Cuba delivered a 1-2 punch to U.S. gold-medal aspirations in women's basketball and diving Saturday, while an American boxer found that fighting Cubans wasn't the only way to lose at the Pan American Games.
The Cubans eliminated the United States 86-81 in the semifinals of the basketball tournament, and the long faces of the U.S. women told the story."I was just trying to soak up the moment," said Teresa Edwards, who sat on the bench with her head in her hands after it was over. "Just as you soak up the victories, you have to soak up the losses, and that's what I was trying to do."
For the first time since the 1982 world championships, the American women went home without the gold. They had won eight straight international titles since then, including two Olympics. Cuba plays Brazil for the title on Sunday, while the United States faces Canada for the bronze.
A Cuban, Rioger Ramirez, also won the men's 10-meter platform diving, ending 16 years of U.S. Pan Am domination in the sport, and U.S. boxer John Herrera was stopped by little-known Luis Fleitas of Brazil at 1:11 of the third round of their 112-pound fight.
U.S. boxers now are 4-4 in the games, the other three having lost to Cubans.
The U.S. did pick up two archery golds, with Denise Parker of South Jordan, Utah winning in the women's division and Darrell Pace of Hamilton, Ohio winning for the men. Ed Eliason of Stansbury Park, Utah, finished second in the men's competition.
Parker won handily, scoring 1,328 points to 1,296 for runner-up Jennifer O'Donnell of Farmington Hills, Mich. Pace had 1,315 points to 1,307 for Eliason.
It was a big day for the host country of the Pan Am Games as Cuba built on its gold-medal lead over the United States in almost every quarter.
In track and field, Javier Sotomayor of Cuba won his duel with American Hollis Conway in the high jump, although he failed to surpass his world record of 8 feet, one-quarter inches.
The basketball loss was the second here for the U.S. women. They lost in the first round to Brazil, ending a streak of 42 straight major international victories, but this loss ended THE streak.
Afterward, coach Vivian Stringer tried to console her players.
"I told them we played hard and we tried, and said some personal things," she said. "I was proud to be associated with this team."
Cuba took the lead for good with 8:42 to play, inspired by 15,000 screaming Cubans, who were joined in their celebration by Cuban president Fidel Castro.
The United States' problem was its shooting. The U.S. women went 5:42 of the first half without a field goal as Cuba took the lead. Cuba led 37-34 at halftime and 51-44 with 14:24 to play. The United States went on a 9-2 run for a 53-53 tie with 11:27 to play, but that was the last hurrah for the Americans. Edwards led the team with 22 points.
The last U.S. tournament loss was in the 1982 world championships to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game.
Mexican and U.S. divers complained of crowd noise at the pool complex, but they hadn't heard anything yet. When Cuba won its first Pan Am diving gold medal, the new steel girders shook with jubilation.
The victory by 17-year-old Ramirez ended a U.S. domination of Pan Am diving that had dated back to 1975. When he sliced into the water on his 10th and final dive of the platform competition, the scoreboard flashed a score of 63, giving him 560.79 total.
Jesus Mena of Mexico won the silver with 544.08, and Patrick Jeffrey of Madison, N.J., won the bronze with 539.73. Both Mena and Jeffrey asked and were granted re-dives when crowd noise interrupted their concentration.
"It had to be stopped," Jeffrey said. "It has no place in diving. Someone let out a real shrieking whistle as I left the platform, and my whole dive was a split second off. It was rude, it was bad. After that dive, I didn't feel like diving anymore."
Matt Scoggin, the Olympic Festival champion from Austin, Texas,, messed up each of his six optional dives and finished fifth in a field of eight.
"Everybody missed except the Cuban diver. He deserved to win," U.S. coach Ron O'Brien said. "He's not real stylish or graceful, but he's acrobatic and very consistent. Matt never got going."
The good news for the U.S. boxing team is that Revea Springs, the other American fighter in action Saturday, earned a berth in the 156-pound semifinals with a decision over Jose Martinez of Venezuela. The bad news is he'll face Cuban Juan Lemus.
"He's one of the biggest punchers here," Springs said. "I'll have to be very careful about what I'm doing. If I win, that's great. But if I lose, that's fine, too."
The United States still is in the running for medals in eight of the 12 weight classes.
After he clinched the high jump gold, Sotomayor made three attempts at 8-01/4. Already the only vaulter in the world to clear 8 feet, he never came close before his countrymen.
His jump, however, did break the old Pan Am record of 7-71/4 that he set four years ago at Indianapolis.
Also on Saturday, baseball's technical committee upheld a protest by Canada over it's 7-5 loss last Thursday over Mexico. The game was stopped in the sixth inning because of a brawl and awarded to Mexico. Now, the game will be resumed Wednesday at the point it was halted.
Although the technical committee did not announce it, the U.S. umpire, Dan Pedersen, who stopped the game, revealed that the committee also had expelled him from the games. He has appealed the suspension.