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After overwhelming everyone for seven games, the Americans led by only four points with under 2½ minutes to play. Then they proved they could handle a close game that it seemed would never come in Beijing.
     
Their prize: the first U.S. gold medal since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
     
Argentina won the bronze with an 87-75 victory against Lithuania.
     
Dwyane Wade scored 27 points for the Americans, who found a much gamer Spanish team than the one they humiliated by 37 points earlier in the tournament. Kobe Bryant added 20 points.
     
In a game so devoid of defense that it felt more like an NBA All-Star game than one with a title at stake, the Americans had too much offense down the stretch. Bryant converted a clutch four-point play with 3:10 remaining, holding his finger to his lips to quiet the rowdy Spanish crowd behind the basket.
     
Wade added another 3-pointer that made it 111-104 with just over 2 minutes left, and only then could the Americans relax a little.
     
They began to celebrate during a break after some technical fouls on Spain with 26 seconds left, then partied at midcourt when it was over with “Born in the USA” blaring over the arena’s speakers.
     
“We played with great character in one of the great games in international basketball history, I think,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
     
Nobody else had been close to the Americans in Beijing. This team’s only Olympic competition had been history, in a Dream matchup with guys named Jordan, Magic, Bird and the rest of the U.S. team that dominated the Barcelona Games in 1992.
     
Forget comparisons to those guys. The Americans were lucky to be better than Spain on Sunday.
     
Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points and Pau Gasol had 21 for the Spanish, the reigning world champions who were hoping to win their first Olympic gold.
     
U.S. players appreciated the challenge, hugging the Spanish players afterward. Bryant had an especially long embrace for Gasol, patting his Los Angeles Lakers teammate on the back.
     
“They did what they were supposed to do,” Gasol said. “We fought hard all the way.”
     
Seeming to appreciate the moment, after congratulating Spain, the team joined in a circle, jumping up and down at center court and waving triumphantly to the crowd as Krzyzewski applauded on the sidelines.
     
“I know that we had a tough road ahead of us. We knew that these guys weren’t going to roll over and give up that easily,” U.S. forward Chris Bosh said. “So we had to be men, and that’s what it takes to win.”
     
The Americans had won their first seven games by 30.3 points, including a 119-82 rout of Spain. But they never had control of this game, giving up open looks from the perimeter and plenty of points in the paint against the defending world champions, who were playing without injured point guard Jose Calderon.
     
Bryant, who waited so long to finally wear the red, white and blue, hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to add the gold medal to his collection of basketball hardware. The three-time NBA champion and league MVP pounded his hands toward the floor in celebration at the end.
     
James scored 14 points, while Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul had 13 apiece for the Americans, who had won bronze medals in their last two international events, the 2004 Olympics and ‘06 world championships.
     
The U.S. started planning for this game after the Athens Games four years ago, the low point in its hoops history, following a sixth-place flop two years earlier in the world championships.
Jerry Colangelo was given control of USA Basketball and constructed a national team program in 2006, requiring those who wanted to play to commit to three years.
     
He got Bryant and James quickly on board and landed almost everyone else he asked for, finding a group of NBA stars eager to give up their summer to get back what they felt belonged to their country.
     
And he needed all of them against a Spanish team that on this day would have likely beaten any other recent U.S. squad.
     
“Being a part of the ‘04 team, we really didn’t get the opportunity to showcase our talent,” said Wade, one of four holdovers from Athens. “We really wanted to come in and help lead this team.”
     
Jason Kidd ran his record to 56-0 in senior international play and collected another gold to place alongside the one he earned in 2000, becoming the 13th U.S. player with multiple golds.
     
That elite list, which includes Michael Jordan and seven other Dream Teamers, could grow in 2012. Paul and Dwight Howard said they would be in London if asked, and perhaps half this team could join them.
     
James ran out for pregame warmups with his finger in the air, already believing the U.S. was No. 1. But even though the Americans were shooting better than 70 percent for most of the first half, it would take a long time to prove it.
     
