RIO DE JANEIRO – The Latest on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
11:15 p.m.
Usain Bolt has completed his triple-triple, anchoring the Jamaica 4×100-meter relay to victory in the final to ensure three gold medals at three consecutive Olympics.
The U.S. team was disqualified – again.
Bolt waved the baton to the crowd after coasting across the finish in a winning time of 37.27 seconds for his ninth Olympic gold medal.
Japan took silver in 37.60, with Aska Cambridge holding off American Trayvon Bromell by 0.02.
The U.S. team was later disqualified for exchanging illegally outside the zone at the first change, and Canada was elevated to the bronze-medal position in a national record 37.64.>>Don’t Miss Other Top Olympic Stories
It was the ninth time since 1995 that the U.S. men have been disqualified or failed to get the baton around at an Olympics or world championships.
The Japanese team was technically flawless and had the lead going into the last baton change, but Bolt pulled away, as he has done so often, in what is most likely to be his last run at the Olympics.
___
10:55 p.m.
DISQUALIFICATION ALERT: The U.S. men’s relay has done it again, being disqualified after crossing the line in third place in the men’s 4×100.
Canada was elevated to third place on Friday in a national record 37.64 seconds.
Usain Bolt anchored Jamaica to yet another win – his ninth Olympic gold medal – and Japan finished a surprising second.
The team from Trinidad and Tobago was also disqualified.
___
10:52 p.m.
Jenn Suhr broke down in tears after failing to defend her gold medal in the pole vault and said she’s scared about her health.
The American says she’s been sick for 10 days, was coughing up blood Friday and is now concerned her illness is worse than a respiratory infection.
Suhr said she vomited twice during Friday night’s pole vault and began crying as she discussed how she trained for four years for a repeat gold but is feeling sicker than she’s ever felt in her life.
Suhr eliminated with a mark of 4.60 and placed equal-seventh
Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece won the gold medal in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 4.85 meters.
___
10:55 p.m.
Cheick Sallah Sisse of the Ivory Coast has won the men’s taekwondo gold medal in the 80-kilogram division after defeating Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad in a finish that saw him surge ahead in the last second of the match.
Sisse won Friday by a score of 8 to 6.
Although Muhammad was leading through most of the fight, Sisse landed a back kick just as the match ended to put him ahead.
Sisse, seeded third, won the African Championships this year in addition to the German Open. Muhammad previously won a bronze at the London Games.
The men’s bronze medals were won by Tunisia’s Oussama Oueslat and Milad Beigi Harchgani of Azerbaijan.
___
10:45 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Usain Bolt has completed his triple-triple, anchoring the Jamaica 4×100-meter relay to victory in the final to ensure three gold medals at three consecutive Olympics.
Bolt, who has won the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay gold medals at Beijing, London and now Rio, crossed in 37.27 seconds on Friday.
Japan set an Asian record to take the silver in 37.60, holding off the third-place Americans by 0.02.
___
10:40 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece has won the gold medal in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 4.85 meters.
Sandy Morris of the United States, silver medalist at the world indoors, took silver on a countback at the same mark and Eliza McCartney won the bronze in a New Zealand national record 4.80.
Defending champion Jenn Suhr of the United States was eliminated with a mark of 4.60 and placed equal-seventh.
___
10:40 p.m.
Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya won the women’s 5,000 meters gold in Rio after overtaking Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia and setting an Olympic record of 14 minutes, 26.17 seconds.
The 32-year-old Cheruiyot adds the Olympic title to two world championships in the 5,000 meters and one in the 10,000. She took silver in the 5,000 at the London Games four years ago.
It initially appeared that Ayana would go for a second world record, after already setting a massive new mark in the 10,000 on the opening morning of the track program last week. But the efforts of the Olympic week appeared to catch up with her as she slumped late in the Saturday night race.
Ayana set off strongly and seemed to take the lead for good after one third of the race. But fatigue caught up with her and Cheruiyot and compatriot Hellen Obiri, who won the bronze, saw their chance.
