MEN'S SOCCER

Brazil wins 1st gold

Brazil's trophy case is finally complete. The five-time World Cup champion won the only championship it was still missing on Saturday, defeating Germany 5-4 in a penalty shootout and winning a soccer gold medal for the first time. Neymar scored with a superb free kick in regulation and converted the decisive penalty in the shootout after Brazilian goalkeeper Weverton stopped Nils Petersen's shot. It was the crowning achievement of the 2016 Olympics for Brazil, restoring some of the nation's soccer pride after a series of disappointing results. Neymar fell to the field sobbing after he was mobbed by his teammates as the crowd at iconic Maracana Stadium roared. Germany, playing with a young team that looked nothing like the World Cup-winning squad, made it hard for Brazil, hitting the crossbar three times in the first half and sending the game into extra time after a 59th minute equalizer by captain Maximilian Meyer. The men's soccer tournament attracted most of the attention of Brazilian fans at the Olympics. The Brazilian football federation took the Olympic tournament as seriously as ever, bringing Neymar and many talented youngsters that are expected to be in the main squad in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Brazil had lost three Olympic finals, including four years ago in London, when it was upset by Mexico 2-1 with a team that also included Neymar and other talented players. Brazil won the bronze two times. Neymar, who skipped the Copa America to try to give the hosts the Olympic gold, avoided joining a long list stars who failed to win the gold for Brazil, including Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

U.S. takes bronze

Karch Kiraly's top-ranked U.S. women's volleyball team has earned an Olympic bronze medal, hardly the color the Americans planned for when they came to Brazil chasing the program's first gold in history. The U.S. topped the Netherlands 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19 Saturday, bouncing back for bronze two days after a heartbreaking five-set defeat to Serbia in the semifinals. After Kim Hill's ace on match point, the U.S. women fell into an embrace and Kiraly hugged his coaches and brought his team together for a cheer. The Netherlands shined playing in its first Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta, where they finished fourth and surprised many as the Dutch put women's volleyball on the map with their gutsy, never-give-up style.

MEN'S WRESTLING

Cox wins bronze

J'den Cox became the seventh University of Missouri athlete to capture a medal in Olympic history. Cox officially won by disqualification Saturday after Cuba's Reineris Salas Perez refused to wrestle the final 6 seconds after a series of challenges in their 86-kilogram freestyle wrestling bronze medal match at Carioca Arena. Leading 1-0, Cox was hit with a pair of passivity warnings and put on the 30-second shot clock late in the second period. He had to score or concede the match-tying point, which also would have handed Salas Perez the tiebreaking criteria. Cox scrambled near the end of the shot clock and appeared to secure control for a late takedown, but no points were awarded. USA Wrestling's coaches challenged and Cox was awarded two points after a video review for a 3-1 lead with only a handful of seconds remaining in the 6-minute match. An irate Cuba coach ran to the scorer's table to protest the decision as Salas Perez paced and, ultimately, tried to walk off the mat when his corner's challenge was refused. In the end, Salas Perez never wrestled the final 6 seconds. Cox's hand subsequently was raised as the bout winner, giving the U.S. its second wrestling medal in Rio and the first for a Missouri competitor.

WOMEN'S TRIATHLON

Jorgensen cruises

Gwen Jorgensen crushed both the course and the competition Saturday, giving the U.S. its first Olympic triathlon gold medal by cruising across the finish line in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 16 seconds. That was 40 seconds ahead of silver medalist Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, who won gold at the 2012 Games after Jorgensen's flat tire relegated her to a 38th-place finish. Vicky Holland outsprinted British teammate Non Stanford for the bronze. Jorgensen and Spirig were even until Jorgensen made her move with 2 kilometers left in the 10K final leg that followed a steep, 38.5K bike ride and a one-loop ocean swim. As she approached the blue carpet, Jorgensen turned to look for Spirig, who wasn't even in view around the bend.

MEN'S BOXING

Teen: Silver is a loss

Shakur Stevenson and Claressa Shields came to Rio bearing the gold medal hopes of USA Boxing -- Stevenson, 19, a first-time Olympian who started the tournament here with a 23-0 record in international competition, and Shields, 21, the middleweight who had extended her record to 74-1 since her gold medal triumph at the 2012 London Games. And Saturday, when the referee of the gold medal men's bantamweight bout at Riocentro Pavilion 6 announced a split decision in favor of Cuba's Robeisy Rameriz, the teenager who had wanted nothing more than to deliver Olympic gold to his family, his hometown of Newark and his country, buried his head in his red USA boxing shirt as the tears fell. Minutes later, he was led to an interview area in a nearby tent, but discussing the fight was out of the question. He crumpled in a chair just outside and convulsed in sobs that shook all 123 pounds of him, a white towel over his head. And at his side was Shields, who appeared from nowhere and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Stop it! Stop your crying! Stop it!" she demanded. Stevenson couldn't recall later what Shields told him. But she was only person who understood his anguish -- the anguish of a teenager who'd fought so hard, come so far and had so much to prove on the Olympic stage. "Much respect to Cuba's Robeisy Ramirez, who did what he had to do," Stevenson said once his tears ran dry. "I took my loss. I feel like I let a lot of people down. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm crushed. But I'm gonna come back stronger than ever." The silver medal draped around his neck represented the highest achievement by a U.S. male boxer at the Olympics since Andre Ward, Stevenson's hero, won gold in 2004. But when someone tried enumerating the boxing greats who'd claimed silver rather than gold, Stevenson was unmoved. "I don't look at it as an accomplishment," he said. "I look at it as a loss." Saturday's gold medal bout didn't turn on a controversial call or suspect judging. It was a close battle between two well-matched fighters, with the quick-fisted Ramirez claiming the first round and Stevenson the second. The decisive third round could have been called either way. The Cuban played the aggressor and closed the final 90 seconds with a flurry of punches. Stevenson, by contrast, deftly evaded nearly all the punches Ramirez threw while connecting on a higher percentage of his own. "I knew he was going to come at me," Stevenson said, asked about his mind-set entering the third round. "I was going to try to box him from the outside and make him look stupid. It didn't work."

Sports on 08/21/2016