Gold Medal

ATHENS - Although the United States has already hit its projected target of 100 Olympic medals, the color scheme no longer reflects world domination. The U.S. gold-medal count stands at only 34, pending today's results. It is down from 40 gold in Sydney in 2000 and 44 gold in Atlanta in 1996, and may reflect the worst gold total since 1976, when the United States won 34 gold in Montreal. Americans won 97 overall medals in Sydney in two fewer Olympic events, and 101 in Atlanta in 1996.

NEW YORK-They have power. They have speed. Now, the women's softball team has three months to discover if it has the chemistry to win a third consecutive gold medal. Coach Mike Candrea, who took a leave of absence from the University of Arizona to lead the team, has made it clear: He will be satisfied with nothing less than a top-of-the podium finish on Aug. 23. "The expectations are high," he said. "It's us against the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is getting better." On a recently completed barnstorming tour, the U.S. team outscored its collegiate opponents, 229-9.

As an NBA assistant coach since retiring after a Hall of Fame career, Patrick Ewing might have a better seat than many of his contemporaries to compare this year's U.S. Olympic men's basketball team to the fabled Dream Team of 20 years ago. Ewing was one of 11 Hall of Famers on that team and played in the shadow of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and even Charles Barkley in Barcelona. But Ewing doesn't't think the current team led by LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant could compete for one simple reason.

PENRITH, Australia - In a morning race at career's twilight, Steve Redgrave of Britain joined the Olympic immortals today. The greatest rower of them all won his fifth gold medal in consecutive Summer Games, leading Britain's coxless four crew to a dramatic triumph in a breathless 2,000-meter race on a cool, clear lake. When it ended, with the British beating the Italians by less than a half-second, Redgrave was hunched over, gasping for breath, his thinning blond hair and slight paunch vivid reminders that the 38-year-old father of three is an old man with an oar. Redgrave's longtime racing partner, Matthew Pinsent, climbed from his seat at the front of the shell and reached for his friend and mentor before slipping into the water.

OGDEN, Utah - Everyone expected an Austrian skier to win the Olympic men's downhill yesterday. It's just that no one expected it to be Fritz Strobl. Often overlooked thanks to the long shadows cast by famous teammates Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier, Strobl skied his best when it mattered most, breezing down "Attacking Grizzly" in 1 minute, 39.13 seconds to capture the gold medal before a crowd of more than 25,000. In doing so, Strobl, a 29-year-old police officer from Gerlamoos, Austria, became the first Olympic downhill champion from that country since Patrick Ortlieb in 1992.

NAGANO, Japan -- There is a part of Elvis Stojko that yearns to be the artist on ice. He wants to dazzle judges with spins, intricate footwork and angular poses blended perfectly to music that moves a crowd and lifts his sport to uncharted territory.And then there is the other side of Stojko. The jumping machine. The skater who tosses around triples like Frisbees. The man who lands the quad.Canada's Stojko remains figure skating's great athlete. If the judges don't like it -- tough. He has already claimed three world titles and an Olympic silver medal, and he is out for the gold at the Nagano Games when the men's figure skating event begins with Thursday's short program.

ATHENS - The American men are not going to win gold in basketball. They might not even win a medal. The game was concocted by a physical education instructor in Massachusetts and dominated by the United States at the Olympics for most of the 20th century. The gold medal is headed overseas a third time, but more pertinent, this is the first instance in which the Americans fell short at the Olympics with professionals. Argentina led the United States by as many as 16 points and won their semifinal last night, 89-81.

MONTREAL - When the national anthem started to play last night, Katie Hoff took a deep, cleansing breath. And then another. She swallowed hard, then bit her lower lip. Was it really real, she may have wondered? Was there actually a gold medal dangling from her neck? You'd better believe it. Hoff, the bubbly 16-year-old from Abingdon, put to bed any questions about her ability to deliver in big races yesterday, winning the 200-meter individual medley in impressive fashion at the FINA World Championships.

Years from now, seventh-graders Cristan Woodley and Bejan Modarressi will still be talking about their brush with Olympic gold and the teacher who made it happen. Bet on it.Because for one moment in Richard Stebbins' third-period social-studies class yesterday, each got the chance to try on an Olympic gold medal -- the real thing -- and have a picture taken wearing it.The medal belongs to Stebbins, who won it 32 years ago at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo. It is the most tangible symbol of what makes Stebbins so distinctive as a teacher -- his drive, his ambition, his view of life.

In the old days, the deal was simpler. Once every four years, an unknown in a tutu would skate right into America's heart. She would wave around a gold medal, smile a lot, and then enter a world of professional ice shows, Christmas television specials and hair care commercials.Well, it's sure not that way anymore.This is the age of made-for-television skating wars, endorsement contracts and book deals. It's the era in which teen-aged stars are transformed into millionaires, where an athlete's every bobble, injury and slump is picked over by media, fans, television executives and agents.