"The 2004 Olympics will leave Greeks with wonderful memories, a greatly improved infrastructure - and a mountain of public debt.
The Games ended yesterday morning (Singapore time) in a blaze of light and sound at the closing ceremony. But today's hangover may include economic difficulties and increased unemployment.
So far, Greece has spent as much as US$9.6 billion (S$16.5 billion) on the Games, said Stefanos Anagnostou, a journalist and an adviser to the country's Ministry of Economy and Finance.
But the full cost will not be known until October, after the Paralympics are over.
Outside observers say the cost could rise to US$12 billion."
Read more at Games' over, now for the debts
"AUSSIE water polo player Craig Miller was dragged from the closing ceremony of the Athens Games after pulling his pants down while celebrating centre stage with fellow athletes.
Miller, 32, was grabbed by security staff and rushed from the stadium. "He pulled down his trousers," a Greek official said after bundling Miller away.
The veteran water polo player looked stunned and a little shaken as he was taken away for questioning, his belt hanging loose and his trousers askew.
It was the only sour note during a ceremony in which an exuberant Australian team celebrated the close of their most successful overseas Olympic Games."
Read more at Athlete caught with pants down [31aug04]
"Years of dedication and efforts have paid off for China as it has made surprises and reaped successes in the Athens Olympic Games, a leading official of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) said.
"The United States Committee is extremely impressed with the performances of the Chinese athletes at these Olympic Games in Athens," Steven M. Roush, acting chief of Sport Performance of theUSOC, told Xinhua on Saturday.
China has ranked in an unprecedented second place on the medal table with 32 golds, 17 silvers and 14 bronzes at the fortnight Athens Games.
"The medal total, especially the gold count, for these Olympics shows an increase from Sydney 2000 and a trend that would indicate a strong showing for 2008 in Beijing.""
Read more at Official Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee
"A former Catholic priest has been given a one-year suspended sentence in Greece after pushing the leader of the men's marathon into the crowd during the Athens Olympics.
Vanderlei De Lima, from Brazil, was at the head of the race Sunday, just three miles from the finish, when he was attacked by Cornelius Horan, who was wearing a kilt and beret.
After a scuffle, De Lima managed to get away, but he was clearly upset and finished third.
Horan, 57, originally from Kerry, Ireland, had a note pinned to his back, reading: "The Grand Prix Priest. Israel Fulfillment of Prophecy Says The Bible.""
Read more at Athens marathon attacker sentenced
"The Brazilian Olympic Committee will lodge an appeal against the result of Sunday's Athens marathon, after it was disrupted by a spectator.
Late in the race, a man in a kilt ran into the road, bundling Brazil's leader Vanderlei de Lima into the crowd.
De Lima restarted the race but then faded into third place as Italy's Stefano Baldini won the gold medal.
Brazil are now appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, saying De Lima was not given enough protection."
Read more at Marathon result disputed
"Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell has revealed he may quit athletics.
The 30-year-old sprinter said winning the 4x100m relay was the pinnacle of his career, and admitted he could struggle for motivation in the future.
"I just want to go home now, and relax and really assess what I want to do, whether I'm going to continue or just knock it on the head," he said.
"To have Olympic gold is everything I ever dreamt since I was a small child. It was all I wanted from the sport.""
Read more at Campbell hints at exit
"The greatest race of the Olympics produced the most unlikely winner.
In the organizational marathon preceding the Games, Athens spent seven long years chasing time, an implacable and shadowy opponent glimpsed, more often than not, disappearing over the horizon.
But, with the countdown ticking fast as the Games approached, Athens came from nowhere to reach the finish line first, earning itself the right to celebrate the staging of an improbably successful Olympics.
Olympic chiefs at their Swiss base in Lausanne had fretted. The world's media had doubted.
But, as if by magic, it really was all right on the night."
Read more at And the Unexpected Olympics Winner Is...Athens
"The athletes have packed up. Olympic banners are coming down.
The challenge is just beginning.
It's a realization that's just starting to hit the Olympic hosts: The venues and facilities they struggled so hard to build could create even greater problems after the games.
The chief fear -- especially after Athens' budget-busting Olympics -- is expensive idleness. World-class sports centers ring up serious maintenance bills. Finding relevant and revenue-producing roles for the arenas is the long-term quest of any former Olympic city.
In Athens, however, there's an added complication. Olympic planners dedicated so much effort to overcome delays, there was no time to think about the future. There's now more than $3 billion in new or refurbished venues begging for attention.
"There are ideas. Some plans are being studied. But there is no definite solution," said Christos Hadjiemmanuel, head of Olympic Properties, a state company created as a temporary caretaker for the venues and other sites.
Time is truly money in the post-Olympic landscape."
Read more at Idle Olympic venues could give Athens big problems
"The 2004 Olympic Games officially came to an end in Athens with a spectacular closing ceremony on Sunday.
Greek music and dance kicked off an evening of celebration before the flame was extinguished and the flag lowered.
A firework display welcomed the athletes into the Olympic Stadium, with double gold-medallist Kelly Holmes carrying Great Britain's flag.
The torch has now been passed to China as Beijing prepares to host the Games in 2008."
Read more at Greece bids Games farewell
"Canada's athletes trailed back from Athens into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals.
The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television and consumed acres of newsprint.
"Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games," the Toronto Star warned in an editorial.
For many, the team's performance was summed up by world champion 100m hurdler Perdita Felicien, who entered the Olympic final as heavy favourite -- then crashed into ignominy by falling at the first hurdle.
The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request Sunday for more money to support athletes, calling for a 7,000 dollar (5300 US) increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of 20,000 dollars a year."
Read more at Canada's athletes face inquest over Olympics flop
"Hundreds of thousands of Olympic athletes and visitors began what Greek media termed the “Great Escape” from Athens on Monday in an exodus expected to tax airport staff to the limit.
Officials estimate up to 200,000 people will leave for overseas destinations over the next 48 hours while thousands of Athenians who delayed summer holidays until the end of the Games will head for Aegean islands and family reunions across Greece.
“Until August 31 we expect a huge wave of departures,” said Athens airport spokeswoman Marina Papageorgiou.
“The day after (Sunday’s) closing ceremony is the toughest one,” she said."
Read more at 'Great escape' begins from Athens airport
"Greece staged an exuberant closing ceremony on Sunday to bring the curtain down on the Athens Games, which took the Olympics back to their roots and provided drama right down to the last gold medal.
A spectator ran onto the course of men's marathon, the final event of the Games run along the route of the first modern Olympics, and bundled Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima into the crowd as he led the race with about 15 minutes to go.
De Lima was able to rejoin the race after about five seconds but he looked shaken and was passed soon afterwards by Stefano Baldini of Italy, who had already been gaining on him. Baldini won the race ahead of American Meb Keflezighi.
The intruder was Cornelius Horan, an Irish former priest who interrupted the British Formula One Grand Prix last year. He was dressed in a kilt and beret and police said he was drunk.
De Lima said the incident may have cost him the gold medal and Brazilian officials said they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a review of the results."
Read more at Games Close with Drama Down to Last Medal
"With Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil unexpectedly leading the race - the final event of these Games - by close to 30 seconds near the 22-mile mark, a man emerged from the crowd and pushed Lima from the middle of the road to the side of the course into a group of spectators, stopping him completely.
Spectators and security guards intervened, but it took the bewildered Lima several seconds to shake free. As he emerged from the crowd with about four miles remaining, his expression was even more pained than a marathoner's customary grimace down the stretch. And as security guards took his attacker, 57-year-old Cornelius Horan of Ireland, into custody, Lima spread his slender arms as if to ask, "Why?"
Seven minutes after the attack, with about 2.3 miles remaining in the race, Lima was caught from behind by the eventual winner, Stefano Baldini of Italy, and then by the eventual silver medalist, Meb Keflezighi of the United States." Read more at A Spectator Disrupts the Marathon With a Shove
Also read about it at:
- Marathoner finishes Third after attack
- Former priest halts marathon leader in his tracks
"A nervous world learned the Greek word for thank you and repeated it endlessly at an astonishingly successful Athens Olympics that quelled fears, surprised skeptics and greatly honored the birthplace of the games.
Efharisto, Athens, for architectural masterpieces of stadiums and arenas that showcased record performances. The fountain sprays, reflecting pools and soaring arches. The undulating, giant white Wall of Nations that caught the whispering wind, bringing music to our ears and smiles to our faces.
Efharisto for the thousands of security forces who stood guard day and night, keeping terrorism away. An undercurrent of danger, a sense of tranquility. We saw guns everywhere, walked in peace.
Fireworks and spectacular lighting kicked off the closing ceremony Sunday night, a two-hour extravaganza of folk dancing and music in the Olympic tradition that summed up the glee and relief the games brought to Greece. Afterward, thousands of athletes marched into Olympic stadium, waving their arms and flags, snapping photos of each other, hugging, and basking in the cheers of 70,000 fans."
Read more at Triumphant Olympics end with pride and relief
The winner of the Gold Medal: Stefano Baldini from Italy
The winner of the Silver Medal: Mebrahtom Keflezighi from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Vanderlei de Lima from Brazil
"MATHEW Helm reckons it's a dive he has practised thousands of times.
And the two-and-a-half back somersaults with one and a half twists in a pike position turned out to be his ticket to a silver medal.
Helm pulled off one of the best dives of his life to clinch second in the men's 10m platform, capping off Australia's greatest Olympics in diving -- one gold, one silver and four bronze."
Read more at Helm's perfect 10
The winner of the Gold Medal: Alina Kabaeva from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Irina Tchachina from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Anna Bessonova from Ukraine
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Croatia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Zhong Chen from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Myriam Baverel from France
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Adriana Carmona from Venezuela
The winner of the Gold Medal: Dae Sung Moon from Korea, South
The winner of the Silver Medal: Alexandros Nikolaidis from Greece
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Pascal Gentil from France
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Hungary
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia)
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Russia
"Olympic men's hammer champion Adrian Annus has been stripped of his gold medal after failing to take a drugs test, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday.
The Hungarian failed to meet an IOC deadline Friday to submit a urine sample or lose the gold.
The IOC's disciplinary commission opened its hearing on the final day of the Games, exactly one week after Annus won the gold.
Annus, who returned to Hungary and announced his retirement from sport after winning his medal, provided a negative dope test after the competition."
Read more at Hammer Gold Medallist Annus Loses Medal
"Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle Williams has been stripped of her bronze medal after testing positive for a banned stimulant, the International Olympic Committee said on Sunday. Calle Williams tested positive for the substance heptaminol, the IOC said.
She was third in the women's points race in the velodrome on Wednesday, giving Colombia its first medal of any colour in the short history of women's Olympic track cycling."
Read more at Colombian cyclist stripped of medal
"Retiring soccer star Mia Hamm was elected by her fellow U.S. athletes to carry the nation's flag in Sunday's closing Olympic ceremony.
Hamm won her second Olympic gold medal this week when the U.S. team beat Brazil in Thursday's final. She also was part of the 1996 gold medal team, as well as the 2000 team that took silver."
Read more at Hamm closes career as U.S. flag bearer
"Australia has won an unexpected silver medal in the men's 4x400 metre relay at the Athens Olympics.
The Australian team of John Steffensen, Mark Ormrod, Patrick Dwyer and Clinton Hill finished second behind the United States (2:55.91) in a time of 3:00.60.
Nigeria ran home in 3:00.90 to claim the bronze medal.
It was the first time since the 1956 Olympics that Australia had medalled in the event.
Steffensen, who celebrates his birthday on Monday, could hardly believe the team's achievement.
