Olympic Briefs | Synchronized swimming: U.S. ties for fifth in team title

Russia won synchronized swimming's team title. The bigger news was a Japanese competitor passing out on the pool deck.

After Japan's number concluded, two men in swimsuits jumped into the pool to assist Hiromi Kobayashi to the side of the pool. After the men lifted her, she buckled to her knees. Her body and head went limp as they carried her. She was wrapped in a white sheet and rushed away on a stretcher, attended to by several volunteers and medical personnel.

Japanese team officials said Kobayashi made a complete recovery. Their team finished fifth, tied with the Americans. It was the first time Japan hasn't won a medal since the team event began in 1996.

The Americans unfurled a banner that read "Thank you, China!" in both Chinese and English when the team was introduced. With a routine called "The Rebirth of Christ," the U.S. swimmers performed to a mix of eclectic music and displayed some never-before-seen moves, notably a foot-in-the-face gesture.

The American team included Jillian Penner of Seattle.

South Korea beats Cuba for gold

South Korea sent baseball out of the Olympic Games in a blaze of glory Saturday.

The Koreans escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge Cuba 3-2 in the gold-medal game at Wukesong Olympic Baseball Field.

The game marked the end of Olympic baseball, at least for now. Baseball and softball both will be dropped from the Olympic program for the 2012 London Games.

Earlier Saturday, the United States won the bronze medals, rallying for an 8-4 victory over Japan. Matt Brown of Bellevue went 2 for 4 with a three-run home run for the United States.

"Our bats woke up," said Davey Johnson, Team USA's manager. "Brett [Anderson] pitched a great ballgame. He had some trouble in the second and third innings, gave up some home runs. Then he settled down and really won the game for us."

Ukrainian kicked out for doping

Doping crept up again, with Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov becoming the sixth athlete — and second from his country — caught during the Games. He finished sixth in the 231.5-pound division Monday. He was kicked out of the Olympics and faces a two-year ban from the sport.

Razoronov is the only weightlifter who has tested positive in Beijing. Eleven Greek weightlifters and 12 Bulgarian lifters failed drug tests ahead of the Beijing Games. The IOC has carried out more than 4,600 doping tests, with the figure expected to surpass 5,000 by the close of the Games Sunday night.

Gymnasts' age under scrutiny

China's deputy sports minister has attributed the confusion about the age of one of its gold medalist gymnasts to a paperwork mistake during a team transfer.

At last year's China's Cities Games, Chinese officials decided to move He Kexin, who won two gold medals during the Beijing Games, from a local team to the national team. China's deputy sports minister Cui Dalin said Sunday that it was during this transfer that a "misunderstanding appeared" about her age.

It was at last year's China's Cities Games that the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at the event and gave her age as 13 in a Nov. 3, 2007, report.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States to clinch China's first women's team gold in gymnastics.

Cui's explanation comes as officials from the International Gymnastics Federation pored over documents in hopes of putting to rest persistent questions about the ages of five members of the six-person team. Chinese gymnastics officials handed over passports, ID cards and family residence permits after the FIG — at the request of the International Olympic Committee — asked for additional documentation on He, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan.

Note

• China has clinched all six individual medals in table tennis, after Wang Liqin beat Sweden's Jorgen Persson in the bronze-medal match of men's singles to seal a sweep of the event.