Sport by sport

Archery: South Korea won a gold medal in the men’s team competition, beating China in the final. France picked up the bronze. The United States did not qualify for the finals.

Badminton: Competition in women’s doubles and women’s singles on the second day of play continued. The United States doubles team was eliminated earlier.

Basketball: Aside from the U.S. victory over China, Russia beat Iran, 71-49; Germany stopped Angola, 95-66; Spain defeated Greece, 81-66; Lithuania beat Argentina, 79-75, and Croatia beat Australia, 97-82.

Beach volleyball: The U.S. men’s team of Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal started out the tournament well with a 21-16, 21-15 win over Emiel Boersma and Bram Ronnes of the Netherlands. The pair move on to a Tuesday match against Germany’s Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckman. In an early-morning match on Sunday, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor easily dispatched Mika Saiki and Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan, 21-12, 21-15. Their next match is also Tuesday against Dalixia Fernandez and Tamara Larrea of Cuba.

Cycling: Maria Isabel Moreno of Spain has been kicked out of the Games after testing positive for EPO, the first athlete to fail a drug test during the official Olympic doping control period. The IOC said Moreno was tested in the athletes’ village July 31 and left China later that day. She had been scheduled to compete in the women’s individual time trial. Rain affected the women’s road race, won by Britain’s Nicole Cook. Emma Johansson of Sweden took the silver and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy picked up the bronze as many riders spun out on the slick course. The best the U.S. could do is Kristin Armstrong’s 25th, followed by Amber Neben in 33rd and Christine Thorburn in 52nd.

Diving: So close for the 3-meter synchronized springboard team of Kelci Bryant and Ariel Ritterhouse, who were tied with a German team going into the final dive. But Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer were a little better to get the bronze medal. China continued its dominance in diving, winning the gold with Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia. Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova of Russia took the silver.

Equestrian: The U.S. has quietly become a force in this sport. On Sunday, the team completed the dressage phase of eventing competition and is in third place behind Australia and Germany. The final portion of this event, cross country, will be held today at the equestrian complex in Hong Kong.

Fencing: The success the women had Saturday in sabre didn’t translate to the U.S. men on Sunday in the epee. The lone American, Seth Kelsey, finished 17th, losing 15-11 to eventual silver medalist Fabrice Jeannet of France. Matteo Tagliariol of Italy beat Jeannet, 15-9, in the final. Jose Luis Abajo was awarded the bronze.

Handball: The first day of men’s competition didn’t bring any surprises as France beat Brazil, Germany stopped South Korea, Poland crushed China, and Denmark and Egypt played to a tie. Also, Croatia beat Spain and Iceland beat Russia.

Field hockey: The U.S. women’s team has been gone from the Olympics for 12 years but shocked everyone with a 2-2 tie against Argentina, ranked second in the world. The U.S. fell behind, 2-0, before Keli Smith and Angela Loy each scored to tie the score. On Tuesday the U.S. plays Japan, which beat New Zealand, 2-1. In other games, China topped Spain, 3-0; Australia defeated South Korea, 5-4; and the Netherlands beat South Africa, 6-0.

Judo: You can take pleasure in little steps. And so it was Taylor Takata taking ninth place for the United States in the 145-pound division. Takata won two matches and lost two, but it was still a good showing for the U.S. team. The gold went to Masato Uchishiba, who pinned Benjamin Darbelet of France. The two bronze medals went to Yordanis Arencibia of Cuba and North Korea’s Pak Chol Min. In the women’s 114-pound division, Xian Dongmei of China took the gold, An Kum Ae of North Korea took the silver and Soraya Haddad of Algeria got the bronze.

Rowing: Many of the rowing heats were washed out, but of the few that were held, the U.S. wasn’t exactly tearing it up. In the women’s lightweight double sculls, the U.S. finished third behind the Netherlands and Australia. In the lightweight men’s four heat, it was fourth out of four boats. The women’s quadruple sculls finished third behind Britain and Germany and in the men’s quadruple sculls it finished third behind Ukraine and Germany.

Sailing: The U.S. had a pleasant surprise, finding Zach Railey leading after four races in the Finn class. Favorite Ben Ainslie of Britain is right behind him. In the women’s Yngling competition, the U.S. sits fourth in the 10-plus-medal race series. Britain, Finland and the Netherlands are ahead of the boat featuring Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Deborah Capozzi. In the 15-plus-medal race in the 49er class, the U.S. is 13th after three races, with Britain, Italy and Denmark at the top.

Shooting: China redeemed itself from Saturday’s failure to medal in women’s air pistol with a gold on Sunday from Guo Wenjun. Natalia Paderina of Russia finished second and Nino Salukvadze of Georgia took third. Brenda Shinn was the highest-scoring American in 37th. In the men’s trap final, David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic picked up the gold, Giovanni Pellielo of Italy the silver and Alexey Alipov of Russia the bronze. The top Americans were Dominic Grazioli in 22nd and Bret Erickson in 23rd.

Soccer: In addition to the U.S. men’s 2-2 tie with the Netherlands, it was Nigeria over Japan, 2-1; Cameroon shutting out Honduras, 1-0; Argentina beating Australia, 1-0; Brazil destroying New Zealand, 5-0; Belgium over China, 2-0; Ivory Coast beating Serbia, 4-2; and Italy stopping South Korea, 3-0.

Tennis: Rain was the big winner Sunday, but they were able to get in a few matches. James Blake of the U.S. defeated Chris Guccione of Australia, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Early today, Rafael Nadal, seeded second to Roger Federer, had to go three sets to beat Potito Starace of Italy, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in his opening match. Later today, Venus Williams will face Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland. Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the top-seeded player in the women’s competition, withdrew because of a thumb injury.

Volleyball: In addition to the U.S. men’s win over Venezuela, Russia beat Serbia, 3-1; Italy topped Japan, 3-1; Brazil shut out Egypt, 3-0; Bulgaria beat its Chinese hosts, 3-1; and Poland beat Germany, 3-0.

Water polo: China played close for a half, but in the end the U.S. men’s team was too good, winning 8-4. In other games, Spain defeated Canada, 16-6; Hungary and Montenegro played to a 10-10 tie; Serbia beat Germany, 11-7; Australia defeated Greece, 12-8; and Croatia topped Italy, 11-7.

Weightlifting: Melanie Roach set an American record (193 kg) in her sixth-place finish in the women’s 117-pound class. The winner was Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand. Yoon Jin-hee of South Korea got the silver and Nastassia Novikava of Belarus got the final medal. In the men’s 123-pound class, 17-year-old Long Qingquan of China picked up first, followed by Anh Tuan Hoang of Vietnam and Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia.

-- John Cherwa, Orlando Sentinel