Olympics roundup: Felix's third gold as part of relay helps U.S. win medals title

LONDON -- Team USA clinched the top spot in the medals table for the fifth consecutive Summer Games on Saturday, helped by the women's rout in the 4x400-meter relay that netted Allyson Felix a third gold.

Felix staked the U.S. team to more than a 2-second lead at the halfway point Saturday night, then watched former Texas standout Sanya Richards-Ross bring home the blowout win.

"By the time I got the stick," Richards-Ross said, "it was basically a victory lap."

The United States finished in 3:16.87 seconds -- good for a 3.36-second rout over Russia, the biggest margin in the final of the long relay at the Olympics since East Germany beat the U.S. by 3.58 seconds in 1976. Jamaica took third in 3:20.95.

Felix, adding to her firsts in 4x100 and the 200, became the first U.S. woman to win three golds in Olympic track since 1988, when Florence Griffith-Joyner won the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay in Seoul.

Ex-UTA runner takes blame for Canada DQ

Moments after taking third in the men's 4x100-meter final, Canada was disqualified for stepping outside of its lane.

Justyn Warner, a former TCU standout, was wrapped in Canadian flags and about to take a celebratory lap when the "DQ" was noticed on the scoreboard.

Warner tossed the Canadian flag to the ground, but immediately regretted his actions.

"I didn't mean to throw it," Warner explained. "It's hard. It's not any of our faults."

Former UT Arlington standout Jared Connaughton said the lane infraction occurred on the third section, soon after he took the baton.

"When I looked up on the screen, I saw the replay and I could see that I stepped on the line," Connaughton said. "It's pretty unforgivable. I am sad and sorry for my teammates. It is sad to have happened like this."

A Canadian appeal was rejected. Trinidad & Tobago was bumped from fourth to the bronze.

Elsewhere

Diving: David Boudia won the men's 10-meter platform for the United States' first gold in diving since 2000.

Boudia scored 568.65 points in the six-dive final, edging Qiu Bo of China by 1.8 points. Tom Daley of Britain settled for the bronze. Boudia hit the event's biggest score on his last dive.

"Oh, my God, I don't have words for it," said Greg Louganis, who swept the springboard and platform events for the U.S. at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and who has mentored Boudia.

Russia surges: It was a golden Saturday for Russia, with its athletes winning six gold medals: the women's 800 meters, the women's high jump, the women's 20K race walk, the men's 50K race walk, the men's 200-meter double kayak sprint and the all-around title in rhythmic gymnastics.

Track and field: Mo Farah won the 5,000 meters to complete an Olympic distance double for Britain. The Somali-born Farah also won the 10,000.

Mariya Savinova of Russia won the women's 800, with Caster Semenya of South Africa going from last place to second with 250 meters left. Her silver came three years after being forced to take gender tests.

Briefly: Norway retained its title in women's team handball by beating Montenegro 26-23. ... Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1 to win its second straight men's field hockey title. ... David Svoboda of the Czech Republic won the men's modern pentathlon.

Looking for comments?