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LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Russian high jumper Anna Chicherova was stripped of her bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Thursday, the latest athlete sanctioned after the retesting of stored doping samples.Chicherova, who won the gold medal at the 2012 London Games, tested positive for turinabol and has been retroactively disqualified from Beijing, the International Olympic Committee said.The Russian Olympic Committee should secure the return of her bronze medal as soon as possible, the IOC said.The IOC also asked tracks governing body, the IAAF, to consider any further sanctions against the 34-year-old Chicherova, who is still active but could face a two-year ban.Another Russian -- Yelena Slesarenko -- finished fourth in the high jump in Beijing. She stands to move up to the bronze if the IOC decides to reallocate the medals.The IOC ruling made no mention of Chicherovas gold medal from London, which appears to be unaffected. She told Russian media earlier this year that retests of her 2012 sample came back negative.The IAAF said it would cancel all of Chicherovas results from 2008 to 2010, including her silver medal at the 2009 world championships in Berlin. Chicherova won gold at the 2011 worlds.The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years to allow for them to be reanalyzed when improved testing methods become available. The new tests can detect the use of steroids going back weeks and months, rather than days.The IOC has recorded 98 positive cases in recent retests of more than 1,000 samples from Beijing and London.The IOCs 22-page written decision in the Chicherova case cited a pattern of delay and obstruction by the athlete and her legal team.The IOC first noted that the athlete and her counsel had been deliberately attempting to obstruct the process, first the analytical process and then the disciplinary proceedings, the ruling said.The IOC also noted that turinabol was a doping substance commonly used in Russia in the concerned period.Chicherova won the high jump at the Russian nationals in June, clearing 1.98 meters.She would have been a potential medal contender at the Rio Games. The IAAF banned the Russian track team -- apart from U.S.-based long jumper Darya Klishina -- from the games over allegations of state-sponsored doping.Logan Couture Jersey . 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Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Its rare to see the U.S. womens basketball team struggle during the Olympics. Then again, theyve had Sue Bird running the show for over a decade.With the starting point guard sidelined with a knee injury, the Americans were out of sorts for a half before finally getting it together to pull away from France in an 86-67 win in the semifinals Thursday night. Now theyre back in the Olympic final once again, one victory away from a sixth consecutive gold medal.U.S. coach Geno Auriemma made it a point, however, after the game to stress that unforeseen developments like Birds injury makes it a little bit harder than just who the U.S. will beat next and whens the gold medal ceremony.Its not like that, Auriemma said, and our players really found out today that without Sue its certainly not going to be like that. Theres a big difference in our team the way we played today and the way we played the other six games.Birds status for Saturdays final versus Spain is unclear.The US and Spain played in the preliminary round and the U.S. won that one by 40. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship by 13.Its going to be the same old dance, Diana Taurasi said. They have world class players. ... This is going to be a great game between great teams and great players alike.Taurasi scored 18 points and Maya Moore added 15 against France in what was the closest game of the Olympics for the Americans. It was a rematch of the 2012 London Games gold medal contest. The U.S. won that one by 36 points, but had a much harder time in this one without Bird.The point guard sprained her right knee capsule in the quarterfinals and has been listed as day-to-day. She had started every game for the U.S. the past three Olympics and been a calming influence on offense for the Americans. Brid said she plans to practice Friday.Im not going to be stupid about this, Bird said. Its your body, you have to listen to it, you dont want to put yourself in danger, but if I can play Im definitely playing.The U.S. had cruised through its first six games, winning by nearly 42 points a game and scoring at a record pace. Without Bird, the Americans looked discombobulated at times on offense againnst France.ddddddddddddThe team that was averaging 105 points and 30 assists was held to just 40 points in the opening 20 minutes and just four assists.Dressed in a blue sweatsuit, Bird was anxious on the bench. It was the first time in 31 Olympic contests she wasnt on the court.During the game, pretty hard. Pretty hard, she said of not being on the court. We were just a little out of sorts and I feel like I can help in that department. So it was difficult. But they did a great job.The U.S. held a slim 40-36 at the break, the closest any team had been to the Americans at the half since Australia led them in the semifinals of the 2012 Olympics.But the Americans (7-0) started playing a better on both ends of the court in the decisive third quarter. As the starters were about to take the court for the start of the second half, Bird huddled them up could be seen offering words of encouragement and instructions.The team seemed to get the message, going on a 14-5 run to start the period, including two 3-pointers by Taurasi that gave the Americans some breathing room. Those shots gave Taurasi a record 28 3-pointers in the Olympics -- the most ever in the tournament.Though the U.S. outscored France 25-8 in the period, it had two 24-second shot clock violations. It was rare in the first six games if the shot clock ever got under five seconds.I think they decided to play basketball, and when they decide its hard to stop them, at least in one-on-one, French center Isabelle Yacoubou said. Its really hard. Theyre very talented. We know that.The Americans led by 21 at the end of the third quarter, but France (4-3) didnt quit. The French cut the lead to 11 in the fourth, but could get no closer.It was only the second time in Rio that the U.S. didnt reach 100 points in a game. But it did get the win and now has 48 consecutive Olympic victories.Marianne Johannes scored 13 to lead France, which will play Serbia for the bronze medal on Saturday.---Online:AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg ' ' '