"Who would have thought us boys getting second, I'm speechless, you don't know how hard we have had to work," he told Channel Seven.
"All us boys have done some real hard yards and right now its hard to believe."
Read more at Aussies win surprise relay silver
"Triple gold medallist in swimming, Petria Thomas, will carry the Australian flag at this morning's closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics.
In her third and final Olympic campaign, Thomas won the 100 metres butterfly and was a member of the women's 4X100m freestyle and medley relay teams, which both won gold in world record breaking fashion.
She also won silver in the 200m butterfly to add to four previous medals she had won in Atlanta and Sydney.
Thomas's success in Athens was especially significant due to the fact she has undergone three shoulder reconstructions during her 10-year international career."
Read more at Thomas to carry flag at closing ceremony
"Double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes has been given the honour of carrying the flag for Great Britain at Sunday's closing ceremony in Athens.
Holmes, who added 1500m gold to her 800m triumph on Saturday night, has revealed she has no plans to bow out of athletics just yet.
"I don't plan to retire. I'm in the best shape of my life.
"The most important thing is to enjoy it," she told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme."
Read more at Holmes given Olympic honour
This is a summary article of all of the doping cases at the Athens Olympics....
"Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was the first athlete in Athens stripped of a medal because of a doping offense. Sampanis lost his bronze from the 62-kilogram class.
-- Russian shot putter Irina Korzhanenko tested positive for steroids after she won the gold and was stripped of her medal.
-- Hungary's Robert Fazekas lost his gold medal in discus for allegedly tampering with a doping test.
-- Hungarian weightlifter Ferenc Gyurkovics was stripped of his silver medal and kicked out of the Olympics for using the steroid oxandrolone.
-- Ukrainian rower Olena Olefirenko tested positive for a banned stimulant, costing her four-woman crew the bronze medal in lightweight sculls.
-- Hungary's Adrian Annus was stripped of his gold medal in hammer throw Sunday for failing to take a follow-up drug test demanded by the IOC.
-- Weightlifter Zoltan Kovacs of Hungary, who finished last in the 105-kilogram class, was banished from the games for failing to provide a urine sample.
-- Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou pulled out of the games while the IOC was investigating their missed doping tests."
Read more at Doping cases at the Athens Games
"Arab countries will walk away from the Olympics with a higher number of gold medals than ever before and squads are now looking to build on this success in future tournaments.
Morocco was the Arab country highest on the medals table at the end of the Olympics, winning two gold medals and a silver in running events.
Egyptian athletes did well in wrestling and boxing events, winning one gold and three bronze medals, the first medals for the country since the 1984 Olympics."
Read more at Arabs strike gold at Olympics
"America's biggest Olympic hero yesterday accused George Bush of exploiting the Athens Games for his own political advantage in the run-up to the presidential election.
Carl Lewis, who won nine Olympic gold medals in athletics in a record-breaking career, condemned Bush for using the presence of Iraqi and Afghan teams in Athens in a television advertisement to boost his chances of re-election.
Criticizing Bush for linking his foreign policy with the two countries being allowed to compete here, Lewis said: 'I felt that was disingenuous. It is funny that we boycotted the 1980 Games [in Moscow] in support of Afghanistan, and now we're bombing Afghanistan,' he told the Athens News yesterday.
'Of course, we've invaded Iraq and are in there and are using it for political gain. It bewilders me, and I understand why the Iraqi players are offended.
'To support the players or the community is fine, but for political gain I disagree.'"
Read more at Olympic Gold Hero Accuses Bush
"History should be kind to the 2004 Summer Olympics and this lusty, energetic city.
Olympic officials awarded Greece the Games for sentimental reasons in 1997, a risky recognition of the Greeks having invented the event in 776 B.C. and then staging their 1896 A.D. rebirth.
Nothing better, one could assume, than a homecoming to reacquaint the human race with the 100-meter dash and a simpler, more virtuous time.
But the Games were a massive, expensive - more than $8 billion and rising - undertaking for a small nation with limited financial resources and a placid persona. Greece soon seemed ill-equipped to organize, manage and actually present such an event.
The talk at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, was that the Olympics might have to go back there in 2004. The joke leading up to the 2004 Games here was that Beijing, China, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, was more prepared than Greece was for its imminent Games."
Read more at Olympics' return to roots compelling
"The biggest sporting extravaganza, the Olympics 2004, will come to an end today.
For the 10,500 athletes from a record 202 countries, tonight's closing ceremony will be the perfect opportunity to let their hair down at last.
All those disastrous pre-games headlines about construction chaos and security concerns will finally be forgotten as Greece gets set to bid farewell in style.
The stadium is being turned into a giant wheatfield. About 250,000 balloons will cascade down from a night sky exploding with fireworks."
Read more at NDTV.com - Athens awaits grand finale
"Finals in boxing, wrestling and taekwondo herald the symbolic finale to the Athens Olympics, the men's marathon, tracing the legendary route ran by Pheidippides in 490 BC to announce the Athenian victory at the battle of Marathon.
Favourite for the 301st and last medal of the games was Kenya's world record holder Paul Tergat, the silver-medallist over 10,000 metres at Atlanta and Sydney.
"This is going to be my final Olympics. If I could win the gold medal, everything would be complete and I could go on to other things with a free mind." said Tergat."
Read more at Marathon men bring down curtain on Athens Olympics
"Cuban master Mario Kindelan has stopped the amazing run of British teenager Amir Khan by outpointing him in the lightweight final of the Olympic boxing tournament.
Khan, 17, was trying to become the youngest boxer to win an Olympic boxing gold medal in over 50 years on Sunday but Kindelan had other ideas.
Nearly twice Khan's age at 33, the defending champion relied on his greater experience to counter-punch methodically and win a 30-22 decision.
Khan, who fought bravely but seemed a bit nervous, leaves Athens with the silver medal but a bright future ahead."
Read more at Cuban Kindelan stops Khan's run to gold
"Andre Ward won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division Sunday, beating Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus to claim a bit of redemption for an American team that took a beating at the Olympics.
Fighting in the last bout of the games, Ward found his mark with quick inside punches in the third round to win the first boxing gold for the United States since David Reid in 1996."
Read more at Andre Ward Redeems U.S. Boxing With Gold
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Brazil
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Italy
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Khasjimourat Gatsalov from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Magomed Ibragimov from Uzbekistan
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Alireza Heidari from Iran
The winner of the Gold Medal: Buvaysa Saytiev from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Gennadiy Laliyev from Kazakhstan
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Ivan Fundora from Cuba
"China achieved its best performance at an Olympics on Saturday with four more gold medals, a day after Liu Xiang and Xing Huina created athletics history.
China advanced to 31 gold medals, three behind medal standings leader the United States to continue their record-breaking exploits in Athens.
Luo Wei won the women's taekwondo under-67kg beating Elisavet Mystakidou of Greece for only China's second Olympic taekwondo gold medal since the Korean-born combat sport made its debut at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Canoeists Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun had a thrilling men's flatwater canoe C2 500 meters final in which six boats finished within 0.58 seconds of each other.
The gold medals kept on coming in the evening with China's women downing Russia in the volleyball and Hu Jia coming from behind to give his nation a record sixth Olympic diving gold in the men's ten-meter platform gold.
China had a total of 62 medals, eclipsing its record total medal tally of 59 from Sydney."
Read more at China breaks record Olympic medal haul
"South Korea appealed to sport's supreme legal body Sunday in an attempt to secure the Olympic gymnastics all-round gold medal for Yang Tae-young, who was robbed of the title 11 days ago by a scoring error.
Paul Hamm, who became the first American man to win the Olympic all-round title, should not have been awarded the gold, the governing body of gymnastics (FIG) ruled last Saturday.
Despite admitting the error, the FIG refused to redistribute the medals and the Koreans have now applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the federation's decision.
CAS spokesman Matthieu Reeb said although its decisions are usually made public in 24 hours, it may take longer to evaluate an outcome in the Korean's case due to the technicalities involved."
Read more at S.Koreans Lodge Appeal Over Hamm's Gold Medal
"Denmark won its third straight Olympic gold medal in women's team handball Sunday, beating South Korea 4-2 on penalty throws to break a tie after two overtimes.
Henriette Mikkelsen scored the decisive goal in a dramatic shootout to seal Denmark's undefeated run through the tournament.
The two nations have split the title in the last five Olympics, with Denmark winning titles in 1996 and 2000, and South Korea in 1988 and 1992."
Read more at Danish women win another handball gold
The winner of the Gold Medal: Yandro Miguel Quintana from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Masuod Jokar from Iran
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Kenji Inoue from Japan
The winner of the Gold Medal: Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Amir Khan from United Kingdom (Great Britain)
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Serik Yeleuov from Kazakhstan
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Murat Khrachev from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Worapoj Petchkoom from Thailand
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Aghasi Mammadov from Azerbaijan
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Bahodirjon Sooltonov from Uzbekistan
"With the next Summer Games set for Beijing, China will have a chance to defend its women's gold medal without leaving home.
Ping Zhang led a determined rally past Russia with 25 points in the Olympic final in Athens yesterday, winning 28-30, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12. After dropping the first two sets, China came back to tie — staying a step ahead of the Russians in the final set. Yuehong Zhang ended it with a spike from the left side.
China's players began hugging and crying with joy on their side of the court, while a stunned Russian team sat on its bench in tears. This was China's first medal since a silver at Atlanta in 1996 and first gold since 1984.
"I don't remember the Chinese team's first victory — I was too young," said setter Kun Feng, China's captain. "I didn't think about it at all. I was only fighting for the glory of victory.""
Read more at China women rally to volleyball gold
"Egypt's Mohamed Aly will not contest Sunday's Olympic super heavyweight boxing final in Athens after failing a pre-fight medical.
The decision means that his Russian opponent, Alexander Povetkin, is awarded the gold medal without throwing a punch.
Aly, who upset Cuban favourite Michel Lopez Nunez 18-16 in his semi-final, has a shoulder injury.
Povetkin succeeds Britain's Audley Harrison as super heavyweight champion.
The 24-year-old won the world title last year and has received several offers to turn professional.
On Friday, Egypt heavyweight Mohamed Elsayed was also disqualified before his semi-final bout for failing a medical test."
Read more at Egypt suffer boxing blow
"SHORTLY AFTER THE U.S. Olympic men's basketball team defeated Lithuania, 104-96, in Saturday night's bronze-medal game, coach Larry Brown called for changes in the process of selecting American players for international competition.
Shortly after that, Stu Jackson, chairman of the USA Basketball senior national team, added a few thoughts of his own.
Brown and Jackson are bright men with interesting ideas. Unfortunately for the future of American basketball as practiced on the international stage, at some point Tim Duncan's voice is going to be heard. And here is what Duncan had to say after Saturday's game:
"I'm about 95 percent certain my FIBA career is over," Duncan said. "FIBA sucks.""
Read more at ContraCostaTimes.com | 08/29/2004 | NBA culture clashes with FIBA
"Olympic supremo Jacques Rogge Sunday offered gold medals all round to Athens for organizing a superb Olympics after years of doom and gloom leading up to the opening.
"I am an extremely happy President of the IOC," he told reporters on the day the Games wrap up. They really did a fantastic job. I am very, very happy about the Games."
From security to ticket sales, he was glowing in praise of the organizers, who faced a barrage of criticism in the run-up to the Games over construction chaos, security concerns and budget overruns."
Read more at Golds All Round for Athens from IOC Chief
"What you remember about an Olympics probably says a lot about who you are. Is it Paul Hamm and the ugly gymnastics controversy that continues to fester like an unwashed wound? Or is it the golden performances of Michael Phelps, the American sprinters, and the American women’s soccer and softball teams?
