US WOMEN WIN GOLD IN GYMNASTICS

The Americans lived up to the hype,winning their first Olympic gold medal in women's gymnastics since 1996.

Their score of 183.596 Tuesday night was a whopping five points ahead of Russia. Romania won the bronze medal.
The Americans had come into the last two Olympics as world champions, only to leave without a gold. But this team is the strongest, top to bottom, the Americans have ever had, and the rest of the world never stood a chance. The U.S. opened with a barrage of booming vaults, held its own on uneven bars and pulled away on balance beam.
By the the time they got to floor exercise, the Russians were in tears on the sidelines, and the Americans turned the final event into a victory party.A/P

Vikings Peterson rushed to hospital after Seafood reaction

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was taken to the hospital Monday afternoon after an allergic reaction to seafood he ate for lunch.

Peterson was taken to the hospital by ambulance after experiencing shortness of breath and swelling in the face that caused Vikings personnel to call 911. He was back with the team resting in the dorms by the time the Vikings concluded their afternoon practice shortly after 5 p.m. Central, according to head coach Leslie Frazier, who was called it a “scary moment.”

Frazier said Peterson told him he had an allergic reaction to something else when he was younger, but Frazier wasn’t sure if Peterson knew of his seafood allergy.

“I don’t know if anyone of you has had anyone experience that, but, yeah, it was scary,” Frazier said. “But he’s fine now. Everything’s fine.”

Peterson has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list since the Vikings started training camp on Friday as he works his way back from surgery on Dec. 30 to his left knee to repair to the torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee.

“We’re anticipating him being back in rehab tomorrow, whether he’s doing things in the pool or back out on the field. He’s cleared to get going tomorrow,” Frazier said.tim yotter vikings.com

China Wins Gold in men's gymnastics; US Comes In Fifth

The Chinese won their second straight Olympic title in men's gymnastics and third and in four games in a rout Monday, making fools of everyone who wrote them off after a dismal performance in qualifying.
''We don't have any faults. That's our secret to beat the Japanese and to beat everyone,'' Zhang Chenglong said. ''In preliminaries, we had a little bit of faults. But tonight was completely perfect.''
Well, almost.
It took five minutes and a video review to sort out the silver and bronze medalists after Japan questioned the score of three-time world champion Kohei Uchimura on pommel horse, the last routine. Japan jumped from fourth to second after judges revised Uchimura's score, bumping Britain down to bronze and Ukraine off the medals podium.
It was the British men's first team medal in a century, and it set off  celebrations at the O2 Arena. Even Princes William and Harry joined in.
''To win a medal in your home games, I'll take that any day,'' Kristian Thomas said. ''We never actually had the silver in our hands, so there's no real disappointment.A/P

Brazilian Felipe Kitadai Breaks Medal In Shower

A Brazilian judoka  broke his Olympic bronze medal when he brought it into the shower. Now he's fighting to have it replaced.

Felipe Kitadai said he was carrying the medal everywhere. He took it with him to the shower as a joke, then dropped it while trying to keep it from getting wet.
Kitadai told Brazil's GloboEsporte.com that the part holding the medal's string broke, and now he can't wear it around his neck. He said there's also a small dent on it.

Kitadai won the bronze in the men's 60-kilogram division Saturday.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee says it will request a new medal even though it knows the International Olympic Committee has no obligation to give Kitadai another one.A/P

Michael Phelps 5th fastest in 200 fly heats

Michael Phelps fifth-fastest qualifying time in the preliminaries Monday in the200-meter butterfly.
Phelps has yet to have the quickest time in the morning heats at the London Games four years after he won a record eight gold medals in Beijing.
He finished third in his heat at 1 minute, 55.53 seconds, trailing Dinko Jukic of Austria and U.S. teammate Tyler Clary to the wall.

