Last night we prevailed over Canada 2-1 to advance to the semi-finals. It was a battle, and both teams slugged it out through 120 minutes. I was so proud of the two Bruins on the pitch - Kara Lang has been a standout for her team in this tournament, and Lauren Cheney came on late in the game and added a tremendous spark off the bench.

 

We got a great start, scoring and dominating the first 20 minutes of play. Then a huge thunderstorm rolled in. After two loud cracks of lightning, the referee suspended play, and we headed to the locker-room to wait out the storm. Ninety minutes later play resumed, and Canada had new life. They high-pressured and were rewarded with an amazing blast from their striker Christine Sinclair. What followed was an exhausting, physical battle. We created so many scoring chances but couldn't find the back of the net until overtime when Natasha Kai finished a cross with a great header. After the game, there were smiles and hugs all round!!

 

Today we got on another plane and headed back to Beijing. We will move into the Olympic village for the remaining games, so it will be good to quit traveling and be around the other athletes. The players are in good spirits - the friends and families have been troopers following us around China. The team will spend today doing some recovery work in the pool, and the staff will meet up with our scouts to begin to prepare for Japan.

 

It is finally good to get out and play some games at the Olympics after our long tour and practices. The team is doing great so it's a lot of fun. Personally I am getting a little bit of a slow start, but my time will come. I am just trying to stay positive, which isn't that hard because the team is winning and we are playing really well right now!

 

As for my first at-bat of the Olympic Games, I tried not to make it any bigger than what it was because it is still the same game that I have been playing for the past 13 years of my life, just on a bigger stage. I really wanted to hit so when the pitcher hit me, I was kind of like "Oh well, I am on base, woo hoo haha." I think I scored the first run of the Olympics for us, so that was kind of cool! My cousin said he got a picture of it.

 

Our schedule has been pretty busy so there's not that much room for free time, which is O.K. because it is good to stay focused. My typical day lately has been getting up, getting semi-dressed and then walking the long walk to the huge dining hall, where I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal, some fruit and whatever else looks good. From there I return back to my room to finish getting dressed and head with the team to the bus that takes us to the field. The drive is about 40 minutes. We play our game at 12 p.m., then head back on the bus. Sometimes I read on the bus or just mellow out. When we get back to the dorms, I usually wind down, get something to eat and take a shower. Then we have a team meeting, I hang out with some teammates, then get to sleep only to wake up and do it all over again.

 

Like I said before, I don't mind the schedule because it keeps us focused. The village has been fun. It's amazing to see all the countries and all the different kinds of people. It's really fun to people watch.

 

Well, tomorrow we get to sleep in before the game against the Netherlands because we play at night, so I am excited for that!

 

Send a lot of good karma and good energy towards Beijing to help us get gold!

 

 Andrea is a member of the U.S. softball team.

With our win over Russia, and the ever confusing bracketology of China losing to Italy - but by one goal and Italy scored less than 12 goals - we have a bye through the quarterfinals and go directly into the medal round. If we win one more game, we're in the Olympic final! We will play the winner of Australia/China. Hungary advanced to the semifinals from the other bracket and will face the winner of Italy/Holland.

 

Playing for a medal is an awesome feeling, and we're one step closer to bringing it home! We have a few days off (of competition, that is - we'll still train hard!) to get ready for our next opponent and iron out any kinks.

 

Today I did get out for a little bit. My roommate and I went to the silk market and did a little shopping for a few hours. It was pretty fun. The market is a building that is the same as an indoor swap meet except here you negotiate prices. I bought a few things and I will probably go back sometime at the end of my trip.

 

Tomorrow is my qualifying round and I am excited. Training has been good and I feel prepared. I don't really know what else to say at this point because for the most part my time is spent hanging out in my room or the lounge area watching the events on tv.

On Monday night my boss announced he had 18 tickets to weightlifting for that night. When else would I ever see weightlifting? If I go see weightlifting, I might as well see the BEST in the WORLD. I can't pass up a FREE ticket to an Olympic event.

 

I know absolutely NOTHING about weightlifting. So....whoever lifts the most WINS, right? So...there is a weight category and we were watching Men 62KG. And it was the clean-and-jerk event. Another weightlifting event is called snatch. They have great names for these weightlifting events, don't they?