Do you think of the failure of the outfit formerly known as the Dream Team as an embarrassment and a blot on the glorious history of U.S. basketball, or as the dawn of a new era of intense international competition that will ensure that future Olympics are packed with excitement and emotion?
Is the record for Olympic drug busts a stain on sports or a positive sign that the I.O.C. and strict anti-doping testing are finally catching up on the cheaters and cleaning up the competition?"
Read more at MSNBC - Is Olympics glass half-empty or half-full?
"The United States men didn't leave Olympic basketball's drastically altered landscape empty-handed on Saturday.
A bronze medal was hardly what the Americans wanted or expected out of these Summer Games. But it was the best they could manage, and the 104-96 win over Lithuania at the Olympic Indoor Hall did provide a measure of satisfaction after an uneven and disappointing tournament.
The result was warmly applauded by the many Americans in an audience of 14,500."
Read more at Sports
The winner of the Gold Medal: Yan Bhartelemy Varela from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Atagun Yalcinkaya from Turkey
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Shiming Zou from China
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Sergey Kazakov from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Denmark
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Korea, South
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Ukraine
"China embraced its first volleyball Olympic title in 20 years after beating Russia 3-2 on Saturday to finish the women's tournament at the Athens Olympic Game.
After trailing two sets, China came from behind to trounce Russia 28-30, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23 and 15-12 to claim the title.
The Chinese took an early lead but Ekaterina Gamova's three consecutive points helped Russia catch up to 18-18. After tied at 24-24, both teams beat off four set-points and it was Gamova again spiked home the final point of the set for Russia.
Russia replay the scenario again at the second set when they made a 6-2 run after fell behind with 15-17, Gamova scored three points in a row to make it 22-20."
Read more at Xinhuanet - English
"Britain took a shock gold in the men's Olympic 4x100 meters relay Saturday, pipping favorites the United States by one hundredth of a second.
Mark Lewis-Francis held off 2000 Olympic 100 meters champion Maurice Greene in a blistering last leg to clinch the gold in 38.07 seconds. It was Britain's first gold in the event for 92 years.
"We have gone and proved everyone wrong, all the people who were talking negative about us," said Lewis-Francis. "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life.
"I knew I had it won as soon as I got the baton."
The U.S. quartet had to be content with silver in 38.08 seconds with Nigeria taking bronze in 38.23."
Read more at British Stun U.S. in Sprint Relay
"The United States retained both Olympic 4x400 meters relay titles Saturday with individual champion Jeremy Wariner running the third leg for the men's team.
The Americans were already well in front when Wariner received the baton and he in turn gave Darold Williamson a clear lead.
Williamson completed victory for the United States in two minutes 55.91 seconds with Australia second almost five seconds back and Nigeria third.
None of the American team were in the squad who competed in Sydney four years and who are now certain to lose their gold medals.
The world governing body has annulled the results and recommended that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) take back the medals because one of the American team, world 400 meters champion Jerome Young, should have been serving a doping ban."
Read more at Sports News Article | Reuters.com
"Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy landed a shock Olympic 800m victory from South Africa's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.
Borzakovskiy, 23, burst from a long way back to clock one minute 44.45 seconds to pip the fast-finishing Commonwealth champion on the line.
Mulaudzi edged out Denmark's world record holder Wilson Kipketer, who ran 1:44.65 in third.
Algeria's Djabir Said Guerni led at halfway in 51.84 before Kenya's Wilfred Bungei took over to set up the finish."
Read more at Borzakovskiy wins 800m
"Two more Olympic athletes have been expelled from the 2004 Games because of doping. The International Olympic Committee says Puerto Rican wrestler Mabel Fonseca and Hungarian weightlifter Ferenc Gyurkovics both tested positive for banned steroids.
Gyurkovics will be stripped of his silver medal in the 105 kilogram class because of the failed drug test. Fonseca finished fifth in the women's 55 kilogram category. In addition to being expelled from the 2004 Games, both athletes face a possible two-year ban each from their international federations."
Read more at 2 More Olympic Athletes Expelled from Games on Doping Charges
"Thousands of Argentine fans, still hung over from their basketball team's upset of Team USA, showed up 12 hours later for an unusually early men's Olympic soccer final. Their bleary eyes witnessed history. Argentina, off the foot of rising star Carlos Tevez, beat Paraguay 1-0 for its first gold medal in any sport in 52 years.
The last time the Argentine anthem, "Oid Mortales," was heard at the Olympics was in Helsinki in 1952, when Argentina won a double sculls rowing gold. As the light blue and white flag made its way up the flag pole Saturday, Argentine players and fans belted out the anthem proudly. After an early exit in the 2002 World Cup and settling for second at the Copa America last month, Argentine soccer fans were ready to rejoice."
Read more at Goal and gold: Argentina reigns in men's soccer
"Yelena Slesarenko of Russia set an Olympic record in the women's high jump Saturday night, winning the gold medal with a jump of 6 feet, 9 inches.
The previous Olympic record was 6 feet, 8 3/4 inches, set in Atlanta by Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria.
Hestrie Cloete of South Africa won silver with a jump of 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Viktoriya Styopina of Ukraine won the bronze with a jump at the same height, but finished below Cloete because she had one more miss.
Amy Acuff of the United States was fourth, clearing 6 feet, 6 1/4 inches."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/28/2004 | Russia's Slesarenko Wins High Jump
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Cuba
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Australia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Nigeria
The winner of the Gold Medal: Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway
The winner of the Silver Medal: Vadims Vasilevskis from Latvia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Sergey Makarov from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Jamaica
The winner of the Gold Medal: Odlanier Solis from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Viktor Zuyev from Belarus
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Mohamed Elsayed from Egypt
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Naser Al Shami from Syria
The winner of the Gold Medal: Jia Hu from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Mathew Helm from Australia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Liang Tian from China
The winner of the Gold Medal: Yelena Slesarenko from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Hestrie Cloete from South Africa
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Viktoriya Styopina from Ukraine
"Kelly Holmes surged from behind to take the 1,500 meters gold and clinch a rare middle-distance Olympic double on Saturday. The Briton already won the 800 earlier this week.
In the finishing straight, Holmes kicked for home and easily beat Tatyana Tomashova of Russia and Maria Cioncan of Romania.
Holmes hung back for most of the race and had a lot of work left to do with 300 meters to go. She finished in 3 minutes 57.90 seconds, holding a .22 second edge over Tomashova. Maria Cioncan of Romania crossed in 3:58.39."
Read more at Britain's Holmes Wins Women's 1,500
"Hicham El Guerrouj completed an historic Olympic 1,500-5,000 metres double this evening after a battle royal with Kenenisa Bekele.
The Moroccan emulated the achievement of Finn Paavo Nurmi in 1924 as he cruised to victory in the 5,000 in one of the most mouth-watering head-to-heads of the Athens Games.
He timed 13 minutes 14.39 seconds. Silver went to Ethiopia's Bekele, a metre back, with 19-year-old world champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya taking bronze.
Ireland's Alistair Cragg finished in 12th position in a time of 13:43.06."
Read more at El Guerrouj fends off Bekele for historic win
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from United Kingdom (Great Britain)
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Nigeria
"They missed shots, threw the ball away and got beat on defense. In the end, though, Shannon Johnson and Tina Thompson helped the Americans pull out another gold-medal victory.
Johnson and Thompson gave the United States a huge lift with their second-half scoring, and the Americans beat Australia 74-63 today for their third straight Olympic basketball title.
The U.S. players finally got their game together after falling behind by four points in the second half. They turned up the defense, crashed the boards harder and, most important, found their shooting touch -- something the U.S. men's team failed to do."
Read more at Women's Dream Team doesn't disappoint
The winner of the Gold Medal: Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco
The winner of the Silver Medal: Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya
The winner of the Gold Medal: Manus Boonjumnong from Thailand
The winner of the Silver Medal: Yudel Johnson Cedeno from Cuba
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Boris Georgiev from Bulgaria
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Ionut Gheorghe from Romania
The winner of the Gold Medal: Artur Taymazov from Uzbekistan
The winner of the Silver Medal: Alireza Rezaei from Iran
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Aydin Polatci from Turkey
The winner of the Gold Medal: Yuriy Borzakovskiy from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Mbulaeni Mulaudzi from South Africa
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Wilson Kipketer from Denmark
The winner of the Gold Medal: Kelly Holmes from United Kingdom (Great Britain)
The winner of the Silver Medal: Tatyana Tomashova from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Maria Cioncan from Romania
The winner of the Gold Medal: Cael Sanderson from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Eui Jae Moon from Korea, South
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Sazhid Sa
The winner of the Gold Medal: Steven Lopez from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Bahri Tanrikulu from Turkey
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Yossef Karami from Iran
The winner of the Gold Medal: Wei Luo from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Elisavet Mystakidou from Greece
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Kyung Sun Hwang from Korea, South
The winner of the Gold Medal: Yuriolkis Gamboa from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Jerome Thomas from France
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Fuad Aslanov from Azerbaijan
The winner of the Gold Medal: Elbrus Tedeyev from Ukraine
The winner of the Silver Medal: Kelly Jamill from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Makhach Murtazaliev from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Mavlet Batirov from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Stephen Abas from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Chikara Tanabe from Japan
It was nine years ago that a young volunteer working at a World Cup mountain bike race at Mont Ste-Anne, Que., became swept up in the emotion of the riders.
"I was looking at the girls and the feelings they seemed to have at the finish line," Marie-Helene Premont remembered with a smile. "All the effort they gave. That's what I wanted to do." Premont created her own excitement and enthusiasm Friday when she rode to a silver medal in the women's mountain bike race at the Olympics Games.
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Italy
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Bulgaria
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Brazil
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Canada
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from France
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Austria
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Argentina
Canadians Ross Macdonald and Mike Wolfs won a silver medal in the Olympic sailing Star class regatta on Saturday.
Brazil's Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira clinched the gold Thursday, essentially leaving the Canadians and French team of Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau to fight it out for the other medals in the final race Saturday.
Macdonald, Wolfs sail to silver medal
Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden won Olympic gold in the K-1 500 metres Saturday, adding to the bronze he won Friday in the K-1 1,000, while veteran Caroline Brunet collected a bronze in her fifth trip to the Games.
Van Koeverden beat two-time world champion Nathan Baggaley of Australia, who had to settle for the silver. Britain's Ian Wynne got the bronze.
"Austria's Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher defended their Olympic Tornado title in Athens on Saturday.
The pair won the 11th and final race to easily beat Americans John Lovell and Charlie Ogeltree into silver.
Argentines Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola finished in bronze, while Britons Mark Bulkeley and Leigh McMillan were 13th overall.
In the Star class, Brazil, Canada and France took the medals with Britain's Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell sixth."
Read more at Austrians win Tornado gold
"India completed another dismal Olympic showing at the Athens Games, the team from the world's second most populous nation returning home with one medal and shamed by two doping expulsions.
Representatives of the country of over 1.1 billion people hardly caused a ripple in Athens and their solitary medal came when army major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore bagged a silver in men's trap shooting.
India had won just three individual bronze medals before going to Athens, one each at the Atlanta and Sydney with the third coming in 1952.
They promised more in 2004 but were unable to shake off their tag as a one-medal nation."
Read more at Another bleak show for one-medal India
"Argentina won its first Olympic gold medal in soccer Saturday, beating Paraguay 1-0 on Carlos Tevez's eighth goal of the tournament.
Despite the loss, Paraguay captured its first medal in any sport. Italy won the bronze Friday, beating Iraq 1-0.
