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| Tuesday, September 26, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Cathy Freeman fulfils expectations
Nemov grabs most medals |
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| Contrasting fortunes of China, Russia SYDNEY, Sept 25 — In Beijing there is euphoria, in Moscow despair. Argentina eves
stun China Mutola charters new territory Hockey: best chance for India Anand sparkles in Sydney Bennett confident of ending Savon era Neelam, Rai disappoint Hunter tests
positive Yevgeny in sight of gold Takavoli gives Iran first gold First Indian
batch set to leave Argentina rout Spain 5-1
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Cathy Freeman fulfils expectations SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Cathy Freeman surged to an emotional victory in the Olympic 400m today, the first individual Olympic title ever earned by an Aborigine making her the darling of all Australia. “I couldn’t wait to cross the line to end four years of expectation,” Freeman said after she clocked 49.11 seconds to beat back silver medallist Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and bronze medallist Katharine Merry of Britain. “I have felt the pressure from the Australian people,” she added. “I didn’t mind. But I am glad it is over.” After crossing the finish line she dropped to her knees and let the sound of the cheering wash over her, then a barefoot Freeman took her victory lap wrapped in both the Australian and Aboriginal flags. “It has been a dream since I was a little girl,” said Freeman, who seemed to be borne around the track by the roar of 100,000 fans at Stadium Australia. Tonight I’ve grown up.” For many, however, the way that Freeman has been embraced has become a potent sign that Australia itself is growing up, coming to grips with its past and moving toward racial reconciliation. But for Freeman, her selection to light the Olympic cauldron would have been a hollow gesture had she not been able to follow up that stunning appearance in the stadium with a triumphant performance on the track. American Michael Johnson also carved out his place in Olympic history, becoming the first athlete to successfully defend his 400m title. Johnson, already among the sport’s greats thanks to his 400m-200m double at Atlanta four years ago and his stunning world records for both distances, swept home in 43.84 seconds ahead of compatriot Alvin Harrison and Jamaican Gregory Haughton. The chilly breeze put paid to Johnson’s ambitions of breaking through the 43-second barrier, but distance runners thrived in the cool evening. Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia won one of the greatest 10,000m races in history, overhauling Kenyan Paul Tergat in the final two strides of the longest track event on the programme, with bronze going to Ethiopian Assefa Mezgebu. Maria Mutola captured Mozambique’s first ever Olympic gold when she surged to victory in the 800m, pushing to the front in the final 20 metres to edge Austrian Stephanie Graf and Briton Kelly Holmes, who had led with 200 metres to go. The women’s 5000m produced another stirring finish, as Romania’s Gabriela Szabo fended off a challenge from Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan for the victory. The shining performances on the track almost eclipsed the drug scandal brewing with C.J. Hunter, husband of US sprint star Marion Jones, at its center. The International Amateur Athletic Federation confirmed that Hunter, the shot put world champion, tested positive for a banned drug in Oslo on July 28. The revelation prompted denials from US athletics officials of a wide-ranging cover-up, while in the stadium US athletes tried to shrug off the controversy. World record-holder Stacy Dragila of the USA won the first Olympic women’s pole vault gold ever awarded ahead of Australian Tatiana Grigorieva, with Iceland’s Vala Flosadottir taking bronze. But Cuba’s Anier Garcia grabbed the 110m hurdles gold ahead of Americans Terrence Trammell and mark crear, while 1996 gold medallist Allen Johnson of the USA finished fourth and world record-holder Colin Jackson of Britain could only manage fifth. Virgilijus Alekna won the second Olympic athletics gold medal for Lithuania since the split with the Soviet Union, taking the discus title with a throw of 69.30 metres. Lars Riedel, Germany’s defending Olympic champion, had to settle for silver, ahead of South African Frantz Kruger. Jonathan Edwards of Britain, who almost left Sydney when his mother-in-law died shortly before the games began, won the men’s triple jump gold ahead of Cuba’s Yoel Garcia and Denis Kapustin of Russia. Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook gave hosts Australia another gold as they up-ended Brazilian second seeds Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede in straight sets to win the women’s beach volleyball gold medal. Men’s all-around gymnastics champion Alexei Nemov of Russia won the horizontal bar gold and parallel bars bronze to take his medal haul to six, the most of any Olympic competitor for the second games in a row. In other apparatus finals, Elena Zamolodtchikova edged Russian team-mate Svetlana Khorkina for the floor exercise crown, China’s Liu Xuan won the balance beam, China’s Li Xiaopeng won on parallel bars and Gervasio Deferr (19) won Spain’s first-ever Olympic
