Madrid vows to fight for 2016 Olympic Games

Madrid, Sep 3: Despite the criticism its bid got from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluating commission report, Madrid now feels strengthened in the home stretch of the race to host the 2016 Olympics.

“Without any kind of triumphalism, but based on deep analysis, we have to say that Madrid comes out of this report stronger,” said Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, mayor of Madrid, here on Wednesday.

“Madrid is going to fight till the end. With all its strength, quality and competitive elements,” he added.

The IOC made public Wednesday the non-binding report drafted by its evaluating commission after visiting Madrid and its rival cities - Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and Tokyo. The final decision on the host of the 2016 Olympics is set to be made by the 107 voting members of the IOC in Copenhagen, October 2.

The report praised Madrid's infrastructure and the facts that most facilities are within a 10-kilometre radius and that 23 out of 33 facilities have already been built.

However, the bid also got strong criticism regarding administrative coordination, anti-doping legislation and general presentation. According to the commission, the bid “varied in quality”.
“That refers to the form and not the substance of the project,” Ruiz Gallardon argued. Rio de Janeiro’s bid was regarded as “very high quality”, while Chicago and Tokyo were said to be “high quality”.

Gallardon described Madrid as “the city that received the most praise and the least criticism” in the report.

“We have the most positive elements to strengthen our bid, the substantial elements that should lead IOC members to decide,” he said. Spain’s Secretary of State of Sports, Jaime Lissavetzky, vowed to clear up confusion around Spain's anti-doping legislation.

“At the time of the visit, it was unclear whether Spanish anti-doping legislation complied with the WADA code. It is important that this issue is resolved,” the IOC commission's report said.

The government of socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero issued a decree with less restrictive rules. It no longer forced sportsmen and -women to be permanently available for testing and restricted out-of-competition testing between 11 pm and 8 am.

Lissavetzky stressed Wednesday that the Spanish government would be “willing to modify” legislation if it is deemed not to be in accordance with WADA requirements.
The report left a sweet-and-sour flavour in bid officials.

“Sweet because they have seen that our project is good, sour because we have not been good at explaining it,” said bid CEO Mercedes Coghen. “We are not good communicators.” (IANS)

Michael Phelps apologises for Marijuana-smoking picture

Michael Phelps apologises for Marijuana-smoking picture

Los Angeles, Feb 3 (PTI) After photos of him smoking marijuana surfaced in the British newspaper 'News of the World' Olympic Gold medal winner Michael Phelps has acknowledged the authenticity of the photographs while apologising for the "youthful and inappropriate " behaviour, reported People magazine.
"I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," the Olympic swimming champion said Sunday in a statement released by his marketing agency 'Octagon'.

" I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again," he said.

The published picture is claimed to have been taken on November 6, 2008 while Phelps was visiting his alleged girlfriend Jordan Matthews at a house party.

"Michael came to visit Jordan but ended up just getting wasted every night," a source told 'News of the World'.

"You could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do," the source further added. PTI CORR

Rogge boost for India’s 2020 Olympic bid

India’s plan to stage the 2020 Olympics received a shot in the arm with the International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge saying he expects a strong bid from the country. “I am sure that if India bids then it will be very solid and comprehensive. I have no doubt about that,” Rogge, who was here along with IOA President Suresh Kalmadi for the launch of the Olympic Values Education Programme and Indian National Club Games, said today. “India has successfully hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and in 1982 and then the Afro Asian Games in 2003. Now they are hosting Commonwealth Youth Games and in two years time they will host the Commonwealth Games. And I know Kalmadi is now thinking about 2020.” The IOC President also lauded India’s performance in the Beijing Olympics this year and said he expects a better show in 2010 Commonwealth Games to be hosted by New Delhi. “India has been very successful in Beijing and I look forward to see great success in 2010. I expect a lot from India because the country is dynamic and very vibrant with great evolution and therefore represents very important part of mankind,” Rogge said. (PTI)

Corporates Need to Lend a Helping Hand

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K Datta See what an Olympic medal can do for you. If it happens to be a gold medal it can even fetch you a doctorate from a university, as it happened in the case of Abhinav Bindra. Till only the other day, the media didn’t think it worth its while talking to boxers or wrestlers. The Beijing bronze medals have changed all that. Now Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar are much sought after by camerapersons and reporters. Even those who didn’t win a medal, Akhil Kumar for one, are receiving flattering attention.Don’t be surprised if one fine evening, you find Vijender, endowed as he is with good looks, endorsing some product or the other, provided it doesn’t breach any service rules of the Haryana police in which he is now a deputy superintendent. If he does, let’s hope he has the wisdom to choose the right kind of thing to endorse, something compatible with the image of his macho sport.It would be churlish to grudge the individual accolades, promotions and awards of medal winners. But, when Bindra urged on his return from Beijing that everybody get involved in a national endeavour to encourage Olympic sports disciplines, he had something else in mind. He was looking far beyond individual awards.A television channel has revealed the sorry state of facilities provided to the 300 plus boxers at the senior national championships at Bathinda. This, barely three weeks after India won its first ever Olympic medal at Beijing. The living conditions at Bathinda were little better than in slums. All because there were no sponsors, as India’s national coach GS Sandhu said before the cameras, a view also endorsed by the Boxing Federation secretary Col Murlidharan Raja.If the Indian team at last month’s Olympics could get the required international competitive exposure before Beijing, it was only because of funds provided by the Sports Ministry. At the same time, promoting boxing and other Olympic sports at the grassroots level is as important as funding the specialised training of a few chosen ones. Where will the chosen ones come from if sports is not encouraged at the grassroots level, in the States and districts?Suddenly Bhiwani is in the news because of the boxers it has produced, including Vijender and Beijing quarterfinalists Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar. But even Bhiwani cannot boast of a decent enough modern boxing ring. What is true of Bhiwani is also the case with some other places. In fact, boxers are known to come from unlikely places with no rings worth the name at all. If Bhiwani has become a boxing hub, it is because the tough Haryanvi can take it on the chin and give it back in good measure. But there are equally tough races elsewhere in the country, the men, also women, of the Northeast for example. It is from there that boxers like Zoramthanga and Dingko Singh have emerged, not to mention the 48-kg women’s world champion Mary Kom. This is the time for corporates to do their social duty by supporting the talented sons of poor drivers and bus conductors and peasants and slum dwellers not only through sponsorships but also by creating infrastructure. At a time when the country is expecting its sportspersons to fetch a more respectable number of Olympic medals, it is a shame that events like national championships are held so shabbily due to lack of sponsors. IANS

IOA showers money on Beijing Olympics heroes

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PUNE, Oct 13 (PTI): The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today awarded rupees one crore to 10 sportsperson, who brought laurel for the country at Beijing Olympics.

India’s first Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was presented a cheque of Rs 25 lakh by the President of India Pratibha Patil during the opening ceremony of third Commonwealth Youth Games here tonight.

Another 10 lakh went to Bindra pocket as Pune Municipal Corporation also recognised the star shooter’s feat. Both the bronze medallist at the Olympics — wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar — got Rs 10 lakh each.

Among others felicitated were shooter Gagan Narang, boxers Jitender Kumar and Akhil Kumar, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, archer Bombayala Devi, Bajrang Lal Thakur, national boxing coach G S Sandhu.

Why India Fails to Win Olympic Medals - Ashis Roy

Ashis Roy
At the Olympics, India had been known as hockey champions, though the last hockey gold was a devalued one, coming in 1980 when the western bloc of nations boycotted the Moscow Games. Since then there had been a gradual decline, resulting in India failing to even qualify for the first time in 80 years for the Olympics in Beijing. For the first time we won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 10 metre shooting which does not require any physical fitness.
If we analyse the reason for our failure, the glaring fact is we are the most physically unfit people in the world, and International Sport require a high level of physical fitness. The reasons are all too evident. We are the laziest people in the world. We hate to do any physical work. In our home we have servants or helpers to do our cleaning, washing, cooking and all other domestic chores. We do not go to work walking even if it is close by. We do not drive our own cars. We do not even go to the nearby market or shopping centre walking, but use a vehicle.
Our children do not do any physical work at home. The rich have servants and the poor have parents. In schools we have no sports or physical activity for children. There are no playfields in most of the schools and sports activity is not compulsory. Our children eat junk food and become lazy without any physical activity and finally become overweight and many of them develop diseases and disabilities.
Sports in our life is watching cricket matches on TV for 24 hours as innumerable channels dish out cricket matches live or running tapes of old games describing them as the best-ever. Cricket players are treated as demigods. The corporate world sells their products through ads by cricketers. Front-page sports headlines in newspapers are only on cricket. Politicians, film stars, journalists describe cricket as our religion and (Sachin) Tendulkar as god. The whole nation is in love with cricket as we think it is the greatest game on earth.
Come to think of it, cricket is played among 10 countries, all former British colonies. In comparison football is played by 210 countries and requires the highest level of physical fitness which we do not possess. We do not know that cricket requires the least physical fitness and many overweight, unfit players continue to play for the country.
We do not see what is happening elsewhere in the world and how sports are getting a boost. No wonder we are not good enough to win medals in international sports. If we want to win we must change our mindset and go along with the rest of the world. We must change our lifestyle and involve in more physical activity even in our domestic life, social life and in our professional work.Our children must learn to do their own work and must be encouraged to walk and run. In schools there should be physical activity. Sports must be a compulsory subject. Finally, we need to change our mindset and look and learn from countries like Jamaica, Ethiopia and Kenya. (IANS)

Bindra plans to open 500 sports training schools

Mysore, Oct 4: India’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra’s family today announced plans to establish 500 super speciality training schools across the country.

In appreciation of the gesture shown by Karnataka government in offering 50 acres of land for the school, A S Bindra, Abhinav’s father, told reporters here that the first school would come up in the state. The family here on invitation of the Karnataka Government. The Bindras said the school will not only impart training in shooting but also in other disciplines like swimming, tennis, judo among others to encourage young talents.
Karnataka Minister for Sports Goolihatti Shekar said the government would allot 50 acres of land in Mysore for the proposed school. (PTI)

Govt cash awards for Olympic heroes

NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (PTI): Beijing Olympic Games heroes Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar were today handed special cash awards by the Government of India for bringing laurels to the country in the quadrennial showpiece event last month.

Sports Minister MS Gill presented Rs 50 lakh to Abhinav for winning gold medal in men’s 10 metres air rifle event.

Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh were given Rs 20 lakh each for winning bronze in men’s freestyle wrestling and men’s middle weight boxing respectively in Beijing.

Akhil needed slice of luck to strike gold at Beijing: Coach

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Bathinda (Punjab), Sept 7: Akhil Kumar’s perilously low guard may have been blamed for his heart-breaking defeat at the Olympics but coach Jaidev Bisht says the bantam weight pugilist was simply unlucky and would definitely make amends with a medal at London 2012.

“Akhil is the most dedicated boxer that we have right now. The guy sometimes wakes up night to train and always comes across as a resolute person hungry for a medal, that too a gold medal,” Bisht, who along with chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu and Cuban Blas Iglesias Fernandez, formed the three-member Indian coaching team in Beijing said.

“It is just his luck, I would say, that was not been with him during that Olympic loss. I was very hurt when he lost in the quarterfinal, a bout he should have won,” he added, referring to Akhil’s loss to unheralded Moldovan Veaceslav Gojan after beating World Champion Sergey Vodopyanov in the previous round.

Akhil would be 31 by the time London 2012 come around but Bisht says the Haryana lad would be more than a handful despite his age due to the sheer determination and focus that he takes into the ring.

“He is just peaking and we will not let him go that easily. He will be there in London, we will make it happen no matter what,” he asserted.

Akhil himself was lavish in his praise for Bisht, who has been in relative obscurity despite being with the senior team for almost 10 years.

“He is one of the finest coaches that we have in India right now. Sandhu sir is the most experienced and Jaidev sir is second to him only. I have been with him in three international tournaments and got gold all three times,” Akhil told PTI referring to the golds he won in a 2001 international tournament in Russia, the Afro-Asian Games and first Asian Olympic qualifier. Asked about bronze medallist Vijender Singh, and the other quarterfinalist Jitender Kumar, Bisht said, “Vijender is technically very sound. He is a world class boxer. Slightly immature but he will learn and grow from here. Same goes for Jitender. He is still very young and would mature but Akhil is the best. He is mentally and physically at his peak,” he said.

Bisht hoped that the euphoria around India’s power-packed Olympic performance would translate into something concrete for boxing in India.

“Right now, these guys are stars because of the media hype but the important thing is whether we can sustain this momentum. I think it is a golden opportunity for us to make boxing a popular sport, we shouldn’t miss it,” he said.

