Hot favourites the United States won Olympic men’s basketball gold by outgunning Spain 118-107 in a final of hard fouls and flying elbows. The American players whooped with joy at the final buzzer before forming a huddle and dancing around the centre circle as chants of “USA, USA” erupted from the crowd of 18,000.
Gli Stati Uniti tornano a vincere l’oro, che mancava da Sydney 2000. Contro i campioni del mondo finisce 118-107. Partita stupenda: interpreti strepitosi Wade e Fernandez, ma i canestri decisivi sono di Bryant.
The Americans will take on Spain in Sunday’s gold medal showdown, a team they blew out in the group stages of the Beijing Games. Spain defeated Lithuania 91-86 in the other semi-final.
Ventiquattro anni dopo i Giochi di Los Angeles la Spagna torna in una finale olimpica. Batte la Lituania 91-86 (40-42) in una gara tirata per 40’ ma bella solo nell’ultimo quarto, quando Rudy Fernandez firma l’8-0 spagnolo che decide la gara (81-74), sull’abbrivio positivo dato da Felipe Reyes.
Fernando Torres teed up Liverpool team mate Xabi Alonso to put the reigning European Champions one-up five minutes after the break against Denmark. Xavi scored the second with a lovely curling right-footed effort and on the stroke of full-time Xabi Alonso scored his second of the night following a lightning move culminating in a Capel cross and the Liverpool midfielder finished well.
Rafael Nadal of Spain added an Olympic tennis gold to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he has won this year, powering to a 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in the men’s singles. Nadal was simply red hot in the first set but got lucky in the second when Gonzalez, who stood toe-to-toe with the 22-year-old tyro, fluffed an easy backhand volley on set point. The ruthless Nadal needed no second invitation and moved in for the kill as Gonzalez began to buckle. Gonzalez gamely hung on at 2-5 in the third set, saving three match points, but it was only delaying the inevitable and Nadal converted his fourth chance in the next game.
Lo spagnolo Rafael Nadal batte il cileno Gonzales in tre set e conferma il suo periodo d’oro, dopo i successi al Roland Garros e a Wimbledon. Nel singolare femminile trionfa la Dementieva sulla Safina, terza la Zvonareva. Va alle sorelle Williams il torneo di doppio
A US team of NBA All Stars made easy work out of defeating Spain in a 119-82 victory as the reigning world champions suffered their first defeat in the Beijing Olympic basketball tournament. This victory left the United States one win away from topping Group B, something they will achieve if they beat Germany next week. The Americans used their signature blanket defense and a high powered offense to put the game away early in the second quarter, going up by 20 points with a balanced attack based on an array of fast break dunks and savvy outside shooting.
Gli americani danno una lezione di basket ai campioni del mondo imponendosi 119-82, ma allungando sul 56-36 prima del riposo lungo. Grande difesa e contropiede spettacolari le armi vincenti dei ragazzi di coach Krzyzewski. Punito l’atteggiamento da fenomeni degli iberici.
World champions Spain nearly paid a heavy price for over-confidence, needing a dramatic fourth-quarter rally against China before escaping with an 85-75 over-time Olympic victory over the hosts. Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol scored nine of his 29 points in the extra five-minute period to give Spain the victory after the team with half a dozen National Basketball Association players fell behind 61-47 after three quarters.
Pau Gasol batte Yao Ming e la Cina butta via l’occasione della vita contro la Spagna campione del Mondo. Che commette l’errore più stupido contro la squadra di casa: pensare di poter vincere facile e non difendere. Tirare è l’unica cosa che i cinesi sanno fare decisamente meglio di tutti gli altri, e senza grande pressione si trovano ad un passo dal miracolo.
Spanish climber Samuel Sanchez claimed his biggest ever career win when he claimed gold in the men’s gruelling Olympic road race, held over 245km. Italian Davide Rebellin finished a close second to take the silver medal with Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara placing third to take the bronze. Pre-race favourite and reigning champion Paolo Bettini of Italy was left trailing after a decisive attack on the final climb by Australian Cadel Evans. That move also dropped his fellow favourite Alejandro Valverde of Spain, and ultimately led to a six-man finish after a tough 6hr 23min 49sec of racing in 26 degrees celsius and 90 percent humidity.
Samuel Sanchez campione olimpico nel ciclismo su strada. Oro alla Spagna, che in questo 2008 indimenticabile ha vinto il Giro (Contador), il Tour (Sastre), molte classiche (Valverde e Freire), per non parlare delle altre discipline. L’argento è per l’Italia, appeso al collo di Davide Rebellin, straordinario e come spesso gli è accaduto, perfetto fino a un metro dal traguardo. Terzo posto per Fabian Cancellara, che ai Giochi era arrivato per puntare forte sulla prova a cronometro e invece ha rischiato di chiudere in trionfo una rimonta travolgente negli ultimi 5 chilometri (sarà bronzo sul podio di Pechino). Bettini, fuori dalla lotta per il primo posto.
