WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Serbia beats U.S.

Serbia’s players cried in triumph Thursday after the biggest victory in their program’s history. They reached the Olympic championship, guaranteeing the country’s first women’s volleyball medal after a 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13 victory over the top-ranked U.S. team. “Right now, this loss is deeply disappointing. It cuts deep. It’s very painful, and that’s OK,” U.S. Coach Karch Kiraly said. “When you care that much, it’s going to. We’re going to process that some, we get some time to grieve. We signed up to do difficult things with USA and we’re going to come back harder the next 48 hours to fight for the bronze medal.” U.S. star Foluke Akinradewo’s teammates took over after she was sidelined by an apparent left knee injury late in the opening set after beginning the match brilliantly. She tried to give it a go, but the leg didn’t let her. Akinradewo will undergo tests to determine whether she might play Saturday. Kiraly switched his lineup in her absence, then switched it again. Serbia kept pounding, digging out balls, leaping for blocks and serving with precision. The Americans led 12-10 in the fifth set when Karsta Lowe served into the net, then Milena Rasic answered with an ace and U.S. middle blocker Rachael Adams also netted her serve. Lowe came through with her powerful left arm, and Dietzen and Adams blocked masterfully as Kayla Banwarth provided her signature reliable passing, but the Americans (7-1) couldn’t close it out with their star middle blocker down.

WOMEN’S WRESTLING

[ARKANSANS IN RIO: Full coverage of 24 in Olympics]

Maroulis wins in upset

Add Helen Maroulis to the list of history-makers at the Rio Olympics. The 24-year-old from Rockville, Md., upset the woman widely considered to be the greatest female wrestler of all time Thursday to take a gold medal in women’s freestyle in the 53kg (117 lb.) weight class. Maroulis, a firsttime Olympian who cut weight to compete in Rio, took down threetime defending gold medalist Saori Yoshida of Japan, 4-1. Maroulis’ victory adds to a recent tear that includes her first-ever world title at the 2015 world championships; she currently holds the longest winning streak of all American wrestlers. The weight of the moment made for an emotional medal ceremony, with both wrestlers crying on their respective podiums. Maroulis mouthed “The Star-Spangled Banner” with tears running down her face while Yoshida seemed inconsolable, heaving sobs as she mourned her 14-year streak of winning either a world or Olympic title. The Japanese legend had not lost a match since before the 2012 London Games.

BOXING

U.S. in final by walkover

U.S. boxer Shakur Stevenson reached the Olympic bantamweight final by walkover Thursday after Russian semifinal opponent Vladimir Nikitin was ruled out with an injury. When Stevenson fights Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez on Saturday, he will win either gold or silver, the first of either medal for American men since Andre Ward’s gold in 2004. “I always want to fight, but once I found out I wasn’t fighting [Nikitin], I kind of liked it,” Stevenson said. “I can use the extra days off. Once I found out I wasn’t fighting, I just kept moving to Saturday.” Ramirez, the London Olympics gold medalist at flyweight, advanced with a masterful victory over Uzbekistan’s Murodjin Akhmadaliev while Stevenson watched from the stands. “I paid close attention to it,” Stevenson said. “He had a tough opponent from Uzbekistan, and he got it done. He made it look easy, and we’re about to get after it, I swear.” Stevenson is an elite 19-year-old prospect from Newark, N.J., with sophisticated boxing skills and athleticism. He hasn’t lost an international bout in his amateur career, and he received a preliminary-round bye as a seeded fighter in Rio before beating Brazil’s Robenilson de Jesus and Mongolia’s Erdenebat Tsendbataar, both by unanimous decision. The U.S. men won just one bronze medal in Beijing and none at all in London. With light flyweight Nico Hernandez’s bronze medal and Stevenson’s victory, the Rio men’s team will leave the Olympics with two medals for the first time since Athens 12 years ago.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

U.S. struggles but wins

Missing its starting point guard, the U.S. women’s basketball team struggled for a half to find its offensive rhythm before pulling away from France and moving one victory away from capturing a sixth consecutive gold medal. Diana Taurasi scored 18 points and Maya Moore added 15 to help the Americans beat France 86-67 on Thursday night in the semifinals. It was the closest game of the Olympics for the Americans, who will face Spain on Saturday and advanced without injured guard Sue Bird. Spain and the U.S. played in the preliminary round and the U.S. won that one by 40. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship by 13. Thursday’s game against France was a rematch of the 2012 London Games gold medal contest. The U.S. won that one by 36 points, but had a much harder time in this one without Bird. The point guard sprained her right knee capsule in the quarterfinals and has been listed as dayto-day. She had started every game for the U.S. the past three Olympics and been a calming influence on offense for the Americans. The U.S. had cruised through its first six games, winning by nearly 42 points a game and scoring at a record pace. Without Bird, the Americans looked discombobulated at times on offense against France. The team that was averaging 105 points and 30 assists was held to just 40 points in the opening 20 minutes and just four assists. The U.S. held a slim 40-36 at the break, the closest any team had been to the Americans at the half since Australia led them in the semifinals of the 2012 Olympics. But the Americans (7-0) started playing better on both ends of the court in the decisive third quarter. The team went on a 14-5 run to start the period, including two three-pointers by Taurasi that gave the Americans some breathing room. Though the U.S. outscored France 25-8 in the period, it had two 24-second shot clock violations. It was rare in the first seven games if the shot clock ever got under five seconds. The Americans led by 21 at the end of the third quarter, but France (4-3) didn’t quit. The French cut the lead to 11 in the fourth, but could get no closer. It was only the second time in Rio that the U.S. didn’t reach 100 points in a game. But it did get the victory and now has 48 consecutive Olympic victories. Marianne Johannes scored 13 to lead France, which will play Serbia for the bronze medal on Saturday.

IOC

Positive test for strychnine

A male weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan became the first athlete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to be stripped of a medal after a positive drug test. Izzat Artykov tested positive for strychnine after winning the bronze medal in the 69-kilogram division, the Court of Arbitration’s anti-doping division said Thursday. The 22-year-old lifter’s medal was taken away and he was kicked out of the games. Strychnine is a defined as a stimulant in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances. It is a highly toxic drug often used as a pesticide, particularly for killing rodents. However, it also has a long history in sports doping, used in small doses to tighten tired muscles. Strychnine was reportedly used widely in the early years of the Tour de France to help cyclists survive the demanding rides. Artykov is the fourth athlete sanctioned so far for doping at the Rio Games. Last week, Polish weightlifter Tomasz Zielinksi and Bulgarian steeplechaser Silvia Danekova were kicked out of the games after testing positive for banned substances, while Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi accepted a “provisional suspension” after testing positive for a diuretic.