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Usain bolts to world record |
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China denied medal sweep
Vijender, Jitender delight
Phelps is best ever: Spitz
Lithuania move closer to dream
20km walk
Borchin beat home 1996 Olympic champion Jefferson Perez of Ecuador (1hr 19.15) while Australia’s Jared Tallent (1hr 19.42) filled the bronze medal position.
USA’s winning spree on
Elsewhere... ‘B’ Sample Test
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Jang Miran was crowned the strongest woman on the planet when she won Olympic gold and broke 3 world records to give S Korea their 2nd w’lifting title.
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And this too
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In an 'epic' journey covering 2,400 km by a tricycle in five weeks, a 97-year-old grandmother has arrived at Beijing to watch the Chinese badminton team in action. Xiao Xincui started the voyage from Henan province sitting on the back of the tricycle paddled by her grandson Liu Xianghui. Old Xiao arrived in the Games Village to see women's singles champion Zhang Ning playing on Saturday. Xiao's grandson said he wanted to make the trip as a 'Thank you' gesture to his grandmother for bringing him up.
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Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was on Saturday stripped of the Olympic bronze medal he won and then dumped in podium protest, an official said. The Swede, who won silver in Athens, grudgingly climbed the podium after finishing third in the 84kg class here on Thursday. But he left the medal at the centre of the competition mat before stalking off the stage with a raised clenched right fist.
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Usain bolts to world record
Beijing, August 16 |Jamaica's Usain Bolt won 100 metres gold at the Beijing Olympics in a world record time on Saturday, thumping his chest in celebration as he scorched to victory in 9.69 seconds.
The 21-year-old won his country's first Olympic title in the blue riband event and capped an astonishing rise to the top of his sport. His former world record was 9.72 seconds. Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago won the silver and American Walter Dix the bronze. Bolt's time was rounded up from 9.68 which was flashed up immediately after the race in the stadium. "I came here just to win, that was my aim," Bolt told the BBC. "I didn't even know I'd won the record till I did my victory lap.” "I am just focusing on the 200 metres now. I came here prepared and I'm going to do it." Jamaican Asafa Powell, whose world mark Bolt bettered with a run of 9.72 in May, once again failed to deliver on the big stage and finished fifth. "I messed up big time," he said. "My legs died on me. Usain ran an awesome race. I'm very happy for him.” "I really wanted to get that gold medal but it's just obvious I wasn't ready for it yet." World champion Tyson Gay of the U.S. did not even make the final, finishing fifth in his semi to end hopes of a showdown between the three fastest men ever. Bolt, a 200 metres specialist who had run only one professional race in the shorter distance before this year, will now turn his attention to becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the Olympic sprint double. Anxious to avoid the tougher training regime of the 400 metres, Bolt reached an agreement with his coach last year that if he broke the Jamaican 200m record he would be allowed to try the 100. The reggae-loving Bolt duly delivered and ran an impressive 10.03 seconds in his first outing in Greece in July last year. The 6ft 5in (1.96m) world 200m silver medallist picked up where he left off with an identical time in his first outing of 2008 but his third run in Kingston was simply remarkable. His time of 9.76 was then the second fastest in history and his coach Glen Mills reckoned he could have broken Powell's record of 9.74 had he not turned to check on his rivals towards the end. Better was yet to come. In New York on the last day of May, Bolt, who because of his height sometimes struggles with his start, got off to a flyer and thundered down the track in 9.72 seconds. Jamaica had a new world record holder. Since then, he has oozed confidence and looked to be running well within himself as he stormed through the first two rounds of heats in Beijing. A keen cricketer before he turned to athletics, Bolt first announced his talent when he became the youngest world junior champion by winning the 200m in Kingston in 2002 at the age of 15. Now, he will be remembered as the man who brought the first 100m gold to his island, which in Linford Christie, Donovan Bailey and the now disgraced Ben Johnson had produced three Olympic 100 metres champions for other countries. — Reuters
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Beijing, August 16 Trailing Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 metres butterfly, he lunged forward on his final stroke to touch a hundredth of a second ahead, the smallest margin possible. Phelps, the sporting phenomenon of the Beijing 2008 Games, punched the air and screamed with joy as a capacity crowd in the Water Cube rose to hail him. "It's pretty cool, that's all I can say," said Phelps, who thought halfway he had blown it. "I am in a sort of dream world." On Sunday, Phelps can go one better than Spitz if he wins an eighth Beijing gold in the 100 medley relay. The man he may surpass was gracious with his compliments. "He can be called the best Olympian of all time," Spitz told America's NBC television, "not because he has more gold medals than anybody but in the way he's handled himself and in the way he's actually won under a tremendous amount of pressure." Phelps now has 13 career golds, four more than anyone else in the 112-year history of the modern Games. Only seventh at the turn on Saturday, Phelps's second length was one of the comebacks of his career. He clocked 50.58 seconds to Cavic's 50.59, close enough for Serbian officials to protest. FINA confirmed the result. "I personally looked at the video footage and it was very clear the Serbian swimmer touched second," race referee Ben Ekumbo said. Phelps said he was hurting during the last 10 metres. "It was my last individual race and I just wanted to finish as strong as I could," he said, laughing and waving at fans. Phelps's success is down to total focus and the perfect swimmer's physique of large torso and huge reach on short legs. His arm span is 3 inches (7.6 cm) more than his 6ft 4 height. The only surprise was that Phelps did not win in world record time, unlike his other six title-winning swims in Beijing. The women, though, were in record breaking form. Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who had won three silvers already in Beijing, finally struck gold in the women's 200 backstroke, bringing some rare cheer to her troubled homeland. She shaved 0.85 seconds off the previous world best. "I'm so excited I can hear my national anthem play, I'm so proud, it'll be exciting back home," said Coventry, who has been called a "golden girl" by President Robert Mugabe in a rare accolade from him for Zimbabwe's white minority. — Reuters
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Beijing, August 16 The Swiss duo beat Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Saturday. When Federer closed out the victory with a service winner, he threw up his arms and began hopping, then hugged his partner. The medal is the first in three Olympics for Federer, who has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles. He was beaten in the quarterfinals of singles at Beijing by James Blake and his four-and-half-year reign atop the rankings will end on Monday when Rafael Nadal becomes No. 1. Nadal in final
Spain's Rafael Nadal underlined his dominance of men's tennis with a three-set win over Novak Djokovic to reach the Olympic Games final. Nadal, who will face Chile's Fernando Gonzalez tomorrow, overcame a second-set lapse to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes yesterday. A horrendous error from the third-ranked Djokovic sealed it for Nadal when the Serb missed the open court with an overhead on match point. Nadal, who becomes world number one the day after the final, is now just one match away from adding the gold medal to this season's seven-trophy haul including the French Open and Wimbledon. The high-energy 22-year-old started with a bang, breaking at 1-0 and again at 3-1, before Djokovic picked up the pace. He struck again in the decider when Djokovic was serving to stay in the match, returning the Serb's hardest forehand and retrieving a drop shot. Djokovic fired his smash wide on the second match point.