gymnastics medal, taking gold in the vault. Iran’s Hossein Tavakoli ended Alan Tsagaev golden dream in Olympic weightlifting, snatching the 105kg title just hours after Tsagaev was cleared to compete despite the positive drug tests of three of his Bulgarian team-mates. |
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Australia grinds to a halt SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Australia came to a halt today to watch the nation’s most loved athlete Cathy Freeman claim her first Olympic gold medal in the much-anticipated 400 metres event. The crowds who braved chilly weather to gather in front of the giant screens set up at “Olympic Live” sites in downtown Sydney erupted in jubilation as Freeman stormed across the finish line. Television sets in thousands of clubs and bars across the country were tuned to the race and millions more fans watched at home. Viewing figures were expected to rival Saturday’s 1,500m battle between Aussie swim stars Grant Hackett and Kieren Perkins — the nation’s most-watched sporting event ever, with 96.1 per cent of the potential audience switching on. Freeman was under immense pressure as she lined up for today’s race, after being given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron, and coping with the drama of her French rival Marie-Jose Perec’s vanishing act. |
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Johnson makes history in 400 metres SYDNEY, Sept 25 (DPA) — Michael Johnson made Olympic history as the first man to win back-to-back 400 metres gold medals, but Cathy Freeman stole the show by winning Australia’s most desired gold medal in front of the biggest athletics crowd ever at Olympic Games here today. Clad in a hooded body-suit to brave the cool temperatures, Freeman set the hearts of the 112,524 fans on fire with a comfortable victory in 49.13 seconds. Freeman is the first Aborigine to win an athletics gold and the first Australian woman since Debbie
Flintoff-King’s 400m hurdles win in 1988 to take an Olympic athletics title. She sat on the track for a few minutes before doing a lap of honour with the Australian and Aborigine flag. The two-times world champion Freeman had been the allout gold medal favourite, and the same applied to Johnson, who has three world titles in the discipline and is also the world record holder. Johnson also easily held off his rivals to grab his third individual gold, after a 1996 200m and 400m double, in 43.84 seconds in his trademark upright running style in his last Olympic individual race. Haile Gebrselassie also got a double gold in the 10,000m, but needed to fight harder than ever before to maintain his winning record over the distance over the last seven years. The four-times world champion came from behind on the home stretch to beat Paul Tergat by a mere nine hundredths of a second in 27 minutes 18.20 seconds. The Kenyan had to settle for the silver as in 1996 and at the last two world championships, and Assefa Mezgebu took bronze for Ethiopia. Freeman won handily in 49.11, Lorraine Graham of Jamaica added an Olympic silver to her 1999 world championship bronze in 49.58 and Katherine Merry won bronze for Britain in 49.72 seconds. Freeman had come to Sydney having won 41 of her last 42 races since 1997 and owning the two fastest times of the year. The pressure on her increased even more after she had the honour to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony 10 days ago. Johnson’s Olympic dream seemed endangered when he injured his hamstring in the 200m final of the US trials, but he quickly regained his fitness and grabbed the gold in his regular dominant style. He then embraced Jamaican bronze medallist Gregory Haughton, who had set a breathtaking pace in lane 8 in the early stages and finished in 44.70. Alvin Harrison completed a US one-two finish with the silver in 44.40 seconds. World champion Stacy Dragila won another gold for the US team in the first ever women’s pole vault with 4.60m. Tatyana Grigorieva got the silver for Australia and Vala Flosadottir bronze for Iceland. There was also delight for Cuba as Anier Garcia stormed to the 110m hurdles gold in 13.00 seconds, leaving only the minor medals for US hurdlers Terence Trammell and Mark Crear. World champion Gabriela Szabo got the 5,000m gold medal in 14:40.79, outsprinting Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan and Gete Wami of Ethiopia. The favourite also prevailed in the men’s discus. Virgilijus Alekna won only the second overall Olympic athletics gold for Lithuania with 69.30m. Silver went to the 1996 champion and four times world champion Lars Riedel of Germany and Frantz Kruger of South Africa got bronze. Maria Mutola of Mozambique finally got an 800m Olympic gold on top of her 1993 world championship gold in 1:56.15. Stefanie Graf was an Austrian silver medallist and Kelly Holmes took bronze to Britain. The Britons rejoiced even more when triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards also got his first Olympic gold with a season-best 17.71m. Yoel Garcia won silver for Cuba and Denis Kapustin bronze for Russia. |
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Venus in sight of title
SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was in such low spirits before the Olympics that he considered not coming to Sydney, today put himself just two matches away from winning the gold medal for Russia. The former world number one produced his best match since reaching the final of the Australian Open in January to shatter Gustavo Kuerten’s dream of Olympic glory. Kafelnikov, seeded five, broke the second-seeded Brazilian’s service in the final game of both sets for a 6-4, 7-5 victory that earned him a semi-final clash against France’s Arnaud Di Pasquale, one of three unseeded players in the last four. Switzerland’s rising young prospect Roger Federer will take on Germany’s Tommy Haas in the other semi-final. “Before I came here I was not playing as well as I would like to,” Kafelnikov, who before today had not won four consecutive matches since the French Open in June, said. “But after a few matches here I’ve got my confidence back and now I just have a very small thing to do, win two matches, and I’ll be an Olympic champion.” It was all very different three weeks ago, when a third round exit from the US Open left the Russian despairing of whether he would ever rediscover the form that brought him French (1996) and Australian Open (1999) titles. “I’ve got to be realistic,” he said then. “My chances are not high to compete for any medal at all. I’m not playing as well as I can and if I’m not, what’s the point of going there?” Luckily for him, Russian Olympic chiefs were able to persuade Kafelnikov to make the long trip to Sydney and his impressive form here — he has yet to drop a set — make him an overwhelming favourite to claim the gold. First though he must get past Di Pasquale, who has been produced a run of form here that completely belies his status as the 78th ranked player in the world. The young Frenchman has had as frustrating a year as Kafelnikov but, like the Russian, seems to be thriving on Sydney’s Olympic air. He had already ousted ninth seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany and Sweden’s Magnus Norman, seeded third. Today he accounted for Spanish eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-1 with another astonishing performance. If Di Pasquale was a swimmer or a runner, his beaten opponents would be demanding a dope test. Di Pasquale himself is at a loss to explain why the Olympic experience has brought the best out of him. “Something just seems to have clicked into place,” he said. Venus Williams ousted her American teammate Monica Seles in three sets to move within one match of adding an Olympic gold medal to the Wimbledon and US Open titles she has won this year. Williams, who won 6-1 4-6 6-3 will play Relena Dementieva in Wednesday’s final. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Men’s all-around gymnastics champion Alexei Nemov won the horizontal bar title here today, giving the 24-year-old Russian the biggest medal haul among all Olympic athletes for the second games in a row. Nemov also won a bronze on parallel bars during the last day of gymnastics competition to finish with six medals and just missed a seventh by finishing fourth in the vault, an event where he had been the reigning Olympic champion. The Sydney medal count for Nemov also includes all-around gold, silver in the floor exercise and prior bronzes in team and pommel horse. Nemov also captured six medals at the 1996 Olympics, including gold in team and vault, silver in all-around and bronzes in horizontal bar, pommel horse and floor exercise. A spectacular performance on the bar topped by a high backflip release move gave Nemov a golden finish with 9.787 points. France’s Benjamin Varonian had the same total but Nemov won as a result of better overall placings by judges. In other apparatus finals, Elena Zamolodtchikova edged Russian team-mate Svetlana Khorkina for the floor exercise crown, China’s Liu Xuan won the balance beam, China’s Li Xiaopeng won on parallel bars and Gervasio Deferr, (19), won Spain’s first-ever Olympic gymastics medal, taking gold in the vault. |
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Contrasting fortunes of China, Russia SYDNEY, Sept 25 (Reuters) — In Beijing there is euphoria, in Moscow despair. Halfway through the Olympics, China have already won a record haul of gold despite a disastrous start when a batch of suspected drugs cheats was slung off the team. Russia, meanwhile, have been struggling. Alexander Popov was dethroned as king of the pool and when the undisputed queen of the bars, Svetlana Khorkina, slipped and fell last week, the hopes of millions of Russians came crashing down to earth as well. “Moscow is worried,” said Vitaly Smirnov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee. “I’ve received so many phone calls in the last few days — from politicians, business people, government officials,” he told Russian reporters over the weekend. “Everyone wants to know what is going on with our team.” That was the question most Chinese were asking themselves before the Games, when six of seven members of the Ma family army of female long-distance runners were axed from the squad, along with coach Ma Junren and 21 other athletes. The rest of the world was wondering whether China’s real intention was to appear squeeky clean in Sydney, thereby boosting their chances of hosting the 2008 Olympics. If that was the case, had China sacrificed their medal chances? But the Chinese team are on a roll in Sydney and the reaction at home has been exultant. After six Chinese gold medals last Friday, the China sports daily spoke triumphantly about a “red storm breaking in Sydney”. “Everybody, Chinese and foreigners alike, is talking about China,” the country’s leading sports daily said. The Beijing Daily hailed the “day of China”. While the Beijing morning daily proclaimed that “the whole country is inspired with enthusiasm”. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, its Olympic teams had become unassailable. At one Olympics after another in which the Soviets competed against cold war enemies the USA — Munich, Montreal, Seoul and Barcelona — they topped the medals tables. Americans and East Germans competed for second spot. The Russian team had less success on its first outing in Atlanta, bringing home 26 gold medals against 44 for the Americans. But in the build-up to Sydney, ordinary Russians were encouraged to believe that the glory days of Soviet sporting achievement were on the way back, and Russian athletes would again challenge American supremacy. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Pan American champions Argentina took a giant leap towards their first Olympic women’s hockey medal with a 2-1 win over China in the super league here today. The Argentine girls, who beat the Netherlands 3-1 on yesterday, fought back after conceding an early lead to record their second successive win in the six-team round. Argentina, the only team not to carry forward any points from the preliminary round, now have six points and a game in hand against New Zealand on Wednesday. A win over the Kiwis will ensure Argentina a place in the top four. The first two teams in the super league will clash for the gold medal and the next two for the bronze. Defending champions Australia and Spain are the other teams in the super league. China, who drew goal-less with Spain yesterday, went ahead in the sixth minute when Tang Chunling banged in a penalty corner. The Chinese maintained the lead till just before half-time when Luciana Aymar deflected in a push from the right to help Argentina draw level. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Maria Mutola’s achievement in winning Mozambique’s first ever Olympic gold medal comes in a year that saw her homeland ravaged by floods, undoing much of the progress that had been made in a country that considered itself one of Africa’s success stories. Until Mutola — full name Maria Lurdes Mutola — won the 800m in Sydney Mozambique had not matched the success of other African countries in track and field at Olympic level. Even the bronze medal she won in Atlanta, Mozambique’s only previous medal, was seen as something of a disappointment as she had been hot favourite before that final. In 1996 she was had been hot favourite for gold at the same distance but in the end had to settle for bronze behind Svetlana Masterkova of Russia and Ana Fidelia Quirot of Cuba. She had been hotly tipped to top the podium after first emerging into the limelight in the 1992 Games in Barcelona where she finished fifth. And that result itself paled into significance a year later when Mutola was crowned world champion over the two-lap distance in 1993. She had gone into the Atlanta final on the back of an astonishing record of 50 consecutive 800m victories —excluding the 1995 World Championship semi-final when she was disqualified for stepping outside her lane despite romping home. But for some reason she misfired. Before gloriously redeeming herself in Sydney Mutola admitted that a second failure could force her into a career change. A keen footballer since childhood she has said she would like to play professionally if the proposed women’s professional league gets off the ground in the USA. Born in Maputo in October 1972 Mutola is another product of the seemingly endless supply of African middle and long distance runners although until her arrival on the scene Mozambique’s chief contribution to world sport had been footballer Eusebio, who played at international level for its former colonial masters Portugal. Mozambique, uniquely, is the only member of the British Commonwealth never to have been a British colony and in 1999 in Kuala Lumpur she won Mozambique’s first ever gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. For good measure, her distant cousin Argentina Paulino won the silver, also for Mozambique. But she developed her craft in the USA after being awarded a grant by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She is based in Eugene, Origon. She works as an unofficial ambassador for Mozambique and has not forgotten her homeland — in July she helped top Mozambique football club Grupo Desportivo to fight financial debts by allowing them to sell colourful dresses bearing her portrait. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (PTI) — Eight-time champions India have their best chance of making it to the medal round of the Olympic hockey tournament in two decades provided they keep their cool and not lose their self-confidence in their final group B league match against surprise packets Poland here tomorrow. The Bangkok Asian Games champions, with seven points to their credit, hold the advantage of having to play the last match in their pool so that they would be in a position to know exactly what needs to be done to qualify for the semi-finals. An outright victory over the Poles, who have turned in a superlative display coming to the Olympics after 20 years and have four points in their kitty, would put India in the last four irrespective of what happens in the preceding clash between joint group leaders Australia and Asian champions South Korea, who have eight points each. This is not a tall order for the Ramandeep Singh-led Indian team which has begun to be counted again among the fancied outfits — even rated higher than neighbours Pakistan who are going through a harrowing time in the other group. The top three teams — Holland, Germany and the hosts Australia — have had a relatively comfortable time here while the others are having a topsy-turvy time with form not keeping pace with their reputations. In group A, three-time winners Pakistan, unable to find an effective man to do the spade work for penalty corner ace Sohail Abbas to bang into the goal in most matches barring the 8-1 rout of Britain, are struggling to keep afloat. Seoul Games champions Britain have also struggled to find their bearings and are lying at the bottom of the pool with the knowledge that they have a fight remaining to avoid becoming the wooden-spoonists in the 12-team championship. In group B itself, 1980 and 1996 silver medallists Spain, who had finished runners-up at the Utrecht World Cup two years ago, emulated their European rivals Britain by sinking to the bottom of the league. Holders Netherlands and Germany, tied on eight points, are sharing the lead in pool A which has been termed the “group of death”. While no country in the history of the tournament, with the exception of India, have won two golds in a row, the flying Dutchmen are trying to become only the second team to do so. Netherlands, with convincing wins over Britain (4-2) and Canada (5-2) and draws against Germany (2-2) and Malaysia (0-0) have given an impression that they have not yet played at full throttle in their bid to retain their title. Pakistan, who face the holders in their final league fixture tomorrow, may have to bear the brunt of the Dutch fire-power. The former have six points and need three more to enter the last four, but have their task cut out against the powerhouse Dutch team. Pakistan hammered Britain 8-1 but have otherwise disappointed while settling for draws thrice — 1-1 with Germany, 2-2 with lowly Canada and 2-2 with Malaysia by scoring the equaliser just 15 seconds before the final hooter. In keeping with their reputation, the Germans have been going about their job in a professional manner, defeating Canada 2-1 and Malaysia 1-0 while drawing with Holland and Pakistan. In group B, hosts Australia, who have never won an Olympic gold despite being among the elite group of teams for several years, are sitting pretty on top with eight points. But so too are the Koreans with an equal number of points. As far as the Indian performance goes, the Vasudavan Baskaran-coached team swamped their former tormentors Argentina 3-0, drew with Australia 2-2 in a memorable, fast-paced encounter before suffering a shock 0-2 defeat to the Koreans. Faced with a do-or-die situation against Spain, the Indians took their chances with both hands and carved out a narrow 3-2 win and are, now, one win away from the medal round for the first time since the Moscow Games in 1980 where they attained the golden standard for the last time under Baskaran. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (PTI) — Indian Grandmaster Viswananthan Anand displayed his sparkling speed of thoughts to pin Alexei Shirov into a corner, but the Spaniard wriggled out of the mess as chess made an exhibition entry into the Olympic Games. While athletes of different disciplines were busy at various arenas playing for their country’s honour and a moment of glory, chess made a quiet but positive start to get a possible entry into the Olympic family. World number two Anand and Latvia-born Shirov added their might to the Games’ world governing body FIDE’s efforts in making the sport a medal event in the Olympics by playing exhibition matches at the Olympic athletes’ village in the Homebush Bay facility here. Though no medals were at stake, Anand and Shirov played two rapid games at a mind-boggling and fought hard till there was no life left in the positions. The first game was a fashionable Najdorf variation that has evoked such an interest that world’s best chess players have decided to have a close scrutiny for the game’s theoritical value. Anand, known for his speed of play, got an advantage on the board as well as the clock in the first game despite playing with a black. Shirov defended under pressure to reach a drawn ending where black’s extra bishop had no effect on the result of the game. Anand, having an advantage to white pieces in the second game, however, came unstuck as he French Rubinstein variation from Shirov. The French Rubinstein seems to have become pet opening for the Spaniard, but both players seemed to have liked their positions. The Indian sacrificed a pawn but Shirov repulsed the White initiative