Australia's Thorpedo Strikes Again

This time, the 'Thorpedo' didn't miss his mark, but the U.S. women's gymnastic team did.

Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe solidified his place as an Olympic hero Tuesday, bouncing back from defeat in the 200-meter freestyle to lead a world record-breaking 800-meter relay and win his third gold medal.

The Aussies' time of 7 minutes, 7.05 seconds capped another night of records at the pool, including the new Olympic mark Tom Malchow set as he won the United States' sixth swimming gold.

Malchow's individual glory gave the United States something to cheer about on a day when some U.S. teams took a dive and an American medal favorite pulled out of the 100 meters track-and-field race at the Sydney Games.

The U.S. women's gymnastics team went from gold medallists to no medallists. Winners in Atlanta four years ago, the women finished fourth in the team competition.

Although finally performing with some fire, the women's team couldn't recapture the glory of Atlanta.

World champion Romania won with 154.608 points. Russia won the silver and China took the bronze.

Romania had never beaten the Russians in an Olympic competition and had finished second to them so many times, they were starting to feel like they'd never break through. Their only gold medal came in 1984, when most of the Eastern bloc boycotted the games.

But Romania was nearly perfect Tuesday. With world champion Maria Olaru leading the way, they built a solid lead and then had to wait out two more rotations until the Chinese and Russians finished.

A few hours earlier, Japan had snapped the American softball team's 112-game winning streak in a frustrating 2-1 loss in 11 innings.

The Japanese beat the United States for the first time ever and halted a run of U.S. victories that dated back to the 1998 world championships.

Star second baseman Dot Richardson committed two errors that allowed both Japanese runs to score in the top of the 11th.

The United States lacked offensive punch, too. The Americans stranded 20 runners and loaded the bases in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but couldn't get anyone home.

Despite the loss, the United States is likely to make it to the medal round.

More bad news: A spokeswoman for Inger Miller's track club said the world's second-ranked sprinter will miss at least the 100 meters - and maybe the 200 and 400 relay - because of an injury.

At the aquatic center, Malchow shouted, pumped his arms furiously and pointed at the crowd after swimming 1:55.35 to beat the Olympic mark he set in the 200-meter butterfly prelims.

"For four years, I've wanted that moment," he said.

Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband, the man who shocked Thorpe - and about every other Aussie - by winning the 200 free Monday, also set another world record Tuesday. He swam 47.84 seconds in semifinals of the 100 free.

Thorpe, just 17, became Australia's most-celebratecitizen Saturday night when he won the 400-meter freestyle and then touched the wall first in an epic 400-free relay victory over the United States.

After settling for silver Monday, Thorpe made sure his next race didn't turn out the same way. He led off for the Australian relay, effortlessly cut through the water and staked his team to an insurmountable lead over the United States.

By the time William Kirby finished the final lap, it wasn't a question of whether Australia would beat its own record of 7:08.79, but rather just how much it would lower the mark.

The relay was supposed to Thorpe's last event, but the Aussies liked his performance so much they're going to give him another chance to swim in the 400 medley relay starting Friday.

Australia was second in the medal count at the end of competition Tuesday. The United States was first with 18 medals (7 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze), Australia had 17 (6-5-6) and China was third with 15 (6-2-7).

In boxing the Americans are 8-for-8.

Jose Navarro won his first Olympic fight at 112 pounds to keep the United States boxers unbeaten at the Sydney Games. He outpointed Hermensen Ballo of Indonesia 16-10.

Jermain Taylor in the 156-pound class also got through his first bout, beating Dimitriy Usagin of Bulgaria.

U.S. boxers have won all their fights so far at the Olympics.

The U.S. men's soccer team - sometimes overshadowed by the world-champion women's team - beat Kuwait 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament for the first time. Landon Donovan's goal in the 89th minute sealed the win.

The basketball Dream Team kept on winning, routing Italy 93-61. Spectacular dunks by Ray Allen and Antonio McDyess highlighted a 14-0, second-half run that put the game away.

The U.S. baseball team won again as Ernie Young doubled home two runs and hit a solo homer as the United States stayed unbeaten with a 6-2 win over the Netherlands.

Makoto Takimoto of Japan surprised the field and won the gold medal in men's 81-kilogram judo Tuesday night.

Takimoto defeated Cho In-chul of South Korea in the gold medal match after upset wins in earlier matches over Ruslan Seilkhanov of Kazakstan, Argentina's Gaston Garcia and Alvaro Paseyro of Uruguay. Aleksei Budolin of Estonia and Nuno Delgado of Portugal shared the bronze.

© 2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed