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News -- 2008
Serena back on top 8 September Netball team rebrands Dupont snares surfing title Bowley joins Capitals Bartoli falls to Bammer 31 August New faces in Oz netball Silver Ferns team named 27 August An historic day Moore wins through in US Open Plus…
Junior surfing pro underway 26 August
Olympic update day 16 (final) -- 24 August IOC President Jacques Rogge: Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever. Thank you to the people of China, all the wonderful volunteers and BOCOG! Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world. Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees came to these dazzling venues and awed us with their talent. New stars were born. Stars from past Games amazed us again. We shared their joys and their tears, and we marveled at their ability. We will long remember the achievements we witnessed here. As we celebrate the success of these Games, let us together wish the best for the talented athletes who will soon participate in the Paralympic Games. They also inspire us. To the athletes tonight: You were true role models. You have shown us the unifying power of sport. The Olympic spirit lives in the warm embrace of competitive rivals from nations in conflict. Keep that spirit alive when you return home. These were truly exceptionnal Games! And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the Games of the XXIX Olympiad closed, and I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in London to celebrate the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The Age: The President of the International Olympics Committee Jacques Rogge has described the Beijing Games as "truly exceptional". Olympic update day 15 -- 23 August Basketball: The Australian women’s basketball team has gone down to the USA in the gold medal match, 92-65.
The USA has now won four consecutive gold medals, while the Australians have to settle for their third silver medal in as many Olympics. Synchronised swimming: The Australian synchronised swimming team have finished their final day of competition at the Water Cube today with the team’s free routine. Athletics: By clearing 2.05m on her first attempt, Tia Hellebaut of Belgium took Olympic gold, her country's first in these Games, in the Women's High Jump on Saturday night in Beijing's National Stadium. Volleyball: Coming off a seventh FIVB World Grand Prix title, World No. 1 Brazil won its first Olympic Women's Volleyball gold medal, beating the United States 25-15, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21. Brazil dropped just one set throughout the entire tournament. Closing ceremony: 2008 Australian Olympic Team chef de mission John Coates today announced that triple gold medallist Stephanie Rice will carry the Australian flag into tomorrow night’s closing ceremony at the National Stadium.
It is a deserving honour for the 20-year-old who won the 200 and 400 metre individual medley double as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay – all in world records – at the National Aquatics Centre during the first week of the Games. Taekwondo: Carmen Marton (67+kg) has been defeated by Brazilian Natalia Falavigna in her quarter-final at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.
The loss means that Marton’s gold medal hopes have been extinguished but the 22-year-old remains a chance for a shot at a bronze medal, relying on Falavigna winning her semi-final fight at 1700hrs and thus progressing to the gold medal bout.
Olympic debutant Maria del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico took the gold in the Women's +67kg weight division by beating Nina Solheim of Norway 3-1. Sarah Stevenson of Great Britain won a bronze medal by overwhelming Noha Abd Rabo of Egypt with a 5-1 victory. Cycling: Australia’s Dellys Starr finished 26th of 30 starters in the women’s mountain bike cross country event today after suffering a severe bout of heat stress.
Coach Neil Ross was so concerned about Starr’s condition in the fourth lap that he accompanied her on part of the course to make sure she was all right.
Sabine Spitz of Germany took gold with a time of 1:45:11 hours in the Women's Mountain Bike Race on Saturday, August 23. Poland's Maja Wloszczowska (1:45:52) and Russia's Irina Kalentyeva (1:46:28) finished second and third, respectively. Volleyball: The Chinese women's volleyball team, Athens 2004 champion, has reached the Olympic podium again, beating Cuba 25-16, 21-25, 25-13, 25-20 to win bronze in Beijing. Olympic update day 14 -- 22 August Equestrian: Four horses have been banned from competing in today's Olympic Games jumping competition for doping, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced. Day 14 preview @ Beijing: The highlight of the night could be the clash between Ethiopian distance greats Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba in the Women's 5000m final. Olympic and world champion Defar was the fastest qualifier, but Dibaba won her heat to set up a much-anticipated battle.
Olympic update day 13 -- 21 August Basketball: Australia and the USA will battle for women's basketball gold after Australia cruised to a 90-56 victory over China in the semifinal round at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Thursday, August 22. Water polo: Australia has defeated Hungary in the women’s water polo bronze medal match in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out 3 – 2 at the Yingdong Natatorium. Gymnastics: Olympic debutant Naazmi Johnston has performed two rotations on the first night of the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualification.
Johnston impressed the capacity crowd with her graceful and daring rope routine, scoring 14.075. Athletics: Athens 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica successfully defended her Women's 200m title, crossing the line for gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a personal best of 21.74 seconds. Australian Athletics wrap: Sarah Jamieson has run the third fastest ever time over 1500m by an Aussie at Olympic level.
Her efforts came agonisingly close to getting the Victorian a spot in the final, missing by only one position. Her time of 4.06.64 was enough for 5th in heat one, but short of making the final by 1.03 seconds. Diving: Melissa Wu has progressed through to the final of the 10 metre platform event at the National Aquatics Centre but fellow Australian Alexandra Croak has been eliminated following the semi-finals.
Wu began the semi-final well, equal third after her first dive, fifth after her second and fourth after her third, the diminutive Australian registering scores of (76.50, 76.80 and 72.00). World No. 1 Chen Ruolin of China dominated the semifinal of the Women's 10m Platform with a total of 444.60, finishing the day ahead of Mexico's Paola Espinosa by more than 40 points. Chen's partner in the Synchronized Diving event, Wang Xin, enters the final in third place with 388.55 points. Canadian diver Emilie Heymans, silver medalist in Sydney , came in fourth with 374.10 points. They lead eight other divers heading into the final, which takes place on Thursday night. Equestrian: Hong Kong is preparing to wrap up the Olympic equestrian events as Typhoon Nuri threatens to make it a wet and windy finale.
The competition, which is being held in Hong Kong because Beijing couldn't guarantee a disease-free environment for the horses, is scheduled to end tonight with the individual showjumping final.
Edwina Alexander will try to secure Australia's first ever Olympic medal in the event.
Beach volleyball: Defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States won the gold medal in the Olympic Women's Beach Volleyball competition by beating Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China in straight sets, 21-18, 21-18. Athletics: Jane Saville was the leading Australian in the 20 kilometre walk held in appalling conditions around the Olympic Green today, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games bronze medallist finishing 20th in one hour 31mins 17seconds.
Fellow Australian Claire Woods was 28th and Kellie Wapshott finished 40th, both on their Olympic debuts. lga Kaniskina crossed the finish line to win Russia's first gold in Women's 20km Walk at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in 1 hour 26.31 minutes on August 21, breaking the previous Olympic record of 1 hour 29.05 minutes. Volleyball: Helped by errors on the Cuban side, the United States outmuscled their opponents 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 to reach the finals of the Women's Volleyball tournament with their confidence sky high. The United States will face either China or Brazil in the finals on August 23.
Olympic update day 12 -- 20 August Softball: Australia has gone down to Japan 4-3 in the fifth extra inning of the crucial medal match against Japan at the Fengtai Sports Centre after Rei Nishiyama hit a fly ball that split Wright and Morrow in right centre for Masumi Mishina to score.
It was the end of a classic – likely the best game in Olympic history and it was a shame Australia had to lose.
Swimming: Pre-race favourite and three-time world champion Larisa Ilchenko of Russia put in a withering finishing burst with only 50 meters remaining to win the gold medal on Wednesday in the Women's 10km Marathon swimming race at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Cycling/BMX: Shanaze Reade of Great Britain, favored to win gold in the inaugural Olympic BMX event at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, already has her sights set on another goal. She wants to become the first person to win gold medals in both BMX and Cycling Track at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Sailing: Yin Jian, silver medalist in Athens, won the Women's RS:X (Windsurfer) with 39 points overall to give China's its first ever Olympic Sailing gold. Yin finished the medal race in third place, good enough to beat medal race winner Alessandra Sensini of Italy by one point in the overall standings. Great Britain's Bryony Shaw finished second in the medal race and earned bronze with 45 points overall. Softball: The United States scored four runs off previously untouchable Ueno Yukiko of Japan in the ninth inning to defeat Japan 4-1 at the opening semifinal game at Fengtai Softball Field on Wednesday. Day 12 preview: It's hard to tell if the Beijing Games are picking up or winding down on. While Sailing, Wrestling and Swimming are all on their second-to-last day of competition, Softball, Synchronized Swimming and Taekwondo are just giving out their first medals. In addition, the 10 kilometer Marathon Swimming event and BMX Biking are both making their Olympic debuts. Olympic update day 11 -- 19 August Athletics: Sally McLellan confirmed her status as the future of world women's sprint hurdling with a spectacular silver medal at the Beijing Olympics tonight.
McLellan, 21, clocked 12.64 seconds - the same time as Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep – but the Australian was awarded the silver in the 100m hurdles in a photo finish. The gold went to American Dawn Harper in 12.54. Cycling: Seven months of pain and courage culminated in an Olympic silver medal for Anna Meares on a dramatic night at the Beijing velodrome. The 24-year-old Queenslander claimed Australia's only track cycling medal of the Games after riding her way into the final against Great Britain's world champion Victoria Pendleton. Water polo: A poor third quarter has cost a gallant Australian women’s team a spot in the gold medal match after they went down to the USA 9-8 in a nail biting semi-final showdown at the Ying Dong Natatorium.
The Australians were well and truly in the match at halftime when the scores were locked at 4-4 all but the USA scored three staright goals to open the third period and Australia never led again. Sailing: Australia’s Sarah Blanck came tantilising close to the bronze medal in the Laser Radial class in racing off Qingdao today, but after a gallant effort finished in fourth place.
The Aussie gave it her all, moving up from seventh early on in the race to second going into the last leg.
Beach Volleyball: Defending champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor of the United States advanced to the final by making light work of the No. 6 seeds Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil on Tuesday in a semifinal in the Women's Olympic Beach Volleyball competition. Gymnastics: The controversy over the allegedly under-aged Chinese gymnast He Kexin took a new and unexpected twist last night when she edged out an American competitor for the gold medal.
Olympic update day 10 – 18 August Athletics: Russia's Elena Isinbaeva successfully defended her Olympic title in the women's pole vault at the National Stadium. Two-time world champion Isinbaeva set a world record, her third of the year, when she cleared 5.05m on her third and final attempt. Jennifer Stuczynski of the United States took silver with 4.80m, while Athens 2004 silver medalist Svetlana Feofanova of Russia took the bronze at 4.75m. Stephanie Brown Trafton of the United States won the Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal with a throw of 64.74m in the women's discus. Yarelys Barrios from Cuba threw 63.64m to take silver, while Olena Antonova of Ukraine earned bronze with a throw of 62.59m. Sally McLellan has qualified for the 100 metres hurdles final after finishing fourth in her semi final tonight in 12.70 seconds.
Sailing: Double-handed dinghy sailors Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson made it double gold for Australia at the Beijing regatta after winning the Olympic women's 470 event in Qingdao today.
Less than an hour after the men's 470 pair Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page claimed the country's first sailing gold medal of the Games, Rechichi and Parkinson crossed the finish line of the medal race in ninth place. Cycling: There's been success for Australia at the velodrome in Beijing with sprinter Anna Meares through to the semi-finals of the Women's Sprint. Hockey: It all ended for the women's hockey team at the Beijing Olympics tonight. Softball: The Australian womens softball team have tonight sounded a strong warning to their rivals with a resounding 9-2 win under the mercy rule in the final round game of the Olympic competition. Triathlon: Emma Snowsill has won gold in the women's triathalon at the Beijing Olympics. Vanessa Fernandez of Portugal took silver, while Australian Emma Moffatt completed the podium. Australian tri-athletes have adopted plain green suits as a kind of camouflage, rather than the more familiar green and gold, reports The Australian The success of swimmer Stephanie Rice means she will be in for a major windfall from endorsements, according to this report from The Age Olympic update day 9 – 17 August Swimming: Australia has won gold and silver medals in the women’s and men’s 4x100 metre medley relays at the National Aquatics Centre.
Cate Campbell has won bronze in a thrilling 50 metres freestyle final at the National Aquatics Centre in a race where German Britta Steffen has again spoiled Libby Trickett’s gold medal tilt.