— Agencies Final line-up |
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Beijing, August 16 Lu took game one easily 21-11 but lost the second 21-13 as Yulianti showed her reach during some tough rallies. In the decider, Yulianti had an eight-point run before the break at 11-8 and then scored seven straight points afterwards. Lu grabbed seven of the last 10 points but her deficit was too large and she burst into tears after losing 21-15. China's Zhang Ning successfully defended her Olympic women's badminton singles title on Saturday with a hard-fought battle over compatriot Xie Xingfang, becoming the oldest woman to win the gold. Xie took silver and Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti won the bronze. Zhang took game one 21-12 but Xie fought back to win the second, pushing her 33-year-old opponent all over the court. Zhang took an early lead in the deciding game but seemed to tire as it went on and allowed Xie to tie it up at 15-15. Flicking sweat to the sidelines and breathing heavily, Zhang somewhere found the energy to pick up the pace and turned the tables on 27-year-old Xie. Zhang clinched the match 21-18, jumping for joy before sinking to her knees, burying her head in her hands and wiping away the tears. — Reuters
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Beijing, August 16 Vijender Kumar outpunched Thailand’s Angkhan Chomphuphuang in a virtually one-sided affair of the men’s middle-weight (75kg) category to storm into the quarterfinals of the Olympic competition here today. The terrain looked easier for Vijender in comparison to what Akhil Kumar had against the World Champion yesterday as he posted a 2-0, 4-1, 4-0, 3-2 (13-3) win today. Vijender was completely in an attacking mode from the start as his Thailand rival’s punches failed to give him any useful points. The Haryana-based boxer’s jabs and uppercuts proved too hot for Chomphuphuang to handle as the Indian raced to 6-1 lead after two rounds. As Vijender noticed his impressive points tally, he started his onslaught in the third round and grabbed four points while his rival kept searching for opportunities. In the last round the Thai boxer did manage to take two points against Indian’s three but it was a case of too little and too late. In the quarterfinals, Vijender will lock horns with Carlos Gongora of Ecuador. Indian hopes of a first Olympic boxing medal are high now with three fighters reaching the quarterfinals. The trio, coincidentally all called Kumar, a common name in India, will secure at least bronze if they win their next bouts. Jitender Kumar, light-flyweight, reached the last eight on Saturday by outpointing Uzbek Tulashboy Doniyorov 13-6 before Vijender followed him through with a 13-3 points win over Thailand’s Angkhan Chomphuphuang. Bantamweight Akhil Kumar had advanced on Friday, extending a brilliant run by upsetting Russian world champion Sergey Vodopyanov. Jitender, who survived a fright when Doniyorov opened a cut on his chin but was able to finish the bout, paid tribute to Akhil for giving him precious advice. “Akhil had fought him (Doniyorov) before and knew a lot about him,” Jitender said. “We talked about the fight last night. I couldn't sleep but Akhil told me I would win. All the credit goes to him.” Jitender will be tested in the next round when he meets Russia’s Georgy Balakshin. Akhil, who had outboxed 2005 world silver medallist Ali Hallab of France in the first round, seems India’s best bet. The shaven-headed 27-year-old, whose win over Vodopyanov came on India’s Independence Day, will face Moldova’s Veaceslav Gojan for a place in the last four. — Agencies
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Beijing, August 16 The track and field events continued to throw up disappointment as Vikas Gowda's Beijing Olympics campaign wilted in the qualifying round itself with the US-based Indian discus thrower failing to reach anywhere near his personal best today. Gowda, who had a similar experience four years ago at the Athens Olympics, hurled the discus 60.69 to finish 11th in Group A and 22nd overall, a performance way below his personal best and national record of 64.96m. Meanwhile, Mandeep Kaur too could not lift the gloom as she failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women's 400m event. Mandeep, who ran an impressive career-best 51.74 seconds at the 38th National Inter-state Athletics Championships in Madurai in June, could not repeat the performance here and timed 52.88 to finish sixth in the seven-athlete Heat Two and overall 33rd. First three from each of the seven heats and the next three fastest made it to the semifinals of the event. Heptathletes fail to qualify In women's hepthalon, Pramila, Shobha and Sushmita could not even cross the qualifying round for the final line-up of 15. True, Pramila today came up with the best show among the three Indians to finish 28th but it was not good enough for a place in the final. Shobha and Sushmita came 30th and 33rd respectively. Pramila secured 983 points in 100m hurdles, 903 in high jump, 639 in shot put, 894 each in 200m and long jump, 692 in javelin and 777 in 800m to finish with a total of 5771. Shobha totalled 5749 while Susmita aggregated 5705. Ukrainian Nataliia Dobrynska won the gold with an aggregate of 6733, while compatriot Lyudmila Blonska (6700) grabbed silver and American Hyleas Fontain (6619) bagged the bronze in the event. — Agencies