James and Bryant were both on the bench after picking up two fouls in the first 3½ minutes, and though Wade came in and picked up their scoring load, the U.S. reserves couldn’t open their usual cushion.
     
Spain hit seven of its first nine shots, leading for much of the first quarter. A quick burst of 10 points by James and Wade had the U.S. advantage up to 14 points with 4 minutes left in the half, but Spain chipped away and trailed only 69-61 at the break.
     
“We faced some incredible teams here,” Bryant said. “We knew coming in that Spain was going to be a big problem.”
     
Fernandez’s 3-pointer cut it to 91-89 with 8:13 remaining in the game, but Bryant answered with a bucket and then a 3, and things seemed safe when James scored to make it 103-92.
     
Spain made one last push to close within 108-104 on Carlos Jimenez’s 3-pointer, but Wade hit one on the other end, and the final score became lopsided when the Americans hit a bunch of free throws after the Spanish became frustrated and were called for the technicals.

By: Associated Press

This wasn’t actually that big of a deal in Beijing because the only places I wore it were our frigid hotel room and just once to a club. It was freezing that night. What do you want from me? Now granted, I also had on flip-flops, a ball cap, and jeans that I’d worn almost everyday for the past 2 weeks, but I’m married, what do I care if anyone else finds me attractive anymore? I know that statement just struck fear into the hearts of all the single men reading this blog (hi Jeff!), but go with me on this one. All I meant is it’s nice to be able to wear a zippie and flops to a club and not really care that your experience will pretty much be the same whether you’re sporting that, or you have on your cutest outfit with a killer blow-out. We were out where all the athletes go though, so I was very much committing the fashion faux pas of what Jake likes to call “wearing the t-shirt to the concert.” ‘Twould have been bad enough had I been an actual athlete gearing it up out in public. As it was, I was the “polympian”… a crime punishable by death in some Olympic circles.

And just when I thought I couldn’t be more of a disappointment to anyone than I was to the HHFC friends and family (see “All dressed up and no one to interview” post below)… enter my flight home. I had no fewer than 17 people come up to me during the pre-boarding line alone to ask me what I did at the Olympics. Did I win a medal? What was my event? What was that object in my mysterious oblong carry-on?! I so wanted to live up to their curiosity…
“Oh that, that’s my javelin. Yeah, they fold up into these handy carrying cases. Convenient, huh?”
“What that little thing? Oh you must mean my Field Hockey stick. Yeah, we were so glad to qualify. It’s been since ‘96, you know?!”

Instead I had to ‘fess up that I was just a reporter and that was my tripod case. Waahhmp Waaahhh…
I’ve never seen such crushed faces. When the young brother-sister combo from Colombia came up (autograph pen and paper in tow) to me and asked if I was an Olympian you would have thought I’d followed my “Sorry, no” with, “Oh and by the way, there’s also no Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny is a complete myth, and your Dad is the Tooth Fairy.” It was the girl who asked me and when I answered her brother shot her an “I told you so” look like none other I’d seen. Big brothers are great at calling you out when you already feel like a complete bozo. I sympathized with my little Colombian friend in that moment because my big brother also excels in that area. Still, there was nothing I could do to make my story any cooler than it was.

On the actual plane ride I got it at least 20 more times. At one point, one of the flight attendants came by, stooped down by my seat and whispered, “Ok… all the flight attendants are wondering… what’s your sport, and how’d you do?” I of course answered honestly, and was surprised to see (hear) that my answer set my whole row off in murmurs of “awww”s and “what?!” (Who knew they were all snooping in on our conversation?!). And you know they were all thinking, but where’d you get that jacket then?!

So… lesson learned. When you’re pseudo athletic-looking and traveling anywhere near an Olympic city, don’t wear misleading gear. It’s just not fair to a star-crazed fan base craving an up-close-and-personal experience with the Rings. In the States, however, where I am now… you can bet I’ll be sporting my USA zippie with pride wherever I watch the Closing Ceremonies. Here it’s not posing… it’s just team spirit. Go USA!

