Gymnastics gold hinges on Hamms

The U.S. men, led by twins Paul and Morgan Hamm, are legitimate contenders for their first gold in a non-boycotted Olympics,. They had the second-best qualifying score behind Japan. Reigning power China was fourth in qualifying but left many of its best tricks in the bag for today’s final and is still the team to beat.

Judo: Lightweight Jimmy Pedro (161 pounds) is the top American medal hope in judo. Now 33, the Brown graduate is back for a fourth Olympics. He won bronze in Atlanta, retired after a disappointing fifth in Sydney but missed competing so much he returned after two years away and has won 67 of 71 matches since. He’s also the only person in the past 18 months to defeat favorite Lee Won Hee of Korea.

Softball: Team USA’s supremacy gets another challenge from Japan, the team that ended its 164-game winning streak in the Sydney Olympics. Japan lost its opener in Athens to Australia, which the Americans thumped 10-0 on Sunday.

Women’s volleyball: Team USA had hopes of gold, but a disappointing opening loss to a tough Chinese team has them on the ropes. There’s no breather today against Germany, which posted a shocking win over defending gold medalist Cuba in its opening match.