Alexandra Timoshenko

Alexandra Timoshenko, a Ukrainian competing for the Commonwealth of Independent States, approached perfection when she won the Olympic gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics Saturday. Timoshenko had marks of 9.95 in three of the four events and added a 9.7 to score 39.55 in the second phase of the competition. Her total of 59.037 points enabled her to turn back Carolina Gracia of Spain, who got the silver at 58.10. World champion Oksana Skaldina, another Ukrainian, took the bronze with 57.912.

Alexandra Timoshenko, a Ukrainian competing for the Commonwealth of Independent States, approached perfection when she won the Olympic gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics Saturday. Timoshenko had marks of 9.95 in three of the four events and added a 9.7 to score 39.55 in the second phase of the competition. Her total of 59.037 points enabled her to turn back Carolina Gracia of Spain, who got the silver at 58.10. World champion Oksana Skaldina, another Ukrainian, took the bronze with 57.912.

Norman Bellingham of Washington, D.C., failed to medal in Olympic canoeing Friday and then watched as Mikko Kolehmainen of Finland, his friend and training partner, won the gold. Bellingham was fourth in the men's 500-meter singles kayak race. He has another chance for gold when he and Greg Barton of Bellingham, Wash., who also trains in Newport Beach, will defend their 1988 Olympic gold medal when the double kayak 1,000 finals are held today.

Oscar Schmidt scored 29 points and Brazil beat Puerto Rico, 86-84, Thursday and will play Australia in the fifth-place basketball game on Saturday. Australia advanced with a 109-79 victory over Germany. Brazil (3-4) was knocked out of medal contention when it lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals. In the ninth-place game, Spain beat Angola, 78-75, in a game that was marred by kicking, elbows, shoves between assistant coaches and a bench-clearing incident.

With the final tally in, it is official--all those eulogies for the Big Red Machine were premature. The remnant of the once-powerful Soviet sports system left an indelible mark on the Barcelona Olympics, which ended Sunday, with 112 medals.