Cycling: Australian track cycling star Anna Meares broke the Olympic record for the flying 200m in sprint qualifying today.
Meares rode a scorching time of 11.140 seconds to break the old mark of 11.212, set by compatriot Michelle Ferris at the 1996 Games. Athletics: Athens Olympics 400m hurdles champion Fani Halkia of Greece is expected to be kicked out of the Beijing Games after failing a drug test.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed today the Greek athlete had tested positive for a banned substance. The 29-year-old was tested while in Japan preparing for Beijing and is now expected to be formally expelled from the Games by the IOC's disciplinary committee. Hockey: Key experienced midfielder Melanie Wells will need to pass a fitness test on her injured hamstring on the morning of Australia’s final pool match against fifth ranked China tomorrow (Day 10, August 18) in a bid to play in the vital decider. Water polo: Five goals from Kate Gynther have helped Australia to a hard fought 12-11 victory against China in their quarter-final at the Ying Dong Natatorium.
The quality of play and vocal home crowd produced a clash worthy of the gold medal match. Marathon: Comstantini Tomescu of Romenia at age 38 became the oldest woman to win the marathin. She edged out Chinese runner Chunxui Zhou with a time of 2:27:06. Tennis: Sydney 2000 silver medalist Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated teammate Dinara Safina 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to capture the gold medal in the Women's Single Tennis at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 17. Safina took the silver medal. Reigning Wimbledon champions Serena Williams and Venus Williams of United States defeated French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0 to capture the gold medal in the Women's Doubles. Rowing: China (Tang Bin, Jin Ziwei, Xi Aihua and Zhang Yangyang) won gold in the Women's Quadruple Sculls with a time of 6:16.06, edging out Great Britain with spirited row in the final sprint. The British crew grabbed silver with a time of 6:17.37; bronze went to Germany, which finished in 6:19.56. Wrestling: Japan's Icho Kaori retained her Olympic title by outwrestling Russia's Alena Kartashova in the Women's Freestyle 63 kilogram Wrestling final. The two wrestlers went scoreless in the first two minutes of the first period, which Icho won 1-0 in the 30-second tie-breaking clinch. She then won the next period 2-0, only four seconds into the second period clinch. Icho's older sister Chiharu took a silver medal in yesterday's 48kg final. Chinese wrestler Wang Jiao pinned Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria to the mat to claim gold in the Women's Freestyle Wrestling 72 kilogram weight category on Sunday, August 17. 20-year-old Wang maneuvered a fantastic fall to close up the bout in 1:59 minutes, winning 8-3. The 25-year-old Zlateva, heavily favored for gold, has dominated this weight class in recent years, winning the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, and the 2007 and 2008 European Championships. Olympic update day 8 – 16 August Swimming: Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain broke the oldest world record left in the swimming pool on Saturday at the National Aquatics Center in the final of the Women's 800m Freestyle. American Janet Evans' world record of 8:16.22 was set in 1989 - the year Adlington was born. After the heats the writing was on the wall that it was there to be broken. Table tennis: The bronze medal play-offs for the Women's Table Tennis team competition ends with the Republic of Korea and Japan heading into the bronze medal match. Badminton: Zhang Ning defended her Badminton Women's Singles title on August 16 after defeating her teammate Xie Xingfang in the final. Zhang won the first game 21-12 but was tied by Xie who won the second game 21-10. The last game was a long grueling battle and Zhang took the game 21-18. Thirty-three-year-old Zhang was the eldest Badminton Women's Singles champion in the Olympic games. Day 7 olympics review @ Beijing
Olympic update day 7 -- 15 August Athletics: Kylie Wheeler and Tamsyn Lewis have produced top results during the first session of track and field at the National Stadium in Beijing.
Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia has won gold and set a new Olympic record in the Women's 10000m. Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey trails Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene. Dibaba's time of 29:54.66 was enough to break the old record of 30:17.49 set by fellow Ethiopian Derartu Tulu and hold off silver medalist Elvan Abeylegess of Turkey who ran a time of 29:56.34. Bronze went to Shalane Flanagan of the United States in a time of 30:22:22. Athletics Australia day 6 wrap Gymnastics: Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson of the USA starred in the Women's All-Around final to win the gold and silver medals. The bronze medal went to China's Yang Yilin. Up till now, China had dominated the gymnastics. Australia’s Jacqui Lawrence has won the silver medal in the women’s K1 slalom on a dramatic afternoon of racing at the Shunyi Olympic Canoeing Park.
Reigning Slovakian Olympic champion Elena Kaliska defended her title, with Lawrence in second position and Austria’s Violetta Oblinger Peters claiming the bronze medal. Water polo: Australia has hung on for a gripping one goal victory over the Netherlands in the women’s water polo at the Ying Dong Natatorium. Swimming: German Britta Steffen stormed home from the tail of the field to overhaul golden girl Libby Trickett in the dying stages of the 100 metres freestyle, robbing the Australian world record holder of the gold medal at the National Aquatics Centre.
American Rebecca Soni has caused the upset of the Olympic Games by defeating Australian star Leisel Jones in the final of the 200 metres breaststroke at the National Aquatics Centre.
Hockey: Just about everything went according to script for record-breaking Nikki Hudson at the Beijing Olympics last night.
Basketball: Captain Lauren Jackson emphasised her towering international status with a tournament high 30 points as Australia overcame Latvia 96-73 in their fourth preliminary pool match today.
Russia pulled ahead in a tight game to beat Brazil 74-64 in their group A match in the preliminary round of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament. Beach volleyball: Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett today beat the mid-day heat and a tough challenge from Greece to advance to the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament at Beijing's Chaoyang Park complex.
Volleyball: Poland kept its slim chances of making the quarterfinals alive by beating Venezuela 25-12, 25-12, 25-20 for its first win of the Women's Volleyball Tournament. With four losses in four matches, Venezuela will not make the quarterfinals. Poland will have to defeat the United States on the last day of the preliminary round, August 17, and hope for a favorable outcome in the other pool A matches in order to make the quarterfinals. Italy beat Serbia 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 to keep pace with Brazil at the top of pool B in Women's Volleyball. With the completion of pool B competition on day four of the tournament, Brazil, Italy, Russia and Serbia are guaranteed to move to the quarterfinals, while Kazakhstan and Algeria will exit the tournament after the preliminary round. Italy and Brazil, both undefeated, will battle on August 17 for top spot in the pool. Olympic update day 6 -- 14 August Tactics, foresight and hope. They were the pillars on which Australia's outstanding Olympic victory in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay was built, according to national head coach, Alan Thompson. Australian Jessicah Schipper has won a bronze medal in the 200 metres butterfly in wild scenes at the National Aquatics Centre.
Schipper, who also won bronze in the 100m butterfly on Day 3, clocked 2:06.26 to finish behind Chinese pair Zige Liu (2:04.18) and Liuyang Jiao (2:04.72).
Liu Zige of China thrilled the home crowd at the National Aquatics Center with China's first Swimming gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, winning the Women's 200m Butterfly in a world record 2:04.18. Basketball: The Australian women’s basketball team continued their charge towards the gold medal play off game at the Beijing Olympics by downing Korea 90 -62 last night. Softball: The Australian women’s softball team has today defeated host nation China 3-1 in steamy conditions at Fengtai Softball Field. Two home runs from opening bat Simmone Morrow and consistent pitching from Tanya Harding and Melanie Roche spearheaded the Australian victory, their first of the tournament.
Tennis: It took just 45 minutes for Australia's formidable duo, Rennae Stubbs and Sam Stosur to take the first step towards reaching the medal round with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova and Lucie Sarafova at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre.