A footballer before his temper prompted somebody to suggest that he take up boxing, the former national champion said recognition may have eluded him through his career as coach but he would continue to groom youngsters.

“There are coaches like the Bhiwani one (Jagdish Singh) who claim that these boys were made by him. Well if he has, than he deserves credit for it but anyone who understands the sport knows exactly when these boys started giving results. They came to the national camps at very young ages and started peaking only after training there,” he said. (PTI)

Good show in 2010 will help Olympic bid: Kalmadi

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MUMBAI, Sept 7 (PTI): Chairman of Organising Committee for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Suresh Kalmadi feels proper organisation of upcoming Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune and Commonwealth Games in 2010 would boost India’s prospect to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.

“The bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games 2020 starts from 2011 and ends in 2013. A successful show in Pune and in 2010 will help our bid to host the Olympics in 2020,” Kalmadi, who was here to attend the Youth Baton Relay ceremony for the 3rd Commonwealth Games, said.

Kalmadi said the Rs 700 crore fund, granted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will be used to impart training and giving other facilities to the athletes.

“A large part of the sum will be spent on hiring foreign coaches and getting scientific support for the athletes. We’ll be having around 300 days of training, including 100 days in abroad for our Commonwealth Games athletes,” he said.

On Indian athletes’ performance in Beijing, Kalmadi said “We had the best of athletes but could not do well for the lack of scientific support but we should expect good performances once we have it.”

“The medals which we won in Beijing is just the starting point. We have to encourage the youth to adopt an Olympic culture,” he said.

Olympic dream

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— Subhas Chandra Goswami
For the first time in the history of Olympics an Indian, Abhinav Bindra won an individual gold medal in the 10 metre air rifle event in the Beijing Olympics. After the event, Bindra bowed his head to receive the historic gold medal from the Princess of Lichtenstein. The Indian National Anthem that followed brought tears to the eyes of many an Indian present in the ceremony. No doubt it was a historic event. No doubt it was a heroic achievement of Bindra for his country, whose career was jeopardised by a nagging back injury. Perhaps inspired by this feat of Bindra, the “Bhiwani Bombers” won one bronze and in two instances fell just one step short of a medal in boxing.

When the whole of India was watching the boxing bouts at Beijing Olympics one could see the fire in the eyes of the Indian boxers. Vijender Kumar won a bronze, Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar missed the medals by whiskers. Interestingly, all of them come from a small place named Bhiwani at Haryana. One could see the excitement and anxiety in the eyes of the people of Bhiwani during the bouts to understand the commitment of the people around Bhiwani. As an icing on the cake Sushil Kumar from Nazafgarh won a bronze in wrestling.

We should not forget that India never won a medal in boxing earlier and in wrestling also way back in 1952 Helsinki Olympics KD Jadhav won a bronze in wrestling. Never before India won three medals in a single Olympics. Even two medals were won way back in the second modern Olympics at Paris in the year 1900, when a gentleman named Norman Pritchard from Calcutta went on a tour to England and alongwith other activities ran 200 yard hurdles and 200 yard run and won two silver medals.

Interestingly, though credit for 200 yard hurdles was given to India, credit for 200 yard run went to England. So, officially India won one medal only for the effort of Norman Pritchard. At this time of euphoria of winning three medals we should not forget the shame of not having our hockey team in the Olympics, for the first time from our maiden entry in the event at Amsterdam Olympics in the year 1928 where we started the golden era.

Some performances of Indian contingents were notable and praiseworthy. Winning three individual medals is something unique for the country. The celebration that followed is also understandable. But calling the achievement “Stupendous” by some quarters is not desirable. Either they do not know the dictionary meaning of the word or they thought that India has reached the top of the hill and have nothing further to climb. The performances of the Indian contingent at the Beijing Olympics is better in comparison to earlier outings. But if we compare the perfomance of India with other countries of equal stature our performance is still not noteworthy.

The fallacy of supremacy of USA and European countries in sporting fields was broken by the performance of China and other Asian countries like Japan and Korea. We should find out why our country is lagging behind. At hindsight we see that sports management in those countries are much better than that of our country. The achievements of the sports persons in this country, mostly the result of individual effort and effort of a few persons involved with the particular sportsman. Mother of Abhinav Bindra after hearing the news of the gold medal effort of her son commented that 90 per cent credit should go to the family and only 10 per cent to the government and federation. If we are to look forward for better results in future, the government and federations are to pull up their socks. Afterall Commonwealth Games at Delhi are only two years away and next Olympic games at London not at a very distant future.

Beijing Olympics is history by now. What is the future of Indian sports? What is our dream for the future sporting events? To achieve something a dream is a must. Can we have a dream of winning ten gold medals in the next Olympic. Can we make our dream real. Such dreams are made real by many countries. We feel sports persons are ready. But it can not be said so of the government, various sports controlling, authorities, politicians and bureaucrats involved in sports. Change of attitude all around is required for making real the dream of achieving “Faster, Higher, Stronger” in the sports arena in future.

What are the hurdles? Starting with the gold medal at Amsterdam Olympics 1928, India won eight gold medals in Olympic. But after winning a gold at the depleted Moscow Olympic of 1980, India have not won any medal in Hockey in the latter Olympic games. For the first time in the history of Olympics, India did not qualify for the Olympic at Beijing. KPS Gill was the president of Indian Hockey Federation for about last 15 years with Jyoti Kumaran as the secretary for the same period. When they were in the helm of affairs, India never won a medal at Olympic. But they carried on merrily by manipulation till Jyoti Kumaran was charged with accepting money from players for favour in selection to the national team. Thev did not leave gracefully, till they were kicked out by the present Sports Minister MS Gill.

So where do we start now. Most of the national sports bodies need overhauling. These bodies are mostly controlled by politicians or bureaucrats for a long time. Most of the sports administrators of the country have their own selfish motive. The fiasco created by Sports Authority of India (SAI) leading to missing of Beijing Olympic by Manipur weightlifter L Monica Devi is too fresh to forget. India’s only individual gold medalist Abhinav Bindra recently asked the politicians to change their attitude toward sports by their sincere participation in the promotion of games in the country. He cited example of keen participation of politicians in the sports in United States. In this country most of the politicians involved in sports instead of thinking of improving the performance of sports persons are more interested in organising sports meets for better exposure of them in print and electronic media for getting political mileage.

To fulfil a dream of ten gold medals in the next Olympic there is need for change of mindset all around. We need a band of sincere, committed and dedicated sports persons and administrators. Money is no longer the constraint.

India is fast emerging as a economic super power. In technology also we are leader in many spheres, then why not in sports. Only more and more people have to be involved. Find out the secret of the success story of China. If we can not be innovative, copy them. Media is also required to be a participant in this mission with constructive coverage. Recently during the Indo-Sri Lanka one day series the Olympic game was also going on. With the better performance of the Indian boxers and wrestlers, for the TV viewers these bouts got preference over cricket. There is a lesson to be learned. Cricket is not a hurdle for other sports to grow. If cricket got more attention from the public and media it for better performance in cricket, compared to other sports. Let us win ten golds in the next Olympics, there will be very negligible space for cricket in the heart of the sporting public and media. source: assam tribune editorial 07.09.08

Abhinav Bindra trust gives Rs.500,000 for Bihar flood-hit

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CHANDIGARH, Sept 1 (IANS): The Abhinav Bindra trust, named after India’s first Olympics gold medallist, will donate Rs.500,000 for flood relief in Bihar. “We have decided to donate Rs.500,000 directly to the Bihar government through the Abhinav Bindra trust that we have been running for eight-nine years,” said A.S. Bindra, the medal winner’s father.“We consider it a national tragedy. Being responsible citizens, it is our duty to contribute something for the thousands of ailing families in Bihar’s flood hit areas,” Bindra senior told IANS. The trust, he said, planned to aid developmental activities throughout the country. “We are also planning to open a shooting academy very soon to train young talent in the country.”Abhinav Bindra had won the gold medal in the 10-metre air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics. source: assam tribune

When Evander Holyfield came looking for Vijender

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BHIWANI (HARYANA), Sept 1 (PTI): Beijing gave Vijender Singh the most cherished moments of his fledgling career but the one thing the Olympic bronze medallist missed out there was a chance to meet American boxing legend Evander Holyfield, who came looking for him after his semifinal bout. “Holyfield came looking for me after my semifinal loss (to Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux) but I had left the arena by then,” Vijender, India’s first Olympic medallist in boxing, told PTI here. “Later I was told that he praised my performance, which was very nice of him and a great honour for me,” the middle weight pugilist added. A former world heavyweight champion, Holyfield, who was also seen at bantam weight boxer Akhil Kumar’s quarterfinal bout against Moldovan Veaceslav Gojan, is now a recruiter for professional boxing in the USA. Vijender, however, is not keen on turning professional. “I did give it a thought some time back but I am not interested anymore. I am focused on amateur boxing and I have no plans to turn pro,” he said. The 22-year-old said he would cut down on his appearances in the National Championships to be in shape for international events. “Since I have become a DSP with the Haryana government, I can’t participate in the Nationals this year but even otherwise, I would not be seen very often in the national events,” he revealed.The dapper six-footer has been flooded with modelling offers after his Olympic success and is already a youth icon for a leading insurance company. “But I am tired of telling people that my first love is boxing. I am a boxer first but unfortunately my modelling assignments have invited criticism from some quarters, which I think is baseless,” he said. Just days after becoming a national hero with his Olympic medal, Vijender had landed in a soup for posing with a cigarette during a magazine photo-shoot. And wary of inviting similar trouble, he refused to pose with a ‘hookah’ at his home in Kaluwas village here. “Who knows, this might also snowball into a controversy and people will say that I am setting a wrong precedent for the youngsters.” Another irritant for Vijender is the never-ending queries about Bollywood star Bipasha Basu and her much-publicised offer to go on a date with him had he won the gold in Beijing. “I wonder why I keep getting asked about it even though I have answered the same question over and over again? It is irritating, I am sick of it,” he said. But despite all this, Vijender says he has thoroughly enjoyed the adulation that has been showered upon by him by the nation. “It is humbling,” is how he summed up the experience so far. Although he wants to better his performance in 2012 London Olympics, Vijender said he is keen to take a break from boxing for now. “It is time to have fun right now after all the hard work. I shall be back in action but give me a break. Let me savour the moment,” he says.

Thousands celebrate success of Olympic heroes in Bhiwani

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Thousands celebrate success of Olympic heroes in BhiwaniBhiwani, Aug 30 (PTI): Haryana government kept its promise and handed cash rewards and promotions for the Indian sportspersons who made their mark in the just-concluded Beijing Olympics at a glittering ceremony here today. Cash rewards of Rs 25 lakh each were handed to Olympians from Haryana — boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt — while local favourite and Beijing bronze medallist Vijender was given Rs 50 lakh. Wrestler Sushil Kumar, shooter Abhinav Bindra and shuttler Saina Nehwal, who hail from other states, were also handed Rs 25 lakh each in the programme, which also featured star cricketer Virender Sehwag. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was the chief guest, announced that all the boxers and wrestlers from his state have been promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police in Haryana. Dronacharya awardee boxing coach Jagdish Singh, who runs a coaching centre here, was given Rs 25 lakh while discus thrower Krishna Poonia, shooter Sanjiv Rajput and boxer Dinesh Kumar were handed cash rewards of Rs 11 lakh each for participating in the Olympics. Meanwhile, thousands of people thronged the Bhim Stadium here to celebrate the success of their Olympic heroes who were given a public reception by the Haryana government. People of all ages, clad in colourful dresses, jostled to have a glimpse their heroes when they made their way to the dais. Children sang folk songs in a colourful cultural programme. Hooda urged the sportspersons from the state to take in sports in a big way and hoped Haryana will produce many medal winners in the next Olympics. “We are setting our eyes on the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and London Olympics. We are targeting at least 10 gold medals from the state itself,” he said. He also promised introduction of a pension of Rs 5000 for Arjuna and Dronacharya awardees from the state. Members of Parliament, Naveen Jindal and Deepinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Youth Affairs Minister Kiran Chowdhary were also present on the occasion.

