Despite not being the top seeds in the tournament, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings will have a shot to stand on top of the Olympic podium for the third consecutive time. Standing across the sandy court from them will be fellow Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy. It will be the first all-American women's final in Olympic history.

May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings advanced to their third-straight Olympic final be besting the No. 2 seeded Chinese team of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. In a back-and-forth battle, the two-time Olympic champions won in straight sets, 22-20, 22-20.

Ross and Kessy followed up that performance by knocking off the top-seeded Brazilian pair of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca. The American duo battled back to win in a three set thriller 15-21, 21-19, 15-12, despite having to play through a driving rain.

The American women made up for the disappointing showing from their male counterparts. Both men's teams were upset early and finished out of the medals.

Wednesday's final will be the last time May-Treanor and Walsh take the court as a team and they will be looking to go out on top. The duo is the No. 3 seed in this tournament despite being undefeated in Olympic competition.

Meanwhile, Ross and Kessy were the No. 4 seed and had to go through the top team in the world to reach the finals.

It should be a heck of a match at Horse Guards Parade on Wednesday night.

Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

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On Tuesday at the gymnastics event finals Aly Raisman had two chances to get the medal that eluded her in the individual all-around competition. The 18-year-old American gymnast would first compete on the balance beam, then the floor exercise. But in a strange twist, Raisman's day - and her Olympics - were saved by her coach, Mihai Brestyan.

Raisman's routine on the balance beam registered an initial score of 14.966, but that looked wrong to everyone in the arena. The fourth-place score just seemed off, so American coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi yelled from the stands urging Raisman's personal coach to appeal the scoring. So Brestyan did just that.

According to Yahoo!'s Les Carpenter, the problem was Brestyan had never filed an appeal in his 20 years as a gymnastics coach. But ultimately he figured it out, despite losing the appeal form he was given before the day began and scrambling to find a new one.

The rules say that teams can appeal judges' rulings, but a personal coach must file the appeal and it must be done within five minutes. That's why Brestyan filled out an appeal form in advance.

He got a blank form, filled it out quickly and turned it in.

Brestyan convinced the judges that Raisman's routine had been scored incorrectly. Her routine was elevated to a 15.066, which tied her in third-place with Romanian Catalina Ponor. Their difficulty scores were the same at 6.300, but Raisman's execution score was higher, which gave her the bronze on a tie-breaker.

That reversal completely turned around the Olympics for Raisman, who was on the verge of dealing with a second-straight fourth-place finish after she finished fourth in the individual all-around.

The bronze on the beam changed everything. Raisman looked like it relaxed her. She was smiling and seemed at peace. Then she went out and nailed her routine on the floor exercise, posting a score of 15.600.

Raisman put on a dominating display on the floor earning a gold medal, as Ponor finished second with a score of 15.200.

It was Aly Raisman's day at the London Olympics and we can all thank her coach for that.

Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

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Conrad Readman took two weeks off from his accounting job in Colchester, England, so he could enjoy the London Olympics. He was such a fan of the Games that he had tickets to events for every day of competition.

Readman, 49, died Friday of an apparent heart attack at the Velodrome. He reportedly was found collapsed in the track cycling venue's restroom shortly after Great Britain claimed gold in the men's team pursuit and women's keirin. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Readman leaves behind his mother Joan, whom he was caring for at the time of his death.

"Conrad had been looking forward to the Olympics ever since it was announced, and there was never a day he was not excited about it," his mother told the Telegraph. "He was coming home every night so excited and telling me about everything he had done during the day. ... He died doing something he loved so I am happy he was where he was, but I can't watch any of it now."

Just absolutely heartbreaking. But at least Readman was having a good time. If you're a Facebook user, you can see his photos from around the Games.

Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

An Algerian athlete who almost lost his spot in the Olympic Games had a referee's disqualification decision overturned just in time for a key race.

Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria lost his spot in the Games on Monday after a referee disqualified him for not trying hard enough in an 800m race that his team failed to cancel by the required deadline. However, the International Association of Athletic Federations reinstated his eligibility in time for his final race, according to The Guardian. 

Makhloufi stopped running during the Monday race and walked off the track. A referee removed him from the Games for not giving his best effort. The team's officials complained that the ejection was done in haste and didn't consider that Makhloufi may had suffered an injury. According to The New York Times, a doctor determined that Makhloufi did suffer from an injured knees and supplied a certificate of his findings to the the IAAF who allowed him to return to the Games. 

The disqualification could have been a huge blow to Algeria since Makhloufi was the favorite to win the gold. Thankfully, Makhloufi was able to return to the 1500m race to easily take the gold medal. 

A crisis has been averted and a potential dark mark on the 2012 Summer Games' record has been erased. Now we can all go back to making fun of badminton again. 

Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

For all the grief the Canadian women's soccer team gave Norwegian referee Christina Pederson following its controversial 4-3 extra-time loss to the United States in Monday's semifinal, Canada still got away with an egregious foul that surely would have put them down to a disadvantageous 10 players if called.

In the above video, that's Canadian forward Melissa Tancredi appearing to intentionally stomp on the head of U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd as she lay on the pitch in the 55th minute. What should have been a red card (and thus an ejection from the contest) went uncalled, however. It was one instance of the reckless match played by Tancredi, who was called for seven fouls but shown only one yellow card.

Even though Tancredi escaped without more appropriate punishment, it still remains possible that FIFA could keep her out of Canada's bronze-medal match against France. Remember, FIFA suspended Colombia's Lady Andrade two matches after her sucker punch on U.S. forward Abby Wambach last week.

H/T Fourth-Place Medal

The Olympic Games have had a problem trying to bring in the younger viewers, particularly the Summer Games. Olympic snowboarder Shaun White thinks he and others may have the perfect solution.