and gobbled the pawn to good use. In mutul time trouble Anand managed to win his pawn back and both players lifted till the eyes met and a second draw was agreed. After the mind-quenching games, Anand and Shirov were friends again and chatted amicably. Interestingly, the players discussed their games in the language that was easier for both — Spanish. While Shirov has adopted Spain as his home, Anand’s second base is also the country that it more mad about bull-fighting, football and tennis. As Anand and Shirov played two “ground-breaking” games, Australia’s youngest ever International Master Zong-Yuan Zhao, took on all-comers from the athelets in the Olpympic village in a simultaneous exhibition on 20 boards. Many well known atheltes as well as chessplayers tried their hand to see how this player of the future would play. Zhao made all work hard keeping his 20 opponents on the tenterhooks and impressed the chess fraternity as Australia found a world class player. |
Bennett confident of ending Savon era SYDNEY, Sept 25
(AFP) — It’s the fight of the Olympics: Cuba’s two-time gold medallist Felix Savon against US world champion Michael Bennett tomorrow with much to lose for the vanquished. Savon, an imposing 1.98-metre colossus with a career to match, is amateur boxing’s greatest current warrior who is pursuing a hat-trick of Olympic titles to emulate countryman Teofilo Stevenson’s achievement. In the opposite corner is inexperienced but talented 29-year-old world champion Bennett, who was serving time in an Illinois prison for armed robbery when Savon won his second Olympic title in Atlanta four years ago. Bennett has had fewer than 40 fights since his release from prison in July 1998, but in quick time he fought his way into the finals of last year’s world championship in Houston. He was scheduled to face Savon in the final last August but the Cuban defaulted in protest against a disputed decision that went against a teammate. Bennett will be the first American to fight a Cuban here, and it could be a gauge to the chances of the other six US boxers who could face Cubans in either semi-final or gold medal fights. In the last two Olympics, the US are 2-7 against Cuban, who have ruled amateur boxing for much of the last quarter century. Cuba have 10 of their 12 fighters in the quarter-final, while US have had five casualties in the preliminary rounds. The loser of tomorrow’s showdown bows out with nothing while the winner presses on for the gold medal. The Bennett camp believe Savon is an ageing boxer, on the downside of his fabulous career. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (UNI, PTI) — India’s dismal showing in the athletic competitions at the Olympics continued today with discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh and long jumper Sanjay K Rai performing much below their potential to be eliminated in the heats. While national record-holder in women’s discus, Neelam was way off her best in the domestic circuit of over 61 metres, Sanjay gave up after one jump which too was ruled ‘no jump’. The 29-year-old Neelam, gold medal winner at the recent Asian championships in Jakarta, threw 55.22m in her first attempt and 55.26m in the second. She fouled her last attempt to end at the 14th slot in group ‘B’ and 26th overall in a field of 32 competitors. Had Neelam just repeated her performance in the domestic circuit, she would have easily made it to the 12-women final round. The last qualifier to go through was Franka Dietzsch of Germany, who managed only 60.74m. The best performance by an Asian to move into the final today was China’s Yu Xin with a throw of 61.00m. Ellina Zvereva of Belarus led the field with 64.81m. Sanjay gave up after fouling his first attempt in long jump in group 1 which saw a total of six participants being disqualified. Like Neelam, had he recorded his best achieved in India (8.03m), he too could have qualified for the final. Cuban duo Ivan Pedroso (8.32m) and Luis Meliz (8.21m) were leading the pack. Romanian Bogdan Tarus was last of the qualifiers for the final with a jump of 8.00m. Neelam has a personal best throw of 63.02m to her credit which has not yet been ratified by the Amateur Athletics Federation of India. The list of 12 qualifiers was headed by Ellina Zvereva of Belarus (64.81 m), Natalya Sadova of Russia (64.62) and Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece (63.64) in that order. So far, it has been a disastrous outing for Indian athletes here, barring debutant woman quarter-miler K M Beenamol who made the semi-finals through two qualifying heats before being beaten into eighth place in her semi-final heat held last night under a downpour and in chilly weather conditions. Beenamol, silver winner at Jakarta in 51.41 which is expected to be ratified as the national record soon, timed 51.51, 51.81 and 52.04, respectively, in her races here. She said after her elimination last night that her muscles had tight up on the home straight and that she had stomach cramps since coming up with a storming finish on the final stretch to just about qualify for the semi-finals the previous day. |
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Hunter tests
