Thursday, August 21, 2008

Bolt breaks 200m world record against headwind

Usain Bolt of Jamaica jubilates after the men's 200m final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the title with 19.30 seconds and set a new world record.
The Olympic men's 100 meters gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the men's 200m world record in19.30 seconds en route to his golden double at the Beijing Olympic Games on Wednesday, even into a headwind of 0.9 meters per second.

The previous record of 19.32 seconds was set by American Michael Johnson in the 1996 Olympic Games. The 21-year-old had already broken the 100m world mark in the Games when he became the fastest man in the world in 9.69 seconds.

Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles got the silver in 19.82 seconds and Shawn Crawford of the United States won the bronze in 19.96 seconds.


Usain Bolt of Jamaica poses by the results board with his new world record after the men's 200m final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the title with 19.30 seconds and set a new world record.
Source:Xinhua

Jamaican Walker wins women's 400m hurdles gold

Melaine Walker of Jamaica competes during the women's 400m hurdles final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Melaine Walker won the title with 52.64 seconds and set a new Olympic record.
-- Jamaica's Melaine Walker clocked 52.62 seconds to win the women's 400m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Beijing on Wednesday.

American Melaine Walker took the silver and Tasha Danvers of Britain got the bronze.


Melaine Walker of Jamaica competes during the women's 400m hurdles final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Melaine Walker won the title with 52.64 seconds and set a new Olympic record.
Source:Xinhua

China's Xue/Zhang beat Brazil to got women's beach volleyball bornze

Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China celebrate victory after the women's bronze medal match against Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won the match 2-0 and got the bornze medal.


Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China sign their names on the ball during the women's bronze medal match against Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
China's Zhang Xi and Xue Chen captured the beach volleyball bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, defeating Brazilian pair Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro in straight sets.

They made history for China, whose previous best Olympic finish was ninth place by Tian Jia and her then partner Wang Fei at the Athens Games.

Zhang and Xue defeated the Brazilian duo 21-19, 21-17.

"I can't believe we earned the bronze medal," said Zhang, who, along with her partner Xue, is for the first time to compete at the Olympics.

"We readjusted our strategies when we once trail in the first set and we won the set," she said of a decisive turning point in the match.

The two sides traded scores in the first set but the hosts reached the match point at first and ended the set 21-19.

The second set was much easier for Zhang/Xue. They played more relaxed and scored frequently through serves, blocks and spikes. The Chinese once led the Brazilians six points in the second set and claimed the set 21-17 to net in the bronze medal.

In the past years, the Chinese pair has won four FIVB World Tour gold medals and was also 2006 Asian Games champions.

"Our techniques are not worse than them but we made a lot of mistakes," said Renato after the match.

"But we are very proud of our performance at the Olympics," said Renata, who, along with her partner, was making debut at the Olympics.

Antunes and Ribeiro, placing sixth on the Olympic qualification standing, had also been considered medal contenders. The pair is winner of five FIVB World Tour gold medals.

Source:Xinhua

American May-Treanor/Walsh claim beach volleyball gold

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor of U.S. kiss their gold medals on the podium during the victory ceremony of women's gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
Defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States captured the Beijing Olympic beach volleyball gold medal on Thursday.

The American pair defeated China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie 21-17 and 21-18 in the final. The Chinese duo got the silver medal.

The two sides traded points in the first set to 17-17 before the U.S. duo reap four points in a row to win the first set 21-17.


Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor of the U.S. celebrate after they won the women's gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
In the second set, the Americans led at the beginning while the Chinese came from behind and traded points for a tit-for-tat battle. After the visitors reach the match point 20-18, a dink spike by the U.S. duo finished the gold medal match.

"It was such a tough match, their serves were so strong. But we wanted to win and we won the match," said Walsh after the match.

Without losing a single set, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States, dubbed as "queens of the beach," breezed into the beach volleyball final at the Beijing Olympics. And the American duo have not been defeated in a single match since last August.

The three-time Olympian May-Treanor said before the Olympics that experiences are their advantage and they will use them to gain the upper hand over their rivals in Beijing. "Experience in beach volleyball comes into play in those big matches where fatigue sets in." said May-Treanor.

The combination of the pair is another factor which has contributed to their outstanding results. Men's beach volleyball legend and three-time Olympic champion of the United States Karch Kiraly also prized the partnership of May-Treanor and Walsh "the best ever".

Strong psychology is another significant weapon for the U.S. duo to perform well. "I will pretend that the crowd was cheering for us," May-Treanor said of the audience's support in the final for the Chinese team before the match began.

"I'm excited to win the silver medal. We did our best in the match, and I think we played very well. I'm proud to present such a wonderful match in front of the large audience," said Wang.

"I hope beach volleyball will have a faster development in China through our success at the Beijing Games." she added.


Silver medalists Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China stand on the podium during the victory ceremony of women's beach volleyball medal matches of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
Tian and Wang said before the match began that their rivals were "very strong" both in experiences and techniques and they just wanted to do their best in the final match.

In an earlier match, China's Zhang Xi and Xue Chen captured the bronze medal, defeating Brazilian pair Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro in straight sets.

Source:Xinhua

Historic match of Beach Volleyball on rainy day

As the city's air quality had all reached the standards to host the Olympics in all 18 days of August before Tuesday, the Chinese capital was making strides in fulfilling its commitment on good air quality for the Games, a Beijing official said.

"In the 18 days between Aug. 1 and Aug. 18, Beijing's air quality was within the standards to host the Olympics. Of the 18 days, Beijing reported Grade I air quality in nine days, and in the other nine days, the city's air quality was Grade II," deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection Du Shaozhong told a press conference.

In the Chinese system to report the air quality, Grade I means the air quality is excellent with the Air Pollution Index showing a reading between 1 and 50. Grade II means the air quality is fairly good, with an API reading between 51 and 100.

In the past 18 days this month, the daily API reading was 56 on average, much lower than last year's figure of 81 in the same period, he said. Beijing's air quality so far this month was the best ever recorded in the last 10 years.

"These figures prove that our measures to improve air quality for the Beijing Games, particularly those temporary measures to cut emissions, have been playing a positive role. We are earnestly fulfilling our commitment to ensuring good air quality during the Olympics," he said.

Source: Xinhua

Tearful Chinese synchro swimming twins fail to dance to podium

The 21-year-old twins share everything: snacks, laughs, gruesome training, and also tears.

Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting, two of China's best synchronized swimmers, failed to take home a highly-anticipated medal in Wednesday's duet competition, won by the Athens champion Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia.


Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen of China compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen of China ranked fourth.
The twins scored 96.334 points, about three full points less than the winners.

"I didn't catch the rhythm, and that caused the problem in our synchronisation," said the younger Tingting, struggling to hold back her tears.

The older sister Wenwen, usually the more silent one, tried to give an assertive tone: "we have competed three times and our performance has improved every time. We are very thankful to our coaches."


Jiang Wenwen/Jiang Tingting of China perform during the duet technical routine of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Synchronized Swimming events in Beijing, China, Aug. 18, 2008.
Before she could finish the sentence, tears began welling up in her delicate eyes. "We are aware that there is distance between us and the stronger duets. It is a good experience. We still have the team event and we will continue to work hard for that," she said, before hurrying out of the mixed zone.

Slender and tall, the sisters were sent to a local sport club at a young age to increase strength and remedy their lean figure. They started doing synchro swimming as a sport after a synchro coach persuaded them to give it a try.

Synchronized swimming is far from being a popular sport in China, but the sisters came under spotlight when they dethroned longtime Asian champion Japanese swimmers at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Months later, they made a historical fourth in team and duet competitions in the 2007 Melbourne World Championships.

At an April Olympic qualifier event in Beijing, the twins held off a Japanese duo and won a duet silver.

Mentored by Masayo Imura, a famed Japanese coach, the twins were prepared to improve upon the 7th place from Athens to win a medal at their home Olympics.

They trained nine to 10 hours every day, and had to drop their favourite spicy foods for fearsome amount of cheese and dessert to improve strength.

In their Olympic debut on Monday, the twins marched in unison upon a blue carpet to boisterous cheers of the spectators. Wenwen said the cheers were so loud that they nearly drowned the music.

In Wednesday's final, their free routine was performed to a music piece called "Flying", in which they simulated peacocks and used thin legs to form a square, a unique element that won acclamations in the fully-packed stadium.

Their three-minute performance impressed the crowd, but was only rated 93 percent of their level by coach Imura. "They make an error in the end, and of course there were regrets. We had aimed to win a medal," she said.

"But they are still part of a bigger team and they still have to give it all in the team competition to get a medal," she said.

The team routine is the second medal event in the synchronized swimming discipline. The final is scheduled on Saturday.

Source: xinhua

Amputee swimmer finds herself in water

For the often critical journalists, they rarely give applause to anyone. But they did Wednesday to South African Natalie du Toit.