A fired up Stubbs dominated at the net and produced countless crisp winners to force the Czech pair on the back foot from the opening service break whilst Stosur produced a scintillating game from the baseline. Equestrian: Our highest ranked dressage rider, Kristy Oatley, competes tonight in the Grand Prix test, and is expected to finish in the top 25 of the 50 riders. This would enable her to continue to the second round, the Grand Prix Special. Shooting: Italian Chiara Cainero won the gold medal in the Women's Skeet after being tied on 93 hits with Kimberly Rhode of the United States and Christine Brinker of Germany after the completion of the final. The three shooters were tied after the 21st shot when Cainero missed the target and gave the other two shooters a chance to catch up. All three hit their last four targets to force a shoot-off. Facility management program in October
Olympic update day 5 -- 13 August Gymnastics: China made history today by winning its first Olympic gold medal in the Team event of Women's Gymnastics. China won the gold medal with a total of 188.900 points. The United States won the silver medal with a total of 186.525 points and Romania won the bronze with a total of 181.525 points. Australia has earned its best ever result in artistic gymnastics with a sixth place finish in the women's team final.
Blocking out sporadic and thunderous applause for the home team from the Chinese crowd, the Aussies performed exceptionally well in the difficult conditions.
The women stepped up in response to their injured teammate Daria Joura.
"This is a great result for Australia," coach Peggy Liddick said.
"It wasn't our goal but it's difficult when you lose your best athlete."
"Georgia [Bonora] and Shona [Morgan] showed the depth we have in our team and Olivia [Vivian] came out and nailed her bars, when it was the one and last routine she had." Cycling: Kristin Armstrong of the United States carved the winning difference on a long downhill section to claim the gold medal in the Women's Individual Time Trial on Wednesday. Volleyball: Brazil has yet to drop a set in the Women's Volleyball tournament and is guaranteed to reach the quarterfinals after defeating Serbia 25-15, 25-13, 25-23 on August 13. Serbia's chances to reach the quarterfinals remain high as this is just their first loss of the tournament. Italy remained undefeated by beating Algeria earlier in the day and is also a lock to move past the preliminary round. Badminton: Women's Doubles World No. 4 Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won of the Republic of Korea passed to the final after defeating World No. 8 duo Maeda Miyuki and Suetsuna Satoko of Japan. Basketball: The Russian Women's Basketball team beat Belarus 71-65 in a group A match in the preliminary round of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Wednesday, August 13. Shooting: Chen Ying of China won the gold medal in the Women's 25m Pistol with a final score of 793.4, which is an Olympic record. Otryad Gundegmaa of Mongolia earned the silver medal with 792.2, and the bronze medal went to Dorjsuren Munkhbayar of Germany with 789.2. Softball: he Australian women’s softball team has suffered their second successive loss in as many days today going down to the world number one and defending Olympic champions USA at the Fengtai Softball Field.
Australian pitcher Tanya Harding and the team kept the USA team scoreless until the fifth innings when Natasha Watley hit the ball over the head of Australian captain and short stop Natalie Ward and into space allowing Lovieanne Jung to run home. Fencing: Years of practice culminating in less than six minutes of Olympic action.
It's a hard life for Australia's fencers.
Amber Parkinson was sent packing in the women's individual epee at Beijing's Fencing Hall today, after succumbing 15-9 to Japan's Megumi Harada in a disappointingly one-sided contest. Day 4 review @ Beijing
Olympics update 12 August
(Morning update) Swimming: Australia’s swimmers have had a successful morning of competition, winning three more medals at the National Aquatic Centre in Beijing. Federica Pellegrini of Italy rewrote the world record in Women's 200m Freestyle prelims with a time of 1:55.45, replacing the former record set by Laure Manaudou of France. Pellegrini's stunning performance came after placing fifth in the morning's Women's 400m Freestyle final. Second and third places went to Sara Isakovic of Slovenia (1:55.86) and Caitlin Mcclatchey of Great Britain (1:56.97). Athletics: Kylie Wheeler says the absence of Athens gold medallist Carolina Kluft of Sweden means the heptathlon gold medal is up for grabs in Beijing. Sailing: First-time Olympians Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson proved unfazed in their first day of racing, finishing in second place in both their races. They are level with the Netherlands, whilst the Spanish team are a further five points behind. Tennis: A lack of match success leading into Beijing played its part in Alicia Molik's early exit from the singles competition at the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Centre. Equestrian: Australia and Germany are battling it out for the equestrian eventing team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Judo: Australian veteran Maria Pekli