RIO DE JANEIRO -- Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt are savvy track stars whove been around long enough to know that not everything always goes to plan.Over the final 30 minutes of Saturdays topsy-turvy night at the Olympic track, both Americans came away with prizes theyd been wishing for all along.Those prizes were both golds from the 4x400 relay teams, and the United States exited the final night of action at Olympic Stadium with 31 medals -- the most it has taken in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1956, when both the world and track were very different places.People are at home watching -- watching 2012, watching 2008, said Felix, 30, who wrapped up her fourth Olympics and now has nine total medals. And when they get their opportunity, theyre seizing the moment.One of those moments looked like it might belong to 41-year-old Bernard Lagat in the 5,000 meters. He actually finished sixth, but three runners ahead of him, including American Paul Chelimo , were disqualified for interference and Lagat briefly moved to third. Really? he exclaimed when told about it during post-race interviews.A review ensued, Chelimo was reinstated to his original silver medal and Lagat was dropped to fifth -- a bummer for the elder statesman of the U.S. track team, but some sort of sign for the team: Even when it lost, it won.I thought it was a joke, Chelimo said of the moment when he was told his silver was gone. I couldnt believe. Now Im really happy. I got reinstated. Its the best feeling ever.All those reviews and appeals made for a strange scene as the program came to a close. Mo Farah, Chelimo and Hagos Gebrhiwet marched to the podium to receive their medals nearly an hour after the evenings final race, in front of only a few thousand stragglers in the stands. It was Farahs second straight 5,000-10,000 Olympic double, putting an exclamation point on the games for his home country, Britain.The medal ceremony was wacky. But the nights biggest surprise came from Matthew Centrowitz, who shocked the field in a slow 1,500-meter final and became the first American to win gold in the metric mile since 1908. His time was 3 minutes, 50 seconds.Doing my victory lap, I literally kept screaming to everyone I know, `Are you kidding me? Centrowitz said.Felix spent a lot of the week saying the same thing -- and not in a good way.This has been an adjust-on-the-fly year for Americas best-known track star -- her failure to make the team for the 200 meters, her jaw-dropping silver-medal moment when a diving sprinter from the Bahamas beat her in the 400, and more. But on back-to-back nights, she took relay gold, starting with the 4x100 on Friday. The wins gave her gold medals No. 5 and 6 -- a record for a woman on the Olympic track.In the 4x400, she ran a 49.66-second anchor lap. Over the second and third laps, Americans Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis held big leads, only to have them dwindle as they legged out their final meters.Felix took the green baton about two steps ahead of Jamaicas Novelene Williams-Mills, and slowly, steadily expanded it for a total time of 3:19.06 and a 1.28-second win. Yes, the United States may have relay problems -- see, the mens 4x100, which flamed out again the night before -- but this certainly isnt one of them. This race has gone to American teams six straight times.The smile she flashed as she crossed the line and waved the baton said what words could not: Thank goodness, its finally over.The toughest, without a doubt, Felix said of her 2016. This year, you make plans and want everything to go according to schedule. Nothing went according to schedule.Merritt might have said the same. He was caught in the tail wind of South African Wayde van Niekerks world-record 400 run earlier in the week and settled for bronze. Then, Merritt was a bit player in the Usain Bolt going-away party, finishing sixth in the 200 -- a race he considered pure gravy.But Bolt was long gone -- having stopped by the track quickly to receive gold medal No. 9 and take a selfie with Farah -- and South Africa had left the building, too.As Felix had done minutes earlier, Merritt took a narrow lead and opened it way up. This relay gold goes with those he took in both the 4x400 relay and the 400 flat in 2008. He was injured and on the sideline in 2012.The 200 was just extra for me, there was no training regimen for it, the 30-year-old Merritt said. If I wouldve medaled, I wouldve been grateful. But we really wanted to win this 4x4. It didnt go the way the guys wanted it four years ago, so we knew how important it was.It wasnt all perfect for the red, white and blue.High jumpers Chaunte Lowe, a mother of three who finally felt ready for her Olympic moment, and Vashti Cunningham, daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall, finished fourth and 13th in a contest taken by Ruth Beitia of Spain.In the nights other finals, Thomas Rohler of Germany won the javelin and South Africas Caster Semenya took the womens 800 meters in a result that surprised nobody.That the Americans are leaving with the most medals is no shock, either. Theyve done it at every Olympic track meet since 1992.The numbers may not have shocked anyone. Some of the names, and where they ended up on the results list, certainly did.I would have been really happy with a silver, Centrowitz said. And coming away with gold is unbelievable. Mike Bibby Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Custom Sacramento Kings Jerseys . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. http://www.nbakingsonline.com/Authentic-DeAaron-Fox-Kings-Jersey/ . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Peja Stojakovic Jersey .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Buddy Hield Kings Jersey . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Taekwondo may be best known for its flashy and acrobatic kicks, but the electronic scoring system used at the Olympics apparently doesnt care whether or not fighters use the correct technique. Thats resulting in a lot of bizarre kicks that no true practitioner of the Korean martial art would recognize, in a departure that some say cheapens the sport.Sparring in taekwondo has traditionally relied on numerous kicks delivered with technical accuracy; depending on the kick, fighters usually strike with the blade of the foot, the heel or the front of the foot, with toes pointed back. To take advantage of the electronic scoring system -- which merely detects force rather than a competitors skill -- some taekwondo fighters and their coaches have figured out that the best-scoring kicks sometimes sacrifice form for expediency.Ive definitely seen some weird kicks that you would never teach at any taekwondo school, said Steven Lopez, the sports most decorated athlete, who was competing in a record fifth Olympics. They flick their legs up trying to do something to score, but it is not taekwondo.Unfortunately for Lopez, his Tunisian opponent Oussama Oueslati, in his bronze medal match on Friday didnt have a problem with those unusual techniques -- and used many of them to defeat him.Oueslati repeatedly used a move referred to by some as a scorpion kick, where he would swing his leg up towards Lopezs head and then snap it back like a scorpion tail. No such kick exists in the traditional taekwondo repertoire but because the technique results in the foot tapping the head guard, it frequently scores on the electronic system.Fighters wont care whether it looks like a banana kick or a twist kick or whatever it is, as long as its working, said Australian taekwondo competitor Safwan Khalil. He recalled a fight he had during the Rio Games with an opponent whose strange kicks caught him off-guard. When he started throwing those twist kicks, I was just like, `OK, What are we doing here? This is taekwondo? But you just have to roll with it.Kim So-hui, this years Olympic taekwondo champion in the womens 49-kilogram divisionn, said she isnt thrilled about the evolution of the martial art either.ddddddddddddUnfortunately, theres nothing I can do about it, said the South Korean athlete after clinching the gold medal on Wednesday. Its the taekwondo federation that decided that, not the athletes, she said, noting that she declines to use any of the hybrid techniques.The sports governing body acknowledged further scoring changes might be necessary.Athletes are at the very heart of the World Taekwondo Federation and so we are always ready to listen to feedback from them on how they think our sport can be improved, said Jung Kook-Hyun, the federations chairman of the technical committee, in an email. We are committed to constantly modernizing the sport but we always want to find a balance with honoring our traditions, he said, adding the federation would consider possible reforms after Rio.Some coaches are divided about whether or not to recommend using the unorthodox kicks.I dont like teaching these techniques, but thats the sport, said Jean Lopez, who directs the U.S. taekwondo team, including his brother Steven. I think its compromised taekwondo so that its become less about fighting -- and taekwondo is a martial art, a fighting sport, he said.Many athletes say that because the odd techniques often score, they cannot be ignored.Our job as athletes is to adapt as best we can and still give our best and produce good results, said South Koreas Oh Hye-Ri, gold medalist in the womens 67-kilogram division. Oh dominated most of her opponents by employing a steady stream of old-school head kicks that her competitors were unable to counter.Still, she said that she wasnt opposed to the evolution of the sport, even though it means extra training.I also practice a lot of those kicks as well, she said, providing a quick demonstration of what some describe as a donkey kick, where fighters jerk their leg up awkwardly to twist the back of their foot onto their opponents body protector. If it can win the fight, you have to try. ' ' '