Archive for gold medal

London 2012 final day promises to be golden

by admin
August 13th, 2012

Kobe Bryant and the USA team will take on Spain in the men’s Basketball final.

The North Greenwich Arena is set to be one of the hottest tickets in town as the USA’s ‘Dream Team’ bring the curtain down on the men’s Basketball competition with a final against Spain.

The Spaniards start as underdogs having lost two games during the group stage, while their USA counterparts are unbeaten.

The Host Nation’s focus will be on the ExCeL, where Fred Evans and Anthony Joshua will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Nicola Adams by claiming a gold medal in the Boxing ring.

Welshman Evans meets two-time world champion Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan in the Welter Weight division, before Joshua takes on Italy’s Roberto Cammarelle in the Super Heavy Weight gold medal bout.

There is also British interest in the women’s Modern Pentathlon, where Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray could find themselves among the medals but face stiff competition from event favourite Lena Schoneborn of Germany.

Russia will be hoping to avenge their pool-stage defeat to Brazil as they meet the South Americans in the final of the men’s Volleyball, while Sweden will aim to do the same to France as the men’s Handball competition reaches its climax.

Croatia take an unbeaten record into the final of the men’s Water Polo where they are set to meet Italy, whose only Games defeat so far came against their gold medal opponents.

Kenya and Ethiopia have the opportunity to get their hands on gold as they look set to dominate the men’s Marathon, with Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and Ayele Abshero among the favourites to take top spot on the podium in the race around the streets of London.

In the men’s Cross-country Mountain Bike race, Switzerland’s Nino Schurter will be hoping to live up to his status as one of the event’s leading riders by cycling to victory at Hadleigh Farm, while France’s Julien Absalon aims to add to the gold won by compatriot Julie Bresset in the women’s competition.

The final day of competition also sees the conclusion of the Rhythmic Gymnastics and Wrestling programmes, before athletes and spectators flood to the Olympic Stadium to see the Games brought to a close in spectacular fashion.

BM

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London 2012 Day 15 Review: Usain Bolt leads record breakers

by admin
August 13th, 2012

Usain Bolt of Jamaica crosses the finish line ahead of Ryan Bailey of the USA to win gold and set a new world record for Jamaica of 36.84 during the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay final on Day 15 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium.

Usain Bolt brought the action at the Olympic Stadium to a fitting close, as he anchored the Jamaican 4 x 100m Relay team to gold in a new world record.

He was only level with the USA’s Ryan Bailey when he took the baton after the first three legs run by Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake, but stormed down the home straight to stop the clock at 36.84, taking 0.2 seconds off their previous record.

The USA claimed silver and Trinidad and Tobago the bronze.

Britain’s Mo Farah was also celebrating on an amazing night, having earlier joined an elite list of athletes to complete the Olympic long-distance double by backing up his 10,000m title with the 5000m crown.

Russia’s Mariya Savinova produced a perfectly-timed race to claim gold in the women’s 800m, beating former world champion Caster Semenya by more than a second, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott was the winner of the men’s Javelin Throw and Russia’s Anna Chicherova claimed High Jump gold.

The most emphatic win of the night came in the women’s 4 x 400m Relay as the USA stormed to gold, with the quartet of DeeDee Trotter, Allyson Felix, Francena McCorory and Sanya Richards-Ross leading from start to finish to beat Russia by almost three-and-a-half seconds. Jamaica claimed the bronze medal.

In the men’s Olympic Football final, Mexico secured arguably the greatest triumph in their history by winning London 2012 gold with a 2-1 win over Brazil at Wembley Stadium.

Oribe Peralta wrote his name into Mexican folklore with a double against the five-time world champions, who many believed were destined finally to end their agonising wait for Olympic Games glory.

At Eton Dorney, New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington stormed to gold in the women’s Kayak Singles (K1) 200m. Making her Olympic debut, Carrington left experienced European kayakers trailing in her wake as she cruised home ahead of Ukrainian Inna Osypenko-Radomska and Hungarian Natasa Douchev-Janics.

Ukrainian Yuri Cheban took gold in the men’s Canoe Single (C1) 200m and the Russian pair of Yury Postrigay and Alexander Dyachenko won the men’s Kayak Double (K2) 200m sprint.

The home fans also had something to cheer as Britain’s Ed McKeever powered home to claim the men’s Kayak Single (K1) 200m.

Russia’s Sergey Kirdyapkin won the 50km Race Walk in an Olympic record time.

The former world champion finished in 3:35.59, almost a minute clear of Australia’s Jared Tallent, who took silver for the second Games in succession, with China’s Si Tianfeng claiming bronze.