positive SYDNEY, Sept 25 (Reuters) — World shot put champion C.J. Hunter, the husband of Marion Jones, has tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) said today. Hunter (31) pulled out of the Sydney Olympics before the start of the games citing a knee injury. In a statement the IAAF said Hunter had failed the test at the Bislett Games in Oslo on July 28 where he finished second in the shot. The statement said Hunter’s case would be investigated by the American governing body US Track and Field. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) — Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was in such low spirits before the Olympics that he considered not coming to Sydney, today put himself just two matches away from winning the gold medal for Russia. The former world number one produced his best match since reaching the final of the Australian Open in January to shatter Gustavo Kuerten’s dream of Olympic glory. Kafelnikov, seeded five, broke the second-seeded Brazilian’s service in the final game of both sets for a 6-4, 7-5 victory that earned him a semi-final clash against France’s Arnaud Di Pasquale, one of three unseeded players in the last four. Switzerland’s rising young prospect Roger Federer will take on Germany’s Tommy Haas in the other semi-final. “Before I came here I was not playing as well as I would like to,” Kafelnikov, who before today had not won four consecutive matches since the French Open in June, said. “But after a few matches here I’ve got my confidence back and now I just have a very small thing to do, win two matches, and I’ll be an Olympic champion.” It was all very different three weeks ago, when a third round exit from the US Open left the Russian despairing of whether he would ever rediscover the form that brought him French (1996) and Australian Open (1999) titles. “I’ve got to be realistic,” he said then. “My chances are not high to compete for any medal at all. I’m not playing as well as I can and if I’m not, what’s the point of going there?” Luckily for him, Russian Olympic chiefs were able to persuade Kafelnikov to make the long trip to Sydney and his impressive form here — he has yet to drop a set — make him an overwhelming favourite to claim the gold. First though he must get past Di Pasquale, who has been produced a run of form here that completely belies his status as the 78th ranked player in the world. The young Frenchman has had as frustrating a year as Kafelnikov but, like the Russian, seems to be thriving on Sydney’s Olympic air. He had already ousted ninth seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany and Sweden’s Magnus Norman, seeded third. Today he accounted for Spanish eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-1 with another astonishing performance. If Di Pasquale was a swimmer or a runner, his beaten opponents would be demanding a dope test. Di Pasquale himself is at a loss to explain why the Olympic experience has brought the best out of him. “Something just seems to have clicked into place,” he said. Venus Williams ousted her American teammate Monica Seles in three sets to move within one match of adding an Olympic gold medal to the Wimbledon and US Open titles she has won this year. Williams, who won 6-1 4-6 6-3 will play Relena Dementieva in Wednesday’s final. |
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Takavoli gives Iran first gold SYDNEY, Sept 25 (DPA) — Hossein Takavoli won Iran its first gold medal of the Sydney Olympics today, dramatically leaping into first place from fourth with his final lift of the 105kg weightlifting contest. The gold was Iran’s first weightlifting medal since the 1972 Munich Olympics and first gold in the sport since the 1968 Mexico city Olympics — both won by bantamweight Mohammed Nasiri Seresht. The 235kg lift matched that of Bulgarian silver medallist Alan Tzagaev — freshly reinstated after protesting a doping ban — but the Iranian had lifted 2.5kg more in the snatch. “I hope all Iran is proud of me,” the beaming 22-year-old winner said after lifting 190kg in the snatch and 235kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 425 kilos to clinch victory. Tzagaev, 23, took silver by lifting 422kg — 187.5kg in the snatch and 235kg in clean and jerk — shortly after being reinstated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He had protested to the CAS, insisting he had nothing to do with any of the doping for which the entire Bulgarian weightlifting team had been banned Friday by the world body IWF. The ban was imposed after three of its lifters — Izabella Dragneva, Sevdalin Minchev and Ivan Ivanov — tested positive for diuretics. “It was all the Bulgarians’ decision to fight the ban,” Tsagaev said. “For three days I have had no chance to train. I only trained since last night” when, he said, the ban was lifted. Tzagaev had one final chance for gold with the last lift of the competition but failed 237.5 — sending the Iranian camp into a frenzy of celebration in the warm-up room. Qatar’s 21-year-old said Asaad — who used to be a Bulgarian called angel Antchev Popov — won bronze with a total of 420kg —190kg in the snatch and 230kg in the clean and jerk. Takavoli had gone into the clean and jerk placed fourth and Tzagaev fifth but they got into the top medals when the leaders faltered in the contest’s second phase. Former world champion Igor Razoryonov of Ukraine managed only 227.5kg after a huge 192.5kg in the snatch, while his teammate and world champion Denys Gotfrid failed all three attempts at 230kg after a snatch of 190kg. Other favoured competitors Mukrhran Gogia of Georgia and Evgueni Chichliannikov of Russia failed to complete the competition because of injury. “I’m certainly surprised — it doesn’t get any better than this,” Takavoli said. “I can’t imagine what kind of celebrations they are having in Iran. I say ‘hi’ to everyone who’s been praying for me.” |
