McDonald in Contention for Dressage Medal

Tuesday, August 24, 2004; Page D11

American Debbie McDonald moved into contention for an individual dressage medal with an energetic, fault-free round on Brentina that scored 74.840 percent.

The ride moved her from fifth after the team competition on Saturday to fourth overall, with an average for the two days of 74.067 percent.

Debbie McDonald and Brentina remain in the chase in individual dressage. (Susan Walsh -- AP)

^_____ Day 11 ^_____

• The U.S. softball team wins the gold, beating Australia, 5-1.
• Jeremy Wariner leads an American sweep of the 400.
• Paul Hamm wins a silver on the high bar in front of a restless crowd.
• A win over Germany gives the U.S. women's soccer team a shot at the gold medal.
• The U.S. men's basketball team ends their preliminary round of games by beating Angola, 89-53.
• Misty May and Kerri Walsh defeat fellow Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs in beach volleyball.
• Allyson Felix leads three American women into the second round of the 200.
• Sara McMann wins a silver medal in women's wrestling.
• Debbie McDonald moves into contention for an individual dressage medal.
• Canadian diver Alexandre Despatie leads in the 3-meter springboard preliminaries.
• American Jennie Reed finishes tenth in sprint cycling.
• German kayaker Birgit Fischer's quest to win Olympic medals 24 years apart is off to a good start.
• Russian shot putter is stripped of her gold medal for doping violation.
• Small amounts of anabolic steroids are reportedly found in Greek coach's warehouse.

^_____ More From The Post ^_____

• Michael Wilbon: The biggest party in Athens is taking place every night at beach volleyball.
• Sally Jenkins: President Bush is trying to bend the Olympics to political ends.

^_____ On Our Site ^_____

• Athens Snippets: Enough with sports with judges.
• Graphic: Jeremy Wariner has some similarities to legendary sprinter Michael Johnson.

^___ Monday's Medals Results ^___

Athletics
• Men's 400
• Men's Discus
• Women's 800
• Women's 5000
• Women's Triple Jump
• Women's 20k Road Walk
Cycling (Track)
• Men's Team Pursuit
Gymnastics (Artistic)
• Men's Vault
• Men's Parallel Bars
• Men's Horizontal Bar
• Women's Beam
• Women's Floor Exercise
Softball
• Gold-Medal Game
Table Tennis
• Men's Singles
Weightlifting
• Men's 94Kg
Wrestling (Freestyle)
• Women's 48 Kg
• Women's 55 Kg
• Women's 63 Kg
• Women's 72 Kg

^_____ Multimedia ^_____

• Audio: The Post's Liz Clarke on the final day of gymnastics competition.
• Audio: Pitcher Lisa Fernandez talks about the U.S. softball team's gold-medal victory.
• Audio: U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin talks about meeting his goals.
• Audio: Gatlin discusses his narrow win in the 100-meter final.

^_____ Photos ^_____

• Day 11
• Photo galleries page

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"I'm staying in the hunt," said McDonald. "It's a long shot, but I'm not giving up."

The United States hasn't won a medal in individual dressage since 1932.

The Americans had three steady rides, outscoring Germany across the board. Their scores were better than the ones they posted on Saturday, when the Americans took bronze behind Germany and Spain in the team competition. Germany has won the team gold in every Olympics since 1976, except the boycott year of 1980.

The individual medals will be decided by a combined total from the Grand Prix team test, yesterday's Grand Prix Special, plus the musical freestyle tomorrow.

German Ulla Salzgeber on Rusty still led the competition, but they made several mistakes and scored 74.840 percent to tighten the standings.

American Robert Dover scored 74.04 percent on Kennedy to move up from ninth to sixth with an overall percentage of 72.833.

"That ride was fun," Dover said. "Every day I've learned how much trust I can have in him."

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