Rio Roundup: Michelle Carter Makes Shot Put History; USA Men's Basketball Vs. Serbia

Enlarge this image toggle caption Matt Dunham/AP Matt Dunham/AP

Michelle Carter wins historic shot put gold

With a final, herculean hurl, Michelle Carter scored a gold medal in the women's shot put final Friday night in Rio — a first for any U.S. woman in the event.

"I knew I had more in the tank," Carter told reporters. "And to be able to go out there and put the pieces together and pull it out, I'm just really excited."

Taking advantage of that reserved energy, Carter truly saved her best for last.

Her winning throw, and a personal best, came in her last attempt at 20.63 meters, upsetting the favorite, Valerie Adams of New Zealand, who delivered 20.42 meters on her second throw. Adams had been trying for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.

The 30-year-old Carter set another mark at her third Olympics: She and her father, Michael, are now Team USA's first father-daughter combination to medal at the Olympics.

"I'm numb right now," said Michael, who's both her first coach and coached her for Rio, Carter told IAAF.org.

Michael Carter won silver in the same event at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Since the women's competition was introduced in 1948, American Earlene Brown, who took bronze in 1960 in Rome, had been the country's only woman to medal in shot put.

"Of course, I can't wait until I get the medal and I can walk around the house and say 'Daddy, I got you,' " said Carter, who will receive her gold in a ceremony on Saturday.

USA men's basketball narrowly defeats Serbia

The U.S. men's basketball team managed a close 94-91 win over Serbia, sealing its 48th consecutive international game win, and getting closer to notching a third consecutive Olympic gold.

USA's Kyrie Irving put up 15 points, DeAndre Jordan added 13 and Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George all scored 12.

Expected to handily dominate Rio, Team USA instead has been showing a weakness in defense for the past two games, as Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix pointed out.

These Games, they've struggled with bypassing screens to guard opponents. But they survived Friday's game with some luck.

In the remaining two seconds, Serbia's top shooter Bogdan Bogdanovic, left wide-open, missed a three-pointer that would've forced the game into overtime to break the tie. Miroslav Raduljica's fourth-quarter foul out might've helped give the U.S. an edge as well.

Serbian center Nikola Jokic, who plays for the NBA's Denver Nuggets, came off the bench to lead Serbia with 25 points, six rebounds, ahead of Raduljica, who finished with 18.

USA's Kim Rhode medals in sixth consecutive Olympic Games

Californian Kim Rhode became the first woman to win medals in six consecutive Olympics Games as she claimed the bronze Friday in skeet shooting.

Rhode defeated China's Wei Meng in a shoot-off during the bronze medal match. We could easily see Rhode go for seven in Tokyo in 2020. She told Olympic.org she just might continue.

NPR profiled Rhode before the Summer Olympics, and she talked about how she hoped her ascent as one of the top sport shooters in the world could help her dispel certain myths on the politics of guns.