Not enough lift for Hamman
Shane Hamman proved once again last night that he's the strongest man in America, adding to his legacy by breaking two of his US records.
But he came away from the Olympic super heavyweight lifting finals in awe of Iran's Hossein Rezazadeh, who proved once again that he's the strongest man in the world -- by far.
Rezazadeh took the lead on his second lift and was guaranteed gold after his fourth. After his only miss, he came back with a 581-pound (263.5 kg) clean and jerk, setting a world record and matching the record total lift of 1,041.7 pounds (472.5 kg) he set four years ago in Sydney.
"He is intimidating to some of the guys," said Hamman. "You see how easily he stands up with the bar. Even people who aren't lifters can see it."
Silver medalist Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia was a whopping 38.6 pounds (17.5 kg) behind Rezazadeh. Velichko Cholakov of Bulgaria won the bronze.
Although Hamman improved three spots on his 2000 Olympics, he was mildly disappointed because he came in eyeing a medal. Pulling off a clean and jerk of 523.6 pounds (237.5 kg) and a total lift of 948 pounds (430 kg) provided some consolation.
Women's triathlon Kate Allen of Austria passed half of the field during the final leg of the swim-cycle-run endurance test, finishing in 2 hours 4 minutes 43.45 seconds.
Closer to the rear of the pack than the front for most of the race, she passed everyone during the closing 10-kilometer run, including leader Loretta Harrop of Australia only a few strides before the finish.
"I was to hoping to run into a top 10," Allen said after winning by 6.72 seconds. "It wasn't until the last 200 meters that I actually saw it was possible."
Susan Williams, the last American to qualify for the race over the summer, won the bronze despite crashing early in the cycling leg. US teammates Barb Lindquist, ranked No. 1 in the world, finished ninth.
"It's an incredible feeling," Williams said. "I wasn't supposed to be on the team, and to come away with a medal is just wonderful. It was the race of my life."
Synchronized swimming Americans Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova earned a bronze in the duet final, finishing behind the Russians and Japanese.
Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova won the gold with 99.334 points. Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda took silver with 98.417.
Men's beach volleyball Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, the world's top-ranked team, overpowered Spain's Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera, 21-16, 21-15, capturing a gold medal.
The Brazilians jumped to a 5-2 lead in the first set and never trailed, with Santos hammering spikes and Rego drilling well-placed jump serves from the start. The Brazilians looked even more powerful in the second set, opening a 9-3 lead.
Earlier, the Swiss pair of Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel won the bronze by beating Australians Julien Prosser and Mark Williams, 19-21, 21-17, 15-13.
Equestrian Debbie McDonald, of Hailey, Idaho, missed a chance to medal in individual dressage after a few early mistakes on her horse Brentina and ended up with a fourth-place finish.
Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands and Salinero won a gold medal in the musical freestyle program. Ulla Salzgeber of Germany had been leading to that point on Rusty, but wound up getting silver.
Robert Dover of Wellington, Fla., was sixth on Kennedy.
Cycling Russia's Olga Slyusareva added an Olympic gold medal to her collection of world championships, easily winning the points race.
The only American in the race, Erin Mirabella of Chula Vista, Calif., was fourth with 9 points. In the men's Keirin final, Australia's Ryan Bayley won to become the only cyclist to win two individual gold medals at the Athens Games. Bayley, 22, held off Spain's Jose Escuredo in a sprint to the finish. Marty Nothstein failed to advance out of the first round, losing his bid to become the first American cyclist to win individual medals in three consecutive Olympics.
In the Madison contest, Australian duo Graeme Brown and Stuart O'Grady won the gold medal, giving their country its eighth cycling medal in Athens.
Women's diving Kimiko Soldati battled countless injuries -- four shoulder operations and two knee surgeries -- to finally qualify for her first Olympics at age 30, but she didn't hang around long. The American was eliminated in the preliminaries of 3-meter springboard diving.
Yulia Pakhalina of Russia had the top score, beating out Canada's Blythe Hartley and China's Guo Jingjing. Soldati wasn't even close, winding up in 21st place. The other American did get through. Rachelle Kunkel advanced to the semifinals with a 12th-place showing.Canoe-kayak Atlanta Olympic champion Martin Doktor of the Czech Republic won his semifinal race and will get a chance to regain his flatwater canoe crown from the man who took it from him in Sydney, defending gold medalist and three-time defending world champion Andreas Dittmer of Germany.
No US boat has made the finals yet, but the team still has boats scheduled for semifinal races today.
Men's water polo Revaz Chomakhidze scored three first-half goals, and Russia overpowered Germany to set up a semifinal against defending champion Hungary.
Men's field hockey Australia and the Netherlands advanced to the final of the men's tournament, with the Aussies overcoming Spain, 6-3, and the Dutch defeating Germany, 3-2.