 

So....for clean and jerk....you get the weights up to shoulder height and then thrust it over head. They can split their feet with one leg in front of the other and hold it over above their head for a certain amount of time.

 

We had FANTASTIC seats in the front, on the lifter's right side.

 

The event was very exciting. It was great atmosphere in the gymnasium. It came down to the Chinese guy vs Columbian guy. The fans were into it. There was a very loud Columbian cheering section.

 

The crowd went crazy when Zhang had a successful lift. He dropped the weights to the ground. Then he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the weights. Actually the Columbian dude was ecstatic to win the silver. It's great to see athletes excited about winning a silver medal. Actually....the Columbian seemed happier about his silver than Zhang about his gold.

 

For my very first weightlifting event, I had a GREAT time. It was nice to see a not-so mainstream sport that I would not normally have seen. This event would not have been shown on NBC. There wasn't an even an American competing in this event.

The U.S. defeated Canada, 2-1, in overtime to advance to the semifinals. U.S. sub Natasha Kai scored the game-winner on a diving header in the 101st minute. Lauren Cheney made her Olympic debut, entering the game in the 109th minute. In just 11 minutes of play, she recorded two shots that each missed just wide. Canadian forward Kara Lang started and played all 120 minutes and had one shot on goal.

 

The U.S. will next face Japan in the semifinals on Monday, Aug. 18 in a rematch of an earlier Group play game that the U.S. won, 1-0.

 

Gymnastics
Incoming freshman Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs recorded the second-best all-around finish in Canadian Olympic history, finishing 16th in the all-around finals with a mark of 58.375. Only UCLA alumna Kate Richardson finished higher, with a 15th-place showing in 2000. Hopfner-Hibbs' best scores came on the uneven bars (15.425, seventh-best mark of the night) and vault (14.875).

 

Click on the following links to watch Hopfner-Hibbs' routines: Beam (0:10:45 mark) | Floor (0:30:00 mark) | Vault (1:02:30 mark) | Bars (1:38:40 mark)

 

Former UCLA standout Natalie Golda scored a game-high three goals to pace the U.S. women's water polo team past Russia, 12-7, in both teams' final preliminary-round match. The victory over Russia (0-3), the No. 3 ranked team in the world, helped propel Team USA (2-0-1) into the semifinals, where the Americans will await the winner of Sunday's Australia-China quarterfinal contest. The Americans beat Italy (2-0-1) in a tiebreaker to win Group A.

 

Golda, who scored four goals in Team USA's opening match against China, registered three goals on five shot attempts against the Russians. Former UCLA goalkeeper Jamie Hipp recorded one save in her first appearance of the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. women's team is led by former UCLA head coach Guy Baker.

 

Team USA's semifinal match will take place Tuesday, Aug. 19 in Beijing. Game time is slated for either Monday, Aug. 18 at 11:20 p.m. (PT) or Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 12:40 a.m. (PT).

 

UCLA women's rowing assistant coach Mark Hunter and teammate Zac Purchase became the first lightweight British crew to qualify for an Olympic final, placing first in the semifinals of the lightweight double sculls with a time of 6:29.56. The British crew will race in the Finals on Sunday, Aug. 17.

 

Mike Altman and the U.S. lightweight fours crew finished sixth in their semifinal with a time of 6:16.30 and did not qualify for Sunday's Final A. The U.S. will instead race in the Final B on Saturday, Aug. 16.

 

Natasha Watley hit her second home run of the Olympics in Team USA's 7-0 win over Japan and Andrea Duran had a pair of RBI in an 8-1 comeback victory over Canada.

 

The U.S. is now 4-0 in pool play and will next face Chinese Taipei at 9 p.m. Friday PT (12 p.m. Saturday Beijing time).

 

In game one against Japan, Watley staked Team USA to a 1-0 lead with a leadoff home run in the top of the first. Tairia Mims Flowers reached in all three plate appearances, singling and drawing two walks while scoring a run. Duran went 0-for-1 with a walk in two at-bats.

 

In the second game against Canada, which was halted by rain a day earlier, play resumed with the U.S. trailing 1-0 in the fourth. The score remained that way until the Americans rallied for four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to win it in a rout. Duran capped off Team USA's scoring with a two-run single in the top of the seventh. Watley was 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Flowers and Stacey Nuveman were also in the starting lineup.

