Germany claims beach volleyball gold

Germans Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann overcame the loss of a set Thursday to defeat a team from Brazil and win the men's Olympic beach volleyball title. It was the first gold medal in the sport for Germany and only the second overall, having picked up a bronze in 2000. The Germans defeated Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego 23-21, 16-21, 16-14. The bronze medal went to Latvia's Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins, who rallied to defeat Reinder Nummerdor and Rich Schuil of the Netherlands in the third-place match. The Latvians brought their country its first medal of any kind at these Olympics.