RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The United States Olympic swimming team continues to demonstrate that it’s more than just Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps.
Ryan Murphy provided the U.S. with its fourth gold medal of the Games by winning the men’s 100-meter backstroke. Murphy was fourth at the turn before giving the Americans their sixth straight gold medal in the event.
Thirty-year-old David Plummer took the bronze in the event.
Lilly King held off a late-charging Yulia Efimova to win the 100-meter breaststroke. King finished more than a half-second ahead of Efimova, who was booed before the final. American Catherine Meili earned the bronze.
It was an especially sweet victory for King after Efimova taunted her following Sunday’s semifinals. Efimova has been banned in the past for doping but was cleared to compete in Rio just last Saturday in the wake of state-sponsored doping in Russia. When Efimova waved a finger after her semifinal in the backstroke, King returned the favor and said, “if that’s what she feels she needs to be able to compete, whatever, I am here to compete clean for the U.S.”
American Kathleen Baker claimed silver in the water. Baker was second to Katinka Hosszu of Hungary in the women’s 100-meter backstroke.
Conor Dwyer came away with bronze in the men’s 200 freestyle, an event won by China’s Sun Yang. It’s the first Olympic medal for Dwyer.
Also in the pool, Ledecky has reached the final of the 200 free, winning her preliminary heat and finishing second to Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in the semifinals. Ledecky and Sjostrom were coming off world record-setting victories on Sunday. Ledecky shattered her own world record in the 400 free last night, winning the race by almost five seconds. Sjostrom turned in a world-record performance in the 100 butterfly, touching in 55.48.
Missy Franklin has failed to qualify for the final of the women’s 200-meter freestyle, finishing last in her semifinal heat and 13th of 16 overall.
King’s victory gives the U.S. five gold medals, tying China for first. The Americans lead the medal count with 19, six more than the Chinese.
In other Olympic action:
– The American men’s basketball team has followed Saturday’s 57-point win over China with a 113-69 rout of Venezuela. Kevin Durant scored 16 points and Carmelo Anthony 14 as the U.S. improved to 2-0 heading into Wednesday’s game against Australia. The game was tied until the United States outscored the Venezuelans 30-8 in the second quarter.
– The U.S. women’s basketball team is 2-0 after Diana Taurasi scored 13 points and Elena Delle Donne added 12 in a 103-63 pounding of Spain. The victory was the 43rd consecutive for the five-time defending champions, who trailed 8-6 before closing the first quarter on a 23-6 run. The U.S. has scored 100 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since the 2004 Olympics.
– Serena Williams is on to the third round in women’s tennis as she seeks a second consecutive singles gold medal. The top-ranked Williams committed 36 unforced errors, was broken four times and showed fits of anger before pulling out a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Alize Cornet of France. Williams fought off a pair of set points at 4-5 against Cornet, who had won four of their previous seven matches.
– American tennis player Madison Keys won her second-round match by downing Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. Other second-round winners include Germany’s Angelique Kerber, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
– China’s Chen Aisen and Lin Yue totaled 496.98 points in claiming diving gold in the men’s 10-meter synchronized event. American teammates David Boudia and Steele Johnson took silver at 457.11, almost 40 points behind the Chinese duo.
– The top-ranked U.S. women’s volleyball team had to work hard before knocking off the Netherlands 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8. The Americans were able to improve to 2-0 by rallying from their two-sets-to-one deficit after the Dutch captain had to be helped off midway through the fourth set with a right ankle injury.
– The U.S. women’s field hockey team beat Australia 2-1 to improve to 2-0. The fifth-ranked Americans lead Pool B with six points and moved closer to qualifying for the quarterfinals. The top four teams in each six-team pool advance.
– The American water polo team lost to Spain 10-9, and the U.S. women’s rugby squad beat France 19-5 in the fifth-place game
– The U.S. women’s rowers made a strong debut in Rio and qualified for Saturday’s final in 6 minutes, 6.34 seconds, a whopping eight seconds ahead of the Netherlands.
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