 

The U.S. beach volleyball team of former UCLA All-American Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh easily swept Cuba's Dalixia Fernandez Grasset and Tamara Larrea Peraza on Thursday night in 38 minutes, 21-15, 21-13.

 

Youngs and Branagh will face China's Chen Xue and Xi Zhang in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT (Sunday at 10 a.m. Beijing time).

 

Youngs and Branagh lost the first point of the first set, but then scored the next two and never trailed for the rest of the match. Up 4-3, the U.S. team scored four in a row, with two of the points coming on a Youngs kill and ace. The Cuban team got to within two points a few times, but could get no closer. Leading 15-13, Youngs and Branagh scored six of the final eight points to win 21-15.

 

The second set was a wire-to-wire victory for Youngs and Branagh. The Cubans were tied at six and seven, but could not take the lead. Towards the end of the set, Youngs and Branagh were up 17-13 and scored the last four points to win it 21-13.

 

Bruin alum Jonathan Williams, who competes for Belize, ran 49.61 out of lane eight in heat one of the 400m hurdles. Williams was fourth in his heat and 16th overall, qualifying him for the semifinal round, which will be contested at 6:24 am PT on Saturday morning.

 

Suzy Powell-Roos posted a first round throw of 190-4 in the preliminary rounds of the discus but will not advance to the medal final. She finished the competition 15th in her flight and 26th overall.

 

View photos of Bruins in action Friday in softball, beach volleyball, women's soccer, men's rowing and women's water polo HERE

 

 

The U.S. men's water polo team continues preliminary-round play against Croatia on Fri, Aug. 15 at 9:10 p.m. PT.

 

The U.S. softball team will face Chinese Taipei at 9 p.m. Friday PT (12 p.m. Saturday Beijing time).

 

Mike Altman and the U.S. lightweight fours will race in the Final B on Saturday, Aug. 16.

 

In track and field action, Jonathan Williams races in the semifinals of the 400m Hurdles on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 6:24 am PT.

Here are some images of UCLA athletes and alumni competing at the Olympics in Beijing, from the photo galleries at the UCLA Sports website.

 

 

Nicolette Teo, UCLA senior who swims for Singapore, during a heat in the 200-meter breaststroke.

 

 

 

U.S. soccer team training in China, with UCLA's Lauren Cheney at right.

 

 

 

Elaine Youngs, left, and Nicole Branagh face Cubans Dalixia Grasset and Tamara Peraza in the elimination round of the beach volleyball tournament on Friday.

 

 

 

Tanya Harding pitches for the Australian softball team.

 

 

Bruin alum and volunteer swim coach Kim Vandenberg became the first medal-winner for UCLA at the Beijing Olympic Games, as she and the U.S. 4x200m relay team took third (7:46.33) in the final. Vandenberg swam in the preliminary round, helping the U.S. squad to the No. 2 time heading into the final. She did not swim in the medal round but receives a bronze as a member of the relay squad. It is her first Olympic medal and first Olympic competition.

 

Rain delayed the United States' game against Canada on Thursday. Prior to the rain delay, Canada was winning 1-0 in the fourth inning. Play will resume on Friday after the United States-Japan game, which begins at noon Beijing time (9 pm PT Thursday).

 

In a battle of unbeatens, the U.S. defeated Bulgaria in the last match of a contest that began on Aug. 14, 3-1 (27-29, 25-21, 25-14, 26-24) to remain atop Pool A with a 3-0 record. The victory ensures the Yanks will advance to the quarterfinals along with Poland in Pool B (3-0). On Sat., Aug. 16, the U.S. meets China. The match begins at 7 pm PT Friday. UCLA alumnus John Speraw is an assistant coach for the U.S.

 

The U.S. men's water polo team absorbed its first defeat at the 2008 Olympics, losing to Serbia, 4-2, on Thursday. Peter Varellas led the Americans, scoring both goals, and goalkeeper Merrill Moses totaled 11 stops in the cage. Former UCLA standout Adam Wright did not score on two shot attempts, and former Bruin goalkeeper Brandon Brooks did not play.

