Rio roundup: Crash keeps U.S. from winning medal in women's road race

U.S. cyclist Mara Abbott crosses the finish line in fourth place in the women's road race at the Rio Olympic Games on Aug. 7.

By John Cherwa

Aug. 7, 2016 8:48 PM PT

Reporting from Rio de Janeiro — The United States came extremely close to winning a cycling medal in the women’s road race on Sunday. Mara Abbott was in sight of the finish line when she was passed by a pack that included Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands, Emma Johansson of Sweden and Elisa Longo of Italy.

Cyclists usually work together, which can give them added speed. Abbott had been working with Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands until she crashed about 6.5 miles from the finish. It left Abbott exposed and her 38-second lead quickly evaporated.

Van der Breggen won gold while Johansson took home the silver. Megan Guarnier (11th) and Evelyn Stevens (12th) also competed for the U.S.

Archery: South Korea defeated Russia to win the gold medal in the women’s competition. The U.S. did not qualify for the final eight spots.

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Beach volleyball: Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena of the U.S. won their opening match by beating Mohamed Arafet Naceur and Choaib Belhaj Salah of Tunisia, 2-0. They next play on Tuesday against Juan Ramon Virgen Pulido and Rodolfo Lombardo Ontiveros Gomez of Mexico. On the women’s side Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat lost to a team from Poland.

Boxing: Competition continued with no U.S. fighters in the ring. Nico Miguel Hernandez of the U.S. fights Vasilii Egorov of Russia in the light-flyweight division on Monday.

Canoe/kayak: The U.S. qualified Casey Eichfeld into the semifinals of the men’s single canoe. His time was almost eight seconds behind the leader and good enough for 12^th place. Michal Smolens was 10^th in the men’s single kayak, which was also good enough to get to the semifinals. Eichfeld will compete on Tuesday and Smolens on Wednesday.

Diving: China won the women’s three-meter synchronized springboard final, followed by Italy and Australia. The U.S. did not qualify a team for the finals.

Equestrian: After two days of the individual dressage, William Fox-Pitt of Britain was leading Christopher Burton of Australia. Phillip Dutton was the highest-ranked U.S. competitor in 15^{^th}. Germany was leading the team eventing competition with the U.S. in seventh.

Field hockey: If you are the host country you get to play in all the team competitions, even if you didn’t qualify. Sunday showed why that isn’t always a good idea as Belgium beat Brazil, 12-0. The U.S. did not qualify a team.

Handball: The story to watch in team handball is the men’s team from Qatar. It is essentially a ringer team of international players who have been able to claim an association with the small Persian Gulf country. It won its first game of the tournament, 30-23, over Croatia.

Judo: Kosovo won its first-ever Olympic medal when Majlinda Kelmendi won the 64-kg (115 pound) division. Kosovo was not recognized as a country by the International Olympic Committee until 2014. Kelmendi represented Albania in the London Games.

Rowing: Competition was cancelled because of high winds.

Rugby: The U.S. women’s team was eliminated from medal contention after losing to New Zealand, 5-0, in the quarterfinals. Portia Woodman scored a try as time expired at the end of the first half and that was the match. The U.S. is now relegated to placement play, starting with a match against Fiji on Monday. Earlier Sunday, the U.S. team played Australia to a 12-12 draw.

Shooting: Two days, two medals for the U.S. This time it was Corey Cogdell-Unrein who won a bronze medal in the women’s trap shooting competition. She beat Fatima Galvez of Spain in a shoot-off in the third-place match. Cogdell-Unrein won a bronze in 2008 in Beijing. Catherine Skinner of Australia won the gold and Natalie Rooney of New Zealand took the silver. Ginny Thrasher of the U.S. won the first gold of the Games on Saturday in the 10-meter air rifle.

Soccer: Play was on the men’s side with Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Denmark and Nigeria all winning, There were three ties: Germany-South Korea, Brazil-Iraq and Japan-Colombia.

Table Tennis: Play continued in the Asian-dominated sport with no Americans left in those competitions.

Volleyball: In a bad sign of things to come, the U.S. men’s team was beaten by Canada in straight sets, 25-23, 25-17, 25-23. The next match for the U.S. is Tuesday against Italy.

Weightlifting: Long Qingquan of China won the gold in the men’s 53-kg (117 pound) competition. The U.S. did not qualify anyone for the finals.