Gold Medal

It didn't bother Bud Greenspan a whole lot when he lost out in the bidding to provide the official film of last year's Barcelona Olympics because there were serious concerns about the producer's maintaining creative control.Imagine anyone passing up Cecil B. DeMille, John Huston or David Lean in favor of a local outfit to shoot what amounts to a travelogue in Spandex."The Olympic Committee in Spain wanted it to be the Barcelona Olympics. I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to shoot an Olympics, period," Greenspan said.

New Town guard Jannah Tucker broke a U.S. record with seven steals as the Americans won the FIBA Americas U-16 women's gold medal late Saturday night with a 73-40 rout of Brazil in Merida, Mexico. "It is surreal," Tucker, a rising junior, said of winning gold. "It's a great accomplishment, and I'm just proud to represent the USA. " Tucker finished with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. "I think the game was great," she said. "We did everything well, offensively and defensively.

She's been sending athletes, old and young, off to the games for 30 years. But last year, it was her turn to go.Anne Clemmitt, 56, finally got the chance to prove her own tennis skills last June when she won first place in the Senior Olympic National Consolation Singles Tournament in Baton Rouge, La.Mrs. Clemmitt, although suffering from tendinitis and lower back pain, beat every tennis opponent age 55 to 59 who crossed her path. The Crofton resident of 22 years played three sets of tennis each day for five days consecutive in 90-degree weather to capture the gold.

For Roger Kingdom, keeping a tight rein on his Olympic 110-meter hurdles title is the focal point of his comeback.While training to make the U.S. team for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, Kingdom is running down an unprecedented dream."

BARCELONA, Spain -- U.S. middleweight Chris Byrd spent the first round smirking at his opponent and shaking his head. Cuba's Ariel Hernandez just kept dancing, and before Byrd knew it, his chance of winning an Olympic gold medal was gone.The fighters were tied 4-4 entering the third round, but Hernandez outboxed Byrd in the final three minutes to earn a 12-7 decision -- the fourth by a Cuban over an American at these Olympics, the first including both countries since 1976.Lightweight Oscar de la Hoya was the only U.S. fighter to earn a gold medal, but four Cubans won golds yesterday, and four more compete in finals today.

SALT LAKE CITY - As it turned out, the worst place Apolo Anton Ohno could have been going into the last 50 meters of last night's 1,000-meter final in short-track speed skating was in the lead. Last place, in fact, would have been ideal. Just seconds from claiming his first Olympic gold medal, Ohno got tangled up and undercut by China's Jiajun Li, causing the skating equivalent of a three-car pile-up. Australia's Steven Bradbury, good fortune's man of the hour, casually avoided the carnage and won a race he would have likely finished last in. Ohno finished second, crawling, not skating, across the finish line.

BARCELONA, Spain -- His mother will be in his corner.She will watch him throw jabs that stun the opponent. She will see him dance from danger. And when the fight ends, the son will look to the roof of the arena and throw a kiss to the sky.Oscar de la Hoya says this without a trace of guile. There may be thousands of fans stuffed into a cramped boxing arena, and millions more watching on television, but de la Hoya is worried only about pleasing one woman, his mother, Cecilia, buried nearly two years.

Steve Burch, president of Comcast Cable, held a delightful party at Harbor Court Hotel last week for members of the Maryland Olympic committee.The guest of honor was gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton, who is an enthusiastic representative of the sport. She looked fabulous in a purple dress and a huge amethyst necklace around her neck.She was especially happy to see 1964 gold medal winner Greg Weiss, and after trading old war stories about their travels, she went on to greet other guests and chat about the Olympic trials to be held at the Baltimore Arena in June.

Michele Wiles won a gold medal last week without setting foot in Atlanta, the site of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.The 16-year-old Pasadena native defeated 260 other dancers from around the world to capture first-class distinction in the juniors division at the 17th International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. She became the first American in 13 years to win a gold at the prestigious contest.Monday night, about 50 relatives, friends, and admirers gathered at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to welcome her home.

Entering the summer, Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon knew he had two pretty good options regarding Jake Layman's immediate future. Either the promising, 6-foot-8 forward would join the Terps for summer workouts, allowing him to bond with future teammates. Or else the incoming freshman would make the USA Men's Under-18 Team, potentially gaining valuable experience playing against international opponents. The latter scenario unfolded, giving Maryland bragging rights to a player who is using the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship to showcase his varied skills.