Du Toit, 24, is the first female amputee to compete in the Olympics.
Natalie Du Toit of South Africa talks to her coach after women's marathon 10km competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Natalie Du Toit ranked the 16th of the event. Du Toit, whose left leg was amputated in 2001 after she was injured in a road accident, is an athlete for both Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Olympics.
As the exhausted girl was receiving message after finishing 16th in a grueling 10-kilometer open water race, nearly 100 journalists waited patiently for her at the press room. Before du Toit emerged, questions on her were poured to her competitors.

"I think she deserved a separate gold medal just for the effort," winner of the race, Russia's Larisa Ilchenko, said. "It takes a lot of willpower to compete in this discipline. I want to compliment her for being so strong and so brave."

Starting swimming at the age of six, du Toit nearly qualified for the 2000 Games at the age of 16. But the following year as she trained for the 2004 Olympics, she was struck by a car while on her motorbike in Cape Town. Her left leg was amputated at the knee.


Natalie Du Toit of South Africa talks to her coach after women's marathon 10km competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Natalie Du Toit ranked the 16th of the event. Du Toit, whose left leg was amputated in 2001 after she was injured in a road accident, is an athlete for both Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Olympics.
Du Toit responded to the tragedy by jumping back in the pool a few months later. She had never been a distance swimmer before the accident, but a year ago she started training for the race. She qualified for the Beijing Games with a fourth-place finish at the open-water world championships in May in Spain.

When du Toit finally appeared in front of the media, she looked tired but happy. "For me it was a dream come true," said she.

The open-water event is slated to the 2008 Olympic Games for the first time. The event is often referred to as a "wrestling match in water" due to the aggressive techniques employed in competing in the sport.


Natalie Du Toit of South Africa has her tag removed after women's marathon 10km competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Natalie Du Toit ranked the 16th of the event. Du Toit, whose left leg was amputated in 2001 after she was injured in a road accident, is an athlete for both Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Olympics.
One significant difference between du Toit and the other swimmers is that she has to make sure that someone takes care of her prosthetic leg at the start and return it to her at the finish. Except for that, as an amputee competing with able-bodied people, du Toit received no more courtliness.

"There was lots of dunking. It's always going to be dangerous, the best thing is not to panic, and then keep coming back," she said. The South African stayed in the first pack during the three quarters of the race, but dropped behind at the last stage.

"A couple of things went wrong. I struggled with my cap. And from lap one already I went wrong in the first buoy and my cap got stuck in the first buoy...I kind of stuck in the pack all the time. That sort of beat myself a bit," she said.

When du Toit finished the race, she could hardly get out of the water. "That shows I did give all my best in the race," she said jokingly.

"I was disappointed a bit. Position 16 isn't great. I would have liked to have been in the top five. As a seasoned swimmer there should be no excuses. But I gave my best and I am happy with the result," she said calmly

But when it came to what swimming meant to her, the athlete got quite emotional.

"I feel completely free in the water and I feel that's who I am. I've given up a lot, given up studying. I do motivational speaking for a living, but you know I've given it up ," said du Toit, trying to fight back tears.

At home, du Toit is a national icon and her story has inspired thousands of her compatriots. At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games, she carried South Africa's flag leading her country's athletes into the Bird Nest.

Having gone through so many ups and downs in life, du Toit said she hoped to show all the people, not only the disabled, that "you have to work hard.""There are the negative things. But there are a lot of positive things down the way as well. It's to use the negative things in a good light."

Du Toit, who will soon compete in multiple events in the Paralympics, said she will continue to compete with able-bodied people. "I don't even think about not having a leg and if I want to keep competing I will have to continue to qualify with the able-bodied. For me it's not about the disability at all."

The swimmer said she hope to be back for 2012 London Olympics. "Where I'll be hoping for a top five place," said she.

Source: Xinhua

China's Wu Jingyu wins gold in women's taekwondo 49kg category

Wu Jingyu of China celebrates after defeating Buttree Puedpong of Thailand during the women's 49kg gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games taekwondo event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Wu Jingyu won the match and got the gold medal.


Wu Jingyu of China competes with Buttree Puedpong of Thailand during the women's 49kg gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games taekwondo event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Wu Jingyu won the match and got the gold medal.

China's Wu Jingyu claimed title in the women's 49kg category taekwondo event on Wednesday, beating Thai Buttree Puedpong 1- .

With the deafening cheerings from home fans, Wu launched aggressive attacks as soon as the final began and scored one point with a side kick and made the opponent get a warning penalty.

She took the lead into round 2, and in the third round, her furious attacks made Buttree almost give up counterattacks, which lead to another warning penalty and finally an one-point reduction.

The responsive fans made countdowns in the last six seconds and roared to the newly-crowned who burst into tears.

The 21-year-old won the preliminary round and quarterfinals both with a seven-point advantage. She stepped into an intense competition with old rival Yang Shu-chun of Chinese Taipei, who beat her at the Asian championships in April.

Although Wu took a two-point lead from the beginning as she successfully loaded an axe kick on Yang's head, Yang kept making defensive kicks and managed to get one point in the second round. However, Yang failed to score more points in rest of the game and was defeated by Wu with 1-4.

With the victory against Yang, it seemed the final is not a big deal for her.

Yang lost her last opportunity to get a bronze as she lost the repechage game to Cuban Daynellis Montejo, who settled for the bronze together with Dalia Contreras Rivero of Venezuela.

According to a rule newly introduced at Beijing Olympics, losers to the finalists can play in the repechage to compete for two bronze medals.

Source: Xinhua

Perez of Mexico wins men's 58kg taekwondo gold

Guillermo Perez of Mexico celebrates after defeating Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of Dominican Republic during the women’s 49kg gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games taekwondo event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Guillermo Perez won the match and got the gold medal.


Guillermo Perez of Mexico competes with Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of Dominican Republic during the women’s 49kg gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games taekwondo event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Guillermo Perez won the match and got the gold medal.

Mexican Guillermo Perez claimed the men's 55kg taekwondo title at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, beating Gabriel Yulis Mercedes from the Dominican Republic in the final by referees' judgement.

The bronze medals went to Rohullah Nikpai from Afghanistan and Chu Mu-yen from Chinese Taipei.

Source: Xinhua

Phelps'unusual diet: 12,000 calories a day

Photo taken August 17, 2008. shows U.S. swimmer and all-time Olympian Michael Phelps poses exclusively for the Aug. 25, 2008 edition of Sports Illustrated in this photograph taken in Beijing, China on Aug. 17, 2008. This photo of Phelps, 23, posing with his eight medal collection, the richest gold medal haul ever from a single Olympic Games, marks Phelps' fifth appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Phelps has more SI covers than any other swimmer including Mark Spitz, who is second with three. The August 25, 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated will go on sale on Wednesday.


His breakfast: a large bowl of porridge, three doorstep-sized sandwiches of white bread, butter, fried egg, fried onion, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; a five-egg omelette tastefully garnished with parsley; three slices of French toast liberally sprinkled with sugar; three pancakes topped with chocolate chips; and two large cups of coffee. That's breakfast.


Next to it is lunch, which consists of 1lb of pasta with tomato sauce; two large ham-and-cheese sandwiches with more lettuce, tomato and don't forget the mayo; plus four bottles of a proprietary high-energy sports drink.


For dinner, it's another pound of pasta, a large cheese-and-tomato pizza, and another four bottles of the same proprietary high-energy sports drink.

Mega-Olympian Michael Phelps packs in 12,000 calories a day to fuel his medal-winning.

So let's see what Michael Phelps eats in a day.

His breakfast: a large bowl of porridge; three doorstep-sized sandwiches of white bread, butter, fried egg, fried onion, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; a five-egg omelette tastefully garnished with parsley; three slices of French toast liberally sprinkled with sugar; three pancakes topped with chocolate chips; and two large cups of coffee.

Next to it is lunch, which consists of 1lb of pasta with tomato sauce; two large ham-and-cheese sandwiches with more lettuce, tomato and don't forget the mayo; plus four bottles of a proprietary high-energy sports drink.

For dinner, it's another pound of pasta, a large cheese-and-tomato pizza, and another four bottles of the same proprietary high-energy sports drink.

The average adult man, depending on age, height and weight, requires between 2,200 and 2,800 calories a day. According to most media estimates, Phelps's daily intake - the three meals described above - amounts to around 12,000 calories.

Phelps is in burn mode when it comes to carbs; most of us - particularly the couch potatoes- are in storage mode.

The problem for anyone normal who eats like Phelps, of course, is that it would be physically impossible for most of them to expend anything like 12,000 calories a day. In a good hour of dedicated jogging, the average person is going to burn about 400 calories.

Source: Xinhua\agencies

China upset defending champions Germany 3-2 in Olympic women's hockey semifinals

Chinese hockey players celebrate after making a goal during the women's semifinal match between China and Germany of Beijing Olympic Games hockey event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. China beat Germany 3-2 and advanced to the final.
Hosts China beat defending titlists Germany 3-2 in the semifinals of the Olympic women's hockey here on Wednesday, roaring into the final for the first time.

Suffering a 4-3 loss to Germany on penalty shootouts in first semifinal play in Athens four years ago, China took a sweet revenge this time.

China's head coach Kim Chang-back said it's not the right time for them to be happy, because there's still one match and they should calm down.

Germany took a 4-th minute lead with a field goal from Keller Natascha. After losing three chances for penalty corners, Gao Lihua found the net with a field goal in the 31st minute which evened the score 1-1 for China at halftime.


Chinese hockey players celebrate after making a goal during the women's semifinal match between China and Germany of Beijing Olympic Games hockey event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. China beat Germany 3-2 and advanced to the final.
No more than one minute as the second half started, Janine Beermann's field goal gave Germany 2-1 lead but just three minutes later China's captain Na Yubo scored the equalizer on a penalty corner.

Then the match went on tighter. Though China had more possessions and launched repeated attacks, the goals either flew over the post or were saved by German goalkeeper Kristina Reynolds.

In the 23rd minute, China's youngest player Zhao Yudiao netted the ball which was passed by veterans Fu Baorong first and then Gao Lihua.

As Germany failed to capitalize on their last chance for a penalty corner at the final second, China sealed the 3-2 win.

"It has been a long time since the defeat to Germany. Though we conceded goals first, I'm confident that we are fully capable of scoring goals," said Kim, adding that they were not prepared for a penalty shootout.

The fact that they failed to qualify for the finals at Athens Games gave them a good lesson and rich experience, noted Kim. "We have made the history for China now, and since Asian teams have never won the Olympics, we will try to play our best and rewrite the history of the world."

"No matter whom we play in the final, we will go all out and get the best result," said Captain Na.

German coach Michael Behrmann said China played very well and piled lost of pressure on them. "We are happy to score the first and second goal, but the match kept going and China finally win. For China, there is so big a crowd and a big expectation from the whole nation."

China next faces either Argentina or the Netherlands for the gold medal contention on Friday.

Source: Xinhua

Ukrainian silver medalist Blonska fails drug test, Russia gets into gear

Doping scandals cast a shadow over the Beijing Olympics again on Wednesday as Ukaine's heptathlon silver medalist Liudmyla Blonska tested positive for banned substances.


Liudmyla Blonska of Ukraine celebrates after women's heptathlon 800m at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 16, 2008. Blonska has tested positive for banned substances at the Beijing Games.

"The IOC is looking into this matter and the IOC disciplinary commission will hold a meeting tomorrow ," IOC spokeswoman Sandrine Tonge told Xinhua.

Tonge added that any decision regarding possible penalty on Blonska should be taken by the IOC executive board.

It was unclear at the moment for which substance she tested positive.

Blonska finished second in the women's heptathlon behind compatriot Natalya Dobrynska on Saturday. But the 29-year-old Ukrainian, who served a doping suspension between 2003-2005, could be stripped of her medal and banned for life if the IOC rules she has committed a second offence.

Four athletes have been expelled from the Aug. 8-24 Games so far over doping offense.

On the sports field, the Russian legion finally got into gear, although it seemed a little late.

One gold apiece in marathon swimming, synchronized swimming and wrestling propelled the perennial sporting power past Germany and Australia into fourth place in the medal table. China led with 43 gold, followed by the United States and Britain .

Larisa Ilchenko set the pace for the Russians with a hard-earned victory in the women's 10km open water swim. The 20-year-old Ilchenko staged a powerful sprint in the last 100 meters, edging Britain's Keri-Anna Payne by merely 1.5 seconds.


Gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko of Russia , the runner-up Keri-Anne Payne and bronze winner Cassandra Patten, both of Great Britain, pose on the podium during victory ceremony of women's marathon 10km competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008.

South African Natalie du Toit, whose left leg was amputated at the knee after a motorcycle accident, became the first female Paralympian to compete in the Olympics. She finished 16th in the field of 24, 1:22 behind Ilchenko.

"I don't even think about not having a leg and if I want to keep competing I will have to continue to qualify with the able-bodied," du Toit told reporters. "For me it's not about disability at all. Hopefully I'll be back for 2012.''

Ilchenko also showed due respect for her South African rival.

"I would even go as far as offering her a separate medal," she said. "I wish her all success for the future and hopefully she will win one day."

Along with BMX biking, the 10km open water swim was making its debut at the Olympic Games.

Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova extended Russia's dominance in synchronized swimming when the duo won the duet competition.

They received all perfect 10 points for technical merit and earned a total of 99.251 points. The silver went to Spain's Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual on 98.334 points. Japanese pair Sara Harada and Emiko Suzuki earned bronze ahead of China's Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen.

Russia swept the two gold medals in synchronized swimming at the past two Olympics.

Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia won his third Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medal when he defeated Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan in the 74kg final. Saytiev had won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

Yin Jian of China improved on her silver gold medal finish in Athens four years ago to strike gold in the women's RS:X sailing event in Qingdao, while New Zealand's Tom Ashley won the men's RS:X event.

The 29-year-old Yin finished with 39 points from the 11 races, edging Italy's Alessandra Sensini by one point.

"I didn't think about anything during today's race. I knew that, if I kept passing one after another, victory would be mine," said Yin.

In men's beach volleyball, Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers set up a final showdown against Brazilians Fabio Magalhaes and Marcio Araujo.

Dalhausser and Rogers outclassed Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes of Georgia 21-11, 21-13, while Magalhaes and Araujo upset Brazilian teammates and defending gold medalists Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego 22-20, 21-18.

There are five other medal events scheduled for Wednesday in track and field and taekwondo.

At the Bird's Nest stadium, Usain Bolt of Jamaica will attempt to add the 200m gold to his 100m title.

Source: Xinhua

China defeats Sweden to vie for fifth in Olympic women's handball

China downed Sweden 20-19 in the women's handball's 5-8 placement at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday. The win enabled the hosts to fight for the fifth place in Saturday's competition.

It was a breakthrough compared with the eighth ranking of Chinese girls at the Athens Olympics four years ago.

"We have reached the goal set before the match. It is our first time to compete against Sweden. We have successfully followed the counterattack strategies of our coach. Wang Min played very well to defend the attacks of Swedish left back Linnea Torstenson who scored most in previous matches. " said pivot Liu Yun.

Swedish coach Ulf Schefvert told reporters after the contest, "The match was tied. Both of the teams had lower morale and were physically weak after failing to gain berths in semifinals."

The view was echoed by Chinese team's coach Kang Jae-won. He said, "Home fans gave great support to Chinese players, although they have lost much energy in previous matches and many girls suffer from injuries. Wu Wenjuan who scored at last had been asked to shoulder the defensive task as she has ligament ailment. I would like to thank our team members for their fighting spirit."

"I regret that we did not realize our goal of making semifinal. Chinese players have showed their top-class potential in training," said Kang.

China launched continuous attacks and carried out efficient cooperation before the gate. It put an end to the first half with 8-7, although Swedish girls scored first with a powerful shot at the fourth minute.

A penalty shootout of Sweden at the first minute after the interval made the two teams to fight for a lead with more fierce attacks. The match was tied nine times in the second half. Center back Wu Wenjuan secured China's victory with two minutes left by piercing the defense of Swedish girls and hurling the ball into the net.

China reached the quarterfinal at the Beijing Olympic women's handball after stunning European powerhouse France 21-18 in their last preliminary game, while debutant Sweden also found their place in top eight, upsetting Brazil 25-22 here on Sunday.

The two teams lost out to South Korea and Norway respectively, missing the chance to make semifinals.

China will fight for the fifth place with the winner of the placement between Romania and France.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese-born table tennis players dominate Olympic women's singles

Chinese-born players proved their unquestionable dominance in table tennis, securing all the places in the Olympic women's singles quarterfinals as of Thursday.

China's world number one Zhang Yining, world champion Guo Yue and Grand Slam veteran Wang Nan showed no signs of slowing down after winning a team gold earlier this week, though the 30-year-old veteran Wang admitted that she was a little tired.

The three top-ranked players, along with other five representing Singapore, the United States, the Dominican Republic and Hong Kong of China, all won their matches in the 1/8 round.

Defending gold medalist Zhang beat popular star Ai Fukuhara 11-5, 11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8.

The Beijing native said she felt quite assured of a victory over Fukuhara and all she wanted to do during the match was hurry up and go back home for a rest.

Fukuhara was the only Japanese that reached the last 16 at the Beijing Olympics, but being drawn against Zhang denied her the chance to rewrite her personal best at the Olympic Games.

Veteran Wang was made to sweat for her 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5 victory over South Korean chopper Park Mi-young, while Guo had no difficulty at all in brushing aside Li Jiao of the Netherlands 11-2, 11-6, 11-3, 13-11.

"Physically, playing singles is not as easy as playing teams when there was just one match per day," tired Wang said.

"We often play South Koreans in major competitions so we know they are good at chopping. I was prepared for a difficult match, even for a seventh game," she added.

Another South Korean chopper, Kim Kyung-ah, who won a singles bronze in Athens, was knocked out by former Chinese Wang Chen of the United States 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5.

Wang sank to her knees amid a flood of tears the moment she won. It was the first time that the 34-year-old played at the Olympic Games. And it was also the last one because she confirmed that she would soon retire.

"It's so difficult to enter the top eight and I've tried my best," she said. "My back hurts a lot and sometimes I just want to give up. But I want to come back to play at the Olympics, which is a big event."

Wang's teammate Gao Jun was not so fortunate. Wu Xue of the Dominican Republic beat Gao 12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3, 8-11, 12-14, 11-9.

Singapore, the second finisher in the team event, also continued their powerful ascent, with two former Chinese Li Jia Wei and Feng Tianwei reaching the quarterfinals.

Feng crushed Li Jie of the Netherlands 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4, before Li Jia Wei edged out Lin Ling of Hong Kong, China 4-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11 in a thrilling match.

The Beijing-born Li Jia Wei, who was set to win another medal for the Southeast Asian city-state, said, "Lin was playing above her normal level so I had to be determined and believe that I would win."

The silver Li and her teammates won in the team event was Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years since a silver for men's weightlifting in 1960.

Tie Yana became the only Hong Kong player to reach the quarterfinals, after beating Austria's Li Qiangbing 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 11-2, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3.

In the quarterfinals, China's Zhang will meet Feng, Guo will play Wu and veteran Wang will rise to challenge from Tie. Wang of the United States will confront a supercharged Li of Singapore.

Source: Xinhua

Russian duo retain synchronized swimming gold

Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal in the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008.

Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal.

Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal.
Russian synchronized swimming pair Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova retained the Olympic duet title with a near-perfect performance at the Water Cube here on Wednesday.

The Russian pair scissor-kicked their way to a lively piece of Norwegian play music in the free routine final, scoring eight full 10 marks and two 9.9 points. They carried a top score of 49.334 points from Monday's technical routine to total 99.251 points.

Spanish veteran Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes won the silver with 98.334 points, and Japanese duo Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki took the bronze with 97.167 points. Chinese twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen finished fourth with 96.334 points.


Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal.
The two Anastasias, who paired up since 1998, have taken home gold at every international competitions since 2002. With a second Olympic gold medal, they reinforced their leading position in the sport.

"It was more difficult to stay on the top than getting to the top," Ermakova told reporters at a press conference, "in the past four years, we worked, worked and never let up for a moment, never slacked for a moment, and the gold medal is a crowning moment of all the hard work we have had."

Her partner Davydova also shared the arduous road to their second Olympics. "When you have the status as an Olympic champion, it sounded as if you have no more goals to strive for. But in our training, we never forgot our so called rivals and we had to give it all not only physically, but also mentally, so that we could prove ourselves again," Davydova said.


Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal.
The Olympians also came out to defend the worthiness of their beloved sport when others discount it as an effortless dancing performance rather than a competition.

"All my muscles were numb now," said Davydova, "and we trained very hard in a very sporty way."

"In Athens, we were asked to give blood samples in the doping tests. When I told the testers I was a synchronized swimmer. He asked why I had to take a dope test when I barely sweated," said Ermakova, recounting her experience.

"Those who don't understand the difficulty of our sport should put under water and do exactly what we do. It's one of the hardest sports," she said.

The two Anastasias announced their stance as other medal winners nodded in agreement.


Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia compete in the final of the duet free routine of the synchronized swimming during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatic Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold medal.
After three days of competitions, China's Jiang twins, who were expected to medal in the duet competition, failed after making an error towards the end. "Of course there were regrets. We had aimed to win a medal," their coach Masayo Imura said.

"I think they only gave about 93 percent of their performance level," she said, "and coming into the final as the fourth also made it difficult for them to catch up with the stronger performers."

"Now we will make more efforts in the team competition to get a medal," she added.
Source: Xinhua

Sahin of Turkey wins men's freestyle 66kg wrestling gold

Gold medalist Ramazan Sahin of Turkey stands on the podium during awarding ceremony of men's freestyle 66kg of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Wrestling event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008.


Ramazan Sahin of Turkey fights against Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine in men's freestyle 66kg gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Wrestling event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Ramazan Sahin beat Andriy Stadnik and grabbed the gold medal.

World Champion Ramazan Sahin won the gold medal in men's freestyle 66kg wrestling at Beijing Olympic Games on Wednesday.

It was Turkey's first gold at the Beijing Olympics.

Sahin came from behind to beat Ukrainian Andriy Stadnik 2-1. The 25-year-old triumphed in last year's world championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Otar Tushishvili of Georgia and Indian Sushil Kumar defeated opponents to jointly win bronze medals. Kumar's bronze was India's second medal at Beijing Olympics.

Source: Xinhua

Russian wrestler Saytiev wins third Olympic gold

Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia celebrates after beating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan in men's freestyle 74kg gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Wrestling event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Buvaysa Saytiev beat Soslan Tigiev and grabbed the gold.


Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan fights against Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia in men's freestyle 74kg gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Wrestling event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Buvaysa Saytiev beat Soslan Tigiev and grabbed the gold.

Russian Buvaysa Saytiev struggled to win the men's freestyle 74kg wrestling title to earn his third Olympic gold here on Wednesday.

Saytiev, 33, defeated Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan 2-1 in the final to claim Russia's fifth Beijing Olympic wrestling gold. The six-time world champion was also the winner at Sydney 1996 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Murad Gaidarov of Belarus and Kiril Terziev of Bulgaria took bronze medals.

Source: Xinhua

Golden goal gifts Spain 3-2 win over U.S. in Olympic women's hockey

Nuria Camon of Spain breaks through during the women's classification 7-8 match between the United States and Spain of Beijing Olympic Games hockey event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. The U.S. lost to Spain 2-3.
Spain clinched a golden goal 3-2 victory over the United States and South Korea downed Japan 2-1 in the 7th-10th classification round of the Olympic women's hockey tournament on Wednesday.

The U.S. team enjoyed a 2-1 lead only two minutes to go, but seventh-ranked Spain found the equalizer later from Raquel Heurtas' field goal and forced an extra-time play.

Spain kept attacks in extra-time and Rocio Ybarra found the net with a penalty corner in the 84th minute for the golden goal.

Spain, who ended up with 10th at Athens Games, finished seventh while the United States took the eighth position as against fifth at Atlanta Games.

"It's the best moment of my life," said the golden goal scorer, who was so happy about his first golden goal as well as his first goal since the tournament started.

"We anticipated to be the third of fifth place, but seventh is already good. I hope next time we can do better," he added.

American coach Lee Bodimeade said they would take the failure as a lesson. "We are better because of this Olympics. We need get more goals on board at this level of competition," he said.

South Korea, ranked tenth in the world, got both their goals from Park Jeong-sook in the 12th and 49th minutes, and the fifth-ranked Japan's goal came from Rika Komazawa in the 43rd.

The win put South Korea ninth in contrast to a seventh position in Athens four years ago. Japan, the 2006 Asian Games silver medallists finished tenth, compared to eighth in Athens.

South Korean coach Han Jin-soo said they failed to achieve their semi-final target. "Our players are young. We will strengthen our training and we will get better."

"It's a great pity that we finish No. ten in the tournament and we did not expect that," said Masashi Onda, Japan's team manager, "we will form a new national team for the 2012 London Olympics."

Source: Xinhua

Chinese diver Chen tops 10m platform semifinal

Chinese diver Chen Ruolin continued her dominance in the women's 10m platform semifinal at Beijing Olympic Games here on Thursday.

Eighteen divers competed in the semifinal, with 12 making it to the final on Thursday night.

Chen, 15, newly crowned 10m platform synchro champion with partner Wang Xin, breezed through the semifinal with the top qualifying score of 444.60 points.

Paola Espinosa, flag bearer of Mexico at the Beijing Games, finished second in 400.75, while 16-year-old Wang Xin, the reigning world champion, took the third place in 388.55.

Canadian veteran Emilie Heymans, winner of the event in 2003 Barcelona World Championships, finished fourtn in 374.10, while Syndey Olympic champion Lauro Wilkinson of the United States collected 346.10 to take the sixth.

At the Syndey Olympics, American diver Laura Wilkinson beat Chinese Li Na for the women's 10m platform title. In Athens, Australian Chantelle Newbery stunned Chinese favorite Lao Lishi to win the gold. Both Li and Lao finished second.

In Beijing, Chen and Wang will try their best for the long-awaited gold.

Source:Xinhua

Taekwondo preview: Third day of Olympic events to witness Steven Lopez making history

The third day of Olympic taekwondo events will witness legendary American player Steven Lopez to make history.

The four-time world champion won two consecutive Olympic golds in the men's 68kg category in Sydney and 80kg class at the Athens Games. He will compete in the 80kg class at the Beijing Olympics on Friday.

His major rival will be another gold medal hopeful Iranian veteran Hadi Saei, Olympic champion in the featherweight category in Athens, however, they won't meet until the final match as they are in different pools.

The Lopez family, with three siblings, Steven, Mark and Diana, coached by their eldest brother Jean, all taking part in taekwondo events at the Beijing Olympics, have already made a history.

China's player Zhu Guo will also compete in this category. Host China got all the four tickets for taekwondo events without any qualification competitions. It's the first time for China to send male taekwondo players to the Olympics and the best chance for them to make breakthrough.

In the women's 67kg category, South Korean Hwang Kyung-seon, bronze medalist in Athens, will seek her first Olympic gold on Friday.