The U.S. men's water polo team continues preliminary-round play against Croatia on Friday, Aug. 15 at 9:10 p.m. (PT). The Americans have compiled a 2-1 record in preliminary matches, and Croatia has logged a 3-0 mark in the first week of action. The USA-Croatia match can be viewed live online (www.nbcolympics.com) and watched on NBC-4 on Saturday, Aug. 16, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

 

Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament to Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson, 7-6(5), 6-4.

 

Rain postponed rowing action until Friday. Mark Hunter is competing in the semifinals of the lightweight double sculls, while Mike Altman and the U.S. crew competes in the semifinals of the lightweight fours.

 

 

Women's track and field head coach Jeanette Bolden discusses life as an asthmatic.

 

 

*The U.S. women's water polo team faces Russia on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 11:20 p.m. (PT). The USA-Russia match can be viewed live online (www.nbcolympics.com) and watched on NBC-4 on Friday, Aug. 15, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. A win against Russia will advance the U.S. team to the quarterfinals. A victory by Team USA combined with a win by China over Italy will send the U.S. team straight to the semifinals as the first-place competitor in Group A.

 

*The undefeated U.S. softball team faces Japan in a preliminary round game at 9 pm PT Thursday.

 

*The U.S. and Canada will meet in the quarterfinals of the women's soccer tournament at 3 am PT on Friday. The U.S. team includes forward Lauren Cheney and assistant coach Jillian Ellis. Canada is led by Kara Lang.

 

*Track and field action begins on Friday for Bruin alumni Suzy Powell Roos in the Discus and Jonathan Williams in the 400m Hurdles. Discus qualifying begins at 4:55 am PT, while the 400m hurdles begins at 6:55 am PT.

 

*Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh face Cubans Dalixia Grasset and Tamara Peraza in the elimination round of the beach volleyball tournament. Their match will take place Friday at 7 pm PT.

 

*Postponed rowing matches resume Friday, with Mark Hunter competing in the semifinals of the lightweight double sculls and Mike Altman and the U.S. crew competing in the semifinals of the lightweight fours.

 

Bronze - 1 (Kim Vandenberg, Swimming 4x200m Relay)

Tomorrow [Friday], we play Russia. They are a very good team that is no longer in contention for a medal - with their loss to China yesterday, they do not advance to the next round. It just goes to show that this tournament is incredibly competitive, and the fact that two European powerhouses - Greece and Russia - are no longer in the running proves that point. Because of our tie with Italy, we would need China to beat Italy in order for us to advance first in our bracket and go straight to the semifinals. If Italy beats China tomorrow, we still advance, but we must play one extra game in the quarterfinals. No problem - just one more opportunity to play under the lights!

 

Hanging out in the village and watching other athletes compete has been great. I have met so many incredible people, and I love watching them in their respective "craft". I think we have won over a lot of new water polo fans, people saying "Hey, we watched your game - I don't know how you do it. I'd punch someone!" I think we have a great new fan base here with the other athletes.

 

One thing that has disappointed me, however, is some of the coverage. Not the lack of coverage of smaller sports, but the negative coverage of events such as women's gymnastics. I read a cover story on my e-mail's news feed, and it said something along the lines of "Women's gymnasts lose gold, settle for silver."

 

This is one thing I can't stand about our culture - we don't see the fact that an Olympic medal is a wonderful thing, regardless of the color. Many are quick to jump on certain bandwagons and forget that these people are human, and in regards to the gymnasts, young. Things happen - someone has a remarkable day, someone has a bad day. We as a culture need to stand by our Olympians not only for gold medals, but for their participation. Spread the word.

Women's Water Polo
The U.S. women's water polo team tied Italy, 9-9, in both teams' second preliminary-round match on Wednesday. Italy's Elisa Casanova scored a power-play goal with 22 seconds remaining to tie the top-ranked U.S. team. Former UCLA player Natalie Golda did not score any goals, registering one shot attempt in 26 minutes. Golda's former teammate, goalkeeper Jaime Hipp, did not play. The U.S. women's team is coached by former UCLA head coach Guy Baker. Following Wednesday's match, both the Americans (1-0-1) and Italians (1-0-1) learned that they are guaranteed to advance in Group A because China (1-1) upset Russia (0-2) by a 13-11 margin.