Phelps has won the 200 fly at the last two Olympics and set the world record at the 2009 world championships.
He was back in the water hours after swimming a solid second leg on the 4x100 freestyle relay that took silver after Ryan Lochte was overhauled by the French on the closing lap.
''Just getting last night sort of out of the way was something that I needed,'' Phelps said. ''I guess I got to bed pretty late. We're all falling asleep pretty late. We're all excited.''
Phelps' mother, Debbie, nodded her head slightly when she saw her son had safely advanced. He was the slowest qualifier for the 400 individual medley final on Saturday, and his surprising fourth-place finish kept him off the medals podium.
''I have no idea what it was, but I don't think it had anything to do with confidence,'' he said. ''I felt I was ready to swim faster than that. It just didn't happen.''
Jukic had the top time of 1:54.79, while Clary was second-best at 1:54.96 in advancing to the evening semifinals.
''I felt fantastic. The time was faster than it was at trials,'' Clary said. ''I hurt a heck of a lot more at the end of the race in trials. So I had actually said to myself coming into the third wall that I was amazed at how well I felt. Just wanted to see what I could bring it home in.''A/P

Americans Fall Short in 4X100M Relay

This time, it was France chasing down the United States — and Lochte, no less — to win another riveting relay at the Olympics.
''We got our revenge,'' French swimmer Clement Lefert said.
With Phelps looking much stronger than he did the night before, the Americans built a commanding lead over the first three legs of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay Sunday and never really had to worry about the defending world champions from Australia.
When Lochte dove into the water on the anchor leg, he was a half-body length ahead of the field and looking to add another gold to his dominating victory Saturday in the 400 individual medley.

Yannick Agnel, playing the chaser role that Jason Lezak did for the Americans four years ago in this same event, sliced through the water and was right on Lochte's shoulder as they made the flip at the far end of the pool. With about 25 meters to go, they were stroke for stroke. But Lochte, who had already competed in 1,200 meters of racing over the first two days, simply didn't have enough left to hold off the towering, 20-year-old Frenchman, one of the sport's real rising stars.
''I gave everything in the last 50 until he cracked,'' Agnel said. ''In the last 10 meters, I saw that he was really cracking.''
Agnel touched in 3 minutes, 9.93 seconds, having gone exactly 1 second faster than Lochte over the last two laps. Lochte and the Americans dropped to silver in 3:10.38, while Australia, the favorite, didn't even get a medal. Russia took the bronze in 3:11.41, edging the team from Down Under by 0.22.
Phelps settled for his 17th career medal and completed his collection of Olympic colors, adding a silver to his 14 golds and two bronzes. He also moved a step closer to becoming the most decorated Olympian ever, just one away from tying the mark for most career medals held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, and has five events to go.
''At least I'm in a medal today,'' Phelps said ruefully, referring to a fourth-place finish in his first race of the London Games.
But silver was a bitter disappointment for the Americans, who know how the French felt four years ago.
France had the lead in Beijing and its best sprinter, Alain Bernard, going out on the final leg. But Lezak swam the fastest relay leg in history, drafting Bernard along the lane rope and beating him by a scant 0.08 seconds to keep Phelps on track for his record eight gold medals.
That was one of the greatest races in Olympic history.A/P

Tebow Heckled During Practice

The wild scene as Jets fans descended on this central New York college town for the team's first public practice was tamed by the elements Saturday. Except for scattered cheers and a handful of hecklers shouting comments about the popular backup quarterback's penchant for holding the ball too long before throwing, it was a relatively uneventful session.

Although the sight of a thoroughly soaked Tim Tebow jogging bare-chested through the deluge after practice might have excited more than a few folks. It even left coach Rex Ryan somewhat speechless.
''Don't know if I'm there yet,'' Ryan said of casting off his shirt, too, even if he has lost 100 pounds.
The wet conditions seemed to cut down not only on the fans' enthusiasm, but on the number of banners on display. One man wore a green and white shirt with ''Mark 6:15 Thou Shalt Have Only One Quarterback'' printed on the front.
Real scripture? Not quite.
Mark would be Sanchez, the incumbent QB and the guy who wears the No. 6 jersey to Tebow's 15. The fan in the shirt, Todd Harmon of Buffalo — a tough place to be a Jets fan, he admitted — made the three-hour drive to support Sanchez, but also to observe Tebow.

''I think having him here will help Mark push through and will motivate Mark,'' Harmon said. ''He's never had someone pushing him.''
True enough. And from what everyone has seen from the fourth-year pro early in camp, he is responding. Sanchez has looked sharp, throwing darting spirals and hitting his targets in stride.
Even in a downpour.
''Mark can spin it in any conditions,'' Ryan said.
As for Tebow, well, as one impatient observer shouted from the grandstand as the rain pelted down: ''Throw it, Tebow!'' And when he connected with a receiver, the same fan added: ''Wow, you completed one!''
After a wobbly toss, another fan shouted: ''That's a Tebow ball!''A/P