Olympics-Swimming-O'Neill quickest in 200 freestyle heats

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Australia's Susan O'Neill set the pace in the women's 200 metres freestyle heats in the Olympic swimming pool on Monday, leading qualifiers into the evening's semifinals.

Claudia Poll and Franziska van Almsick, gold and silver medallists at the 1996 Olympics. swam side by side in their heat, with the Costa Rican -- bronze medallist in Sunday's 400 freestyle -- winning in 2:00.11, the third-fastest overall time, and the German second in 2:00.37....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Malchow sets Olympic 200 butterfly record

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Tom Malchow kept up the momentum in a buoyant U.S. swimming team when he broke the Olympic men's 200 metres butterfly record in heats on Monday.

Malchow, the 1996 Olympic silver medallist and 1998 world bronze medallist, clocked one minute 56.25 seconds to dip 0.01 seconds below the Olympic mark set by fellow American Melvin Stewart at Barcelona in 1992. Malchow set a world record of 1:55.18 in June....

 

Olympics-Thorpe's pass duplicated, police called in

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Police are investigating a security breach at the Sydney Olympics involving illicit copies of Ian Thorpe's identity pass.

Several copies of the Australian swimming sensation's security pass had been run off, probably for souvenir purposes, a source on the Games organising committee (SOCOG) said....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Inge de Bruijn gets royal stamp of approval

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn has been given the royal stamp of approval after winning gold in the 100 metres butterfly at the Sydney Olympics.

De Bruijn, 27, captured her country's first Olympic swimming title in 16 years on Sunday with a world record swim of 56.61 seconds, sparking wild celebrations from her army of orange-clad supporters, including 3,000 who partied away at Sydney's Darling Harbour....
 

Olympics-Shooting-Record-man Cai hits the target for China again

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Cai Yalin handed China its second shooting gold of the Olympics with victory in the men's 10-metre air rifle final on Monday.

Cai scored 696.4 points, beating the Olympic record of 695.7 set four years ago in Atlanta by Russia's Artem Khadjibekov....

 

Olympics-Basketball-Yao stands head and shoulders above rest

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - In an Olympics filled with sporting giants, China's Yao Ming stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The men's basketball player, who turned 20 last week, stands 2.27 metres (7 feet, 5 inches) and is the tallest of some 15,000 athletes competing in Sydney....

 

 Olympics-Weightlifting-Romanians allowed back into Games

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Four members of Romania's weightlifting team have been allowed to compete at the Sydney Olympics after payment of a fine to cancel out a blanket ban imposed after doping offences, team officials said on Monday.

Asked if the Romanians were competing, head coach Niku Vlad said: ``Yes. We paid it (the fine) because it was not fair that the other athletes should go home.''

The Romanians had been suspended under a ``three strikes and out'' rule by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) after three of their lifters tested positive within a year....
 

Olympics-China pick up second gold in shooting

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - China picked up their second gold of the Olympics in shooting on Monday and could add another in women's weightlifting.

Cai Yalin, a 23-year-old from Chengde in Hebei province, won the men's 10 metre air rifle a day after Tao Luna picked up the gold in the women's 10 metre air pistol....

Olympics-Swimming-Romanian swam despite positive dope test

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Romanian swimmer Cezar Badita, who faces a four-year ban after failing a drugs test earlier this year, swam in an Olympic final on Sunday because his case is under appeal, an International Amateur Swimming Federation (FINA) official said on Monday.

Badita, who finished seventh in the Olympic 400 metres individual medley final, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at a meeting in the Mare Nostrum series in Monaco in May....

Olympics-Traffic woes delay boxing, softball

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The Olympic boxing programme was delayed on Monday when a bus got lost taking contestants to their bouts and heavy traffic held up a softball game as Sydney's transport system hit its first woes since the start of the Games.

Monday was the first major test of the much scrutinised network for the 17-day Games as Sydney's road and rail commuters returned to work after the weekend....

Olympics-Esther Kim wins gold for sportsmanship

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - If Olympic medals were awarded for sportsmanship, Esther Kim would win a gold.

The 20-year-old Taekwondo fighter from Texas gave up her Olympic slot to her best friend, and in doing so has shown that an Olympic movement tainted by doping scandals and corruption still has a heart....