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First Indian
batch set to leave SYDNEY, Sept 25 (PTI) — The first batch of the Indian Olympic contingent is leaving for home tonight after finishing the events here. The competitors who are returning home with the batch include P. Gopichand and Aparna Popat (badminton), Woman Judoka Brojeshori Devi, Anjali Vedpathak and Abhinav Bindra (shooting), Nisha Millet (Swimming) and Chetan Baboor, S. Raman and Poulomi Ghatak (table tennis), Indian Chef-de-Mission Ashok Mattoo said here today. |
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Argentina rout
Spain 5-1 SYDNEY, Sept 25 (Reuters) — From an Olympic silver medal in Atlanta to last in their pool in Sydney, that is the sorry tale of Spain beaten 5-1 by Argentina today. After beating Pakistan in the final of the qualifying tournament in Japan in March, Spain had their sights set on a first Olympic title. Instead, they are still looking for their first win. Their nemesis was Argentine striker Jorge Lombi, who took his tournament tally to 10 goals with a sublime hat-trick. His third goal, 11 minutes after half time, had a touch of genius about it as he left a Spanish defender in his wake and stood up goalkeeper Ramon Jufresa before slotting the ball into the net. For Argentina, who came into the tournament as a replacement for South Africa, the win was a just reward for an industrious week’s work. After a dismal start against India, they held Korea and Poland to draws and pushed Australia all the way before succumbing 2-1. |
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India at a glance SYDNEY,
Sept 25 (UNI) — The following is the summary of India’s performance at the 27th Olympics here today. Athletics: Discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh and long jumper Sanjay K Rai performed much below their potential to be eliminated in the heats. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 25 (Reuters) — Olympics medals at the end of the 10th day
on Monday (Given in the following order: Country,
Gold, Silver, Bronze) USA 23 14 21 China 21 14 13 Russia 14 14 19 Australia 12 20 11 France 12 13 6 Italy 11 6 11 Romania 10 4 5 Netherlands 7 5 3 Britain 6 8 5 Germany 5 9 15 Japan 5 4 4 South Korea 4 6 8 Poland 4 4 1 Bulgaria 4 3 2 Ukraine 3 6 5 Cuba 3 4 2 Sweden 3 3 1 Hungary 3 1 1 Spain 3 0 2 Greece 2 4 1 Czech Republic 2 1 3 Finland 2 1 0 Austria 2 1 0 Lithuania 2 0 1 Turkey 2 0 0 Slovenia 2 0 0 Switzerland 1 5 2 Indonesia 1 5 2 Slovakia 1 3 1 Belarus 1 1 8 Canada 1 1 5 Mexico 1 1 0 New Zealand 1 0 3 Ethiopia 1 0 2 Latvia 1 0 1 Croatia 1 0 1 Mozambioue 1 0 0 Iran 1 0 0 Colombia 1 0 0 Azerbaijan 1 0 0 Brazil 0 3 2 Belgium 0 2 2 Denmark 0 2 1 South Africa 0 1 2 Taiwan 0 1 2 Jamaica 0 1 2 North Korea 0 1 1 Norway 0 1 1 Kenya 0 1 1 Yugoslavia 0 1 0 Uruguay 0 1 0 Trinidad 0 1 0 Nigeria 0 1 0 Moldova 0 1 0 Ireland 0 1 0 Argentina 0 1 0 Georgia 0 0 2 Estonia 0 0 2 Costa Rica 0 0 2 Thailand 0 0 1 Qatar 0 0 1 Portugal 0 0 1 Kuwait 0 0 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 Iceland 0 0 1 India 0 0 1 Barbados 0 0 1 Armenia 0 0 1 Note: Swimming: Two gold, no silver medal, awarded in men’s 50m freestyle, Two bronze medals award in women’s 100m freestyle swimming. Judo: Two bronze medals awarded in all categories. |
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EME, Shivalik academy record wins CHANDIGARH, Sept 25 — electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Jalandhar, prevailed over Indo-Tibetan Border Police 6-5 via the tie breaker after the two teams were level 2-2 at the end of regulation time on the third day of he 30th SN Vohra Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Sector 18 hockey stadium here today. In another match, Shivalik School Academy maintained their winning spree by edging out Food Corporation of India 5-3 in the tie breaker. The first match was evenly contested and in fact ITBP enjoyed the upper hand in the first half when they were leading by two goals, scored by Kamlesh Ram (13th minute) and Satya Naryana (26th). However, EME’s Mahipal restored parity for his team after the breather scoring twice in quick succession (52nd and 62nd minutes). In the tie beaker, international Ponnacha, J. Kumdu, Apachu and Kamlesh were successful with their strokes while for ITBP, Raman Kumar, Gopal Krishan and Marshal converted their strokes. Peter Lakra was unsuccessful. In the second match Shivalik School Academy took the lead through Yudhvinder in the 49th minute but FCI’s Kuldip scored the equaliser in the 60th minute. In the tie-breaker, Shivalik’s Paramjit, Harwant Kumar, Rajinder Singh and Jatinder Singh found the target while for FCI only Manjinder and Kuljinder were successful with their strokes.  |
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