The women’s 20km Race walk title went to Russia’s Elena Lashmanova in a new world record time of 1:25.02.

France claimed a 10th gold medal as Julie Bresset cruised to victory in the women’s Cross-country Mountain Bike at Hadleigh Farm. World Under-23 champion Bresset led from the gun and triumphed in 1:30.52.

Russia’s Evgeniya Kanaeva became the first rhythmic gymnast to defend an Olympic title after she won gold with a series of breathtaking performances in the Individual All-Round final at Wembley Arena.

Kanaeva was in a class of her own as she scored 116.900 to retain her title, ahead of fellow Russian Daria Dmitrieva (114.500) in silver with Liubou Charkashyna of Belarus (111.700) taking bronze.

Tamara Echegoyen-skippered Spain surprised favourites Australia to win gold in the women’s Elliot 6m Match Racing class – the last Sailing medal of London 2012.

Australia twice recovered from going behind in the best-of-five series, but Echegoyen, Sofia Toro and Angela Pumariega went on to ensure Spain topped the podium.

Brazil retained their Olympic Volleyball title courtesy of a fine performance against the USA. In a repeat of the Beijing 2008 showpiece, the South Americans once again got the better of their arch-rivals, seeing them off 3-1.

Artur Taymazov cemented his place in Freestyle Wrestling history after he beat Davit Modzmanashvili to win his third successive gold in the 120kg class.

Taymazov, who also has a silver from Sydney, defeated the Georgian 1-0 1-0 to become the only wrestler in history to win three gold medals.

Jan Philipp Rabente was the unlikely hero as he scored twice as Germany successfully defended their Olympic men’s Hockey title with victory over the Netherlands.

American David Boudia won the 10m Platform Diving final, edging out former world champion Qiu Bo and home hope Tom Daley while David Svoboda clinched the Modern Pentathlon crown.

Elsewhere, the USA beat France to win the women’s Basketball title 86-50.

Milica Mandic claimed Serbia’s first Taekwondo Olympic gold when she beat Anne-Caroline Graffe of France 9-7 in the women’s + 67kg final.

The men’s +80kg gold was won by Rome policeman Carlo Molfetta on judges’ decision after a classic final against Anthony Obame, whose silver was a first Olympic medal for Gabon.

China’s Zou Shiming became the first man to retain the Light Fly Weight Olympic Boxing title, claiming victory in the gold-medal match against Thailand’s Kaeo Pongprayoon.

Great Britain’s Luke Campbell claimed the Bantam Weight title with victory over Ireland’s John Joe Nevin, while Ukrainian top seed Oleksandr Usyk claimed the prestigious Heavy Weight gold after seeing off the committed Italian Clemente Russo.

Japanese Middle Weight Ryota Murata edged a close final against Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao Florentino 14-13.

BM

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Carli Lloyd again lifts USA women to Olympic gold

by admin
August 11th, 2012

The United States women’s soccer team celebrates with the the gold medal after defeating Japan by a score of 2-1 to win the Women’s Football gold medal match on Day 13 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium.

USA’s Carli Lloyd’s brilliant double in the final were enough for the USA to complete a hat-trick of Olympic titles, as the midfielder added to her winner in the Beijing 2008 showpiece.

They also made amends for her penalty shoot-out miss in last year’s World Cup final.

Yuki Ogimi pulled a goal back for Japan, who had plenty of chances to equalise and were denied by the woodwork as they failed in a bid to add the Olympic title to their world crown.

But they contributed to a superb spectacle and another brilliant advert for the women’s game.

The USA were playing in their fifth successive final, having lost just one of the previous four, while Japan were in their very first.

Both sides had come through scares in the semi-finals, the USA coming from behind three times to beat Canada in extra-time, and Japan seeing off a second-half onslaught against France.

There was good support for each team, but it was the USA fans who were celebrating in the eighth minute as Lloyd opened the scoring.

Tobin Heath got free down the left and crossed for Alex Morgan, whose heavy touch actually allowed her to chip up a ball that Lloyd arrived late to head home, stealing it off the toe of Abby Wambach.

It was the first time Japan had been behind all tournament and they responded superbly, going close twice in quick succession 10 minutes later.

A fine move ended with Nahomi Kawasumi’s shot being blocked by Christie Rampone – although it may have been going wide – with Hope Solo thwarting Ogimi on the rebound.

Solo then excelled herself, magnificently tipping Ogimi’s header from Kawasumi’s cross onto the crossbar, Ogimi smashing over the follow-up.

Heath was lucky to get away with handballing Aya Miyama’s free-kick as Japan continued to dominate but they enjoyed a let-off themselves when Azusa Iwashimizu headed Amy LePeilbet’s cross against her own post.

