August 17, 2008
Bekele defends men's 10000m title

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele defended his 10,000m title on Sunday, producing a devastating burst of speed on the last lap to see off any pretenders.

Bekele finished in a new Olympic record of 27min 01.17sec, with compatriot Sileshi Sihine repeating his silver-winning medal effort at Athens in 27:02.77.

Kenyan Micah Kogo took bronze in 27:04.11.

Bekele's team-mate and the 1996-2000 Olympic 10,000m champion, Haile Gebreselassie, came in sixth.

Men's 10000m results:
1. Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 27 minutes 1.17 seconds OR
2. Sileshi Sihine (Ethiopia) 27:02.77
3. Micah Kogo (Kenya) 27:04.11
4. Moses Ndiema Masai (Kenya) 27:04.11
5. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) 27:05.11
6. Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 27:06.68
7. Martin Irungu Mathathi (Kenya) 27:08.25
8. Ahmad Hassan Abdullah (Qatar) 27:23.75
9. Fabiano Joseph Naasi (Tanzania) 27:25.33
10. Boniface Kiprop Toroitich (Uganda) 27:27.28
11. Selim Bayrak (Turkey) 27:29.33
12. Kidane Tadesse (Eritrea) 27:36.11
13. Galen Rupp (U.S.) 27:36.99
14. Dickson Marwa Mkami (Tanzania) 27:48.03
15. Abdi Abdirahman (U.S.) 27:52.53
16. Abdellah Falil (Morocco) 27:53.14
17. Juan Carlos de la Ossa (Spain) 27:54.20
18. Hasan Mahboob (Bahrain) 27:55.14
19. Dieudonne Disi (Rwanda) 27:56.74
20. Essa Ismail Rashed (Qatar) 27:58.67
21. Samwel Shauri (Tanzania) 28:06.26
22. Felix Kikwai Kibore (Qatar) 28:11.92
23. Carles Castillejo (Spain) 28:13.68
24. Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) 28:13.73
25. Jorge Torres (U.S.) 28:13.93
26. Surendra Singh (India) 28:13.97
27. Guenther Weidlinger (Austria) 28:14.38
28. Kensuke Takezawa (Japan) 28:23.28
29. Juan Carlos Romero (Mexico) 28:26.57
30. Sergey Ivanov (Russia) 28:34.72
31. Takayuki Matsumiya (Japan) 28:39.77
32. Teklemariam Medhin (Eritrea) 28:54.33
33. Eric Gillis (Canada) 29:08.10
34. Rui Pedro Silva (Portugal) 29:09.03
35. Alejandro Suarez (Mexico) 29:24.78
. Mohamed El Hachimi (Morocco) DNF
. David Galvan (Mexico) DNF
. Cuthbert Nyasango (Zimbabwe) DNF
. Khoudir Aggoune (Algeria) DNS
OR = Olympic record
DNF = Did not finish
DNS = Did not finish


August 17, 2008
Shelly-Ann Fraser wins women's 100m

Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women's 100m title in 10.79s to complete a unique golden double in sprint for Jamaica in the Beijing Olympics on Sunday.

Sheron Simpson, also from Jamaica, won the silver and Kerron Stewart completed a treble for Jamaica with a bronze.

However, Florence Joyner's world and Olympic record of 10.49s, set in Seoul in 1988, remained untouched.

Usain Bolt had earlier won the men's 100m gold on Saturday.


August 17, 2008
Lin Dan wins badminton gold

China's world number one Lin Dan clinched the badminton gold in the Beijing Olympics on Sunday, overpowering Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and also avenging his first round loss in Athens four years ago.

The current world champion produced a flawless performance that left second seeded Lee hopelessly outgunned, winning 21-12, 21-8.


August 17, 2008
Guo makes diving history

China's Guo Jinging became the most successful female diver in Olympic history on Sunday as she leapt away from a top-class field to win the women's three-metre springboard gold medal.

Guo's win meant she broke the record set by her legendary compatriot Fu Minxia, who won five Olympic medals in her career.

Guo, who has said she will retire after these Olympics, also made history by becoming the first diver to sweep both individual and synchro gold in two consecutive Olympic Games.


August 17, 2008
Izbasa wins floor gold

Romanian gymnast Sandra Izbasa impressed judges with her flawless tumbling and elegant leaps to win Olympic gold in the floor exercise on Sunday.

The last competitor, she took to the floor with confidence to score 15.650, eclipsing American world champion Shawn Johnson by 0.150. All-around champion Nastia Liukin grabbed the bronze.

