g3 － day 10.

Some surprising successes for Team USA women at Monday's Olympic games ...

With track and field events underway, America's Stephanie Brown Trafton threw the discus 212 feet, 5 inches on her very first try － a first impression that ultimately won the gold. It's the first gold for a U.S. woman in the discus since 1932, and only the second medal of any kind since then. Brown Trafton, 28, of Arroyo, CA, had only two throws over 200 feet before this year.

Meanwhile, America's Jennifer Stuczynski (25, of Fredonia, NY) earned the silver in the women's pole vault, clearing 15.75 feet. Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva, who won the gold easily in 2004 in Athens, did so again with a world-record leap of 16.57 feet (5.05 meters) － she's pictured above during her joyful landing. Isinbaeva, 26, had established the existing world record of 5.04 meters just last month. Another Russian, Svetlana Feofanova, got the bronze with a jump of 15.59 feet.

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Out on the water at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, American Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe became the first woman in 20 years to win the gold in the women's one-person dinghy competition. Tunnicliffe, 25, of Perrysburg, OH, also earned the U.S.' first sailing gold of the Beijing Games. Lithuania's Gintare Volungeviciute settled for the silver, while China's Lijia Xu got the bronze.

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Over in Hong Kong, Team USA's equestrian jumping team won the gold in a jump-off with Canada. The Americans also won team jumping in 2004 in Athens, and had two returning combinations － Beezie Madden (Maquon, WI) on Authentic and McLain Ward (Brewster, NY) on Sapphire. New team members were Laura Kraut (Camden, SC) and Will Simpson (Peoria, IL). Canada settled for the silver, while Norway got the bronze.

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Olympic gymnastics all-around champion Nastia Liukin had a difficult day ... the American tied for first on the uneven bars, but a series of computerized tie-breakers forced her into second place by 33/100ths of a point. China's itty bitty He Kexin won the gold, while her teammate Yang Yilin got the bronze.

Liukin's father and coach, Valeri Liukin, tied for an Olympic gold medal on the high bar for the Soviet Union in 1988; then, they simply presented dual golds. But the International Gymnastics Federation initiated the use of tie-breakers in the 2000 Olympics.

For Nastia, 18, of Parker, TX, the silver was her fourth medal for these Olympics － she won the all-around championship gold, got a bronze in floor exercise, and helped the U.S. team earn a silver last week. She goes for a fifth medal in today's balance-beam final.