lost her bout for a judo bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics tonight. Giulia Quintavalle of Italy claimed gold in Judo Women's -57kg in her Olympic debut by defeating Deborah Gravenstijn from the Netherlands with a yuko. Gravenstijn finished third Water polo: Australia’s women’s water polo team yesterday matched the men’s performance of 24 hours earlier with a fighting first round win over Greece – the country the men had downed 12-8 on Sunday. Volleyball: China and Brazil have four points each and stand at the top of their respective pools after the second day of the preliminary round of the Women's Volleyball tournament. Basketball: US routs China -- Tina Thompson leads the U.S. women's basketball team in a big 108-63 win against host nation China on Monday morning. Day 3 highlights (Beijing Games site); AOC site Girls in the change rooms Sally Seals
AOC: Libby Trickett has won gold and Jessicah Schipper bronze in a thrilling 100 metres butterfly final at the National Aquatic Centre. Trickett was leading and under world record pace at the 50m turn and held her nerve over the last lap to hit the wall in a Commonwealth record of 56.73. More & here for a day 3 swim wrap AOC: Shooting: In the morning session of the Day 3 of shooting, Australian Stacy Roiall shot a first round of 22 in the women's trap, placing her two off the lead. With a final score of 85-62, the Spanish Women's Basketball team beat New Zealand in a group B match in the preliminary round of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament. Kristy Coventry of Zimbabwe rewrote the world record in the Women's 100m Backstroke with a time of 58.77 in heat 2 of the semifinal at the Water Cube on Monday, surpassing the Olympic record breaking time she set only the day before in the preliminary round. Former world record holder Natalie Coughlin of the United States of America came in first in heat 1 in 59.43. Day two of the Beach Volleyball competition on Sunday, August 10, at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground saw the Women's competition highlighted by Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria cause a big upset by beating No. 7 seeds Vasiliki Karantasiou and Vasiliki Arvaniti of Greece 2-0 (21-18, 21-18). The victory was like a belated present for Stefanie, who celebrated her birthday just three days ago. Record for Rice 10 August The Australian women's team has claimed the bronze medal in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympics.
Olympic news Australian medal prospects Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett overcame excruciating heat and a presidential sideshow to make a winning start to their Olympic beach volleyball campaign yesterday.
After having their warm up interrupted by an unexpected visit by President George W Bush, Cook and Barnett suffered in 43 degree temperatures for a hard-fought 21-8 19-21 15-12 victory over Russian duo Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalya Uryadova at Beijing's purpose-built Chaoyang Park arena. A tough draw and vastly improving opposition are just two of the issues facing Australia's women's hockey team when they open their tournament against 10th ranked Korea on Day 2 (Sunday, August 10) at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium. Australia is leading the United States by 19 points and Germany by 33 points after two sessions of dressage in the Three Day Event in Hong Kong.
Lucinda Fredericks leads the individual standings, Megan Jones is third, and Clayton Fredericks fifth. Badminton: Erin Carroll bowed out of the women's singles this morning, but not without showing skill, speed and determination. Australia's women's badminton doubles team of Eugenia Tanaka and Tania Luiz has been eliminated from the competition by Japanese pair Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsana.
Softball: Top pitcher Melanie Roche admitted today that Australia would need a “miracle run” to win the gold medal.
But she qualified that statement by saying the seed had been sown for that miracle to occur, particularly against the all-conquering Americans, who have won the only three gold medals contested in the sport at Olympic level.
Chen Xiexia gave hosts China its first gold medal of the 2008 Olympics when she won the women's 48kg weightlifting title.
Basketball a contact sport – Jackson 7 August First Oz wrestler talks about the Olympics Russians systematic dope cheats 6 August Lewis speaks out over cheats First girls-only grid at Junior MX Champs
Commission chairperson, Jennifer Ballard, believes the new classes offer junior riders the opportunity to compete with their peers and heralds the beginning of a commitment to developing the calibre of women’s racing. USA slips past Australia Global torch relay could end Australia beats China in basketball warm-up 4 August Safina takes title 3 Jankovic to become number 1 It could be Sally Olympian families caught in ticket scam Rain major worry for Beijing Boyd to make history See our news archive for earlier stories
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Beijing 2008: Australia beat China 84-70 on August 3 at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Diamond Ball for Women in Haining.
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