China's Cheng Fei, one of the favorites, burst into tears after slipping up for the second time in a day. Having landed on her knees in the vault final where she won bronze, she skidded backwards after her penultimate tumble to finish seventh.


August 17, 2008
Kozmus wins Olympic hammer title

Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia picked up his country's first Olympics gold medal in men's track and field competition when he won the hammer final at Beijing's National Stadium on Sunday.

Kozmus threw a best of 82.02m to claim gold with Vadim Devyatovskiy from Belarus taking silver, with a throw of 81.61m, while compatriot Ivan Tsikhan, the triple world champion, took bronze with 81.51m.

It is the first time a Solvenian male athlete has won Olympic gold in track and field competition.


August 17, 2008
Ilin wins weightlifting gold

Ilya Ilin won Kazaksthan's first weightlifting gold medal in the Beijing Olympics, edging his opponents in a close contest on Sunday for the men's 94-kg title.

Ilin finished with a total of 406 kg (895.1 pounds), sealing the win with the last of his lifts.

European champion Szymon Kolecki of Poland took second place and Russia's Khadzhimurat Akkaev won the bronze.


August 17, 2008
Nadal takes tennis gold

Rafael Nadal won the men's singles gold in tennis on Sunday beating Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

The Spaniard, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon among many other titles this year, gave the Chilean no room to assert himself.

Gonzalez's silver added to his personal hail of a gold and a bronze he won in Athens four years ago.


August 17, 2008
Ainslie takes third successive gold

Ben Ainslie kept his cool in choppy seas to claim his third successive Olympic gold after retaining his Finn title on Sunday.

The 31-year-old, needing to finish no worse than six boats behind Zach Railey in the medal race to take gold, coasted to victory while the American was sixth.

Railey won silver and Frenchman Guillaume Florent grabbed bronze.


August 17, 2008
Purchase and Hunter win scull gold

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter won the men's Olympic lightweight double scull on Sunday in commanding style on Lake Shunyi.

The pair pumped the air as they went over the finish line and Purchase stood up to wave to fans after holding off a fast finishing Greek crew of Dimitrios Mougios and Vasileios Polymeros who took silver.

The double world champions from Denmark Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist took bronze, just ahead of Italy.


August 17, 2008
Romero wins women's pursuit

Rebecca Romero became the first British woman to win medals in two different summer Olympic sports when she beat her team mate to win gold in the women's 3-km individual pursuit cycling on Sunday.

Wendy Houvenaghel took silver to make it a one-two victory for Britain. Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine took the bronze after beating Alison Shanks of New Zealand.

A rowing silver medallist in Athens in the quadruple sculls, Romero switched sports and made her track cycling debut only two years ago. She won two world championship titles in March.


August 17, 2008
China win women's quadruple sculls gold

China won the Olympic gold medal in the women's quadruple sculls on Sunday.

Britain won the silver and Germany the bronze.


August 17, 2008
Dementieva wins women's singles tennis gold

Fifth seed Elena Dementieva beat Dinara Safina to win the women's singles tennis gold medal at the Olympics on Sunday.

Dementieva won the all-Russian battle 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours 33 minutes.

Ninth seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia beat Li Na of China 6-0, 7-5 to win the bronze.

American sisters Venus and Serena Williams won the doubles gold, beating Spain's Ruano Pascual and Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and six minutes.

China's eighth seeded pair of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie beat sixth seeds Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2 to take the bronze medal.


August 17, 2008
Men's Hockey: South Korea stay in contention

Asian Games champions South Korea rallied to beat Belgium 3-1 on Sunday morning to keep their semi-final hopes alive in the Olympic men's field hockey tournament.

The Koreans, down by a first half goal from Jerome Dekeyser, hit back through You Hyo-Sik, who scored twice, and Jang Jong-Hyun in the second session.

South Korea have seven points from four games in Pool A, two behind leaders Spain and narrowly ahead of New Zealand and Germany, all of whom play their fourth matches later today.

The Koreans will still need to defeat Spain in Tuesday's last round of league matches to stay in the loop for the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Britain forced a 1-1 draw on Canada as Matt Daly equalised Ken Pereira's 47th-minute opener three minutes before the final whistle.

The draw is unlikely to alter the semi-final race in Pool B where defending champions Australia and the Netherlands are expected to take the first two places.

The leaders play each other later today to decide the pool winner.