"The Flying Tomato" wants skateboarding to become an Olympic event at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to Reuters.

The issue, however, isn't just a matter of convincing the International Olympic Committee to add skateboarding to their roster. The "athletes" themselves also need some convincing.

A petition has been gaining steam urging the IOC not to include skateboarding as an event because, according to the petition, "Skateboarding is not a 'sport' and we do not want skateboarding exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program."

White, however, knows that snowboarding gained a whole new level of respect from being included in the Winter Games. He also knows that making skateboarding seem more legit can also erase something "that is very core" to some skateboarders and that it can be "hard to go through a change like that."

Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

Track star today, soccer star tomorrow? If Usain Bolt has his way, that’s what the headlines will say.

Bolt and Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand exchanged tweets (because that’s how business is done these day) about the possibility Tuesday. That was one day after the Jamaican, who claimed gold in the 100 meters Sunday night in London, told The Sun newspaper he would welcome a call from Sir Alex Ferguson, the club’s manager since 1986.

“People think I am joking. But if Alex Ferguson called me up and said, 'OK let’s do this, come and have a trial,' it would be impossible for me to say No,” Bolt was quoted as saying. “I would not take up the challenge if I didn’t think I was good enough. I am a very accomplished player and know I could make a difference.”

Ferdinand, a 33-year-old defender for The Red Devils, jumped on the Bolt bandwagon. “If you want that trial at Man Utd shout me, I’ll speak to the boss!!”

Bolt has unfinished business in London before he can start sprinting up and down the pitch at Old Trafford. The men’s 200-meter semifinals are Wednesday. The finals are Thursday. But afterward? "After the Olympics we work on that...lol..thanks man," the world’s fastest man replied to Ferdinand.

Manchester United fans took to Twitter to encourage both parties to seal the deal."

Could Bolt make a difference in a team like Man U?” tweeted Stephen Taylor (@Stephen_Aufc). "They could hit it over the defence and let him sprint past and get it.”

Added Kamil Pawelec (@Parkour681): “Did you hear about bolt wanting to play for man u? That would be so op in FIFA, it'd be like putting a jet engine on peter crouch.”

Image: Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt. From Sky Sports.

If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. So says many a NASCAR driver. Or NFL
coach (just not publicly).

Not surprisingly, we are reminded every four years, you can add Olympic athletes to that list. Swimmer Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa, specifically. Somewhat refreshingly, the gold medal winner told a newspaper in Australia he did indeed slip in a few extra “dolphin kicks” (whip-like motions you see swimmers make after they turn) on his way to a world record in the 100-meter breaststroke Sunday in London.

"If you're not doing it, you're falling behind," the South African told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It’s got to the sort of point where if you're not doing it you're ... giving yourself a disadvantage so everyone's pushing the rules and pushing the boundaries, so if you're not doing it, you're not trying hard enough."

Under the rules, breaststroke swimmers are allowed one dolphin kick after they turn. On video, van der Burgh is shown doing three. While it’s pretty clear he violated the rules during Sunday’s event, there is no underwater judge, and officials do not watch that video during the Olympics.

The guy who finished second Sunday is Christian Sprenger, his Australian rival, who van der Burgh said also takes advantage of the situation. Hence the interest of the Australian media.

Two years ago judges were watching footage from an underwater, van der Burgh said. And— surprise— the extra kicks were not an issue.

"It was really awesome because nobody attempted it,” he explained. "Everybody came up clean and we all had peace of mind that nobody was going to try."

Implementing that technology at the Olympics would be welcome by the gold medalist. But until that happens, don’t expect him to stop taking advantage of the fact nobody who could penalize the swimmers is watching.

"I’m really for it. If they can bring it, it will better the sport. But I’m not willing to lose to someone that is doing it.”

Image above: Gold medalist Cameron van der Burgh hugs Christian Sprenger after the presentation ceremony. Photo by Getty Images

Did you know that the IOC has strict rules against jumping rope in the track and field stadium prior to races? Well, neither did Usain Bolt, which is why the world’s fastest man had his elementary school accessory confiscated when he entered the building for his 100-meter final over the weekend.

Fortunately, his brush with the Olympic equivalent of an overzealous mall security guard didn’t deter the Jamaican sprint star.

"I am going to do it tomorrow,” he defiantly told reporters. “I am going to stick it under my bag, bottom of my bag or something."

Although anybody who’s ever tried to smuggle shampoo through the airport will explain that publicly stating your plan to get normal household items past a metal detector is a bad idea, Bolt seems to have such little faith in stadium security that he told them when, where and how he will do it. Clearly, it’s either one of the poorest thought-out plans in the history of contraband smuggling or a clever use of misdirection.

Time will tell…

Photo: Getty Images

Listen up, ladies. The man who is considered by many to be the most eligible bachelor in the Olympics has laid out some criteria for you. Ryan Lochte will soon be headed back to the United States with five medals from London and a whole lot of endorsement money. During a recent press conference, he talked about what he is looking for in a partner.

“Honestly, someone that I can trust, I think trust is something really important, and they have to be able to make me smile,” he said. “I want them to be my best friend and my lover at the same time.”

You hear that? That means no gold-diggers. As an Olympic swimmer, Lochte is an understandably busy man. He spends most of his time training, which is why his mother recently said he only has time for one-night stands and not serious relationships. Since he plans to also compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, his schedule for the next four years might look similar to the one he has kept for the last four.

However, Lochte did say last week that he intends to alter his training routine and not work as hard this time around. At 28 years old, he is no longer a young Olympic swimmer and will have to make sure he keeps himself fresh. A number of women out there are hoping that frees up some time for a serious relationship.

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Photo credit: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/GettyImages