Olympics highlights

By Compiled by Times staff writer

Red flag

When the long jump judge raised the flag to negate Marion Jones' final leap, the most suspenseful medals chase came to a halt. Jones' quest for five golds was over. Germany's Heike Drechsler won the gold, and Jones took the bronze. Also in track and field, Nick Hysong became the first American to win the pole vault since 1968, and Kenya's Noah Ngeny upset Hicham El Guerroj in the 1,500 meters.

This is no dream

Ray Allen thought the final shot was going in. If it had, the U.S. men's basketball team would have been looking for cover. Sarunas Jasikevicius missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that could have given Lithuania a semifinal victory over the Americans. Instead, the United States held on for an 85-83 win. The U.S. women had an easier time, beating South Korea 78-65.

Ivan the Terrible

Chile's Ivan Zamorano scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over the United States for the bronze medal in men's soccer. "I think that the U.S. team has a great future," Chilean coach Nelson Acosta said.

Off-beat

What's the fee?

Michael Johnson has answered plenty of questions, but even the 400-meter gold medalist was taken aback when a radio reporter from Bogota, Colombia, asked Johnson to do a promotion for his station. Sheepishly, Johnson read from the reporter's prepared statement: "Hi, I'm Michael Johnson and you're listening to 88.9 Bogota, the Super Station."

What time is it?

Sydney is 15 hours ahead of Tampa Bay, so as most people read their morning paper, today's events are wrapping up in Australia. We have converted schedules and other references to Tampa Bay time. For the latest results, check the Times Web site at http://www.sptimes.com/olympics.

While you were sleeping

Some of the events completed after deadline for today's paper: the women's basketball gold medal game; men's 10-meter platform diving; and track and field, including Romania's Gabriela Szabo, who won the 1,500 and is attempting to add the 5,000.