August 17, 2008
Narang, Rajput fail in 50 metre rifle Three Position

Shooters Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput failed to qualify for the final of men's 50 meter Rifle Three Position at the Olympic Games.



August 17, 2008
Greek hurdles champ Halkia fails test

Greece's defending Olympic women's 400 meters hurdles champion Fani Halkia failed a drugs test and faces an immediate disciplinary investigation by the International Olympic Committee.

"Halkia tested positive for drugs," one official told Reuters on Sunday.

The official said the athlete had been tested a day before boarding the plane to Japan and that test was negative so any banned substance was introduced in her body in Japan.

"We can confirm her test was under the IOC auspices as it took place within the Olympic period," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said.

"As normal we will activate our normal procedure, namely a disciplinary commission, in the coming days," she said.

Halkia's A sample tested positive for methyltrienolone, better known as M3, a banned steroid, and her B sample would be tested later in the day, the Greek Olympic Committee (HOC) told Reuters.

The IOC had earlier said it did not have to wait for the results of the B sample to investigate whether there was a violation of an anti-doping rule.

The Greek hurdler confirmed her test was positive and said she was shocked by the news, denying any wrongdoing.


August 17, 2008
Historic eighth gold for Michael Phelps

With another world-record setting time of 3:29.34 seconds, Michael Phelps won his historic eighth gold medal in the men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay with teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak.

With 14 in total, Phelps now stands alone in sports history with the most Olympic gold medals.

The defending Olympic champion US team updated their world record time by 1.34 seconds.

Australia won the silver in 3:30.04 and Japan took bronze at 3:31.18.


August 17, 2008
Australia win women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay

The Australian team of Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper and Lisbeth Trickett defended their Olympic title and broke their own World record time (3:55.74s) in the women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, clocking 3:52.69 seconds.

The silver-medalist US team of Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson and Dara Torres also broke the previous world record swimming 3:53.30s.

The Chinese team of Zhao Jing, Sun Ye, Zhou Yafei and Pang Jiaying took the bronze at 3:56.11s.


August 17, 2008
Mellouli takes gold in men's 1500m Freestyle

Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia took the gold medal in the men's 1500m Freestyle with a time of 14:40.84 seconds on Sunday, relegating the silver medal to world record holder and defending Olympic champion Grant Hackett of Australia (14:41.53s).

The bronze went to Ryan Cochrane of Canada in 14:42.69s.


August 17, 2008
Steffen completes sprint gold double

Britta Steffen of Germany won a freestyle sprint double on Sunday as she took gold in the women's 50m Freestyle in an Olympic record of 24.06 seconds at the National Aquatics Center on Sunday, adding to the 100m Freestyle gold she won on Friday.

Steffen, who qualified third fastest for the final in 24.43, was not the quickest off the blocks but recovered to overpower the field and touch the wall first in a wall of whitewater.

Dara Torres of the United States, the 41-year-old mother of one, was out to show her competitors that her age is no barrier in the splash and dash. She clocked the fastest time into the final and recorded the second fastest reaction time but could only manage the silver medal behind Steffen. Torres also set an Americas record of 24.07.

Sixteen-year-old Australian schoolgirl Cate Campbell, who was not born when Torres made her third Olympic team at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, clocked an encouraging 24.17 to finish with a bronze medal.

World record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia had the quickest reaction time off the blocks but did not feature in the medals, finishing fourth in a time of 24.25.

Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands, another of the pre-race favorites, finished in fifth place at 24.26.


August 17, 2008
Romanian Tomescu dominates marathon

Romania's Constantina Tomescu won the women's Marathon at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2 hours 26.44 minutes on Sunday.

World champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya was second, clocking 2 hours 27.06 minutes, adding another silver to her success from Athens 2004.

Zhou Chunxiu of China, silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships, clocked a time of 2 hours 27.07 minutes to take bronze ahead of her compatriot Zhu Xiaolin, who completed the event in 2 hours 27.16 minutes.

The world record of 2 hours 15.25 minutes in this event was set by Paula Radcliffe from Great Britain in 2003.


August 16, 2008
US hoopsters beat world champions Spain

The United States delivered a powerful message of intent by pulverizing world champions Spain 119-82 in the men's Olympic basketball tournament on Saturday.

A fired-up Yao Ming was close to tears after driving hosts China into the quarter-finals with a 59-55 victory over Germany.

The Spanish players wore the look of weary men as they trudged off after being put to the sword by a U.S. team still smarting after finishing third at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 world championships.


August 16, 2008
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 on Saturday.