 

The United States completes preliminary match play against Russia, ranked No. 3 in the world, on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 11:20 p.m. (PT). The U.S.-Russia contest can be viewed live online (www.nbcolympics.com) and will be broadcast Friday on NBC-4 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

 

The U.S. beach volleyball team of former Bruin Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh advanced to the round of 16 on Wednesday with a three-set victory over Cuba's Imara Esteves Ribalta and Milagros Crespo, 21-19, 13-21, 15-12.

 

The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than three points. With the U.S. squad down 13-12, they scored six of the next eight points to go up 18-15. The Cuban duo scored the next two points, but could not even things up, as Youngs recorded the set-clinching kill.

 

Youngs and Branagh led 4-2 early in the second set, but Cuba scored the next five points and didn't look back. Esteves Ribalta and Crespo's lead got to as high as nine before the eight-point victory.

 

The U.S. team trailed 4-3 early in set number three, but netted the next three points and never relinquished the lead. On match point, Youngs spiked down the game-winner to finish pool play undefeated.

 

Youngs and Branagh move on to the elimination round, which begins for them at 3 a.m. PT Friday morning against an opponent to be determined.

 

On the men's side, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, who are coached by Bob Alejo, defeated Argentina's Conde/Baracetti, 21-12, 21-13, to advance to the medal round.

 

Softball
Natasha Watley drove in the first run of Wednesday's game against Australia in the fifth inning, which proved to be the game-winner, as the United States softball team recorded its second straight no-hitter in a 3-0 victory.

 

The big hit for Watley came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth on a single to left-center to score Lovie Jung. The U.S. went on to score two more in the sixth to win it by three.

 

All four Bruins on the Olympic team were in the starting lineup, with Watley at short, Andrea Duran at third, Stacey Nuveman at catcher and Tairia Mims Flowers at first. Duran was 0-for-2 with a walk, while Nuveman and Flowers were each hitless in three at-bats.

 

Former Bruin Tanya Harding started for Australia and allowed three runs, four hits and three walks in five innings with four strikeouts.

 

Bruin alum Kim Vandenberg swam the third leg of the U.S. 4x200m relay that placed first in heat two with a time of 7:52.43. Vandenberg had a split of 1:58.31. The U.S. team had the second-fastest time during the prelim rounds and will swim for gold on Thursday morning (PST). In the 200m breast, Nicolette Teo was sixth in heat two with a time of 2:34.60. She finished the race 36th overall. Amanda Beard, who is coached by UCLA head coach Cyndi Gallagher, finished sixth in heat four with a swim of 2:27.70. She finished 18th overall, just two spots shy of making the semifinal round.

 

The U.S. ended its Olympic Tournament on Wednesday after losing to Nigeria, 2-1. A red card issued to left back Michael Orozco in the third minute was too much for the U.S. to overcome, although they made a valiant effort to nearly achieved the tie they needed to advance to the quarterfinals. Marvell Wynne made his third start of the Olympic Games, and Benny Feilhaber started the second half.

 

Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles after a 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Martin Damm/Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic. Matkowski/Fyrstenberg will face Sweden's Simon Aspelin/Thomas Johansson on Thursday.

 

Photo Gallery
View photos of the Bruins in today's softball, swimming, men's soccer, women's water polo and beach volleyball action HERE.

 

 

Coming Up
The U.S. men's water polo team plays Serbia on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 7:50 p.m. (PT). The preliminary-round match can be viewed live online (www.nbcolympics.com) and will be broadcast Thursday on NBC-4 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. (tape delayed).

 

The USA Softball team continues pool play against Canada, with first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m. PT Wednesday night. 
 

The U.S. women's 4x200m free relay team competes in the finals on Thursday morning. Kim Vandenberg swam in the prelims.

 

Rowing action continues on Thursday with Mark Hunter competing in the semifinals of the lightweight double sculls. Mike Altman and the U.S. crew compete in the semifinals of the lightweight fours.

 

Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs competes in the women's gymnastics all-around finals at 8:15 pm PT. The competition will air on NBC at 11:15 pm PT.

 

Doubles play continues for Marcin Matkowski in the quarterfinal round in men's tennis.