___
10:35 p.m.
The U.S. women have retained the 4×100-meter relay title and helped Allyson Felix win her record fifth Olympic gold medal.
The Americans, who needed to set a qualifying time in a solo rerun hours after dropping the baton in the preliminaries and getting a second chance on protest, won the final in 41.01 seconds.
It was an impressive comeback after near disaster on Thursday, when Felix dropped the baton after being bumped by a Brazilian runner. That led to the re-run, and the Americans qualified fastest, taking the place of China in the final.
A Jamaican team containing Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, took silver in 41.36. Britain won bronze in a national record 41.77.
The 30-year-old Felix entered the games as one of six women with four Olympic gold medals in track and field.
Felix ran the second leg for the Americans, the same section as 100- and 200-meter gold medalist Thompson, and passed to English Gardner, who ran a powerful curve to give her team the lead.
Tori Bowie ran the anchor leg and held off Fraser-Pryce as the Americans only narrowly missed the world record.
___
10:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Dilshod Nazarov of Tajikistan won the hammer throw at the Olympics, beating veteran Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus for gold.
Nazarov threw 78.68 meters on his penultimate attempt on Friday, while 40-year-old Tsikhan had 77.79. Wojciech Nowicki of Poland took bronze with 77.73.
___
10:35 p.m.
Denmark will face France in the Olympic men’s handball final after beating Poland 29-28 in extra time semifinal.
Traditionally a power in the women’s game, but having never won an Olympic medal, Denmark will be the underdog Sunday against a French team which is reigning Olympic and world champion.
Poland had taken Friday’s game to extra time with Michal Daszek’s goal to tie the score two seconds before the end of the second half. However, good shooting and big saves from goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen brought Denmark the win.
Earlier, France beat European champion Germany 29-28 in the first semifinal. France can become the first men’s team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals if it beats Denmark on Sunday.
___
10:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: South Korea’s Oh Hye-Ri has won the women’s 67-kilogram taekwondo gold medal, proving once again that the country that created the martial art can sometimes still dominate.
Oh defeated France’s top-seeded Haby Niare in a tense, action-packed final. Although Oh didn’t score until the second round, she quickly landed numerous head shots within about 30 seconds to take a definitive lead.
Oh won by a score of 13 to 12.
South Korea won only one gold medal at the London Games and has now doubled its count at Rio, after So-Hui Kim took gold in the women’s light flyweight category on Wednesday.
The women’s bronze medals were won by Ruth Gbagbi of the Ivory Coast and Turkey’s Nur Tatar.
___
10:25 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: The U.S. women have retained the 4×100-meter relay title and helped Allyson Felix win her record fifth Olympic gold medal.
The Americans, who needed to set a qualifying time in a solo rerun hours after dropping the baton in the preliminaries and getting a second chance on protest, won Friday’s final in 41.01 seconds.
A Jamaican team containing Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, was second in 41.36. Britain won bronze in a national record 41.77.
The 30-year-old Felix entered the games as one of six women with four Olympic gold medals in track and field. .
__
10 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Vivian Cheruiyot set an Olympic record to win gold in the 5,000 meters, coming from behind to beat favorite Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia.
Cheruiyot went past Ayana with less than two laps to go and could not be caught as she finished in 14 minutes 26.17 seconds. Hellen Obiri of Kenya took silver 3.60 second behind.
Ayana, the 10,000 Olympic champion, finished in third in 14:33.59.
___
9:55 p.m.
UPSET ALERT: Jenn Suhr, the gold medalist at the London Olympics, is out of medal contention in the women’s pole vault after failing to clear 4.70 meters. There were still six vaulters in the competition.
The 34-year-old American had been sick and was “coughing up blood,” her husband/coach Rick Suhr said before Friday’s final.
___
9:40 p.m.