The team of Evgenia Lamonova, Victoria Nikichina and Svetlana Boyko outdid the Americans Emily Cross, Hannah Thompson and Erinn Smart.

In the semifinals, the Russians had beaten favourites Italy 22-21.

The Italians beat Hungary 32-23 for the bronze.


August 16, 2008
Argentina ease into football semis

Benfica midfielder Angel di Maria scored an extra-time goal to fire defending champions Argentina into the Olympic semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Saturday.

Argentina's win set up an interesting last four clash with arch-rivals Brazil after the latter beat Cameroon 2-0.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi had opened the scoring for Argentina in the 14th minute before Otman Bakkal drew the Dutch level 11 minutes before half-time.


Federer takes doubles gold

Roger Federer bounced back from his singles disappointment to win a gold medal for Switzerland at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday with compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.

Federer and Wawrinka, seeded fourth, beat Swedish pair of Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the doubles final.


August 16, 2008
Bolt blazes to 100 metres gold

Usain Bolt, the world record holder, won the 100 metres in 9.68 secs. The Jamaican broke his own world record in the process.

Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson won the silver with 9.89 secs and Walter Dix of the United States won the bronze in 9.91 secs.

Asafa Powell, the former world record holder, failed to win a medal and finished only fifth (9.95s).

Bolt had sauntered into Saturday's Olympic men's 100 meters final, qualifying fastest despite slowing to save energy.

Earlier, world champion Tyson Gay failed to qualify for the Olympic men's 100 meters final after finishing fifth in his semi-final on Saturday.


August 16, 2008
Vijender Kumar in quarters

India's Vijender Kumar thrashed Thailand's Angkhan Chomphuphuang 13-3 in the middleweight (75kg) category to move into the quarter-finals of the boxing competition.

Vijender dominated the pre-quarterfinal match winning all the for rounds with ease 2-0, 4-1, 4-0 and 3-2.

Vijender is the third Indian pugilist after Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar to reach the last eight stage.


August 16, 2008
Brazil win, Italy lose

Brazil advanced to the semi-final of the football competition with a 2-0 win over Camerron after extra time.

The five-time world champions, who are yet to win an Olympic gold, were aided by goals from Rafael Sobis and Marcelo.

In another quarter-final, Belgium shocked world champions Italy 3-2.


August 16, 2008
Gay fails to qualify for 100 meters final

World champion Tyson Gay failed to qualify for the Olympic men's 100 meters final after finishing fifth in his semi-final on Saturday.

The American clocked a time of 10.05 seconds in the second semi-final won by Jamaican Asafa Powell.

Jamaican Usain Bolt, the world record holder, was the fastest qualifier.


August 16, 2008
Williams sisters reach doubles final

Americans Venus and Serena Williams won the battle of the sisters on Saturday, beating Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine to reach their second Olympic doubles final.

The Williams, who together claimed gold medals in Sydney eight years ago, went through 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 against the Australian Open champions.


August 16, 2008
Llaneras claims second gold

Spaniard Joan Llaneras produced a stunning display of endurance and sprint riding to reclaim his Olympic crown in the men's points race.

Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with Britain's Christopher Newton taking the bronze.

The 39-year-old Llaneras reclaimed the title he won at Sydney in 2000 after a stunning ride in the 160-lap race which he finished with 60 points.


August 16, 2008
Djokovic wins bronze medal for Serbia

Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the first medal of Beijing Olympics tennis on Saturday, beating American James Blake 6-3, 7-6 to go home with bronze.

The world number three, narrowly beaten by Spain's Rafael Nadal in Friday's semi-final, broke early in the first set and was rock solid throughout.

Blake, who ended Swiss world number one Roger Federer's run in the singles on Thursday, made a scrap of it in the second set and Djokovic became rattled, smashing his racket at 4-4.

However, the Australian Open champion went 6-4 ahead in the tiebreaker and fell to his knees in joy when Blake put a backhand into the tramlines.

The Serb celebrated by throwing most of his kit, including his rackets and shirt, into the crowd after holding aloft the Serbian flag.


August 16, 2008
Safina, Dementieva in women's final

Russia is assured of a gold medal in the women's singles tennis as Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva will contest the finals at the Beijing Olympics.

Fifth seed Dementieva beat compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 (3) while Safina ended China's Li Na's hopes, prevailing 7-6(3), 7-5 in the first semi-final on Saturday.


August 16, 2008
Australia capture two rowing golds

Australia won two Olympic gold rowing medals on the first day of finals on Lake Shunyi but they could not hold on in the last showdown of the day, losing to Britain in a thrilling final sprint for the line.