They should have equalised in the 33rd minute, Miyama the next to hit the woodwork after Shinobu Ohno found herself all alone in the box, the latter then sending a beautiful curling shot a few metres wide.

Both sides threatened early in the second half before Lloyd scored a stunning second goal in the 54th minute.

The Japan defence backed off as the midfielder carried the ball forward but even they could not have predicted the unstoppable 20-yard shot that flew into the net.

However, the world champions refused to buckle and, after bringing on Asuna Tanaka, they halved the deficit in the 63rd minute.

A lovely move saw Homare Sawa’s shot blocked by Rampone and the ball broke for Ogimi to shoot home.

A sprawling Miho Fukumoto save prevented Rachel Buehler restoring the USA’s two-goal lead while there was a desperate scramble at the other end after they failed to deal with a free-kick.

Lloyd was agonisingly close to a hat-trick when she hit a shot just over and Japan substitute Mana Iwabuchi should have equalised when she robbed Rampone 20 yards out but shot too close to Solo, who nevertheless produced a fine save.

Wambach could have netted late on but it did not matter that she missed out as the USA held on.

BM

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London Day 13 Review: Golden night for ‘legend’ Bolt

by admin
August 11th, 2012

Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning gold in the men’s 200m final on Day 13 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.

The Jamaican successfully defended his 100m title on Sunday night and he followed that with another imperious performance today, leading a Jamaican clean-sweep in the 200m ahead of 100m silver medallist Yohan Blake and Warren Weir.

Bolt’s winning time of 19.32 was outside his own world record of 19.19, which he felt might be a possibility, but the 80,000 crowd had already witnessed one such record after a stunning performance from Kenya’s David Rudisha.

Rudisha stormed to victory in the 800m and broke his own world record in the process, racing through the first lap in 49.28 seconds and powering to the gold medal in 1:40.91.

Eighteen-year-old Nijel Amos of Botswana claimed silver in a world junior record of 1:41.73 ahead of 17-year-old Kenyan Timothy Kitum.

American Christian Taylor then added the Olympic title to his world Triple Jump crown with a superb jump of 17.81m, the longest in the world this year.

That left him 19cm ahead of team-mate Will Claye (17.62m), with Italy’s Fabrizio Donato taking bronze with 17.48m.

World record holder Ashton Eaton claimed Decathlon gold in the final event of the night.

Eaton took a 151-point lead over team-mate Trey Hardee into the 1500m and finished ahead of the two-time world champion to end up 198 points clear after two gruelling days of competition. Cuba’s Leonel Suarez claimed bronze.

Earlier in the day, Eva Risztov had stunned home favourite and world title holder Keri-anne Payne to claim gold in the women’s 10km Marathon Swimming.

The Hungarian won in 1:57:38.2, holding off a fast-finishing Haley Anderson.

Martina Grimaldi was third, holding off Payne’s late sprint by 0.4 seconds.

China’s Chen Ruolin successfully defended her women’s 10m Platform title at the Aquatics Centre with a score of 422.30.

Sixteen-year-old Australian Brittany Broben was Chen’s closest challenger but even then she was still a massive 55.80 points further back.

Pandelela Rinong Pamg took bronze for Malaysia as she edged out a tight pack behind her with a score of 359.20.

The USA took Olympic gold in the women’s Water Polo with a convincing 8-5 victory over Spain.

Maggie Steffens scored five goals for the USA as they cruised past the Europeans.

Australia took bronze with a dramatic 13-11 extra-time win over Hungary.

There was more to celebrate for the USA’s women as they beat Japan 2-1 to take Football gold at Wembley.

Carli Lloyd’s brilliant two goals in the final were enough for the USA to complete a hat-trick of Olympic titles, as the midfielder added to her winner in the Beijing 2008 final.

Yuki Ogimi pulled a goal back for Japan, who had plenty of chances to equalise and were denied by the woodwork.

Germany stunned world champions Brazil to take gold in the men’s Beach Volleyball – the first Europeans to become Olympic champions.

Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann won by two sets to one, 23-21 16-21 16-14, but it took them five match points to settle the contest.

Latvian pair Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins took bronze in a surprise 2-1 victory over the Netherlands’ Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schull.

It was also a good day for Germany at Eton Dorney with two golds.

The pairing of Peter Kretschmer and Kurt Kuschela comfortably won the men’s Canoe Double (C2) 1000m, with Franziska Weber and Tina Dietze landing gold in the women’s Kayak Double (K2) 500m.