Hwang, 22, is a hot favorite as she has dominated the category recent years by claiming two consecutive world titles.

China's Luo Wei won this category in Athens, but under a rule that each NOC can only enter two men and two women players, China gave up the women's 67kg category, choosing the 49kg class instead, in which Wu Jingyu claimed the title on Wednesday.

Source:Xinhua

U.S. sails to women's volleyball final in 24 years

The United States re-entered the Olympic women's volleyball final in 24 years on Thursday after upsetting three-time champion Cuba in a surprising 3-0.

The last time they contented for a gold was in 1984 Los Angeles Games, where they surrendered the championship title to the Chinese women, led by their current head coach "Iron Hammer" Lang Ping.

They will face either defending champions China or world's No. 1 Brazil in the final scheduled on Saturday.

The Americans shrugged off the straight-set loss to the Cuban high jumpers in the preliminaries and wrapped up the sweet revenge 25-20, 25-16 and 25-17.

The two sides both started strongly before a 11-11 draw, when the U.S. broke the tie with lethal spikes by Tayyiba Haneef-Park to lead 14-11. Danielle Scott-Arruda and Heather Bown helped to enlarge the gap to 24-20. With an unanswered spike of Kim Willoughby, the U.S. took the opener 25-20.

The Americans dominated the second set with powerful serves, while Cuba lost their rhythm and their service errors at the crucial points helped the U.S. to take the effortless second set 25-16.

The Cubans seemed to have lost their willingness to fight in the decider, while Scott and Logan Tom kept launching brilliant spikes from the middle of the court and the back row. The U.S. sailed on the track to win with a solid lead 21-16. Cuba pulled back one point with a spike of Yanelis Stantos, but that was the furthest they could go. Stunning Willoughby scored three points in row for the U.S. to seal their historic victory 25-17.

Source:Xinhua

Everybody a hero at Beijing Olympics!

China's Liu Xiang reacts on the starting line during the first round competition of men's 110m hurdles at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 18, 2008. The defending champion Liu Xiang dropped out after getting injury.
When you are cheering for China's 45th gold medal, when you are exclaiming Michael Phelps' snatch of eight golds, you must still remember those who narrowly missed the chance and agree on the Olympic grand stage, everybody a hero!

Liu Xiang, the defending Olympic champion of men's 110m hurdles and icon of Chinese sport, limped out of the Bird's Nest stadium after just managing a few awkward steps in his opening heat.

American shooter Matthew Emmons's nightmare recurred when he stunned all with a 4.4. He just needed a 6.7 to be crowned in the men's 50-meter rifle three positions. Gone was the gold, even the silver and the bronze for him.


Matthew Emmons of the United States is comforted by his wife after the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Shooting event in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Matthew Emmons won the 4th with a total of 1270.3.
Lots of big names can be listed here: Cheng Fei, Asafa Powell, Paula Radcliffe. They have paid as much as the medal winners, but they have no chance to harvest the glory on the podium because in sports there are inevitably many "sorrows" behind every gold medal.

However, the significance of the Olympic ideals goes far beyond the sheer numbers of records, medals and flowers.

A century ago, Pierre de Coubertin, known as the father of the modern Olympics, wrote: "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

Transcending their differences in political systems, ideologies, races, complexion and cultures, athletes from around the world compete under the Olympic Flag and under the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius, or "Faster, Higher, Stronger."

"One World, One Dream" -- the slogan of the Beijing Olympics symbolizes the spirit of solidarity, friendship and peace, reflects the world trend and delivers mankind's perennial expectations: progress and peace, coexistence in harmony and harmonious development.

On Liu Xiang's "quit," a survey by the Chinese channel of MSN.com shows that among more than 160,000 asked, over 37 percent voted for respect and support for him and about 26 percent "felt the cruelty of sports competition and sighed for Liu."

This is by no means the same as two decades ago. When Li Ning, a triple Olympic gold medalist in 1984 and the "Gymnastic Prince" in China, stumbled and failed in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he was met with a tide of anger and even hate mail containing razor blades and ropes upon his arrival home.

The attitude change demonstrates the Olympic spirit has further insinuated into the hearts of the people in China and the world: Not only emphasize people's bodily health but more importantly their moral health.

"People's Olympics," one of the most important features of the Beijing Olympic Games, has added a new platform for China 's civil development and will serve as a beacon for the nation's future development and social progress.

Source:Xinhua

Medalists of Star at Olympic sailing

Following are the medalists of Star at Olympic Sailing Regatta in Qingdao on Thursday:

Gold: Britain, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson

Silver: Brazil, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada

Bronze: Sweden, Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom

Source:Xinhua

Primorac beats Maze to reach top 16 in men's singles

Croatian verteran Zoran Primorac beat Denmark's Michael Maze 4-2 to reach the top 16 at the table tennis tournament in the Beijing Olympics on Thursday.

The marathon clash was proved to be a nip and tuck competition with both players exchanging lead. Being tied 2-all in the first four sets, 33rd-ranked Primorac steadied himself to take the fifth set 11-7.

Wowing the audience with cross-court rallies, the sixth-time Olympian wounded up the tiebreaker 13-11 with a long shot which Maze tried desperately to handle but failed.

"He gave me a very hard fight, but I did not give up. It's hard for me to win, especially the last several points," said the 39-year-old.

"Maze defeated Wang Hao in Shanghai with his high balls and I said to myself that I would not like to be that one," he added.

Maze, ranked 20th, won a bronze medal at the 2005 table tennis worlds in Shanghai and was considered a rising star in Europe.

The 27-year-old said that he played his last match three months ago and felt a little stiff and nervous in the beginning of the match.

"I was frustrated. I am an emotional player and I've tried my best , " he said.

Source: Xinhua

Expert: Beijing's economy not to be subject to fluctuation after Olympics

An expert on Beijing Olympic economy said on Thursday that the capital city's economy will not be subject to fluctuation after the Olympic Games.

Chen Jian, executive president of Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, said at a press conference at the Main Press Center that after the Beijing Olympic Games, Beijing's economy will shape up a development pattern featuring the sectors of high technology, finance, services and culture.

"Investment in urban infrastructure will remain intensive and the new investment is enough to continue to push economic growth and shun potential post-Games economic fluctuation," said Chen.

Taking subway transport as an example, Beijing had merely 54 kilometers of subway in 2001, but it extended to nearly 200 km in July 2008 and is expected to reach 561 km in 2015. Investment in this field will continue, he said.

"Some Olympic host cities suffered economic fluctuation in the post-Games period, merely because their investment into infrastructure construction was excessive compared with the city's size. Beijing will try to avoid that situation," he said.

He said that in general housing prices in Beijing were rational when the city prepared the Olympic Games. From the end of 2007 to the first half of 2008, the city's real estate market entered a period of readjustment, and the period may be prolonged after the Games. On the other hand, huge housing demand would support the city's housing prices.

Source: Xinhua

Preview: Robles to dominate Olympic 110m hurdles

Dayron Robles of Cuba on Wednesday breezed to the men's 110m hurdles final at the Beijing Olympic Games, making himself seemingly the unrivalled for the Olympic title.

Robles continued his good form into his first Olympics. He gradually improved his times since the qualifications. In the second round, he clocked 13.19 seconds; and in the semifinals he finished in 13.12 seconds.

After China's favorite Liu Xiang, world champion and gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, pulled out of the track due to an alleged tendon injury, only David Oliver of the United States would pose some threat to the 21-year-old Cuban.

Even with Liu in sight, Robles, always wearing a pair of prescription glasses and a gold necklace with an oversize cross pendant, is formidable to all contenders.

Slicing Liu's world record by one hundredth of a second to 12.87 seconds in mid June, the 1.92m-high Cuban ran in 12.88 and 12.91 seconds consecutively in the past one and half months.

Oliver, who will also line up for the finals which is scheduled on Thursday evening, was the closest follower who finished in 13.31 seconds in the semifinals.

Oliver's teammate David Payne and French Ladji Doucoure would also be hot medal candidates, but not for gold.

Only one question remains on whether Robles is able to beat his own world record. He said after the first round of qualifications that the track in the Bird's Nest, or the Olympic track and field venue, was very good for breaking records.

Source:Xinhua

China, Mexico split two golds at Beijing Olympic taekwondo tourney

China's taekwondo player Wu Jingyu claimed title in women's 49kg category and Mexico's Guillermo Perez pocketed the men's 58kg gold at the Beijing Olympic on Wednesday.

It's the first time for China to win this class since taekwondo made its Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000.

"I have been waiting for this day for a long time," Wu said.

With deafening cheerings from home fans, Wu launched aggressive attacks as soon as the final began and scored one point with a side kick and made her Thai opponent Buttree Puedpong get a warning penalty.

She took the lead into round 2, and in the third round, her furious attacks made Buttree almost give up counterattacks, which led to another warning penalty for inactivity and finally an one-point reduction. Wu sealed the match 1-.

The responsive fans made countdowns in the last six seconds and roared to the newly-crowned who burst into tears.

The 21-year-old reigning world champion won the preliminary round and quarterfinals both with a seven-point advantage.

