ATHENS, Greece - Carly Patterson, the 16-year-old American who has drawn comparisons to Mary Lou Retton, delivered a dazzling floor routine to win the all-around gold medal Thursday night.

She spoiled Russian superstar Svetlana Khorkina's final chance at the Olympic title in gymnastics' premier event.

Patterson became the first American woman to win the all-around since Retton in 1984, and she matched Paul Hamm's first-place finish on the same floor Wednesday.

''I don't even know what to say right now,'' Patterson said. ''I'm so happy and excited. You dream about this your whole life. Then you win the gold medal, and it's just amazing.''

Like Khorkina, Patterson closed the night on the floor. On all four tumbling passes, she jumped higher than any of the other 23 women in the meet. Just as importantly, she pulled off perfect landings that almost always make the difference between first and second place.

When it was over, Patterson jumped into coach Evgeny Marchenko's embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. He then carried her around for almost a minute - and that was before the final results.

Patterson scored a 9.712 on floor to finish with 38.387 points and defeat Khorkina by .176. Zhang Nan of China won bronze.

The other American in the competition, Courtney Kupets, struggled all night and finished ninth.

SWIMMING

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - American Aaron Peirsol reclaimed the gold medal in the Olympic 200-meter backstroke after initially being disqualified Thursday night over what an official deemed an illegal turn.

The United States filed a protest and the disqualification was overturned on appeal by FINA, the sport's governing body, about 30 minutes after the race - just before the medal ceremony was held. He then had to survive another protest by Austria and Great Britain.

Peirsol, the world record-holder and current world champion, led most of the race and easily beat the field, touching in 1 minute, 54.95 seconds. He was more than two seconds ahead of Austria's Marcus Rogan.

The silver went to Rogan in 1:57.35, while Romania's Razvan Florea settled for bronze (1:57.56). Great Britain's James Goddard, who initially had a bronze, dropped back to fourth in 1:57.76.

American Michael Phelps won his fourth gold of the Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley, leading the entire race. Phelps set an Olympic-record of 1:57.14, lowering his own mark of 1:58.52 set in the semifinals one night earlier.

Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach, Fla., earned silver in 1:58.78. George Bovell of Trinidad took bronze in 1:58.80.

Amanda Beard captured the first individual gold of her career, in the 200-meter breaststroke. Only a victory by Australian Jodie Henry in the women's 100-meter freestyle prevented an American sweep.

Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands won silver in 0:54.16 and American Natalie Coughlin got the bronze in 0:54.40.

Boxing

U.S. medal prospect Andre Ward beat Italy's Clemente Russo 17-9 to advance to the quarterfinals as the Americans finished 6-1 in preliminaries. The Americans sent eight fighters into the second round, with two advancing on byes.

SOFTBALL

United States 7, Greece 0, 5 innings

China 1, Taiwan 0

Japan 1, Italy 0

Australia 1, Canada 0

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Lisa Fernandez pitched a one-hitter Thursday as the two-time defending gold medalist United States won its sixth straight shutout in softball, a shortened-game victory over Greece.

Greece (2-4) did all it could. The United States (6-0) simply wore down the Greeks - whose team includes several Americans of Greek ancestry - and put an opponent away after five innings for the fourth time under the so-called mercy rule.

China (3-3) beat Taiwan, scoring the only run on a fifth-inning fielding error by first baseman Chang Li Chiu. Taiwan (2-4) missed a chance to tie it when Chen Miao Yi was tagged at home by Chinese catcher Guo Jia to end the fourth.

Also, Juri Takayama and Yukiko Ueno combined on a three-hitter for Japan. Another loss would have eliminated Japan (3-3) from the semifinals. Italy (1-5) got runners to first and third with none out in the third, but Takayama got out of the jam.

Melanie Roche pitched a complete-game shutout as Australia (5-1) clinched one of the top two spots in the playoffs and at least a bronze medal.

Simmone Morrow drove in the only run with a single in the second inning off Lauren Bay. Canada (2-4) can still make the semifinals but must beat Italy on Friday and hope China (3-3) beats Japan (3-3) in the preliminary round finale.

ARCHERY

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Marco Galiazzo won Italy's first archery gold medal while the South Korean men kept up an unsuccessful Olympic streak.

Galiazzo beat Hiroshi Yamamoto of Japan 111-109 for the gold. Tim Cuddihy of Australia, who beat two South Koreans along the way, took bronze.

The 21-year-old Galiazzo, who placed 49th at last year's world championships, became Italy's first-ever Olympic champion in the sport.

The South Korean men are still looking for their first Olympic individual medal. Their women have taken every Olympic gold medal since 1984.

Cuddihy and Park Kyung-mo of South Korea set Olympic records earlier. Park set an 18-arrow record of 173 in the round of 16. Cuddihy set a 36-arrow mark of 340 over three rounds on his way to the bronze.

