In today’s Times
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Articles from the August 20, 2008, edition of The Times
BANNER YEAR: American Henry Cejudo celebrates his gold medal in men’s freestyle 55-kilogram wrestling after beating Japan’s Tomohiro Matsunaga at the Olympic Games.
A son of illegal immigrants, U.S. wrestler hoists his flag
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: Henry Cejudo had a ragged upbringing. Now he has a gold medal in the 55-kilogram freestyle wrestling. Full article >>
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Mark Heisler, Los Angeles Times: Chinese fans adore the Lakers star, whose commercial appeal has had quite a rebound. Full article >>
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American Shawn Johnson finally gets her gold medal
Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times: The favorite in the all-around who settled for silver puts on a powerful winning performance on the balance beam. Nastia Liukin takes second for her fifth medal of the Games. Full article >>
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All four American BMX riders advance to semifinals
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times: Mike Day, Donny Robinson, Kyle Bennett and Jill Kintner ride well, although Bennett dislocates his shoulder. Full article >>
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American boxers’ losing battle in Beijing
Kevin Baxter and Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times: In order to train fighters to score points under the international system, they were sequestered at a camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. But many rebelled afterward. Full article >>
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U.S. hurdler finds herself in footsteps of Olympic champion
Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times: Dawn Harper, who says Jackie Joyner-Kersee was ‘a big influence,’ won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles. Full article >>
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U.S. softball holds off Japan to reach gold-medal game
Melissa Isaacson, Chicago Tribune: The U.S.-Japan semifinal goes to extra innings and is the toughest battle yet for the American team, which advanced to the gold-medal game after a 4-1 victory. Full article >>
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Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers advance to gold-medal match in beach volleyball
K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune: American team dominates Renato ‘Geor’ Gomes and Jorge ‘Gia’ Terceiro of Georgia in 21-11, 21-13 semifinal victory. They will face Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil on Friday. Full article >>
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Big expectations for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt
Philip Hersh, Special to The Times: Bolt hopes to break the 200-meter record set by Michael Johnson at the Atlanta Games in 1996. Full article>>
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Olympic runner Lopez Lomong’s incredible life story continues
Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times: The former Lost Boy of Sudan has won a place in American hearts, captivating many with his rise from refugee in Kenya to world-class runner and U.S. flag-bearer at the Beijing Games. Full article >>
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Sheila Taormina fights through terrorizing experience
Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune: She is competing for the U.S. in modern pentathlon and puts up a brave front when discussing a stalker who terrorized her but was released from prison in January. Full article >>
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Brenda Villa leads U.S. women’s water polo into final
Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times: The American captain scores three times in a 9-8 semifinal victory over Australia. Next up is the Netherlands in Thursday’s gold-medal match. Defender Lauren Wenger sprains right hand. Full article >>
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U.S. team is ready, willing, but will it be able to win?
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: For now, the best place to find American women soccer stars is on the Web. Full article >>
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U.S. baseball team beats Taiwan, 4-2, and clinches spot in medal round
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times: Terry Tiffee, a minor-leaguer for Dodgers, keeps up strong performance in Games, and he hopes it leads to a call-up. Full article >>
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U.S. women’s volleyball sees a spike in its medal chances
Melissa Isaacson, Chicago Tribune: Setter Lindsey Berg helps the Americans rally past Italy to reach the semifinals, in which they’ll face nemesis Cuba. Full article >>
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U.S. women’s basketball roll past South Korea, 104-60
K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune: Americans have a 66-28 scoring advantage inside to secure a semifinal spot. Full article >>
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U.S. women will play for soccer gold
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: Angela Hucles scores twice to lead the United States to a 4-2 win over Japan and another Olympic final against Brazil. Full article >>
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Up first for the U.S. in medal round: a smart Australia team
Mark Heisler, Los Angeles Times: The dominant USA squad beat the Aussies in exhibition play, but U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski is expecting a ‘tough’ opponent Wednesday. Full article >>
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U.S. gymnastic’s Horton takes a chance
Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times: It was simple, really. Jonathan Horton was, he said, going to go for an Olympic medal on the men’s horizontal bar or break his face. Full article >>
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Henry Cejudo captures gold and a piece of the American dream
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times: The son of undocumented Mexican immigrants becomes the first U.S. freestyle wrestler in Beijing to win an Olympic title. Full article >>
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Opera during Olympics will showcase relations between China and Tibet
Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times: The director of ‘Princess Wencheng’ hopes audiences will take away the message that Tibet has always been part of China. Full article >>
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Olympic TiVo relay team nears the finish line
Phil Goldberg, Los Angeles Times: One family is committed to experiencing a commercial-free Games. Full article >>
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Sanya Richards looks to shine in the spotlight
Philip Hersh, Special to the Times: U.S. quarter-miler, who finished second at the 2005 world championships and sixth at the 2004 Olympics when she was just 19, wants to do well when it counts. Full article >>
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Olympics give NBC the gold medal
NBC’s first full week of Summer Olympics coverage gave it prime-time television’s largest summer week ratings average in 12 years, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Full article >>
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In gymnastics, the real bias was in NBC broadcast booth
Steve Springer, Los Angeles Times: Announcers Al Trautwig and Bela Karolyi embarrassed themselves with a jingoistic display after Nastia Liukin lost a gold medal to China’s He Kexin in a tiebreaker. Full article >>
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A sport-by-sport look at the Olympic events of the day
John Cherwa, Orlando Sentinel: Catch up on all the action with our daily guide. Full article >>
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