By
The Associated Press
SYDNEY - Next, please. The U.S. men's soccer team made it to the next round - the Olympic quarterfinals - for the first time ever.
Australian wunderkind Ian Thorpe went looking for his next gold medal - his third - and found it.
And the U.S. women's gymnastics team will have to wait for next time - four years from now - after failing to win a medal at the Sydney Games.
On the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the American soccer players notched a historic 3-1 victory yesterday against Kuwait - a triumph that moved them into new territory, the Olympic quarterfinals. The Americans, needing a win to advance, outplayed their opponents to earn one.
A first-half goal by Danny Califf preceded second-half tallies by Chris Albright and Landon Donovan as the Americans won for just the fifth time in 25 Olympic contests dating back to 1924. Two of those wins were against Kuwait.
In three preliminary games, the Americans wound up 1-0-2, good enough to move forward.
By day's end yesterday, the United States topped the medal table with 18 (7 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze). Host Australia was next with 17 (6-5-6), followed by China's 15 (6-2-7).
SWIMMING: It's a sight that America's swimmers have seen far too often in Australia: the back of Ian Thorpe's size 18 feet.
Thorpe, the 17-year-old Australian swimming sensation, captured his third gold medal of the Sydney Games by leading his team to victory yesterday against the U.S. team.
Thorpe has also captured a silver at his hometown Olympics, never finishing behind any American. His lone second-place finish came when Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband took the gold in the 200-meter freestyle.
Typically, Thorpe helped the Australians set a world record in the 800m freestyle relay by opening a two-body length lead on the first leg. The Americans took the silver, their second in the relays, while the Netherlands earned the bronze.
The Americans captured a gold of their own, their sixth in swimming, when Tom Malchow set an Olympic mark in the 200m butterfly. Teammate Cristina Teuscher picked up a bronze in the 200m individual medley, giving the United States 14 medals in four days at the Olympic pool.
Thorpe may add another medal to his individual haul. He could still swim a leg in the 400m medley relay later this week.
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS: The Magnificent Seven of Atlanta were replaced by a fourth-place finish in Sydney for the U.S. women's gymnasts - the first time since 1988 that the American failed to medal in Olympic team competition.
But though the team did not defend its 1996 gold medal, team officials were encouraged by its showing after a last-place finish in the 1999 world championships.
"The girls did what they could," coach Kelli Hill said. "We had nowhere to go but up."
The gold this time went to world champion Romania. Russia won the silver and China took the bronze.
MILLER OUT: America's No. 2 sprinter, Inger Miller, is definitely out of the 100 meters and possibly the entire Sydney Games after suffering an undisclosed injury. Miller, who finished second to Marion Jones in the 100m and 200m at the U.S. trials, was seeking medical advice before making a final decision, said Karen Dennis, head coach for the U.S. women's team.
Dennis could not confirm a report that Miller had severely strained her left hamstring while running sprints at a Los Angeles track earlier this month. Miller was considered a likely medalist in both events.
BASEBALL: Three up, three down for the U.S. baseball team. The Americans, managed by Tommy Lasorda, captured their third straight victory when Kurt Ainsworth shut down the Netherlands 6-2. Outfielder Ernie Young had a homer and three RBIs to lead the U.S. offense.
Ainsworth, picked 24th in the 1999 baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants, settled down after a shaky first inning to pick up the victory. The U.S. pitchers have allowed just four earned runs in three games.
TENNIS: After snatching up titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Venus Williams arrived in Sydney as the player to beat for the gold. Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia wasn't up to that task as Williams crushed her in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, in her first Olympic match.
BOXING: One thing Jermain Taylor learned as an auto mechanic: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Armed with that knowledge, the 156-pounder stuck with his right hand against Dimitriy Usagin of Bulgaria - and knocked his opponent out with 10 seconds left in Round 1.
The first eight U.S. boxers in the ring have won their opening Olympic fights, compared with a 7-0 start for have their Cuban counterparts, the main competition Down Under.
