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PHOTOS: Gold medal winners on Day 16 of the Games

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan celebrates his victory against Sushil Kumar of India during the Men's Freestyle 66 kg Wrestling gold medal fight

Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan won the Olympic wrestling gold medal in men's 66-kilogram freestyle, beating Sushil Kumar of India to give the Japanese their first Olympic gold in men's competition in 24 years.

The last Japanese wrestler to claim gold before Yonemitsu was flyweight Mitsuru Sato at the Seoul Games in 1988.

Yonemitsu, the runner-up at the world championships in 2011, beat Kumar 1-0, 3-1 in the first gold-medal match featuring an Indian wrestler.

The win was Japan's fourth gold of the London Games. Three Japanese women won gold medals earlier this week.

"It's unbelievable that I really did it. I think that every day's training paid off," Yonemitsu said. "If you did your best just on the day, it would not work. You need to train step by step.

"I was lucky. It is impossible to do it just with my strength. It's because of combination of luck, good condition, good performance and everything."

Uganda's Kiprotich wins men's Olympic marathon

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda celebrates as he approaches the line to win gold in the Men's Marathon

Stephen Kiprotich rounded a corner late in the race and simply took off. A surprise surge from a surprise winner.

So swift and unexpected was his move that the runner from Uganda turned the last mile into a victory lap as he easily captured the Olympic marathon Sunday, along with the first medal for his country at the London Games.

Kiprotich finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 1 second, holding off the Kenyan duo of Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang. Kirui finished 26 seconds behind Kiprotich, while Kipsang, the leader much of the race, faded late but held on for bronze just ahead of American Meb Keflezighi.

On an extremely warm afternoon, the marathoners wound their way through a scenic route packed with swarms of fans. Kiprotich had such a big lead near the finish that he grabbed a flag from the stands and wore it on his way to the finish.

After finishing, he dropped to his knees, bowed and then raised his hands high over his head.

The Kenyans, who were looking at a possible podium sweep, just couldn't keep up. Kirui and Kipsang were competing in memory of the late Sammy Wanjiru, who won the country's first Olympic marathon crown four years ago in Beijing. Wanjiru died last year after a fall from a second-story balcony during a domestic dispute.

Kipsang — who was listed by his full name of Wilson Kiprotich Kipsang for the race — was seemingly in control early in the day. He was out front and running all alone, before fading back to the pack. Kirui caught up with him while Kiprotich followed just behind.

At the 23-mile mark, Kiprotich turned the corner and was gone. No one could catch him as he won only the third medal ever for Uganda in track and field and the first since 1996.

Britain's Joshua wins final boxing gold medal

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Anthony Joshua (L) of Great Britain exchanges punches with Roberto Cammarelle (R) of Italy during the Men's Super Heavy (+91kg) Boxing final bout

Anthony Joshua won the super heavyweight gold medal in the Olympic boxing tournament Sunday in front of his hometown fans, rallying from a late deficit to beat defending gold medalist Roberto Cammarelle of Italy on a tiebreaker.

Joshua's medal ceremony after his thrilling victory was delayed about 15 minutes while Italy protested the result, but its complaints were swiftly rejected by amateur boxing's governing body.

Joshua won Britain's third boxing gold of its home Olympics, along with bantamweight Luke Campbell and women's flyweight Nicola Adams.

Lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko completed his second consecutive domination of an Olympic tournament with his second gold medal, cementing his claim as the pound-for-pound champion of amateur boxing.

Kulhavy wins Olympic mountain bike gold

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic competes in the Men's Cross-country Mountain Bike race

Jaroslav Kulhavy had been very discreet so far this season. But after months spent in the shadow of his rivals, his game of hide-and-seek was over.

Without a single world cup win this season, the world champion was not expected to battle with the best in the English countryside.

But after pre-race favorite Julien Absalon of France saw his hopes vanish with a puncture, Kulhavy produced an impressive display of strength and tactical awareness, well-timing his final move to claim the Olympic gold medal in the mountain bike race of the London Games on Sunday.

On a hot day, Kulhavy made the most of a final steep ascent on the technical circuit to move ahead of Nino Schurter of Switzerland in the final 200 meters, then sprinted to the line.

Schurter was beaten by one second and claimed the silver medal while Marco Aurelio Fontana of Italy took bronze, 25 seconds off the pace.

"Jaroslav, I really didn't count on him," Schurter said. "He's not been so strong this whole season, but today he was very strong and he deserved it."

Mekhontsev wins light heavyweight boxing gold

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Gold medalist Egor Mekhontcev of Russia celebrates after the medal ceremony for the Men's Light Heavy (81kg) Boxing final bout

Russian boxer Egor Mekhontsev won the light heavyweight gold medal on the second tiebreaker Sunday, squeaking past Adilbek Niyazymbetov of Kazakhstan in the men's Olympic tournament.

The fighters finished level at 15 points apiece, and the countback tiebreaker — which evaluates larger parts of the judges' total scores — also was level. The five judges then voted for their choice, and Mekhontsev claimed Russia's only boxing gold in London.

Mekhontsev was the world champion heavyweight in 2009, but moved down one weight class for London.

Niyazymbetov again finished as a runner-up, his same spot in last year's world championships.

US wins gold, beat Spain 107-100 in men's hoops

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
United States' Kevin Durant (5) slam dunks to score over Spain's Pau Gasol, left, during the Men's Basketball Gold medal game between the United States and Spain

Great for most of the Olympics, just good enough for gold. 

The U.S. men's basketball team defended its title by fighting off another huge challenge from Spain, pulling away in the final minutes for a 107-100 victory Sunday that gave the Americans their second straight gold medal.

And just like 2008, they had to work for this one.

LeBron James capped off one of basketball's most brilliant individual years with a monster dunk and a huge 3-pointer in the final 2:50, helping the Americans win the competitive game that few would have seen coming after they had been so dominant for so long in London.

Yet four years after beating Spain 118-107 in a classic in Beijing, the Americans found themselves in another tight one, unable to ever really slow the Spanish down until the closing minutes.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points and James had 19 on a day he joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA title, regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and Olympic gold.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has said he's retiring as national team coach after restoring the Americans to their place atop world basketball, emptied his bench in the final minute.

James stood with both arms in the air, then held Durant in a long hug before they both headed to the bench.

The Americans, who insisted they were better than their 2008 version and even good enough to take a game from the 1992 Dream Team, may not have been at that level.

Asadauskaite wins Olympic pentathlon

Last updated on: August 13, 2012 01:05 IST
Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania crosses the line in first place to win the Gold medal in the Women's Modern Pentathlon

Only gold was missing in the family, but Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania has now completed the collection of Olympic medals.

Her husband, Andrejus Zadneprovskis, won silver in modern pentathlon in 2004 and bronze four years later. At the London Games on Sunday, Asadauskaite added the one medal that couple was still lacking.

"He really helps me out in our daily life," Asadauskaite said. "With our child and also with my training."

Asadauskaite stopped her run at the final event just before the finish line. Then she crossed it very slowly, as if she wanted the actual moment of winning the missing medal as long as possible.

She threw her arms in the air and finished her race, 3.5 seconds ahead of her rivals.

"I am immensely excited," she said. "I had a great deal of support from the people of Lithuania. It is only a small country so this means the world to them. I felt very excited and emotional when the crowd cheered for me."

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