ICYMI: Venus Williams, women's rowing make history in Rio
— -- RIO DE JANEIRO -- Along with Michael Phelps' finale, another women's relay win in the pool and the race to determine the World's Fastest Woman, here are a few other results you might have missed Saturday from the Rio Olympics:
Venus makes history: Two American mixed doubles teams will face off in the gold-medal match, and one of the players is Venus Williams. After joining the mixed doubles competition after her early exits in singles and doubles, Venus and playing partner Rajeev Ram will play against Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock for the crown. Venus is guaranteed a record-tying fifth medal and, if her and Ram win, she'll become the only tennis player in the modern era to win Olympic gold in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Williams and Ram edged India's Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 to reach the final. Read more
Medal streak continues: The U.S. women's eight won its third consecutive gold medal Saturday, covering the course in 6:01.49 ahead of Great Britain (silver) and Romania (bronze). The squad of Katelin Snyder, Amanda Elmore, Eleanor Logan, Meghan Musnicki, Tessa Gobbo, Lauren Schmetterling, Amanda Polk, Kerry Simmonds and Emily Regan led the Americans to their 11th straight victory in either the Olympic Games or World Championship competition. The men's eight finished fourth overall in their race (5:34.23), just under five seconds behind winner Great Britain (5:29.63). Read more
In women's single sculls, Gevvie Stone won silver after finishing seventh overall at the 2012 London Olympics. It is the Americans' fifth medal in the event (all silver) and the first since Michelle Guerette in 2008.
Team medal: After being shut out in their individual events, the American women's sabre squad of Monica Aksamit, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Dagmara Wozniak and Mariel Zagunis won the bronze medal in the team event with a 45-30 victory over Italy. Zagunis led the 2008 team to bronze in the same event.
Close finish: Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente took home silver in the women's team pursuit final, finishing in 4:12.454 behind Great Britain. The Brits won in world-record time (4:10.236), breaking the record they set earlier in the day during qualifying. Canada won bronze (4:14.627). Read more
On to the knockout round: Maggie Steffens' power-play goal with 6:02 left in the first half sparked four unanswered goals en route to an 11-6 win against Hungary. The U.S. women's team is now 3-0 in Group B play and will face host Brazil when knockout play begins Monday. Steffens led the team with four goals, while Maddie Musselman added three.
And finally ...
Women's 3m springboard: Green water or not, Abby Johnston tied for fifth in the semifinals to earn a spot in Sunday's final round. Johnston (324.75) was 60.25 points behind leader China's Shi Tingmao (385.00) and He Zi (364.05), while Canada's Jennifer Abel was third (343.45). Kassidy Cook finished 13th overall (304.35). Read more
