Suburban Olympians: Itasca's Zach Ziemek claims 6th in decathlon
Itasca's Zach Ziemek finished in sixth place in the decathlon, compiling 8,435 points. Ziemek was 214 points behind the bronze medal winner, Australia's Ashley Moloney. Another American, Garrett Scantling finished fourth with 8,611 points. Canada's Damian Warner (9,018) and France's Kevin Mayer (8,726) took gold and silver, respectively.
Ziemek is a 28-year-old graduate of Lake Park High School. He set a personal best in the shot put and the 100-meter dash (10.55 seconds). Ziemek earned 1,967 points in those two events.
Salvaging bronze: The U.S. women's soccer team, which was upset by Canada in the semifinals, salvaged a bronze medal by defeating Australia 4-3 on Thursday. Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd scored 2 goals each.
"It's very satisfying," said captain Becky Sauerbrunn, whose team took a 4-1 lead when Lloyd scored in the 51st minute. "I think we all realized we didn't play the best this entire tournament."
The U.S. team, which includes Naperville's Casey Krueger, also lost to Sweden 3-0 in pool play.
This was Australia's first appearance in the medal round in the Olympics.
In rhythm:
• Evita Griskenas of Orland Park and Laura Zeng of Naperville were attempting to qualify for the individual rhythmic gymnastics medal round Thursday. Griskenas was in 13th place (out of 26) after a combined 47.075 score in her hoop and ball routines. Zeng was in 17th after a 45.7. The top score of 55.225 was turned in by the ROC's Dina Averina.
Team qualification begins Friday and will feature Vernon Hills' Nicole Sladkov, Wheeling's Elizaveta Pletneva, Northbrook's Lili Mizuno and Deerfield's Camilla Feeley.
Moving along: In women's volleyball, the United States, which features Kelsey Robinson of Bartlett and alternate Lauren Carlini of Aurora, took on Serbia late on Thursday night in the semifinals.