US pros lose their golden glow
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The Argentines did not even wait for the final buzzer to sound before beginning their celebration. Luis Scola&#39;s dunk with 4.5 seconds remaining prompted Pepe Sanchez to rip off his jersey as his teammates flooded the court.
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TORONTO -- Precious few professional athletes leave their sport on their terms. Even fewer depart having won a championship in their final game. Injuries, diminished skills, and burnout can cut short careers.
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SAITAMA, Japan  - Despite suffering a demoralizing   defeat by a brilliant Greece at the world basketball   championship, the United States are looking long-term.
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ATHENS, Greece - They missed shots, threw the ball away and got beat on defense. In the end, though, Shannon Johnson and Tina Thompson helped the Americans pull out another gold-medal victory...
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What the US men's and women's gymnastics teams pulled off at the recent World Championships in Germany was nothing short of extraordinary. The men, who were 13th last year and in danger of not qualifying for the Olympics, ended up fourth and just missed medaling in the all-around with Jonathan Horton. And after the women rallied to overtake defending champion ...
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HAVING finally wrapped their hands around the holy grail - an Olympic gold medal â-ustralia&#39;s men&#39;s hockey players retired to their dressingrooms to perform a victory ritual immortalised by a national team familiar with success.
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It will be the Beijing Olympics before US National Basketball Association stars have another chance to reclaim global supremacy after losing Friday to Greece at the World Basketball Championship.
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Clearly, this is not the Venus Williams of old, so perhaps Lindsay Davenport&#39;s 7-5, 6-4 fourth-round victory over Williams yesterday in the US Open no longer merits a gold star as a special achievement.
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ATHENS -- Preliminary-round elimination would have been a disaster for the United States women. Desperate for a victory, the Americans avoided embarrassment by finally playing like a gold medal contender -- and like a team.
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ATHENS -- Yudel Johnson lost the gold medal to a shadow last night. The Cuban light welterweight was slickly outpointed by Thailand's Manus Boonjumnong at Peristeri Boxing Hall, 17-11, but what really beat him was Cuba's exporting of its coaches to a host of other countries.
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This would be the loss to finally confirm â-fter considerable evidence had strongly suggested it â -t the best American players just can&#39;t cut it worldwide on their ability to dunk anymore.
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ATHENS, Greece - They are America's newest golden girls - powerful and just a shade from perfection. The U.S...
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Roger Federer teased, Lleyton Hewitt  shone and Serena Williams dazzled at the U.S. Open on  Wednesday, although the bronze medallists at the Athens  Olympics were both upset.
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t has been an uninspiring United States Open for the American men, who fell apart with remarkable alacrity in the first week of the tournament.
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Well, at least that one's out of the way. Happened pretty quick, too. Turns out the Americans can't play singles very well, either.
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ATHENS -- They ended up on a podium with medals. Maybe not the podium they expected to mount and maybe not the color medal they came to get. But going home with a bronze beats the alternative -- going home with mostly bad memories -- and the US men's basketball team ended its frustrating Olympic run last night with a ...
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GRAND FORKS, North Dakota -- And so the freefall continues for Team USA. Roughly 24 hours after losing to Belarus and missing an opportunity to clinch top spot in Group A, the United States slipped from first