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Beijing, August 16 Phelps, 23, on Saturday matched Spitz's record of winning seven gold medals at one Olympics with a fingertip victory in the men's 100 metre butterfly final. This not only puts him on a par with Spitz's record but also gives him a shot at topping that by bagging an eighth gold when he competes in his final event on Sunday, the 4x100 medley relay. "I think that he can be called, Michael, the best Olympian of all time, more so not because he has more gold medals than anybody but in the way he's handled himself and in the way he's actually won under a tremendous amount of pressure," Spitz told the U.S. television network NBC. Spitz, 58, said he always knew someone would eventually match the benchmark he set at 1972 Munich Games. He called Phelps's performance "epic" and said the Baltimore native represents "an inspiration to youngsters around the world." As Phelps has bagged gold after gold at Beijing, the world's media had been hunting for Spitz to get his reaction to the swimmer attacking his record after 36 years. There were rumours that he was in Beijing, then that he was in Hong Kong, and then that he was at home in California. However it turned out he was in Detroit, watching one of his two sons play in a basketball tournament. After Saturday's race Phelps told NBC that he thought he had lost the race that earned him a extra $1 million from sponsor Speedo which promised him a bonus if he matched Spitz's record. "As soon as I took the last half stroke, to be honest, I thought I had lost the race," he told the U.S. network that bought exclusive broadcasting rights to the Aug 8-24 Games. "And that was the difference, 'cause if I would have glided then I would have come up short. I've been lucky enough over the last four years to have two pretty good finishes in Olympic finals. I guess I'm blessed." Whether he wins an eighth gold medal or not, Phelps will leave Beijing as the most successful Olympian of all time. By Saturday he had lifted his gold medal tally to 13 which tops the previous record of nine held jointly by Spitz, U.S. sprinter Carl Lewis, Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina. — Reuters
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Lithuania move closer to dream
Beijing, August 16 ''Our main goal is to win a medal here,'' Lithuania coach Ramunas Butautas told Reuters. ''That's what we're dreaming of and we'll do everything we can to achieve that.'' Guard Mindaugas Lukauskis led Lithuania's fightback, finishing with 20 points after Croatia had taken a three-point lead at halftime. Lithuania won Olympic bronze in 1992, 1996 and 2000 but had been overlooked before Beijing with the United States, Argentina and Spain expected to dominate the medals. ''We don't mind that,'' shrugged Lithuania's Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza. ''We don't need no attention. We all know what we can do.'' Croatia slipped to 2-2 in Group A to leave their quarter-final hopes in the balance. Meanwhile, Australia outmuscled Russia 95-80 to leave the European champions on the brink of elimination. Milwaukee Bucks centre Andrew Bogut scored 22 points in a physical game as the ''Boomers'' levelled their record to 2-2 to effectively secure a place in the quarter-finals. The struggling Russians slipped to 1-3 and would have to upset 2004 Athens gold medallists Argentina in their final Group B game and rely on a miracle from winless Iran. Bogut said he had no problems with winning ugly. — Reuters
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Russian grabs maiden gold
Beijing, August 16 The 22-year-old, who served a one year drugs ban in 2005-06, had been swept up in a confusing story prior to the Games where his coach said that he had failed a drugs test but which was denied by the national team coach. Borchin beat home 1996 Olympic champion Jefferson Perez of Ecuador (1hr 19.15) while Australia’s Jared Tallent (1hr 19.42) filled the bronze medal position. Rustam Kuvatov of Kazakhstan set the early pace and was narrowly ahead after 2km just after the athletes had left the stadium. Kuvatov’s flirtation with Olympic fame came to an end just after the 5km mark as he was caught and passed by Francisco Fernandez of Spain while Ireland’s Robert Heffernan took closer order on his shoulder. A group of 26 were now clear of the rest of the field. At the 8km mark Fernandez — silver medallist in Athens and three times a silver medallist in the world championships - was joined up front by defending champion Ivano Brugnetti with Eder Sanchez of Mexico also prominent while Heffernan and Australia’s Luke Adams looked dangerous. — AFP
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Elsewhere...