Sixteen couples - four sets of the lucky number eight for the Chinese - pledged their love on the Olympic Green Friday.

For the past two years, Lenovo engineers have been preparing for the Olympics. Director of Lenovo Olympic Sponsorship Leon Xie says these employees sacrificed a lot.

“Lots of them postponed their wedding, postponed their family plans, in order to fully focus on this historical task, “said Xie.

Most people aren’t willing to postpone their wedding for work. But if it’ll bring the country pride by helping the Olympics run smoother, these couples say, ‘I do.’

“As team leader, it means everything to me.  Nobody forced them to do so, but given such an exciting project, everybody willing to chip in and do their best.”
It might’ve been a sacrifice, but the couples believe it was worth it,” said Xie.

The end of the Olympics is in sight, but these sixteen couples hope this opening ceremony will last forever.

-We picked the worst possible day in the world to go “see” the Great Wall.  See below pic for explanation of quotes around “see”.

-The Bird’s Nest and the Cube really are some of the coolest pieces of architecture evah.  And the most crowded to get away from.

-Club Bud is why I got stood up for at least 3 interviews this week, so I had to at least give you a glimpse…

For the first time ever, athletes are allowed to blog during the Olympic Games.

U.S. weightlifter Carissa Gump and Peruvian Tae Kwon Do artist Peter Lopez are using the Internet to stay in touch with their fans at home.

“It’s just easier to do that than write you know lots of emails and phone calls that I really don’t have time to call everybody,” said Gump.

David Churbuck works for Lenovo, the hardware provider of the Games. He helps athletes set up their own blogs.

“We’re making history; this is like 1960 in Rome when it was the first television Olympics. This is the first blog Olympics, the first time the athletes have told their story their way,” said Churbuck.
 
Blogging from the Games allows athletes to give fans an insider’s view of the Olympics. But it also gives fans the chance to show their support for the athletes. For some, this helps them play harder.

“Obviously there’s gonna be times when maybe I need it, like for instance if maybe I’m a little winded or maybe something hurts,” said Lopez.” I’m just going to be thinking about my fans and their support, and it’s just going to carry me to the next step.”

Churbuck believes fans play a huge role in the performance of athletes. He finds this interaction exciting.

“We’re seeing blogs turn out to be a very unique way during these games for people to congratulate, to ask questions, to interact with athletes, allowing the world really to get out from behind their television set, literally, and talk to the stars of the show,” said Churbuck.

As the stars of the show continue to blog, the fans will continue to show their support — electronically.

David Weathers helped put some of the sparkle in swimmer Michael Phelps’ trophy case.

Though 14 Olympic gold medals may dominate Phelps’ collection of hardware, he also owns several Golden Goggle awards, which Weathers made in the basement of his home in Winston-Salem.

The Golden Goggle Awards are presented each year at USA Swimming’s annual fundraising banquet. USA Swimming is the sport’s sanctioning body.

Weathers’ creations are given out in such categories as Performer of the Year, Breakout Performance of the Year and Coach of the Year. Phelps has seven of the awards and is likely to win more in light of his record-breaking performance in Beijing.

Chuck Wielgus, the executive director of USA Swimming, said that a Golden Goggle is the most prestigious award a swimmer can get in this country.

“For an athlete or coach to receive a Golden Goggle Award is akin to an actor or director receiving an Academy Award,” Wielgus wrote in an e-mail. “This is the ultimate recognition in our field.”

Weathers, 48, works a night shift as a tool-and-die maker at Tyco Electronics in Greensboro. For the past five years, he has spent many of his daytime hours cutting, shaping, welding and polishing the awards.

His father, Bailey Weathers Jr., a sculptor, came up with the distinctive design of a pair of goggles encircled by a ring. USA Swimming liked the design and in 2004, asked him to make 35 of the awards each year.

