Olympics-Swimming-De Bruijn breaks 100m freestyle world record
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands broke the world
record in the women's 100 metres freestyle semifinals at the Olympics on
Wednesday. She clocked 53.77 seconds to beat her own previous mark of 53.80
seconds set at Sheffield in England on May 28 this year....
Olympics-Weightlifting-Women excel where men failed
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Six women weightlifters have gone where no man has
gone before by winning medals at the Sydney Olympics. Or at least, no man from
home.
Colombia's Maria Isabel Urrutia, Nigeria's Ruth Ogbeifo, Mexico's Soraya
Jimenez, Thailand's Khassaraporn Suta, Indonesia's Raema Rumbewas and India's
Karnam Malleswari have all scored historic national firsts at these Games....
Olympics-Top
Indonesian badminton star falls
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's big hope in the Sydney Olympics
badminton, world number one Taufik Hidayat, went down easily in straight sets on
Wednesday.
But Indonesia, with a depth of talent, was still very much in the hunt for gold
in badminton to add to the tally of medals Asian countries are slowly
accumulating....
Olympics-Swimming-Van den Hoogenband unseats Popov
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Pieter van den Hoogenband toppled Alexander Popov as
Olympic 100 metres freestyle champion on Wednesday, ending the Russian's
eight-year reign.
Australia's Michael Klim took the early initiative to lead at the turn but it
was tight all the way until van den Hoogenband eased slightly clear some 15
metres from the finish to win in 48.30 seconds....
Olympics-Weightlifting-Bulgarian duo set world records
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Georgi Markov of Bulgaria set a men's 69 kg category
snatch weightlifting world record of 165.0 kg at the Olympics on Wednesday.
He beat the previous record of 162.5 kg set by Galabin Boevski of Bulgaria in
November 1999 in Athens....
Olympics-Cycling-Nothstein lifts U.S. to top of sprint world
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Marty Nothstein shot the United States back to the
top of world cycling sprinting when he won the Olympic gold medal in the
discipline at the Dunc Gray velodrome on Wednesday.
He beat former three-times world number one Florian Rousseau 2-0 in a
best-of-three final to give the Americans their first track success of the
Games, 16 years after Mark Gorski first broke through in the Olympics in Los
Angeles....
Olympics-Canoeing-Schmidt, Hochschorner twins take slalom titles
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - German Thomas Schmidt produced two unmatched fast,
clean runs to storm to Olympic gold in the men's singles kayak slalom on
Wednesday.
Slovakian twins Pavol and Peter Hochschorner won the men's two-man canoe slalom
title in the day's other final in bright sunshine at the Penrith Whitewater
course, on the outskirts of Sydney, filled to its 12,500 capacity....
Olympics-Smiling volunteers make Sydney special
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - They really are the ``G'Day, Good on 'ya!'' Games.
You can thank the ``Vollies'' for that -- a smiling army of 47,000 unpaid
volunteers ready to do everything from consoling lost children to dealing with
sometimes irrascible journalists to make the Sydney Olympics tick like
clockwork....
Olympics-Medals table at 1000 GMT, September 20
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Olympics
medals table after 14 events on Wednesday:
Gold Silver Bronze
U.S. 10 7 6
Australia 7 8 7
France 6 7 2
China 6 3 7
Italy 4 2 5
Netherlands 4 1 2
Germany 3 4 4
Japan 3 3 1
Bulgaria 3 1 1
Russia 2 7 5
South Korea 2 4 3
Britain 2 4 2
Ukraine 2 3 1
Romania 2 1 1
Turkey 2 0 0
Slovakia 1 3 1
Switzerland 1 2 1
Cuba 1 1 2
Poland 1 1 0
Hungary 1 1 0
Czech Rep 1 0 3
Sweden 1 0 1
Spain 1 0 1
Canada 1 0 1
Mexico 1 0 0
Lithuania 1 0 0
Croatia 1 0 0
Colombia 1 0 0
Belarus 0 1 3
South Africa 0 1 1
Taiwan 0 1 1
North Korea 0 1 1
Greece 0 1 1
Brazil 0 1 1
Yugoslavia 0 1 0
Nigeria 0 1 0
Indonesia 0 0 2
Costa Rica 0 0 2
Belgium 0 0 2
Thailand 0 0 1
Portugal 0 0 1
Latvia 0 0 1
Kuwait 0 0 1
Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1
India 0 0 1
Georgia 0 0 1
Estonia 0 0 1
Note: Two bronze medals awarded in Judo
06:10 09...
Olympics-Swimming-U.S. win women's 4x200 freestyle relay
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Jenny Thompson anchored the United States to victory
in the women's 4x200 metres freestyle relay on Wednesday to collect the seventh
Olympic gold medal of her career, the most achieved by a woman swimmer.
