Russia Wins Three More Gold Medals

Russia's synchronized swimmers celebrate winning the gold medal.

Russia's synchronized swimmers have won gold to maintain their domination of the sport at London's Olympic Games.

The Russian team was completing their fourth consecutive Olympic victory in synchronized swimming after winning the duet title earlier this week. China won the silver, while Spain took the bronze medal.

Russia's winning team comprised Anastasia Davydova, who won her fifth Olympic gold, Maria Gromova, Natalia Ishchenko, Elvira Khasyanova, Daria Korobova, Aleksandra Patskevich, Svetlina Romashina, and Anzhelika Timanina.

Davydova, who plans to retire and get started on developing the next generation of young Russian swimmers as a coach beginning in September, told journalists: "This was the hardest medal for me to win and the happiest. I finished my career on a peak."

Meanwhile, Russia's Tatyana Lysenko won the women's hammer gold with an Olympic-record throw of 78.18 meters. Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland took silver and China's Zhang Wenxiu a second successive bronze. Lysenko, who returned from a two-year doping suspension in April 2011, won the world championship title last year.

Russian wrestler Dzhamal Otarsultanov defeated Georgian Vladimer Khinchegashvili 3-1 in the final of the 55-kilogram freestyle category. "In my village we had only two sports: boxing and wrestling. I was more wrestling-minded, and now I can say with certainty that this is my cup of tea," the Russian athlete said. In the bronze-medal bouts, North Korean Yang Kyong-Il defeated Daulet Niyazbekov from Kazakhstan, while the second bronze medal went to Shinichi Yumoto from Japan.

Jordan Burroughs won the first wrestling gold for the United States, beating Iran's Sadegh Goudarzi in the final of the 74-kilogram freestyle category. Bronze medals went to Russia's Denis Tsargush, world champion in 2009 and 2010, and Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan.

The United States won the women's 4x100-meter relay title in 40.82 seconds, taking more than half a second off a 27-year-old record of 41.37 seconds set by the former East Germany in 1985. Jamaica took silver, while Olesya Povh, Hrystyna Stuy, Mariya Ryemyen, and Elizaveta Bryzgina combined to finish third for Ukraine and claim bronze.

Kazakhstan's Adilbek Niyazymbetov won a semifinal bout in the men's light heavyweight boxing event. Niyazymbetov beat Ukraine's Oleksandr Gvozdyk to progress to the final while Gvozdyk went home with a bronze.

In the men's water polo, Croatia beat Montenegro 7-5 to win a place in the gold-medal match. The victory means Croatia will feature on the podium for the first time in the tournament since 1996. In the August 12 final, the Croatian team will face Italy, which defeated gold-medal favorite Serbia 9-7. Montenegro's men's water polo team still has a shot at winning a bronze medal.

Russia beat Bulgaria 3-1 in an Olympic men's volleyball semifinal match to keep alive their hopes of winning gold in the event for the first time since 1980. Russia, ranked second in the world, will play Brazil in the August 12 gold-medal match, while Bulgaria, who had surprised many by reaching this stage of the tournament, play for the bronze medal.

The United States was at the top of the overall medal table after competition on August 10 with 94 medals. China was in second place with 81 medals, followed by Russia with 63 medals.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and ITAR-TASS