American swimmer Gunnar Bentz is back home, and he says he never lied about being robbed while out with teammates on the final night of Olympic swimming.
In a statement released late Friday, he says he never saw anyone break down a bathroom door, and that the swimmers relieved themselves on nearby bushes after a night out.
He says teammate Ryan Lochte tore a sign down from the building, and then the four returned to their taxi.
He says they were ordered out of the cab by security guards and ultimately forced, with guns drawn, to sit on a nearby sidewalk. He says then, Lochte got up and yelled at the guards.
A translator assisted and told them they needed to pay money to leave, Bentz says. He and teammate Jimmy Feigen paid about $50 in total, and he says the guns were lowered and they were allowed to leave.
Bentz also says there were additional video angles that support his account that may not have been released.
___
9:40 p.m.
Javon Francis overtook David Verburg just before the finish to give Jamaica first spot in the first of the men’s 4×400-meter relay preliminaries at 2 minutes, 58.29 seconds, 0.09 ahead of the American team, which led most of the race.
Britain won the second heat in 2:58.88, holding off the Belgian team, which set a national record 2:59.25 to advance with the fourth-fastest time.
The men’s final will be the last track event in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
___
9:35 p.m.
Allyson Felix may get another chance at an Olympic gold medal, regardless of what happens in the 4×100-meter relay final, after the United States qualified fastest for Saturday’s 4×400 relay final.
Phyllis Francis anchored the 4×400 relay in the first of two preliminaries Friday night and finished 20 meters clear of second-place Ukraine in a season-best 3:21.42. Poland and Australia were third and fourth to reach the final.
Jamaica won the second 4×400 qualifying heat in 3:22.38, followed by Britain and Canada.
World champion Felix placed second in the 400, missing a record fifth Olympic gold medal. She did not run in the 4×400 preliminaries – which were scheduled less than two hours before the 4×100 final – but would be an obvious contender for a spot in the U.S. team for the 4×400 final.
After the race, Francis played it coy when asked if Felix would the run the final, saying she’d leave the final lineup a mystery. One problem – Felix already has said she’d run.
___
9:10 p.m.
American swimmer James Feigen is on his way home from Brazil.
The U.S. Olympic Committee says Feigen is on a flight that left Rio de Janeiro on Friday night.
Feigen is the last of the four U.S. swimmers involved in a highly-publicized incident at a Rio gas station to leave the country.
Earlier this week, a judge ordered Feigen’s passport be seized while police investigated what swimmer Ryan Lochte initially described as an armed robbery.
Police said the robbery story was fabricated and that the swimmers vandalized a gas station bathroom early Sunday after a night of partying.
Before he was allowed to leave, Feigen agreed to pay $10,800 to a Brazilian charity.
___
9:05 p.m.
Milos Teodosic scored 22 points as Serbia, which pushed the star-studded U.S. team to the final seconds before losing earlier in the Rio Games, moved into the Olympic gold-medal game against the Americans with a shockingly easy 87-61 semifinal win over Australia on Friday.
Stefan Markovic scored 14 and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets had 11 rebounds for the Serbs, who will get another crack at the U.S. on Sunday. The two-time defending titlists held off Spain 82-76 to advance.
Serbia’s win guaranteed its first Olympic medal in men’s basketball since gaining independence in 2006.
The Aussies, too, were hoping to play the U.S. again, but they scored just 5 points in the first quarter and will have to beat Spain for their first Top 3 finish.
With five NBA players, Australia brought its most talented team ever to Brazil. But the Aussies couldn’t overcome their horrendous start.
___
9:05 p.m.
Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh have won gold medals together for Britain’s women’s field hockey team.
Helen scored the first goal in the shootout, a penalty stroke that helped Britain beat the Netherlands on Friday night in a match that was tied 3-all at the end of regulation.
Kate said she felt good about her wife’s chances on the penalty, saying that “the more the crowd booed, the more Helen was going to score.”
