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U.S. Men Win Archery Gold

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Exhausted from the thrill of his individual gold medal the day before, Justin Huish still came through Friday to help win another Olympic archery title.

It took a second glance from the judges to wrap it up.

On his last three arrows, the California Kid erased a three-point deficit for the United States, which went on to beat South Korea 251-249 and win its first gold medal in the team event.

The Americans fell behind when the 21-year-old from Simi Valley, Calif., followed an opening 10 with two 8s that he said were ``a mixture of nerves and exhaustion.''

The U.S. team didn't get even again until Huish, who shoots with his pony tail hanging from under a backwards cap while peering through mirrored sunglasses, hit two 10s and a 9 on his last round. That tied the match at 196 with six arrows remaining, and teammates Butch Johnson and Rod White took over.

``I'm pooped from yesterday, they carried me through,'' Huish said. ``I'm happy these two guys get to experience the same thing I did yesterday.''

Italy won the bronze with a 247-244 victory over Australia.

In the women's gold-medal match, Germany's Cornelia Pfohl almost missed the entire target on the 19th arrow, opening the door for South Korea women to stretch their Olympic championship streak to three straight.

The U.S. women were eliminated by a 235-226 loss to Kazakstan in their first match Friday. They lost on the last six arrows.

After Huish's comeback tied the men's gold medal match, Johnson followed with two 9s and a 10. And then South Korea's Kim Bo-ram made a fatal error, a 6.

``That was the opening we wanted,'' said the 40-year-old Johnson, of Woodstock, Conn.

The United States maintained the lead, even though the match ended with the scoreboard reading 250-250. After judges examined the targets, the Americans had gained a point -- a 9 instead of an 8 for Johnson -- and the Koreans had lost one.

The extra point gave the Americans their four straight victory with 251 points, which at the beginning of the day tied an Olympic team scoring record for a 27-arrow match.

The United States also had 251 points in wins over India, Ukraine and Italy. Against Italy, the Americans had five straight 10s at the end to pull out a four-point victory.

Australia broke the scoring record with 253 points in a quarterfinal victory over Sweden. The 251 had tied the Olympic mark set by South Korea in 1992.

A women's team record was also set Friday. In the quarterfinals, South Korea won 249-226 over Sweden, breaking its own record of 246 set at Barcelona four years ago.

In the women's gold medal match, Germany led 162-161 when Pfohl shot a 1, the outermost ring on the target. Visibly shaken, she gave way to teammate Sandra Wagner, who hit a 9 and a 10.

Individual gold medalist Kim Kyung-wook took advantage, hitting the bullseye three straight times. Teammate Kim Jo-sun followed with a 9 and two 10s to give South Korea control of the match.

``When we got behind, we weren't shaken,'' Kim Kyung-wook said. ``When we found one arrow was one point for the competition, of course we had confidence. That is why we had three straight arrows for 10 points.''

Germany's women, ranked second in the world, shot for the gold medal after Barbara Mensing had two 10s on the last three arrows in a 239-237 semifinal victory over Turkey.

Poland won the women's bronze medal with a 244-239 victory over Turkey.

South Korea has won all three women's team gold medals since the event was introduced, plus all four individual golds and eight of 12 individual medals overall since 1984.

Lindsay Langston, a 17-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., had two 10s and a 9 in her last turn as the U.S. women tied Kazakstan at 180 with six arrows left. The Americans never took the lead after Kazakstan's Yana Touniiantse outshot Judi Adams of Scottsdale, Ariz., 29-24 in the next round.

``There was no single thing that happened. We just didn't have it,'' Adams said. ``We got strong shots from everybody, but didn't shoot enough 10s.''

The third member of the U.S. team was Janet Dykman of El Monte, Calif., who advanced to the individual round of 16.