She stepped into an intense competition with old rival Yang Shu-chun of Chinese Taipei, who beat her at the Asian championships in April.

Although Wu took a two-point lead from the beginning as she successfully loaded an axe kick on Yang's head, Yang kept making defensive kicks and managed to get one point in the second round.

However, Yang failed to score more points in rest of the game and was defeated by Wu 1-4.

By winning the silver, Buttree, 18, made a breakthrough in Thailand's Olympic history of taekwondo events as the country's past best achievement was Yaowapa Boorapolchai's bronze at Athens Games.

"I will continue to practise Taekwondo and improve in order to be better at the next Olympic Games," Buttree said.

Yang Shu-chun lost her last opportunity to get a bronze as she lost the repechage game to Cuban Daynellis Montejo, who settled for the bronze together with Dalia Contreras Rivero of Venezuela.

According to a rule newly introduced at Beijing Olympics, losers to the finalists can play in the repechage to compete for two bronze medals.

In men's 58kg class event, Mexican Guillermo Perez claimed the title with superiority ruled by referees, winning his country first gold at Beijing Olympics.

The 29-year-old said the President of Mexico called him and said "you are the pride of our country". "Finally my dream came true," he said.

Perez, silver medalist of 2007 world championships, entered the final relatively easier than 28-year-old Dominican Yulis Gabriel Mercedes, who forced his way into the final after intense competitions against defending champion Chu Mu-yen of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals and world champion Juan Antonio Ramos in the semifinals.

The two Latin Americans finished their regular three rounds with 1-1. The referees voted to give the gold to Perez after the extra-time during which both of them failed to score.

Perez said the opponent was very strong."He fought very aggressively and he moved very quickly," he said, adding that Mercedes' tactics were also very good.

Although being disappointed by the silver a little bit, Mercedes said he's happy because the final was between two Latin American countries.

"I'm proud for the Mexican gold medalist. It's a match of high quality and both of us are really good," he said.

Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan beat Ramos in repechage, winning his country the first Olympic medal. Chu beat Chutchawal Khawlaor of Thailand to share the bronze with Nikpai.

Source:Xinhua

Brazil faces Italy, Russia meets U.S. in Olympic men's volleyball semis

The Athens Games men's volleyball final is expected to be repeated four years later in Beijing, when the world's No. 1 Brazil takes on Italy in the semifinals on Friday.

The two volleyball titans set up the clash after Brazil trounced the host China in straight sets on Wednesday night, while Italy edged out Poland after a five-set tussle. Russia and the United State will meet in another semifinal.

Host China, who made a breakthrough to enter the final eight, failed to present more surprise to the enthusiastic home fans after losing the "fight for honor" to defending champion 25-17, 25-15, 25-16. But their supporters might get comfort with their historic fifth place at the Olympic Games.

China's only other Olympic show was in 1984 when they went to the Los Angeles and came back home as the 8th finisher.

"I'm satisfied with the performance of the Chinese players throughout the tournament. They do have ups and downs, which proves they are still fledging, but I believe they gained lots of confidence and experience from the Games, which will help them go further," said China's head coach Zhou Jian'an.

The Brazilians, who are no strangers to the Italians, prepared for a tough match ahead.

"They are very dangerous, there are many experienced players in the team. The majority of us used to play or play currently in the Italian league so it will be a very difficult match," said Brazilian wing spiker Andre Heller.

"Italy is very good at serving and blocking. To play against them we need to show some patience and to be confident in our attack," said another player Gustavo Endres.

Earlier in the afternoon, Italy held off Poland 25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 26-28 and 17-15. Plucky Poland fought back from two sets down and 15-15 in the fifth set, saving five match points on the way, before losing in the end.

"I just think adjusting ourselves and staying in peak condition are more important than any improvement right now. Brazil is one of the most comprehensive teams in the world and we must focus on beating them," said Italy head coach Andrea Anastasi.

In the first match of the day, the World's No. 2 Russia came back from a set down to beat Bulgaria 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 with its famous mighty spikes and solid blocking.

Bulgaria head coach Martin Stoev were satisfied with the players' performances, but were sad about the result.

"At the end of each set the Russians were playing better than us. But I will still thank all my players for their efforts in the Olympic Games and for fighting to the very end," he said.

The United States secured the last semifinal berth after outlasting Serbia in a pulsating five-set thriller. In the replay of the World League final, the Americans proved a cut above the Serbians at the critical points to win the match.

"This was a battle. When Serbia had momentum, we managed to show composure to control that momentum. To beat them today was a wonderful achievement, although we won't get to enjoy it more because we have to focus on the next matches," said the U.S. head coach Hugh McCutcheon.

The U.S. players showed confidence to their tough opponent on their way to the final.

"We have to keep on the rise. We are passing well and we have the personnel, we just need to play our Volleyball," said the key U.S. scorer William Priddy.

Source:Xinhua

Asia dominates Olympic weightlifting with emerging challenge

When 259 weightlifters from 87 Beijing Olympic delegations ended their competitions in 15 categories on Tuesday, Asian lifters stunned the world by bagging 13 gold medals and yielding only two to their European counterparts.

In particular, China topped the medal tally with an extraordinary achievement of eight golds, followed by South Korea with two gold medals. Thailand, Democratic People's Republic of Korea , Kazakhstan, Belarus and Germany got one each.

In Athens, the 15 weightlifting golds were roughly split by Asia and Europe as Asian lifters won eight and their European counterparts obtained seven.

CHINA'S DOMINANCE

China dominated the weightlifting events as ten Chinese lifters made amazing performances on their home land, winning eight golds and one silver in all the nine categories they competed.

All the Chinese strongwomen fighting at the Games snatched golds.

Chen Xiexia won in the women's 48kg category, the first gold for the whole Chinese delegation as well as the weightlifting team at Beijing Olympics. Chen Yanqing won the women's 56kg, becoming the first strongwoman to successfully defend her Olympic champion.

Liu Chunhong broke three world records to retain the Olympic title in women's 69kg class, becoming the first Chinese to break a world record in Beijing.

The men lifters also did a good job by winning four golds and one silver.

Long Qingquan won in the 58kg category, Zhang Xiangxiang in 62kg, Liao Hui in 69kg and Lu Yong in 85kg classes. Li Hongli got a silver in 77kg category.

Chinese weightlifting team leader Ma Wenguang said the unique system of selecting potential lifters from across the country is one of the most important factors for the success.

"I'm happy to see that among the gold medalists, many are young lifters," he said, adding it's important for China's weightlifting to make a sustainable development.

RISING ASIAN POWER

In addition to China's dominance, the weightlifting events at the Beijing Olympics saw the rising of three Asian countries: South Korea, the DPRK and Kazakhstan.

South Korean Jang Mi-ran broke three world records to claim the title of "world's strongest woman" on Saturday. She met no opponent in the women's +75kg category as her long-time rival Mu Shuangshuang of China didn't take part in. However, the fantastic power Jang had showed made the Chinese think it's a wise decision to give up this category.

Jang's compatriot Sa Jae-hyouk, 23, beat Chinese veteran Li Hongli to claim title in the men's 77kg on Wednesday.

The country had only got one weightlifting gold in its Olympic history before the Beijing Games.

"The competition between China and South Korea in weightlifting will be more and more intense," said 24-year-old Jang.

DPRK lifter Pak Hyon Suk lifted the country's first Olympic gold in Beijing last Tuesday in the women's 63kg category and her compatriot Jong Ae got a bronze in the women's 58kg class. The country might have achieved more if two male medal hopefuls, including 2007 world champion Cha Kum Chol, had made a normal performance.

Kazakhstan was ranked third on the weightlifting medals table with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze, the best results in its Olympic history.

Kazakhstan will become an important force in weightlifting as it has a team composed of top young lifters, including 20-year-old gold medalist Ilya Ilin and silver medalist Irina Nekrassova and 21-year-old Mariya Grabovetskaya.

EUROPE'S SETBACK

Europe didn't savor the taste of gold in weightlifting until Monday, in the last-but-one event of men's 105kg. World champion Belarusian lifter Andrei Aramnau, 20, broke three world records to claim the title.

Compared with Asia's fast development, the European lifters' performances were really disappointing at Beijing Olympics.

Two Turkish defending champions dropped off the events after failing three attempts in snatch, several Russian top hands were always one step away from the gold, and the whole Bulgarian team was barred from the Beijing Olympics due to doping scandal.

Some Russian lifters, including two-time world champion Oxana Slivenko, complained about the disadvantage of competing against the host. However, it's not a good reason to explain many of them only lifted a weight some 20kg less than their personal best.

The only two golds grabbed by European strongmen were in the heavy bodyweight categories, in which they have a traditional advantage.

Sam Coffa, vice president of the International Weightlifting Federation , said the European weightlifters didn't have the same support from their governments as their Asian counterparts do.

However, Europe went halves with Asian in medals as among the total 18 delegations in the medals table, eight from Asia and ten from Europe. Russia, although didn't get a single gold, will go home with four silvers and three bronzes.

