U.S. softball stunned as Japan snatches gold

Women's 200: Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold medal in the women’s 200 meters, extending Jamaica’s streak in the sprints at the Beijing Olympics.

Campbell-Brown won Thursday night’s final in 21.74 seconds, holding off 2007 world champion Allyson Felix of the United States, who took silver in 21.93. Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart was third in 22.00, adding to her silver in the 100.

With Bolt’s gold medals and world records in the 100 and 200 and Shelly-Ann Fraser’s win in the women’s 100, Jamaica has now won all four sprint finals at Beijing.

Beach volleyball
The Chinese and the wretched Beijing weather were no match for Misty May-Treanor and “Six Feet of Sunshine.”

May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball Thursday, playing through a steady and sometimes driving rain to beat China in straight sets and extend their winning streak to 108 matches in a row.

“Ever since the ball dropped in Athens, we’ve wanted to repeat as Olympic champions,” May-Treanor said. “No one’s ever done it.”

No one’s ever won 14 consecutive Olympic matches before, either, sweeping away their opponents in both Beijing and Athens without losing a single set. The Americans beat Wang Jie and Tian Jia 21-18, 21-18 on Thursday, playing through smog and swelter and a drenching gold medal game to confirm their dominance of the sport.

On the court, the U.S. women’s volleyball team advanced to the gold medal game after defeating Cuba in three straight sets. Cuba, a three-time Olympic gold medal winner, was unbeaten prior to the match. The U.S. will play either Brazil or China in the final.

Water Polo
The Netherlands won the gold medal in women’s water polo, stunning the United States 9-8 behind seven goals by Danielle de Bruijn. She scored the winner with 26 seconds remaining.

The Americans came to Beijing ranked No. 1, and on Thursday night looked as if they might get the gold that eluded them in Sydney and Athens.

They had several chances to tie it up in the waning seconds, but Elsie Windes missed an outside shot and Brenda Villa couldn’t put home the rebound.

De Bruijn scored the first two goals of the game and the Dutch jumped ahead 4-0. She added two more right after halftime to give her country a 7-5 lead. She also scored the last two on power plays.

Cycling
The men’s and women’s Olympic BMX semifinals and medal races were rained out Thursday, giving American racer Kyle Bennett — the three-time world champion from Conroe, Texas, who dislocated his left shoulder in a nasty crash during a quarterfinal heat — an additional 24 hours to recover before racing again.

Rain began falling at the Laoshan cycling complex overnight, and when heavy squalls persisted during the morning, event officials decided to push the entire card back to Friday.

The course was covered by several tarps. Some teams had already arrived when the decision to postpone was announced; others, including the U.S., were on their way to the venue when racing was canceled, “in consideration of the fairness of the competition,” said a statement from the event organizers at the track.

The Associated Press and NBCOlympics.com contributed to this report.

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