The men’s Kayak Four (K4) 1000m was won by the Australian quartet of Dave Smith, Tate Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear while Hungary’s Danuta Kozak landed the women’s Kayak Single (K1) 500m title.

British Dressage star Charlotte Dujardin won her second gold medal of London 2012 when she was crowned Olympic Individual Dressage champion at Greenwich Park.

Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen came second, with another Briton, Laura Bechtolsheimer, third.

The Host Nation were also successful in the women’s Boxing, as Nicola Adams made history.

Adams overwhelmed China’s double world champion Ren Cancan 16-7 to be crowned the first ever Olympic women’s Boxing champion at ExCeL.

Katie Taylor followed Adams into the ring and delighted the hordes of Irish fans with a hard-fought 10-8 defeat of Russia’s Sofya Ochigava.

America’s Claressa Shields won the women’s Middle Weight division.

Jade Jones sealed a successful day for GB by winning their first-ever Taekwondo gold, overcoming Hou Yuzhuo of China in the women’s Under 57kg final.

Saori Yoshida won her third successive Olympic gold to maintain Japan’s dominance of women’s Wrestling at London 2012.

Yoshida beat Canada’s Tonya Lynn Verbeek 3-0 2-0 in tonight’s final of the 55kg weight category.

Jackeline Renteria Castillo of Colombia and Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Ratkevich claimed the two bronze medals.

Later, Russia’s Natalia Vorobieva stunned Stanka Zlateva Hristova to take gold in thrilling style in the 72kg division.

Maider Unda earlier won bronze to claim Spain’s first-ever Wrestling medal while Kazakhstan’s Guzel Manyurova won the division’s other bronze.

In the Hockey, defending Olympic champions Germany twice came from behind to beat favourites Australia 4-2 to book their place in the final.

They will face Holland who beat Great Britain 9-2 in a thriller at the Riverbank Arena.

Defending champions Brazil set up a repeat of the 2008 women’s Olympic Volleyball final with the United States by seeing off Japan 3-0.

Earlier in the day, the USA had beaten South Korea by the same score.

Heidi Loke scored eight goals and Norway stayed on course for a second successive Olympic gold medal in women’s Handball as they reached Saturday’s final with a 31-25 victory over the Republic of Korea. They will face Montenegro, who beat Spain 27-26 courtesy of nine goals from Katarina Bulatovic.

The medal race in the men’s 470 Sailing event was postponed due to light winds on the south coast.

France will play in the final of the Olympic women’s Basketball tournament for the first time after pulling away late on for a comfortable 81-64 victory over Russia.

The final gold medal of the evening went to Czech Barbora Spotakova, who successfully defended her Javelin Throw title with a throw of 69.55m.

BM

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London 2012 Day 12 Review: Team USA sets gold standard

by admin
August 10th, 2012

April Ross of the United States blocks the shot of Juliana Silva of Brazil during the women’s Beach Volleyball semi-final match between USA and Brazil on Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Horse Guards Parade.

After having to settle for silver at the last two Games, USA’s Allyson Felix finally got her hands on an Olympic gold medal with a brilliant run in the 200m final.

Felix, runner-up at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 to Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, overcame a sluggish start to lead coming off the bend and was never going to be caught, the 26-year-old clocking a time of 21.88 to finish 0.21 seconds ahead of 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

USA’s Carmelita Jeter, silver medallist over 100m, took bronze with Campbell-Brown fourth and failing in her bid to become the first woman to win a track event for three Games in succession.

The USA then enjoyed a one-two in the 110m Hurdles as Aries Merritt stormed to victory in 12.92, the fastest time in the world this year and just 0.01 seconds off the Olympic record set by Liu Xiang at Athens 2004.

Team-mate Jason Richardson took silver in 13.04 with Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment taking bronze in a new national record of 13.12.

World record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba pulled up injured midway through the race.

And a glorious night for the USA was completed when Brittney Reese won gold in the women’s Long Jump.

Russia’s Natalya Antyukh won the 400m Hurdles, the 31-year-old just holding off USA’s Lashinda Demus at the finish.

Antyukh recorded a personal best of 52.70 to finish just 0.06 outside the Olympic record held by 2008 champion Melaine Walker, with Demus setting a season’s best of 52.77.

Czech Zuzana Hejnova claimed the bronze medal just ahead of Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer.

Usain Bolt edged ever nearer the legendary status he craves after easing into the 200m final.

While many would already consider the Jamaican superstar a legend for winning triple gold at Beijing 2008 and defending his 100m title here on Sunday, Bolt himself insists he also has to retain his 200m title.

And the 25-year-old looks increasingly likely to do just that, effectively winning his semi-final before halfway and almost jogging down the home straight to win in 20.18.