New Zealand and Romania also enjoyed a good day on the lake, but China failed in their bid to win their first Olympic rowing gold despite entering the regatta as favorites in several events.

Australia's Drew Ginn and Duncan Free cruised to victory in the men's pair after starting as favorites while David Crawshay and Scott Brennan surprised the field to win the doubles.


August 16, 2008
Protesting Swede stripped of unwanted bronze

Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was on Saturday stripped of the Olympic bronze medal he won and then dumped in a Beijing podium protest, an official said.

The Swede, who won silver in the Athens Olympics four years ago, grudgingly climbed the podium after finishing third in the 84 kg class here on Thursday.

But he left the medal at the centre of the competition mat before stalking off the stage with a raised clenched right fist.

Abrahamian thought he had beaten Andrea Minguzzi, the eventual gold medallist, in the semi-finals, but the match was awarded to the Italian.

Today, the IOC disqualified him but decided against awarding the medal to France's Francais Melonin Noumonvi, who had lost to the Swede in the bronze medal match.


August 16, 2008
Hancock wins skeet

American teenager Vincent Hancock won a thrilling shoot-out in men's skeet on Saturday to give the United States their second Olympic gold medal in shooting.

Hancock, 19, kept his nerve in a gripping sudden-death duel at the Beijing shooting range against Tore Brovold of Norway after the two sharpshooters had finished even on 145 points from two days of qualifying and Saturday's finals.

Anthony Terras of France won a shoot-out against Antonis Nikolai of Cyprus to claim the bronze medal.

"It's awesome, I love it," Hancock said when asked how it felt to win a gold medal at age 19.


August 16, 2008
Mandeep Kaur 33rd in 400m

Mandeep Kaur failed to qualify for the women's 400 metres final at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday after finishing 33rd out of 50 runners in the heats.

She clocked 52.88 seconds.

Women's 400m heats fastest qualifiers:

1. Sanya Richards (United States) 50.54 seconds Q
2. Shericka Williams (Jamaica) 50.57 Q
3. Tatiana Firova (Russia) 50.59 Q
4. Libania Grenot Martinez (Italy) 50.87 Q
5. Amantle Montsho (Botswana) 50.91 Q
6. Aliann Pompey (Guyana) 50.99 Q
7. Christine Ohuruogu (Britain) 51.00 Q
7. Rosemarie Whyte (Jamaica) 51.00 Q
9. Yulia Gushchina (Russia) 51.18 Q
10. Christine Amertil (Bahamas) 51.25 Q
11. Anastasia Kapachinskaya (Russia) 51.32 Q
12. Ajoke Odumosu (Nigeria) 51.39 Q
13. Deedee Trotter (United States) 51.41 Q
14. Folashade Abugan (Nigeria) 51.45 Q
15. Mary Wineberg (United States) 51.46 Q
16. Novlene Williams (Jamaica) 51.52 Q
17. Carline Muir (Canada) 51.55 Q
18. Indira Terrero (Cuba) 51.56 Q
19. Racheal Nachula (Zambia) 51.62 Q
20. Nicola Sanders (Britain) 51.81 Q
21. Lee McConnell (Britain) 51.87 Q
22. Gabriela Medina (Mexico) 51.96 Q
23. Joy Amechi Eze (Nigeria) 51.97 Q
24. Makelesi Bulikiobo (Fiji) 52.24
25. Tamsyn Lewis (Australia) 52.38
26. Alyssa Kallinikou (Cyprus) 52.40
27. Tiandra Ponteen (St. Kitts & Nevis) 52.41
28. Asami Tanno (Japan) 52.60
29. Dimitra Ntova (Greece) 52.69
30. Nawal Eljack (Sudan) 52.77 Q
31. Monika Bejnar (Poland) 52.80
32. Kineke Alexander (St. Vincent & the Grenadines) 52.87
33. Trish Bartholomew (Grenada) 52.88
33. Mandeep Kaur (India) 52.88
35. Barbara Petrahn (Hungary) 53.06
36. Carol Rodriguez Taylor (Puerto Rico) 53.08
37. Antonina Yefremova (Ukraine) 53.22
38. Maria Laura Almirao (Brazil) 53.26
39. Joanne Cuddihy (Ireland) 53.32
40. Olga Tereshkova (Kazakhstan) 53.36
41. Ginou Etienne (Haiti) 53.94
42. Kia Davis (Liberia) 53.99
43. Tsholofelo Selemela (South Africa) 54.11
44. Justine Bayiga (Uganda) 54.15
45. Sandrine Thiebaud-Kangni (Togo) 54.16
46. Klodiana Shala (Albania) 54.84
47. Batgerel Munguntuya (Mongolia) 58.14
48. Temalangeni Dlamini (Swaziland) 59.91
49. Rachidatou Seini Maikido (Niger) 1:03.19
50. Ghada Ali (Libya) 1:06.19