He beat the record of 339 set only hours before by Szu Yuan Chen of Taiwan.

BADMINTON

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - China won the first two gold medals in badminton, with world champion Zhang Ning beating Indonesian-born Dutchwoman Mia Audina 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 in the singles final.

China also flaunted its dominance of the sport in mixed doubles, with Zhang Jun and Gao Ling edging the British pair of Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms 15-1, 12-15, 15-12 in a thrilling final.

The bronze medal in the mixed doubles went to Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager, who beat compatriots Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen 15-5, 15-5. China also won bronze in the singles, with Zhou Mi defeating fellow Chinese Gong Ruina 11-2, 8-11, 11-6.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Brazilians Emanuel and Ricardo routed Americans Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger 21-17, 21-10 to finish a perfect run through pool play.

Despite the loss, the 12th-seeded Americans advanced to the medal round.

Later, top-ranked American women Misty May and Kerri Walsh got their toughest test of the tournament but stayed unbeaten with a 21-17, 21-17 win over 10th-seeded Czechs Eva Celbova and Sona Novakova.

The Americans and second-seeded Brazilians Shelda and Adriana are the only duos - men's or women's - who have not dropped a set.

The Brazilian women, silver medalists in 2000, capped their run through pool play with a 21-14, 21-19 win over Cubans Fernandez Grasset and Larrea Peraza.

CANOE-KAYAK

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Former Olympic champion canoe racer Joe Jacobi and partner Matt Taylor clinched a semifinal berth in whitewater slalom event. Single American kayakers Brett Heyl and Scott Parsons also advanced to Friday's semifinals and finals.

EQUESTRIAN

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Britain, France and the United States will jointly appeal a decision to award Germany the gold medal in the three-day equestrian event.

The judges gave Germany the gold Wednesday and France the silver, while Britain took bronze. The same officials, concerned that Germany's Bettina Hoy might have crossed the start line twice on the show jumping course, probed further.

Judges docked Germany 14 points, dropping it from first to fourth in a decision that lifted the United States to the bronze.

Germany then lodged a protest, an equestrian appeals committee reversed the decision of the judges and the Germans reclaimed the gold. Again, France was awarded the silver and Britain the bronze. The United States was left empty-handed.

FIELD HOCKEY

Germany 6, Egypt 1

Pakistan 3, South Korea 0

Spain 5, Britain 1

Netherlands 3, South Africa 2

New Zealand 3, Argentina 1

Australia 4, India 3

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Defending Olympic champion Germany pulled away from a 1-1 halftime tie with Egypt at the men's field hockey tournament, moving into first place in Group A.

In other Group A matches, Pakistan shut out South Korea and Spain beat Britain.

In Group B play, the Netherlands edged South Africa and New Zealand beat Argentina. Australia beat India on three second-half goals in the final match of the day.

FENCING

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Damien Touya scored the final touch to give France the team saber title over Italy, 45-42.

Touya also scored the winning touch in a 45-44 semifinal win over the United States. In that bout, he badly cut his right hand and needed medical assistance with the score 44-44. The lengthy delay added even more drama to a day full of it.

After the loss to France, the Americans lost the bronze-medal bout to Russia, again 45-44. The United States had upset Hungary 45-43 a round earlier.

JUDO

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Noriko Anno won the 78kg class in judo, giving Japan its sixth gold medal in 12 judo classes with one day of competition remaining.

One of Japan's surest hopes for a gold lost early in the men's 100kg division.

Ihar Makarau of Belarus beat Jang Sung-ho of South Korea to win the gold medal in the 100-kilogram class after defending Olympic champion and three-time world champion Kosei Inoue lost in the quarterfinals, his first defeat in major international competition in four year.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Russia 3, United States 1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23)

Italy 3, Australia 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-21)

Brazil 3, Netherlands 1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19)

France 3, Poland 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-17)

Serbia-Montenegro 3, Tunisia 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21)

Argentina 3, Greece 1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22)

Stanislav Dineykin had 20 kills to lead the Russians to a four-set victory over the Americans.

Russia, after a five-set loss to the Netherlands, has won two straight. With opposite Clay Stanley struggling against the towering Russian block, the United States fell to 1-2.

Russia took its first lead of the fourth set at 14-13, and things went back and forth until Alexey Kuleshov blocked a kill attempt by Stanley to make it 24-22.

The Americans were only able to fend off match point once.

Brazil remained the only unbeaten team in Pool B with a four-set victory over the Netherlands. Italy, bouncing back from a five-set loss to Brazil, stayed right behind with a sweep over Australia.

In Pool A, Argentina is 3-0 after handing host Greece its first loss. France picked up its first win by beating Poland in three sets, and defending gold medalist Serbia-Montenegro swept Tunisia.

ROWING

SCHINIAS, Greece (AP) - The American lightweight double sculls team of Steve Tucker and Greg Ruckman gave up too much distance in the six-boat semifinal and was fourth behind Poland, Greece and Denmark - one spot and 3.6 seconds out of contention for Sunday's final.

