Olympics Briefs | Doping: North Korean shooter, Vietnamese gymnast fail test

BEIJING — A North Korean shooter was stripped of his two medals and expelled from the Beijing Olympics along with a Vietnamese gymnast Friday after failing doping tests.

They are the second and third athletes caught doping in Beijing.

The IOC said shooter Kim Jong Su tested positive for propranolol after winning the silver medal in the 50-meter pistol and bronze in the 10-meter air pistol.

Propranolol is a banned betablocker, which can be used to prevent trembling in events such as shooting and archery.

The bronze medal in the 10-meter event now goes to American shooter Jason Turner. In the 50-meter event, China's Tan Zongliang moves up to the silver and Russia's Vladimir Isakov is upgraded to the bronze.

Gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do, who finished in last place in the women's floor exercise, tested positive for the diuretic furosemide.

No sweep for fencers

The Three Musketeers of the U.S. women's saber team weren't so good as a team. After sweeping the individual medals, Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward settled for bronze after a surprising loss in the semifinals. They were knocked off by Ukraine, which went on to win gold.

U.S. baseball wins shortened game

Stephen Strasburg took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Matt Brown of Bellevue added a solo shot as the Americans bounced back from losing their opener by beating the Netherlands 7-0.

The game was called off after eight innings following a second rain delay. The Dutch protested the decision because they had loaded the bases with none out in the ninth inning, but it was denied by baseball's international federation.

Softball put on hold

Heavy thunderstorms suspended the U.S. Olympic softball team's game on Thursday against Canada, which led the Americans 1-0 in the fourth inning when play was stopped for a second time by severe weather.

The U.S., which has won 16 straight Olympic Games and is seeking its fourth straight gold medal, has not trailed in a game since 2000.

The U.S.-Canada game was to resume on Friday following the U.S. team's game with Japan, which the U.S. won 7-0. Canada defeated China 1-0 Friday morning.

Heptathlete Pickler injured

WSU grad Diana Pickler strained her right hamstring while running the 100-meter hurdles in the women's heptathlon Friday, according to USA Track and Field. She did not compete in the heptathlon high jump, and according to USATF, she will miss the remainder of the games. Pickler finished third at the Olympic trials.

Notes

• Yao Ming finished with 30 points and four blocked shots as the Chinese earned an 85-68 victory against Angola.

• Wrestler Adam Wheeler unexpectedly won bronze at 96 kilograms, but that was it as Dremiel Byers and Brad Vering, America's top Greco-Roman wrestlers, were bounced.

• Katerina Emmons, the Czech Republic shooter who already won gold at this Olympics, took the silver in the women's 50-meter, three-position rifle. She is married to American shooter Matt Emmons., who won silver in 50-meter prone rifle. In skeet shooting, American Kim Rhode wound up with a silver.

• Both American women's beach volleyball teams — Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, and the duo of Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs — wrapped up a 3-0 record in pool play, sending them into the 16-team medal round beginning Friday.

• Some rowing competitions scheduled for Thursday afternoon and evening in Beijing were rescheduled and began Friday afternoon (late Thursday night Seattle time).

• A Las Vegas man suspected of fatally shooting a former Olympic boxer who was struggling to jump-start his flagging career was arrested Wednesday. Arizona troopers arrested Roger Randolph, 26, during a traffic stop near Dolan Springs, Ariz. Rhoshii Wells, 31, a middleweight, won the bronze medal in the 165-pound boxing class at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

• A day after the U.S. men's soccer team was eliminated from the Beijing Games, four members of that team — Michael Bradley, Brad Guzan, Maurice Edu and Sacha Kljestan — were among 17 players picked Thursday for the American roster for next week's World Cup qualifier at Guatemala. Former Gonzaga and Seattle Sounders standout Brian Ching also was selected.

• Thousands of Mongolians hit the streets of the capital, Ulan Bator, to celebrate the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal — traditional wrestler Tuvshinbayar Naidan won in judo Thursday.