Q = Qualified


August 16, 2008
US stuns world waterpolo champion Croatia

The United States stunned water polo world champion Croatia with a 7-5 win on Saturday, keeping American medal hopes alive and delivering the biggest upset of the Olympic men's tournament.

Croatia, seeking a fourth win after crushing Germany, arch-foe Serbia and Italy, succumbed to a US team cheered on by a raucous Chinese crowd and inspired by captain Tony Azevedo.

The US team is now tied with Croatia at the top of their group. Both squads have one more match to decide a final ranking, with the group leader earning an automatic semi-final berth.

The Croatians should have an easier time with winless China on August 18. The Americans go up against Germany, who narrowly defeated Italy 8-7 on Saturday.


August 16, 2008
Zhang Ning wins women's singles badminton gold

Defending champion Zhang Ning of China won the gold medal in women's singles in the Olympics badminton tournament Saturday, defeating teammate Xie Xingfang.

The second-seeded Zhang beat the world 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.

Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia won the bronze medal, defeating Lu Lan of China 11-21, 21-13, 21-15.

It was China's second gold medal of the Olympic badminton tournament. On Friday, Du Jing and Yu Yang won gold in women's doubles.

China won three out of five gold medals in Athens and is looking to better that mark here.


August 16, 2008
Boxer Jitender Kumar storms into quarters

India's boxers continued their impressive showing at the Beijing Olympics, with youngster Jitender Kumar storming into the quarter-finals of the men's flyweight 51 kg after a convincing 13-6 victory over Tulashboy Doniyorov of Uzbekistan on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Jitender started with a bang, scoring four points in the first round. He profited again in the third round, scoring six points to consolidate his hold on the bout.

He next faces Russian Georgy Balakshin, who beat Kazakhstan's Mirat Sarsembayev 12:4 in his round of 16 bout.

On Friday Akhil Kumar scored a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Russian world champion Sergey Vodopyanov in the 54 kg category.

Scores by Rounds (Tulashboy : Jitender)
Round 1 = 1:4
Round 2 = 0:1
Round 3 = 3:6
Round 4 = 2:2



August 16, 2008
Vikas Gowda fails to qualify in men's Discus Throw

India's Vikas Gowda failed to qualify for the final of the men's Discus Throw at the Olympics Games on Saturday after clearing only 60.69 metres in Group B.

The qualifying results:

1. Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 65.94 Q metres 2. Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) 65.84 Q 3. Bogdan Pishchalnikov (Russia) 64.60 Q 4. Mario Pestano (Spain) 64.42 Q 5. Robert Harting (Germany) 64.19 Q 6. Aleksander Tammert (Estonia) 63.10 Q 7. Robert Fazekas (Hungary) 62.64 Q 8. Gabor Mate (Hungary) 62.44 9. Dzmitry Sivakov (Belarus) 61.75 10. Michael Robertson (United States) 61.64 11. Casey Malone (United States) 61.26 12. Omar El Ghazaly (Egypt) 60.24 13. Oleksiy Semenov (Ukraine) 60.18 14. Abbas Samimi (Iran) 59.92 15. Jorge Fernandez (Cuba) 59.60 16. Jan Marcell (Czech Republic) 59.52 17. Ben Harradine (Australia) 58.55 18. Sultan Mubarak M Aldawodi (Saudi Arabia) 56.29 19. Vadim Hranovschi (Moldova) 56.19

Group B:

1. Rutger Smith (Netherlands) 65.65 Q metres 2. Yennifer Frank Casanas (Spain) 64.99 Q 3. Gerd Kanter (Estonia) 64.66 Q 4. Rashid Shafi Al Dosari (Qatar) 63.83 Q 5. Frantz Kruger (Finland) 62.48 Q 6. Maert Israel (Estonia) 61.98 7. Ehsan Hadadi (Iran) 61.34 8. Gerhard Mayer (Austria) 61.32 9. Ecrument Olgundeniz (Turkey) 60.83 10. Zoltan Kovago (Hungary) 60.79 11. Vikas Gowda (India) 60.69 12. Ian Waltz (United States) 60.02 13. Martin Maric (Croatia) 59.25 14. Jorge Balliengo (Argentina) 58.82 15. Niklas Arrhenius (Sweden) 58.22 16. Hannes Kirchler (Italy) 56.44 17. Haidar Nasser Shahid (Iraq) 54.19 18. Eric Matthias (British Virgin Islands) 53.11

* Q=Qualified for final



August 16, 2008
Another N Korean shooter disqualified: report

A second North Korean shooter was disqualified from taking part in the Beijing Olympics because of doping, state media in South Korea said on Saturday.