She added that “to win an Olympic medal is special. To win an Olympic medal with your wife there next to you, taking a penalty in the pressure moments is so special, and we will cherish this for the rest of our lives.”
___
8 p.m.
Brazilian prosecutors made a last-ditch effort to increase the amount of money that American swimmer James Feigen pays before he leaves the country.
In a statement late Friday, prosecutors said they would appeal a judge’s ruling that Feigen pay about $10,800 to a charity and ask that he pay $47,000 instead.
But Feigen was already at the airport.
The fine dispute is largely a moot question. Feigen will be out of Brazil long before a decision on the appeal is made. If prosecutors win, Feigen would have to pay the fine if he ever wanted to return to Brazil.
Earlier this week, a judge had ordered the passport seized while police investigated what swimmer Ryan Lochte had said was an armed robbery.
Police have said that the robbery story was fabricated. Police have said that Lochte, Feigen and two other swimmers vandalized a gas station bathroom early Sunday after a night of partying and were confronted by armed guards.
___
7:40 p.m.
Tom Daley of Britain is the leading qualifier after the men’s 10-meter platform diving preliminaries.
He totaled 474.65 points over six rounds Friday night, getting a perfect 10 for his fifth dive, a forward reverse 3 ½ somersault. Daley earned bronze four years ago in London.
Qui Bo of China is second at 464.85. He was the silver medalist in London. Qui’s teammate, Chen Aisen, finished third at 448.15.
Defending Olympic champion David Boudia of the United States was fourth at 410.15.
Among the men moving on was American Steele Johnson, who grabbed the 18th and last spot for Saturday’s semifinals.
___
7:25 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Germany has defeated Sweden 2-1 to win the women’s soccer gold medal for the first time.
Germany opened the scoring with a goal by Dzsenifer Marozsan in the 48th minute and added to the lead with an own goal by Swedish defender Linda Sembrant in the 62nd.
Sweden pulled one closer with Stina Blackstenius in the 67th but was not able to get the equalizer despite some good late chances at the Maracana Stadium.
A two-time World Cup champion, Germany had previously won three bronze medals. It was playing in the Olympic final for the first time.
Sweden has won its first silver in women’s soccer. It had never been on the podium.
___
7:20 p.m.
A Brazilian court says that the passport of American swimmer James Feigen has been returned after he made a payment of approximately $10,800 for falsely reporting a crime.
A court statement late Friday said the fine had been paid and the passport returned, meaning that Feigen is free to leave the country.
A judge had ordered the passport be seized earlier this week while police investigated what swimmer Ryan Lochte had said was an armed robbery.
Police have said that the robbery story was fabricated. Police have said that Lochte, Feigen and two other swimmers vandalized a gas station bathroom early Sunday after a night of partying and were confronted by armed guards.
___
6:55 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT-UPSET: Britain stunned the top-ranked Netherlands in a shootout to win its first-ever gold medal in women’s field hockey.
The Netherlands was trying to become the first nation to win three consecutive gold medals on the women’s side Friday night.
The score was tied 3-all at the end of regulation, during which the Netherlands outshot Britain 17-7.
Britain’s Helen Richardson-Walsh scored a penalty stroke in the shootout, then Hollie Webb scored the winner. Britain goalie Maddie Hinch did not allow a goal in the shootout.
___
6:50 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Iran’s Hassan Yazdani scored a takedown in the final 10 seconds to win the gold medal in men’s 74-kilogram freestyle wrestling.
Yazdani was down 6-2 at one point to Russian Aniuar Geduev, who earlier Friday upset American favorite Jordan Burroughs.
But Yazdani rallied despite continued stops so the Russian could adjust the bandages covering up his bloody head, exposing Geduev on his last move to win 6-6 on criteria.
___
6:45 p.m.
Australia’s Chloe Esposito has captured gold in women’s pentathlon with an Olympic record of 1,372 points.
Esposito started the running/shooting combination final in fourth, but ran past her competitors with a strong push.
