Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor have won their second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball, playing through a steady rain to beat Wang Jie and Tian Jia of China 21-18, 21-18.

Walsh and May-Treanor, who did not lose a single set in Beijing, extended their winning streak to 108 matches in a row.

Earlier Thursday, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won China's first beach volleyball medal, beating Brazilians Talita and Renata 21-19, 21-17 for the bronze.

Walsh put an early end to China's chances to add a gold when she quick-hit May-Treanor's pass between Wang and Tian. The Americans dropped to their knees on the wet sand, hugging each other before shaking hands with the officials and running to the stands to embrace their friends and families.

It was no day to be at the beach – not for Wang and Tian, and not for the fans who huddled under pastel ponchos and umbrellas that, on a day more appropriate for sun and sand, would be used as parasols. But the 12,200-seat venue was packed.

The Americans scored three straight points to break a 17-all tie in the first. China survived one set point before May-Treanor spiked one down the line for the winner.

The Americans cruised through the two-year qualifying process in a year, giving Walsh a break this spring to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. Managing the pain with massages and a special tape that is said to increase blood flow, Walsh showed no signs of wear.

BMX

All four U.S. riders advanced to today's semifinals with Mike Day putting on the most dominating performance, posting the top time-trial mark of the day, then blowing away the field in each of his three quarterfinals.

Also advancing easily to Wednesday's semifinals was teammate Donny Robinson, and Seattle's Jill Kintner in the women's competition.

But Kyle Bennett had a tougher go of it. After finishing in the top four in his first two quarterfinals, he got tangled up with Raymon van der Biezen of the Netherlands coming out of the first turn of the 390-meter course and fell hard, dislocating his left shoulder.

Despite not finishing the third run of his heat, Bennett still grabbed the final qualifying spot for Wednesday's heats. And despite the dislocated shoulder, he said he will race.

Baseball

The Cold War is over, even in sports.

However, one rivalry remains – on the baseball diamond, where a U.S.-Cuba matchup is often about more than just sports.

They'll meet again Friday in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympic baseball tournament after the U.S. edged Japan, 4-2, Wednesday in its final game of pool play, improving to 4-3 to earn the No. 3 seed for the medal round. Cuba (6-1) is seeded second behind unbeaten Korea (7-0), which plays Japan (4-3) for the other spot in the gold medal game.

But before any of that, the U.S. had to get past Japan.

The game was scoreless through 10 innings, with both teams managing just five hits combined. But under a new tiebreaker rule, which debuted to much controversy in these Olympics, both teams started their at-bat in the 11th inning with runners on first and second. And the U.S. made the most of its jump start, getting RBI singles from Brian Barden and Nate Schierholtz on the first two pitches of the inning, keying a four-run rally.

After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, U.S. reliever Casey Weathers ran into some trouble before retiring pinch-hitter Shinnosuke Abe on a pop foul with the bases loaded.

Afghanistan medals

In Rohullah Nikpai's war-torn country, fighting is a part of life. Living in tough conditions is a given. Training for the Olympics is a luxury few can afford, or even imagine.

But Nikpai has proven it can be done: On Wednesday he won Afghanistan's first Olympic medal ever.

“I hope this will send a message of peace to my country after 30 years of war,” Nikpai said after winning the bronze in the men's under 58-kilogram taekwondo event.

The victory brought congratulations from President Hamid Karzai.

Back home, the news sparked applause, wide smiles and laughter in homes, restaurants and ice cream parlors around the country.

“I am so happy. I cannot express my feelings in words,” said Mohammad Akbar, 33, who watched the match on a TV at his Kabul pharmacy. “While I was watching the match I was clapping I was so happy.”

Boxing

In a flurry of blue gloves flashing beneath arena lights, Andris Laffita Hernandez fought Wednesday night. He fought for country. He fought for the medal he will wear back to his island and know the admiration of 11 million people will now be his.

“This is in honor of the people of Cuba,” he said through a translator in a hallway under the Beijing Workers Arena where he clinched another boxing medal for his country – its eighth of the Olympics.

Cuba was supposed to be done as the boxing giant. The In the last two years, Cuba lost five gold medalists from the 2004 Athens Olympics and a 2005 world champion.

The eight medals is almost as good as the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 when Cuba rolled through the boxing competition with nine medals – six of them gold.

Softball

The U.S. softball team came as close to defeat as it has in a long time. Not that it mattered in the end.

The Americans were in a scoreless tie with Japan after seven innings, then scored four runs in the ninth for a 4-1 victory and a spot in the gold-medal game.

Again, their opponent will be Japan in what will be the last Olympic softball game until at least 2016.

Table tennis

All three members of the Chinese squad advanced easily in women's singles competition, especially Zhang Yining, the defending gold medalist and top-ranked player in the world.

Two U.S. players – Gao Jun and Wang Chen – also stayed alive.