Kim Hyun-woong, a pistol shooter, was kicked out of the Olympic team after test results showed positive for a banned substance, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a South Korean official.

The news came a day after North Korean shooting double medallist Kim Jong-su was stripped of his medals after testing positive for a substance called propranolol, used to prevent trembling.

No further details were immediately available



August 16, 2008
Women's hockey: Dutch beat Aus, qualify for semis

Top-ranked Netherlands became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals in women's Olympic hockey on Saturday, beating Australia 2-1 for their fourth straight victory in pool A.

The Dutch, silver medalists behind Germany in Athens four years ago, lead the pool with 12 points with a match left against Spain, who have won one in three so far.

It was Australia's first defeat in four matches, and the three-times champions must win their final group match against China to assure themselves of the second semi-final place from the pool.

A clear picture on the semi-final line-up will emerge later on Saturday after the other four penultimate round matches, also featuring China, are completed in both pools.

The United States beat New Zealand 4-1 in the other group to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final place.



August 16, 2008
Heptathlon overall results

Olympic athletics heptathlon overall results after five of seven events in Beijing on Saturday.

1. NataliIa Dobrynska (Ukraine) 5045 points 2. Hyleas Fountain (United States) 5029 3. Lyudmila Blonska (Ukraine) 4913 4. Anna Bogdanova (Russia) 4913 5. Kelly Sotherton (Britain) 4891 6. Karolina Tyminska (Poland) 4830 7. Jolanda Keizer (Netherlands) 4760 8. Jessica Zelinka (Canada) 4753 9. Tatiana Chernova (Russia) 4746 10. Ganna Melnichenko (Ukraine) 4686 11. Kylie Wheeler (Australia) 4685 12. Jennifer Oeser (Germany) 4603 13. Marie Collonville (France) 4579 14. Olga Kurban (Russia) 4557 15. Aiga Grabuste (Latvia) 4534 16. Lilli Schwarzkopf (Germany) 4531 17. Lucimara Silva (Brazil) 4526 18. Sonja Kesselschlager (Germany) 4510 19. Liu Haili (China) 4500 20. Kamila Chudzik (Poland) 4460 21. Jackie Johnson (United States) 4405 22. Laurien Hoos (Netherlands) 4400 23. Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida (France) 4397 24. Gretchen Quintana (Cuba) 4379 25. Rebecca Wardell (New Zealand) 4369 26. Yuliya Tarasova (Uzbekistan) 4313 27. Ida Marcussen (Norway) 4313 28. Pramila Ganapathy Gudanda (India) 4302 29. Julie Hollman (Britain) 4290 30. Shobha Jagadeeshppa Javur (India) 4289 31. Susmita Singha Roy (India) 4234 32. Argyro Strataki (Greece) 4227 33. Niina Kelo (Finland) 4212 34. Gyorgyi Farkas (Hungary) 4120 35. Linda Zublin (Switzerland) 4095 36. Kaie Kand (Estonia) 4045 37. Austra Skujyte (Lithuania) 3702 38. Viktoriya Zemaityte (Lithuania) 3496 39. Yana Maksimava (Belarus) 3352 . Wassana Winatho (Thailand) DNF . Denisa Scerbova (Czech Republic) DNF . Irina Naumenko (Kazakhstan) DNF . Diana Pickler (United States) DNF

* DNF = Did not finish



August 16, 2008
Serbia protests 100 butterfly result

Serbia lodged a protest over the result of the men's 100 metres butterfly final on Saturday after Milorad Cavic was beaten by 0.01 seconds by American Michael Phelps.

Phelps clocked 50.58 seconds to beat Cavic on the final stroke and claim his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games, equalling Mark Spitz's 1972 record of golds at a single Olympics.

"We have made an official protest. It's first place, it is very important," Serbia's deputy chef de mission Branislav Jevtic said.