Team-mate Yohan Blake was the fastest qualifier after also slowing down markedly in winning the opening semi-final in 20.01, but Bolt has no doubts he will put his training partner in his place once again on Thursday.

‘No doubt whatsoever,’ Bolt said. ‘I’m ready, this is my favourite event, so I’m looking forward to it.’

Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen won their country’s fifth gold medal of London 2012 by completing victory in the Sailing 49er class.

The pair’s success was a formality and they eased home with a fourth-place finish in the medal race at Weymouth and Portland.

New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were assured of silver but Denmark’s Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang produced a late burst to secure bronze ahead of final race winners Austria and fellow hopefuls Great Britain.

Four gold medals were handed out at Eton Dorney as the first of the Canoe Sprint finals took place.

Norway’s Eirik Veras Larsen triumphed in the men’s Kayak Single (K1) 1000m, finishing ahead of world champion Adam van Koeverden of Canada and Max Hoff from Germany.

Another German, Sebastian Brendel, took the men’s Canoe Single (C1) 1000m title with David Cal Figueroa of Spain second and Canada’s Mark Oldershaw third.

In the men’s Kayak Double (K2) 1000m, Hungary’s Rudolf Dombi and Roland Kokeny won gold, just ahead of Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta and Emanuel Silva. Martin Hollstein and Andreas Ihle from Germany won bronze.

The Hungarian team won the women’s Kayak Four (K4) 500m with Germany and Belarus also earning podium positions.

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat won the Individual Jumping Equestrian gold medal at Greenwich Park.

Six riders carried zero faults into the final individual round but only Guerdat was able to go clear.

Gerco Schroder of the Netherlands beat Ireland’s Cian O’Connor in a jump-off for silver and bronze.

China completed a clean sweep of the Table Tennis gold medals for the second successive Olympics with victory in the men’s Team event at ExCeL.

The team of Ma Long, Zhang Jike and Wang Hao proved too strong for the Republic of Korea, easing into an unassailable 3-0 lead. Ma and Zhang were both convincing in the Singles before Zhang combined with Wang to wrap up the job in the Doubles.

Germany beat Hong Kong 3-1 to claim the bronze medal.

The Nethelrands will meet Argentina in the women’s Hockey final after they both won. The Dutch beat New Zealand on a penalty shoot-out while the South Americans ousted Great Britain 2-1.

Kaori Icho beat Jing Ruixue to claim her third successive Olympic gold and complete a clean sweep for Japan on the first night of women’s Wrestling at London 2012.

Icho became the only woman wrestler to triumph in Athens, Beijing and London after she beat her Chinese opponent to record a straightforward 3-0, 2-0 win in the 63kg category final at the ExCeL.

Icho’s victory came barely an hour after Hitomi Obara came from behind to register a hard-fought win over Azerbaijan’s Mariya Stadnyk in the 48kg category.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States secured gold in the all-American final of the women’s Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade.

The duo claimed their third consecutive Olympic title after they defeated number six seeds Jennifer Kessy and April Ross in straight sets.

China’s Wu Jingyu successfully defended her -49kg Olympic title with victory over Spaniard Brigitte Yague Enrique on the first night of Taekwondo at ExCeL.

Thailand’s Chanatip Sonkham and Lucija Zaninovic of Croatia claimed bronze.

In the last bout of the night, Spain’s Joel Gonzalez Bonilla claimed gold as he beat Republic of Korea’s Lee Daehoon in the final of the men’s -58kg.

Bronze went to Russian Alexey Denisenko and Colombian 19-year-old Oscar Munoz Oveido.

BM

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London 2012 Day 12 Preview: Jamaica’s Fraser-Pryce eyes sprint double

by admin
August 9th, 2012

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica celebrates winning the gold in the women’s 100m Final on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.

There are 16 gold medals up for grabs in all, with the crowds in for a real treat right across the Olympic Games venues.

A packed-out Olympic Stadium will be the focus for most of the attention as in Athletics Fraser-Pryce will look to follow up her 100m success on Saturday night with another victory in the women’s 200m.

She is likely to face stiff competition, with USA’s Carmelita Jeter and 400m gold medallist Sanya Richards-Ross also contenders along with defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Allyson Felix, however, is the favourite to finally win gold after securing silver in the last two Olympic Games.

The USA will be hoping to add another gold to their tally when Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson race in the final of the 110m Hurdles.

Cuban Dayron Robles is also a medal contender in that race, but China’s Liu Xiang is a notable absentee after he suffered a recurrence of an Achilles injury and fell at the first hurdle in his heat, four years after suffering injury heartbreak at Beijing 2008 in his home Olympics.

