AFTERNOON OLYMPIC
WJBF-TV
Aug 13, 2008 – 02:17 PM
GA
The latest from the Beijing Olympic Games
MEN’S SWIMMING: Sullivan, Bernard trade world record in 100 free
BEIJING (AP) – Eamon Sullivan has taken back the world record in the
100-meter freestyle semifinals at the Beijing Olympics, about two
minutes after Frenchman Alain Bernard lowered it.
Sullivan won his heat Wednesday morning in 47.05 seconds, topping
Bernard’s time of 47.20 set in the first semifinal.
They both went under the mark of 47.24 set by Sullivan during the
leadoff leg of the 400 free relay on Monday.
It’s the fifth time this year that Sullivan and Bernard have traded
the record.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Pellegrini wins Olympic 200 free with world mark
BEIJING (AP) – Federica Pellegrini of Italy has won the 200-meter
freestyle at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world record set
a day earlier.
She won in 1 minute, 54.82 seconds, erasing her previous time of
1:55.45.
Sara Isakovic of Slovenia took the silver in 1:54.97. Pang Jiaying
of China earned the bronze in 1:55.05, giving the Chinese women their
first swimming medal of these games.
American Katie Hoff finished fourth in 1:55.78, the first time in
three events she failed to medal.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Rice wins another IM gold
BEIJING (AP) – Stephanie Rice of Australia has won the 200-meter
individual medley at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world
record and adding to her victory in the 400 IM.
She won in 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds, erasing her mark of 2:08.92 set
at the Australian trials in March.
Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took the silver in 2:08.59, also below
the previous world record. Natalie Coughlin of the United States won
the bronze in 2:10.34, her third medal of the games.
American Katie Hoff picked up her second fourth-place of the morning,
finishing behind Coughlin in 2:10.68. She also was just out of the
medals in the 200 freestyle.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Georgia beats Russia in beach volleyball
BEIJING (AP) – Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins, native
Brazilians playing for Georgia at the Olympics, rallied to a three-set
victory over Russia, advancing to the medal round and sending a proud
message to their adopted and war-torn homeland.
The Georgian team rallied Wednesday from a sloppy 21-10 loss in the
first set to win the next two, 22-20 and 15-12, and beat Alexandra
Shiryaeva and Natalia Uryadova.
Although they made just a few short visits to the country to obtain
their new passports, Santanna and Martins took on the nicknames Saka
and Rtvelo, "Georgia," in Georgian, out of affection for the land
that allowed them to qualify for the Olympics.
BASEBALL: Taiwanese baseball Olympian fails drug test
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – A Taiwanese baseball player has been banned
from participating in the team’s first Olympic game after failing a
drug test.
Taiwan Baseball Association Secretary-General Lin Tsung-cheng said that
third baseman Chang Tai-shan did not suit up for Wednesday’s opener
against the Netherlands after the International Olympic Committee
informed the association of the test results.
Taiwan is one of eight baseball teams participating in the Beijing
Games. The sport is widely popular on the island and millions of fans
follow the team.
WOMEN’S CYCLING: Armstrong wins time trial gold for United States
BEIJING (AP) – Kristin Armstrong of the United States has won the gold
medal in the women’s time trial, making her just the second American
women’s cyclist ever to become an Olympic champion.
Armstrong finished the 14.6-mile course in 34 minutes, 51.72
seconds Wednesday, 24.29 seconds better than Emma Pooley of Great
Britain. Switzerland’s Karin Thuerig was third, almost a minute behind
the time set by Armstrong.
Armstrong was the only woman close to Pooley at the halfway mark, and
erased the gap before reaching the finish at the Great Wall. She joins
Connie Carpenter-Phinney as the only American women to win Olympic
cycling gold; Carpenter won the road race at Los Angeles 24 years ago.
WOMEN’S SOFTBALL: Osterman, Bustos power US past Australia
BEIJING (AP) – Cat Osterman pitched a no-hitter, Crystl Bustos hit a
two-run homer and the U.S. softball team extended its Olympic winning
streak to 16 games with a 3-0 win over Australia on Wednesday.
The Americans are seeking a fourth straight gold medal.
