Pan Ams becoming America’s playground

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – From the pool to the shooting range to the balance beam, the Americans have made Rio their personal playground.

The Pan American Games have been a showcase for the United States, which is collecting medals by the fistful halfway through the event.

As expected, the swimmers, shooters and gymnasts dominated, but there have been strong performances in badminton and equestrian. A collection of collegians won the silver medal in baseball. The developing women’s volleyball team took a bronze behind world-class squads from Cuba and Brazil.

Plus, men’s basketball hasn’t begun yet, nor has track and field.

U.S. swimmers have won 30 medals, 14 gold, with six finals scheduled for today. Only Brazil, with 20 medals – 10 gold, six by its star, Thiago Pereira – has come close to keeping pace.

U.S. shooters also have been dominant. In addition to clinching nearly every Beijing berth for which they were eligible, the Americans collected 22 total medals, 10 gold. They took both events Saturday.

The U.S. women gymnasts also shined. Shawn Johnson, the rising star of the sport in America, won four gold medals, including team and all-around as the U.S. teens – former world champion Nastia Liukin, at 17, was the oldest member of the squad – barely let any other country step on the podium.

In badminton, 2005 world champion Howard Bach has been the only proven winner on the international scene. But Eva Lee of Orange, Calif., was the star in Rio with three golds. She and Bach, of San Francisco, won mixed doubles, and she also won women’s singles and doubles (with Mesinee Mangkalakiri of Garden Grove, Calif.).