following a German turnover, Niksa Kaleb scored from the left wing to give Croatia a three-goal lead with just over three minutes remaining. Mirza Dzomba scored nine goals on 10 shots for Croatia, including the last one with 31 seconds left.

DENMARK WINS THIRD STRAIGHT OLYMPIC WOMEN’S TITLE

Denmark won its third consecutive Olympic title in women’s team handball, defeating South Korea 4-2 in a penalty shootout after playing to a 34-34 tie at the end of two overtimes. The final was a rematch of the 1996 Games, which Denmark also won, 37-33 in extra time.

Hungary topped Spain 38-29 to take fifth place. Pan American Games champion Brazil defeated China 26-25 to finish seventh.

WATER POLO

HUNGARY SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS TITLE

Hungary won its eighth Olympic water polo gold medal, scoring three unanswered goals in the last quarter to edge Serbia-Montenegro 8-7 in the final. Gergeley Kiss scored four goals and Tamas Kasas had two for the defending world and Olympic champions. Aleksandar Sapic, the tournament’s leading scorer with 18 goals, had a chance for an equalizer in the closing seconds but delayed his shot after hearing some whistles and ran out of time. Revaz Chomakhidze scored four goals and Russia beat Greece 6-5 to claim the bronze medal. Tony Azevedo and Jesse Smith scored three goals apiece as the U.S. upset world championship silver medalist Italy 9-8 for seventh place.

WRESTLING

CORMIER CAN’T FINISH HEIDARI, LOSES BRONZE

Daniel Cormier,of Stillwater, Okla., couldn’t hold a 2-0 overtime lead and lost the bronze 3-2 to Iran’s Ali Reza Heidari in the 211 1/2-pound (96kg) freestyle class. Khadjimourat Gatsalov of Russia defeated Magomed Ibragimov of Uzbekistan 4-1 for the 96kg gold.

Yandro Quintana of Cuba won the gold at 132-pounds (60 kg), beating Masuod Mostafa Gokar of Iran 4-0.Kenji Inoue of Japan won the bronze. Five-time world champion Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia won the gold medal at 163-pounds (74 kg), beating Gennadiy Laliyev of Kazakhstan 7-0. Ivan Fundora Zaldivar of Cuba won the bronze. The seven-man U.S. freestyle team left Athens with three medals: Cael Sanderson’s gold and silvers by Jamill Kelly and Stephen Abas.

TAEKWONDO

DAE-SUNG FLOORS NIKOLAIDIS FOR GOLD

Moon Dae-sung of South Korea won the gold medal in men’s over-80-kilogram taekwondo by knocking out Alexandros Nikolaidis of Greece. Pascal Gentil of France won the bronze. Moon floored Nikolaidis with a kick to the head late in the first round. Chen Zhong of China won the gold medal in the women’s over-67-kilogram class, beating Myriam Baverel of France. Adriana Carmona of Venezuela won the bronze.

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

KABAEVA REDEEMS SYDNEY LOSS WITH GOLD

Four years after watching her medal hopes end when she lost control of her hoop, two-time world champion Alina Kabaeva from Russia won the rhythmic gymnastics all-around in a rout. She finished with 108.400 points, more than a point ahead of silver medalist Irina Tchachina of Russia. Anna Bessonova of Ukraine took the bronze.