France’s Elodie Clouvel captured silver with 1,356 points and Poland’s Oktawia Nowacka earned bronze after leading through the equestrian event.
Esposito was seventh after swimming, sixth through fencing and moved up to fourth with a solid ride in equestrian. Her father competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and her brother, Max, is a member of the Australian men’s pentathlon team.
___
6:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Australia’s Chloe Esposito has captured gold in women’s pentathlon after starting the final segment fourth.
(Corrects item to show Esposito started the final segment fourth.)
___
6:25 p.m.
Germany and Sweden were tied 0-0 at halftime of the women’s soccer final at the Maracana Stadium.
Both teams had a few good chances to score but couldn’t capitalize.
It is the first Olympic final for both teams. It also is the first all-European final since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996.
Germany has won the bronze medal three times, in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. Sweden has never been on the podium.
___
6:20 p.m.
South Korea will have another chance for a gold medal in taekwondo – the sport it created – when Oh Hyeri fights in the women’s 67-kilogram final Friday night.
Oh, ranked sixth, will face France’s number one Haby Niare, who won a bronze at the European championships in May. South Korea’s Kim So-Hui won the women’s 49-kilogram division in taekwondo Wednesday.
The gold in the men’s 80-kilogram division will be contested by Britain’s fifth-ranked Lutalo Muhammad and Cote d’Ivoire’s Cheick Sallah Cisse, who won the African Championships and is seeded third.
Muhammad previously won a bronze at the London Games and beat taekwondo’s most decorated athlete, American Steven Lopez in the quarterfinals.
Leading medal contender Aaron Cook, who was born and raised in the U.K. but fights for Moldova, was eliminated in the first round. Top-seeded Mahdi Khodabakhshi also was knocked out in the quarterfinals.
___
5:55 p.m.
The International Olympic Committee has set up a disciplinary commission to investigate the incident involving Ryan Lochte and three of his U.S. swimming teammates at a Rio de Janeiro gas station.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams tells The Associated Press the panel was formed Friday to look into the behavior of Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen.
Adams had no other immediate details.
IOC disciplinary commissions have the power to issue sanctions.
Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, apologized Friday for his behavior surrounding the early-morning incident. He reiterated his view that a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money to let him leave the station.
Lochte had called it a gunpoint robbery; Brazilian police said he and the three other swimmers vandalized a bathroom while intoxicated and were confronted by armed security guards.
___
5:50 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Georgia wrestler Vladimer Khinchegashvili has won the 57-kilogram gold medal in the men’s freestyle tournament.
Khinchegashvili scored the final point to beat Japan’s Rei Higuchi 3-3 on criteria on Saturday.
Khinchegashvili, who won silver at the London Games four years ago, is just the third Georgian to win Olympic gold. He also won the world title last year.
___
5:35 p.m.
The U.S. men’s basketball team has advanced to its third-straight Olympic gold-medal game, beating Spain 82-76 on Friday.
Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the Americans, who will play Australia or Serbia on Sunday for their third-consecutive Olympic title.
The U.S. was just good enough again against Spain, winning a much different game than the all-offense matchups that decided the last two gold-medal games. This one featured several technical fouls and neither team got into an offensive flow. It was the lowest-scoring game for the Americans in the Olympics since the 2004 semifinals, when they managed 81 in a loss to Argentina.
Kevin Durant added 14 points and Kyrie Irving had 13 for the U.S.
Pau Gasol scored 23 points for Spain, which made it tough on the Americans for the third straight Olympics, but again had to settle for coming close against the world’s No. 1 team.
___
5:25 p.m.
Three Russian athletes, including a silver medalist in a track relay race, have been retroactively disqualified from the 2008 Beijing Olympics after they tested positive in rechecks of their doping samples.
The International Olympic Committee says Anastasia Kapachinskaya has been stripped of the silver in the women’s 4×400 relay, along with her Russian teammates. Jamaica stands to move up from third to silver and Belarus from fourth to bronze.
