The Denver Gazette

Japan rallies against bullpen to beat U.S. 7-6 in 10 innings

The Associated Press

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN • Brandon Dickson, a 36-year-old nine seasons removed from the major leagues, was the first out of the bullpen and the first to stumble.

Edwin Jackson, a 37-year-old released by five big league teams, was the last.

Four of seven U.S. relievers combined to give up five runs as the United States blew a three-run lead in a 7-6 loss to Japan on Monday that pushed the Americans within a loss of elimination.

“We played a good game tonight,” U.S. manager Mike Scioscia said. “There were some things that got away from us on the mound.”

Japan overcame a short outing by Masahiro Tanaka. Yuki Yanagita tied it 6-6 with an RBI grounder in the ninth off Scott McGough and Fukuoka teammate Takuya Kai hit a winning single in the 10th against Jackson (0-1) that put the hosts in the semifinals.

Banged-up U.S. women’s volleyball team heads to quarters

TOKYO • Coach Karch Kiraly knew there would be challenges and adversity to overcome if the U.S. women’s volleyball team wanted to achieve its goals at the Tokyo Olympics.

He sure was right during pool play, and now the Americans are in position to make a run at their first gold medal in the sport after winning their group.

Two key starters have gone down with ankle injuries, an assistant coach spent two weeks in quarantine as a close contact to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and the Americans dealt with a straight-set loss to the team known as the Russia Olympic Committee.

But after finishing the preliminary stage with a tense, five-set win over Italy on Monday despite setter Jordyn Poulter joining star Jordan Thompson on the sideline with a rolled right ankle, the U.S. heads into the quarterfinals in good form.

Allman’s Joy: Discus thrower waits out rain for gold medal

TOKYO • The path to Valarie Allman’s gold medal — the first for the U.S. track and field team at Olympic Stadium — started with, of all things, a plate of spaghetti.

That promise of pasta from her high school team was enough to lure her into the discus and to the point she reached on a rainy Monday night at the Tokyo Games: A breakthrough — and a much-needed gold medal for the U.S.

Allman opened the final with a throw of 68.98 meters (226 feet, 3 inches) and then waited through an hour-long delay and around 50 throws by her competition. But nobody could pass her.

“To be here, to be in this moment, feels so surreal,” Allman said.

After beach loss to Germany, 4-time Olympian Gibb retires

TOKYO • Jake Gibb lingered on the sand at the Shiokaze Park beach volleyball court to say goodbye after his fourth trip to the Olympics came to an end. To his temporary teammate, Tri Bourne. And to international competition, for good.

“I was just enjoying the moment, and I was just enjoying that stadium, the energy — just kind of taking it in one last time,” Gibb said on Monday night after he and Bourne were eliminated with a loss to Germany in the round of 16. “I was just, I guess, letting it go, in a way.”

One day after 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser announced that he was retiring, the 45-year-old Gibb said he would join his fellow four-time Olympian on the sidelines.

“I’m done,” Gibb said. “I’m going to go home and play some AVP tournaments. I’m going to go coach my kids’ soccer games.”

Poland grants visa to Belarus Olympian who fears for safety

TOKYO • Poland granted a visa Monday to a Belarusian Olympic sprinter who said she feared for her safety and that her team’s officials tried to force her to fly home, where the autocratic government was accused of diverting a flight to arrest a dissident journalist.

SPORTS

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2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282102049718788

The Gazette, Colorado Springs