The victory gave Argentina its third Olympic soccer medal. It finished second to Nigeria in 1996 and to Uruguay in 1928.
In a game the Argentines controlled from the beginning, Mauro Rosales helped set up the winning goal in the 18th minute with a cross from the right side. Tevez ran between Paraguay defenders Julio Manzur and Carlos Gamarra and shot the ball into the net from about 20 feet out.
The Paraguayan defenders had trouble with Tevez for most of the game, and Gamarra and Manzur were given yellow cards for hauling him down after he scored."
Read more at Argentina wins soccer gold
"For the first time since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the team standing atop the podium for the gold medal ceremony won´t be wearing red with its white and blue.
Argentina and Italy will play for the gold after a stunning day that included the United States being humbled 89-81 by Argentina and the Italians using their 3-point prowess to knock off previously unbeaten Lithuania 100-91.
Allen Iverson promised a full effort in the bronze-medal game against Lithuania on Saturday night, but that will do little to erase the stigma that always will be associated with this Olympic team.
They´ve already lost three times, hammering home the reality that the world has not only caught up to the Americans, it has surpassed them."
Read more at
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"Paul Tergat is a man on a mission, to finally capture an Olympic Games gold medal, and the Kenyan world record holder for the men's marathon is tipped to fulfil his ambition in the classic event here Sunday.
"This is going to be my final Olympics. If I could win the gold medal, everything would be complete and I could go on to other things with a free mind," Tergat recently said.
The Kenyan air force seargent's career credentials include a record five consecutive world cross country titles, two world half marathon titles and a 10,000 metres world record on the track."
Read more at Tergat seeks peace of mind with marathon gold
"Germany's Birgit Fischer settled for silver, giving the 42-year-old Olympian two medals in two days against decidedly younger competition.
A two-woman crew from Hungary overtook Fischer and her partner in the second half of their 500-meter kayak race Saturday, ending her quest for a ninth gold medal a day after winning her eight in the fours kayak.
``I'm not at all disappointed,'' said Fischer, who only came out of retirement a year ago. ``At 42 years old, what else can you expect -- and I didn't train as long as the others.''
Natasa Janics and Katalin Kovacs maintained their margin despite a strong finish by the Germans. Poland got the bronze."
Read more at Birgit Fischer wins second medal in kayak
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Argentina
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Paraguay
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Italy
The winner of the Gold Medal: Julien Absalon from France
The winner of the Silver Medal: Jose Antonio Hermida from Spain
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Bart Brentjens from Netherlands
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Hungary
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Poland
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Cuba
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Russia
"With the United States suffering its worst day at the Athens Olympics, China took center stage as sporting superpowers on a night to remember on the athletics track.
The Chinese national anthem exhorts the masses to "Arise! Arise! Arise!" and their athletes did just that Friday with two stunning track golds.
Liu Xiang, who won the men's 110 meters hurdles in a world record-equaling time of 12.91 seconds, said: "My victory has proved that athletes with yellow skin can run as fast as those with black and white skin."
With Beijing hosting the next Olympics in 2008 and China eager to show its global clout, he said of his win: "This is a miracle but I believe a lot more miracles will take place in China.""
Read more at - U.S. Eclipsed as Olympic Superpower
"American superstar Marion Jones made a tearful exit from the Olympics, finishing an unhappy campaign empty-handed four years after being the golden girl of the Sydney Games.
The 28-year-old came fifth in the long jump and was then involved in a baton change blunder in the 4x100 metres relay which left the United States quartet out of the medals for the first time since 1980.
It completed a miserable year for Jones, who has found herself at the centre of an ongoing drugs scandal investigation that has already wrecked the career of sprinter boyfriend Tim Montgomery (news - web sites).
Asked about her whole experience at the Olympics, Jones said: "It was a rough one," before breaking down in tears and vowing to return."
Read more at Yahoo! News - Tearful Jones finishes Olympics without a medal
" Secretary of State Colin Powell canceled plans to attend the Olympics closing ceremonies in Greece because of the "press of business" including crises in Iraq and Sudan, U.S. officials said on Saturday.
The decision was unrelated to anti-U.S. protests by about 1,000 people in Athens Friday that were broken up when police hurled tear gas at demonstrators headed toward the U.S. Embassy, said State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper.
Greek activists hoisted a massive banner saying "Powell Killer Go Home" on the Acropolis hillside towering over Athens Saturday protesting against his planned 24-hour visit to attend Sunday's closing ceremonies."
Read more at Powell Cancels Plans to Visit Athens
"Viewership of the summer Olympics cooled off for NBC on Thursday as the competition in Athens winds down.
NBC averaged 21.5 million viewers and 7.3 rating/21 share in the adults 18-49 demographic with its primetime coverage of various track and field, men's triathlon and women's volleyball events. Viewership peaked in the 10-11 p.m. hour with an average of 23.6 million viewers and 8.5/24 in the key demo, but Thursday looks to be the lowest-rated night of the games -- which wrap Sunday -- for NBC so far, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research."
Read more at NBC's Hot Olympics Cool Down Thursday
"Under suspicion of doping, Olympic hammer throw champion Adrian Annus retired from sports Thursday rather than deal with what he called a campaign to manipulate test results against him.
"I'm putting an end to my career," the 31-year-old Annus told the state-run news agency MTI in a statement. "It isn't worth going through all this even for an Olympic champion's title."
International Olympic Committee officials said Annus passed a drug test after winning the hammer throw Sunday, but doping control officials have been trying to track him down since then for further testing.
"
Read more at Hammer winner Annus retires
"They protest scores in rhythmic gymnastics, too.
Upset with the technical marks given to American Mary Sanders in qualifying Thursday, the U.S. team filed a protest with the International Gymnastics Federation seeking a review of her routines.
Sanders finished 18th out of 24 gymnasts in the first of two qualifying rounds. The top 10 gymnasts after today's second round advance to finals.
Sanders received technical scores, which judge difficulty, of 4.6 in hoop and 6.8 in ball. The 4.6 was lower than anyone in the field except for competitors from Australia, South Africa and Cape Verde.
"They felt it was absolutely too low for that routine," USA Gymnastics spokesman Brian Eaton said. "There were no major errors. She didn't leave out any elements.""
Read more at Even rhythmic gymnastics touched by scoring controversy
"Montreal had Nadia. Athens has Bryan.
Fourteen-year-old diver Bryan Nickson of Malaysia made a big splash Friday night, morphing into one of the darlings of the Athens Olympics with his modest 19th-place finish in the 10-meter platform event.
He barely passes for 10 -- with his baby face, bony body and shy, soft voice. And at only 4-foot-6 and 66 pounds, Nickson was dwarfed atop the 33-foot-high platform, yet fans went wild each time he ascended the ladder.
After each dive, Nickson climbed out of the pool and bowed.
"The crowd was with me," said Nickson, who barely spoke above a whisper. "It supported me a lot, even though that made me a bit nervous.""
Read more at Diminutive diver makes a big splash with fans and press
"There had been an air of inevitability throughout the Olympic women's basketball tournament that the United States and Australia would meet for the gold medal.
Yesterday that matchup was realized, with both of the tournament's undefeated teams advancing through their semifinal games at the Olympic Indoor Hall. First, the United States edged Russia, 66-62. Then, Australia ran away from Brazil, 88-75.
Today, when the championship tips off at 9:15 a.m., Pittsburgh time, the Australians aim to undo the final remaining feeling of inevitability.
The one that says the Americans are a lock to win."
Read more at U.S. and Australia: A golden matchup
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Australia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Belarus
The winner of the Gold Medal: Natasa Janics from Hungary
The winner of the Silver Medal: Josefa Idem from Italy
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Caroline Brunet from Canada
The winner of the Gold Medal: Andreas Dittmer from Germany
The winner of the Silver Medal: David Cal from Spain
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Maxim Opalev from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Adam van Koeverden from Canada
The winner of the Silver Medal: Nathan Baggaley from Australia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Ian Wynne from United Kingdom (Great Britain)
"Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele move up and down respectively from their favoured distances for what could be an epic Olympic 5,000 metres clash. El Guerrouj, 29, has finally claimed the Olympic 1,500 title which escaped him at the 1996 Atlanta Games and again in Sydney four years later. Bekele, seven years his junior, won the 10,000 metres gold and is now attempting to become the first Ethiopian since Miruts Yifter in 1980 to complete the long-distance double. Victory on Saturday would complete a perfect year for Bekele and give him a legitimate claim to the mythical title of best track distance runner in history." Read more at El Guerrouj and Bekele vie for supremacy
"The United States suffered their worst day of the Athens Olympics on Friday when a tearful Marion Jones flopped, their basketball "Dream Team" were humiliated and they captured only one of the 20 golds on offer.
But China, who had never won an Olympic gold in athletics, had a night to remember with Liu Xiang winning the men's 110 meters hurdles in a world record equaling 12.91 seconds.
"My victory has proved that athletes with yellow skin can run as fast as those with black and white skin," said Liu, 21.
"This is a miracle, but I believe a lot more miracles will take place in China," he said, as a new generation of his compatriots signaled they will be a force to be reckoned with on the track when Beijing hosts the next Olympics in 2008.
Xing Huina beat the Ethiopians at their own game to win the women's 10,000 in one of the biggest upsets of the athletics."
Read more at Bad Day for U.S., New Dawn for China
"The Iraqi men's soccer team fell just short of earning a medal at the Athens Olympics when they lost 1-0 to Italy on Friday at Kaftanzoglio Stadium.
Iraq, a surprise to even make it out of the first round, was looking for just its second medal ever at the Olympic Games. Abdul Wahid Aziz won a bronze medal in weightlifting during the 1960 Games. But Alberto Gilardino's goal in the first half for Italy was too much for the underdog Iraqis.
A medal looked like a possibility for Iraq after it won its first two matches of the competition to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. They then edged out Australia to move even closer to glory. Two straight losses -- to Paraguay and now Italy -- ended the run for a medal, but, still, the accomplishment of advancing this far in the competition was a victory for the war-ravaged country."
Read more at Iraq Falls Short in Bid for Soccer Medal
"I’m Paula Radcliffe – get me out of here.’
The sooner Radcliffe leaves Athens, the better, and perhaps tonight she will reflect that Monday would have been an opportune moment to head home on the next available plane. We learned in Sunday’s marathon that Radcliffe is mortal, when it was choking to see her bawling at the roadside four miles from the finish. But if anyone had the capacity to recover from such a knockdown then surely it would be the ‘Bedford Blonde’.
But no, not tonight. The dream of redemption turned into further indignation as Radcliffe pulled out two thirds of the way through the 10,000metres final. Radcliffe had announced just 10 hours before lining up alongside the cream of long-distance talent that she would race – despite her obvious agony of Sunday, pain which ran over into her tearful press conference and live TV interview the next day. "
Read more at Athens Offers No Comfort to Radcliffe
"Police used tear gas Friday night to disperse more than 2,000 demonstrators who lit fires, smashed windows and beat up journalists while marching through downtown Athens to protest the weekend visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell. The demonstrators, who scuffled with police in front of the Parliament, fought running battles with riot squads trying to prevent them from reaching the U.S. Embassy. The embassy is not near any Olympic venues, but it is near the hotel being used by the International Olympic Committee and located on a major Olympic traffic lane."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/27/2004 | Athens Police Break Up Powell Protest
"Brazil rolled to a convincing three-set victory over the United States in their men's volleyball semifinal Friday, joining Italy in the gold medal match. The Brazilians, whose perfect record was snapped in a four-set loss to the U.S. on Monday, erased any doubt that they are the better team with a 25-16, 25-17 and 25-23 victory."
