Romania wins rowing gold women’s pair
Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania have won the gold medal in women’s pair rowing, bringing their combined career medal haul to a whopping nine. Andrunache and Susanu led nearly the entire race and won in 7 minutes, 20.60 seconds. Andrunache now has five Olympic gold medals and Susanu has four from the pair and other events with different partners. China won the silver medal.
Tufte wins second straight
gold in single sculls
Olaf Tufte of Norway won the gold medal in men’s single sculls yesterday, successfully defending his first-place finish four years ago in Athens. Tufte trailed at the 1,500-metre mark, only to finish strong down the stretch and win in 6 minutes, 59.83 seconds. Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic won silver in 7:00.63. New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale was the bronze medallist in 7:01.56.
American Hancock wins gold in skeet shooting
Vincent Hancock of the United States has won the gold medal in skeet shooting, beating Norway’s Tore Brovold in a shoot-off. Brovold forced the tiebreaker with a perfect final round yesterday, hitting all 25 targets to pull even with Hancock at 145. Brovold and Hancock each hit the first two targets of the shoot-off, but then Brovold missed one of two and Hancock hit both.
Coventry finally breaks through for gold
Kirsty Coventry was getting tired of silver. The American-based swimmer from Zimbabwe has grown accustomed to gold, and she finally got it yesterday by defending her title in the 200-metre backstroke. Coventry entered her final event with three silver medals from her previous three events of the meet. “It’s joy and relief,” she said. “I touched that wall and said, ‘Thank goodness.’ I’m thrilled with how I’ve done and how I competed. I couldn’t ask for anything more.” Coventry set a world record of 2 minutes, 5.24 seconds.
Volleyball coach returns, US defeats China
The US men’s volleyball coach returned to his team and the Americans responded by defeating China in three sets yesterday. Coach Hugh McCutcheon missed three games following an attack on his in-laws, who were visiting a Beijing tourist site. The US remained undefeated with the 25-22, 25-12 25-18 victory. The team already has clinched a quarter-final spot. “I wouldn’t have come back if I wasn’t ready to come back,” McCutcheon said after the victory over China. “It’s what I do – get out on the sidelines and get the boys fired up.”
Zhang wins singles title in badminton
Defending champion Zhang Ning of China won the gold medal in women’s singles in the Olympic badminton tournament yesterday, defeating teammate Xie Xingfang in three sets. The second-seeded Zhang defeated No. 1 Xie 21-12, 10-21, 21-18 to defend the title she won four years ago in Athens. Zhang dropped to her knees and thrust both arms in the air when she won the match with a drop shot that Xie returned into the net. The 33-year-old Zhang is playing in her last Olympics. She has been nursing an injured right knee and said winning the second gold took a lot more effort than the first.
US men advance in beach volleyball
Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers overcame a 6-0 deficit in the final set to beat Switzerland 21-16, 21-23, 15-13 yesterday to advance to the Olympic beach volleyball quarter-finals. The reigning world champions and heavy favourites to win the gold medal in their Olympic debuts, Rogers and Dalhausser took an easy first set before giving away the second with mental mistakes and mis-hits. In the third set Martin Laciga and Jan Schnider scored the first six points for lead that even the Americans thought might be insurmountable.
Russia takes team gold in women's foil fencing
Russia won the gold medal in women's foil fencing with an easy 28-11 win over the US team yesterday. Russia's team of Evgenia Lamonova, Victoria Nikichina and Svetlana Boyko simply outdid Americans Emily Cross, Hannah Thompson and Erinn Smart through most of the final. The Russian team and its coaches met for a group hug and bounced around the strip wildly immediately after the win, a Russian flag draped around them.
Swedish wrestler stripped of bronze medal
A Swedish wrestler was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal yesterday for dropping the prize in protest after a disputed loss at the Beijing Olympics. Ara Abrahamian was punished by the International Olympic Committee for violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony, becoming the fourth athlete kicked out of the games and bringing the number of medals removed to three. Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his semi-final match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division on Thursday. During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian – who also lost a 2004 Olympic semifinal match on a disputed call – took the bronze from around his neck and, angrily, dropped it on the mat as he walked away. He did not take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.