Olympics-Beijing plans $17.8 billion facelift for 2008 bid

BEIJING, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Beijing, the current favourite to stage the 2008 Olympic Games, has earmarked $17.8 billion to tackle traffic congestion and pollution ahead of next year's decision, state media reported on Monday.

Keen to shake off a reputation for world-beating air pollution and tangled traffic, the Chinese capital will start 50 environmental and transportation projects before the end of the year, the China Daily quoted city government sources as saying....
 

Olympics-Weightlifting-Yang of China sets new 53kg record

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Yang Xia of China set a new women's 53 kg category snatch weightlifting world record of 100.0 kg at the Olympics on Saturday.

She beat the previous record of 97.5 kg set by Meng Xianjuan of China in 1999....
 

Olympics-Weightlifting-Banned Romanians threaten hunger strike

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Romanian weightlifters Traian Ciharean and Andrei Mateias, banned from the Sydney Olympics for doping, threatened on Monday to go on hunger strike if they were not allowed to have more drug tests.

Ciharean, bronze medallist at the 1992 Olympics, and heavyweight lifter Mateias were suspended after testing positive for the anabolic steroid methandienone....
 

Olympics-Weightlifting-Romanians return, two may strike

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Four Romanian weightlifters were given permission to compete at the Sydney Olympics on Monday after the country paid a $50,000 fine to cancel out a blanket ban imposed on the team because of failed drug tests.

But the controversy looked set to continue. The two lifters who failed the tests before the Games threatened to go on hunger strike if they were not given a chance to clear their names....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Hoogenband equals 200m freestyle world record

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands equalled the world record as he won gold in the men's 200 metres freestyle at the Olympics on Monday. He clocked 1:45.35 to equal his own mark set in the semifinals on Sunday....

Olympics-Weightlifting-Yang smashes three world records

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Chinese weightlifter Yang Xia smashed three world records in a gripping battle with a former teammate to take the Olympic gold medal in the women's 53 kg competition on Monday.

Taiwan's Li Feng-Ying took silver and Winarni Slamet of Indonesia won bronze....

Olympics-Games organisers hit back at touts

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Sydney Games organisers said they would crack down on ticket touts at the Olympics on Monday after organised scalpers set up shop in the main Olympic Park.

Michael Eyers, deputy chief executive of Games organisers SOCOG, said an unauthorised ticket booth had already been shut down in Sydney's Darling Harbour area....

 

Olympics-Olympic ``Web police'' find few video pirates

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Pirate broadcasters using the Internet to distribute unlicensed video footage seem to be staying away from the Olympic Games, a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official said on Monday.

Marketing director Michael Payne said a mammoth monitoring operation of the Worldwide Web commissioned by the IOC to track Olympic cover and infringements of broadcast rights had thrown up only about 12 cases since the Sydney Games opened on Friday....

Olympics-East Timor boxer acclaimed by U.N chief

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - East Timorese boxer Victor Ramos may have lasted only minutes in the Olympic ring but United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said on Monday he achieved a great deal more than a technical knockout....
 

Olympics-Australian hero Thorpe beaten by Dutchman

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters)  - Flying Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband blocked the triumphant Olympics progress of Australian swimming hero Ian Thorpe on Monday when he robbed him of a third gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle.

Despite the huge cheers of a frenzied home crowd, Thorpe was beaten into second place by van den Hoogenband, who equalled his own world mark of 1:45.35 set in the semifinals on Sunday....

Olympics-Swimming-Dutch courage gives Hoogenband gold

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Using all his reserves of Dutch courage, Pieter van den Hoogenband upset Australian teenager Ian Thorpe to win gold in the 200 metres freestyle at the Sydney Olympics on Monday.

The 22-year-old flying Dutchman beat a tiring Thorpe by almost half a second, touching the wall in one minute 45.35 seconds to equal the world record he set 24 hours earlier....
 

Olympics-Sailing-Faulty paint job stops new skiff racing

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Olympics sailing organisers were forced on Monday into a costly postponement of Tuesday's racing in the new 49er skiff class after a paint job began causing tears in the colourful skiffs' sailcloth.

Regatta organisers are shipping in new, all-white spinnakers for each of the 17 competitors in the Australian-designed class....
 

Olympics-Swimming-''Thorpedo'' sunk by flying Dutchman

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Ian Thorpe's gruelling assault on swimming's world records finally caught up with him on Monday when he was beaten by Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 metres freestyle final at the Sydney Olympics.

