Mark Maloney on sports

From the Beijing Olympics at Wukesong Basketball Gymnasium, quarterfinal play  …

The United States advanced to Friday’s semifinals by whipping Australia 116-85.

The U.S. will meet the winner of the Argentina-Greece contest, which is now in progress.

Kobe Bryant led five Americans who scored in double figures. He hit four of seven three-point attempts en route to 25 points. Lebron James added 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Carmelo Anthony had 15 points.

Deron Williams and Chris Bosh scored 10 each.

Former University of Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince had nine points, a rebound and a steal in 13:21 of action. He hit two of three three-point attempts, his only two-point try (a dunk) and one of two free throws.

The U.S. shot 57percent from the field and finished with a 57-28 advantage in rebounds.

Patrick Mills paced Australia with 20 points. Glen Saville added 13, Joe Ingles 11 and Brad Newley 10.

* The 14-0 run to start the second half blew the game open and the United States leads 89-61 heading into the fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant had nine of those 14 points. Carmelo Anthony added a three-pointer and Jason Kidd had two points.

Tayshaun Prince entered the game with 3:27 left, adding a three-pointer and a thunderous dunk.

*A 14-0 run to open the third quarter has pushed Team USA’s lead to 69-43.

* The U.S. has opened a 55-43 halftime lead.

Rebounding has been big — the Americans have a 31-14 advantage. That has helped make up for poor free-throw shooting (10-for-20) and three-point shooting (3-for-13)

LeBron James has seven rebounds and Dwyane Wade has six.

James and Carmelo Anthony have 12 points each to lead the U.S. Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have eight apiece.

Former University of Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince entered the game late in the half and made one of two free throws. He also had a rebound and steal.

Patrick Mills and Brad Newley each have eight points for Australia. Chris Anstey has seven points and four rebounds.

The Aussies are 7-for-11 at the free-throw line and 4-for-11 from three-point range.

* Team USA leads Australia 25-24 after one quarter.

The U.S. scored the first five points and led by nine points several times, the last at 15-6.

Australia battled back to tie at 21 but has not led.

The U.S. is 4-of-11 at the free-throw line.

Dwight Howard leads all scoreres with eight.

           BEIJING – Finals of the Olympic men’s 100-meter dash Saturday night.

          Time to Bolt.

          Usain Bolt did exactly that, capturing the gold medal in a world-record 9.69 seconds at National Stadium, a.k.a. Bird’s Nest. He is Jamaica’s first champion in the Olympic 100. Bolt broke his own world record of 9.72, set May 31 at New York.

           Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago took the silver medal in 9.89.

          NCAA champion Walter Dix, out of Florida State, scored the bronze in 9.91.

          Teammate Darvis Patton finished eighth in 10.01.

         Former world record-holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica placed fifth in 9.95.

          Tyson Gay’s dream of running for the gold came to a screeching halt in the semifinals.

           “I’m pretty upset. When I get back to the (Athletes) Village, I guess it will probably set in,” Gay said. “My family’s here. Everyone at home’s supporting me, praying for me, and I’m disappointed because I let them down a little bit. But, at the same time, I gave it my best.”

           A graduate of Lafayette High School in Lexington, he placed fifth in his heat, where only the top four moved into the finals. His time of 10.05 was two-hundredths of a second behind Patton.

            “I just didn’t have nothing in me today. I ran as fast as I could. I gave it 100 percent,” Gay said. “I focused on the Olympics, so I’m disappointed. I thought I would get into the finals.”

            In the finals, Bolt had the second-slowest reaction time to the gun, yet was so clear of the field that he hammed it up with hands outspread 20 meters before the finish line.

            Bolt led the semifinals in 9.85.

             Gay, running in the next heat, tied for ninth overall.

            Bolt practically loped to victory in the first heat. Dix  took second in 9.95, followed by Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago (9.97), Michael Prater of Jamaica (10.01) and Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis (10.05).

            Powell won Gay’s heat in 9.91. Then came Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (9.93), Churandy Martinia of Netherland Antilles (9.94), Patton (10.03) and Gay. Behind Gay was Portugal’s Francis Okikwelu (10.10), silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

            Gay was trying to do what few thought possible just a few days ago.

            The reigning world champion at 100 and 200 meters set an American record of 9.77 during quarterfinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials at Eugene, Ore. In the finals, he ran the fastest 100 of all time, 9.68, although a tailwind negated the effort from record consideration.

                A few days later, Gay cruised through one round of the 200. In the quarterfinals, though, he tumbled to the track with a strained left hamstring. That knocked him out of the 200 and, many speculated, possibly the 100.

Until coming to Beijing, he had not competed since being injured about five weeks ago.

His first race here was a tepid 10.22. He improved to 10.09 in the quarterfinals.

He declined to use his hamstring as an excuse.

“The injury was a setback to my training, but that’s no excuse because my hamstring feels fine,” he said. “I feel great, I feel strong, I feel relaxed. It just wasn’t there.”

Gay still has the 4-by-100 relay to run here. After the Games, he says he plans to continue running on the lucrative European circuit.

While Lexington’s Tyson Gay pulled out of the 100 meters in order to nurse his sore hamstring, plenty of other Beijing-bound athletes put on a show Friday at the Aviva London Super Grand Prix.

Former world record-holder Asafa Powell, fresh off a win over fellow Jamaican and current (pending ratification) record-holder Usain Bolt, prevailed in the 100.

After a 10.06 qualifying win, Powell zipped a 9.94 finals, trailed by Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago (9.97). Jamaica’s Michael Frater took third (10.00), a hundredth ahead of Burns’ countryman Richard Thompson.

