Aug. 12, 2012
Official London 2012 Olympic Page
STANFORD, Calif. - The XXX Olympiad came to a close Sunday and five Stanford athletes saw action on the final day. Ryan Hall competed in the marathon while four Cardinal men's water polo players participated in the U.S.-Australia seventh-place game.
In Track and Field action...
Ryan Hall '05 ran in his second Olympic marathon Sunday but his hopes for an Olympic medal came to a premature end at the 10-mile mark when he pulled out of the race due to a right hamstring strain.
In Men's Water Polo action...
The United States finished eighth at the Olympic tournament after Sunday's 10-9 loss to Australia in the seventh-place game. The Americans, after winning the first three games of pool play and sitting atop Group B, dropped their final five games of the tournament.
Sunday, Tony Azevedo '05 and Peter Varellas '06 each scored twice while Layne Beaubien '99 and Peter Hudnut '03 also saw action in the contest.
The U.S. fell behind early as Australia jumped to a 4-1 lead early in the second period. Varellas would score his first goal soon after to start a 2-1 U.S. run that cut the deficit to 5-3 at halftime.
The momentum would not last, however, as the Australians outscored the U.S. 3-1 in the third period to take an 8-4 lead into the final frame. Despite Azevedo's second goal 58 seconds into the frame, the Australians would hang tough, getting the lead to 10-6 in the final minutes. The U.S. would score three times in the final 1:11, with Varellas finding the net again with 42 seconds remaining, but Australia would hold on for the win and seventh place.
Over the 19 days of Olympics competition, Stanford athletes come home with 16 medals, more than all but 16 competing nations. Twelve Stanford athletes earned gold medals in the sports of beach volleyball, women's rowing, women's soccer, men's tennis and women's water polo.