The IOC says Kapachinskaya tested positive for the steroids stanozolol and turinabol. She also was disqualified from her fifth-place finish in the individual 400 meters.
Alexander Pogorelov tested positive for turinabol, and his fourth-place finish in the decathlon was annulled.
Ivan Yushkov, who finished 10th in the shot put, tested positive for stanozolol, turinabol and oxandrolone.
The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years so they can retested when improved methods become available. The three cases announced Friday were among 98 positive tests recorded in reanalysis of samples from Beijing and the 2012 London Games.
___
5:25 p.m.
Poland’s Oktawia Nowacka has retained her lead through the equestrian portion of women’s modern pentathlon.
Nowacka took the lead after winning the knock-out fencing portion and remained there with a solid ride on a course that had been giving riders trouble. She has 847 points and France’s Elodie Clouvet is second with 835.
Canada’s Melanie McCann is third with 818 points heading into the final event, a combination of running and shooting.
___
5:20 p.m.
France left it to the last second, but beat Germany 29-28 to qualify for the gold medal game in Olympic men’s handball Friday.
European champion Germany came from seven goals down to tie the score at 28-28, but in the last second Daniel Narcisse scored for Olympic and world champion France with a low shot to take the win.
That sparked wild celebrations from the French players, who will chase a record third consecutive gold medal when they face either Poland or Denmark in Sunday’s final.
Narcisse led France with seven goals, while Uwe Gensheimer had 11 for the Germans. Goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer was a key player on the French team, making 12 saves off 39 shots.
___
5:15 p.m.
Claressa Shields is one win away from her second Olympic boxing gold medal, and the American middleweight is making it look easy.
Shields won a unanimous decision over Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova on Friday, dominating the scorecards while punching circles around another overmatched opponent.
Shields hasn’t lost a fight since before the London Olympics, where she was the surprise gold medalist. Four years later, the gap between Shields and the other middleweights is still larger than in any division of the Rio field – and even Shields knows it.
She says she showed that she “was the better, stronger and more skilled fighter.”
Shields faces the Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontijn on Sunday for her second gold in a rematch of May’s world championship final, won unanimously by Shields.
___
4:50 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: The U.S. women’s water polo team is golden again.
Ashleigh Johnson made nine saves and Kiley Neushul scored three times, helping the United States beat Italy 12-5 in the Olympic final. The Americans stretched their win streak to 22 games with their sixth victory in Rio by a combined score of 73-32.
The U.S. also won gold in London in 2012. It’s the only two-time winner since the tournament was added to the Games in 2000.
Federica Radicchi scored two goals for Italy, which also won its first five games in Rio.
Russia captured the bronze with a wild 19-18 win over Hungary in penalty shots.
In another Olympics dominated by U.S. women, Maggie Steffens and company shined brightly. The water polo team currently holds each of the major titles in the sport, adding a second Olympic gold to its world championship, World Cup and World League Super Final titles.
___
4:40 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: French fighter Estelle Mossely has defeated China’s Junhua Lin to win the lightweight gold medal.
Mossely celebrated her 24th birthday in style, winning a split decision to take gold. Each fighter won a scorecard 39-37 and one was scored 38-38. The Puerto Rican judge, who scored it a tie, got to choose the winner and she picked Mossely.
She has plenty to celebrate on the biggest day of her career. French fighter Tony Yoka, her boyfriend, won his super heavyweight fight earlier in the day.
Mossely jumped into his arms for a big hug. He dropped her off outside the ring, and she took a victory lap with the French flag fluttering behind her like a cape.
__
4:35 p.m.
Inbee Park of South Korea has a two-shot lead going into the final round at Olympic Golf Course.
But it wasn’t easy in gusts that reached 30 mph. And she now has to cope with the No. 1 player in women’s golf – Lydia Ko – for the gold medal.