Read more at U.S. men rolled by Brazil in volleyball semis
"Marion Jones' chances for a medal at the Olympics ended abruptly Friday night with a fifth-place finish in the long jump and a disaster in the women's 4x100 meter relay. Running second, Jones had a poor exchange of the baton with Lauryn Williams. Williams left too early and she couldn't connect with Jones until it was too late. The U.S. didn't finish because Williams was already out of the handoff zone. The race was won by the Jamaican foursome of Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson, Aleen Bailey and Veronica Campbell in 41.73 seconds. Russia was second and France was third."
Read more at No medal for Marion Jones in long jump or relay
Also read Jones fifth in long jump
The winner of the Gold Medal: Timothy Mack from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Toby Stevenson from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Giuseppe Gibilisco from Italy
"Anti-doping authorities were trying to track down Olympic champion Adrian Annus on Friday amid suspicions the Hungarian may have duped drug-testers after winning a gold medal in the hammer throw. Annus, who announced his retirement from the sport on Friday, left Greece immediately after striking gold in the hammer on Sunday. Mandatory drug tests carried out on the athlete after the event were negative. But following the controversy over Hungary's discus champion Robert Fazekas - who was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for failing to provide a urine sample - questions have now been raised over his friend Annus. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge confirmed to AFP that the athlete was being sought by drug-testers. "
Read more at Hunt is on for Olympic hammer champ Annus
"Jamie Dwyer scored a golden goal as Australia's field hockey men discarded the tag of Olympic chokers with a 2-1 victory over reigning champions the Netherlands in a rousing final this morning. Dwyer slammed the goal in the eighth minute of extra-time following a penalty corner after both teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time."
Read more at Kookaburras clinch historic gold
"Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva has added the Olympic women's long jump title to her her triple-jump bronze. Lebedeva's second-round leap of 7.07m was good enough for victory, with compatriots Irina Simagina and Tatyana Kotova completing a Russia 1-2-3. Simagina won the silver with 7.05m - the same as Kotova - but having recorded a longer second-best effort."
Read more at Lebedeva wins long jump
"Tamas Kasas scored three goals to help Hungary move within one victory of an eighth Olympic men's water polo gold medal in a 7-5 semifinal win Friday over archrival Russia. Hungary will face Serbia-Montenegro, which downed Greece 7-3. Aleksandar Sapic, the tournament's leading shooter, scored only once against Greece - in the last four minutes - to increase his haul to 16 goals in Athens."
Read more at Hungarians, Serbs Make Water-Polo Final
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Jamaica
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from France
"Liu Xiang of China won the gold medal in the men's 110-meter hurdles Friday night at the Olympics in an Olympic record time of 12.91 seconds. Terrence Trammell of the United States was the silver medalist with a time of 13.18 seconds, while Anier Garcia of Cuba took the bronze in a time of 13.20 seconds."
Read more at Liu Wins 110 Meter Hurdles
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Japan
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Gold Medal: Huina Xing from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Ejegayehu Dibaba from Ethiopia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Derartu Tulu from Ethiopia
he winner of the Gold Medal: Osleidys Menendez from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Steffi Nerius from Germany
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Mirela Manjani from Greece
The winner of the Gold Medal: Tatyana Lebedeva from Russia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Irina Simagina from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Tatyana Kotova from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Cian O\'Connor from Ireland
The winner of the Silver Medal: Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Chris Kappler from United States
The winner of the Gold Medal: Xiang Liu from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Terrence Trammell from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Anier Garcia from Cuba
Britain's Paula Radcliffe has failed to finish in the Women's 10,000m final.
Australia have just defeated the Netherlands in the Men's Hockey competition.
They scored a tie breaking goal in the dying seconds of a first period of extra time.
the score was Australia 2 - Netherlands 1.
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Australia
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Netherlands
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Gold Medal: Ji Wong Jang from Korea, South
The winner of the Silver Medal: Nia Abdallah from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Iridia Salazar Blanco from Mexico
The winner of the Gold Medal: Hadi Saei Bonehkohal from Iran
The winner of the Silver Medal: Chih Hsiung Huang from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Myeong Seob Song from Korea, South
"The United States fell behind 50-40 to Argentina early in the third quarter in the semifinals of the Olympic men's basketball tournament. The Argentines had a 43-38 halftime lead and quickly built on it. The winner advances to the gold-medal game against either Lithuania or Italy, who play at 3:15 p.m. Lithuania used a barrage of 3-pointers to beat the U.S. team in the preliminary round 94-90 last Saturday. Italy routed the Americans by 17 points in an exhibition 12 days before their Olympic opener."
Read more at Argentina Leads U.S. 53-40 in Third
Update - early in the 4th Argentina leads the US 73-61
Argentina have upset the Gold Medal Favorites the USA with a final score of Argentina 89 - USA 81.
Read more at the match in the following articles."Argentina snapped the U.S. Senior National Team's 58-game winning streak two years ago at the World Championships. Now Manu Ginobili and the Argentines have ended the United States' chances for a gold medal at the Athens Games, scoring an 89-81 victory over Larry Brown's team in the semifinals. Last summer the Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Argentina finished runner-up to the United States. Meeting the Americans twice, Argentina suffered a narrow 94-86 loss in second round play, and was handed a 106-73 setback in the gold medal game."
Read more at What a Nightmare: U.S. Men Fall to Argentina
"Seeing all those taut and tanned bodies jumping hurdles in Athens and sculling in Schinias reminds us why we like the summer Olympics so much. We also enjoy looking at what the athletes are wearing and wonder if we would dare get near a track or pool in similar get-ups.
With just a few days to go until the Summer Games are over for another four years, here's the medals ceremony we've all been waiting for: the fashion Olympics. Boatloads of style: We give Nike's racer-back tank top suit a gold even though the women took only a silver in the eights rowing contest. We could see Nike's offering this with a separate top and shorts as an outfit for any number of active sports or workouts. Let's also hear it for the ladies' visors and mirrored shades. 50-meter swagger: Swimmer Gary Hall Jr. took the gold in the 50-meter freestyle contest and gets another for the "Rocky"-style boxing robe he wore into the aquatic center. Sure he's cocky, but he delivered the goods, didn't he?"
Read more at Fashion highs and lows from the Olympics (August 27, 2004)
"Caesar Garcia and Kyle Prandi failed to advance out of the 10-meter platform preliminaries Friday and that meant one thing: No medals for American divers, their first Olympic shutout in 92 years. Caesar Garcia (seen here) and Kyle Prandi didn't make it out of the men's 10-meter platform prelims — the event would have been the USA's last shot at a medal. By Mark Humphrey, AP Garcia, of Baton Rouge, finished 23rd with 388.77 points. Prandi, of Strongsville, Ohio, dropped from second-place to 21st after the second round and wound up 29th out of 33 divers with 346.53 points."
Read more at USATODAY.com - Aussie Helm leads platform diving; Americans shut out of medals
The winner of the Gold Medal: Zsuzsanna Voros from Hungary
The winner of the Silver Medal: Jelena Rublevska from Latvia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Claudia Corsini from Italy
Eric over at Blogcritics.org has written an interesting piece on how the medal table isn't a true reflection of the US dominance of the Olympics. Interestingly it seems that Eric thinks the medal table under estimates the dominance of the US - something which surprised me a little as I've seen many articles arguing the exact opposite. He writes: (my opinion follows)
"By any reasonable measure the American medal count is impressive as hell, leading its closest rival Russia by 23 medals as of Friday morning. The lead at the moment in golds is only 28 to 25 over China, but the total medal lead over China is about 30, and recall that China has well over a billion people AND a sports system now similar to that of the former Soviet bloc, where promising athletes are farmed off to (hopefully benign) athletic concentration camps and their entire waking life is devoted to training for their sport....
But what stuck out last night in particular is the number of athletes representing other nations who live and train in the U.S., many going to college here. In fact, based on the divers -- the "Russian Texans" Vera Ilyina and bronze medalist in the women's 3m springboard Yulia Pakhalina, for example -- and track athletes -- 400m hurdles gold medalist Felix Sanchez was born in the U.S., has always lived in the U.S., but competes for the Dominican Republic, ALL of the Caribbean runners seem to train in the U.S. -- in action on NBC last night last night (and in the swimming events, basketball, baseball, etc. etc), it seems easier to name the top competitors who DON"T have a strong U.S. connection....
When you combine the actual American medalists with the "virtual" American medalists in the Games, you get a much truer picture of American dominance in the world of (summer, anyway) sport."
Read more at Blogcritics.org: Olympics: "Real" U.S. Dominance
I find myself seeing things a little differently - here is what I wrote in their comments section.
'Nice post - but I suspect you'll find this is an argument no one will ever win. I tend to agree with those who 'disagree' above. Once we start unravelling things like population we find the US could perhaps more accurately be placed as 35th according to the ABS Population based Medal Table (as of day 13).
Another interesting way of thinking about it is taking into consideration the Economy of the countries concerned. Of course the Aussies won't be as excited about this one cause it ranks them down at 21 (the US is 51st and Canada 52nd) according to thisMedal Table that takes into consideration Country's GDP. I tend to like this medal table because it reminds us that so many countries that are competing just don't have the resources that many of us take for granted.
I was reminded of this when I saw the Afghani runner the other day who barely seemed to even own a 'proper' running kit. To be honest I'm a bit over the beating of chests that many of us in the west have been doing over the Olympics - I wonder if we've lost something of what the true spirit of the Olympics could have been.
Just my humble opinion.'
"Iraqi and Italian soccer players plan to wear black armbands on their uniforms during their Olympic bronze medal game today. The armbands are in honor of an Italian journalist killed in Iraq. The International Olympic Committee has approved Iraq's request for the armbands. Italy's delegation is proposing that all its athletes be allowed to wear the armbands for the rest of today."
Read more at Iraq, Italy to wear armbands in soccer
"Top News Bush Admits Iraq 'Miscalculations' in Times Interview Iraq Rebels Leave Najaf Shrine, Hand in Weapons Investigators Find Explosives in Russia Plane Wreck MORE ATHENS (Reuters) - Danish mountain biker Mette Andersen had to pull out of the women's Olympic cross country race Friday after being attacked by a bee. Anderson was stung on the second lap of the five-lap race and had a bad reaction, the whole of the left side of her chest swelling up."
Read more at Olympics Athlete Felled by Bee Sting
"Gymnastics officials asked Paul Hamm to give up his gold medal as the ultimate show of sportsmanship, but the U.S. Olympic Committee told them to take responsibility for their own mistakes. In a dispute over scores that has turned into a political squabble, the head of the International Gymnastics Federation suggested in a letter to Hamm that giving the all-around gold medal to South Korea's Yang Tae-young "would be recognized as the ultimate demonstration of fair play by the whole world." FIG president Bruno Grandi tried to send the letter Thursday night to Hamm through the USOC, but the USOC refused to deliver it."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/27/2004 | Paul Hamm Asked to Give Up Gold Medal
"The Olympics turned ugly when unforgiving Greeks, incensed that fallen hero Costas Kenteris was missing from the 200 meters, delayed the final by booing and chanting for five minutes.
The American athletes who took the first three places on Thursday evening refused to be fazed by the uproar and a delighted Kenteris said he felt vindicated. The spectators were enraged because defending champion Kenteris was absent from the final after withdrawing from the Olympics following a missed dope test."