Melbourne, August 16 The tournament, supposed to be a showpiece of one-day cricket, featuring the top eight sides in the world, remains in limbo despite the ICC's position that the security measures they have implemented are sufficient to ensure the tournament could proceed. According to The Age, the ICC security task force yesterday briefed Australian captain Ricky Ponting, vice-captain Michael Clarke, chief executive James Sutherland and players association chief Paul Marsh. They also heard a personal reflection from Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson on the reality of life in Pakistan. But no decision has yet been made by Cricket Australia on whether to commit to sending the team, now that they have been briefed by the ICC they will make their decision in the next week and report to the ICC. Irrespective of that decision, Ponting knows that there will be players in the squad who will not tour. Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Stuart Clark have all raised grave concerns already. ICC general manager Dave Richardson briefed the Australians on the situation yesterday after speaking to the New Zealand team the day before. He said the Kiwis greeted the briefing with cynicism and animated opposition. Richardson said the tournament could still be shifted to Sri Lanka if the situation in Pakistan deteriorated or if it appeared so many countries refused to attend, or the squads they sent were so weakened that the tournament became compromised. Uncertainty grips PCB
Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board ran quarter page advertisements in newspapers today announcing the launch of Champions Trophy but there is a sinking feeling of a losing battle among its officials and they are "expecting the worst" in the next few days, say sources. According to well-informed sources in the board, strong chances are that the Champions Trophy might be relocated or postponed even as Australia and New Zealand refused to confirm their participation despite briefings from ICC task force in the last 48 hours on the security arrangements being made for the event slated to be held from September 12. "Some teams have also raised questions about the timing of the competition in Pakistan when Muslims the world over fast in the holy month of Ramazan," one source said. "The truth is that even within the PCB there is a sinking feeling of a losing battle and they are expecting the worst in the next few days," said the source, who is well aware of the cricket developments said. The same feeling is prevailing in the ICC camp office in Lahore although no one is willing to speak on record. "If the ICC manages to convince the teams that Champions Trophy should be held in Pakistan then it would be a major achievement but at the moment most of the teams are in the comfortable position of defending themselves by pointing out that the travel advisories to them by their foreign office does not encourage travelling to Pakistan," the source said. Even former players are questioning the role of PCB during the exercise being carried out by the ICC task force to convince teams to play in Pakistan. PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf's continued absence from the country (as he is in the United States with his family reportedly on vacations) and the failure of the board to send senior board and security officials with the task force have come under scrutiny. "I don't understand this given the critical situation when the ICC task force was in Pakistan, the chairman was not in the country. Then why send coach Geoff Lawson to Australia and New Zealand when already in the past even the Australians were not convinced by his arguments about playing in Pakistan," former Test captain Javed Miandad told PTI.
— Agencies |
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Asif leaves for Geneva
Karachi, August 16 Asif, who tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug during the IPL, would come to know whether he faces more disciplinary action or not only after the "B" sample test. Asif's lawyer Shahid Karim has informed that they have hired a British sports medicine specialist Dr Graham who would accompany them to ensure that the test is conducted under specifications of the World Anti-Doping Agency rules. "We have obtained the best possible help to assist us in the case as Asif is adamant he is innocent," Karim said. Although the pacer - who spent 19 days in detention in Dubai airport for carrying a banned substance while returning home from India after playing in the IPL - has a tainted past, he said he was mentally prepared to face every situation and insisted that he never did anything wrong in his career. "We are having the 'B' sample test for the reconfirmation. And we have to be present there. Inshallah! I will be cleared," said Asif, who had tested positive along with fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar for banned substance - Nandrolone in 2006 before the Champions Trophy, but escaped bans after an Appellate Tribunal cleared them on technical grounds. Asif is presently suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board and was not selected in next month's Champions Trophy squad, but he maintained he would come out clean and earn his place back in the national team. "If I am cleared which I am confident I will be, I will try to make a place for myself in the Pakistan team as soon as possible," he said. — PTI
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Beijing, August 16
Iraq's Dana Abdulrazak, who braved sniper fire and bombs in order to train and withstood a bid to ban her over Olympic politics, was a winner just by starting the women's 100 m opening heats on Saturday. Never mind the results showed that she finished sixth in the second heat in 12.36 seconds, 59th overall in a field of 85, and failed to qualify for the second round. What they did not show was how much it meant for her to represent her strife-torn homeland. "It wasn't important to be first. It was important to represent Iraq," she said. "I'm very happy to be here." Abdulrazak, 22, realised the dream that kept her training day after day while dodging bullets and bombs.