Park made three bogeys on the back nine and shot a 1-under 70.
Ko raced into contention with her first hole-in-one, and the Kiwi made all pars in the wind on the back nine for a 65. She was two shots behind along with Gerina Piller, the American who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. Piller shot a 68.
Even though Piller hasn’t won, her most famous moment was last year in Germany when she made the winning point at the Solheim Cup. She says playing for the flag brings out the best in her.
Park was at 11-under 202.
___
4:15 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Lui Hong of China made her move about 100 meters from the finish line, edging Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez of Mexico for the gold medal in the women’s 20-kilometer race walk Friday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Hong finished in one hour, 28 minutes, 35 seconds, two seconds ahead of Gonzalez and seven seconds ahead of bronze medalist Lu Xiuzki of China.
___
4:15 p.m.
The Italians have ended the gold-medal aspirations for the U.S. men’s volleyball team in a second straight Olympics.
Italy won 30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9. The Italians closed it out and players fell to the floor in joy, piling on each other.
David Lee brought his American teammates into a huddle and embrace, then Matt Anderson and Taylor Sander clapped to the crowd in appreciation as the U.S. players waited at the net to shake hands after this memorable one.
In the fifth, Osmany Juantorena served an ace for 12-8 and Aaron Russell let a ball drop in for 13-9 as Max Holt covered his face with his uniform shirt.
After an embarrassing fourth set flop, Italy forced a deciding fifth set by closing out the fourth on a 6-0 run – getting three straight aces by Ivan Zaytsev, including the second-to-last point that was initially called long but overturned on review for set point.
The Italians will face either defending champion Russia or host Brazil in Sunday afternoon’s championship, to be determined from the late Friday semifinal. The Americans will play for bronze, just like the top-ranked U.S. women after their stunning five-set defeat to Serbia a day earlier.
___
4:15 p.m.
A Cuban modern pentathlon athlete has been strapped to a stretcher and carted off after being thrown from her horse into a post.
Leyda Laura Moya was injured early in her equestrian run Friday when her horse failed to clear a jump and she crashed into the supports.
The 24-year-old appeared to be gasping for air as medical personnel raced onto the course. Moya lay on the course for several minutes as medics stabilized her and strapped her to a stretcher.
Moya managed to wave from the cart as the crowd clapped for her on the way out of Deodoro Stadium.
____
4:15 p.m.
American boxer Claressa Shields is one win away from a second gold medal.
Shields danced her way out of the ring following a unanimous decision victory over Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova in a middleweight bout.
She won 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 on the scorecards on Friday.
Shields will add to her tattoo collection with a win in the gold medal bout. She has the Olympic rings tattooed on her right bicep. “Rio” and “London” are inscribed within the bottom two loops.
She said she would get an “Au” tattoo because those letters on the periodic table stands for gold.
The 21-year-old Flint, Michigan native hasn’t lost a fight since the London Games, winning two world championships and a Pan-Am Games title between Olympics.
___
3:35 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: The United States has ended its gold medal drought in BMX cycling after Connor Fields took the men’s final.
Fields won with a time of 34.622 seconds, beating the Netherlands’ Jelle van Gorkom by .684 seconds. It’s the first time that Team USA has won BMX since the American-born action sport became an Olympic medal event in 2008. The United States also returned to the podium after getting shut out in 2012 in London.
There was a photo finish for third, with Carlos Ramirez Yepes of Colombia just edging out the United States’ Nic Long for the bronze.
On the women’s side, Colombia’s Mariana Pajon successful defended her gold medal. The fan favorite in Rio raced to the front early and completed the nearly quarter mile-long course filled with bumps and twists in 34.093 seconds, .342 seconds faster than silver medalist Alise Post of the United States.
Stefany Hernandez of Venezuela won the bronze. France’s Manon Valentino was taken off a stretcher after crossing the finish line, appearing to favor her left side.
___
3:30 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Nick Skelton has won Great Britain’s first gold medal in individual jumping after a six-person jump-off.