The finals of the women’s 400m Hurdles and the women’s Long Jump also feature in another spectacular evening of competition at the Olympic Stadium.

There has also been an electric atmosphere at Horse Guards Parade throughout the Games and another capacity crowd will create plenty of noise once again for the women’s Beach Volleyball final and the bronze-medal match.

USA duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will be bidding to continue their dominance of the event by winning a third consecutive gold medal.

At Eton Dorney, medals will be up for grabs in the men’s Canoe Single (C1) 1000m, the men’s Kayak Single (K1) 1000m and the men’s Kayak Double (K2) 1000m.

There will also be the women’s Kayak Four (K4) 500m final, with Germany favourites to win gold in that event.

Crowds at Greenwich Park will witness the final rounds of the Individual Jumping, with Great Britain’s 54-year-old rider Nick Skelton bidding to win another gold medal.

In the Sailing, Weymouth and Portland will host another medal race in the men’s 49er and there will also be the quarter-finals of the women’s Elliott 6m Match Racing, as well as race nine and 10 of the women’s 470.

China face the Republic of Korea in the final of the men’s Team Table Tennis competition at ExCeL and at the same venue the women’s 48kg and women’s 63kg Freestyle Wrestling events will also draw to a conclusion.

The first Taekwondo contests of the Games will also take place at ExCeL, with medals contested in the men’s Under 58kg category and the women’s Under 49kg divisions.

There will also be the first BMX Cycling action, with Shanaze Reade hoping home support inspires her after she crashed out in the final at Beijing 2008.

BM

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London 2012: Australia’s Pearson leads spectacular day

by admin
August 9th, 2012

Sally Pearson of Australia leads Jessica Zelinka of Canada and Nevin Yanit of Turkey during the women’s 100m Hurdles Final on Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium.

The hot favourite, Sally Pearson, clocked an Olympic record of 12.35 to edge out the USA’s defending champion Dawn Harper into silver by just 0.02 seconds. Another USA athlete, Kellie Wells, took the bronze in 12.48.

Pearson endured a nervous few moments before the result was confirmed on the scoreboard, bringing cheers of delight from the Australian fans.

Later, Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi claimed men’s 1500m gold in convincing fashion as he pulled clear down the home straight to win in 3:34.08. American Leonel Manzano took the silver and Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider the bronze.

Germany’s Robert Harting took gold in the Discus with a throw of 68.27m. He celebrated in style by removing his top and embarking on a lap of honour draped in the German flag, before leaping over the barriers set out for the 100m Hurdles final to cheers from the stands. Iran’s Ehsan Hadadi took silver with 68.18m and Estonia’s Gerd Kanter bronze with 68.03m.

Ivan Ukhov took the High Jump gold medal after being the only man to clear 2.36m and 2.38m.

In the morning, Usain Bolt began his bid to add a second Olympic Games 200m crown to his two 100m titles with a comfortable heat victory.

The Jamaican, who clocked an Olympic record 9.63 to retain his 100m crown on Sunday, cruised to victory in 20.39.

Bolt has said he needs to win 200m gold again before he achieves his aim of becoming a ‘legend’.

‘It was an easy run, I’m enjoying it, it’s my favourite event,’ said Bolt.

His countryman and training partner Yohan Blake also breezed through, slowing down well before the line to clock 20.38.

World number one Aries Merritt qualified impressively in the men’s 110m Hurdles in 13.07 but there was more Olympic Games disappointment for China’s Liu Xiang.

The Athens 2004 champion, one of the favourites for the gold medal in London, suffered a recurrence of an Achilles injury and was unable to make it over the first barrier in his heat.

The disappointment echoed that of four years ago when Liu – the face of the Beijing 2008 Games – stunned the crowd by walking off the start line, unable to run because of an Achilles problem.

‘I feel really sorry about this situation,’ said Feng Shuyong, the Head Coach of the Chinese Athletics team. ‘We think it was like four years ago, the same thing happened again.

‘I feel really sad because he has worked very hard to get back to the level he was at before as champion.’

Chris Hoy and Laura Trott won their second gold medals of London 2012 as Great Britain equalled their Beijing 2008 Track Cycling haul of seven wins from 10 events – but there was no golden goodbye for Victoria Pendleton.

Hoy won the final event of the London 2012 Track Cycling programme with a stunning triumph in the men’s Keirin, while Trott won the women’s Omnium.

But Pendleton was denied a final flourish as perennial rival Anna Meares of Australia claimed women’s Sprint gold with a dramatic 2-0 win over the Briton.

