RIO DE JANEIRO -- When it was all over, when they had the title they had coveted for years, Serbias jubilant players hung the countrys flag over one of the floating cages in the pool.The soaked flag said it all. Serbia had finally conquered the Olympic mens water polo tournament.Dusan Mandic scored four times, Branislav Mitrovic made 12 saves and Serbia dethroned Croatia with an 11-7 victory at the Rio Games on Saturday.This is maybe the best feeling in my life, center Slobodan Nikic said. I feel like Im flying.It was Serbias first Olympic gold medal in perhaps its favorite sport. The former Yugoslavia won three gold medals and Serbia and Montenegro lost in the 2004 final in Athens, but Serbia finished third in each of the previous two Olympics.After winning the world and European championships, Serbias star-studded roster had to deal with the burden of expectations when it arrived in Brazil. Then the pressure intensified when the team opened with a pair of draws and a surprising loss to the host country.But Serbia eventually found its way and closed with five consecutive victories by a combined score of 53-38. No settling for bronze this time around.We want this from the whole beginning of our careers, said Filip Filipovic, who scored two goals in the final and was voted tournament MVP.We trained so hard and so much. We suffer so much for this gold medal. As we saw, the road to this Olympic gold was very tough and very stressful for us.There were hugs on Serbias side of the pool as the final seconds ticked off, and the players jumped right in when it was over.Coach Dejan Savic avoided the traditional swim with his team, even sneaking off the deck for a moment before returning to the bench to watch the celebration. He wagged his finger and blew kisses to his players as they beckoned him to join them in the water.This is it for us. Lets say its game over, a grinning Filipovic said.Sandro Sukno scored three times for Croatia, which won gold in London. Javier Garcia Gadea had two goals.Serbia was the better team, Croatia coach Ivica Tucak said. We tried everything we had against them but they were just too physical and strong. The result shows that.Marko Bijac, who was voted the tournaments top goaltender and played a key role in Croatias run to the final, made five saves before he was replaced by Josip Pavic after Filipovic scored to make it 8-4 with 2:14 left in the third.They got easy fouls and they are such strong shooters, its very hard to stop, Bijac said.Italy beat Montenegro 12-10 for the bronze medal. Stefano Tempesti led the way with 10 saves, and Christian Presciutti scored four times.Its the second straight Olympic medal for Italy, which lost to Croatia in the London final. Italy also became the only country to medal in each water polo tournament in Brazil, with the women taking home silver on Friday.Its a great moment for (the) Italian water polo team, Tempesti said.The 37-year-old Tempesti had surgery on his right eye after he got hurt in the final match of the Italian championship in May. He finished with 51 saves in his fifth Olympics.Asked if the victory over Montenegro was his final game, he responded: I think so. Im quite sure, yeah.To be here with my eye, all the surgery, everything, day by day I had to learn how to come back in this Olympics, Tempesti said, and winning this medal, its the right reward, the best reward for what I have gone through in the last few months.Valentino Gallo added three goals for Italy, which lost to Serbia in the semifinals.Montenegro finished fourth for the third straight Olympics.We must make some changes, put some new players (on the team), but in this moment we dont have a lot of good young players, Montenegro coach Vladimir Gojkovic said. If we did they would be here now. Supply MLB Jerseys 2018 . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Cheap Baseball Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. http://www.cheapjerseysmlbchina.com/ . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). MLB Jerseys Cheap . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. MLB Jerseys From China . PETERSBURG, Fla. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Michael Phelps waggled four fingers, recognizing another historic achievement.Now, hes the first swimmer ever to win the same event at four straight Olympics.Ryan Lochte was left in his wake every time.In what was billed as the final showdown between two of Americas greatest swimmers, Phelps blew away Lochte -- and everyone else -- to win his fourth gold medal of the Rio Olympics and 22nd overall with a victory in the 200-meter individual medley Thursday night.Phelps finished a full body-length ahead of the field on the breaststroke and freestyle legs, finishing in 1 minute, 54.66 seconds.A 12-time Olympic medalist, Lochte didnt even make it to the podium this time, after taking two silvers and a bronze behind Phelps at the last three Olympics in this event.Leading at the midway point, Lochte faded to fifth -- nearly 3 seconds behind the winner.Japans Kosuke Hagino took the silver, while Chinas Wang Shun claimed the bronze.But Phelps was in a league of his own.As usual.Hes got one more individual event at what he insists will really be his final Olympics -- remember, he already retired once -- and will be looking to add a fourth straight gold in the 100 butterfly to his staggering resume.Then, hell close out these Olympics in the 4x100 medley relay.There seems little doubt hell go six-for-six.Led by Phelps, it was quite a night for the powerful American team, which picked up two more golds when Ryan Murphy completed a sweep of the mens backstroke events in the 200 and Simone Manuel tied 16-year-old Canadian for the top spot in the 100 freestyle, stunning world-record holder Cate Campbell of Australia.With the win, Manuel became the first African-American woman to capture gold in swimming.Her fingernails painted red, white and blue, Manuel broke down in tears when she recognized her historic achievement in a sport that still struggles to attract people of color.Campbell and her younger sister, Bronte, were hoping to battle for gold after teaming up to lead Australia to a victory in the 4x100 free relay.Neither one made the podium by themselves. Cate was under her own world-record pace at the turn, but had nothing coming back and fell all the way to sixth. Bronte was second at the turn and slid to fourth at the finish.I should have stepped up and performed better, but thats the way the chips fell, Cate Campbell said. When youre in form coming into an event, its hard not to think about outcomes and I think I just let my imagination run away with me a little bit.Murphy extended American dominance of the backstroke events, which goes back to 1992.The Barcelona Games were the last time the Unitedd States lost a mens final in those events.ddddddddddddThree days after winning the 100 back, Murphy touched first again in 1:53.62.Murphy became the third American man in the last five Olympics to take both races. Aaron Peirsol pulled off the sweep at Athens in 2004, while Lenny Krayzelburg claimed both golds at the 2000 Sydney Games.My goal was to win one gold, Murphy said. That was a real breakthrough for me to be able to win that one. The 100 back was an event that comes a little bit more natural. The 200 back is an event I really have to dig deep for, so this one means a little bit more to me.Australias Mitch Larkin grabbed the silver in 1:53.96, just ahead of Russias Evgeny Rylov with the bronze in 1:53.97.The Olympics came to an end for another U.S. backstroke champion.Missy Franklin finished 14th in the semifinals of the womens 200 back -- beating out only two other swimmers. It was a far cry from the London Games, where Missy The Missile became only the second American woman to take four gold medals in a single Olympics.This time, she was limited to a single gold, which came for swimming the preliminaries of the 4x200 freestyle relay. Franklin failed to even make it to the final of her two individual events.In the only non-American victory of the night, Rie Kaneto of Japan pulled away from Yulia Efimova to take gold in the womens 200 breaststroke.Kaneto grabbed the lead on the third of four laps and powered to the finish comfortably in front. The winning time was 2:20.30.Efimova was 1.67 seconds behind, leaving the Russian with another silver medal. She also finished second to American Lilly King in the 100 breaststroke after initially being banned from the Rio Games for her links to the Russian doping scandal.Chinas Shi Jinglin took the bronze in 2:28.28.Of course I wanted gold like any other athlete, especially at the Olympics, and it was so close, Efiomova said. But I was really pleased with todays medal and the one that came before it because looking back at what happened to me over that time, its a big step. Im happy with myself.Phelps hustled off after his victory, knowing he had to come back about 40 minutes later for the semifinals of the 100 butterfly, another event hell be trying to win for the fourth straight time.As usual, Phelps pulled off the grueling double, advancing to Friday nights final with the fifth-fastest time.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . China NFL Jerseys White Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Wholesale NFL Hoodies Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Wholesale NFL T-shirts Disocunt Football Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale NFL T-shirts Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Black China NFL Jerseys ' ' '