Marathon magic

American Deena Kastor used a late burst for a stunning bronze finish, giving the U.S. its first marathon medal since Joan Benoit’s gold in Los Angeles 20 years ago.

Mizuki Noguchi of Japan held off Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba to win the marathon gold medal on the legendary ancient course that gave the race its name.

Ndereba took the silver, reversing the order of last year’s world championships, where the Kenyan won and Noguchi was second.

Noguchi, who ran the course as a warmup in June, won in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 20 seconds. She was 49 seconds ahead of Ndereba, who narrowed the lead to 14 seconds late in the race but could get no closer.

Kastor, who overtook Ethiopian Elfenish Alemu with less than a mile remaining in the 26.2-mile race, finished in 2:27.19.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “I was in tears the whole last lap.”

A silver medalist at the last two world cross-country championships, she was Deena Drossin when she broke Benoit’s 18-year-old American record at 2 hours, 21 minutes, 16 seconds with a third-place finish at the 2003 London Marathon. She married Andrew Kastor almost a year ago, and the couple lives in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

The favorite, British world record holder Paula Radcliffe, faded to fourth place and then quit about 3 1/2 miles (six kilometers) from the finish, bursting into tears, then sitting on a curb and sobbing.

Mistake costs Emmons gold medal

Matt Emmons was focusing on staying calm. He should have been focusing on the right target.

Emmons fired at the wrong one with his final shot, a shocking mistake that cost the American a commanding lead in the Olympic 50-meter three-position rifle final and ruined his chance for a second gold medal.

Leading by three points and needing only to get near the bull’s-eye to win, Emmons fired at the target in lane three while shooting in lane two. When no score appeared, he gestured to officials that he thought there was some sort of error with his target.

“When I shot the shot, everything felt fine,” Emmons said. “On those targets, sometimes every once in a great while, it won’t register. The shot just doesn’t show up, so that’s what I thought happened.”

He was wrong. Officials huddled before announcing that Emmons had cross-fired — an extremely rare mistake in elite competition — and awarded him a score of zero. That dropped Emmons to eighth place at 1,257.4 points and lifted Jia Zhanbo of China to the gold at 1,264.5.

The mistake lifted Michael Anti of Winterville, N.C., to the silver at 1,263.1 points and boosted Christian Planer of Austria to the bronze at 1,262.8.

Injury ends Devers’ hopes

Even before the first round of the 100-meter hurdles, Gail Devers knew she had no chance of winning that elusive Olympic gold medal.

The 37-year-old Devers injured her left calf a week ago while training in Atlanta, but decided to gut it out and come to Athens. Then, while warming up Sunday for her heat, Devers heard a pop.

Instead of dropping out, she decided to give it a go. What did she have to lose? These are the Olympics, where nothing seems to go right for her in the hurdles.

“I believe I conquered this tonight just getting out there when I already knew it was gone,” Devers said. “My head said, ‘I’m running and if it’s going to pull 10 times in the race, it’s going to have to pull.’ “

Devers never made it over the first hurdle. When she went to lift up her leg to clear it, she fell backward and landed under the hurdle. Trainers immediately went out to assist her, and she was helped off the track with a severely strained left calf.

Two athletes stripped of medals

He swore on his children — his “two little angels” — that he’s clean.

In Greek terms, there’s no more powerful oath. This is the Olympics, though, and the real authority rests with the anti-doping bloodhounds.

On Sunday, a sobbing and pleading Leonidas Sampanis returned his bronze weightlifting medal after tests showed twice the acceptable amount of testosterone.

“I swear to God. I swear on my children, my two little angels, that I never took anything,” he said on national television. “I want you all to stand by me.”

•Russia’s gold medalist in the women’s shot put Irina Korzhanenko is under investigation for a positive drug test, Olympic sources said.

She will face a hearing before a disciplinary commission of the IOC.