Thursday, August 14, 2008

Afternoon Olympic Update -- August 13, 2008 - The latest from the Beijing Olympic Games

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.

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