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Eller's Sharp Shooting Yields Gold Medal

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The Associated Press

Published: August 13, 2008

BEIJING - Glenn Eller fired two more shots, then turned and pumped his fist.

On behalf of his country - and the U.S. Army - he was an Olympic champion.

"There's nothing better to do for the United States," Eller said. "I don't know how to better represent them than to sit here with a gold medal in my hand."

Eller won the gold in double trap Tuesday, the first for the U.S. in shooting at the Beijing Games. The final round included two members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit - Eller and fourth-place finisher Jeff Holguin.

Francesco D'Aniello of Italy won the silver, and Hu Binyuan of China took the bronze.

Eller, a Texas native, is a three-time Olympian. He finished 15th in 2000 and 17th in 2004. At 26, he was the youngest of the six finalists this year.

Eller set an Olympic record in qualifying, hitting 145 targets. That gave him a four-shot lead heading into the 50-target final.

He started the final by missing the first two targets.

"It was a little dicey there for a second," he said. "I knew exactly what I did wrong, so I just calmed myself down and made sure I went back through my routine, what got me into the final."

Eller ended up shooting 45-for-50 in the final, and his total score of 190 was another Olympic record. D'Aniello could have beaten him, but he would have needed a perfect final to do so.

BASKETBALL: Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, LeBron James dominated the game with his size and strength on both ends, and the U.S. men's Olympic team wrapped up the easy portion of its schedule with a 97-76 victory.

Dwight Howard added 14 points and James finished with 12 for the Americans, who had another rough night from 3-point range but don't appear to be stoppable in the open court. Wade was perfect from the field in Beijing until missing in the third quarter.

The Americans (2-0) move on to face Greece, the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship. Two days later comes a matchup with Spain, the team that won that tournament and is also 2-0 in this one after rallying to beat China in overtime behind 29 points from Pau Gasol.

SOCCER: Heather O'Reilly scored less than a minute into the match to lead the U.S. women to a 4-0 win against New Zealand and a spot in the quarterfinals.

O'Reilly put the defending champions on the board 40 seconds into the match, firing a long-range right-footer over New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon. The U.S. then got goals from Amy Rodriguez in the 43rd minute, Lindsay Tarpley in the 57th minute and Angela Hucles in the 60th minute.

The victory gave the U.S. first place in Group G with six points, edging Norway on goal difference and avoiding a match with title contender Brazil.

SOFTBALL: The U.S. began its run toward a fourth straight gold medal in record-breaking fashion as Jennie Finch pitched four no-hit innings and Andrea Duran drove in three runs, powering the Americans to an 11-0 rout of Venezuela in their Olympic opener.

Natasha Watley hit a two-run homer, Crystl Bustos hit a solo shot and Caitlin Lowe added an inside-the-parker as the U.S. set an Olympic record for runs in a game. And they did it in just five innings before the game was halted by the run-rule.

TENNIS: The Williams sisters won in singles and doubles, and the toughest match was the one they played together. Venus and Serena rallied in first-round doubles to beat Iveta Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Earlier, the Williamses won second-round singles matches. Serena beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-0, and Venus swept Benesova 6-1, 6-4.

The sisters could meet in Saturday's singles final.

In men's singles, No. 1-seeded Roger Federer earned an Olympic rematch today against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Federer wept after losing to Berdych in the second round at the Athens Games four years ago.

This time they'll meet in the third round. Federer advanced by beating Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador 6-2, 6-4. Berdych, seeded 17th, defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (4).

No. 2 Rafael Nadal sustained his summer surge by defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-2.

Americans Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match, beating Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska of Poland 6-2, 6-1.

No. 1-seeded Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States won their opening match in doubles, defeating Mark Knowles and Devin Mullings of the Bahamas 6-2, 6-1.

In women's singles, new No. 1 Jelena Jankovic beat Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 7-5, 6-1.

VOLLEYBALL: The U.S. men's team, playing with energy and determination after the tragedy that shook them, defeated Italy 3-1.

Still without Coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose in-laws were attacked in Beijing during the weekend, the U.S. team adjusted after a sluggish start to finish 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21.

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