Olympics-Gymnastics-Hungarian Csollany takes gold in rings

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Hungarian Szilveszter Csollany stole gold in the men's gymnastics rings at the Sydney Olympics on Sunday when he put in an amazing display of strength and stamina in the final performance of the day.

Csollany, the silver medallist at Atlanta, came to the rings the only man who could better Greece's Dimosthenis Tampakos, after he had performed an impressive routine which ended with a double somersault and perfect landing....

Olympics-Tennis Williams holds off Sanchez Vicario

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - American Venus Williams survived a stiff challenge from Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain on Sunday to extend her streak to 30 successive match victories with a thrilling three-set triumph in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament.

A powerful forehand into the backhand corner clattered off the pugnacious Spaniard's racquet to complete Williams's 3-6 6-2 6-4 victory over Sanchez Vicario, the last player to beat the 20-year-old American....

Olympics-Gymnastics Khorkina defends gold bars

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - After an Olympics filled with bitter disappointment Russia's Svetlana Khorkina finally cracked a smile on Sunday after retaining her gymnastics asymmetric bars gold medal.

Khorkina, who saw the team and individual all-round gold medals disappear after errors on her signature event, came back with a vengence recording a winning mark of 9.862....

Olympics-Weightlifting-Bulgarian coach takes responsibility

SOFIA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's veteran weightlifting team coach Ivan Abadzhiev said he took responsibility for the expulsion of the entire team from the Sydney Olympics after three medallists were disqualified for doping....

Olympics-Sailing-Hong Kong hero Lee fails in title defence

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Olympic gold medal hero Lee Lai-shan's campaign to defend her Atlanta title fell victim to fickle winds and brilliant competition, her coach and husband said on Sunday.

Lee ended up in sixth place overall after the last of the 11 races making up the women's windsurfing competition ended in Sydney Harbour on Sunday....

Olympics-Athletics-Indian fails to make 400 metres women's final

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - India's K.M. Beena Mol failed to qualify for the Sydney Olympics women's 400 metres on Sunday, finishing last in her semifinal run behind favourite Cathy Freeman of Australia.

After winning her first round heat and finishing fourth in a second round run to get into semifinals, she ran 52.04 seconds behind Freeman's 50.01 as rain fell on the Olympic stadium track on a cool evening....

Olympics-Table Tennis-Singapore's Jing loses bronze medal bid

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A bid by Jing Jun Hong to win Singapore's first Olympic medal in 40 years fell short on Sunday when she lost the women's table tennis bronze medal match to Taiwan's Chen Jing.

Chen dropped the first game but was in control the rest of the way to win 18-21 21-14 21-15 21-10....

Olympics-Boxing-Last Filipino hope loses by tightest margin

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Filipino flyweight Arlan Lerio followed brother Danilo out of the Olympic boxing tournament on Sunday, losing by the closest of margins after a punch 10 seconds from the final bell.

Arlan drew 18-18 with Poland's Andrzej Rzany but lost 70-69 on the complicated countback system taking into account the individual blows scored by the five judges....

Olympics-Basketball-U.S.,Australia close round unbeaten

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The United States and Australia closed out the preliminary round of the women's Olympic basketball tournament with wins on Sunday to stay on course for a gold medal clash.

The United States cruised past Poland 76-57 to run their Group B record to 5-0 and extend their Olympic winning streak to 14 consecutive games in a bid for a fourth gold in the last five Olympics....

Olympics-Soccer-United States to meet Norway in women's final

CANBERRA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Olympic champions United States beat Brazil 1-0 with a hotly-disputed Mia Hamm goal in a hard-fought semifinal on Sunday to secure a place against Norway in the final of the women's soccer tournament.

Norway clinched their spot in Thursday's final with a 1-0 win over Germany in Sydney thanks to an 80th minute own goal by Tina Wunderlich....

Olympics-Table tennis-China's Wang Nan wins women's singles gold

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - China's Wang Nan beat her doubles partner Li Ju in the women's singles table tennis final on Sunday for her second gold medal for the Sydney Olympics and to give China a third title in the tournament.

Only the men's singles remain to be decided....

Olympics-Athletics-One-off Marinova wins triple jump glory

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria won the Olympic women's triple jump gold on Sunday with her only legal jump of the competition as huge favourite Tatyana Lebedeva saw her hopes washed away.

Marinova, the 1996 world junior champion, leapt 15.20 metres to win the title with her first leap, then fouled the next five as it began to rain. Her winning distance was a personal best by 30 cms....

Olympics-Takahashi wins marathon, Sydney crowd's hearts

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A smiling Naoko Takahashi lifted her country on Sunday with a perfectly timed move to win the Olympic gold in the women's marathon, one of the most revered sporting events in Japan.

The 28-year-old won in an Olympic best time of two hours 23 minutes 14 seconds, ahead of Lidia Simon of Romania (2:23.22) and Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya (2:24.45).

Takahashi made her big move just before the two-hour mark, taking off her trademark sunglasses and attacking on one of the course's many inclines....

Russian police release Olympic champion Tikhonov

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Olympic biathlon champion Alexander Tikhonov was released by Russian police on Sunday, more than a month after his arrest for taking part in an alleged plot to murder a regional governor.

Russian state-owned RTR television showed Tikhonov walking out of a police hospital in the eastern town of Novosibirsk where he had been held since August....

Olympics-Athletics-Tereza Marinova factbox

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Factbox on Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria who won the Olympic women's triple jump title on Sunday.

Born: 5 Sept 1977 in Pleven, Bulgaria....

Olympics-Basketball-Holdsclaw's Olympic dream remains on hold

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw's Olympic dream remains just that due to a foot injury that is likely to keep the all-star forward out of the lineup when the U.S. meets Slovakia in a quarter-final clash on Wednesday.

Holdsclaw had expected to play a big part in the team's quest for its fourth women's gold medal in the last five Olympics....

Olympics-Athletics-Lewis wins heptathlon by a few yards

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Britain's Denise Lewis snatched the women's heptathlon gold at the Sydney Games on Sunday, winning the title by just a few yards in the final discipline of the competition.

She finished with 6,584 points, just ahead of Yelena Prokhorova of Russia (6,531). Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus, the silver medallist at Atlanta, was third (6,527).

Prokhorova won the final event, the 800 metres, but could not quite get far enough ahead of Lewis to take the title....

Olympics-Athletics-One jump good enough for Marinova

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - One golden effort was all it took for Bulgaria's Tereza Marinova to win the Olympic women's triple jump title in atrocious weather on Sunday.

The 23-year-old braved rain and a swirling wind to leap 15.20 metres on her first attempt, adding a spectacular 30 centimetres to her personal best....