Read more at Unforgiving Greeks Boo as Games Turn Ugly
"Police may block demonstrators marching to the U.S. embassy in Athens on Friday to protest against a weekend visit by Secretary of State Colin Powell to attend the Olympics. Government officials said there would be a heavy police presence to ensure Friday night's demonstration goes smoothly, but one organiser said protesters would ignore authorities' pleas to stay away from the embassy compound. "We must respect the democratic right to protest but we will not allow any demonstrators to get out of hand and cause any damage," a senior government source told Reuters."
Read more at Greek police may block U.S. embassy march
"Scientists have begun using DNA samples from Australia's top sportsmen and women in an attempt to develop "designer athletes" who can protect the nation's sporting reputation, The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.
The technology will allow experts to tell parents which sports their children could excel in and whether they have the genes that are most likely to produce sporting superstars, the Sydney newspaper quoted scientists as saying. Australia, a nation of only 20 million, has long punched well above its weight in the world of sport. "
Read more at Researchers to develop 'designer athletes'
"Former champions India and Pakistan ended the Olympic men's field hockey with impressive wins, giving a new lease of life to their respective foreign coaches. Pakistan came from behind to defeat New Zealand 4-2 and take fifth spot in the 12-nation competition, while arch-rivals India blasted Asian Games champions South Korea (news - web sites) 5-2 to finish seventh. The win helped India retain the same position they took at Sydney four years ago and ensured their new German coach Gerhard Rach will survive at least till the end of the year."
Read more at Yahoo! News - Coaches survive as India, Pakistan reserve their best for last
"Britain's Amir Khan will face the biggest fight of his young career as he goes against Serik Yeleuov on Friday in boxing's lightweight semi-final.
Khan could become the youngest Olympic boxing champion in 52 years.
The 17-year-old's attacking style has become an enduring Olympic image after his three impressive victories.
Guaranteed at least a bronze after reaching the semi-finals, another win would ensure Khan would take home a minimum of a silver."
Read more at BBC SPORT | Olympics 2004 | Boxing | Khan goes for glory
"Nathan Deakes's coach says the Olympian's technique will be reassessed following his disqualification from the 50-kilometre walk in Athens. Deakes was leading the field with the eventual winner, Poland's Robert Korzeniowski, when he was disqualified at the 33-kilometre mark. The 26-year-old did not receive any warnings during his bronze medal effort in the 20-kilometre walk last week. Deakes's coach Brett Vallance said his charge's disqualification came as a surprise."
Read more at Deakes to assess his technique - Athens Olympics 2004 - ABC Sport.
"The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) have accused the governing body of world gymnastics of putting "outrageous and improper" pressure on gold medallist Paul Hamm to give his medal to a South Korean rival. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has said Hamm placed first in the all-round event due to a judging error and bronze medallist Yang Tae-young should have been awarded gold. It has suspended the judges involved but said there is no mechanism for overturning a decision made in the competition. "
Read more at U.S. Is Angry at the Pressure on Paul Hamm
"Tina Thompson led a balanced attack with 14 points, as the United States women's basketball team assured themselves of a medal after beating Russia, 66-62, in the semifinals at the Summer Olympics on Friday.
The Americans will now face the winner of the Brazil/Australia game in Saturday's gold medal game. Lisa Leslie and Tamika Catchings each added 11 points, while Yolanda Griffith finished with 10, as the two-time defending gold medalists held off a late rally by Russia. Tatiana Shchegoleva had 13 points, while Maria Stepanova added 11 for Russia. Russia cut its deficit to 60-58 on a three-pointer by Oxana Rakhmatulina with 4:23 left, but the U.S. scored the next six points to put the game away. Sheryl Swoopes had two buckets and Thompson scored from inside the paint to push the Americans to a 66-58 cushion with 2:39 left."
Read more at U.S. women move into basketball gold medal game
"Kate Allenby's quest for Olympic glory in the modern pentathlon gathered steam today after a magnificent swim elevated her into second place overall. It is the same position Allenby held after three events in Sydney four years ago when she went on to claim the bronze medal. Today, she followed up an average performance in the shooting with second place in the fencing and the fifth fastest time in the 200metres freestyle swimming."
Read more at Ananova - Allenby raises medal hopes
"The Olympic gymnastics official who pressured a Calgary judge to increase his scoring of a Russian athlete's horizontal-bar routine is facing an investigation and possible censure, says the vice-president of the sport's international governing body. "Obviously some things have transpired and will have to be looked at, and that's what we'll do," said Slava Corn, Canada's highest-ranking executive with the International Gymnastics Federation. Romanian judge Adrian Stoica, president of the International Gymnastics Federation's technical committee and chief official during the controversy-plagued Olympic men's competition, has come under fire over several incidents."
Read more at Romanian judge under investigation
"Greece International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge (ROH'-geh) says the I-O-C rejects South Korea's request to have a duplicate gold medal awarded in men's all-around gymnastics. A scoring mistake gave the title to American Paul Hamm. The I-O-C also is turning down an official German request for duplicate gold medals following a judging error in the three-day equestrian competition."
Read more at I-O-C says no duplicate medals
"The United States and Argentina will go after each other again in the Olympic men's basketball semifinals, and if their latest performances carry over, it'll be difficult for the South American rivals to win. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. EDT tipoff, with the winner advancing to the gold-medal game against either Lithuania or Italy, who play at 3:15 p.m. Lithuania used a barrage of 3-pointers to beat the U.S. team in the preliminary round 94-90 last Saturday. Italy routed the Americans by 17 points in an exhibition 12 days before their Olympic opener."
Read more at U.S. men's basketball team faces Argentina for a spot in gold-medal game; Lithuania plays Italy
"Greek taxpayers could use some advice from the country's celebrated weightlifting champions to shoulder the sizeable cost of the Athens Olympics after the Games. AFP/DDP/File Photo Seven billion euros (8.7 billion dollars) reads the latest price tag Greek officials have attached to the Games, up from an initial budget of 4.6 billion euros. But the final tally will not be known until after the Games, Greek Economy and Finance Minister Yiorgos Alogoskoufis said. Greece has financed the Games entirely out of state funds."
Read more at Yahoo! News - Greece to deal with Olympic cost of Olympic proportions after Games
"Greek sprinter Kostas Kenteris was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support in his absence at Olympic Stadium. Thousands of fans chanted his name Thursday night at the 200-meter sprint, an event Kenteris pulled out of after missing a drug test. "When I heard all these people - the thousands of people - shout my name, it was the most beautiful thing that I have heard in recent years," Kenteris told the TV Mytilini channel."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/27/2004 | Kenteris Says He Did Nothing Wrong
"The International Olympic Committee rejected South Korea's request to have a duplicate gold medals awarded in men's all-around gymnastics because of a scoring mistake that gave the title to American Paul Hamm, IOC president Jacques Rogge said. The IOC also turned down an official German petition for duplicate gold medals following a judging error in the three-day equestrian competition. "We are not going to give medals for so-called humanitarian or emotional reasons," Rogge said Friday at a breakfast meeting with reporters."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/27/2004 | IOC Rejects S. Korea's Request for Gold
"Atlanta had a blob named Izzy. Nagano had the creepy, bug-eyed foursome: Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki. Not to be outdone in the curious mascot department, Athens 2004 has Phevos and Athena, two androgynous Bart Simpson-esque dolls separable only by the two bull's-eyes on the girl's chest to mark her femaleness. "I took them out of the box, and thought, 'What the heck is this?' " said Adonis Diplarides, whose family shop at the foot of the Acropolis is selling everything from baby bibs to shot glasses with Athena and Phevos cartoons on them. On a day a breath away from 100 degrees, he was also trying to sell umbrellas decorated with the mascots."
Read more at Mascots are a mystery, but they sell well
" It was just a rumor, and as with most rumors, no one knew how or where it started. It didn't matter. It was hot, a big-time doping rumor, so it kept spreading, proliferating in a climate ripe for this kind of thing. First it was a male sprinter, then a female sprinter; it was a medalist, no, not a medalist; an American, no, not an American. It lasted about two days, this rumor, but it's the kind of thing that has permeated these Games. With three days of competition remaining, the Athens Olympics have caught more athletes doping -- 16 -- than any previous Olympics, and there have been four medals stripped, two gold."
Read more at Rumors running rampant as more athletes get caught
"Gunn-Rita Dahle of Norway captured the gold medal on Friday in the women's mountain bike competition at the Summer Olympics in Athens. Dahle, a winner of five World Cup cross-country events in 2004, covered the five-lap, 19.4 miles in 1 hour, 56:51 minutes. Marie-Helene Premont of Canada was second, 59 seconds behind Dahle. Sabine Spitz of Germany took the bronze."
Read more at Dahle takes Olympic gold in mountain bike
"AUSTRALIAN track cyclists Peter Dawson and Stephen Wooldridge are to receive belated Olympic gold medals. The International Olympic Committee has agreed to give gold medals to the pair, who rode in the heats but missed out on the team which won the final of the 4000m team pursuit on Sunday.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) lodged an appeal for the medals and announced today the IOC had heeded its plea. In cycling team events only those who ride in the finals normally get medals, unlike swimming, where heat swimmers in relays are also rewarded. Wooldridge and Dawson were delighted when told of the decision by cycling team high performance manager Michael Flynn."
Read more at The Australian: Aussie cyclists get belated gold [August 27, 2004]
"BERTRAND Gbongou Liango of the Central African Republic was taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious in the Olympic taekwondo tournament today.
The 22-year-old was caught by a sickening reverse round-house kick to the head in his first round match against Austria's Tuncay Caliskan. He was knocked out cold and medical staff rushed on to the mat to free his air-passage and revive him before he was taken away on a stretcher.
Team doctor Jacques Ndemanga confirmed he was in a stable condition."
Read more at The Australian: Athlete rushed to hospital [August 27, 2004]
Several hundred tickets to the Olympic closing ceremony remained unsold Friday, two days before the end of the Athens Games. Local organizers said about 500 of the highest priced tickets, which cost $900, remain available for Sunday's ceremony.
The celebrations of the Olympics' opening and closing usually sell out. The Olympic Stadium has about 72,000 seats, but not all are put on sale. Some tickets are given to dignitaries, Olympic officials and media.
Read more at Tickets remain for Games closing ceremony
Egyptian heavyweight Mohamed Elsayed failed a medical test Friday and was disqualified from the semifinals of the Olympic boxing tournament, organizers said. The decision wasn't drug-related.
Elsayed beat American Devin Vargas on Sunday to clinch a medal. Egypt had three boxers in the semifinals after winning just one medal in its Olympic boxing history.
Elsayed's injury, which wasn't specified, allowed Belarus' Viktar Zuyev to advance to the finals on a walkover. Zuyev will face Cuba's Odlanier Solis or Syria's Naser Al Shami.
Read more at Egyptian boxer DQ'ed after failing medical test
Non-union, underpaid labor is sewing the shirts, gluing the shoes and putting zippers to running suits and track apparel branded as Olympic in Athens.
A t the Olympic Games in Athens this year, the logos of McDonalds, Samsung, Coca-Cola, and other multinational advertisers are saturating the festivities to the tune of $1.339 million. But the corporate self-promotion and commercial branding wont end when the games come to a close. Sportswear companies have negotiated $81 million worth of licenses from the International Olympic Committee, allowing them to adorn their products with Olympic emblems. Behind the five intertwined rings and the Athens 2004 kotinos laurel wreath insignia, hidden from the eyes of the world, non-union, underpaid labor will be sewing the shirts, gluing the shoes and putting zippers to running suits and track apparel branded as Olympic in working conditions that would make even the most highly trained athlete sweat.
Read more at The Athens Look: Sweatshop Chic
Paula Radcliffe has confirmed she will definitely run in the Olympic 10,000m.
