Athens, Greece ? In the Mediterranean home of Olympic wrestling, a pair of born-in-the-U.S.A. sports get their due today: basketball and softball, where the long dominant Americans are determined to extend their gold medal streaks.

Version four of the hoops Dream Team — defined now as those NBA standouts not sleeping back in the states — opens its gold medal defense against Puerto Rico. Since the Magic-Michael-Larry team of 1992, when the Olympics began admitting professionals, the U.S. has swept to three straight golds without a loss.

Trying to keep pace is the women’s softball team, looking for its third consecutive Olympic title. In just their second game in Greece, the Americans face their Olympic nemesis: the Australians.

The basketball team that arrived in Athens is much younger and more vulnerable than its predecessors. Coach Larry Brown, fresh off winning the NBA title with the Detroit Pistons and having led Kansas University to the 1988 NCAA championship, will need the group to play beyond its years for his championship resume to expand.

A dozen years after U.S. basketball first shunned collegians, two of the Olympians are barely out of high school: LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire, who both spurned college and then won the NBA rookie of the year. Two other players, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, just finished their first pro seasons.

The team’s average age: 23. And already they have an ugly loss on their ledger, a 95-78 pre-Olympics thumping by Italy — the most one-sided defeat ever by an American team comprised of NBA players.

But James was confident the kids were all right before their Olympic debut. The game will appear live this afternoon on NBC, part of a six-hour block of Athens coverage that also will feature swimming, rowing, volleyball and beach volleyball.

“I’m still young, but I’ve learned so much in the 19 years I’ve been alive,” James said. “I’m a teenager in age, but I’ve been a man a long time.”

And then there are the women of the softball team, with four players who won their first gold medal when LeBron was a man of just 11.

Natasha Watley of the United States softball team waves to a fan in the stands after her team's game against Italy. Watley went 4-for-4 with a two-run double in a 7-0 victory Saturday. The Americans will face Australia today in Athens, Greece.

In capturing the last two Olympic titles, the U.S. team has a 15-4 record in the Summer Games — but two of the defeats came to the Aussies in extra-inning heartbreakers. This game easily could provide a preview of the medal-round competition.

The Americans won their Saturday debut, shutting out Italy, 7-0, behind pitcher Jennie Finch. Fans can expect more emotion and fewer runs against the Australians; the Americans scored a 1-0 victory against them in the 2000 semifinals.

“All the countries are physically very talented,” pitcher Lisa Fernandez said. “It’s going to be the mental part that separates the gold from the silver, the silver from the bronze.”

Fernandez is one of the veterans hoping to add an Athens medal to those won in Atlanta and Sydney. The team’s coach, Mike Candrea, almost left the team when his wife died suddenly of a brain aneurysm last month; his players have dedicated their efforts to her memory.

The softball airs live at 9 a.m. CDT on cable television’s Bravo, which will bookend the game with live tennis and highlights from badminton and table tennis. In all, there are 24 sports in action today.

The NBC prime-time schedule will show the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, along with the much-hyped swimmer Michael Phelps, who is chasing Mark Spitz’s single games record of seven gold medals.

The highlight should be Phelps, as part of the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay team, taking on the Australian squad with superswimmer Ian Thorpe. The Australian team took the gold in this event on their home turf four years ago.

The American gymnasts are the defending world champions, and are considered co-favorites with Romania for the gold medal behind co-national champions Courtney Kupets and Carly Patterson. Their coach, Martha Karolyi, is the wife of legendary Bela Karolyi, who oversaw the 1996 American gold medalists in Atlanta.