The 17-year-old Thorpe was dead-level with the Dutchman when they tumble-turned for the final lap but weakened in the last few strokes to finish 0.48 seconds behind van den Hoogenband's time of one minute 45.35 seconds, equalling the record he set in the previous night's semifinals....

Olympics-Funeral mass for Samaranch's wife

BARCELONA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch will attend a funeral mass in Barcelona later on Monday for his wife Maria Teresa Salisachs, who died on Saturday.

A private ceremony was held on Sunday at Montjuic, the site of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The Olympic flag was flown there at half-mast....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Thorpe human after all

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Australian teenager Ian Thorpe, who started the Sydney Olympics by smashing two world records in dominant style, proved he was human on Monday when he lost out on a third gold medal after a 200 freestyle defeat by Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband.

Van den Hoogenband won a magnificent four-lap showdown with Thorpe in the most exciting individual race of the first three days of competition to equal his own world record of one minute 45.35 seconds set in Sunday's semifinals. Thorpe had held the world mark before the Games....
 

Olympics-Four Romanian weightlifters cleared to compete

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Four Romanian weightlifters were cleared to compete at the Sydney Olympics on Monday after the country paid a $50,000 fine to cancel a ban imposed on the team because of positive drug tests.

The two lifters who failed the tests before the Games, Traian Ciharean and Andrei Mateias, threatened to go on hunger strike if they were not given a chance to clear their names....

Olympics-Asian giant China wakes up at Olympics

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Asian sporting giant China raised its head at the Sydney Olympics on Monday, winning the men's team gymnastics title for the first time and setting world records and winning golds in weightlifting and shooting.

China's gymnasts led from the beginning to avenge second place finishes to Russia at the last two Summer Games in the team competition....
 

Olympics-Athletics-Baumann misses games after dope test

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Former Olympic 5,000 metres champion Dieter Baumann will miss the Sydney Games after receiving a two-year doping ban on Monday.

International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) spokesman Giorgio Reineri told reporters the federation's arbitration panel had not accepted Baumann's contention that his toothpaste had been spiked with the anabolic steroid nandrolone....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Van Almsick misses out again

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Franziska van Almsick's attempt to capture the gold medal that has eluded her ended in tears on Monday when she failed to make the women's 200 metres freestyle final at the Sydney Olympics.

The 22-year-old German finished sixth in her semifinal and 11th overall to miss out on a place in what would have been her third straight Olympic final....
 

Olympics-Badminton-British duo in sight of Games medal first

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Simon Archer and Jo Goode became the first British badminton players ever to reach an Olympic semifinal on Monday but said now they are there they want gold.

The duo, seeded five, beat Chris Bruil and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands 15-12 15-12 to gain revenge for defeat in this year's European Championship quarter-finals....

Olympics-Boxing-Judges face criticism over scoring

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Algerian head coach Rabah Hamadache railed at the Olympic boxing judges on Monday after his middleweight Abdelhani Kinzi lost out to a Romanian in a fight that drew whistles from the crowd....
 

Olympics-Gymnastics-Precision earns China a first team title

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - With typical precision and seldom seen emotion, China claimed a first ever Olympic gymnastics men's team title on Monday to wipe away decades of frustration....
 

Olympics-Basketball-Four women's teams still perfect

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The United States, Australia, France and Russia all won on Monday to keep perfect records at the women's Olympic basketball tournament, but the Americans still look the odds-on favourite to retain their title.

Katie Smith, who has yet to miss a shot in two games, led the United States to a convincing 90-61 win over Cuba....

Olympics-Swimming-Klochkova targets second gold

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Yana Klochkova set her sights on a second Olympic swimming gold with the fastest semifinal time in the women's 200 metres individual medley on Monday.

The Ukrainian, who won the 400 metres individual medley crown on Saturday, clocked two minutes 13.08 seconds, with Romania's Beatrice Caslaru winning the other semifinal in 2:13.31....
 

Olympics-Swimming-Dutch master plan bears fruit

SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Pieter van den Hoogenband's stunning victory over Ian Thorpe in Monday's 200 metres freestyle Olympic final was the result of a carefully laid plan hatched a year ago.

Thorpe established himself as the early favourite for the Olympic title when, in August 1999, he broke Grant Hackett's world record in the semifinals of the Pan Pacific championships in Sydney then lowered it even further in the following night's final....