Olympic Trials winner and two-time World Outdoor champion Allyson Felix had a bad start and finished a stunning fourth in the women’s 200 (22.70). Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson won (22.70), ahead of Bianca Knight (22.79).

Felix will come back Saturday in the 100 vs. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, among others.

Other notables included World Outdoor champion Reese Hoffa. The defending meet champion and Louisville native topped two-time Olympic silver-medalist Adam Nelson in the shot put, 69-4 to 69-1.5. Tomasz Majewski of Poland took third (68-9.75), with Christian Cantwell (67-4) giving the U.S. a 1-2-4 finish.

David Oliver, just as he did in the Olympic Trials, snared the 110-meter hurdles (13.20), leading a U.S. sweep of the top four spots. Anwar Moore (13.52), Antwon Hicks (13.58 ) and Aries Merritt (13.61) followed Oliver. World record-holder Dayron Robles of Cuba was missing, apparently because he didn’t apply for a visa.

Kenya’s Shadrick Korir nipped Great Britain’s Andrew Baddeley in the mile, 3:54.68 to 3:54.76. Bernard Lagat, who will run the 1,500 and 5,000 for the U.S., was third in 3:55.20, only the second defeat of the season for the world champion. Australia’s Craig Mottram, last with 150 meters left, came on strong to bag fourth in 3:55.40.

The women’s 1,500 went to Britain’s Lisa Dobriskey (4:08.97).

Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva, the world record-holder and reigning Olympic gold-medalist, defeated American record-holder Jenn Stuczynski in the women’s pole vault, 16-2 to 15-9 1/4.

Roisin McGettigan of Ireland set a stadium record in the women’s steeplechase (9:33.76).

Had the chance to speak with Tayshaun Prince on the opening day of his youth camp in Lexington last week, and again this week after a Team USA practice in Las Vegas. From those discussions, you’ll see a Herald-Leader story Aug. 8 (opening date of the Olympics), part of a preview of “Kentucky connections” headed to Beijing.

Meanwhile, here is some of what the Detroit Pistons and former University of Kentucky player had to say.

On whether an Olympic gold medal would be as sweet as an NCAA or NBA championship: “It definitely ranks up at the top. When you talk about a national championship or an NBA championship, it definitely ranks up there above that. The reason why I say that is because you’re talking about representing your country, your family, your friends. You’re playing against the best in the world, not just the country. And when you talk about playing against the best in the world and getting an Olympic gold medal, or trying to achieve that, it’s something that’s very special. So I definitely think that ranks up there at the top and, hopefully, it’ll come true.”

On preference for/against particular international and/or NBA rules: “It just kind of depends. Because even last year where there were some different rules that were involved in the international game, once you get to playing and going up and down and getting in the heat of battle, sooner or later the game is kind of the same. I think it just depends on what type of officials you have. … See how they’re calling things early in the game to determine if things are going to be different or not. Because some referees call things tight, some referees don’t. So even though they have different rules, things are still kind of the same. There might be a different rule here or there, but it just kind of depends what refs you have because some are lenient and some are not. So you’ve just got to go with the flow and see how things are going throughout the game.”

On whether sacrificing his off-season caused any second thoughts about agreeing to play for Team USA: “When you look at what I’ve done throughout my six-year career with the Pistons, pretty much playing into the month of June, summers have been short for me all the time. So when you’re talking about making a sacrifice to represent your country, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I know people kind of wonder if this is a situation where you’ll be fatigued when your season rolls around. All I’d say is this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on an Olympic team, where you’re trying to achieve a gold medal, so I’ll take the opportunity.”

On playing under Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: “It’s fun. I know a lot of people would want to know how would it work or how would it gel with a college coach coaching NBA players in the Olympics. It’s been a great opportunity. I’m pretty sure that he’s learning stuff from us but, at the same time, we’re learning things from him. We’ve got other good coaches here as well, college and NBA, that getls together. And when you have a chemistry and you put it together for a few years, I think that’s what makes it better.”

University of Louisville jumps specialist Andre Black snare a gold and silver medal over the weekend in the NACAC Under-23 Track and Field Championships at Goluca, Mexico.

Don’t look for any of these names in the Beijing Olympics. But London 2012 certainly will see some of these athletes.

The championships are held every two years, constested among 32 nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association.

Black, the 2007 NCAA triple-jump champion indoors, took gold in his main event with a distance of 52 feet, 2.5 inches. His silver came in the long jump, 25-8.

Team USA led the medal race with 62 total, including 28 gold, 26 silver and eight bronze. Mexico was second with 19 medals, followed by Canada (15), Jamaica (11) and the Dominican Republic (6).

Other American gold-medalists included: J-Mee Samuels with a meet-record 10.09 in the men’s 100; Evander Wells (runner-up in the 100) with a 20.34 clocking in the 200; LaJerald Betters with a meet-record 44.75 in the 400; Jason Richardson with a meet-record 13.32 in the 110-meter hurdles; Joe Kindred with a meet-record 7-5.25 high jump; Raven Cepeda with a meet-record 7,504 points in the decathlon; and the 400-meter relay team of Jeremy Hall, Teddy Williams, Christopher Dykes and Samuels, in a meet-record 38.89.

On the women’s side, Sara Stevens won both the shot put (52-7 1/2) and hammer throw (206-0). Other U.S. winners and meet record-setters: Meghan Armstrong in the 10,000 (37:31.28); Tiffany Ofili, 100-meter hurdles (12.82); Katie Stripling, pole vault (14-3.25); Joemi Maduka, long jump (21-10.25); and the 400-meter relay unit of Jessica Onyepunuka, Tawanna Meadows, Lynn Layne and Scottesha Miller (43.64).