Radcliffe quit Sunday's marathon four miles from the end but is ready to line up for the 1950BST start on Friday.
She is the fastest woman in the world this year over 10,000m by 26 seconds and the 30-year-old will be keen to hit back after her marathon failure.
Read More Radcliffe to run 10,000m
Among the unplanned international sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics could be the dodging of regional Internet broadcast restrictions and the unsanctioned relay of live online Olympic broadcasts to Americans. The Summer Olympics, which began Friday in Athens, is the first Olympic Games to be broadcast from a collection of websites. The BBC and other European networks are offering live, on-demand Internet video streaming of Olympic events to broadband viewers. But the BBC and fellow members of the European Broadcasting Union are required by their Olympic broadcast contracts to block U.S. Internet users and others from outside their home counties.
Read more at Wired News: Let the Web Games Begin
The winner of the Gold Medal: Gunn-Rita Dahle from Norway
The winner of the Silver Medal: Marie-Helene Permont from Canada
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Sabine Spitz from Germany
With the Athens Olympics heading into their final weekend, South Korean is looking for one last medal push in the fighting events such as taekwondo, wrestling and boxing, which have traditionally been strong events for the country. In taekwondo, 17-year-old Hwang Kyung-sun is among the medal hopefuls in the women’s -67kg category as she beat Kim Yun-ji, a two-time world champion, at the domestic Olympic trials. Hwang’s gold hunt is expected to depend on the projected bout with China’s rival Luo Wei in the round-of-16. Preliminaries begin today at 15:25 (KST) and the final starts at 01:20 on Sunday.
Read more at KoreaTimes : Korea Hoping for Late Medal Rush
Russian athlete fails test A Russian 400m runner has been thrown out of the Olympics after failing a drugs test. Anton Galkin is the 18th athlete to be expelled from the Games for alleged doping offences - a new record. Galkin tested positive for stanozolol after finishing fourth in his semi-final last Saturday.
Read more at Russian athlete fails test
The winner of the Gold Medal: Robert Korzeniowski from Poland
The winner of the Silver Medal: Denis Nizhegorodov from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Aleksey Voyevodin from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Hungary
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Slovakia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Hungary
"Everything in Athens is late. Even the party.
At the start of the Olympics, thousands of stadium seats stood empty and the capital's neighborhoods were quiet. Many people feared the games were destined to be an organizational success and an entertainment failure.
But as Sunday's closing ceremony approaches, the buzz is definitely back.
It's 3 a.m., and traffic is moving at a crawl on central Athens' Ermou Street.
Taxis barely have time to unload their passengers before being flagged down by others. Flag-waving sports fans rub shoulders with athletes, media and volunteers still dressed in their distinctive orange and blue uniforms, stopping to watch street jugglers and drummers performing in Monastiraki Square.
"Where did all these people come from?" said taxi driver Spyros Kefis. "All the foreigners are gathered in Monastiraki and Plaka. This is where it's all happening.""
Read more at Olympic party picks up after a slow start
" Reporters Without Borders launched a website calling for a boycott of the Beijing 2008 Olympics over the human rights record of "one of the world's bloodiest dictatorships".
The Paris-based media watchdog said Thursday China had failed to improve its rights record since being controversially awarded the Games in 2001.
"History has shown that totalitarian regimes are more sensitive to a balance of power than to 'constructive dialogue'," the group said on the website, www.boycottbeijing2008.net.
"A boycott therefore seems the only strategy to force Chinese authorities to respect human rights before 2008.""
Read more at Media watchdog launches website calling for Beijing Olympics boycott
" In an arena where anti-American sentiment was running about 100-to-1, the men's Olympic basketball team from the United States of America walked off the floor to the universal language of displeasure. Boos are boos in any language.
In the aftermath of their 102-94 victory over Spain that moved the men within two victories of the gold medal that is their supposed birthright, the crowd was unhappy for many things, among them the fact that U.S. coach Larry Brown had the bad form to call a timeout with 23 seconds left and the game out of reach.
As he would spell out for the media later, Brown said he had asked for the timeout with about a minute to play, after two turnovers that caused him concern. But as is not uncommon in international basketball, the scorekeeper didn't award him the timeout immediately and Brown later, satisfied all was well, tried to cancel the request. "But they wouldn't let me do that, they gave it to me anyway," the coach said.
After the game ended, one of Spain's coaches screamed at Brown, inciting the crowd. "I tried to apologize," Brown said, "but it was like a disagreement with my son. Sometimes he doesn't want to hear your explanation.
"I said I was sorry. I would never try to embarrass someone like that."
There was almost a palpable relief as Brown, who coached the Detroit Pistons to their unexpected NBA title over the Los Angeles Lakers in June before collecting the assortment of mostly young, inexperienced NBA players willing to represent U.S. basketball in these Olympics, responded to the short-lived international incident. It was much more pleasant discussing a questionable timeout than talking about a 19-point loss to Puerto Rico or a fourth-quarter collapse to Lithuania."
Read more at The pain in Spain: 'Explain'
"They went out the way they came in, acting as if it was all such a surprise and this was the greatest day of their lives.
They gave the impression they would have played this way, this hard, this gosh-darn giddily, whether the entire world was watching or they simply were kicking the ball around a playground.
When soccer's Fab Five and the rest of the U.S. women's Olympic team heard all the cheers Thursday night at Karaiskaki Stadium and felt the love of a raucous crowd, it was as if the attention floored them. Then, in a brilliant, emotionally charged soccer show, the Americans beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime for the Olympic gold medal."
Read more at Fab Five of women's soccer disband with gold
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Hungary
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Ukraine
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Sweden
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Italy
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Norway
"With their very last move of the Olympics, the South African women's hockey team provided the touch of class they always knew they were capable of, but just didn't produce consistently enough at the Games.
A splendid Jenny Wilson golden goal winner from a well-worked short corner enabled them to sink Spain 4-3. Unfortunately for them, the best, which they saved for last yesterday, was enough only to help them stave off the dreaded wooden spoon and finish in ninth place.
It was tough going in Athens for a team who had high hopes leading up to the Games, but who just didn't get out of the starting blocks here.
An opening 6-2 defeat to the Dutch was followed by successive 3-0 defeats by Australia and Korea."
Read more at Pretoria News - Disappointed women keep best for last
The winner of the Gold Medal: David Cal from Spain
The winner of the Silver Medal: Andreas Dittmer from Germany
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Attila Vajda from Hungary
The winner of the Gold Medal: Eric Veraas Larsen from Norway
The winner of the Silver Medal: Ben Fouhy from New Zealand
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Adam van Koeverden from Canada
"New Zealand's medal winning Olympic stars should just take a picture of their wreaths and leave them in Greece because they will not be allowed into the country, a government spokeswoman said Friday.
Each medal winner at the Athens Games has received wreaths made of olive branches, chrysanthemums and roses.
Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton's spokeswoman said biosecurity was vitally important for New Zealand and the rules would not be bent.
"If they want to hold on to their memories they will have to take a picture," the spokeswoman said.
Ministry of Agriculture biosecurity official Veronica Herrera said the wreaths would not get past border control.
"A lot of the material is still viable, so if you plant it and the conditions are right, they could develop roots and grow," she said."
Read more at Leave the wreaths in Greece, New Zealand tells medallists
"If you're wondering why the past few Olympiads have lacked drama, blame Mikhail Gorbachev. Sure, his decision to green-light the fall of Soviet totalitarianism was pretty popular with the people who had been living under the USSR's iron fist, using D-grade toilet paper and lining up to buy shoelaces, but it ruined that us-versus-them vibe that made the pre-glasnost Games so great.
You remember the fun. We tried to imagine Kornelia Ender playing linebacker for the Bears. We wondered which Soviet weightlifter -- other than the mighty Alekseev -- had ingested the most illegal enhancements. We boycotted them. They boycotted us. Hollywood couldn't have come up with a better script. Then came Gorbachev. And before you knew it, the Grateful Dead was designing Lithuania's hoops uniforms and we were wondering where all that facial hair on the Hungarian women's gymnasts went.
That old furor is gone from the Athens Games. The American team is running away with the overall medal title, proving itself to be the world's lone athletic superpower, just as we are the sole global purveyor of military might. Ho-hum.
But, wait. There, on the horizon. It's coming. China."
"Beefy Greco-Roman wrestler Karam Ibrahim, a women's underwear manufacturer back in Egypt, won his country's first Olympic gold medal in 56 years on Thursday. Professional wrestling chiefs in the United States are already wooing Ibrahim to join their ranks and the gold will only increase his value. But Ibrahim has other business interests to consider. He runs the "Blue Gym" fitness club in Alexandria. "I also have a factory for clothes, girls'' clothes," the big man grinned. "Bras and underwear." Ibrahim took little more than three minutes to grapple Georgian Ramaz Nozadze to defeat in an unusually spectacular 96kg final. He raised a finger in triumph, kissed the mat and flipped his exultant coach to the floor before performing a perfect somersault. Carried around on the shoulders of another member of the Egyptian team, the national flag fluttering from his broad shoulders, the emotions flooded out as tears streamed down the cheeks of officials."
Read more at Bra manufacturer ends 56-year gold medal wait
COC demands answers on score that scuppered Shewfelt
Kyle Shewfelt initially said he doesn't want to get involved in the judging controversy that denied him a bronze medal in the men's vault, but the Canadian Olympic Committee isn't letting the matter rest.
The Canadian crew of Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs remained in contention for a medal in star class sailing while two more of the country's boats advanced in flatwater canoe-kayak events Thursday at the Olympic Games
Carmen Douma-Hussar, of Cambridge, Ont., advanced to Saturday's final in the women's 1,500-metre, even though she finished sixth in her semifinal race.
The top five racers from each heat automatically qualified for the finals, however Douma-Hussar's time of four minutes, 5.09 seconds was fast enough among the remaining pack to advance. Her time was 1.60 seconds faster than the winner of the first heat.
"Taiwan won its first gold medal Thursday in taekwondo, then had to wait only a few minutes more for another. Shih Hsin Chen won her 49-kilogram match for the breakthrough, aware as the seconds counted down that a lot was at stake.
"I know that this is our first gold medal and I'm very proud of it," said Chen, who beat Yanelis Yuliet Labrada of Cuba. "It means a lot to me and my family."
About 15 minutes later, Mu Yen Chu won another gold medal in the men's 58-kilogram division."
Read more at
Taiwan wins two gold medals in taekwondo, by Shih Hsin Chen and Mu Yen Chu
"Red-hot favourite Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic streaked to victory in the men's Olympic 400 metres hurdles final this morning.
Just four days shy of his 27th birthday, the New York-born world champion flowed over the barriers to take gold in a time of 47.63 seconds.
Jamaica's Danny McFarlane took silver in 48.11 with France's Naman Keita collecting bronze in 48.26.
Sanchez, who is unbeaten in more than 40 races and last lost in July 2001, is the Dominican Republic's first Olympic gold medallist.
Their only other Olympic medal was a boxing bronze won by bantamweight Pedro Nolascos in the 1984 Los Angeles Games."
Read more at Invincible Sanchez storms to gold
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Brazil
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Germany
"Shawn Crawford denied fellow American Justin Gatlin an Olympic sprint double as he stormed to victory in the Olympic men's 200 meters to set up a United States clean sweep....
The race, though, was marred by ugly scenes and delayed for five minutes when the packed 75,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium began booing and chanting "Kenteris, Kenteris!" and "Hellas, Hellas!
Costas Kenteris, Greece's 2000 Olympic champion in the event, withdrew from the Games after missing a drugs test in mysterious circumstances the day before the opening ceremony. There was no Greek runner in Thursday's race.""