The U.S. quadruple scull, which reached the semifinals with an impressive win in its repechage, placed fifth. Belarus and Estonia advanced.

The U.S. lightweight double sculls boat of Lisa Schlenker and Stacey Borgman also was eliminated, finishing .73 of a second behind Germany in fourth place.

The lightweight four, which includes coach Mike Teti's younger brother, Paul, fell to last at the finish, 4 seconds behind Canada, the third and final boat to advance from that race behind Italy and Austria.

SAILING

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greek teammates Sofia Bekatorou and Aimilia Tsoulfa clinched the women's 470 gold medal by building an insurmountable lead following 10 races.

Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sara Ayton of Great Britain clinched the gold medal in the Yngling class with one race left, then took a dip.

The silver and bronze medals in both events will be determined Saturday.

SHOOTING

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Diana Igaly of went a perfect 25-for-25 to win the gold medal in skeet shooting, finishing with a score of 97 to easily outdistance silver medalist Wei Ning of China and bronze medalist Zemfira Meftakhetdinova of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, Manfred Kurzer Germany had the worst final round of any shooter in 10-meter running target, but his world-record qualifying score gave the German a lead so big it didn't matter.

He won gold with a 682.4. Alexander Blinov of Russia took silver, and Dimitri Lykin of Russia, the 2002 world champion, won bronze.

TABLE TENNIS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - World and Olympic champion Wang Nan of China was eliminated from the women's table tennis quarterfinal by Singapore's Li Jia Wei.

Wang, who won two golds in Sydney, was beaten 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8.

Top-seeded Zhang Yining of China advanced to the semifinals with a 12-10, 15-13, 13-11, 11-3 win over Tamara Boros of Croatia.

In doubles there will be all-China and all-South Korea semifinals. New Olympic rules put teams from the same country in the same bracket to avoid the all-Chinese final that occurred at the last three Olympics.

TEAM HANDBALL

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Two-time Olympic champion Denmark held off a late rally by Spain to win 23-21 in Olympic women's handball, improving to 2-0-1 in Group B.

Denmark won gold in Atlanta and Sydney and beat current world champion France in the opening match in Athens, however the Danes are playing without most of the stars from their gold medal teams.

In another Group B match, South Korea broke open a close game to beat Angola 40-30.

In Group A, China routed Greece 33-13 and Ukraine beat Brazil 21-19, erasing an 18-17 deficit late in the game. Ukraine is 2-0 and tied with Hungary in the group.

TENNIS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Third-seeded Martina Navratilova won't win an Olympic medal after she and partner Lisa Raymond lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to fifth-seeded Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the quarterfinals, one step shy of the medal round.

In women's singles, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne beat two-time major champion Mary Pierce of France 6-4, 6-4, while No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo outlasted No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2.

French Open champion Anastasia Myskina was the first woman to reach the semifinals, beating Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

The upsets continued on the men's side, with No. 3 Carlos Moya joining Roger Federer and Andy Roddick on the sideline after a 6-2, 7-5 quarterfinal loss to Nicolas Massu of Chile.

Chile is guaranteed to win a tennis medal for the first time because Massu's teammate, No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez, followed up his surprise victory over Roddick by beating No. 8 Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

No. 10 Massu is the highest-seeded men's player left.

WATER POLO

Hungary 7, United States 5

Serbia-Montenegro 9, Kazakhstan 5

Spain 8, Australia 4

Italy 10, Germany 5

Greece 15, Egypt 3

Russia 9, Croatia 8

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Defending Olympic champion Hungary handed the United States its first loss in men's water polo preliminaries.

Tamas Varga scored his second goal on an extra-man play to seal the match with 1:27 remaining. Tony Azevedo scored two goals before he hit the post with an attempted equalizer at 6-5, then the Hungarians blocked shots by Layne Beaubien and Wolf Wigo to thwart a furious American comeback attempt in the last minute.

Serbia-Montenegro, Italy and Spain all improved to 2-1 in the group stage.

Ioannis Thomakos scored five goals and Christos Afroudakis had four for Greece. Egypt, Croatia and Kazakhstan are 0-3.

WEIGHTLIFTING

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Liu Chunhong of China broke three of her own world records in winning the 152-pound (69kg) weightlifting gold medal.

Taner Sagir of Turkey won the gold medal in the 77-kilogram class with 826.5 pounds (375 kg). Sergey Filimonov of Kazakhstan won silver and Oleg Perepetchenov of Russia the bronze.

The 19-year-old Chunhong, the defending world champion, set records in the snatch of 270 pounds (122.5kg), the clean and jerk of 337 pounds (153kg) and total lift of 606 pounds (275kg).

Five weightlifters were suspended for flunking drug tests they took before the Olympics, and 21 world-class weightlifters have been suspended this year. Weightlifting officials insisted they will clean up the sport.