USA Secure Basketball Gold

The USA won their 14th Olympic basketball gold medal as they beat Spain 107-100 to defend their title.

The favourites powered ahead in the first quarter before Spain recovered to within a point at the interval.

But Spain could not contain the Americans' powerful attack and LeBron James and Kevin Durant scored crucial baskets in the final period.

Durant led USA's offence with 30 points, while Spain's Pau Gasol scored 24 at London's North Greenwich Arena.

Spain applied pressure to the USA defence for long periods to keep in touch but with their wealth of experienced NBA players the Americans ultimately had too much strength in depth.

The United States had scored over 100 points in five of their seven matches leading to the final, including a record 158 against Nigeria, and they continued their imperious form as they strode to a 35-27 lead by the end of the first quarter.

However, Spain were determined to give everything in an attempt to dethrone them and as they clawed back the deficit tempers began to flare, with the game becoming more vocal and aggressive.

Juan-Carlos Navarro caught USA on the break to reduce the lead to four with two minutes left to half-time and with three seconds of the half remaining, Andre Iguodala gave away a pair of free throws for an unsportsmanlike foul to enable Spain to go in at the interval just 59-58 down.

As 13,000 supporters looked on, including American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the USA began to relax and a much-needed three points from Durant put them six points up at 93-86 with 06:25 on the clock.

Another crucial three from James, on his way to 19 on the night, made it a nine-point game with under two minutes left to play and despite a Marc Gasol basket in the closing seconds the Americans ultimately won with a degree of comfort.

Kobe Bryant said: "It was a good journey for us. It was just tough. So to be standing here at the moment having played a tough opponent in Spain, with another gold medal, it's a huge accomplishment.

"We have a lot of talented players coming up. Hopefully we will continue to build our programme, continue to mentor the young fellas coming up, the college ranks and the young fellas in the pro ranks and continue to carry on the tradition."

Saudi Arabia Jodoka Battles for Hijab

The father of a female Saudi Arabian judo competitor says his daughter will pull out of the Olympics if she is not allowed to wear her hijab during bouts.

Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, 16, is due to compete in the +78kg category on Friday.

A Saudi official said earlier this month that its female athletes would have to obey Islamic dress codes.

But International Judo Federation president Marius Vizer said she would have to fight without the headscarf.

"The athlete from Saudi Arabia will fight in the spirit of judo and according to the principles of judo without a hijab," said Vizer last week.

The sport has banned the headscarf for safety reasons.

Shaherkani's father, Ali, told Saudi Arabia's al-Watan newspaper that his daughter will not compete in the Judo Games on 3 August if the committee insists that she removes her hijab.

Olympic and Saudi officials are in talks with judo chiefs in an attempt to find a solution but Shaherkani told the newspaper he had not heard back from the International Olympic Committee on the matter.

Shaherkani and 800m runner Sarah Attar are Saudi Arabia's two female competitors at London 2012.

There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in Saudi Arabia. 

Officials have found it difficult to find athletes who could meet the minimum qualifying standards.