Cuban Couple Bring in 5 Gold at Pan-American Games

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 07, 2003

Cuban Couple Bring in 5 Gold at Pan-American Games

The Lopez family had a golden day at the Pan-American Games, while host Dominican Republic had even more reason to celebrate.

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The Lopez family had a golden day at the Pan-American Games, while host Dominican Republic had even more reason to celebrate.

Erick Lopez won four gold medals in men's gymnastics on Tuesday and his wife, Leyanet Gonzalez, added another in the women's event.

In men's basketball, the host country advanced to the gold-medal match after beating Puerto Rico 79-65. The Dominicans were due to face defending champion Brazil yesterday. Puerto Rico was to take on the United States for the bronze.

Lopez, who also won two golds earlier in the competition, won the pommel horse, rings, vault and parallel bars to take his personal tally to six at these games and 18 overall. The Cuban's wife won the vault.

"I wasn't expecting to perform like this. This is a blessing," said Lopez, who also won the men's individual all-round and helped his teammates win the team event. "All my success has been for the people of Cuba."

Lopez won all four of the events in which he participated on Tuesday.

"He's like a god," Cuba teammate Charles Leon said. "He is a teacher, a friend and a mentor."

But, despite his incredible success at the Pan-American Games, Lopez has yet to win an Olympic medal. "I want to close my career with an Olympic medal of any colour," Lopez said. "Then I can retire at the top."

The United States earned 13 gold medals on Tuesday - including all four in women's freestyle wrestling - to retake the lead from Cuba with 22 golds. Cuba has 18.

Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Brazil and Canada won their first gold medals.

The United States also picked up three gold medals in women's gymnastics, two in shooting, and one in bowling.

In men's tennis, former world No 1 Marcelo Rios of Chile took just 53 minutes to beat Shane Stone of Trinidad&Tobago 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the third round.

Despite his victory, he was not in the best of moods after the match, complaining about the facilities, the starting time and even a lack of towels.

The lack of towels "was a lack of respect," he said. "That's the last thing we needed.

"The games were also played at the worst possible time," he added. "The heat aside, though, the court was quite good and fast."

Argentina's men's soccer team clinched a semi-final berth by beating Guatemala 2-1. Mexico beat Paraguay 3-1 later in the day, eliminating the South Americans.

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