Brazil, Germany in women’s football last eight

Cristiane scored three first-half goals for Brazil to come from behind to beat Nigeria 3-1, and Germany needed a late winner to defeat North Korea 1-0 as both victorious teams reached the quarter-finals of the women’s Olympic football competition yesterday. The Brazilians clinched the spot on goal difference despite Germany not conceding a goal in three games.

Belgium’s Kompany forced to go back at Hamburg

Vincent Kompany, the Belgium Olympic football team’s top player, has been forced to quit the tournament and return to his German club Hamburg. The defender seemed set to defy the Bundesliga team and stay in China and help Belgium reach the Olympic quarter-final. He was expected to play against New Zealand today in Belgium’s final group game. But Belgium team spokesman Nicolas Cornu said yesterday the federation had bowed to pressure from Hamburg to release him in time for the club’s opening Bundesliga game against Bayern Munich on Friday.

Canoeing

Martikan takes slalom gold

Michal Martikan of Slovakia won the gold medal in single canoe slalom, the first time he took the top spot on the Olympic podium since winning in Atlanta. Martikan won silver in Sydney and Athens, finishing second both times behind France’s Tony Estanguet. Martikan was only 17 when he won the gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta. He is the No. 1 ranked canoeist by the International Canoe Federation.

Grimm takes first gold medal in kayak

Alexander Grimm of Germany won the gold medal yesterday in single kayak slalom, using a pair of clean, fast runs, while an athlete from Togo took the bronze to with that country’s first medal ever in a Summer Olympics. Grimm, ranked No. 3 in the world, won in a combined time of 171.70 seconds.

Wrestling

Russian teen Albiev wins 60 kg

Islam-Beka Albiev won Russia’s second Greco-Roman wrestling medal in as many Olympic matches yesterday, defeating Vitaliy Rahimov of Azerbaijan in the 60-kilogram final. The 19-year-old Albiev is the second youngest wrestling gold medalist in Olympic history, according to governing body FILA. The bronze medals were won by Ruslan Tiumenbaev of Kyrgyzstan and Nurbakyt Tengizbayev of Kazakhstan.

Russia’s Mankiev wins Greco 55 kg

Nazyr Mankiev of Russia won the first Olympic wrestling gold medal awarded in Beijing, taking the first two periods of the best-of-three match yesterday to defeat Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan in Greco-Roman 55-kilogram class. The bronze medals were won by Roman Amoyan of Armenia and South Korea’s Park Eun-Chul, who also defeated Soryan.

Weightlifting

First gold for North Korea

Pak Hyon Suk won North Korea’s first weightlifting gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with total lifts of 241 kilograms (531.3 pounds) in the women’s 63 kg division yesterday. Pak risked being eliminated after missing two clean and jerks at 135 kg (297.6 pounds), but nailed her final attempt to clinch the gold in the last lift of the competition. Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan was second and Lu Ying-chi of Taiwan took the bronze.

Shooting

S. Korean edges N. Korean for gold

South Korea’s Jin Jong-oh won the gold medal in men’s 50-metre pistol yesterday, holding on despite a poor final shot to edge North Korea’s Kim Jong Su. China’s Tan Zongliang took the bronze. Jin scored only 8.2 of a possible 10.9 points on his final attempt, meaning Kim and Tan each could have won. Tan shot only a 9.2, and Kim shot a 10.5, falling just 0.2 points short of Jin’s total of 660.4. The two Koreans shared the podium for the second time at these Olympics. Jin took the silver and Kim the bronze in the 10-meter air pistol Saturday. The two shook hands at Tuesday’s medal ceremony, and Jin patted Kim on the shoulder.

Judo

Tanimoto wins Japan’s second gold

Japan’s Ayumi Tanimoto threw Lucie Decosse of France to the mat yesterday to defend her Athen’s title and give Japan its second judo gold, in the women’s 63-kilogram division. Tanimoto, who pinned all of her opponents leading into the final, unleashed the throw with 3 minutes, 34 seconds left in the five-minute match. Decosse, the European champion, is ranked No. 1 in the world. The bronze medals went to Elisabeth Willeboordse of the Netherlands and North Korea’s Won Ok Im. Judo awards two bronze medals in each weight class.