Olympic medallist Vijender likely to visit city

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Sport reporter GUWAHATI, Aug 28 – Bronze medal winning boxer in the Beijing Olympics Vijender Singh is likely to visit the city during the Asian Women Boxing Championship which is scheduled to be held at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai here from September 23 to 28 next.In the organising committee meeting of the mega event, held at the Chief Minister’s conference hall today, has resolved to invite star boxers of the country Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Singh during the meet. Source here said all the boxers have confirmed their visit to the city but it is yet to be confirmed whether they will attend the opening or closing function.The organisers also decided to invite central Sports Minister MS Gill and MP Rahul Gandhi for the inaugural function while IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Iyer will attend the closing function, the source said.The organisers are also trying to invite Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and bronze medallists Sushil Kumar during the championship as guest.The organising committee will inaugurate the mascot of the championship in a function on September 7 at the Assam Engineering Institute ground.Apart from the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, other Ministers Rockybul Hussain, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Secretary PC Sarma, working president of the organising committee Anjan Dutta, secretary general B Kalyan Chakravorty were also present in the crucial meeting along with the other members of the organising body.About 150 leading women boxers of 25 countries are likely to take part in the fourth edition of the championship. source: assam tribune

Olympics Live

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August 24, 2008
France takes first-ever Handball gold France took their first-ever Olympic gold by edging out Iceland 28-23 in the Men's Handball gold medal match at the National Indoor Stadium Sunday, August 24. Claiming silver, Iceland marks its first ever Olympic medal in history. Iceland's Olafur Stefansson scored a team-high of five goals out of eleven attempts while Nikola Karabatic nailed eight goals for the French team.

August 24, 2008
Hungary maintains Water Polo hegemony Hungary has claimed its third consecutive and ninth total Olympic gold medal after defeating the United States 14-10 in the final of the Men's Water Polo tournament at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The game marked the first Olympic final for the United States since losing at Seoul 1988. In 1984, the US team claimed the silver but not from a final. Instead the competition was played as a round robin.

August 24, 2008
Cammarelle wins last Boxing gold of Beijing 2008 Roberto Cammarelle of Italy beat Zhang Zhilei of China in the last bout of the Beijing 2008 Boxing tournament to win the gold in the Men's Super-Heavyweight (+91kg) class.

August 24, 2008
Zhang wins China's second boxing gold China's Zhang Xiaoping won his country's second-ever Olympic Boxing gold medal in the light-heavyweight class by defeating Kenny Egan of Ireland 11-7. The bout between Zhang and Egan was hard-fought and intense.

August 24, 2008
US reclaim basketball gold Hot favorites the United States won Olympic men's basketball gold by outgunning Spain 118-107 in a final of hard fouls and flying elbows on Sunday.
World champions Spain trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half but pulled to within two on a Rudy Fernandez three-pointer with 8:13 left in the gold medal showdown.

August 24, 2008
US wins gold in men's volleyball The United States won an emotional Olympic gold medal in men's volleyball on Sunday, beating the world's top ranked Brazil 3-1. Brazil kicked off the match with a strong 25-20 win in a first set plagued by service errors on both sides. The United States powered back gaining a 6-0 lead in the beginning of the second set, and held on to win.
In the third, Brazil kept the game tight, but lost on a service fault. America trailed for much of the fourth set, but pulled even from a two-point deficit near the end and drove ahead to win 25-23. Russia won the bronze.

August 24, 2008
Zou wins light-flyweight gold Zou Shiming of China won the Olympic gold medal in light-flyweight boxing on Sunday. Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia won the silver. Paddy Barnes of Ireland and Yampier Hernandez of Cuba the bronze.

August 24, 2008
Russia win women's group rhythmic gold Russia won the Olympic gold medal in women's group rhythmic gymnastics on Sunday. China won the silver and Belarus the bronze.

August 24, 2008
US women make it four straight The United States swept to a fourth successive Olympic women's basketball gold medal with a crushing win over world champions Australia on Saturday.
The predicted fireworks failed to materialize as the Americans obliterated their fierce rivals 92-65 in a totally one-sided Beijing final to win their sixth Olympic title. "I'm just so overwhelmed right now," said US captain Lisa Leslie, her gold medals from the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Games clinking around her neck alongside her newest one. European champions Russia took bronze for the second consecutive Olympics by overpowering tournament hosts China 94-81.

August 24, 2008
Wanjiru triumphs in marathon
Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru led an African sweep of the marathon medals on the final day of the Olympics on Sunday, lifting his arms in triumph as he accelerated around the Bird's Nest stadium for the last lap.
Wanjiru crossed himself and sank to his knees after finishing in an Olympic record time of two hours six minutes 32 seconds, looking fresh despite the heat and sealing a fifth gold for his country in athletics.
Despite their pedigree of distance running and big-city marathon wins, it was Kenya's first Olympic marathon title.
Jaouad Gharib of Morocco won the silver, and in a close finish Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia overtook exhausted compatriot Deriba Merga on the last lap to claim the bronze.

August 23, 2008
Vijender India's flag bearer for Olympics closing ceremony Vijender Kumar, India's first ever Olympic boxing medal winner, will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at tomorrow's closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, an IOA official said on Saturday.
The Bhiwani pugilist won a bronze medal in the 75kg category event, which made him the national hero.

Army marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was India's flag bearer during the spectacular opening ceremony of the Games on August 8. "We have decided to give the honour to Vijender," IOA spokesman Sandeep Mehta said.

August 23, 2008
Germany win hockey gold World champions Germany won the men's hockey gold medal after 16 years with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Spain in the final on Saturday.
Christopher Zeller netted the winner in the 16th minute with a ferocious penalty corner before the Germans warded off repeated Spanish attacks to win their first gold since Barcelona in 1992.
It was two-in-a-row for coach Markus Weise, who had led the German women's team to their maiden Olympic title in Athens before taking up the men's job after Bernhard Peters switched to football.

August 23, 2008
Aussie diver prevents Chinese sweep Australia's Matthew Mitcham, earning four perfect 10s on his last dive, won the men's 10-meter platform in an upset tonight that prevented China from sweeping the eight Olympic diving gold medals. Mitcham totaled 537.95 points in the six-dive final, edging Zhou Luxin of China by 4.80 points and sending the platform title Down Under for the first time.

He's the first Aussie man since 1924 to win a diving gold, and just the third Aussie ever.
Zhou, who had a crooked entry on his last dive, took the silver with 533.15 points. Gleb Galperin of Russia earned the bronze with 525.80.

August 23, 2008
Chakhkiev wins heavyweight gold Russia's Rakhim Chakhkiev won the heavyweight gold medal by outpointing Italian Clemente Russo in a tight final at the Olympic boxing competition on Saturday.

Chakhkiev, 25, who had lost to Russo in the final of last year's world championships in Chicago, decided a tense, tactical affair by landing two telling blows in the fourth and final round to win a 4-2 points decision.

Russo, hoping to become Italy's first Olympic boxing champion since Giovanni Parisi won featherweight gold in 1988 in Seoul, displayed sweet body moves but showed too little initiative.
Cuba's Osmay Acosta and American Deontay Wilder lost in the semi-finals and share the bronze.

August 23, 2008
DeGale shines in Beijing ring Britain's James DeGale extended a brilliant run by outpointing Cuba's Emilio Correa to win the middleweight gold medal in one of the highlights of the Olympic boxing competition on Saturday.

The Cubans, the superpower of the sport, suffered double disappointment. Flyweight Andry Laffita, their other boxer involved on the first of two days of final action, lost to Thailand's Somjit Jongjohor.

DeGale, who had created a major upset when he ousted 2004 Olympic welterweight champion Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals, entered the ring draped in the Union Jack.

The Briton had a fine start, counter-punching efficiently to lead 6-1 on the scoreboard at the end of the first round. Correa, dreaming of emulating his father who won welterweight gold at the 1972 Games in Munich, fought bravely after that but failed to catch up his opponent.

August 23, 2008
Bekele wins 5000m to seal double Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele sprinted to victory in the 5,000 meters on Saturday to become the first man to complete the Olympic long-distance double since 1980.

The 26-year-old, who retained his 10,000 title last Sunday, raced home in an Olympic record time of 12 minutes 57.82 seconds to clinch his first major 5,000m gold and match the double of compatriot Miruts Yifter in Moscow 28 years ago.

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge was unable to follow Bekele when the world record-holder broke for home after the bell and finished second in 13.02.80. His compatriot Edwin Cheruiyot Soi took bronze in 13.06.22.

Bekele, who won silver in Athens four years ago, gave Ethiopia a sweep of the long-distance events at the Games after Tirunesh Dibaba sealed the women's double on Friday.

August 23, 2008
Australia take men's hockey bronze Just as they did in the final match in Athens, Australia defeated the Netherlands with an Olympic medal at stake, this time winning bronze with a 6-2 victory that handed the Dutch Men's Hockey team their first non-podium finish at the Olympics since Barcelona 1992.

August 23, 2008
Fourteen-year-old Tom Daley in diving final Fourteen-year-old Tom Daley pursued his "amazing journey" to the Olympic platform final on Saturday. Daley, who in March became the youngest European champion on record two months before his 14th birthday, recovered from a shaky start in the semi-final to take eighth place among the 12 qualifiers for the evening's final.
"I'm really excited. I can't wait to be out there because if someone told me about four years ago that I was going to be in an Olympic final I wouldn't have been able to believe it," Daley said.

August 23, 2008
US down Japan for baseball bronze The United States won an 8-4 slugfest over Japan to exit the final Olympic baseball tournament with the bronze medal on Saturday. After failing to qualify for the Athens Games, the bronze restored a bit of US pride before the sport is dropped from the Olympics following the gold medal game between Cuba and South Korea later on Saturday.

Matt Brown led the US assault with a third-inning three-run homer while Taylor Teagarden added a two-run shot and Matt LaPorta a solo blast.

Masahiro Araki and Norichika Aoki homered for Japan, which fails to return home with a medal for just the second time since the sport was introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

August 23, 2008
Argentina retain men's football gold Defending champions Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 in the men's football final to retain the Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games on Saturday.
Angel Di Maria struck in the 58th minute to help the South Americans to victory.

August 23, 2008
Germany's Spitz wins women's mountain bike Germany's Sabine Spitz won the women's cross-country Olympic mountain bike race on Saturday, after taking a commanding lead from the first lap of the 27-km race under a broiling sun.

With more than a 40-second lead over her closest rival, Spitz grabbed a German flag from someone in the crowd and waved it as she neared the finish line. She got off her bicycle and held it high as she walked over the finish to take the gold.

Maja Wloszczowska of Poland took silver and Russian Irina Kalentyeva fought off a battle against Canadian Catharine Pendrel to win the bronze.

August 23, 2008
Chinese divers aim to make history Chinese diver Huo Liang, 19, recovered from his eighth-place finish in the preliminary round to claim the top spot in the semi-final of the Men's 10m Platform, 17.75 points higher than the second-place finisher Matthew Mitcham of Australia.
Huo's teammate, preliminary-round leader Zhou Luxin came in third with a total of 526.20. World No. 1 in Men's Platform Sascha Klein of Germany fell to the bottom of the field after he missed three of six dives.

Diving specialist in synchronized 10m Platform Huo Liang overwhelmed the field with six near-perfect dives, five of which were awarded more than 90 points. Huo Liang clinched the gold medal in the synchronized platform event with Lin Yue earlier in the Games.

August 22, 2008
Spain survive Lithuania test to reach basketball final World champions Spain survived a fright to beat Lithuania 91-86 and advance to the Olympic men's basketball final on Friday.
The Spaniards will play either the United States or 2004 champions Argentina in Sunday's Beijing final after a physical game of flying elbows and flagrant fouls.

Forward Pau Gasol scored 19 points, while guard Rudy Fernandez sparked a fourth-quarter charge to add 18 as Spain fought back from four points down after three periods.

Spain's only Olympic medal in men's basketball came at the 1984 Games when they took silver behind the U.S. Their only loss in Beijing was a 119-82 blowout by the Americans in the group stage.

August 22, 2008
Spain survive Lithuania test to reach basketball final World champions Spain survived a fright to beat Lithuania 91-86 and advance to the Olympic men's basketball final on Friday.
The Spaniards will play either the United States or 2004 champions Argentina in Sunday's Beijing final after a physical game of flying elbows and flagrant fouls.

Forward Pau Gasol scored 19 points, while guard Rudy Fernandez sparked a fourth-quarter charge to add 18 as Spain fought back from four points down after three periods.
Spain's only Olympic medal in men's basketball came at the 1984 Games when they took silver behind the U.S. Their only loss in Beijing was a 119-82 blowout by the Americans in the group stage.

August 22, 2008
Bryan Clay wins decathlon gold American Bryan Clay outclassed the opposition to win gold in the Olympic decathlon on Friday, leading from start to finish in the two-day event.
Clay virtually wrapped up victory after the javelin, the second event of the evening, meaning he could coast home in the 1500 meters that concluded the 10 events. Belarusian Andrei Krauchanka was second, with Cuba's Leonel Suarez producing a surging finish to sneak into the bronze medal position.

August 22, 2008
Hooker wins men's pole vault Steve Hooker of Australia won the Olympic gold medal in the men's pole vault on Friday. Evgeny Lukyanenko of Russia won the silver and Denys Yurchenko (Ukraine) the bronze.

August 22, 2008
Jamaica win gold in men's 4x100m relay Jamaica won the Olympic gold medal in a the men's 4x100 meters relay in world record time on Friday. Trinidad won the silver and Japan the bronze.

August 22, 2008
Jamaican relay fumble ends sweep dream Jamaica's women sprinters bungled their relay race on Friday to hand gold to Russia and snuff out the Caribbean island's chance of winning all athletic speed events at the Olympics.

Jamaica had won all four individual speed golds in a dominating performance on the track, led by the dazzling Usain 'lightning' Bolt.
They have eclipsed the United States, the traditional track superpower, and embarrassing baton drops by the U.S. teams in both the men's and women's 100m heats had made the Jamaicans firm favorites for two more golds.

That was until Sherone Simpson failed to get the baton across to Kerron Stewart, the woman she shared the 100m silver medal with, and the Russian sprinters seized their chance.

August 22, 2008
Dutch win women's hockey gold The Netherlands beat China 2-0 to win the gold in the women's hockey competition on Friday. AS van Naomi and Maartje Goderie scored in the space of 11 minutes in the second half to ensure the Dutch their first gold since Los Angeles in 1984.
The Dutch had finished second in Athens (losing to Germany) four years back and third in Sydney in 2000.
Earlier, Argentina beat Germany 3-1 to win the bronze for the second successive time.
August 22, 2008Dibaba wins 5,000m and clinches double
Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba stormed to victory in a slow 5,000 meters on Friday to become the first woman to win both long distance races at the same Olympics.
The 23-year-old world record holder, who won the 10,000m a week ago in the second fastest time ever, outsprinted Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse and Athens champion Meseret Defar to cross the line in 15 minutes 41.40 seconds.
Abeylegesse, who also won silver in the 10,000m, finished in 15.42.74, while world champion Defar held on to take bronze in 15.44.12.
The women's 5,000m has only been in the Olympics since 1996 when it replaced the 3,000m. No athlete had won both the 3,000m and 10,000m at a single Games.
August 22, 2008Women's relay team fails to qualify for finals
Indian women's quartet of 4x400m relay failed to qualify for the finals after finishing a disappointing seventh in the qualifying heats on Friday.
The team of Satti Geetha, Manjeet Kaur, Chitra Soman and Mandeep Kaur clocked 3:28.83s in the eight-team heat number one, bringing curtains down on India's overall campaign at the Games.
Russia (3:23.71s), Cuba (3:25.46s) and Britain (3:25.48s) were top three finishers in the heat.
August 22, 2008Heptathlon final standings
Final standings of the Olympics heptathlon on August 16, after Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska was stripped of her silver medal for a positive drugs test.
1. Nataliia Dobrynska (Ukraine) 6733 points2. Hyleas Fountain (U.S.) 66193. Tatiana Chernova (Russia) 65914. Kelly Sotherton (Britain) 65175. Jessica Zelinka (Canada) 64906. Anna Bogdanova (Russia) 64657. Karolina Tyminska (Poland) 64288. Lilli Schwarzkopf (Germany) 63799. Jolanda Keizer (Netherlands) 637010. Kylie Wheeler (Australia) 636911. Jennifer Oeser (Germany) 636012. Marie Collonville (France) 630213. Olga Kurban (Russia) 619214. Ganna Melnichenko (Ukraine) 616515. Kamila Chudzik (Poland) 615716. Sonja Kesselschlager (Germany) 614017. Lucimara Silva (Brazil) 607618. Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida (France) 605519. Aiga Grabuste (Latvia) 605020. Liu Haili (China) 604121. Ida Marcussen (Norway) 601522. Rebecca Wardell (New Zealand) 598923. Niina Kelo (Finland) 591124. Argyro Strataki (Greece) 589325. Gretchen Quintana (Cuba) 583026. Yuliya Tarasova (Uzbekistan) 578527. Pramila Ganapathy Gudanda (India) 577128. Gyorgyi Farkas (Hungary) 576029. Shobha Jagadeeshappa Javur (India) 574930. Linda Zublin (Switzerland) 574331. Julie Hollman (Britain) 572932. Sushmita Singha Roy (India) 570533. Kaie Kand (Estonia) 567734. Yana Maksimava (Belarus) 4806. Laurien Hoos (Netherlands) DNF. Jackie Johnson (U.S.) DNF. Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) DNF. Viktoriya Zemaityte (Lithuania) DNF. Denisa Scerbova (Czech Republic) DNF. Wassana Winatho (Thailand) DNF. Irina Naumenko (Kazakhstan) DNF. Diana Pickler (U.S.) DNF. Lyudmila Blonska (Ukraine) DSQDNF = Did not finishDSQ = Disqualified
August 22, 2008Tim Brabants claims K1 gold
Britain's Tim Brabants won the men's blue-riband 1,000 metre Olympic kayak single final on Friday with a commanding performance to add to his world and European titles.
Brabants, who took bronze at Sydney in the event and finished fifth at Athens, had a fast start and was pushed hard by Canada's Adam van Koeverden for much of the race.
But he started to pull away from the field before half way, leaving van Koeverden to drop back.
Brabants jumped onto the podium to accept his medal, cheered by the British fans and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
August 22, 2008Boxing: Vijender loses in semis
India's Vijender Kumar went down 5-8 to Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux in the semi-finals of the 75 kg category boxing competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing on Friday.
Bayeaux got off to a good start, taking two-point lead in the first round.
However, Vijender staged a strong fightback in the second round winning three points, while his Cuban opponent claimed two as the score read 4-3 after two rounds. The Indian drew a blank in the third round, while Bayeaux bagged three points to take a commanding 7-3 lead.
In the fourth and final round, Vijender put in all his efforts, but could not catch up with his opponent.
Vijender had already ensured the bronze medal for India when he beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador 9-4 in the quarter-finals.
In the gold medal match Bayeaux will face Great Britain's James DeGale, who beat Darren John Sutherland 10:3 in the first semi-final.
August 22, 2008Injured Glazkov pulls out of boxing semi-final
Ukrainian super-heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov has pulled out of his semi-final bout of the Olympic boxing competition scheduled for Friday because of an elbow injury, organisers said.
Glazkov failed the medical examination, meaning his Chinese opponent Zhang Zhilei will move to the final by walkover to meet the winner of the other semi-final between Britain's David Price and Italian Roberto Cammarelle.
Glazkov will get a bronze medal like all semi-final losers, he added.
August 22, 2008US men win beach volleyball gold
US world champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser beat Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz Magalhaes to win the gold medal in the men's Olympic beach volleyball on Friday.
Rogers and Dalhausser came into the Olympics as favorites for the title but had a shocking start to the Games, losing to lowly Latvia. That poor form was gone on Friday as they fought through a tense match to win 23-21, 17-21, 15-4.
Earlier another Brazilian pair, Athens gold medalists Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, won bronze against Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes, two more Brazilians who now play for Georgia.
August 22, 2008Schwazer defies heat to win walk
Italy's Alex Schwazer won the Olympic 50km walk on Friday, setting an Olympic record despite conditions made brutal by relentless sun.
Schwazer, a double world championship bronze medallist, broke clear around the 42km mark and covered the longest race in the athletics programme in three hours, 37 minutes, nine seconds.
Australia's Jared Tallent, who took bronze in the 20km event, went one better with silver on Friday, coming in two minutes, 18 seconds behind in a personal best.
World record holder Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia, 50km silver medallist in Athens, took bronze.
August 22, 2008Strombergs wins men's BMX debut gold
Maris Strombergs of Latvia won the gold medal in men's BMX in its Olympic debut on Friday, in a crash-filled final that saw several riders splayed out on the track.
In the sport's debut before a packed, cheering stadium, American Mike Day took silver and his team mate Donny Robinson won the bronze.
South African Sifiso Nhlapo crashed out in the curve after the biggest jump of the track and took out a few other riders. He also got hit in the head by the wheel of one rider who managed to avoid a crash.
Robinson was just in front of Nhlapo and skated by without falling then pushed his way into third. Stombergs took the lead early and safely navigated the turns while Day tried hard to pass but failed.
August 22, 2008China says gymnasts all eligible
China said on Friday that all its gymnasts were eligible to compete in the Olympics after doubts were raised about the age of double gold medallist He Kexin.
The International Olympic Committee has asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate claims that He is younger than the eligible age of 16 to compete.
"The women athletes we had in these Olympics were in total compliance with the age requirement," Chinese gymnastics head coach Huang Yubin told a news conference.
"Since Asian bodies are not the same as Westerners', there have been questions. But there shouldn't be."
He, registered at the Beijing Olympics as 16, won team gold and a gold on the asymmetric bars. She was registered as having been born on Jan. 1, 1992. Gymnasts must turn 16 in the year of the Games to be allowed to compete.
August 21, 2008Evora wins men's triple jump
Portugal's Nelson Evora won gold in the men's triple jump on Thursday to add the Olympic title to the world title he won in Japan last year.
The 24-year-old Evora won with a best leap of 17.67 metres on the fourth of his six attempts, just five centimetres ahead of Britain's Phillips Idowu.
The Briton took the silver with 17.62 after winning this year's world indoor title in Valencia. Leevan Sands of the Bahamas the bronze with 17.59.
Evora joined 1984 marathon winner Carlos Lopes as the only Portuguese men to win Olympic gold titles in athletics.
August 21, 2008U.S. retain soccer gold against Brazil
United States retained the Olympic gold medal in women's soccer on Thursday with a 1-0 extra-time win over Brazil, who fell at the last hurdle for the third major competition in a row.
Carli Lloyd rifled the winner with a low shot from the edge of the area six minutes into extra-time after the South Americans had dominated most of the game.
Brazil were also runners-up to the U.S. in Athens four years ago and lost to Germany in last year's World Cup final.
World Player of the Year Marta, who played in all three finals and missed a penalty against Germany, hit the post in the second half.
Marta, often too individualistic, produced plenty of mazy runs but was repeatedly shut out by the U.S. rearguard.
Brazil forward Cristiane, leading scorer with five goals, had the best first-half chance when she broke clear of the defense but Hope Solo rushed out of her goal to block the danger.
August 21, 2008U.S. beat Russia to reach final
The United States closed in on their fourth straight Olympic women's basketball gold by beating Russia 67-52 to reach the final on Thursday.
Trailing by as many as seven points in the first half, the Americans opened an eight-point lead at the end of three quarters to break Russia's resistance.
The U.S. pulled away in the final period to avenge a shock defeat by the Russians in the semi-finals of the 2006 world championships.
"From top to bottom, one through 12 we're the best," slam-dunking WNBA rookie sensation Candace Parker told Reuters. "We're the deepest. We just reload whenever we come out. We were never nervous. We didn't panic. We took care of business."
Guard Diana Taurasi scored a game-high 21 points for a U.S. team who had won their first six games by an average of more than 43 points. Maria Stepanova top-scored for Russia with 14.
August 21, 2008Merritt upsets Wariner in US 400m sweep
American LaShawn Merritt obliterated the field including defending champion Jeremy Wariner to win the Olympic men's 400 metres title on Thursday.
Merritt sealed a seventh straight gold in the event for the US, starting relatively slowly before blasting down the final straight to cross the line in a personal best of 43.75 seconds.
Wariner, visibly frustrated and distraught, finished a distant second in 44.74 seconds and David Neville took third with a spectacular dive for the line to complete a US sweep of the medals.
The 24-year-old Wariner has dominated the 400m over the past four years but lost twice to Merritt this season, including at the US Olympics trials.
August 21, 2008Japan shocks U.S. to take softball gold
Japan pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the Beijing Olympics by upsetting unbeaten United States 3-1 to claim the softball gold medal on Thursday while sending the sport to a dramatic exit from the Summer Games.
After three consecutive gold medals the Americans saw their Olympic reign come to a stunning end on the same day softball was officially dropped from the Summer Games program.
It was a night of mixed emotions at Fengtai Field, which played host to both a celebration and a funeral.
As the Japanese team stepped forward to claim their gold medals, the party was tinged by sadness as weeping players were struck with the realization it was the last time softball would be played at the Olympics.
But as the Japanese flag was raised and the national anthem played, the sport's uncertain future was -- for a moment -- pushed into the background.
Since the softball was introduced in 1996 at the Atlanta Games, the Americans had ruled supreme over the Olympic diamond, no other country having set foot on the top perch of the podium.
The U.S. roared into Thursday's gold medal game unbeaten in 22 Olympic contests, a streak of dominance stretching all the way back to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
August 21, 2008Czech Spotakova takes women's javelin gold
Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic won the women's javelin gold medal on Thursday with a dramatic last throw of 71.42 metres.
The world champion overtook Russian Maria Abakumova whose 70.78 metre throw proved only to be good enough for a silver medal.
Germany's Christina Obergfoll took the bronze medal with her throw of 66.13 metres.
Cuba Osleidys Menendez, the 2004 gold medallist and world record holder, was never in serious contention for a medal.
August 21, 2008US men drop baton in 4x100m relay
The US men's 4 x100 meters relay team failed to qualify for the Olympic final after dropping the baton in their heat on Thursday.
Victory seemed a formality as Darvis Patton approached Tyson Gay on the final changeover but the pair made a mess of it and the baton tumbled to the floor.
The US were chasing their 16th gold medal in the 4x100m relay and were hoping to make up for Athens four years ago when they were surprisingly beaten by Britain.
Gay has endured a miserable Olympics after also failing to reach the 100 meters final.
Medal prospects Nigeria also failed to get the baton round along with South Africa and Poland.
August 21, 2008Dutch beat US to win women's water polo gold
The Netherlands won the gold medal in the women's water polo competition on Thursday, scoring a goal in the last minute to beat the United States 9-8.
Danielle de Bruijn masterminded the Dutch victory with seven goals and her teammates managed to resist fierce pressure from the Americans in the dying seconds to become Olympic champions for the first time.
The unheralded Dutch side raced to a four-goal lead within the first four minutes of the encounter, stunning the United States who were one of the tournament favorites and had been confident of victory.
Earlier, Australia took the bronze medal by beating Hungary 12-11 after a penalty shoot out.
August 21, 2008Germany win women's football bronze
Substitute Fatmire Bajramaj scored twice to give World champions Germany a 2-0 win over Japan in the women's soccer bronze medal match on Thursday.
Bajramaj put Germany ahead in the 69th minute, 10 minutes after coming on, when she snapped up a rebound to score from a narrow angle after Miho Fukumoto saved a Kerstin Garefrekes header.
Three minutes from time, she cut inside her marker and drilled home Germany's second.
Brazil plays the United States in the final later in the evening.
August 21, 2008Germany in men's hockey final
Germany beat the Netherlands 6-5 in sudden death on Thursday to move into the final of the men's hockey conmpetition at the Beijing Olympics.
The teams were locked 1-1 after extra-time.
Germany will take on the winners of the other semi-final between Australia and Spain.
August 21, 2008Veronica Campbell-Brown wins women's 200m
Veronica Campbell-Brown won the women's 200m in 21.74s on Thursday.
American Allyson Felix took silver and another Jamaican Kerron Stewart took bronze.
The win completed Jamaica's clean sweep in the sprint events but failed to repeat the women's 100m achievement, where Jamaica took all three places.
Campbell-Brown's timing was, however, well short of the Olympic and world mark of 21.34s set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in Seoul in 1988.
Women's 200m final result: 1. Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica) 21.74 seconds2. Allyson Felix (U.S.) 21.933. Kerron Stewart (Jamaica) 22.004. Muna Lee (US) 22.015. Marshevet Hooker (US) 22.346. Sherone Simpson (Jamaica) 22.367. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (Bahamas) 22.618. Cydonie Mothersill (Cayman Islands) 22.68
August 21, 2008Russia take gold in men's 96 kg wrestling
Russia's Shirvani Muradov won the gold medal in men's 96kg freestyle wrestling at the Beijing Games on Thursday.
Taimuraz Tigiev of Kazakhstan took the silver. George Gogshelidze of Georgia and Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan won bronze medals.
Topping a weight class dominated by wrestlers from former Soviet republics, Mradov, the 2007 European champion, beat Tigiev 3-0.
August 21, 2008Sandeep falls short of winning medal for Australia
Sandeep Kumar's dream of winning a medal for his adopted country remained unrealised with the Delhi-born Melbourne cabbie losing his repechage round battle in the 84kg freestyle event of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday.
Sandeep, who had Daleep Singh -- known in the WWF circle as 'The Great Khali' -- as his colleague in his Punjab Police days, lost his first round bout against Yusup Abdusalomov.
But with the world number two grappler from Tajikistan reaching the final, the repechage door opened for the 25-year-old.
Sandeep got a bye in the repechage round one before running into Ukrainian Taras Danko, who thwarted his medal bid by beating him in the second round.
August 21, 2008Pakistan finish eighth in Olympic hockey
Former Olympic champions Pakistan recorded their worst-ever finish in the men's hockey at the Olympic Games on Thursday.
The Asian giants finished eighth among twelve teams when they was emphatically beaten 4-2 by New Zealand in the seventh-eighth place classification.
They had previously finished fifth in the Olympics — at Athens in 2004 and at Seoul in 1988.
Pakistan had reached at least the top four in 11 of the 13 Olympics it contested between 1948 and 2000, winning gold three times.
August 21, 2008Wrestler Rajiv Tomar fails to qualify
Wrestler Rajiv Tomar lost his 120kg freestyle qualification round bout in Beijing Olympics on Thursday.
Tomar lost to Steve Mocco of the United States at the Chinese Agricultural University Gymnasium.
August 21, 2008Dutchman Van der Weijden wins 10km
Maarten van der Weijden, who was given only a slim chance of survival after being diagnosed with leukemia, won one of the Olympics most grueling events on Thursday when he took gold in the men's 10km open water marathon.
Dutchman Van der Weijden was diagnosed with leukemia seven years ago but pulled through after a stem cell transplant and a course of chemotherapy.
He battled back to become the world's leading open water swimmer and added the Olympic title to his world crown with a sprint finish to win a thrilling inaugural 10km Games race after a three-man fight for gold which lasted nearly two hours.
With the end in sight, Van der Weijden pulled out from a three-way dogfight and charged past Briton David Davies to win in one hour 51 minutes 51 seconds.
Davies, who led for most of the race, looked destined to win gold after streaking two body lengths clear in the last 400 meters but he had no answer to the 27-year-old Dutchman's stunning sprint finish.
Swimming in only his third open water race, Davies finished two seconds behind Van der Weijden, with German Thomas Lurz taking bronze.
August 21, 2008Russia's Kaniskina wins 20km walk
Russia's Olga Kaniskina led from the start and battled through relentless rain to win Olympic gold in the women's 20-kilometre walk on Thursday.
World champion Kaniskina jumped to the lead on her first step and slowly pulled away from the pack as she built a decisive one-minute lead going into the final kilometers to finish in an Olympic record of one hour, 26 minutes and 31 seconds.
Norway's Kjersti Platzer finished second with a 36-second deficit, while Italy's Elisa Rigaudo took bronze after a late surge brought her back into medal contention.
August 21, 2008US win women's beach volleyball gold
US defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh beat China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie to win the women's Olympic beach volleyball gold medal on Thursday.
Tian and Wang fought back from a hefty deficit at the start of the second set and for a while went point-to-point but it was not enough to get past the triple world champions who eventually won 21-18 21-18.
August 20, 2008Bolt completes a historic double
Jamaica's 100m champion Usain Bolt added the 200m title to his list of achievements on Wednesday, winning the Olympics final in 19.30 secs, a world record, beating Michael Johnson's timing of 19.32s.
Bolt, a day short of his 22nd birthday, completed the first Olympic sprint double in 24 years at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Bolt, who dominated the 100m final with a world record time (9.69s), had said prior to the race that he thought the double last achieved by American icon Carl Lewis at Los Angeles in 1984 was on the cards, and that he had another spectacular performance in him.
Bolt held the three fastest 200m times this season going into the race.
Defending champion Shawn Crawford of USA, who once raced a giraffe and a zebra for a TV show, failed to repeat his Athens feat, finishing third in 19.96s.
Churandy Martina (19.82s) of the Netherlands Antilles was second after the United States' Spearmon Wallace was disqualified for cutting lanes.
August 20, 2008Vijender Kumar ensures another medal for India
India's Vijender Kumar beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador 9-4 in the quarter-finals of the 75kg middleweight category of the boxing event on Wednesday to guarantee India another medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Vijender had a good start, winning the opening round 2-0. He also pocketed the second round 2-1. The third also went his way 3-2 and so did the fourth 2-1.
Vijender stormed into the last eight after overwhelming Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand 13-3 in a lop-sided pre-quarter-final bout on Saturday night.
Earlier, he thoroughly dominated his opening bout against Gambia's Jack Badou, scoring a facile 13-2 win.
August 20, 2008Heptathlon silver medallist Blonska fails drugs test
Ukraine's Liudmyla Blonska, the heptathlon silver medallist, has failed a drugs test, the IOC said on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old's A sample tested positive for a banned substance, but the results of the B sample are still awaited.
The Ukrainian had already served a previous ban for testing positive in 2003 for stanozolol.
Blonska now faces a life ban for the latest offence.
Should Blonska be stripped of her medal, the silver would go to American Hyleas Fountain while Tatiana Chernova of Russia would get the bronze.
August 20, 2008Jitender Kumar follows Akhil Kumar's route
India's Jitender Kumar lost to Russian pugilist Georgy Balakshin in the 51kg flyweight category in the Olympics boxing competition on Wednesday.
After falling behind 2-1 in the opening round, Jitender came back well in the second to end even on points (5-5). But the Russian pulled clear in the third, taking a 13-8 lead. Though Jitender made a good comeback in the fourth, but the Russian eventually won 15-11.
The Asian Championship bronze medallist had defeated Uzbek rival Tulashboy Doniyorov by 13-6 in the pre-quarter-finals on Saturday.
Earlier, Jitender, making his Olympic debut, had pummelled his Turkish opponent Ulas Furkan Memis in less than three rounds in the opening round.
August 20, 2008Russia's "two Anastasias" golden again
Russia's reigning Olympic champions, the "two Anastasias", defended their synchronised swimming duet gold medal on Wednesday with an almost perfect routine.
Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova, undefeated at a major championships since finishing second at the 2001 worlds, scored a perfect 10 for technical merit from all five judges and earned another three 10s for artistic impression.
Added to a commanding lead from Monday's technical routine, they easily claimed victory with 99.251 points, bagging a second gold medal for a collection started in Athens.
Spain's Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes won silver, their country's first medal in the sport, with a second-placed free routine that won the only other perfect 10 of the final.
Japan's Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki came in third, narrowly edging Chinese twin hopefuls Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen who were aiming for the host nation's first medal.
August 20, 2008Wrestler Sushil Kumar wins bronze
Sushil Kumar gave India its second medal at the Beijing Olympics when he won the bronze medal in the men's 66 kg freestyle event, beating Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan.
Ramazan Shahin of Turkey took the gold, defeating Ukraine's Andry Stadnik in the final.
August 20, 200836 world records broken in Beijing
The Beijing Olympic Games have seen 36 world records and 74 Olympic records broken, statistics as of August 19 show.
Wang Wei, executive vice-president and secretary-general of BOCOG, made the announcement at an IOC/BOCOG joint press conference on Wednesday, August 20.
He said that as of August 19, 14 events out of the 38 disciplines of the 28 Olympic sports have been completed, including Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Fencing, Archery, Tennis, Shooting, Track Cycling, Road Cycling, Rowing, Canoe/Kayak Slalom, Triathlon, Judo, Weightlifting and Badminton.
August 20, 2008Zubari wins Israel's first Beijing medal
2008 world champion Tom Ashley of New Zealand won gold in the Men's RS:X (Windsurfer) with 52 overall points, just one point better than second-place finisher Julien Bontemps of France.
Shahar Zubari of Israel finished second in the medal race to grab bronze with 58 points overall and give Israel's its first medal of the Beijing Olympic Games.
August 20, 2008Maradona slams 'stingy' Brazil
Diego Maradona said he had rarely seen Brazil play as negatively as they did in their Olympic Games semi-final defeat to Argentina.
"It's a long time since I've seen Brazil so stingy and defensive," the former Argentina captain was quoted in his country's media as saying.
"I didn't think they could do any damage. They never managed to play their way out of defence, nobody helped Ronaldinho and they never played coherently. I think Argentina were better in every metre of the field."
Maradona watched Tuesday's 3-0 win at the Workers' stadium. He has also been to see Argentina's men's basketball and women's hockey teams in action in Beijing.
August 20, 2008Brazil beach volleyball champs out of semis
Defending champions Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego were knocked out of the Olympic beach volleyball on Wednesday, leaving fellow Brazilians Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz Magalhaes to play the US favorites for gold.
Marcio and Fabio Luiz, the 2005 world champions, have been in sporadic form in Beijing but pulled it all together in the semi, winning 22-20 21-18. They will play reigning world champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser in the final.
August 20, 2008Yin wins first sailing gold for China
Windsurfer Yin Jian pumped and glided her way to a first sailing gold for China on Wednesday when she denied Italian Alessandra Sensini a second Olympic board title.
Yin, 29, went one better than in Athens four years ago, a third-place finish in the medal race enough to secure gold and cue frenetic celebrations at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre.
An ecstatic Yin punched the air in triumph after crossing the finish before being mobbed by her support team. She donned a half-gold, half-red jacket before being towed up and down the main breakwater to take the applause from a large gathering of Chinese fans.
The 38-year-old Sensini took silver to add to her gold in Sydney in 2000 and bronze in 1996 and 2004 and has now won more Olympic sailing medals than any other woman. Briton Bryony Shaw won bronze.
August 20, 2008Amputee Du Toit completes marathon swimming
In an historic day for the Olympics, the first amputee to compete at the Games, Natalie du Toit of South Africa finished 16th in the women's 10km marathon swimming on Wednesday.
A promising swimmer from South Africa, du Toit lost her left leg below the knee in a scooter accident in 2001.
August 20, 2008Russia's Larisa Ilchenko wins marathon swimming
Russia's Larisa Ilchenko swam in the slipstream of two pace-setting Britons for nearly two hours before producing a perfectly timed sprint finish to win gold in the inaugural women's 10km marathon swimming on Wednesday.
Ilchenko powered past leaders Cassie Patten and Keri-Anne Payne with 100 metres to go, clocking one hour 59 minutes 27 seconds to become the first Olympic gold medallist in the event.
The three-times world champion swam a tactical race, riding in the wake of the leaders before darting past them with the finish in sight.
Payne took the silver medal in one hour 59 minutes 29 seconds and Patten was third in one hour 59 minutes 31 seconds.
August 20, 2008Sharath Kamal loses in second round
India's Achanta Sharath Kamal left it for too late as he was knocked out by Austria's Weixing Chen from the men's singles table tennis competiton at the Beijing Olympics.
Sharath Kamal staged a fightback in the fourth game but eventually went down 5-11, 12-14, 2-11, 11-8, 10-12 to the experienced Chen in the second round on Wednesday.
August 20, 2008Bolt guns for Olympic sprint double
Usain Bolt takes aim at becoming the first man in 24 years to win the Olympic sprint double when he runs in the 200 metres final on Wednesday.
The day before his 22nd birthday, the Jamaican is strong favourite to add the half-lap crown to the 100 metres title he so sensationally won in world record time on Saturday.
The 200 is Bolt's speciality. He is the fastest man this year and would have been the man to beat even before his stunning success in the shorter sprint.
Bolt's personal best is the 19.67 seconds he clocked in Athens last month but, given the way he has been running in Beijing, an assault on Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record of 19.32 is not out of the question.
World champion Tyson Gay's injury at the US trials meant he failed to qualify for the event in Beijing so defending champion Shawn Crawford should lead the American challenge.
August 20, 2008Argentina beat Brazil to reach final
Argentina beat arch rivals Brazil 3-0 to reach the final of the football competition at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday.
The defending champions will face African powerhouse Nigeria in the decider.
After a goalless but interesting opening half, Sergio Aguero gave Argentina the lead in the 52nd minute.
The 20-year-old, who plays for Atletico Madrid in Spain, scored his second just six minutes later.
Captain Juan Roman Riquelme slotted home a penalty in the 76th minute to put the result beyond doubt.
Brazil finished the match withe nine men.
Earlier, a goal in the first half and three in the second put 1996 Atlanta Olympic champions Nigeria into the final as they thrashed minnows Belgium 4-1.
August 20, 2008Ohuruogu wins 400 gold for Britain
Christine Ohuruogu won the women's 400 metres on Tuesday to provide Britain with their first athletics gold medal at the Beijing Games.
The 24-year-old came from behind to cross the line first in 49.62 seconds, adding the Olympic crown to the world title she won in Japan last year.
Shericka Williams of Jamaica was second in 49.69 and American Sanya Richards finished third in 49.93.
Ohuruogu was set to miss the Games after the British Olympic Association banned her from competing at the Olympics following three missed doping tests. She won an appeal, however, allowing her to take part after serving a 12-month suspension.
August 20, 2008Steiner wins strongest man title
German weightlifter Matthias Steiner, who promised his dying wife to fight his way to the Olympics, won gold in the men's super-heavyweight class on Tuesday.
Choking back the tears, Steiner held up a photo of his late wife Susann as he stood on the winner's podium. She died in a car crash last year.
Steiner snatched 203kg, a weight far below his closest competitors, but he raised his weights dramatically for his final lift in the clean and jerk and hoisted up 258kg.
He claimed the title of strongest man in the world with a total of 461kg -- just one kilo more than Russia's Evgeny Chigishev, who took silver.
Latvian politician and weightlifter Viktors Scerbatihs won the bronze in the over 105kg class.
August 20, 2008Johnson finally gets gold on beam
Shawn Johnson's megawatt smile lit up the National Indoor Stadium on Tuesday after the American gymnast finally got her hands on an Olympic gold medal.
The 16-year-old outshone rivals Nastia Liukin and Cheng Fei with her deft footwork on the balance beam to end a run of three silver-medal winning performances in Beijing.
She had been expected to go home with a stash of gold after picking up three titles at the world championships in 2007. But she had to wait until the final day of the gymnastics competition to make her mark at the Games, with a score of 16.225.
She edged out fellow American and all-round champion Liukin by 0.200 of a point, while Cheng of China took bronze with 15.950.
Johnson kept her poise on the beam while performing a series of solid twists and flips and was rewarded for packing her routine with a series of difficult elements.
August 20, 2008Britain equal century old record
Britain notched their highest gold medal tally in a century on Tuesday with two more victories in cycling and one in sailing for the 2012 Olympics hosts.
That cemented Britain's unexpected third place in China, with 15 golds the best since the 1908 London Games and the perfect way to fire up enthusiasm at home for the next Olympics.
Nowhere have the Britons been cockier than on bikes.
Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton won a couple more golds in the men's and women's sprints, making it a remarkable eight Beijing golds on road and track for the new cycling superpower.
August 20, 2008Nigeria in men's football final
Nigeria entered the final of the Olympics men's football tournament after a 4-1 victory over Belgium on Tuesday evening.
They take on the winners of the second semi-final between Brazi and Argentina, which will be played later on Tuesday.
1996 champions Nigeria were just too good for Belgium, who had upset former champions Italy in the quarter-finals.
August 20, 2008American Tunnicliffe wins Laser Radial
American Anna Tunnicliffe won Olympic gold in the Laser Radial sailing on Tuesday to confirm her status as world number one.
Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania secured silver and China's Xu Lijia grabbed bronze, the host nation's first medal of the regatta.
The British-born Tunnicliffe, 25, was struggling in the medal race until benefiting from a large windshift that propelled her from ninth to third by the third mark.
August 20, 2008Cejudo wins freestyle wrestling gold
Henry Cejudo of the United States won the Olympic gold medal in the men's 55kg freestyle wrestling on Tuesday.
Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga won the silver. Besik Kudukhov of Russia and Bulgaria's Radoslav Velikov won bronze medals.
August 20, 2008Men's hockey: Germany in semi-finals
World No 2 Germany entered the semi-finals in men's Olympic hockey competition after a 3-1 victory over New Zealand in Pool A on Tuesday.
The Dutch also reached the last four when they beat Pakistan 4-2 in a Pool B match, penalty-corner specialist Taeke Taekema scoring twice with his drag-flicks.
Defending champions Australia are effectively guaranteed a semi-final berth after three wins and a draw with the Dutch.
The Australians play Britain in their last final match later on Tuesday. Britain trail Australia by three points and have a much inferior goal difference.
Spain take on South Korea in a match that will determine the second team from Pool A and the semifinal line-up.
August 20, 2008Achanta Sharath Kamal in second round
India's Achanta Sharath Kamal entered the second round in the men's singles of the Table Tennis toutnament at the Olympics, beating Spain Alfredo Carneros 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 in Beijing on Tuesday morning.
He next plays Austria's Weixing Chen.
August 20, 2008Germany's Frodeno wins men's triathlon
Germany's Jan Frodeno won the Olympic gold medal in the men's triathlon on Tuesday.
Canada's Simon Whitfield won the silver and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty the bronze.
August 20, 2008Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt exits
Yogeshwar Dutt bowed out of the wrestling competition at the Beijing Olympics after losing his bout in the freestyle 60 kg quarter-final.
August 20, 2008Anju Geroge bows out in long jump qualifying
India's Anju Bobby George failed to advance in the women's long jump at the Beijing Olympics.
The 31-year-old, who finished sixth at the Athens Olympics four years ago, fouled in all her three attemps and bowed out of the competition on Tuesday morning.
Women's long jump qualification results:
Group A: 1. Maurren Higa Maggi (Brazil) 6.79 metres Q2. Lyudmila Blonska (Ukraine) 6.76 Q3. Carolina Kluft (Sweden) 6.70 Q4. Grace Upshaw (US) 6.68 Q5. Oksana Udmurtova (Russia) 6.63 Q6. Tabia Charles (Canada) 6.61 Q6. Funmilayao Jimoh (US) 6.61 Q8. Chelsea Hammond (Jamaica) 6.60 Q9. Hrysopiyi Devetzi (Greece) 6.5710. Yargelis Savigne (Cuba) 6.4911. Denisa Scerbova (Czech Republic) 6.4612. Patricia Sylvester (Grenada) 6.4413. Viktoria Rybalko (Ukraine) 6.4314. Karin Melis (Turkey) 6.4215. Nina Kolaric (Slovenia) 6.4016. Naide Gomes (Portugal) 6.2917. Volha Senrgeenka (Belarus) 6.2518. Pamela Mouele-Mboussi (Congo) 6.0619. Rhonda Watkins (Trinidad & Tobago) 5.8820. Tricia Flores (Belize) 5.25*Jana Veldakova (Slovakia) NM
Group B1. Brittney Reese (US) 6.87 Q2. Tatyana Lebedeva (Russia) 6.70 Q3. Keila Costa (Brazil) 6.62 Q4. Jade Johnson (Britain) 6.61 Q5. Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) 6.596. Tatyana Kotova (Russia) 6.577. Concepcion Montaner (Spain) 6.537. Bronwyn Thompson (Australia) 6.539. Iryna Charnushenka-Stasiuk (Belarus) 6.4810. Kumiko Ikeda (Japan) 6.4711. Viorica Tigau (Romania) 6.4412. Ruky Abdulai (Canada) 6.4113. Ksenija Balta (Estonia) 6.3814. Jung Soon-ok (South Korea) 6.3315. Olga Rypakova (Kazakhstan) 6.3015. Ivana Spanovic (Serbia) 6.3017. Oleksandra Stadnyuk (Ukraine) 6.1918. Marestella Torres (Philippines) 6.1719. Arantxa King (Bermuda) 6.01*Anju Bobby George (India) NM*Jacqueline Edwards (Bahamas) NMQ=Qualified for final
August 18, 2008Yang to sell his silver for quake victims
Olympic all-round champion Yang Wei has become so used to scooping gold medals, he did not know what to do when he actually won a silver.
So he decided to put it to good use.
"I want to auction my silver medal to give the money to the Sichuan province to help them so that this silver medal can fulfill its value," said Yang, who looked rather bemused on the podium as he closely examined the silver medal he won in the rings final behind fellow Chinese Chen Yibing on Monday.
"The IOC donated money to Sichuan province and at the time I made up my mind to make my own contribution."
Three months ago more than 70,000 died in a massive tremor in the southwestern Chinese province.
Isinbayeva wins women's pole vault
Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva won the gold medal in the Olympic women's pole vault on Monday and then broke her own world record when she leapt 5.05 meters.
Jennifer Stuczynski of the United States won silver medal with 4.80m and Svetlana Feofanova took the bronze with a best jump of 4.75m.
Isinbayeva, who won gold in Athens four years ago and has dominated the sport since, spent most of the competition lying under her towel relaxing and did not take her first jump until 4.70.
Liu Xiang pulls out
China lost its main hope for a track gold on Monday when 110 meters hurdles Olympic champion and national hero Liu Xiang pulled out injured from the Games.
His painful departure in front of shocked fans at the Bird's Nest stadium took the gloss off an otherwise magnificent Games for China, who lead with 35 golds on Day Ten and look untouchable even by perennial medal-league winners the United States.
After a false start in his first-round heat, Liu, whose face adorns billboards across China, clutched his leg and walked off the track. Fans in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium looked stunned and volunteers were seen openly weeping.
Kenya's Jelimo wins women's 800m gold
Kenyan Pamela Jelimo added a golden lustre to her all-conquering season when she won the women's Olympic 800 metres in great style on Monday.
Jelimo, 18, has ruled the race in the big European meetings this year and was in unstoppable form after hitting the front at halfway.
She drove home to win easily in one minute 54.87 seconds ahead of team mate Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei, with Morocco's Hasna Benhassi taking bronze.
Women's 800m final result:
1. Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) 1 minute 54.87 seconds2. Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei (Kenya) 1:56.073. Hasna Benhassi (Morocco) 1:56.734. Svetlana Klyuka (Russia) 1:56.945. Maria Mutola (Mozambique) 1:57.686. Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica) 1:58.247. Yuliya Krevsun (Ukraine) 1:58.738. Tatiana Andrianova (Russia) 2:02.63
Kenyan Kipruto takes steeplechase
Brimin Kiprop Kipruto held on for victory in the Olympic men's 3,000m steeplechase on Monday to retain Kenya's 24-year iron grip on the event.
The 23-year-old, a silver medallist in Athens four years ago, held off a surprise final-lap charge from Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad to win in 8 minutes 10.34 seconds.
Mekhissi-Benabbad outsprinted Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong after the final jump to claim silver in a personal best 8.10.49 and the Kenyan had to be content with bronze in 8.11.01.
The last non-Kenyan to win the event was Pole Bronislaw Malinowski who took gold at the 1980 Moscow Games which the Kenyans boycotted.
Bolt strolls through second round
Usain Bolt negotiated the next step in his bid to win both Olympic sprints when he strolled through the second round of the 200 meters on Monday.
Bolt, who coasted to 20.64 seconds in his morning heat, was marginally faster at 20.29 in the second round but he was in cruise mode for the last 70 meters in both races.
Things did not go so well for Jamaican compatriot Marvin Anderson, however, who pulled up injured in his heat.
The US trio of defending champion Shawn Crawford, Wallace Spearmon and 100 meters bronze medalist Walter Dix also went through comfortably.
Zimbabwe's Brian Dzingai again looked impressive as the fasted qualifier in 20.23 and Paul Hession maintained Ireland's push for an unlikely medal when he won his heat in 20.32.
The semi-finals are on Tuesday and final on Wednesday.
Men's 200m quarter-finals results:
Quarter-final 1 1. Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 20.29 seconds Q2. Shawn Crawford (U.S.) 20.42 Q3. Kim Collins (St. Kitts & Nevis) 20.43 Q3. Marlon Devonish (Britain) 20.43 Q5. Jared Connaughton (Canada) 20.45 Q6. Amr Seoud (Egypt) 20.557. Rolando Palacios (Honduras) 20.878. Angel David Rodriguez (Spain) 20.96
Quarter-final 2 1. Brian Dzingai (Zimbabwe) 20.23 Q2. Walter Dix (U.S.) 20.27 Q3. Christopher Williams (Jamaica) 20.28 Q4. Christian Malcolm (Britain) 20.30 Q5. Stephan Buckland (Mauritius) 20.37 Q6. Roman Smirnov (Russia) 20.627. Shinji Takahira (Japan) 20.638. Matic Osovnikar (Slovenia) 20.95
Quarter-final 31. Brendan Christian (Antigua and Barbuda) 20.26 Q2. Churandy Martina (Netherlands Antilles) 20.42 Q3. Kristof Beyens (Belgium) 20.50 Q4. Marcin Jedrusinski (Poland) 20.584. Aaron Armstrong (Trinidad & Tobago) 20.586. Obinna Metu (Nigeria) 20.657. Sandro Viana (Brazil) 21.078. Marc Schneeberger (Switzerland) 21.48
Quarter-final 41. Paul Hession (Ireland) 20.32 Q2. Wallace Spearmon (U.S.) 20.39 Q3. Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (Norway) 20.45 Q4. Rondell Sorrillo (Trinidad & Tobago) 20.635. Ramil Guliyev (Azerbaijan) 20.666. Visa Hongisto (Finland) 20.767. Thuso Mpuang (South Africa) 21.04. Marvin Anderson (Jamaica) DNFQ = Qualified for semi-final DNF = Did not finish
Brazil in final of women's football
Brazil rallied from a goal down to beat Germany 4-1 in the Olympic women's football semi-finals on Monday.
They will play the winner of the United States - Japan match in the final, on August 21, at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing.
Captain Birgit Prinz put the Germans ahead 10 minutes into the first hal, but Brazil grabbed the equalizer with three minutes remaining in the session through a goal by Formiga.
In the second half, Cristiane's goal in the 49th minute gave Brazil the lead, before Marta widened it four minutes later, and Cristiane's second goal in the 76th minute sealed a comfortable victory.
Cristiane's second goal ensured that she became the equal-highest goal scorer in Olympic history with ten goals, together with Prinz of Germany.
American Brown Trafton wins women's discus
Stephanie Brown Trafton hurled her way to women's Olympic discus gold on Monday to claim the title for the United States for the first time in 76 years.
The 6ft 4in (1.93m) Californian's first throw of 64.74 metres was enough for victory, giving a huge boost to a US team, which had a thin few days in the athletics.
Yarelys Barrios of Cuba took silver with her second throw of 63.64m and Olena Antonova of Ukraine clinched bronze with a season's best 62.59m, which she achieved on her penultimate effort.
The 28-year-old Brown Trafton's victory at the Bird's Nest was the first in the event for her country since Lillian Copeland claimed gold in Los Angeles in 1932 with a throw of 40.58m.
Boxer Akhil Kumar fails to make semis
India’s Akhil Kumar failed to make it to the semi-finals in the 54 kg bantamweight class at the Olympics boxing competition. He was beaten by Republic of Moldova’s Veaceslav Gojan 10-3 in the quarter-final in Beijing on Monday.
The Indian, who upset Russian world champion Sergey Vodopyanov in the earlier round, was at the receiving end for most of the contest.
After a reasonably good first two round, the Indian was unable to break through the defences of his opponent and paid the price in the last two in which the Maldovan scored heavily.
Results men's bantamweight quarter-final:
Badar-Uugan Enkhbat (Mongolia) beat Khumiso Ikgopoleng (Botswana) 15-2; Veaceslav Gojan (Moldova) beat Akhil Kumar (India) 10-3; Bruno Julie (Mauritius) beat Hector Rangel Manzanilla (Venezuela) 13-9; Yankiel Leon (Cuba) beat Worapoj Petchkoom (Thailand) 10-2.
Pole Blanik wins men's vault gold
Poland's Leszek Blanik somersaulted with style to scoop the men's vault gold at the Olympics on Monday, beating second-placed Thomas Bouhail of France on the tiebreak rule.
The world champion's two vaults earned an average score of 16.537 points, the same as Bouhail, but based on a complicated system of averages relating to points awarded for execution Blanik triumphed.
Russia's Anton Golotsutskov won his second bronze of the Games after picking one up in Sunday's floor final.
Top qualifier Marian Dragulescu of Romania had looked to be heading for gold after notching the highest score of the day of 16.800 for his first vault before landing his second one sprawled out on the mat to finish fourth.
Bouhail's was France's second gymnastics medal of the Olympics after Benoit Caranobe's surprise bronze in the all-around. Caranobe put himself out of the running for another medal when he landed his second vault on his bottom.
It was the only apparatus final to feature no Chinese gymnasts, who have dominated the rest of the events.
August 18, 2008China's Chen wins gold in men's rings
Chen Yibing of China won the Olympic gold medal in the men's gymnastics rings on Monday.
Yang Wei of China won the silver and Oleksandr Voribiov of Ukraine the bronze.
August 18, 2008Britain wins gold in men's cycling team pursuit
Britain overpowered Denmark to win the Olympic gold medal in the men's team pursuit cycling on Monday, shattering its own one-day-old world record by more than two seconds.
In the bronze medal race New Zealand took an early lead to beat out Australia, who were racing without veteran pursuit rider Bradley McGee, for the bronze.
Pursuit ace Bradley Wiggins, who already won the individual pursuit and is biding for three golds, helped lead Britain to the new record with an average speed of 61.7 km per hour.
Britain was clearly aiming for a new record, setting off at a blistering pace. Denmark never came close to matching it and the margin between the two teams grew throughout the 16-lap race.
August 18, 2008Gold medal sweep for Australia in 470
Despite a ninth-place finish in the medal race, Australia's Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson won the second 470 (Two Person Dinghy) gold of the Olympics with 43 points overall, matching the gold won by the Australian Men's 470 pair just one hour earlier.
Rechichi and Parkinson went into the final race with an 18-point lead over Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands, who finished sixth in the medal race and won silver with 53 points overall.
Fernanda Oliviera and Isabel Swan of Brazil won the medal race and the bronze medal with 60 net points.

August 18, 2008
Aussies men win gold in 470 Two Person Dinghy
With disqualification the only thing standing in the way of gold for Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page of Australia in the men's 470 (Two Person Dinghy), the pair put an exclamation mark on their victory by finishing first in the medal race.

Wilmot and Page, who won the 2004, 2005, and 2007 World Champions but had never won at the Olympics, took over first place after the third race and never looked back, building an insurmountable 22 point lead before the final race and winning with 44 points overall.
Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield of Great Britain jumped from fourth to second (75 net points) after a third-place finish in the medal race and Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset of France (78 points) held off Sven and Kalle Coster of the Netherlands for bronze with a better finish on the final day of racing.

August 18, 2008
Renjith Maheswary performs below par Indian athlete Renjith Maheswary jumped much lower than his best and finished last among the 18 finishers in Group B of the Triple Jump qualifying round of the Olympic track and field competition on Monday.

Renjith's jump of 15.77m, which he achieved in his first attempt, was much below then his personal best of 17.04 meters. It placed him overall 35th in a field of 37th finishers.
Britain's Phillips Idowu with 17.44m topped the field and the last qualifier was Ukrain's Victor Kuznyetsov who had a jump of 17.09m.

Men's Triple Jump Group A and B results: Group A:1. Phillips Idowu (Britain) 17.44 metres Q2. Nelson Evora (Portugal) 17.34 Q3. Arnie David Girat (Cuba) 17.30 Q4. Igor Spasovkhodskiy (Russia) 17.23 Q5. Marian Oprea (Romania) 17.17 Q6. Jadel Gregorio (Brazil) 17.15 Q7. Viktor Kuznyetsov (Ukraine) 17.11 Q8. Alexis Copello (Cuba) 17.099. Dmitrij Valukevic (Slovakia) 17.0810. Kim Duk-hyun (South Korea) 16.8810. Rafeeq Curry (U.S.) 16.8812. Fabrizio Donato (Italy) 16.7013. Kenta Bell (U.S.) 16.5514. Dzmitry Platnitski (Belarus) 16.5115. Jefferson Sabino (Brazil) 16.4516. Roman Valiyev (Kazakhstan) 16.2017. Ibrahim Babikir Mohamdein (Qatar) 16.0318. Zhong Minwei (China) 15.5919. Redzep Selman (Macedonia FYR) 15.29Group B1. Li Yanxi (China) 17.30 metres Q2. Leevan Sands (Bahamas) 17.25 Q3. Onochie Achike (Britain) 17.18 Q4. Hector Fuentes (Cuba) 17.14 Q5. Momchil Karailiev (Bulgaria) 17.12 Q6. Randy Lewis (Grenada) 17.067. Mykola Savolainen (Ukraine) 17.008. Aleksandr Petrenko (Russia) 16.979. Nathan Douglas (Britain) 16.7210. Danila Burkenya (Russia) 16.6911. Dimitrios Tsiamis (Greece) 16.6512. Vladimir Letnicov (Moldova) 16.6213. Viktor Iastrebov (Ukraine) 16.5214. Colomba Fofana (France) 16.4215. Lucien Hugo Mamba Schlick (Cameroon) 16.0116. Aarik Wilson (U.S.) 15.9717. Gu Junjie (China) 15.9418. Maheswary Renjith (India) 15.77. Ndiss Kaba Badji (Senegal) NoM. Tarik Bouguetaib (Morocco) NoMQ = QualifiedNoM = No mark

August 18, 2008

Snowsill wins women's Triathlon gold Emma Snowsill of Australia won the gold medal in the women's Triathlon with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 27.66 seconds.
The silver medal went to Portugal's Vanessa Fernandes, who finished in one hour, 59 minutes and 34.63 seconds, while another Australian, Emma Moffatt, won the bronze medal with a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 55.84 seconds.

August 18, 2008

Snowsill wins women's Triathlon gold Emma Snowsill of Australia won the gold medal in the women's Triathlon with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 27.66 seconds.
The silver medal went to Portugal's Vanessa Fernandes, who finished in one hour, 59 minutes and 34.63 seconds, while another Australian, Emma Moffatt, won the bronze medal with a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 55.84 seconds.

August 18, 2008

Olympic 110m hurdles champ Liu Xiang pulls out
China's Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion Liu Xiang pulled out of his race injured on Monday.
After a false start in his first-round heat, Liu, whose face adorns billboards across China, clutched his leg and walked off the track.
Men's 110m hurdles heats fastest qualifiers: 1. David Oliver (U.S.) 13.30 Q seconds2. Paulo Villar (Colombia) 13.37 Q3. Ryan Brathwaite (Barbados) 13.38 Q4. Dayron Robles (Cuba) 13.39 Q5. Jackson Quinonez (Spain) 13.41 Q6. David Payne (U.S.) 13.42 Q7. Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic) 13.43 Q8. Shamar Sands (Bahamas) 13.45 Q9. Konstadinos Douvalidis (Greece) 13.49 Q10. Gregory Sedoc (Netherlands) 13.50 Q11. Ladji Doucoure (France) 13.52 Q12. Shi Dongpeng (China) 13.53 Q12. Artur Noga (Poland) 13.53 Q14. Marcel van der Westen (Netherlands) 13.54 Q15. Andrew Turner (Britain) 13.56 Q15. Allan Scott (Britain) 13.56 Q17. Wei Ji (China) 13.57 Q18. Salim Nurudeen (Nigeria) 13.58 Q19. Igor Peremota (Russia) 13.59 Q19. Ronald Forbes (Cayman Islands) 13.59 Q21. Richard Phillips (Jamaica) 13.60 Q21. Samuel Coco-Viloin (France) 13.60 Q23. Maurice Wignall (Jamaica) 13.61 Q23. Daniel Kiss (Hungary) 13.61 Q25. Mohammed Al-Thawadi (Qatar) 13.64 Q26. Lee Jung-joon (South Korea) 13.65 Q27. Mikel Thomas (Trinidad & Tobago) 13.69 Q28. Hector Cotto (Puerto Rico) 13.72 Q29. David Ilariani (Georgia) 13.75 Q30. Dudley Dorival (Haiti) 13.78 Q31. Anselmo de Silva (Brazil) 13.81 Q32. Damjan Zlatnar (Slovenia) 13.84 Q33. Maksim Lynsha (Belarus) 13.8634. Stanislav Sajdok (Czech Republic) 13.8935. Evgeniy Borisov (Russia) 13.9036. Joseph-Berlioz Randriamihaja (Madagascar) 13.9137. Masato Naito (Japan) 13.9638. Oleg Normatov (Uzbekistan) 14.0039. Jurica Grabusic (Croatia) 14.1840. Abdul Rashid (Pakistan) 14.52. Liu Xiang (China) DNF. Terrence Trammell (U.S.) DNF. Stanislavs Olijars (Latvia) DNSQ = QualifiedDNF = Did not finishDNS = Did not start

August 18, 2008
Neha Aggarwal bows out of women's TT India's Neha Aggarwal bowed out of the women's singles in the table tennis event at the Beijing Games on Monday morning, losing to Australia's Fang Jiang Lay 12-10, 8-11, 11-13, 8-11, 4-11 in 34 minutes.

August 18, 2008
Bolt's bid for double safely under way Usain Bolt took the initial, loping steps towards securing the first Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis in 1984 when he cruised through his first-round 200 metres heat on Monday.

Jamaica's Bolt claimed the 100 metres gold with a spectacular world record on Saturday but has said all along that the 200, in which he was a world championship runner-up last year, is the race closest to his heart.

In Monday's heats he caught Nicaragua's Juan Zeledon within about four strides before going on to ease home in 20.64 seconds, just behind Trinidad's Sorillo Rondell.

Defending champion Shawn Crawford and this year's 100 metres bronze medallist Walter Dix also went through comfortably. Wallace Spearmon completed the U.S. trio progressing.
The second round takes place later on Monday with the semi-finals on Tuesday and final on Wednesday.

August 18, 2008

Athletics men's 200m heats results Heat 1 1. Shawn Crawford (U.S.) 20.61 seconds Q2. Marcin Jedrusinski (Poland) 20.64 Q3. Stephan Buckland (Mauritius) 20.98 Q4. Jiri Vojtik (Czech Republic) 21.055. Fanuel Kenosi (Botswana) 21.096. Adam Harris (Guyana) 21.367. Khalil Al-Hanahneh (Jordan) 21.558. Solomon Bayoh (Sierra Leone) 22.16.Francis Obikwelu (Portugal) DNS Heat 2 1. Brian Dzingai (Zimbabwe) 20.25 Q2. Christian Malcolm (Britain) 20.42 Q3. Christopher Williams (Jamaica) 20.53 Q4. Shinji Takahira (Japan) 20.58 Q5. Amr Seoud (Egypt) 20.75 Q6. Thuso Mpaung (South Africa) 20.87 Q7. Daniel Grueso (Colombia) 21.158. Arnaldo Abrantes (Portugal) 21.46Heat 3 1. Marlon Devonish (Britain) 20.49 Q2. Kim Collins (St. Kitts & Nevis) 20.55 Q3. Marvin Anderson (Jamaica) 20.85 Q4. Matic Osovnikar (Slovenia) 20.89 Q5. Chris Lloyd (Dominica) 20.906. Heber Viera (Uruguay) 20.937. Cristian Reyes (Chile) 21.208. Franklin Nazareno (Ecuador) 21.26Heat 4 1. Roman Smirnov (Russia) 20.76 Q2. Walter Dix (U.S.) 20.77 Q3. Rolando Palacios (Honduras) 20.81 Q4. Angel David Rodriguez (Spain) 20.87 Q5. Bruno de Barros (Brazil) 21.156. Desislav Gunev (Bulgaria) 21.557. Vyacheslav Muravyev (Kazakhstan) 21.688. Nicolai Portelli (Malta) 22.31Heat 5 1. Rondell Sorrillo (Trinidad & Tobago) 20.58 Q2. Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 20.64 Q3. Kristof Beyens (Belgium) 20.69 Q4. Marc Schneeberger (Switzerland) 20.86 Q5. Jose Acevedo (Venezuela) 21.066. Ihor Bodrov (Ukraine) 21.387. Mohamad Siraj Tamim (Lebanon) 21.808. Oleg Juravlyov (Uzbekistan) 22.319. Juan Zeledon (Nicaragua) 23.39Heat 6 1. Wallace Spearmon (U.S.) 20.46 Q2. Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (Norway) 20.54 Q3. Paul Hession (Ireland) 20.59 Q4. Seth Amoo (Ghana) 20.915. Ronalds Arajs (Latvia) 21.226. Jayson Jones (Belize) 21.547. Nabie Foday Fofanah (Guinea) 21.68.Brian Barnett (Canada) DNFNeat 7 1. Obinna Metu (Nigeria) 20.62 Q2. Ramil Guliyev (Azerbaijan) 20.78 Q2. Churandy Martina (Netherlands Antilles) 20.78 Q4. Sandro Viana (Brazil) 20.84 Q5. Jamaal Rolle (Bahamas) 20.935. Shingo Suetsugu (Japan) 20.937. Omar Juma Al-salfa (United Arab Emirates) 21.00.Alex Nelson (Britain) DNSHeat 8 1. Aaron Armstrong (Trinidad & Tobago) 20.57 Q2. Brendan Christian (Antigua and Barbuda) 20.58 Q3. Jared Connaughton (Canada) 20.60 Q4. Visa Hongisto (Finland) 20.62 Q5. Marco Cribari (Switzerland) 20.985. James Dolphin (New Zealand) 20.987. Zhang Peimeng (China) 21.06.Samuel Francis (Qatar) DNSQ = Qualified DNF = Did not finish DNS = Did not start

August 18, 2008

Women's hockey: Germany qualify for semi-finals Champions Germany qualified for the semi-finals in women's Olympic hockey on Monday with a 1-0 victory over Japan to top Pool B with 12 points.
The third-ranked Germans became the second team to book a last four berth after the top-ranked Netherlands, silver medalists four years ago, sealed a spot from Pool A on Saturday with a game to spare.

Three-times champions Australia will take on Asian Games champions China in their final group match on Monday with the winner taking the other semi-final spot from pool A.
Argentina (eight points) can not afford anything short of a victory against New Zealand later on Monday to book their berth as the second team from Pool B with Britain, who play the United States, just a point behind. source: http://www.rediff.com/sports/olympics08.html

Bapraula’s wrestling hero gets huge welcome home

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NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (IANS): Thousands of adoring fans from this village on the edge of the national capital came out on the streets Tuesday to give a rousing welcome to fellow villager and wrestling hero Sushil Kumar, who returned home with an Olympic bronze medal.Sushil, who gave India an Olympic medal in wrestling after 56 years, was lapping up all the adulation as he sat on an elaborately bedecked elephant while drummers kept up a lusty beat.The wrestler was driven in a flower-bedecked open jeep from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, where he landed in the early hours Tuesday, to his village amid fanfare.A cavalcade of trucks, cars and motorcyclists jammed the roads leading to his home but nobody was complaining.“We have been moving with him through the night and danced the whole night. Nobody, including Sushil, has eaten anything or taken a nap, still we do not feel exhausted,” said the wrestler’s proud uncle Jai Singh, sweat dripping from every pore.Almost all the villagers of Bapraula near Najafgarh in west Delhi had gone to the airport to receive their now-famous son. Some of the women who seldom leave their homes appeared lost.With folded hands that occasionally unfolded for a wave, Sushil acknowledged all the adulation, perched on the elephant and earlier in the jeep.“I have tied a rakhi on Sushil’s wrist,” his sister told IANS. He had been in Beijing on Raksha Bandhan.

Vijender rares to go for modelling

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Vijender rares to go for modelling NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (PTI): Can boxing and modelling go together? It could be, if Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh has his way. “My first priority will be boxing and then... modelling,” Vijender said when asked what will be his priority after the Beijing Olympics medal. The middle weight pugilist was speaking to reporters at Rashtrapati Bhavan, along with wrestler Sushil Kumar, after making a courtesy call on President Pratibha Patil. However, Sushil said his priority will be winning medals at Delhi Commonwealth Games (2010), Guanzhou Asian Games (2010) and the London Olympic Games (2012). “I will prepare for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and next Olympics,” Kumar said. During the meeting, the President said their successful feat has encouraged youths of the country. Patil also told the Olympic bronze medallists that they have set an example for others. “The President told us that she was very happy with our achievements and the whole country is proud of us,” Vijender said. The duo arrived at the national capital in the wee hours today to a rapturous welcome after India’s most memorable campaign at the Olympic Games, in Beijing.

Braveheart Akhil receives tumultuous homecoming

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Braveheart Akhil receives tumultuous homecoming NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (PTI): He may not have won a gold at the Beijing Olympics but medal or no medal, boxer Akhil Kumar remains the face of the most successful Olympic contingent as he received a tumultuous welcome here in the wee hours today.After his pre-quarterfinals match, where he outpunched world bantamweight champion Sergey Vodopyanov, Akhil had said, “Please don’t forget me if i can’t win a medal,” and his fans did not disappoint him as they thronged the Indira Gandhi International airport to welcome home their new sport icon. Akhil along with Jitender, who also reached the quarter finals, was given a heroes welcome by his over-enthusiastic fans as they carried the boxers on shoulders all around the airport premise. Huge garlands dangled around Akhil’s neck as crazy fans hugged him and even coaxed him for autographs chanting slogans and hailing him high and low. Reporters and photographers mounted on each other to have a reaction from the Bhiwani boxers. The reception was such that even Akhil was awestruck. “When I returned, the immigration officer asked me for an autograph. It was for the first time that something of this sort happened. I am delighted and overwhelmed at the response,” Akhil said.

Sushi’s coach given hero’s welcome

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PHAGWARA, Aug 27 (PTI): PR Sondhi, the coach of Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar, was today given a hero’s welcome here. A native of village Raipur Dabba but settled in Phagwara, Sondhi was brought in a huge procession to the beats of drums and bands by hundreds of his fans, members of the sporting fraternity and prominent townsmen from the local Railway station to the City Club where he was feted. Though Sushil practised in the ‘akhara’ of Satpal, Sondhi was the official coach of the Indian wrestling team that took part in Beijing Olympics. Such was the enthusiasm of public that Sondhi could meet his family after three hours even though the distance of his residence from the station was less than two kms. In a chat with PTI at his residence, Sondhi said Sushil required both quality training and diet for winning a gold in Commonwealth and Asian Games of 2010 and the London Olympics of 2012. He claimed that Sushil had both the ability and potential for winning gold in coming international meets.Sondhi said, “Sushil would have to go by what the dietician recommends and what his coach/trainer directed.” He attributed the meteoric rise of China as the biggest sporting nation of the world to the strong base of sportspersons, scientific training, discipline, dedication, and clean environment.