Osterman was locked in a pitcher’s duel for four innings with Tanya
Harding, who had handed the U.S. team two of its four losses in the
games since 1996. Osterman struck out 13 as the Americans posted
their 14th shutout during the winning streak.
Natasha Watley’s RBI single off Harding snapped a 0-0 tie in the fifth,
and Bustos connected for her 10th career Olympic homer in the sixth.
MEN’S DIVING: China makes it 4-for-4 at the diving pool
BEIJING (AP) – China kept up its dominance at the diving pool,
completing a sweep of the synchronized events with a runaway win in
men’s 3-meter springboard Wednesday.
Wang Feng and Qin Kai had the highest-scoring dive in each of the six
rounds, piling up a total of 469.08 points. The Chinese are halfway to
their goal of sweeping all eight diving golds in their home country,
where the sport is immensely popular.
Dmitry Sautin, 34 and competing in his fifth Olympics, added an eighth
medal to his collection, teaming with 18-year-old Yuriy Kunakov to
take silver with a mark of 421.98. Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov
of the Ukraine claimed the bronze at 415.05.
The Americans, Chris Colwill and Jevon Tarantino, were third going
to the final round. But Tarantino botched his entry and they slipped
to fourth, 410.73.
MEN’S CYCLING: Cancellara wins men’s road time-trial
JUYONGGUAN, China (AP) – Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland has won
gold in the Olympic men’s road cycling time-trial, completing the
47.3-kilometer (29.4-mile) course in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 11.43 seconds.
The medal is the second for world champion Cancellara in Beijing. He
took the bronze in the men’s road race on Saturday.
Gustav Larsson of Sweden took the silver Wednesday and Levi Leipheimer
of the United States the bronze on the course in the shadow of the
Great Wall, northeast of Beijing.
Thirty-nine riders from 29 countries took part in Wednesday’s
competition.
WOMEN’S WEIGHTLIFTING: China’s Liu breaks 3 weightlifting records
BEIJING (AP) – Liu Chunhong broke three world records in the women’s
69-kilogram division, defending her Olympic title to win China’s
sixth gold medal in the weightlifting competition.
Liu set a new high score of 128 kg (282.2 pounds) in her third attempt
in the snatch Wednesday. She then lifted 158 kg (348.3 pounds) to
set a new top mark in the clean and jerk.
Her total of 286 kg (630.52 pounds) also was a world record, beating
the previous mark by an astounding 10 kg (22.1 pounds).
World champion Oxana Slivenko of Russia was a distant second, lifting
a total of 255 kg (562.17 pounds). Ukraine’s Natalya Davydova took
the bronze.
WRESTLING: Guenot wins 1st French wrestling gold in 84 years
BEIJING (AP) – Steeve Guenot, a railway worker with little government
athletic subsidy, has won France’s first Olympic wrestling gold medal
in 84 years by taking the Greco-Roman 66-kilogram weight class.
Guenot, whose brother Christophe wrestled for a bronze at 74 kg,
defeated Kanatbek Begaliev 3-0, 3-1. Begaliev was trying for
Kyrgyzstan’s first Olympic gold medal.
France hadn’t won a wrestling gold since Henri Deglane took the 82
kg class in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Winning the bronzes were Ukraine’s Armen Vardanyan and Mikhail
Siamionau of Belarus.
The field became wide open when Farid Mansurov, the 2004 Olympic
champion from Azerbaijan, lost 3-0, 3-0 to Vardanyan in the first
round. Mansurov didn’t lose a period while winning last year’s world
championship.
MEN’S SOCCER: 10-man Cameroon holds Italy to 0-0 draw
TIANJIN, China (AP) – Cameroon held Italy to a 0-0 draw Wednesday
despite playing the final 58 minutes with 10 men, a result that
sent the Africans to the quarterfinals of the men’s Olympic football
tournament along with the Azzurrini.
Italy, which claimed a bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and
finished fifth at Sydney in 2000, already had clinched its place in
the final eight. As Group D winner, it will will face the runner-up
from Group C on Saturday in Beijing.
Cameroon finished second in the group and will face the Group C winner,
likely Brazil, on Saturday in Shenyang.
Both awaited the results of matches later Wednesday to confirm their
opponents.