There was further success for the host nation in the men’s Triathlon, with Alistair Brownlee winning gold and his brother Jonny bronze. Spain’s Javier Gomez finished second for silver.

At Weymouth and Portland, Spain’s Marina Alabau Neira won gold in the women’s RS:X with Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge claiming the men’s event.

And in Gymnastics, China’s Feng Zhe won the men’s Parallel Bars crown with his compatriot Deng Linlin taking the women’s Balance Beam and Epke Zonderland of Netherlands the men’s Horizontal Bars.

The USA’s Alexandra Raisman won gold in the women’s Floor final. Raisman followed up her bronze on the Beam with an impressive performance to score 15.600 and claim the title ahead of Romania’s Catalina Ponor in silver (15.200) with Russian Aliya Mustafina taking bronze (14.900).

Great Britain’s Dressage riders won gold and landed their first title in Olympic Games history. Barely 24 hours after the British Jumping team clinched a first gold medal for 60 years, the Dressage trio of Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin also triumphed at Greenwich Park.

China closed on a second successive clean sweep of Table Tennis Olympic gold medals as Ding Ning, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue overcame Japan in the women’s Team event final at the London 2012 Games.

Kim Hyeonwoo became the first Republic of Korea athlete to win gold in Greco-Roman Wrestling after he beat Hungary’s Tamas Lorincz in the 66kg division.

Kim had stunned the crowd by defeating reigning champion Steeve Guenot in the semi-finals and he registered an impressive 1-0, 2-0 win over his opponent in the medal showdown.

Iran’s Ghasem Rezaei won the 96kg crown and there was also Iranian joy in the Weightlifting with Behdad Salimikordasiabi taking the gold in the men’s + 105kg.

Brazil and Mexico will compete for the gold in the men’s Football final after winning their semi-final clashes. Mexico hit back to beat Japan 3-1 while Brazil proved too strong for Republic of Korea, winning 3-0.

Russia’s Ilya Zakharov ended China’s Diving dominance as he claimed gold in the men’s 3m Springboard.

BM

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Malaysians lash out at politician’s jabs at Badminton player Lee

by admin
August 8th, 2012

Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei won silver in London and faced legislator’s criticism.

PETALING JAYA: Bring up Kota Alam Shah’s DAP assemblyman M. Manoharan’s name on Tuesday and signs of anger and frustration begin to form on Malaysian faces.

“I can’t believe what he wrote. It is so wrong,” cafe owner Marti told Bikyamasr.com in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday morning.

He was referring to the numerous statements on his personal Twitter account following Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei’s loss to China’s Lin Dan in the Olympic badminton men’s singles final.

Manoharan tweeted: “Malaysia will win its first gold medal in Olympics after Pakatan takes over Putrajaya.”

Many observers and commentators argued that the Malaysian player actually played better than his Chinese counterpart, but couldn’t win the important points when he needed to. Manoharan lashed at this argument.

“If Chong Wei played better than Lin Dan, why didn’t he win? We must be firm with our players so that we can see a gold one day.

“Whoever wins a gold medal with Olympics, we must congratulate them,” wrote the politician.

Bloggers and activists have set up a Facebook page already, titled “We Want Manoharan Malayalam to apologize to Lee Chong Wei.” The page already has thousands of likes.

Manoharan, however, denied any intent to insult the national player.

“My intention was for the betterment of our sports and to improve our chances to win in the next Olympics,” he said, stressing that it was his personal opinion and not Pakatan’s stand.

Last year, the DAP politician stirred similar controversy when he suggested modifying the Jalur Gemilang, claiming its design did not reflect Malaysia.

DAP suspended his membership for 6 months from Sept 23 but lifted the punishment after a month.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim said the comments showed the level of thinking of Pakatan leaders who were only keen on gaining political mileage.

“How can someone be so insensitive when the nation is grieving after losing the crucial match? Sports should be above politics. I feel that Chong Wei has contributed more to Malaysia compared to many of us,” he said.

Malaysians had hoped Lee would bring home the country’s first gold medal, but was forced to settle for silver as China continued its strong performance.

BM

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Update: Gaber takes silver in wrestling

by admin
August 6th, 2012

 

Egyptian wrestler Karam Gaber won the silver medal in wrestling after losing to Russia’s Alan Khugaev in the 84 kg men’s final of the London 2012 Olympics.

Gaber, who won a gold medal in the 96 kg wrestling final of the Athens Olympics, beat Polish wrestler Damian Janikowski in the semi-finals, and Croatian Named Zach in the quarter-finals.

