2B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INSIDE SPORTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2004
U.S. team shooting for medal
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Greece — The place and the opponent don't really matter. This U.S. basketball team is on a roll.
Hushing a boisterous crowd with its all-around domination, the United States advanced to the semifinals yesterday with a 102-72 victory over Greece.
Now, only two games stand between the Americans and a third straight gold medal. They'll play the winner of the Russia-Czech Republic game tomorrow. The semifinal winners advance to the gold medal game on Saturday.
"This is it. No regrets now." Tina Thompson said. "There's no getting it back or catching up from a loss. That would mean no gold medal and, for us, no gold medal means failure."
no gold medal meet. After playing their preliminary games in a small arena at the Helliniko complex on the coast, the teams moved to the spacious 19,250-seat Olympic Indoor Hall for the medal round.
Lisa Leslie and Yolanda Griffith dominated inside, Tina Thompson hit a succession of jumpers, Shannon Johnson had her best game of the tournament and Tamika Catchings was everywhere on both ends of the floor.
The passing was sharp, the defense quick and aggressive. By the middle of the second quarter, the United States was up by 20 and the Greek fans who made up most of the crowd of 8,100 started losing their zeal.
Even the "He-las! He-las!" chant began to wane and the crowd stopped booing whenever the United States had the ball, slipping into a state of quiet acceptance.
These U.S. players, the Greek fans discovered, are pretty darn good.
Pedal to the puddle
"The crowd was great today and whenever a team feels the energy of a crowd, it plays above its head and Greece did." Diana Taurasi said.
The Americans shot 57 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game.
Johnson and Thompson scored 20 apiece. Griffith had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Diana Taurasi had 13 points, and Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes added 12 apiece.
Final rebounding numbers: United States 44, Greece 22.
A bicyclist pedals through puddles on Jayhawk Boulevard yesterday morning. Scattered showers made it difficult for students to stay dry
Free for All
Call 864-0500
To all incoming freshman: Missouri fans wear jean shorts.
--pound match, especially after spending much of the match visibly wearing down the younger wrestler.
Yeah, so I was riding a bus to the Kansas Union, and we stopped at Wescoe. Aaron Miles tried to get on, but the guy wouldn't let him on because he didn't have a bus pass or a dollar. That's sad.
I miss David Padgett
pound match, especially after spending much of the match visibly wearing down the younger wrestler.
The Olympics made my roommate cry. Twice.
Come on, Jayhawk. Don't be following in the footsteps of Jeff Graves. Don't wanna see you playing ball out in the middle of nowhere. Peace.
TALK TO US
Tell us your news. Contact Danielle Hilliix or Joe Bant at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
INTRAMURALS
Intramural manager meetings to start competition today
To kick off the fall intramural season, Recreation Services will hold managers' meetings for sand volleyball and flag football today.
In order to attend, managers must have previously registered their teams through Recreation Service's new online system.
Both meetings will take place in Room 202 of the Student Fitness Recreation Center. The sand volleyball meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m., with flag football following at 8:00 p.m.
"We're going over playing rules, intramural policies and procedures, and any questions they may have," said Intramural Sports Director Kurt Schoolley.
Team managers will also have a chance to sign up for a weekly playing time.
For questions, contact Recreation Services at 864-3546.
THURSI
— Jessica Feren
Olympic wrestler loses, plans to retire after Athens
ATHENS, Greece — Rulon Gardner was in another Olympic wrestling upset — his own.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
One of the biggest stars of the 2000 Summer Games, Gardner was thrown to the mat in overtime yesterday by Kazakhstan's Georgi Tsurtsumia and lost 4-1 in his Greco-Roman semifinal match. He wrestled for the bronze medal later that day.
Gardner was as surprised as anyone when Tsurtsumia somehow pulled off the winning 3-point move in their 264 1/2-
Turtsumia looked upward at the scoreboard, still unsure for just a moment that he'd won, then jumped into his coach's arms. Gardner seemed confused, too, searching for an explanation as he turned toward his corner and U.S. coach Steve Fraser.
Just like that, Rulon's remarkable comeback from a spate of injuries and misfortune was finished. Kneeling on the mat as Tsurtsumia celebrated, Gardner thought "It's over, it's done," he
said. "Beyond that, I wasn't even tired."
Gardner went from obscurity to celebrity after his stunning upset four years ago of the onceinvincible Alexander Karelin, generally considered the greatest wrestler of all time. But Gardner has fought through a long succession of physical ailments since Sydney.
He lost a toe — and nearly his life — after a February 2002 snowmobiling accident left him stranded for 18 hours in the wilderness of Wyoming.
He survived a motorcycle crash earlier this year, only to severely dislocate his right
wrist in a pickup basketball game.
After his loss, Gardner was composed and gracious. He greeted reporters with a "Hey, how are you doing?" then went into a long, clinical explanation of how it happened.
The short version of the match from Gardner: He aggressively went at Tsurtsumia, trying to take the lead against a tiring opponent, but left himself unguarded and Tsurtsumia stepped around and took him to the mat.
"One throw and that's the whole match," Gardner said. "One mistake."
Gardner wound on top of Tsurtsumia once they struck the mat, but neither Gardner nor Fraser argued the scoring
— even though Gardner, while on the mat, briefly hoped he would get credit for the reversal.
Gardner already knows where he's going from here: into retirement. He plans to leave his shoes on the mat after the bronze medal match, the traditional sign that a wrestler's career is over.
"Look, these guys are good — he was third in the world last year." Gardner said.
Early in his semifinal match.
SHEAI
A n wome agains anoth sports sports
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he looked to be on track in his quest to become the United States' first two-time gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling and only the fourth in any kind of wrestling.
"No regrets," Gardner said. "I gave it 100 percent and he got me."
Gardner beat Tsurtumia 3-0 in a U.S. tournament last year, but finished only 10th in the world championships while Tsurtumia was third.
In his other major competition this year, Tsurtsumia won the Asian championships in April on his home turf in Kazakhstan.