MEN’S SOCCER: South Korea beats Honduras 1-0 but out of Olympics
SHANGHAI, China (AP) – Kim Dong-jin has fired South Korea to a 1-0
victory over Honduras, but it wasn’t enough to capture a place in
the quarterfinal of the Olympic soccer competition.
Kim’s 23rd-minute goal at the Shanghai Olympic Stadium meant the
South Koreans ended up with four points from their three Group D
games but stayed third behind Italy and Cameroon, who qualified for
the last eight.
The Koreans missed many more chances against the Hondurans, who
finished last in the group after three defeats and without a goal.
MEN’S WRESTLING: Kvirkelia wins Georgia’s 1st wrestling gold
BEIJING (AP) – Manuchar Kvirkelia has turned two strong moves into
a two-period victory over China’s Chang Yongxiang in the Greco-Roman
74-kilogram weight class, giving Georgia its first Olympic wrestling
gold medal.
Kvirkelia’s decisive 6-0, 3-0 victory Wednesday came in the same
week Russian troops stormed through Georgia. The gold also was the
country’s first in Beijing.
Kvirkelia used a 5-point throw to prematurely end the first period. Any
period ends when a wrestler takes a 6-0 lead.
He added a 2-point throw on a gut wrench in the second to clearly
frustrate Chang, who settled for silver.
The bronze medalists were Christophe Guenot, whose brother Steeve won
France’s first wrestling gold in 84 years at 66 kg minutes before,
and 2007 world champion Yavor Yanakiev of Bulgaria.
MEN’S SCOOER: US out after 2-1 Olympic soccer loss to Nigeria
BEIJING (AP) – Promise Isaac and Victor Obinna scored Wednesday to
lead Nigeria over 10-man United States 2-1, earning a place in the
quarterfinals of the Olympic soccer tournament and eliminating the
Americans.
Isaac scored in the 39th minute with an easy tap-in off Chinedu Ogbuke
Obasi’s centering pass, and Obinna curled a right-footed shot into
the top of goal in the 80th.
Sacha Kljestan converted an 88th-minute penalty for the Americans
and substitute Benny Feilhaber headed onto the post in the 90th, as
the United States was eliminated from Group B after the Netherlands
beat Japan.
The Americans played with 10 men from the third minute when defender
Michael Orozco was ejected.
WOMEN’S JUDO: Ueno wins Japan’s third judo gold at Olympics
BEIJING (AP) – Masae Ueno won Japan’s third gold on the judo mats
Wednesday, defending her 2004 Olympic gold with a match-ending throw
less than one minute into her final with Cuba’s Anaysi Hernandez in
the women’s 70-kilogram class.
Winning bronze were Ronda Rousey of the United States, who scored
early with a yuko and held on to defeat Germany’s Annett Boehm,
and Edith Bosch of the Netherlands with an ippon throw over Spain’s
Leire Iglasias.
Rousey’s bronze was the first Olympic medal in women’s judo for the
U.S. since the event was put on the official schedule in 1992.
Judo awards two bronze medals in each weight class.
MEN’S SWIMMING: Phelps qualifies 6th-fastest in Olympic 200 IM
BEIJING (AP) – Michael Phelps has qualified sixth-fastest in the
200-meter individual medley at the Beijing Olympics.
The American ended a golden day at the pool by winning his preliminary
heat in 1 minute, 58.65 seconds Wednesday night, good enough to move
on to the semifinals.
Phelps’ teammate Ryan Lochte led all qualifiers in 1:58.15. Laszlo
Cseh of Hungary, already a two-time silver medalist behind Phelps in
the 400 IM and 200 butterfly, was third in 1:58.79.
Earlier in the day, Phelps claimed two more gold medals, making him
5-for-5 at these games, with world records in each victory. Overall,
his 11 career gold medals make him the winningest Olympian in history.
MEN’S WEIGHTLIFTING: South Korea’s Sa Jae-hyouk wins weightlifting gold
BEIJING (AP) – Sa Jae-hyouk of South Korea stopped China’s gold rush
in weightlifting by edging out home crowd favorite Li Hongli to win
the men’s 77-kilogram division.
