LONDON – Long after the Legend of London delivered another gold medal for Jamaica, long after he ran away from a pack of outclassed opponents, this time as the anchor of a 4x100 relay that would bust the world record with a time of 36.85, long after he accomplished his historic goal of defending three championships here, long after he thrilled 80,000 in Olympic Stadium and millions across the globe, from English castles to poor third world streets, Usain Bolt was asked about Jacques Rogge.

Rogge is the president of the International Olympic Committee who conducts himself with all of the tact, understanding and compassion of a falling safe. If Bolt is what is best about the Olympics, Rogge is what’s worst.

Thursday Rogge was asked by reporters about Bolt, who would on Saturday win his third gold medal and thus become the first man to ever defend his titles in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay.

Rogge, as is his character, decided to sniff at the concept that Usain Bo

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LONDON – They didn't drop the baton.

That alone was a huge victory for the U.S. men's 4x100 relay team, which suffered a disqualification for that indignity in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The group of Jeffery Demps, Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons, and Justin Gatlin blazed to the fastest qualifying time of Friday's heats. The foursome clocked a time of 37.38 seconds, a new national record that topped Jamaica's 37.39.

That's just qualifying, though. The final is Saturday night, the last event of the athletics meet at Olympic Stadium. And while the time is impressive and beating the Jamaicans is notable, it doesn't mean much.

 [ Related: Usain Bolt rips Carl Lewis ]

Usian Bolt did not run in the qualifying heat for Jamaica, but he can – and will be put on the team – for the final. It's Jamaica that is the defending Olympic champion.

The U.S. will add Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash, in an effort to add its own blast

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LONDON – The United States gained sweet revenge on Thursday for one of the most painful women's soccer defeats, beating Japan 2-1 to take the Olympic Games gold medal before a record crowd of 80,203 at Wembley Stadium.

A pair of outstanding goals from midfielder Carli Lloyd was enough to ensure the Americans avenged their defeat by the same opponent on penalty kicks in last year's Women's World Cup final. The U.S. still had to weather a late comeback by Japan, which applied constant pressure after Yuki Ogimi's 63rd-minute goal.

Lloyd missed the Americans' first penalty in the shootout on that fateful night in Frankfurt, Germany, but the 30-year-old midfielder was the difference maker here, scoring with an opportunistic header after seven minutes, then smashing home the second just after halftime. Thursday's victory was redemption for the U.S., but Lloyd downplayed that factor for her personally.

"The penalty shot wasn't in my mind one bit – it happens," said Lloyd, who score

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LONDON – Just minutes after winning her third-straight Olympic Games gold medal with partner Kerri Walsh Jennings, beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor revealed she is quitting the sport to start a family with her husband, baseball player Matt Treanor.

The American duo of May-Walsh once again dominated the sand to round out their career together with a perfect Games record of 21-0, having lost just a single set (earlier in this year's Games) along the way.

But while Walsh Jennings will carry on toward Rio in 2016, May-Treanor is done, preferring to leave the sport on top, and plans to dedicate herself to family life with as much effort as she pursued athletic glory.

"Now it is time for me to be a wife," said May-Treanor, after she and Walsh Jennings defeated fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross in the final, 21-16; 21-18. "I want to be a mom. Our families sacrifice more than people realize and this is about getting back to that. My mind says it's time, my body says i

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LONDON – In the mayhem after disappointment there was shouting all around Aly Raisman. Nobody on the American team could believe her fourth-place balance beam score of 14.966. It wasn't accurate. The American coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi looked at Raisman's personal coach, Mihai Brestyan, and shouted.

You have to appeal!

Appeal?

In his more than 20 years of coaching gymnasts at an elite level Brestyan had never filed an appeal, known as an inquiry in the gymnastics world. He knew the process. All Olympic coaches do. Early on Tuesday, he went through the same pre-performance routine of neatly typing an appeal form in case it was needed since the rules say you have little time to file it after a score is posted. Then he put the form in a manila folder that he tucked deep in his brown, over-the-shoulder brief case.

[ Elite Athlete Workouts video: Aly Raisman relies on surprising drink for nutrition ]

Now suddenly he needed that paper.

Where was it?

Ultimately, he would

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