U.S. Women Lose Big Lead in Water Polo

Cold facial expressions became chic. As members of the U.S. women’s water polo team departed for the locker room, they looked shocked and disappointed, perhaps even angry.

“I’m not going to think about it anymore,” Thalia Munro said near the end of an interview after the Americans dominated Canada for almost 23 minutes but lost, 6-5, by blowing a four-goal lead with 5 1/2 minutes to play Wednesday at the Olympic Aquatic Center.

“It’s really unheard of,” U.S. goalkeeper Jacqueline Frank said of Canada’s five goals in less than six minutes.

Heather Moody broke free from an opponent’s grasp and whipped a shot past Canadian goalkeeper Whynter Lamarre to give the U.S. a 5-1 lead.

Ann Dow answered to make the score 5-2. Just shy of two minutes later, Johanne Begin scored. Forty-two seconds later, Cora Campbell scored.

Dow slipped another shot past Frank with 2:12 to play. With 50 seconds left, Begin scored again.

Coupled with a 7-6 victory over Hungary in the opener, the U.S. has dropped to 1-1 in pool play. Friday’s match against Russia is critical if the team wants to advance from Group B.

BASEBALL

Canada Still Unbeaten

Canada, not known as a baseball power, won its fourth consecutive game in pool play as Peter Orr had two hits and drove in a run to help beat Greece, 2-0.

Cuba, coming off a loss to Japan, rebounded with a 10-2 win over Taiwan, while Japan lost to Australia, 9-4. In the only other game, Netherlands beat winless Italy, 10-4.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Blanton-Nygaard Out

Eighth-seeded Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard wrapped up a dismal Olympics with a 21-16, 13-21, 15-13 loss to Swiss pair Stefan Kobel and Patrick Heuscher.

“It’s sad for me that I’m not going to be able to walk out on that court anymore,” said Blanton, a 2000 gold medalist with Eric Fonoimoana. “It’s pathetic to come out with the effort we showed in the first two matches. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger, 1-1 in pool play, are the last chance to keep alive the nation’s gold-medal streak in beach volleyball. Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes captured the first beach gold medal in Atlanta before Blanton and Fonoimoana won in Sydney. Holdren and Metzger face top-ranked Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos today.

The 16-team, single-elimination medal round starts Friday.

Elaine Youngs and partner Holly McPeak finished a perfect run through pool play with a 22-24, 21-17, 15-12 win over the ninth-seeded Swiss pair of Simone Kuhn and Nicole Schnyder.

Top-ranked American women Misty May and Kerri Walsh are 2-0 heading into their final pool-play match.

KAYAKING

Giddens Claims Silver

Rebecca Giddens of Green Bay, Wis., took the silver in the women’s singles slalom as Elena Kaliska of Slovakia won gold.

Slovakia had a chance for a second gold, but Michal Martikan was denied when it was judged that he touched a gate during his run. The ensuing penalty dropped him to second. The gold medal went to Frenchman Tony Estanguet.

EQUESTRIAN

Germany Wins Appeal

Germany reclaimed its gold medal in the three-day team event after an appeals panel reversed an earlier ruling that had dropped it to fourth place following a protest from France.

France, which had jumped to first after it complained about the scoring, retained its silver medal but has informed officials that it will make a final appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Britain kept the bronze after briefly being awarded the silver. Lost in the shuffle was the United States, which for a fleeting moment had the bronze.

In the individual three-day event at night, Bettina Hoy of Germany won the gold medal aboard Ringwood Cockatoo. Leslie Law of Britain won the silver with Shear l’Eau and Kimberly Severson of Keene, Va., won the bronze aboard Winsome Adante.

JUDO

Japan Wins Fifth Gold

Two-time defending world champion Masae Ueno earned Japan’s fifth gold medal in 10 events.

Edith Bosch of the Netherlands won the silver. The bronze was shared by Annett Boehm of Germany and Qin Dongya of China.

On the men’s side, Japan’s Hiroshi Izumi wound up with silver in the men’s 90-kilogram (199 pounds) weight division, with Zurab Zviadauri of Georgia taking the gold. Khasanbi Taov of Russia and Mark Huizinga of the Netherlands shared bronze.

ROWING

U.S. Duo in Scull Finals

Americans Aquil Abdullah of Washington and Henry Nuzum of Chapel Hill, N.C., overtook Norway in a photo finish, earning a spot in the double scull finals.

Britain’s Matthew Pinsent remained firmly on track for his fourth gold medal as his fours team won its semifinal.

SAILING

Mixed Results for U.S.

Skipper Tim Wadlow of Boston shot the starting line in race No. 4 of the 49er class and was over early, forcing him out.

In the 470 class, Paul Foerster of Rockwall, Texas, and Kevin Burnham of Miami remained in second place but trailed Britain’s Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield by six points with three races to go.

On the Europe course, Meg Galliard of Pelham, N.Y., ranks eighth overall after six of 11 races.

VOLLEYBALL

U.S. Women Stumble

Milagros Cabral de la Cruz had the match-winning kill in the fifth set, giving the Dominican Republic a 26-24, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-17 upset victory over the United States.

Dropping to 1-2 in pool play, the Americans play Russia on Friday and Cuba on Sunday to close the preliminary round.

Cuba topped previously unbeaten China in five sets behind 24 points from Zoila Barros Fernandez. China, Cuba and Russia are tied for first in Pool A.

WEIGHTLIFTING

China Has Third Winner

Two-time world champion Zhang Guozheng won China’s third men’s gold medal in as many events, leading the men’s 69-kilogram (152 pounds) weight class from start to finish.

Lee Bae-Young of South Korea had a chance to tie Zhang but missed a clean-and-jerk attempt of 430 pounds that would have given him the gold by virtue of lower body weight.

Nikolai Peshalov won the bronze to earn his fourth Olympic medal, tying him with Norbert Schemansky of the United States for the most by any weightlifter.

Peshalov did it in four weight classes and for two countries, winning his first two for Bulgaria and his last two for Croatia.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Nataliya Skakun overcame a big deficit to win the gold medal in the 63-kilogram (139 pounds) class, forcing Belarus’ Hanna Batsiushka to settle for silver after the two tied. Tatsiana Stukalava of Belarus took the bronze.

Skakun, who won the gold because of lower body weight, set a world record (253 1/2 pounds) in the snatch.

Wafa Ammouri of Morocco did not compete after failing a drug test. She was the first of six weightlifters to be named after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The other five could be announced as early as today.