RIO DE JANEIRO — Ashton Eaton retained his title by tying the Olympic record in the decathlon Thursday night.

Eaton, the world champion, finished with 8,893 points, incredibly matching exactly the Olympic record after 10 lung-busting events. He finished third in the final event, the 1,500 meters, to win gold from Kevin Mayer of France on 8,834 points. Damian Warner of Canada took the bronze.

Eaton has won successive Olympic and world titles to confirm his status at the best all-around athlete in the world.

WOMEN’S WRESTLING: Helen Maroulis of the United States defeated Saori Yoshida of Japan 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for an American women’s wrestler.

Maroulis celebrated the win by running around the mat in a circle and holding the United States flag with both hands while it was draped over her back.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Serbia stunned the top-ranked U.S. women’s team that was chasing its first Olympic gold.

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With star player Foluke Akinradewo injured early, the Americans came back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set before falling 15-13 in the semifinals.

WOMEN’S GOLF: Inbee Park of South Korea finished with two straight birdies for another 5-under 66 and the 36-hole lead.

Park was at 10-under 132 and had a one-shot lead over Stacy Lewis, who had 11 birdies in her round of 63. Another shot behind was Charley Hull of England.

SAILING: Dave Hughes, a Yarmouth High and University of Southern Maine graduate, and his crewmate, Stuart McNay, finished fourth in the men’s 470 class.

Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia won the gold medal. Matthew Belcher and Will Ryan of Australia took the silver after a tight battle against Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis of Greece, who got the bronze.

TAEKWONDO: Jade Jones of Great Britain retained her title after defeating Eva Calvo Gomez of Spain in the final of the women’s 57-kilogram division.

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In an action-packed fight, the top-ranked Jones used an almost continual stream of aggressive attacks that Gomez was unable to counter. Jones won, 16-7.

MEN’S FIELD HOCKEY: Argentina won its first field hockey gold medal by defeating Belgium 4-2 in a gripping final.

Belgium, also in its first final, earned silver for its first medal since a bronze at its 1920 Antwerp Games.

MEN’S WATER POLO: Serbia is headed to the final for the first time by downing Italy, 10-8.

Next up for Serbia is Croatia, which advanced with a 12-8 victory against Montenegro. The countries also met in the world championship final last year with Serbia winning 11-4 in Russia.

WOMEN’S DIVING: Fifteen-year-old Ren Qian of China turned in five brilliant dives in the women’s 10-meter platform to hold off her 17-year-old teammate, Si Yajie.

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Ren finished with 439.25 points and Si was next at 419.40. Meaghan Benfeito of Canada grabbed the bronze at 389.20.

BOXING: Shakur Stevenson of the United States reached the bantamweight final after his Russian semifinal opponent, Vladimir Nikitin, was ruled out with an injury.

Stevenson will fight in Saturday’s final against Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba or Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan.

WOMEN’S HANDBALL: France secured its first Olympic medal in the sport by beating the Netherlands 24-23 in the semifinals.

The French will play Russia or Olympic champion Norway in Saturday’s final.

WOMEN’S BADMINTON: Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan won gold in doubles against Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark. The Japanese battled back from a late deficit in the deciding game to win the match 2-1.


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