‘Redeem Team’ caps games for U.S.

BEIJING – What fencer Mariel Zagunis started, Dwyane Wade and the “Redeem Team” finished.

In between, Michael Phelps and the rest of the U.S. delegation put on one heck of an Olympics – perhaps their best ever.

By reclaiming gold in men’s basketball, pulling off an emotional victory in men’s volleyball and claiming silver in team handball, the United States wrapped up the Beijing Olympics on Sunday with 110 medals – its most in a non-boycotted Olympics since the 1904 St. Louis Games, which hardly count because of how little the rest of the world was represented.

Sure, there were some high-profile flubs at the track.

And the 36 gold medals was the same Americans won four years ago in Athens; it also was well below the 51 golds won by China.

But those are small details to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“We could not be more proud of our athletes for everything they accomplished here in Beijing, both on and off the field of play,” USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said. “Our first priority going into these games was to compete clean, and we are extremely proud that our athletes are sharing our commitment to this principle. They represented our country with pride and honor, and with one of the best U.S. Olympic performances in history.”

USOC chief executive Jim Scherr added that the team “inspired millions of young people to pursue their dreams.” That’s hard to quantify, but there’s little doubt Americans were watching.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the first 15 days of NBC’s broadcasts reached 208.7 million viewers, putting it on the verge of passing the viewership of the 1996 Atlanta Games as the most-viewed event in U.S. television history.

Sunday’s highlights

•Men’s basketball: Wade scored 27 points and Kobe Bryant added 20, including a four-point play with 3:10 left, to give the United States a 118-110 gold medal-clinching victory over Spain.

Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points and Pau Gasol had 21 for Spain, the reigning world champions who were hoping to win their first Olympic gold.

Argentina, the 2004 gold winner, snagged bronze with an 87-75 victory over Lithuania.

Carlos Delfino had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Luis Scola added 16 points and Andres Nocioni had 14 for Argentina. They played without Manu Ginobili, who injured his left ankle in the semifinals against the U.S.

•Men’s volleyball: In the finals against defending champion Brazil, the U.S. lost the first game then won the next three for a gold that would have been spectacular even without the emotional layer. (See related story on C3).

Russia won bronze for the second straight Olympics, beating Italy in straight sets.

•Men’s water polo: In their last chance for a gold medal, the U.S. came up just short, losing 14-10 to a Hungarian team that became the first country to win three straight gold medals in the sport since Britain in 1920.

Serbia won the bronze, beating Montenegro in a battle between countries that used to be one. Serbia and Montenegro won silver at the 2004 Athens games, two years before they split.

•Boxing: Zou Shiming won China’s first gold medal in boxing. Then, Zhang Xiaoping made it two.

Zou, a two-time world champion whose bronze medal in Athens was China’s first in a sport long banned by Mao Zedong, won the light flyweight title when Mongolia’s Serdamba Purevdorj retired early in the second round with an apparent shoulder injury.

Zhang, a light heavyweight, upset two medal favorites on his way to the title bout, then beat Kenny Egan of Ireland 11-7.

•Men’s marathon: In the day’s first event, Samuel Wanjiru added to Kenya’s proud distance-running legacy.

•Rhythmic gymnastics: Russia won the team competition the morning after Russian Evgeniya Kanaeva won the individual event.