Gold

CYCLIST LAURA Trott of Great Britain was born a month premature with a collapsed lung. As a child, she was diagnosed with asthma. Tuesday, Trott, 20, got her second gold medal of the London Games by winning the multi-discipline omnium event - which is sort of cycling's version of an individual medley race. Leading after Day 1, Trott slipped into second place behind Sarah Hammer of the United States after the opening session. Hammer extended her lead in the penultimate event, but Trott set an Olympic record 35.100 seconds in the 500-meter time trial to win the gold.

LONDON - As soon as the medal was placed around his neck, Andre Iguodala picked it up with his hands and stared at it. He turned it over, ran his fingers around it, then stared at it some more. He wouldn't let it go. Iguodala's life changed dramatically in the last 4 days, but it hasn't sunk in yet. All he's been able to think about was this medal, and finally it was his. "I just froze for a second," Iguodala said. "Only a small group can say they were in that position. " The U.S. men's basketball team defeated Spain, 107-100, on Sunday afternoon to capture its second straight Olympic gold medal.

Goalkeeper Hope Solo said the antsy U.S. women's soccer players are ready to "unleash the beast. " The Americans open their Olympic campaign on Wednesday with a game against France in Scotland, two days before the opening ceremony. Soccer is one of two sports that starts early because the extra days are needed to play a sufficient slate of games that doesn't wear the players out. Women's soccer isn't much of a draw in Scotland. Some 37,000 fans are expected for Wednesday's game, but organizers say about 80 percent of the tickets were given away to schools and local clubs.

LONDON - Destinee wasn't enough. Brazil denied the United States its first Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball Saturday in a 3-1 upset that had the Brazilians turning somersaults on the court and some American players sobbing. It was the first loss for the United States at the tournament and the second straight gold medal for Brazil. American star Destinee Hooker, the second-best scorer in London, was held to 14 points. Jaqueline Carvalho had 18 points to help Brazil overcome a disastrous first set and win 11-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17.

LONDON - Eyeing the trackside clock as she approached the finish line, Carmelita Jeter pointed the black baton in her left hand at those bright orange numbers. She wanted to make sure everyone saw what she saw: The United States was breaking the world record in the women's 4x100-meter relay - and it wasn't even close. Allyson Felix, Tianna Madison, and Bianca Knight built a big lead, and Jeter brought it home Friday night, anchoring the United States to its first Olympic gold medal in the sprint relay since 1996 with a time of 40.82 seconds, more than a half-second better than a record that had stood for 27 years.

Once incarcerated in Holmesburg Prison, Tyrone Wade of Darby Borough is now a role model for neighborhood children. He disciplined himself through bodybuilding, and in an international competition last month in Barcelona, his efforts were rewarded when he won a gold medal.

The Olympics have always been known for gold and records. The Games of the XXIV Olympiad will be remembered for a gold record. "Hand in Hand," the official song of the Seoul Olympics, has sold more than one million records. The Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee says the song is No. 1 on the charts in Switzerland, Hong Kong and South Korea. And it's among the top 10 in Denmark and West Germany. The song was composed by Italy's Giorgio Moroder, who won Academy Awards for his music in the movies Midnight Express, Flashdance and Top Gun. "Hand in Hand" was recorded by a local quartet known as Koreana, which performed the number during the Games' opening ceremony.

The Southwest boys' soccer team, consisting primarily of South Jersey high school players, defeated the Southeast, 5-1, yesterday in the gold-medal game of the 10th annual Garden State Games. The action took place at Rutgers University on the final day of the games, an Olympics-like event of 30 different sports for New Jersey athletes of all ages. The Southwest soccer team finished undefeated in the round-robin competition. Sean Flanagan of Shawnee High School, Matt Miles of St. Augustine, Mike Payne of St. Mary's, David Weinstein of Moorestown and James Dellapietro of Lacey contributed goals to yesterday's win. In other action, the South team won the gold medal in wrestling, 47-22, over the team from Central Jersey.

Grace in victory is important. And it was exhibited flawlessly in the sportspersonship of America's "Golden Girls," notably double-gold track stars Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith Joyner, as well as the 12- member American women's basketball team who high-fived everyone in sight - including their Yugoslav opponents - after winning the Olympic title. But it's a different story when you are a gifted athlete who is expected to win in competition with an equally gifted rival - and who fails.

With one gold medal in cycling already to his credit, a "very tired" Joe Nolte considered dropping out of competition in the 50-meter freestyle swimming event at the U.S. Transplant Games, an Olympics-type event for major organ donor recipients held Oct. 5-8 in Indianapolis. "But I was talked out of it," the 17-year-old Maple Shade youth recalled. And is he glad. His 34-second time, the best in his age group, was good for his second gold medal of the Games. Among 43 Delaware Valley residents who competed individually and as part of Team Philadelphia '90 in the Games, Nolte, a kidney recipient, was one of three local competitors to bring home medals.

