Reuters Sports News Summary

08/20/2016 0:58

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Stefanidi wins pole vault gold for Greece

Greece's Ekaterini Stefanidi won the Olympic pole vault on Friday and her country's first athletics gold since the 2004 Athens Games, then defended its integrity after barred Russian Yelena Isinbayeva blasted the event as sub-par without her in the field. Stefanidi cleared 4.85 meters to beat American Sandi Morris, who took silver.

Volleyball: Italian men oust U.S. and seek first gold

Italy's men's volleyball team put an end to a U.S. winning streak and ousted the Americans from the Rio Games in a five-set battle on Friday to go through to the final where they will seek their first Olympic gold medal. Italy overcame the United States 30-28 26-28 9-25 25-22 15-9 and will face twice Olympic champions and three-times silver medalists Brazil in Sunday's title showdown.

U.S. swimmer says Lochte played key role in Rio incident

A U.S. Olympic swimmer has accused his team mate, Ryan Lochte, of playing a key role in an incident that has tainted South America's first Games, saying he tore a poster off a wall and argued with armed security guards at a Rio gas station. In his first account of last week's incident, the youngest of the four swimmers involved, Gunnar Bentz, 20, said the guards confronted them after they had urinated behind some bushes and Lochte tore a metal-framed advertising poster from a wall.

Tennis: Kerber moves step closer to world number one ranking

Angelique Kerber moved within two victories of the world number one ranking when she beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in their quarter-final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Friday. The German second seed overcame a slow start before finding some form and outlasting ninth seed Navarro 4-6 6-3 6-0 in a match that never reached any great heights in front of a small crowd in steamy afternoon heat.

U.S. swimmers' tall tale touches a raw nerve in Brazil

When an angry crowd of Brazilians jeered U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, calling them 'liars' and giving one of them a tug on the ear, the young Americans looked shocked by the ferocity of their reaction. What they appeared not to realize was that a fabricated story about how they and two team mates had been robbed at gunpoint - allegedly told to cover up an act of vandalism at a Rio gas station - hit a raw nerve in this South American nation.

Felix gets record fifth gold as U.S. win relay

A day after a near-disaster with a dropped baton, defending champions the United States made no mistake on Friday when they won the women's Olympic 4x100 meters relay and Allyson Felix became the first woman to collect five athletics gold medals. The U.S. team of Tianna Bartoletta, Felix, English Gardner and Tori Bowie clocked 41.01 seconds, the second-fastest time ever after the U.S. world record set in London four years ago, to beat Jamaica on 41.36 and Britain on 41.77.

Unbeatable Bolt signs off with triple-triple

Usain Bolt drew down the curtain on his brilliant Olympic career by securing a sweep of the sprint titles for a third successive Games when Jamaica successfully defended the 4x100 meters relay crown in Rio on Friday. Two days shy of his 30th birthday, Bolt anchored his country to victory in 37.27 seconds so adding the relay crown to the 100 and 200 meters titles he has owned since exploding onto the Olympic stage in Beijing in 2008.

U.S. suffer yet another sprint relay disqualification

One might think that any American racing a men's sprint relay would take a moment before starting a lap of honor, such is the regularity of the subsequent crash-to-earth disqualification - and that is exactly what happened again at the Rio Games on Friday. The flag-draped U.S. quartet had already completed their lap of honor and were speaking to the media when news emerged that instead of taking bronze medals behind Japan and winners Jamaica they had been disqualified.

Politics to Puma, Bolt considers his options

As he blazed through the Rio Games, winning an historic third batch of three sprint gold medals, Jamaica's Usain Bolt was clear this is his last time on the Olympic track, where he feels he has nothing left to prove. Bolt, the most famous Jamaican since Bob Marley, has repeatedly declined to say what he will do after he hangs up his spikes. Unlike the reggae great, who died of cancer at 36, Bolt has the option of planning his next career move.

DeAndre Jordan comes up quietly on Team USA

DeAndre Jordan may not have been the starting center when Team USA arrived in Rio but the lowest drafted player among his Olympic teammates is the reason they will be playing for a third consecutive gold medal. The unassuming Jordan, in only his second start of the Rio Games, gave the American men's basketball team much more of a defensive identity and was often the best player on the court in a hard-fought 82-76 semi-final victory over Spain on Friday.

08/20/2016 0:58