The Pan American Games picked up where they left off four years ago as the US took four of the six gold medals on offer. But Cuba showed signs of giving the Americans a battle by taking the other two.
Cuban shooter Eglis Cruz earned the first gold of the 2003 games Saturday after winning the women's air rifle competition.
"I came with expectations but I never thought I'd experience happiness like this," the 22-year-old Cruz said. "It's always important to win a gold. But this time I hope it has even more importance because it can pave the way for many more Cuban victories."
American Melissa Mulloy took the silver and Argentina's Amelia Fournel bronze.
Mulloy might have missed out on the gold medal, but her countrymen made up for it later in the day as the US won nine total medals.
The US women started the rush with the team gold in gymnastics, Jason Turner followed with a gold in the men's 10 meter air pistol gold, Dan Kellner won the men's foil and Sada Jacobson took the women's saber.
Cuba won its second gold medal Saturday night, taking the men's team gymnastics competition. Brazil was next, followed by the US.
The US women's gymnastics team, comprised of Allyse Ishino, Nastia Liukin, Courtney McCool, Chellsie Memmel, Marcia Newby and Tia Orlando, topped second-place Canada and third-place Brazil.
"We all had a good meet and we all did great as a team, trying to help each other," Liukin said. "We are very excited to be the first [US] gold medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games."
Turner topped Maximino Modesti of Argentina, who got the silver, and bronze medalist John Bickar of the US. Kellner got the best of countryman Jonathan Tiomkin, who took silver. Cubans Raul Perojo and Reinier Suarez each got a bronze.
Jacobson downed Alejandra Benitez of Venezuela in the final. The American's sister, Emily, won the bronze along with Ana Faez Miclin of Cuba.
At the Winnipeg games in 1999, the US won 106 gold medals and 296 total. Cuba was third with 69 gold and 156 total, trailing Canada (64 and 196).
The games, which officially opened Friday night, include 5,325 athletes from 42 countries participating in 35 events.
Defending men's soccer champion Mexico was held to a 1-1 draw by Guatemala in Group A. Diego Martinez got the equalizer for Mexico from the penalty spot in the 75th minute. Fredy Thompson opened the scoring for Guatemala in the 46th.
In another match, Dominican Republic also held Cuba to 1-1 draw. Also, the Brazilian women started strong, crushing Haiti 5-0.
In women's basketball, Yaquelin Plutin helped Cuba get off to a winning start as it continued its domination over the US, winning 84-62.
The Cubans swept the Americans in a three-game series last month in Cuba.
"It's very hard to beat a team four times in a row," said Plutin, who scored 18 points.
Ann Strother and Laurie Koehn each scored 11 for the Americans, who managed only 16 points in the second half.
In other games, Brazil topped Canada 62-53 and Argentina beat Dominican Republic 76-52. In men's basketball, Puerto Rico beat Uruguay 89-72; Brazil topped Canada 92-78; and the US downed Argentina 80-79.
Rulon Gardner, the American wrestler who upset Russian great Alexander Karelin for the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics, won his first match 4-0 over Edwin Millet of Puerto Rico.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
RSS