Gaber’s is the second silver medal won by Egypt, after Alaa Eddin Abul Qasim won his in the fencing competition.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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London 2012 Day 8: Great day for Great Britain

by admin
August 6th, 2012

Greg Rutherford of Great Britain celebrates winning gold in the men’s Long Jump Final on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium.

Jessica Ennis started the party with a dominant victory in the Heptathlon before Rutherford leapt to victory in the Long Jump, the 25-year-old’s winning effort of 8.31m coming at precisely the same time as Ennis was being introduced to the fans before her final event, the 800m.

And Farah then rounded off three astonishing triumphs in the space of 45 minutes with a blistering 53-second last lap in the 10,000m, to take gold ahead of training partner Galen Rupp.

Ennis had a commanding lead going into the 800m but still stormed to victory to improve her national record to 6,955 points and win from Germany’s Lilli Schwarzkopf and Tatyana Chernova.

‘I can’t believe I’ve had the opportunity to come to my first Games in London and won an Olympic Gold medal. It’s unbelievable,’ said 26-year-old Ennis, who missed the Beijing 2008 Games after suffering a career-threatening foot injury.

Rutherford, who heads the world rankings in 2012, took the lead in the second round with a jump of 8.21m and was never overtaken, the 25-year-old then jumping 8.31m in the fourth round to extend his lead.

Australia’s Mitchell Watt took silver with 8.16m and American Will Claye bronze with 8.12m.

World 5,000m champion Farah had thought his race would not come down to a last-lap burnout as rivals feared his sprinting speed, but in the end that was what happened and Farah hit the front at the bell to time his finish to perfection.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce defended her Olympic 100m title.

Fraser-Pryce edged out world champion Carmelita Jeter to win in a time of 10.75, with the USA’s Jeter just 0.03 behind and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown taking bronze in 10.81.

In the morning, defending champion Usain Bolt strolled into the semi-finals of the men’s 100m in 10.09, while South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the ‘Blade Runner’ made the semi-finals of the 400m as defending champion LaShawn Merritt crashed out with a hamstring injury.

British success was not confined to the track, with the rowers and cyclists setting the stage for the evening heroics.

At Eton Dorney, Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking won the women’s Lightweight Double Sculls with the men’s Four also going the way of the hosts.

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter narrowly failed to make it a hat-trick after losing out to the Danish pair of Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist in the men’s Lightweight Double Sculls.

Czech Republic’s Miroslava Knapkova won gold in the women’s Single Sculls.

In the Velodrome, the British women’s Team Pursuit team defeated the USA in the final.

Britain have won four of the five gold medals on offer after three days of Track Cycling, with five events to come, after Joanna Rowsell, Dani King and Laura Trott clocked 3:14.051 to triumph with a sixth consecutive world record in the three-woman, three-kilometre event.

The Olympic Swimming programme came to an end with Michael Phelps bowing out with the 18th gold medal of his record-breaking career.

The USA superstar, in the last race of his career, swam the butterfly leg as his country claimed gold in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay final.

The USA also won the women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay while, earlier, China’s Sun Yang took the gold and broke the world record in the men’s 1500m Freestyle.

Serena Williams became the first woman to claim the Tennis career Golden Slam in both Singles and Doubles after a ruthless demolition of Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon.

No player apart from German Steffi Graf had previously won all four grand slam events and an Olympic gold in the Singles.

Williams’ 6-0 6-1 win over Russian Sharapova saw her join Graf in achieving that feat, although she can also claim the added distinction of having also done it in the Doubles alongside sister Venus.

‘I didn’t expect this. Oh my gosh. I have a gold medal in singles,’ Williams said.

‘I got the gold. I’m just so happy.’

Victoria Azarenka took the bronze after beating Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4, while the American Bryan brothers – Mike and Bob – won the men’s Doubles by beating French duo Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Nicola Spirig won Triathlon gold for Switzerland after edging out Sweden’s Lisa Norden in a photo finish.

Jamie Lynn Gray of the USA was a runaway winner of the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Shooting final, 4.4 ahead of Serbia’s Ivana Maksimovic with Czech Adela Sykorova third.

China’s Li Xuerui completed her dream run at Wembley Arena by outbattling her illustrious compatriot Wang Yihan to claim Olympic Badminton gold.

The 21-year-old failed to convert two match points in the second game but managed to summon enough energy to clinch a draining women’s Singles final 21-15 21-23 21-17.

Italian Jessica Rossi won gold in the Trap Shooting, Canada’s Rosannagh MacLennan claimed the women’s Individual Trampoline crown and China’s Chen Ding won the men’s 20km Race Walk.

The men’s Football semi-finals will see Japan take on Mexico and South Korea meet Brazil.

BM

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