Bailey Weathers Jr. had become familiar with the sport while watching another of his sons swim. Bailey Weathers III, who grew up swimming with the Winston-Salem Swim Club, is a well-known coach in swimming circles. He has worked as a consultant for USA Swimming and is the executive head coach at Club Wolverine, the home club of Phelps and several other Olympic swimmers.

David Weathers and his father shared the workload on the initial order.
“He’s a sculptor, not a machinist,” David Weathers said. “We teamed up.”

He took over the contract when his father moved to Seattle.

Weathers uses chunks of silicon bronze to make the awards. Except for the lenses, which are made by a company in Colorado, Weathers shapes each piece using a lathe and other machines in his well-ordered basement in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood.
After the pieces are welded, Weathers hand polishes them in a process that can take up to 30 hours.

He guessed that each award takes 60 to 80 hours.

From his basement, they are sent to Raleigh, where they are goldplated.

The process is so time-consuming that he hires two workers to help fill the order.

“I enjoy doing it, but after sitting here all day Saturday polishing, I do question whether I enjoy it,” he said with a laugh. “But I do.” The finished award, which includes a marble base, weighs about 8 pounds and is 12 inches tall and 8 inches wide.

Weathers is about to finish his latest batch of Golden Goggles, which will fulfill his contract through 2010. After that, he said, USA Swimming will evaluate whether it wants to continue with the awards program.

He treats the awards delicately, picking up each one with a cloth to keep from leaving fingerprints. When he sees a photograph on the Internet of a swimmer handling the award in a nonchalant way, he said he feels a twinge of nervousness.

“They are pieces of art. They’re sculptures,” Weathers said. “They look the same, but no two pieces are alike.”

Weathers, who never swam competitively, said he enjoyed watching Phelps and the rest of the Olympic swim team compete.

“It’s kind of neat to see the same guys who were on the podium getting your goggle trophy,” he said.

Olympic champions, once again.

Carli Lloyd scored in the sixth minute of overtime Thursday night, Hope Solo bailed out her teammates time and again, and the United States beat Brazil 1-0 to win the gold medal in women’s soccer for a third time in four Olympics. As the final whistle sounded, the Americans charged across the field, hugging anyone in sight. Someone handed out flags, and several players took off, running.

The Brazilians, meanwhile, were disconsolate. Goalkeeper Barbara lay on her back, sobbing, while Cristiane sat on the ground crying. Marta, who had been so brilliant all night only to see her team come up short yet again in a major tournament, put her hand to her head.

The victory was a bit of redemption for the Americans, who went to the World Cup as favorites last fall only to be humbled 4-0 in the semifinals by Brazil. And for no one was it sweeter than Solo, who was banished from the bronze medal game at the World Cup after criticizing then-coach Greg Ryan for not playing her against Brazil even though she’d allowed only two goals in four World Cup starts, and had a shutout streak of nearly 300 minutes going.

Several minutes after the game ended, Solo sprinted back out onto the field, a gaudy imitation gold medal around her neck, a phone to her ear and a bright smile on her face.

The United States has won the Olympic gold medal three of the four times since women’s soccer was added in 1996, its only loss coming to Norway in the 2000 final.

The Americans looked sluggish and outclassed against the Brazilians for much of the game. But just as they have all Olympics, they came through when it counted.

Amy Rodriguez held off two Brazilians and put the ball up for Lloyd who gave it a light touch with her right foot and then left-footed it from a yard outside the area. Barbara dived, but the ball scooted past her and settled in the far bottom corner of the net.

Marta did everything she could to draw the Brazilians even. In the 102nd minute, but she was tackled by Heather Mitts and then, after getting the ball back, was blocked first by Kate Markgraf and then by Christie Rampone.

In the final minutes of the second overtime, the two-time FIFA Player of the Year tried to bend in a corner a few minutes later, but Solo punched it free.