Ma Wenguang, who is also an IWF vice president, said at a press conference on Tuesday that each continent takes it turns to dominate.

"Now it seems it's Asia's turn to dominate, but the advantage for Asia is probably only temporary," he said.

He said as more and more countries took part in weightlifting events, more strong forces will appear.

"I think Europe might assume ascendancy again and Latin America too will become strong," he said.

Source:Xinhua

Zou, Chen herald changing of the guard

With nine gold medals, one silver and four bronzes, China's gymnasts have won more medals at these Games than any gymnastics team in history.

China has always been a powerhouse in the sport, but the credit this year goes to a new generation.

Twenty-year-old Zou Kai alone claimed three golds.

Chen Yibing, 23, completed the grand slam on rings, adding an Olympic gold to his World Cup and World Championship titles.

He Kexin, 16, has dominated the women's uneven bars in recent years and added an Olympic gold to her resume.

"Our team did a very good job this time, coming back from a failure at the Athens Games four years ago, where we only got one gold," said Gao Jian, director of China's gymnastics program.

"Our young athletes turned in solid performances. They are the hope of China's gymnastics program," he added.

Zou's three golds were the biggest surprise for the host country. Previously, his best result had been a gold medal in the floor exercises at the 2006 Asian Games.

At the Beijing Games, he helped the Chinese men's team win the team gold, and claimed two more in the floor exercises and horizontal bars.

"Zou has been capable of this since the 2006 World Championships," said Gao.

"He lost the medal in the floor exercise at that time due to a mistake in landing. That's when we started to prepare the routine that won the gold this time. His routine on the high bar also had the highest degree of difficulty of all the finalists. When he finished it smoothly, we knew he had the gold."

For Zou, winning three golds in his first Olympics is a good start, but will only increase expectations.

"I never thought I'd win three gold medals at my first Olympic Games," he said. "Such an achievement is sure to put more pressure on me in the future."

Despite his success in the two events, Zou said he does not consider himself capable of leading the Chinese team in the future, since "an all-around gymnast is required as the team leader."

Chen Yibing, the "king of rings", would be a good choice.

Chen and veteran Yang Wei both qualified for the men's all-around finals at the Beijing Games. Although he had to withdraw from the last two events because of an injury, Chen showed the potential to win the all-around.

"My coach expected me to develop as an all-around gymnast in order to deal with the new regulations, which require greater overall strength for the whole team," said Chen, who has dominated the rings over the past two years and finished fourth in the men's all-around at the 2006 World Championships.

"The Beijing Games has been a good experience for me and I will continue to improve in the future."

Veteran gymnasts Yang Wei, Li Xiaopeng and Huang Xu also contributed to the Chinese team's success.

On the women's side, four 16-year-old gymnasts are the backbone of China's team: He Kexin, who took the gold on the uneven bars; Yang Yilin, the women's all-around Olympic bronze medalist; Li Shanshan, a rising star on the balance beam; and all-around gymnast Jiang Yuyuan.

Source: China Daily

Bolt hits Beijing again in historic run

Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning the men's 200m at the Bird's Nest last night.

He did not slow down, or stretch his arms or slap his chest, this time. But he still won the 200m sprint in world record time, giving himself the best present on the eve of his 22nd birthday.

Maybe he did not want to take a chance till he crossed the 200m finish line yesterday. After all, it was the great Michael Johnson whose world record he was after, unlike the 100m in which he broke his own on Saturday.

The capacity 90,000 crowd at the Bird's Nest knew about his birthday and sang Happy Birthday to Bolt as he ran a lap of honor.

So what do the spoils add up after the end of the historic dash? Usain Bolt becomes the first athlete to set world records in the 100m and 200m sprints at the Olympics. He is the first man to win the golden double after Carl Lewis in Los Angeles 1984. The great Jesse Owens has done that too, but even he couldn't break both the records.

Johnson had been prophetic when he said after the 100m dash that Bolt might one day shatter his world 200m record of 19.32 seconds, set in Atlanta 1996. It took the Jamaican just four days to make that prophecy come true.

"Nothing he does will shock me," Johnson had said. "He has been working on his start and the first part of the 100m proved he has worked on that. He's going to have to turn the corner a lot better and run the corner better." It was the most impressive athletics performance "I've ever seen in my life", Johnson had said about Bolt's 100m run.

Johnson, now a commentator for the BBC, pretended to be gutted as Bolt completed the 200m in 19.30 seconds yesterday. No words. But then he had made his feelings known on Saturday itself.

It was a day of another stunning performance. Though Natalie du Toit finished only 16th among 20 in the maiden women's 10km swimming marathon, she won the hearts of spectators and competitors alike. The South African swimmer's left leg is amputated from below the knee.

Elsewhere, Yin Jian sprung a surprise in sailing, winning China's first gold in sailing. Yin hailed it as the ultimate reward for years of battling injuries and spending long periods training away from home.

"When the flag was being raised I was thinking about the hardship I have gone through for this gold medal," she said.

On a day, when only 11 golds were on offer, China took two - the other in women's taekwondo, taking its gold haul to 45. World champion Wu Jingyu won the women's under 49-kg class on the first day of the Games taekwondo competition.

This is first time China has won this class since the taekwondo entered the Games in Sydney 2000.

Mexico's Guillermo Perez won the men's under 58-kg gold beating Dominica's Yulis Gabriel Mercedes. Afghanistan's Rohullah Nikpai won one of the two bronzes for men - and his country's first Olympic medal ever.

In women's hockey, China beat defending champion Germany 3-2 to move into the final, where it faces the Netherlands.

Source:China Daily

Iraqis delighted just to be here

Not all Olympic dreams are about winning gold medals. For some competitors, like the three who represented Iraq at the Beijing Games, simply taking part is reward enough.

"It is the dream of every Iraqi athlete and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the Games," Tiras Anwaya, chef de mission of the Iraqi team, told China Daily yesterday.

"We have done our best," he said.

"Being part of the Beijing Olympic family was the most important thing for us."

Iraq was represented by rowers Haidar Nozad and Hamzah Hussein Jebur in the men's double sculls, and by Dana Hussein in the women's 100 m and 200 m.

While no one was expecting any of them to win a medal, Nozad and Jebur managed a creditable 14th place, while Hussein was eliminated in the first round of both sprints.

Iraq has in fact won only one Olympic medal - a bronze in the lightweight division of the men's weightlifting at the Rome Games of 1960 - since making its debut in London in 1948.

The Iraqi trio was given the go-ahead to compete in Beijing only at the last minute, when the International Olympic Committee lifted the bans it had imposed on the country in May due to its government's "serious interference" in the country's Olympic affairs.

Anwaya said he was delighted when he was told the good news.

"When we heard, we were so happy we rushed out and booked our flights," he said.

For Hussein, competing in Beijing was the fulfillment of a sporting ambition.

"I am so proud to have represented Iraq in the Olympics," she said.

"This was my dream. If I had been told I couldn't compete, I would have been devastated," the 21-year-old said.

What made Hussein's participation even more impressive was that she arrived at the Olympic Village without any running shoes.

Thankfully, Song Wei, who works at the village heard about her plight and supplied her with a pair of spikes.

"When I heard that the athletes from Iraq and Cambodia had no proper running shoes, I felt so sad," Song said.

Source: China Daily

Brazilian football: Botafogo and Cruzeiro to encounter in Rio's stadium

Rio's Botafogo and Minas Gerais Cruzeiro will face each other in a Brazilian League clash of titans on Wednesday night in Rio's Joao Havelange stadium.

Both teams are having great results in the tournament. Botafogo is ranked fourth with 34 points, while Cruzeiro is the runner-up with 39 points.

The two teams both need the victory to get closer to the League's leader, Gremio, which has 44 points.

The two teams are in the best group of G-4, which qualifies to Libertadores Cup next year. Cruzeiro got in G-4 since the first round, but Botafogo only got in the group last Sunday.

Botafogo has not lost a match since July 20 and has the advantage of the home field. It lost only one match in the Joao Havelange stadium in the entire tournament.

Cruzeiro has won all four matches against other Rio's teams in this year's tournament. It also has one of the League's top scorers, striker Guilherme, who scored four goals in three matches against Botafogo.

However, some of Botafogo's players will to be absent from the match. It's keeper Castillo of Uruguayan is defending the goal for the Uruguayan national team at present, and Alessandro, Renato Silva, defender Espinoza, midfielders Fabricio, Charles, Wagner, and striker Romulo are all injuried. And midfielder Ramires is in Beijing with Brazil's Olympic football team.

Source:Xinhua

Netherlander van der Weijden wins men's 10-km marathon gold

Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands displays his gold medal during the awarding ceremony of men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
Thursday's men's 10-kilometer marathon swimming was full of dramas as Dutchman Maarten van der Meijden made a last minute dash to take the gold from Briton David Davis and three-time world champion Russia's Vladimir Dyatchin was disqualified from the race at the last lap.


Gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands celebrates during the awarding ceremony of men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
Davies, who had led the race during the most part of the two-hour grueling race, seemed to have secured his win in the last 100 before van der Meijden sprinted from his side to touch first.