Australia opened up a healthy lead on the first two legs of the relay but
Lindsay Benko pulled back the deficit for the Americans and Thompson was just
0.25 seconds behind when she set off on the final leg....
Olympics-Weightlifting-Bulgarian duo lead the way
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - World and European champion Galabin Boevski broke
one world record and equalled another to lead a Bulgarian double strike in the
men's Olympic 69 kg weightlifting category on Wednesday.
His compatriot Georgi Markov broke Boevski's snatch world record en route to the
silver medal while Sergei Lavrenov of Belarus took bronze....
Olympics-Swimming-Van den Hoogenband enjoys great Dutch night
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband earned the tag of
the world's fastest swimmer at the Sydney Olympics on Wednesday as one of the
smallest countries on the planet dominated the fifth day of the competition.
Van den Hoogenband picked up his second gold medal of the Games with a fast and
flowing victory in the men's 100 freestyle final, the most prestigious title in
Olympic swimming....
Olympics-Weightlifting-Mobile phones plague lifters
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The trill of mobile phones has plagued the
weightlifting competition at the Sydney Olympics and might have been to blame
for a missed lift on Wednesday.
Armenia's Rudik Petrosyan took the platform in the men's 69 kg event shortly
after organisers urged everyone in the auditorium to switch off their phones....
Olympics-Cycling-Nothstein ends four years of regret
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Marty Nothstein put an end to four years of regret
as the American cyclist won the Olympic men's sprint gold in Sydney on
Wednesday.
He beat former three-times world number one Florian Rousseau 2-0 in a
best-of-three final to give the Americans their first track success of the
Games, 16 years after Mark Gorski first broke through in the Olympics in Los
Angeles....
Olympics-Baseball-Netherlands hand Cuba first-ever loss in Games
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Netherlands got strong pitching from Ken
Brauckmiller to upset Cuba 4-2 on Wednesday and end the double gold medallist's
run of 21 Olympic baseball games without a loss.
In other games, Japan beat Italy 6-1 and Australia downed winless South Africa
10-4....
Olympics-Gymnastics-Nemov takes men's all-round title
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russia's Alexei Nemov won the men's all-round
gymnastics title at the Sydney Olympics on Wednesday, claiming the gold medal
that narrowly eluded him in Atlanta.
Nemov, the all-round silver medallist in 1996, grabbed the lead on the opening
rotation and held it through all six apparatus, finishing with a total score of
58.474....
Olympics-Sydney Games go Dutch, U.S. triumphs
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Swimmers Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de
Bruijn led a triumphant Dutch charge at the Olympics on Wednesday, while the
United States handed hosts Australia two stunning defeats.
Van den Hoogenband, rivalling local hero Ian Thorpe for the title of king of the
pool, toppled Russian great Alexander Popov as 100 metres freestyle champion,
ending his eight-year reign....
Olympics-Cycling-Golden Ballanger wins battle of nerves
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - French cyclist Felicia Ballanger held her nerve at
the Sydney Olympics on Wednesday to win her second gold within five days and
become the first reigning Games track champion to retain her title.
Ballanger defeated Oxana Grichina to take the women's sprint title, adding it to
the 500 metres time trial gold she won on Saturday....
Olympics-Swimming-Dutch master Hoogenband gets to the point
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - As sure as day follows night, one of the first
questions Pieter van den Hoogenband was asked after he won the men's 100 metres
freestyle gold medal at the Sydney Olympics on Wednesday was whether he used
drugs.
A polite and likeable young man, van den Hoogenband's reply cut straight to the
point....
Olympics-Tennis-Dokic says father unlikely to attend Games
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Australian teenager Jelena Dokic opened her Olympic
campaign on Wednesday without her controversial father and coach watching from
the stands.
Dokic, 17, said none of her family, including father Damir who has been banned
for six months from the WTA tour, was at Homebush Bay to see her beat Japan's Ai
Sugiyama in straight sets in the first round of the women's singles....
Olympics-Badminton star Hidayat out, Korean fencer wins
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's much-heralded badminton hope, world
number one Taufik Hidayat, was hustled out of the Sydney Olympics on Wednesday
without putting up much of a fight.
But Indonesia, with a depth of talent, was still in the hunt for gold in
badminton to add to the tally of medals Asian countries were slowly
accumulating....
Olympics-Baseball-Cuba handed first-ever loss at Games
SYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Netherlands got strong pitching from Ken
Brauckmiller to upset Cuba 4-2 on Wednesday and end the double gold medallist's
run of 21 Olympic baseball games without a loss.
In other games, the United States shut out South Korea 4-0 on a grand slam home
run in the bottom of the eighth by Doug Mientkiewicz, Japan beat Italy 6-1 and
Australia downed winless South Africa 10-4....