In a closely heated game that ultimately ended with being ahead by 20 points, the USA women's team won the gold medal. At the 1997 Denmark Games and 2001's Rome Games, USA and Sweden were rivals. USA beat Sweden by one or two points for the gold medal both times. At the 2005 Games, USA was ready to roll up their sleeves and defend their stand. Sweden wanted revenge but the third time apparently was not a charm for them.

Shari Kelsch made the first basket for USA, and the Sweden team retaliated. At some times, they were slightly ahead but USA would not allow that to happen for long. By the end of the first period, USA was leading 17-16. Towards the end of the second period, USA was finally up by a good margin, the score being 29-45 at halftime.

The women's basketball team cheers with fans as they celebrate their victory over Sweden in the final game.

With three minutes left of the entire game, USA was ahead 20 points so the fans knew this would be a clincher for the gold medal. There were a lot of rallying and team spirit for women's basketball tonight. The final score was 89-75 in USA's favor.

The leading scorers included Ida Dotson, Barbara Hyde and Courtney Westberg. Bethany Hummel sat out because of a sore ankle until the last minute remaining. She contributed with two points. Coach Ron Johnson has a philosophy about having all of his players in the game so everyone leads a part in the victory. USA stood proud on the podium, receiving their gold medals. The women's basketball team is recognized for their talent, determination and pride. The gold medal is an honor to their hard work at the 2005 Games.

The USA men's team faced Slovenia in the final playoff for the gold medal. The game felt more like chaos than an actual match. Nonetheless USA showed very good sportsmanship and kept their cool the entire game, leading their team to victory.

The first half was slow and Slovenia was rough on USA, but they hung in there. Four years ago at the 2001 Games, USA beat Slovenia so they were seeking retaliation. Their fear tactics and aggressiveness did not work on the USA players.

Men's basketball players do a team handshake after beating Solvenia.

USA had mostly five to ten point leads over Slovenia in the first and second period. In the third period, everything seemed to take a turn. The referees called on a Slovakia player traveling the ball, and their team insulted one of the referees. She threw two Slovakian players out of the game for disorderly conduct and one tried to get back into the game but she banned him again. Right after the referee threw the players out, a spectator passed out in the stands and had to be escorted away.

Some USA players got slightly injured and Robert Haney bumped heads with a Slovenia player, causing the other player's nose to bleed. The game got held up numerous times because of those incidents, plus countless fouls on top of it.

The fourth period went without any flaws. The Slovakian team tried to behave appropriately and catch up with points, which they were about 30 points behind in. Nonetheless, USA still dominated the game and won 108-78. Jamel Bradley contributed 30 points and Brian Bippus made 16 points. The USA team cheered as they received their gold, knowing they showed the right way to play the game.

Lindy Decker bowled a 3534, which earned her a gold medal in the master's tournament.

Stellar bowler Lindy Decker received her second gold medal since the 2005 Games started. She got her first one in women's singles then today in the master's tournament which she bowled a total of 3534 pins. Sharon Rutherford came in fourth with 3025. Patty Brothag was in 7th place when she had to retire after game 15 due to an injury.

In the men's master tournament, Darrell Stogryn came in second with 3334 and received the silver medal. Li-Hsiao Chang of Taipei won the gold by 155 pins. Earlier in the week, the men's doubles match, consisting of Stogryn and Joe Thompson, won the silver medal so this is Stogryn's second medal count. Congratulations to the bowlers who did USA proud!

Tennis gave a good run at the Deaflympics but their quest for a medal ended during the elimination rounds on January 10 with Audrey Bulkley's loss in the quarterfinals during the singles match. The women's teams were impressive in the doubles match, both duos making it to quarterfinals but losing out to tough teams.

On the plus side, Carol Konoski ran into a former tennis opponent named Josette Robinson from Belgium. They played against each other in the 1969 Deaflympic Summer Games. and they reunited happily, relieving memories and catching up on old times.

There is a need for more tennis players for the 2009 Deaflympic Summer Games in Taipei. There were only eight players, four men and four women, giving their all at the Melbourne Games. Each player had to participate in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Christopher Daniels, Jim Crane, John Silva and Tony Cook made up the men's team; Bulkley, Konoski, Debra Gardner, and Jennifer Hume on the women's team. Kudos to the players and coach for their dedication and hard work this week.