Read more at Golden Crawford Denies Gatlin Sprint Double
Also read about this story at Shawn Crawford leads U.S. sweep of 200 meters, overcoming teammates Williams, Gatlin to win gold
"The names may change. Not the results. China still rules the Olympic diving pool.
The Chinese earned another gold medal -- their fifth of the Athens Games -- when Guo Jingjing easily won the women's 3-meter springboard Thursday night. Teammate Wu Minxia made it a 1-2 finish for the world's diving superpower, taking the silver.
The bronze went to Russia's Yulia Pakhalina.
It was the fifth straight win on springboard for the Chinese women, and the five gold medals match the country's total from the Sydney Games in 2000. It can surpass that standard in the final diving event of these games: men's 10-meter platform, which begins Friday."
Read more at China wins another diving gold
"A splash at the finish line made for an Olympic highlight and a day that the U.S. canoe and kayak flatwater team would rather forget. With a last desperate stroke that rocked his kayak so hard he fell into the water, Frenchman Babak Amir Tahmasseb edged America's Rami Zur at the finish line Thursday and ended the U.S. team's best hope for a medal.
Zur's fourth-place finish in his 500-meter single kayak (K-1) race -- he needed a top three to advance -- was the most frustrating moment for the American team, which failed to get a boat in the finals.
They've now gone three Olympics without a medal, a streak that left the U.S. program's executive director, David Yarborough, shaking his head in disbelief at how far the team had fallen since 1988, when Greg Barton was part of two gold-medal winning boats."
Read more at Dramatic Kayak Splash Frustrates U.S.
"The Canadian Olympic Committee has vaulted into the controversy surrounding the judging irregularities that resulted in Calgary's Kyle Shewfelt being denied a bronze medal.
The COC has sent a letter to Burno Grandi, president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) demanding an explanation for the marks awarded to Romania's Marian Dragulescu.
"What we're asking from them is we'd like to get a response within 24 hours and an idea of how they are going to rectify the situation," said Jackie DeSouza, the COC's director of communications.
Shewfelt finished fourth in the vault even though Dragulescu muffed the landing on his second of two vaults.
Canadian gymnastics officials argue the mistakes Dragulescu made on his final vault make it mathematically impossible for him to receive the score he did."
Read more at Canadian Olympic Committee wants explanation of gymnastics vault marks
The winner of the Gold Medal: Shawn Crawford from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: Bernard Williams from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Justin Gatlin from United States
"Marion Jones took the baton and sped down the straightaway. By the time she handed it off to 100-meter silver medalist Lauryn Williams, the United States was well on its way to victory in the first round of the 400-meter relay.
It was a quick burst of speed that helped the relay squad to a time of 41.67 seconds Thursday night, matching the mark it set earlier this month that is best in the world this year.
But the race may have implications for the relay squad long after the Olympics. Jones is under investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and if she is found guilty of using banned drugs it could impact any medal the team might win.
Dwight Phillips led a 1-2 American finish in the men's long jump Thursday. Phillips won gold with a leap of 28 feet, 2 1/4 inches and U.S. teammate John Moffitt won silver with a jump of 27-9 1/2. Joan Lino Martinez of Spain took the bronze medal."
Read more at Jones' presence on relay could have implications after Olympics
The winner of the Gold Medal: Felix Sanchez from Dominican Republic
The winner of the Silver Medal: Danny McFarlane from Jamaica
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Naman Keita from France
The winner of the Gold Medal: Jingjing Guo from China
The winner of the Silver Medal: Minxia Wu from China
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Yulia Pakhalina from Russia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Dwight Phillips from United States
The winner of the Silver Medal: John Moffitt from United States
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Joan Lino Martinez from Spain
The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Germany
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Netherlands
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Argentina
"Calls of "cut it out" and "give it back" have competed with a hot United States-vs-China medals race as the 28th Olympiad in Athens went into its final days with over 70 medals still to be won....
With many eyes on China's rising pile of gold, the Middle Kingdom tried to cool overheated hopes at home, forecasting a late Russian medals surge to second place behind the United States when the medals are unofficially tallied on Sunday night.
"The risk of China not being able to hold on to second place is very great," Xiao Tian, a Chinese Olympic Committee vice-president told a news conference.
"I am not being falsely modest here, but speaking after analysing numbers," he said, citing boxing, rhythmic gymnastics and athletics events where Russia have title hopes.
With perfect timing, student Andrey Moiseev of Russia won the men's modern pentathlon, so far ahead in the competition grouping running, fencing, shooting, swimming and show jumping that he was able to stop and accept a flag from a spectator before the finish line.
Russia climbed to fourth equal with Japan on the table after a bad start, with 15 golds. Australia has 16, China 24, and the United States leads with 25.
The days of U.S. domination of Olympic basketball appeared to be over and so did the fans' love affair with the American Dream Team, kings of Barcelona in 1992 when Michael Jordan led the squad of NBA superstars.
The U.S. was jeered off the floor in a wave of anti-American sentiment after an ill-tempered 102-94 quarter-final win over Spain, complete with red-faced coaches screaming at each other near centre court as officials stepped in to separate them.
Drugs dogged the sports spectacle as rower Olena Olefirenko tested positive for a prohibited stimulant, costing Ukraine a bronze. Weightlifter Zoltan Kovacs became the second Hungarian to be chucked out, after refusing to take a dope test."
Read more at US and China battle for Medal Table Supremacy
" The U.S. women's soccer team was 45 minutes away from winning back the Olympic gold medal Thursday, taking a 1-0 halftime lead over Brazil on a goal by Lindsay Tarpley in the 39th minute. The goal could be controversial, however, as replays showed that Brandi Chastain's hand may have touched the ball moments before she passed to Tarpley for the goal.
U.S. captain Julie Foudy started the game despite spraining her right ankle in a quarterfinal victory over Germany on Monday."
Read more at The Seattle Times: News from AP
Update - At Full time the scores are 1 - 1. Extra time is now about to start.
With 8 minutes of extra time still to play the US have just scored taking it to 2 - 1.
The final score was 2 - 1 to the US.
" Melania Grego scored less than a minute into the second overtime to lead Italy over Greece, 10-9, in the women's water polo gold medal match Thursday.
The United States team beat Australia, 6-5, earlier in the day to win bronze.. Italy and Greece were tied 7-7 at the end of regulation, and both teams scored twice in the first overtime to send the match into an extra three-minute frame. Italy's Tania DiMarco tallied with just nine seconds left in the first OT period to deny Greece a celebration. Grego's game-winner, at 2:04, was the only goal of the second overtime. She scored three times on the day. "I couldn't believe we could lose," Greece's Kyriaki Liosi said. "For sure, this is a huge success, but when you get this high, you want to get gold." Italy's Francesca Conti made eight saves on 17 shots."
Read more at Italy women win water polo gold; U.S. takes bronze
"Egypt had been shut out of the medal table at the 2004 Olympics, but on Thursday the country won a bronze in taekwondo and a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. In fact it was the first gold for the country in 56 years.
Karam Ibrahim won the gold medal in the men's 96kg class of Greco-Roman wrestling, as he beat Ramaz Nozadze of Georgia in the final. He surrendered the first point, but then stormed to a 12-1 victory to give Egypt its first gold medal in any sport since 1948. "I came here to win gold. "
Read more at Egypt wins first gold medal since 1948
"Indonesia’s hopes of improving its medal tally in the Athens Olympics came to an abrupt end after its taekwondo stars were eliminated on Thursday (26/8/04), while earlier the country’s entrants in the men’s sailing and women’s cycling failed to finish among the place getters.
In the women’s taekwondo under 49 kilogram category, Indonesia’s Juana Wangsa Putri was defeated 2-3 in the qualifying round 16 by Columbia’s Gladys Alicia Mora Romero.
Wangsa Putri had been widely expected to win a medal as she finished first in the world qualification tournament in Paris last December. "
Read more at Athens Olympics Over For Indonesia
"Italy (4-2) will face Lithuania on Friday night with the winner advancing to the gold medal game. Lithuania (6-0), which has won the last three bronze medals, beat China 95-75 in the quarterfinals.
Gianluca Basile added 18 points for Italy, including the 3-pointer that capped a 13-5 run to open the second half and gave his team a 54-42 lead."
Read more at Italy 83, Puerto Rico 70
"The women's pole vault provided one of the stirring dramas of the 2004 Olympic track and field competition.
Until the mid 1990s, women's pole vault was not taken very seriously, mainly because the heights being cleared were so far behind the men. But between 1995 and 1999, Australian Emma George broke the women's world record 12 times.
The event was finally added to the Olympics in 2000 in Sydney, but much to the dismay of the partisan crowd, George failed to qualify for the final. The gold medal was won by American Stacy Dragila with a vault of four meters 60 centimeters, three centimeters less than her world record at the time."
Read more at Womens Pole Vault Provides Stirring Drama at Olympics
"A Canadian judge, who raised his marks in an Olympics gymnastics final, says he was under intense pressure from a crowd that "was out of control" and an official who wanted him to do something about it.
"It was difficult to describe the pressure you're in. Thirteen thousand people yelling and screaming and the head of the competition asking you do something," Chris Grabowecky said in remarks published on Thursday.
Grabowecky raised his marks for Russian Alexei Nemov in Monday's horizontal bar final at the Athens Olympics after a booing crowd stalled the proceedings.
He said Adrian Stoica, the event's chief official, had emphatically urged him to up his rating of Nemov."
Read more at Canada judge says pressured to raise marks
"Larry Brown was right. The Americans did start hitting their jump shots, and suddenly they look as if they might be the team to beat at the Athens Games. Stephon Marbury broke the U.S. men's Olympic record with 31 points, helping to beat Spain 102-94 in the quarterfinals Thursday and transform a team that had spent the first 1 1/2 weeks missing jumpers.
"Stephon shot the ball like Stephon today," Lamar Odom said.
After spending 90 minutes working on his shot on the team's day off, Marbury made six of his team's 12 3-pointers and was a big reason the previously undefeated Spaniards are now out of medal contention. They weren't happy about it.
As the teams left the court, Spanish coach Mario Pesquera and Brown yelled and pointed at each other about a late U.S. timeout, and they had to be separated by their assistants."
Read more at Dream Team finally hits its jump shots, beats Spain 102-94 to advance to Friday's semifinals
"Super-heavyweight power lifter Shane Hamman squeezes his face into a grimace as he grips a metal bar and hoists nearly 400 pounds of iron disks over his 62-inch chest, past his signature braided goatee and above his spiky brown hair before letting the weights crash to the platform.
Sheer strength, of course, is largely responsible for the performance. But so is technology for him and other Olympians.
Hamman uses a setup known as a bar tracking system -- a collection of wires, sensor pads and a video camera that records his lifts.
When Hamman calls up a clip of one of his lifts on a computer screen, accompanying charts and graphs tell him where he put pressure on his feet, how much power he exerted and whether he was able to keep the bar horizontal, among other sorts of feedback.
The Olympian uses the data to adjust his stance in various ways to make his lifts more effective. America's strongest man -- so called for his U.S. record of lifting 518 pounds -- credits the techno-logy for perfecting his technique. He finished seventh in Athens, after having finished 10th at the games in Sydney four years ago.
"I feel a lot more confident with this new technology," said Hamman, 32. "I'm able to see I have room to improve, and this shows me the way to do it right.""
Read more at Olympians on cutting edge of technology
The winner of the Gold Medal: Mu Yen Chu from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
The winner of the Silver Medal: Oscar Francisco Salazar Blanco from Mexico
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Tamer Bayoumi from Egypt