Mike Buxbaum took the final step in his last high school tennis match. One year after falling in the state final, the North Penn senior won the PIAA Class AAA singles championship in boys' tennis Saturday at the Hershey Racquet Club. Buxbaum defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Adam Blasinsky, 6-0, 6-4. The West Chester Rustin doubles duo of seniors John Lim and Derek Sommers also won state gold in Class AAA, defeating Alok Nimgaonkar and Chris Grubbs of Shady Side Academy, 0-6, 6-2, 6-4. Buxbaum and Lim and Sommers had reached the finals with semifinal wins earlier Saturday - Buxbaum topping Peter Hazlett of Mount Lebanon, 6-1, 6-2, and the Rustin pair outlasting Fox Chapel's Sid Rajupet and Ben Short, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11)

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Wellington Zaza lifted himself from the long-jump pit and sprinted several strides back toward the start before dropping to the turf. He lay there face first, head tucked under his crossed arms, as one long jumper, then another, raced by on their final turns. This was the last act of Zaza's incredible weekend at the PIAA state track and field championships, and the emotions finally landed on the floor of Seth Grove Stadium. "It's over," Zaza said. "It was a hurtful moment.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Returning to the scene a year later, Cait Mautz saw it philosophically. "Everyone has bad meets," she said. "Mine just happened to come at the state meet. " Of course, it helps to look back from the perspective of a newly minted state champion. Given a chance to atone for a poor performance here last spring, Mautz triumphed in the Class AAA javelin Friday on Day 1 of the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium. The senior became the first Central Bucks West athlete to win a state title in a field event.

DEAR HARRY: I am 62, and I'm not financially able to retire. I don't have much saved, only about $23,000 in my IRA. I have been hearing a lot about investing in gold. Recently I attended a "seminar" given by a company that promoted gold ownership. One of the speakers predicted a damaging inflation before 2018. That would make gold king. He had a history of accurate investment predictions that looked impressive. That company said that it would invest in gold bullion for me for the IRA. The charge would be $250 for the first year, followed by a $150 annual custodial-and-management fee. Is it OK to roll over my IRA into gold this way?

A 72-foot-long Swedish sailboat capsized Thursday in San Francisco Bay while practicing for this summer's America's Cup races, leaving one sailor dead and another injured, authorities said. Artemis Racing said Andrew "Bart" Simpson , 36, of Britain died after the capsized boat's platform trapped him underwater for about 10 minutes. Simpson was the team's strategist and had won two Olympic gold medals. SOCCER: The job of coaching Manchester United has gone to David Moyes , 50, a former professional player who will have to step into the shoes of Alex Ferguson , 71. Man U awarded Moyes a six-year contract.

TIÉBÉLÉ, Burkina Faso - On the rocky ground outside the Kollo mining village near the border between Burkina Faso and Ghana, about 100 people are working, 30 or so of them children. They smash boulders into pebbles and pebbles into grit with primitive hammers and sticks. They haul buckets of well water up the hillside and, pouring this water into shallow pans filled with rock and dirt, they swirl the muddy mix, looking in the silt for tiny flecks of gold. Nearby, a small hill rises from this barren gold field, and atop this hill are hand-dug shafts that plunge 150 feet into the ground.

There's gold in them thar hills! And rubies, sapphires, platinum, and silver. Who could resist that siren call? Not Philly guy Americo DiSantis. "It was a chance to change my family's life," says the 31-year-old father of two, who works for AmeriDrill in Levittown. "How could you not do that?" Actually, a few reasons spring to mind. First of all, them thar weren't hills. They were rugged, forbidding mountains. In Greenland. With one of the most inhospitable and treacherous climates on the planet.

THE FOOD in front of Shawn O'Hanlon looks like slop suited solely for a pig trough: leftover cheeseburgers, peas, bologna sandwiches and other bits stewing in the sunshine on concrete outside the old Holmesburg Prison. But to Laura Cassidy, it's liquid gold. "We have drive-bys every day, people asking: 'When's it going to be ready?' " Cassidy brags. O'Hanlon, an inmate laborer, pushes his shovel under the food and mixes it with wood chips before hurling it into a concrete bay, where it will decompose for a month or so into compost.

BEIJING - A massive landslide engulfed a gold mining area in mountainous Tibet, burying 83 workers believed to have been asleep Friday morning, Chinese state media said. About 2.6 million cubic yards of mud, rock, and debris swept through the area as the workers were resting and covered an area about 1.5 square miles, China Central Television said. The official Xinhua news agency said the workers in Lhasa's Maizhokunggar county worked for a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corp., a state-owned enterprise and the country's largest gold producer.

It's no joke: The Phillies are opening on April 1 this year. It will be the third time the season starts on April Fools' Day, and since that history is mostly recent, it's actually pretty good. Plus, because it's April 1, you certainly can prank the ones you love. First some history, then some foolishness to try at home: April 1, 2011, Phillies' home opener vs. Astros It was the baseball gods playing a prank. It had to be. The Phillies came into 2011 with great promise: The team, two years removed from a World Series win, shockingly reacquired Cliff Lee as a free agent in the offseason.