London Olympics: Connor Fields looks strong in BMX

— The U.S. qualified four of its riders into the semifinals of the BMX competition on Thursday and Connor Fields is looking as if he could contend for a medal.

Fields won all three of his quarterfinal runs on a track that appeared tricky at times. There were more than 20 crashes during the second day of competition.

David Herman will be the other U.S. men’s rider, and Alise Post and Brooke Crain will go on the women’s side. It will be a little tougher for Post and Crain as they are both in the same semifinal heat. The top four in each heat advance to the final.

The American riders practiced on a replica of the Olympic track at the U.S.’ Chula Vista, Calif., training center.

Beach volleyball: The German pair of Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann beat current world champions Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil to become the first European gold medalists. The match ended in controversy as the Brazilians argued a spike was inside the line while the linesman ruled it was out. The bronze was won by Martin Plavins and Janis Smedins of Latvia.

Canoe sprint: Australia pulled a stunner in the men’s 1,000-meter kayak 4 as it won its first team gold in the sport. It led from start to finish, with Hungary and the Czech Republic coming in second and third. Germany was the winner in the men’s 1,000-meter canoe double followed by Belarus and Russia. In the women’s 500-meter kayak single it was Danuta Kozak of Hungary with the gold and Inna Osypenko-Radomska of the Ukraine getting the silver. The bronze went to Bridgitte Hartley of South Africa. In the women’s 500-meter kayak double, it was Germany, Hungary and Poland.

Diving: The two U.S. divers did not make it to the final of the women’s 10-meter platform competition. Brittany Viola was 15th and Katie Bell was 16th. The top 12 advanced. The winner was defending Olympic champion Chen Ruolin of China. Brittany Broben, an Australian 16-year-old competing in her first Olympics, was the surprise silver medalist. Pandelela Pamg of Malaysia won bronze.

Equestrian: Britain picked up another gold in a sitting sport as Charlotte Dujardin won the individual dressage. The one doing all the work — the horse — is named Valegro. The silver medal went to Adelinde Cornelissen of the Netherlands and the bronze to Laura Bechtolsheimer, also of Britain. The only U.S. entrant, Steffen Peters, finished 17th of 18.

Rhythmic gymnastics: It’s all Russia all the time in this sport. After the first of two days of qualifying, Daria Dmitrieva of Russia leads and teammate Evgeniya Kanaeva is in second. Russia is leading the team competition, followed by Italy and Belarus.

Sailing: There was no competition because of lack of wind. The U.S. crew of Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi was scheduled to sail against the Netherlands for fifth place, but because of the cancellation the U.S. placed fifth based on overall points.

Taekwondo: The U.S. picked up a surprise bronze medal when Terrence Jennings fought through the 150-pound repechage round, beating Hryhorii Husarov of Ukraine and then Diogo Silva of Brazil in the bronze-medal match. He lost his first match to Servet Tazegul of Turkey, who beat Mohammad Bagheri Motamed of Iran in the gold-medal final. The other bronze went to Rohullah Nikpah of Afghanistan. Diana Lopez lost her first match in the 126-pound class to Hou Yuzhuo of China, but when Hou moved to the final Lopez was put in the repechage and lost to Suvi Mikkonen of Finland. Hou ended up with the silver medal as Jade Jones of Britain took the gold. The bronzes were awarded to Tseng Li-Cheng of Taiwan and Marlene Harnois of France.

Wrestling: The two U.S. women didn’t stick around long in the freestyle competition. In the 121-pound class Kelsey Campbell lost her first match to Saori Yoshida of Japan, 1-0, 1-0. Campbell returned in the repechage round but lost to Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan. Ali Bernard was eliminated from 159-pound class when she lost to Jenny Fransson of Sweden, 3-0, 3-1. In the gold-medal match at 121-pounds, Yoshida beat Tonya Lynn Verbeek of Canada. The bronzes went to Jackeline Renteria Castillo of Colombia and Ratkevich. At 159 pounds, the gold went to Natalia Vorobieva of Russia, who beat Stanka Zlateva Hristova of Bulgaria. Guzel Manyurova of Kazakhstan and Maider Unda of Spain won bronze.

john.cherwa@latimes.com