Friday roundup: Bolt says this is goodbye before winning 9th gold

By ARNIE STAPLETON

AP Sports Writer

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Usain Bolt bid goodbye with another gold medal. Ryan Lochte apologized on Instagram.

Bolt won his ninth Olympic medal Friday night, anchoring the Jamaicans’ winning 4×100 relay team in what he has insisted will be his last Olympic race.

Bolt, who has won the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay gold medals at Beijing, London and now Rio, crossed in 37.27 seconds. Japan set an Asian record to take the silver in 37.60, holding off the third-place Americans by 0.02.

But the U.S. was disqualified for a pass outside the exchange lane and the bronze went instead to Canada, something the Americans didn’t realize until they were trotting around the track draped in flags and smiles.

Bolt completed his triple-triple after Allyson Felix won her record fifth Olympic gold medal when the Americans — who needed to set a qualifying time in a solo rerun hours after dropping the baton in the preliminaries and getting a second chance on protest — won Friday’s final in 41.01 seconds.

These Rio Games will be remembered for Bolt’s dominance — and Lochte’s deception.

Breaking his silence Friday, Lochte said he was sorry for his behavior surrounding an early-morning incident at a gas station that in many ways has become the defining moment in Rio.

Brazilian police say Lochte was lying when he said he and three other swimmers were robbed.

Lochte said he should have been up front about the matter all along but maintained a gun was pointed at him by a stranger and that the swimmers were forced to pay money to leave the gas station. Police said the swimmers had vandalized the gas station.

The embarrassing imbroglio offended the Olympic hosts and overshadowed the U.S. swimmers’ dominance in Rio, relegating to the margins Michael Phelps’ medal haul in his own Olympic farewell.

The U.S. men’s basketball team was pushed once again by Spain before prevailing 82-76 Friday to earn a shot at a third straight gold medal.

Led by Pau Gasol’s 23 points, the silver medalist in both Beijing and London made it tough on the Americans for the third straight Olympics but again couldn’t upset the world’s No. 1 team.

The U.S. will face Serbia, which rolled over Australia 87-61 , on Sunday before the Rio Games close and the world looks ahead to the Tokyo Games in 2020.

Other highlights from Day 14 of the Rio Games:

GOLF GOLD : At the Olympic Golf Course, Inbee Park will take a two-stroke lead into Saturday’s final round after keeping her composure in strong wind and making two late birdies to regain the lead and post a 1-under 70. Lydia Ko, a 19-year-old Kiwi and the No. 1 player in women’s golf put herself in contention thanks to the first hole-in-one of her career. Also two shots back in the final group is Gerina Piller.

WRESTLING UPSET: Defending Olympic and world champion Jordan Burroughs was stunned in the quarterfinals of men’s freestyle wrestling. It was the third international loss for Burroughs, who won gold in London in 2012 and whose charismatic, social media-friendly persona has made him the face of wrestling in the U.S.

SNACK ATTACK : Talk about the shoddy construction or the filthy water. Just don’t rip on Brazilians’ favorite snack, called Biscoito Globo. Residents of Rio de Janeiro have been irked by bad review of the stuffy, puffy treats. Just like they took offense to Hope Solo’s tweets about the Zika virus. Also annoying locals have been comments about why coffee cups and men’s swimsuits are so small here.