U.S. men win archery silver medal, first U.S. medal in London

LONDON -- The U.S. men’s archery team had made a specialty of late rallies to reach the gold-medal match in the team event, but its third attempt fell agonizingly short Saturday.

Italy built an early lead and faltered a bit but held on for a 219-218 victory at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Italy’s Michele Frangilli needed a nine to tie and 10 to win the gold medal and he got the 10, to the delight of a near-capacity crowd.

PHOTOS: U.S. men win archery silver medal

The silver medal was the first for U.S. athletes at the London Games and the first archery medal for the U.S. since 2000.

The U.S. men trailed by two points after two ends (the equivalent of innings) and by three points after three. That deficit grew to four points after the fourth round, in which Jake Kaminski got nine points, Jacob Wukie eight and Brady Ellison shot the team’s first perfect 10. Italy went one better with Mauro Nespoli getting nine, Marco Galiazzo getting 10 and Frangilli getting nine.

The U.S. narrowed that gap to two points after six ends.

Italy defeated Chinese Taipei, China and Mexico to reach the final.

South Korea won the bronze medal by defeating Mexico, 224-219.

The U.S. women, who finished second in the team qualification, will compete for the team medal Sunday. Khatuna Lorig of West Hollywood, a five-time Olympian, ranked fourth in qualifying with a score of 669.

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