Daily Briefing, Aug. 23

Additional highlights (all times Eastern):

• Kenya's Martin Lel, winner of both the London and New York marathons, is SI's pick for gold in the men's marathon finals (7:30 p.m.). SI's Brian Cazeneuve also likes Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia to hit the medal stand. Marathon world-record holder Haile Gebrselassie declined to run in Beijing because of his concerns about the polluted air. The Americans entered in the field include Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenhein.

• The U.S. is assured of its first men's volleyball medal after a 16-year drought. But what color will it be? The gold medal match (12:00 a.m.) pits the Americans against Brazil, a charged climax to an emotional Games for the U.S. team. The team's coach, Hugh McCutcheon, lost his father-in-law to a knife attack at the Drum Tower in downtown Beijing two weeks ago. The bronze medal match between Russia and Italy will start two hours earlier.

• Argentina and Lithuania play for the bronze medal in men's basketball at 12:00 a.m.

• Taekwondo will award six medals including the men's light fly, men's bantam, men's light, men's welter, men's light heavy and men's super heavy. The first bout is scheduled for 1:30 a.m. Sunday at Worker's Gymnasium.

• The U.S. men play Hungary for the gold medal in water polo at 3:40 a.m. It's the first time the U.S. has advanced to the gold medal game since 1988. The bronze medal game -- Serbia against Montenegro -- will precede that game at 2:20 a.m. The Hungarians are a win away from becoming the first country to win three consecutive water polo gold medals since Great Britain (1908, 1912 and 1920).

• France and Iceland will play in the men's team handball final (3:45 a.m.).

• Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who directed the opening ceremonies, is back to perform another high-wire act for the closing ceremonies (They begin at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time but will be shown tape-delayed on NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET). During the ceremony, Beijing officials will handover the Olympic flag to London Mayor Boris Johnson, who represents the host city for the 2012 Games. Michael Phelps is expected to make an appearance from London, though he is not expected to sing.

• Clip and Save: The Vancouver Games begin Feb. 12, 2010.

"I was surprised at this size right off the top. He was able to handle the ball. I tried to test him a little bit, see if he go left, go right, that sort of thing. So I like him." -- Kobe Bryant, asked by the China Daily about China's 6-foot-9 point guard Sun Yue, a second-round pick of the Lakers in the 2007 draft

3Countries U.S. archer and closing ceremonies flag bearer Khatuna Lorig has represented at the Olympics. Lorig competed for the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union at the Barcelona Games in 1992, where she won the bronze medal in the team competition. She competed for Georgia in both the 1996 and 2000 Games and received her U.S. citizenship in 2005, allowing her to compete as a member of the U.S. squad in Beijing.

30Age of Bryant, who celebrated the big 3-0 Saturday.

1. Heavy Lifting Over, China Is Rolling in Gold (By Christopher Clarey, The New York Times): The Chinese are on pace for the highest gold medal tally for any nation since the Soviet Union won 55 in Seoul in 1988.

2. Should we dread the handover? (By Barney Ronay, The Guardian): David Beckham riding through Beijing on a London bus? Hide the children.

3. This 'Inquiry' Falls Flat (By Sally Jenkins, Washington Post): "Everyone is playing sleuth over whether China cheated in women's gymnastics," says the writer. "The hope is that the officials who govern Olympic competition will conduct a straightforward investigation, but regrettably, such a thing seems to have been beyond their scope and spine at this point. Who are you going to believe, the Chinese government, or the Chinese government? The authorities at the Beijing Games have considered the question, and for the moment have decided to believe the Chinese government."