Men's Basketball Gold Caps Rio Olympic Games For Team USA

RIO DE JANEIRO – Kevin Durant made sure Team USA put an exclamation point on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

He scored 30 points as the United States won the gold medal in men’s basketball Sunday, routing Serbia 96-66 after leading by as many as 41 points.

For the first time in history, the United States won both the first gold medal (shooter Ginny Thrasher in women’s 10-meter air rifle) and the last at an Olympic Games in summer competition.

Good shooting played a part in the bookend gold medals. Durant scored 24 points in the first half on 64 percent shooting and in the second quarter he outscored Serbia all by himself 18-14 with seven baskets, including four 3-pointers.

Team USA has now won 25 straight games in Olympic competition dating back to the bronze-medal

Simone Biles selected as Team USA’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer for Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Four-time Olympic champion Biles becomes first gymnast to lead
U.S. Olympic delegation into Closing Ceremony

RIO DE JANEIRO – Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles was selected to lead the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team into Sunday's (Aug. 21) Closing Ceremony as flag bearer, as announced today by the United States Olympic Committee. Biles was chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members.

In her Olympic debut, Biles won team and individual gold medals in the women’s all-around, vault and floor exercise, also adding a fifth medal – bronze – on balance beam. She became the first American gymnast to win four golds at a single Games and one of only four women to accomplish the feat in Olympic history, joining Larissa Latynina (1956), Vera Caslavska (1968) and Ekaterina Szabo (1984). 



"It's an incredible honor to be selected as the flag bearer by my Team USA teammates,” said Biles. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me and my team and I consider it a privilege to represent my country, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics by carrying our flag. I also wish to thank the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the entire country of Brazil, for hosting an incredible Games.”

Widely considered the best gymnast of her generation, Biles’ Olympic medal haul extended her U.S. record to 18 individual medals combined in world and Olympic competition over the last three years. Her historic performance propelled the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to a total of nine medals in Rio, surpassing the team’s previous high of eight from the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The nine medals are the most won by any women’s team since the Soviet Union claimed 10 medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. 



Biles is only the second gymnast to serve as Team USA’s flag bearer, in either the Opening or Closing Ceremony, and the first-ever female gymnast to earn the honor. Alfred Jochim is the only other American gymnast to previously serve as flag bearer, leading the U.S. delegation into the Opening Ceremony of the 1936 Olympic Games.   


U.S Olympic Team Flag Bearers – Closing Ceremony 


1952     Bob Kurland, Basketball             

1956     Pete Rademacher, Boxing       

1960     Mike Troy, Swimming                  

1964     Don Schollander, Swimming        

1968     Al Oerter, Track and Field              

1972     Mike Burton, Swimming

1976     Willie Davenport, Track and Field      
1984     Jeff Blatnick Wresting 

1988     Terry Schroeder, Water Polo

1992     Peter Westbrook, Fencing 

1996     Michael Matz, Equestrian              
2000     Rulon Gardner, Wrestling             

2004     Mia Hamm, Soccer                

2008     Khatuna Lorig, Archery               

2012     Bryshon Nellum, Track and Field 

2016     Simone Biles, Gymnastics

Women's Field Hockey: Bam's Hat Trick and Win Over Japan Propels USWNT into Olympic Games Quarterfinal Placement

DEODORO, Brazil - August 10, 2016 - 180 gritty pitch minutes logged and 10 heart-pounding goals later and the U.S. Olympic Women’s Field Hockey Team has climbed to a panoramic view of promise by currently claiming one of the top seeds in Pool B with three consecutive victories. Halfway through preliminary pool play and with each passing match minute at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the red, white and blue has steadily scaled its way to securing a spot at the all-important quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro. Assisting with the team's intended course of action, today multiple goals, including Katie Bam's (Blue Bell, Pa.) hat trick, helped Team USA rise above Japan 6-1.

Pool B Standings
Rank	Country	Points
1	United States	9
2	Great Britain	9
3	Australia	3
4	Argentina	3
5	India	1
6	Japan	1

Team USA started off quick, grabbing a penalty corner less than 15 seconds into the match. Off of the slip, Melissa Gonzalez (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) buried a low drag flick into the right corner of the cage to give USA an early 1-0 lead. Japan quickly took possession and countered down the field but a duo defensive effort by Julia Reinprecht (Perkasie, Pa.) and Michelle Kasold (Chapel Hill, N.C.) maintained the pressure. Seconds later, a scare came for USA's goalkeeper Jackie Briggs (Robesonia, Pa.) as a Japan forward got a shot off at close range that went just wide of the post.
"Japan is a difficult team to manage and I think we did a professional job on picking up another three