Sa and Li both lifted a total of 366 kg (806.9 pounds), but Sa got
the win because of a lower body weight. Armenia’s Gevorg Davtyan took
the bronze, totaling 360 kg (793.7 pounds) in the two events.
China had previously won all six of the weight categories in which
it had participated.
Sa was 3 kg (6.6 pounds) behind Li after lifting 163 kg (359.4 pounds)
in the snatch, but stunned the Chinese crowd by heaving 203 kg (447.5
pounds) in his second clean and jerk.
It was South Korea’s first gold in the weightlifting competition.
BASEBALL: South Korea spoils Americans’ Olympic opener
BEIJING (AP) – Lee Jong-wook hit a sacrifice fly with one out and
South Korea answered the Americans’ ninth-inning rally with one of its
own, beating the United States 8-7 on Wednesday night in a thrilling
Olympic baseball opener.
Lee Taek-keun’s slide home easily beat the throw for the winning run,
and he celebrated on his knees for a long while before getting up to
join his jubilant teammates. The South Koreans then tipped their caps
to all the enthusiastic fans from their homeland. The supporters were
on their feet in the bleachers all night.
The Americans had seemed poised for the comeback victory after Matt
Brown hit a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the top of the
ninth, but South Korea rallied against closer Jeff Stevens
MEN’S SOCCER: Argentina beats Serbia 2-0 in Olympic soccer
BEIJING (AP) – Ezequiel Lavezzi and Diego Buonanotte each scored
Wednesday night to wrap up Argentina’s perfect group start to the
Olympic soccer tournament with a 2-0 victory over Serbia.
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, and
Buonanotte curled in a free kick in the 81st as defending champion
Argentina, which had already qualified for the last eight, topped
Group A with nine points.
Argentina will next play Group B runner-up and European Under-21
champion Netherlands at Shanghai Stadium on Saturday.
Serbia finished tied with Australia on one point, while Ivory Coast
was runner-up in the group with six points.
MEN’S FENCING: Germany’s Kleibrink wins men’s foil fencing gold
BEIJING (AP) – Benjamin Kleibrink of Germany won the gold medal in
men’s foil fencing with a convincing victory over Japan’s Yuki Ota
on Wednesday night.
Kleibrink defeated Ota 15-9. After the win he dashed toward his
coach and jumped into his arms before returning to the strip. He then
returned to the coach and was again hoisted into the air.
The crowd was entertained when Ota got his sword tangled in the cord
to Kleibrink’s uniform near the end of the match.
Salvatore Sanzo of Italy got the bronze with a 15-14 win over China’s
Zhu Jun. After the last point, Zhu angrily tossed his helmet off and
it rolled off the strip. He quickly composed himself, retrieved it
and shook Sanzo’s hand.
Missing from the event was Italy’s foil star Andre Baldini, who lost
his spot in the Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance.
WOMEN’S FENCING: Germany’s Heidemann wins gold in women’s epee
BEIJING (AP) – Britta Heidemann has won the gold medal in women’s epee,
giving Germany its second first-place fencing finish in one night.
Heidemann defeated Romania’s Ana Maria Branza 15-11 on
Wednesday. Fellow German Benjamin Kleibrink got the gold in men’s
foil in an earlier match.
Heidemann was still holding her sword as several people hugged and
congratulated her. One person then draped a German flag over her
shoulders. Heidemann took gold in the 2007 world championships and
was part of the team that won the silver medal in Athens.
Hungary’s Ildiko Mincza-Nebald got the bronze with a 15-11 win over
Li Na of China.
Li lost 15-10 to Heidemann in the semifinals. Heidemann also beat Li
in the finals of the 2007 world championships.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Leslie perfect as US routs Mali in women’s hoops
BEIJING (AP) – Lisa Leslie sets U.S. Olympic record going 7-for-7
from the field as the women’s team continues its unblemished run
through the Beijing Games with a 97-41 victory against Mali.
Leslie finished with 16 points Wednesday night as the U.S. has now
won 28 straight Olympic contests. The last loss was to the Unified
Team in the semifinals of the 1992 Barcelona Games. The Americans
have run over their first three opponents winning by an average of
47 points. They routed the Czech Republic, China, and now Mali.
The Americans play Spain next on Friday.