ERST LESEN! » his left eye, Hernandez had blurred vision and

RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Hungarian native Szandra Szogedi steps onto the judo mat at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, shell be making history as the first-ever female judoka to represent Ghana.Born in Budapest, Szogedi started judo at age 11, after a friend of her fathers recommended the sport. With a background in gymnastics, Szogedi adapted quickly to the dynamic flips and groundwork characteristic of the Japanese martial art.After just six months, Szogedi won a silver medal at Hungarys national championships.I was hooked, she told the Associated Press in a recent interview. I loved winning medals and started to think this might be the sport for me. Szogedi began attending a specialized sports school and qualified for the national judo squad.But after her parents divorced in 2007, money was tight and Szogedi was forced to drop judo. She moved to the U.K. shortly afterwards and began working as a waitress in a London hotel. One afternoon, as she watched the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics with friends at a pub, she saw one of her former Hungarian judo teammates walk into the Birds Nest stadium.I had the feeling that I had some unfinished business, Szogedi said. She soon started training again at a London judo club, where she met her future husband, a Ghana-born engineer.After securing her Ghanaian passport through him, Szogedi began competing for the West African country at major judo tournaments and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. Szogedi has been to Ghana once to meet her husbands family and says she was overwhelmed by the welcome she received.The people are so lovely and so kind that it doesnt feel weird to me to be representing Ghana. I feel very proud to be able to fight for them, she said, recalling when she won a bronze medal at the African Championships last September. I was on the bus when some random Ghanaian athletes came on, saw my medal and just started singing and dancing, she said. That would never happen in Europe.Szogedi is now based in Camberley, 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of London, where she trains alongside several members of Britains national team. In preparation for Rio, Szogedi is working to sharpen her fight strategy and in particular, is working on being more aggressive in controlling her matches by getting a dominant grip on her opponents uniforms.Although she is among the shorter competitors in her 63-kilogram weight division, her coach says that could work to her advantage.She has a great ability to get underneath other players and score some big throws, said Luke Preston, Szogedis coach at the Camberley judo club and also a national coach for the British team.Though Szogedi is ranked 40th in the world, Preston said that matters little in the combat sport.The beauty of judo is that world champions can get knocked out in the first round, he said. It just takes somebody to step up and seize the moment. Theres no reason that cant be Szandra. Balenciaga Triple S Cheap . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Wholesale Balenciaga Speed Trainer . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. http://www.balenciagacheapshoes.com/balenciaga-triple-s-sale/triple-s-2020-discount.html . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. Balenciaga Speed Trainer Sale . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Balenciaga Shoes Discount . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Katie Ledecky even upstaged Michael Phelps at the Olympics on Friday.Ledecky set a world record by winning the womens 800-meter freestyle by an astounding 11.38 seconds. Shes only the second woman to sweep the three longest freestyle races at the Olympics and the first one to do it since the 1968 Mexico City Games.After winning four gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Games and looking unbeatable, Phelps finally ran out of steam in what was the final individual race of his career -- unless he decides to come out of retirement again.The frenetic finishes in the swimming pool capped a day that included a big escape by the U.S. mens basketball team and a stunning loss by the womens soccer squad.Phelps was seeking his 23rd Olympic gold medal and his fourth straight in the 100-meter butterfly, but he was denied by Singapores Joseph Schooling, who got off to a blistering start and built a lead that even Phelps couldnt overcome.With Anthony Ervin winning the mens 50 freestyle and Maya DiRado taking gold in the womens 200 backstroke, the Americans would have had a clean sweep were it not for the silver by Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history.Ledecky finished well before Jazz Carlin of Britain touched the wall for silver. She joined Debbie Meyer as the only women to sweep the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races at the same Olympics.The United States womens soccer team was eliminated by Sweden in the quarterfinals, a startling loss for the four-time Olympic champions that left Hope Solo without a shot at gold but with plenty of bitterness.The U.S. goalkeeper criticized the Swedes for the way they played in beating the Americans 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw -- a result that means the worlds top-ranked team will miss out on an Olympic gold-medal match in womens soccer for the first time.Solo was angered by Swedens defensive style and branded the team a bunch of cowards.The best team did not win today, she said. I strongly and firmly believe that.Said Sweden coach Pia Sundhage, who once coached Solo when she was in charge of the U.S. national team: Its OK to be a coward if you win.Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving & Co. survived their second straight strong challenge at the Rio Games, fending off Serbia 94-91 when Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2 seconds left that would have tied it.Kevin Durant grabbed the rebound to keep the Americans unbeaten 48 hours after they barely escaped against Australia.On a day that began with another round of rain, South Americas first Olympics lingered under clouds of grief, doping and disrespect.dddddddddddd-Brazils government declared a day of official mourning for a Rio Olympics police officer who died after being shot in the head making a wrong turn into one of the citys slums.-A Chinese swimmer, Polish weightlifter and Bulgarian steeplechaser have been sanctioned for doping offenses , which are being handled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the first time.-And in a serious breach of judo etiquette with political overtones, an Egyptian judoka refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent after his loss.Other highlights from Day 7:CLOSE CALLS : Rafael Nadal, the singles champion at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Spain teammate Marc Lopez won the mens doubles title. Nadal also reached the semifinals in his bid for a second Olympic singles gold, overcoming his Brazilian opponent and a raucous flag-waving home crowd.BRONZE BOXER : Nico Hernandezs chance for a gold medal ended Friday when he lost to Uzbekistans Hasanboy Dusmatov. With a gnarly gash over his left eye, Hernandez had blurred vision and needed stitches. His consolation: his bronze medal in the light flyweight division ends a medal drought for the American boxers that stretched to 2008.PUIGS PUSH : Tennis player Monica Puig is one victory from Puerto Ricos first gold medal in Olympic history. Puig continued her surprising run by reaching the womens singles final, eliminating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Puig is ranked 34th and unseeded but is assured of no worse than a silver medal.AUTO ACCIDENT : A German Olympic canoe coach is fighting for his life after a car accident left him with serious head injuries. Stefan Henze, a canoe slalom silver medalist at the 2004 Games, underwent emergency surgery in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. He and a team official were heading to the athletes village when their taxi was in a wreck.THE SWAMP : In another embarrassment for the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, a planned practice session had to be called off to give officials more time to clean the green-tinged water -- a four-days-and-counting scenario that prompted American diver Abby Johnson to dub it the Swamp.---AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org---Follow AP Sports Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '