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Isinbayeva to lead Russian charge China hopes to pip USA Surender aims for top-10 finish |
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SA complete big win
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Australian world champion walker Nathan Deakes has been forced to pull out of next month’s Beijing Olympics because of a hamstring injury. The 30-year-old has been troubled by hamstring problems for the past four years but aggravated the injury while training in Switzerland last week. He has been ordered to undergo immediate surgery to repair the damage, sidelining him until at least next year and ruining his chances of competing at Beijing. “I’m still in a bit of shock,” Deakes said.
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Isinbayeva to lead Russian charge
Moscow, July 21 The Russian athletics federation picked 49 men and 60 women for the Games. Isinbayeva, 26, who set her 22nd world record by vaulting 5.03 metres at Rome's Golden Gala last week, was one of the few athletes who was assured of a place on the squad without having to qualify in Kazan. Olympic high jump champion Yelena Slesarenko and Tatyana Lebedeva, 2004 Olympic gold medallist in the long jump, also made the team in their respective events. Lebedeva will also compete in the triple jump in Beijing. She won back-to-back world titles in 2001 and 2003 and the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in that event. But 2004 Olympic gold medallist in the women's hammer, Olga Kuzenkova, will not defend her title in Beijing after coming in fifth in Kazan. Former Olympic and world champion Irina Privalova also failed in her latest comeback attempt to qualify for her fourth Olympics after finishing seventh in the 200 metres final and missing the final in the 100. Privalova has not competed at the Olympics since winning gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2000 Sydney Games but has chosen to go back to her first love, the shorter distances. The mother of three, who turns 40 in November, was not ready to retire, however. "I'm not planning to retire just yet," she told reporters. "I'll start training soon again. Who knows, I might have another child, then will try to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics." In Athens, Russia finished third in the medals table after the United States and China, coming home with 92 medals (27 gold, 27 silver and 38 bronze). Both the men's and women's basketball teams won the European championships this year and are among red hot favourites for the Olympic tournaments. In volleyball, both country's squads are also strongly favoured and are capable of going all the way to the top spots of the Games' podiums, Olympic officials and sports commentators said. The Russian women's handball team, who are the reigning world champions, are expected to win their tournament, while the men's squad coaching staff were also targeting Olympic medals. In women's tennis, Russia is confident of success as the country's players have dominated the top echelons of the WTA rankings in recent years. Russian stars Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina will all be gold medal prospects in China and no one doubts they are capable of winning the event. Meanwhile, in the men's section of the squad only Yury Borzakovsky, who won 800m Olympic gold in Athens, could be considered to be among the favourites. There were outside hopes, however, for Yaroslav Rybakov in the high jump, Sergei Makarov in the javelin and pole vaulter Yevgeny Lukianenko, who cleared 6.01m earlier this month. Russia also hopes to dominate the Olympic tournament in wrestling as all of the country's teams (freestyle, greco-roman and women's) are currently in top form. For instance, the national greco-roman wrestlers swept all the golds at the Grand Prix at Madrid, Spain, earlier this month winning in all of the seven weight
categories. The country's boxers, who dominate European amateur boxing, are also expected to add weight to Russia's medal table along with synchronised swimmers, artistic gymnasts and shooters, who are traditionally strong and performed well at the Athens Olympics.
— Reuters/AFP |
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China hopes to pip USA
Beijing, July 21 China is so keen to top the score board that it has borrowed Western sporting expertise, for example they hired an Australian coach Tom Maher to train its women’s basketball team. Chinese officials will closely monitor the total medal tally while the rest of the world’s eyes will be on the individual performances. According to experts, America would take an early lead as there are many swimming events in the beginning of the Games. “We expect this to be one of the most competitive Olympics in recent history. That is down to a combination of China’s investment in its Olympic programme, Russia’s decision to do the same and the policy of some nations like Britain, which are targeting specific medals in sports that are important to them. China has to be considered the favourite. Every host nation receives a huge boost,” the Telegraph quoted Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the US Olympic Committee, as saying. China boycotted the Games throughout the 1960s and 1970s because the International Olympic Committee recognised Taiwan as a member. According to Simon Shibli, head of the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, China’s gold share in this year’s Games is likely to reach between 44 and 46 out of the 302 available. “I predict they could top the table this year, based on them continuing their rate of improvement and factoring in the home nation effect,” he said. Meanwhile America, he estimated, would win 38 to 39 golds. The extensive training programme of China is responsible for producing heroes like Liu Xiang, the reigning Olympic and World 110 metres hurdles champion. Zhang Yining, the world’s top female table tennis player is also expected to repeat her double triumph at Athens. “If you win a lot of medals, then it shows you have advanced as a country,” said Mao Zhi Xiong, professor of sports psychology at Beijing Sports University. “It means the economy is growing, that living standards are improving and that there is better technology,” he added. Whereas, American hopes are on swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, who hope to win eight and seven gold medals respectively. If Phelps succeeds he will beat the American swimmer Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven golds. Whatever happens in Beijing, Chinese supremacy at the Olympics looks almost certain within a matter of years. “With a population of 1.3 billion - more than four times that of the US - future Chinese dominance was a statistical certainty. You start doing the math, and that’s what keeps me up at night,” said Steve Roush, the US Olympic Committee’s head of sports performance.
— ANI |
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Surender aims for top-10 finish
New Delhi, July 21 Having done brilliantly in the Asian Cross Country held in Pune in 2004, Surender came to the notice of ASI where he changed tracks to 5,000 and 10,000m events on coach Ridmal Singh's insistence. It did not take much time to pick up the basics in middle and long-distance events as in the next one year he made the India ranks under national coach Dr Nikolai Snesarev in Bangalore. Having already achieved the 'B' qualification mark for the Olympics, Surender is now the best shot for India in 10,000m event. And the unassuming 30-year-old does not forget to give the full credit to coach Ridmal who was instrumental in him becoming a middle and long-distance runner from that of cross country event. "He (Ridmal) has been the force behind my success -- whatever I've achieved is all because of him. Forget making the Olympics, I might not have achieved this much of success had I not come to the ASI and under the guidance of Ridmal sir," Surender, who now trains in Bangalore, told PTI. The ace runner goes on to add that it's his recent training at the high-altitude Munnar in Kerala that worked wonders for him. "I thank Kerala government for giving me the opportunity to train there. Having trained at 1600m above sea level, I could achieve the 28.10s mark. It showed in the two-month stint in Europe, where I achieved the B qualification mark for Beijing. Obviously, this Munnar training is the turning point in making the Olympics," Surender said. The long-distance runner qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the 10,000m event, clocking an impressive 28:02.89s, a new national record, to finish fourth at the Spanish Olympic trials in Vigo on July 12. Earlier, the Pune-trained runner had wiped out two of the oldest standing national records within a span of 10 days when on June 5, Surender eclipsed Bahadur Prasad's 16-year-old 1500m record. He clocked 7:50.31s at St Mary's Classic Meet at Twickenham, London to erase Prasad's feat of 7:56.74s set in London in May 1992 and on June 14 and went on to register himself as one of the greatest ever athletes of the country when he bettered the 32-year-old 10,000m record of 28:48:72, held by the legendary Hari Chand, by more than 20 seconds by timing 28:22.79 at Watford, England. However, the runner feels he has to break into the 27minutes mark so as to make any impact at the Olympics level. "My timing in the range of 28 minutes even won't earn me a place inside top 10, which is my realistic target. For this, I'm training very hard to break the 27-minute barrier. If I can get there, a top 10 finish is what I'm looking for. A medal, though, seems a remote possibility at the moment," Surender admits. However, he adds that the Asian runners have an edge in the Beijing where the condition is humid and hot. "We are used to run in high humid condition and where the temperature is above 30 degree centigrade. I guess the European and American runners will find it difficult to adjust there, so it will be a competition between the Asian runners," Surender, whose competition is on August 17, said. Surender, incidentally, is the first athlete from the Garhwal Rifles in 122 years to book a berth in the Olympics. Born in a farmer's family at Gairsain village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, running was more of necessity for Surender who used to run nearly 10km a day to attend his school. Having joined the Garhwal Rifles in 1999, Surender represented the Army in the national cross country held in Shimla in 2003, which earned him his maiden international cap for India and then the Asian Cross Country in 20004 (Pune) brought him under the ASI radar.
— PTI |
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Mendis fails to impress Jenner
New Delhi, July 21 Jenner, who is credited to groom Australian spin legend Shane Warne, was surprised to learn that the freaky Sri Lankan spinner didn't have stock ball in his kitty. "Mendis needs to develop the stock ball which is very essential for leg-break bowlers. When I heard that he doesn't have stock ball, I was amazed," said the Australian great, who is in the capital to oversee a bowlers' camp. "World's best spinners have great stock ball. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) was one of them. As a coach, we need to teach basics not magic deliveries," he added. Jenner feels Mendis lacks variety and still has a long way to go to prove his mettle in the international circuit. "What he's (Mendis) doing has been done before by bowlers like John Gleeson. He is a good bowler but I am doubtful about his success in Australian and South African pitches. He does not have variety in his bowling," Jenner said. "His carrom ball is not unique, what is unique is his pace. His sudden rise in popularity is because of the fact that most of the world's best spinners have either finished their career or in the twilight of their career. "In Mendis, people are trying to find out Warne, (Anil) Kumble, Muralitharan but by doing so they are putting too much pressure on him," Jenner said. Jenner said young Indian spinner Piyush Chawla had a great potential to be the "next best thing in the world of spin" if he develops leg-break. "Don't write off Chawla. He can be the next best thing in the world of spin bowling but the same issue, he too lacks variety. His wrong ones are very deceptive but he can't bowl two to three wrong ones in an over in Test cricket," he asserted. "He (Chawla) needs to develop his leg break to be successful in Test cricket." The Australian also said India Test skipper Kumble had come of age since he first met him 2003. "He (Kumble) has done really well in the last couple of years. There's a lot of difference between now and when I met him first in 2003. That time, his job was to contain batsmen, but now he is bowling with the aim of picking wickets. "I'd advised him to change the sequence of his deliveries as he has only three to four balls in his armour and it helped him a lot. "Both Warne and Kumble's heart are bigger than their bodies."
— PTI |
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Leeds, July 21 South Africa's winning performance was dominated by centuries from AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince as they set up their team's imposing first innings total. Andrew Flintoff, in his first test for 18 months, resisted South Africa's victory charge in an unusually slow innings of 38 from 95 balls before he was caught at second slip off Morne Morkel. The time in the middle should at least be some consolation for him and England.
— Reuters Scoreboard
England first innings 203 South Africa first innings 522 England second innings Strauss c Boucher b Ntini 0 Cook c Amla b Kallis 60 Vaughan c Boucher b Ntini 21 Anderson lbw b Steyn 34 Pietersen c Boucher b Kallis 13 Bell c de Villiers b Morkel 4 Ambrose c Boucher b Steyn 36 Flintoff c Kallis b Morkel 38 Broad not out 67 Panesar b Steyn 10 Pattinson b Morkel 13 Extras: (b-4, lb-11, w-2, nb-14) 31 Total: (all out, 107 overs) 327 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-50, 3-109, 4-123, 5-140, 6-152, 7-220, 8-238, 9-266, 10-327. Bowling: Steyn 28-7-97-3, Ntini 25-7-69-2, Morkel 22-4-61-3, Kallis 17-3-50-2, Harris 15-5-35-0 South Africa second innings Smith not out 3 McKenzie not out 6 Total: (no wicket, 1.1 overs) 9 Bowling: Broad 1-0-8-0, Pattinson 0.1-0-1-0. |
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Mark Spitz holds the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Spitz set a new world record in each of the 7 events (the 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 4 x 100 m freestyle relay, 4 x 200 m freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 m medley relay). His participation in the Munich games, swimming with a moustache, gained him a bit of notoriety as most competitors opt to swim without facial hair, often shaving their bodies completely. Spitz believes that fellow US swimmer Michael Phelps can better his record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics next month. Phelps narrowly missed out on breaking the record four years ago at Athens, where he won six gold.
A former sprinter from Panama who won two bronze medals at the 1948 Olympics, the first and so far only Olympic medals for Panama. In the 100 meters, he finished behind Harrison Dillard and Barney Ewell for third place, ahead of favorite Mel Patton. Born in Panama City, his parents were Jamaican immigrants. While Lloyd was still in school the family relocated to Jamaica, where La Beach first showed his talent in athletics. He entered the University of California in L A, where he was coached during his preparations for the Olympic Games. In 1948, he set the world record in the 200 meters on a cinder track in Compton, California. After the race, he was described in Time as “Panama’s one-man Olympic hope.” Just a few weeks before La Beach had been involved in a world record setting 100-yard dash in which barely lost at the finish line tape to Patton.
