olympic gold medal

Chris Paul had an overflow crowd on its feet before he'd even removed his warmups, showing off his Olympic gold medal during the pregame ceremonies for the Hornets' home opener.

Now Paul seeks to add an NBA championship to his basketball resume and has to feel good about his chances with the help he's getting from new teammate James Posey.

The story, as told by Shawn Johnson, goes like this: She was headed to David Letterman's show Monday from Chicago when the airline reported a problem.

Apparently, the pilot had an incident when he heard Johnson was on his plane.

"I guess he just like freaked out and hit his head," Johnson said Tuesday to a crowd of thousands in her first appearance back to her hometown.

"They had to take him to the hospital for stitches."

The climb back to the top is nearly complete. One more win and U.S. basketball is golden again. The Americans ended their streak of final four flops and Argentina's hopes of an Olympic gold-medal repeat, starting fast and finishing strong in a 101-81 semifinal victory Friday.

All that's left is what the U.S.

The U.S. women's volleyball team reached the gold-medal game, defeating Cuba in three sets Thursday to guarantee the Americans their best Olympic finish since 1984.

The United States will play the winner of Thursday night's Brazil-China semifinal for the Olympic title Saturday.

Cuba, three-time Olympic gold medal winners, will play the loser of that semifinal for the bronze.

Shawn Johnson of the United States won an Olympic gold medal in the last event of the women's competition Tuesday night, the balance beam.

Johnson nailed a routine that was full of difficult tricks, earning a 16.225. The world champion, who already had a silver behind fellow American Nastia Liukin in the all-around, and a silver on floor and in the team event, edged Liukin, who finished with a gold, three silvers and a bronze.

Shawn Johnson finally got her Olympic gold medal in the last event of the women's competition Tuesday night, the balance beam.

Johnson, bothered by a headache before the competition, nailed her routine that is chock-full of difficult tricks, earning a 16.225.

Her grin was a thousand times wider than the 4-inch-wide beam she had just conquered.

Venus and Serena Williams of the United States have won the Olympic gold medal in women's doubles. The Williamses beat the Spanish duo Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2, 6-0 in Sunday's final.

The American sisters, seeded second, shrieked when Ruano Pascual sent the championship point long.

The Chinese crashed what was supposed to be a U.S. Olympic party. The Americans? Well, they just flopped.

With the two best gymnasts in the world and the Olympic gold medal within their grasp, the Americans bumbled and fumbled it away Wednesday at the Beijing Games.

A fall off the beam here, a splat on floor there and two steps out of bounds was more than enough to cost a team a victory, no matter how...

Michael Phelps has won a record 10th career Olympic gold medal, earning his fourth gold at the Beijing Games with a world record in the 200-meter butterfly.

The American touched in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, lowering his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year's world championships in Australia.

Phelps' win has broken a tie with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others for most Olympic golds in a career. He is 4-for-4 so far, setting world records in each of his events.