Van der Meijden won in one hour 51 minutes and 51.6 seconds, 1.5 seconds ahead of Davies.

"It's going to take a while for it to sink in. At the last bit I didn't know what was going on," Davies said."I gave it everything and now I've got something to show for it."

"My goggle was in my eye, I had a foot in my eye and got a slapped face," Davies said. "Maybe I'm too much of a nice guy. I need to be more rough."

German veteran Thomas Lurz won bronze in 1:51:53.6.

"I knew Maarten finished well so it was important to stay with him," Lurz said.

"It was 700m before the end that I had to battle with the group. This lost me a lot of strength and the silver. It was extremely tight for first and second places, but that is the best thing about the sport, it's so exciting," he said.

Van der Meijden was regarded as a great swimming talent and took part at the European Youth Championships in 1999 and the Open Water World Championships in 2000. But in 2001 he was diagnosed with leukemia and his swimming career seemed to have to come a sudden end.

The swimmer fought his way back, making a comeback at the 2003 and 2004 Open Water World Championships when he swam faster than before the disease.

Russia's Dyatchin, who has dominated the 10-km open water race in world championships and World Cups, was disqualified after receiving a red flap in the last lap.

"I got a yellow card and a red card during the race. It's my first time to get two cards in my sporting career," he said. "I struggled in the water with a lot of athletes around me. I didn't want to push them."

Source:Xinhua

Result of women's 10m platform semifinals at Beijing Olympics

Following are the results of the women's 10m platform semifinals at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Thursday.

1. Chen Ruolin, China, 444.60 points

2. Paola Espinosa, Mexico, 400.75

3. Wang Xin, China, 388.55

4. Emilie Heymans, Canada, 374.10

5. Tatiana Ortiz, Mexico, 349.50

6. Lauro Wilkinson, United States, 346.10

7. Marie-Eve Marleau, Canada, 335.25

8. Melissa Wu, Australia, 331.35

9. Elina Eggers, Sweden, 315.45

10. Nakagawa Mai, Japan, 314.60

11. Stacie Powell, Britain, 301.75

12. Tonia Couch, Britain, 297.20

Source:Xinhua

Basketball preview: Chinese women play Australia to set eyes on Olympic medal

China will play Australia on Friday in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympic women's basketball in a hope to equal their best second-place feat obtained at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

"We have already reached our semifinals, but that is not our termination. As our coach told us, we should try to get a medal," said Chinese captain Miao Lijie.

China recorded four wins and one loss in the preliminary round to rank second only after the United States in Group B. They eliminated Belarus 77-62 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday for a semi clash against Australia who will be much strong.

Australia won the 2006 World Championships and got silver medals back-to-back in 2000 and 2004. They hammered the Czech Republic 79-46 in the quarterfinals with a cruel pressure that choked the Czech offense, not allowing them to get easy inside points, while harassing the Czech shooters sitting beyond the arc.

The unbeaten Australian just like the United States in the tournament, however, were clouded by an ankle injury to star forward Penny Taylor, the MVP of the 2006 World Championships final, in Tuesday's quarterfinals. The bad news may be a good one for China.

"Stranger things have happened in the game of basketball," Australia's coach Jan Stirling said. "We're certainly not a one-person team. Not one player can replace Penny, but collectively we can cover the loss."

Stirling certainly has more good players in her team including WNBA star Lauren Jackson, Kristi Harrower, Suzy Batkovic and Belina Snell.

"To create a running game, we have to do well on the boards," said Stirling. "They have a lot of players who can penetrate and they can get hot from the three-point line."

The semifinal between the United States, who trounced South Korea easily 104-60 in the quarterfinal, and Russia will be a rematch of the World Championships, where the European titlists upset the Americans. And it has been considered a battle of the revenge for the defending champions.

"USA is a strong team and it will be a tough game," said Ilona Korstin of Russia, who came from an 18 points down to beat Spain in another quarterfinals Tuesday.

"The tougher a game, the more interesting it will be. But we do not fear it," Korstin added.

Russia recorded four narrow triumphs in preliminary round with winning only five points over South Korea and Latvia apiece and beating Belerus by six and improving the victory over Brazil 74-64.

The United States won over their opponents with an average 40.3 points in the perliminary round.

Source: Xinhua

China's Yin Jian sails to Olympic history

When Yin Jian speeded against waves to cross the finishing line on her sailboard, she made the history for China at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Wednesday.

Yin awarded China its first ever Olympic sailing gold by claiming the women's RS:X title at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center.

With a five-point lead into the double-point medal race, Yin exploited her know-how of the waves to the best effect.

Despite a fourth and three fifth finishes by the first four marks, Yin regained her composure and staged a magnificent comeback when the Spaniard in front of her threw in a tack.


Yin Jian wins China's first ever Olympic sailing gold
She seized the opportunity and stormed all the way to the finishing line. She placed third and gained 39 points overall to secure the gold, reeling in her rival to huge cheers from the breakwater.

It is also the first time that the host nation has ever won the Olympic sailing gold in windsurfing on home water.

The Chinese delegation has already won two Olympic silver medals in windsurfing, with Zhang Xiaodong in Barcelona in 1992 and Yin Jian in Athens in 2004, plus the Laser Radial bronze won by Xu Lijia here on Tuesday.

"It's so hard to get this gold medal. It bears the expectation of all Chinese sailors for generations. I am happy that today I accomplish the mission and make the dream come true," said the 29-year-old Yin.

"For an old athlete, competing in this Olympics was hard. I've had many injuries in the past four years. I was able to persevere until now because I wanted to make China proud in the Olympic Games that China is hosting," said the Sichuan native.

Standing on the top of the podium and wrapped up with the national flag, Yin couldn't stop her tears falling amid the screaming and flag waving of Chinese spectators. She knew how difficult it was to come to this point.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, a small collision with another competitor in the 10th round relegated Yin to a silver medal finish, just two agonizing points shy of a gold medal.

During the World Championships in 2007 and 2008, she only ranked 10th and 24th for the RS:X class.

Even in the medal race this time, it was such a breathtaking performance for Yin that she said she experienced an emotional up-and-down on the water.

"When I dropped to the fifth, I felt so nervous that I couldn't pump up properly. I thought my game was over and I would lose my gold medal," admitted Yin.

"But when I saw the Italian take the lead, I threw my fears away and told myself, 'just run your own race,' and I started pumping hard," she said.

"Soon after that, when the Spanish and the British sailors had a collision and I knew my chance came. I got into the third place, and had to make sure that I stayed there until the very end. Then, I made it," smiled Yin.

A burning desire to win and a determination to fight till the last moment was the comment on Yin from her coach Jiang Chen, who couldn't save his tears for her.

"Today's race is a true reflection of her past 10 days' races. She had a good start but immediately fell behind in the middle and had to catch up one by one. It was difficult but, in the end, she caught up with one after each mark and entered the top three. It is all because of her determination and perseverence," he said.

"This is the sport that Europeans excel in and they are usually good at making a last push in the final race. So today, Yin relied on herself to deal with surprises. She did it well and took all the important opportunities," Jiang added.

China's sailing team captain Yao Xinpei, who was thrown into water by his excited team members, also gave thumbs up to Yin.

"Yin Jian proved that she could survive and revive. She is an all-around mature sailor. Today's medal race was really classic and it will be definitely recorded into the history of Chinese sailing," he said, adding that Yin's success also highlighted the improvement of overall leval of China's sailing.

Born in Daliangshan, a mountain area in Sichuan province, Yin started windsurfing at the age of 15 at a local aquatic sports school. She could only stay at home one or two months a year, since there is no suitable waters there for training.

But Yin said whenever she felt frustrated, the first haven that occured to her was her hometown.

"Daliangshan is always my moral support. The high attitude there gave me good health condition and the strenth to surve all the hardships. The most important is the love and support from my parents and villagers," she said.

Her father kept a weather diary for her, because he knew weather meant a lot for his daughter and this was the only thing he could help. Her mother sang local folk songs to Yin on the phone when Yin cried and said the waist muscular strains pained her every night.

"I miss them so much and I want to go home now. I am happy that I can go back proudly," she said.

Source: Xinhua

Bolt wins Olympic 200m with world record, runner-up disqualified later

Usain Bolt of Jamaica eased to win the Olympic men's 200m sprint and rewrote the world record in 19.30 seconds, even into a headwind of 0.9m/s in Beijing on Wednesday night.

The 21-year-old Jamaican has become the most shinning star of the "Bird's Nest", who won the men's 100m dash four days ago, with the new world record of 9.69 seconds.

In tonight's 200m race, a dramatic story were written by Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles, who finished second, and Wallace Spearmon of the United States, who got the third. They were both disqualified for encroaching on neighboring lines.

Spearmon was disqualified just after the sprint for encroaching on other line. However, he attributed his foul to Martina, saying that Martina stepped into his line first. After an investigation, both were disqualified.

Then the original fourth finisher American Shawn Crawford, who won the 200m gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, became the silverist in 19.96 seconds and his teammate Walter Dix was subsequently offered the bronze in 19.98.

Source:Xinhua