The 58-year-old Skelton also won a gold medal in the 2012 London Games in the team event. He turned in his third clean round of the day on Big Star to hold off the event’s past two gold medalists. Skelton went first and finished the jump-off round Friday afternoon with a time of 42.82 seconds.
Peder Fredricson of Sweden won the silver medal with a clean ride but finished the Olympic Equestrian Course in 43.35 seconds.
Eric Lamaze of Canada took bronze. The 2008 gold medalist caught a post late in his round but finished in 42.09 to earn a medal.
Defending champ Steve Guerdat of Switzerland finished fourth followed by Kent Harrington of the U.S. and Sheik Ali Al Thani of Qatar.
___
3:15 p.m.
Women’s British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand has withdrawn from the Olympic women’s golf tournament with a left knee injury.
Jutanugarn opened with a 65 and was the leader after the first round. She was five shots off the lead after the second round, but says her knee began to feel tight as she was hitting balls Thursday night. She was 12-over par through 13 holes in the third round when she stopped playing.
Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko are the only four-time winners on the LPGA Tour this year.
___
3:15 p.m.
Poland’s Oktawia Nowacka leads after two of five events in the Olympic women’s modern pentathlon.
Nowacka was the top seed into the bonus round of fencing and won her lone match, defeating Germany’s Lena Schoneborn in the one-touch final.
Nowacka has 554 points and France’s Elodie Clouvel is second with 524.
Russia’s Gulnaz Gubaydullina broke the women’s pentathlon Olympic swimming record in the opening event, bur dropped to 32nd overall after losing her first fencing match.
___
3 p.m.
MEDAL ALERT: Christine Sinclair scored in her 250th international match and Canada returned to the Olympic podium with a 2-1 victory over hosts Brazil for the women’s soccer bronze medal.
It was the second straight bronze for the Canadians, who medaled for the first time at the London Games four years ago.
Seventeen-year-old Deanne Rose scored Friday in the 25th minute for Canada, becoming the youngest woman to score in the Olympics.
Sinclair added her 11th career Olympic goal in the 52nd. She now ranks second among all-time Olympic scorers, behind Brazil’s Cristiane, who has 14.
Brazil avoided the shutout with a left-footed strike by Beatriz in the 79th minute.
___
3 p.m.
FAILED TO QUALIFY: Australian medal favorite Caroline Buchanan is out of the BMX competition at the Summer Olympics.
She slipped on her bike going around the first turn of her final heat of the semifinals on Friday. Buchanan was ranked second in the world behind Colombia’s Mariana Pajon.
Meanwhile, defending gold medalist Mariana Pajon of Colombia is moving on to the BMX women’s final.
Pajon won all three of her semifinal heats to easily advance in front of a friendly crowd. Many cheering fans in the stands wore Team Colombia shirts or waved the country’s yellow, blue and red flag.
On the men’s side, Australia’s Sam Willoughby and Anthony Dean won each of their three semifinal heats to move on to the medal race later Friday. Four of five U.S. riders also advanced, two each in the men’s and women’s brackets.
The United States is trying to return to the medal stand after missing the podium four years ago in London in the American-born action sport.
___
3 p.m.
American Kent Farrington has turned in his second clear ride of the day, moving the Olympic newcomer into a six-way jump-off for medals in individual jumping.
Farrington joins Ben Skelton, who is looking for Great Britain’s first individual gold in this event, along with defending champ Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, Canada’s Eric Lamaze, Peder Fredricson of Sweden and Sheik Ali Al Thani of Qatar.
Al Thani has royal cheerleaders on hand cheering him on.
Farrington helped the U.S. earn a silver medal in team jumping on Wednesday. He was among 13 to turn in clear rounds in the morning, a number that dropped to six in the afternoon with a difficult course featuring a triple-combination jump that caused trouble for many other riders.
This is the final event of equestrian for the Rio Games.
