**WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM PROVES THEY ARE THE DREAM TEAM
ATHENS, Greece - The women bringing home a basketball gold medal celebrated with the unbridled joy of children at play.
Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and their U.S. Olympic teammates huddled under Old Glory as if it were a sheltering tent. They laughed and giggled and skipped around the court, soaking up the adulation.
This was a team in every sense of the word, the most dominant in women's basketball.
U.S. men, take note!
The United States shook off early shooting woes and sloppy play to claim its third straight Olympic title Saturday, a 74-63 victory over Australia.
They did it by turning up the defense, crashing the boards harder in the second half and, most importantly, finding their shooting touch.
'This is incredible,' said Staley, playing in her third and final Olympics. 'I have to share this with so many people _ people in the United States and Spain, people who come from humble beginnings. This gold medal is for them.'
This is gold medal No. 3 for Staley, Leslie and Swoopes.
They have led the resurgence of U.S. women's basketball internationally after disappointing bronze-medal finishes in the 1992 Olympics and 1994 world championships. They gave their time to training and travel and were joined by other players similarly committed.
The result: 25 straight victories in the Olympics, three golds and two world championships.
**WORLDS BEST TAKES GOLD
Brazil backed up its No. 1 world ranking with a gold-medal finish to a near-perfect Olympics, beating rival Italy in the final 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22.
Gilberto Godoy Filho had 20 points to lead the Brazilians. Brazil has been a major power in international competition over the past decade, but this was its first Olympic medal since a gold in 1992.
The Italians have been just about as good, but they've only managed a silver, bronze and silver at the last three Olympics.
**NO MEDAL FOR U.S. WRESTLER
Daniel Cormier, of Stillwater, Okla., couldn't hold a 2-0 overtime lead and lost the bronze 3-2 to Iran's Ali Reza Heidari in the 211 1/2-pound (96kg) freestyle class. The match was a repeat of Heidari's victory in last year's world championships.
Cormier had hoped to win a medal in honor of his late daughter, an infant killed in a car accident just over a year ago.
Khadjimourat Gatsalov of Russia defeated Magomed Ibragimov of Uzbekistan 4-1 for the 96kg gold.
Yandro Quintana of Cuba won the gold at 132-pounds (60 kg), beating Masuod Mostafa Gokar of Iran 4-0. Kenji Inoue of Japan won the bronze.
Five-time world champion Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia won the gold medal at 163-pounds (74 kg), beating Gennadiy Laliyev of Kazakhstan 7-0. Ivan Fundora Zaldivar of Cuba won the bronze.
The seven-man U.S. freestyle team left Athens with three medals, Cael Sanderson's gold and silvers by Jamill Kelly and Stephen Abas.
**GOLD TO CROATIA IN HANDBALL
Croatia, the reigning world champion, won the Olympic gold medal in a physical match with Germany.
Following a German turnover, Niksa Kaleb scored from the left wing to give Croatia a three-goal lead with just over three minutes remaining and the Germans couldn't recover.
Mirza Dzomba scored nine goals on 10 shots for Croatia, including the last one with 31 seconds left. Croatian goalkeepers Vlado Sola and Venio Losert made nine saves each.
**FIGHT FOR GYMNASTIC'S GOLD GOES BEYOND ATHENS
The South Korean gymnast who lost the all-around title to Paul Hamm because of a scoring error appealed Sunday to a sports arbitration panel asking it to help him get the gold medal.
Yang Tae-young asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to order international gymnastics officials to correct the results from the all-around and adjust the medal rankings so that he gets the gold and the American gets a silver.
CAS said it would consider the appeal in Lausanne, Switzerland, where it is based. With the games ending Sunday, there wasn't time to hear the case in Athens. CAS put off setting a date for the hearing until the International Gymnastics Federation, known as FIG, and the U.S. Olympic Committee could prepare responses.
'We said we wanted this misjudgment to be corrected. That was very clear from the beginning,' said Jae Soon-yoo, spokeswoman for the South Korean delegation. 'We are talking about our own rights, our own medal, not anyone else's.'