Jevtic did not provide specific details about the protest but the complaint was believed to be over whether the timing system worked properly and whether the Serbian touched the wall first.

FINA, the sport's world governing body, would not immediately comment but scheduled a press conference for later on Saturday.

Cavic said he would prefer the protest was dropped.

"If it was up to me I would drop the protest, I didn't want to fight it," he said.

"As we all know, technology is imperfect, it's possible (it malfunctioned)."



August 16, 2008
Russia's Borchin win men's 20km walk

Valeriy Borchin clocked the fastest time to win gold in the men's 20km Walk at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Saturday.

His time of 1 hour 19:01 minutes put him ahead of Jefferson Perez of Ecuador by 0.14 seconds.

The bronze medal went to Jared Tallent of Australia, who finished in 1 hour 19:42 minutes.



August 16, 2008
Rebecca Adlington sinks oldest world swimming record

Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke the oldest world record in swimming to win the women's 800 metres freestyle gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday.

Adlington, 19, cruised to the gold medal in eight minutes 14.10 seconds to slash 2.12 seconds off the old mark of 8:16.22 set by American Janet Evans in Tokyo in 1989.

Italian Alessia Filippi finished a distant second in 8:20.23 to collect the silver while Denmark's Lotte Friis was third in 8:23.03 to get the bronze.

Adlington, 19, also won the 400 freestyle final earlier in the week to end Britain's 20-year drought for an Olympic swimming champion. It was also the first win by a British female swimmer since 1960.



August 16, 2008
Phelps equals Spitz's 1972 Olympic feat

Michael Phelps matched fellow-American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven golds in one Games on Saturday with yet another victory in the pool.

Guaranteeing his status as the face of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the 23-year-old Phelps powered to victory in the 100 metres butterfly in front of an ecstatic crowd in the Water Cube with just one hundredth of a second to spare.

The 23-year-old phenomenon now has 13 career golds, four more than anyone else. As well as Olympic glory, Saturday's win brings him a $1 million bonus from sponsors.



August 16, 2008
Gonzalez sets up final with Nadal

James Blake blew his gold medal chance in the men's singles on Friday, then accused Chile's Fernando Gonzalez of trampling over the Olympic ideals.

Gonzalez set up a men's singles final against Spain's Rafael Nadal, saving three match points on his way to a 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 victory, but promptly came under fire from the angry American.

There was no bad blood to spice second seed Nadal's late night blockbuster with Serbia's Novak Djokovic. The two warriors produced a semi-final of rare quality which Nadal took 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 when his weary opponent blazed an easy smash out.

The 28-year-old's grievance stemmed from an incident when he led 9-8 in the decider. He hit a forehand just over the baseline but was convinced the ball had shaved Gonzalez's racket frame as the Chilean took evasive action.

Television replays seemed to suggest he was correct.

"Playing in the Olympics, in what's supposed to be considered a gentleman's sport, that's a time to call it on yourself," Blake told reporters.

"Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn't call it. Maybe I shouldn't expect people to hold themselves to high standards of sportsmanship. But yes, I did expect it a little more so in the Olympics."



August 16, 2008
Federer bounces back in doubles

Roger Federer bounced back from his dismal singles defeat to sweep into the finals of the Olympic doubles on Friday with a stunning victory over the top-seeded Bryan brothers from the United States.

Federer, serving superbly and constantly attacking at the net, combined with fellow Swiss Stanislaw Wawrinka for a 7-6, 6-4 victory that could give him the gold that has eluded him in a glittering career.

Playing on a sun-kissed court after their match had to be postponed on Thursday due to torrential rain, Federer and Wawrinka first scored an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win over India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.



August 16, 2008
Coventry takes backstroke gold

Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry won the women's 200 meters backstroke on Saturday with a new world record time of 2:05.24s to defend her Olympic title.

Coventry, who had won three silvers already in Beijing, led throughout and was nearly a full second ahead of Margaret Hoelzer of the United States who took silver.

Japan's Reiko Nakamura took the bronze medal.

Coventry's time was 0.85 faster than the previous world record time set by Hoelzer at the U.S trials in Omaha in July.



August 16, 2008
Brazil's Filho Cielo takes gold in men's 50m Freestyle

Brazilian Cesar Filho Cielo claimed gold in the men's 50m Freestyle with a time of 21.30 seconds on Saturday.

France's Amaury Leveaux (21.45) and Alain Bernard (21.49) touched in second and third.

World record holder Eamon Sullivan of Australia finished sixth in 21.65s.



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