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Olympic digest: Protest costs wrestler bronze
Associated Press
Originally published 12:43 p.m., August 16, 2008
Updated 03:16 p.m., August 16, 2008
BEIJING ' Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was disqualified and
stripped of his bronze medal for dropping the prize in protest after a
disputed loss.
Abrahamian was punished by the International Olympic Committee for
violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony, becoming
the fourth athlete kicked out of the Games and bringing the number of
medals removed to three.
Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his
semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win
the gold in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division Thursday.
During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian, who also lost
a 2004 Olympic semifinal match on a disputed call, took the bronze
medal from around his neck and, angrily, dropped it on the mat as he
walked away. He didn't take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.
The IOC executive board ruled Abrahamian's actions amounted to a
political demonstration and a mark of disrespect to his fellow
athletes.
`It was felt that his behavior on the medal podium and during the
medal ceremony was not appropriate,' IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies
said. `His behavior was not in the Olympic spirit of respect for his
fellow athletes. Whatever grievances you may have, this was not the
way to go about it.'
The IOC said no athlete will receive Abrahamian's medal because his
disqualification wasn't connected to the competition itself, meaning
there will be only one bronze medalist, Nazmi Avluca of
Turkey. Normally, there are two at each weight class.
The 28-year-old Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after
matside officials after his loss to Minguzzi. He stormed from the area
where interviews are conducted and slammed a door tothe dressing rooms
so hard it shook an entire wall. He weighed whether to skip the bronze
medal match, only to have friends talk him into competing.
Elsewhere, Saori Yoshida of Japan has won her second successive
Olympic women's wrestling gold medal at 55 kilograms, pinning Chinese
teenager Xu Li. Yoshida has lost only one match in her international
career, to American Marcie Van Dusen earlier this year. She bounced
back from that loss with a series of easy victories in Beijing to
become the first women's wrestler to win two Olympic golds.
Xu, who doesn't turn 19 until December, would have been the youngest
Olympic wrestling gold medalist in any discipline. She lost the first
period 2-0, then was pinned by Yoshida 43 seconds into the second.
Winning the bronze medals were Tonya Verbeek, who earned Canada's
second wrestling medal of the games, and Jackeline Renteria of
Colombia. Carol Huynh of Canada earlier won the gold at 48 kg.
Van Dusen did not place.
Badminton: Top-seeded Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia
have won the gold in men's doubles, beating China's Cai Yun and Fu
Haifeng in three sets.
Kido and Setiawan recovered from a shaky start on their way to a win
against the second-seeded Chinese at Beijing University of Technology
Gymnasium.
Defending champion Zhang Ning of China won the gold in women's
singles, beating top-seeded compatriot Xie Xingfang in three
sets. Second-seeded Zhang defended the title she won in Athens.
Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti has won the bronze, beating China's
Lu Lan.
Beach volleyball: Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal have advanced to the
quarterfinals with a victory against Spain. The victory against Pablo
Herrera Allepuz and Raul Mesa kept the U.S. on track for an
All-American final.
Cycling: Spain's Joan Llaneras won the men's points race, adding that
gold to the one he claimed in the event at Sydney, Australia, in 2000
and the silver won in Athens four years ago.
Llaneras finished with 60 points, ahead of Germany's Roger Kluge, who
wound up with 58 for the silver. Britain's Chris Newton won the
bronze, with 56 points.
The points race is a complex 160-lap event where riders seek points
awarded in sprints every 10th time around the velodrome.
Fencing: Russia won the gold in women's foil fencing with an easy
28-11 win against the U.S. team. Russia's team of Evgenia Lamonova,
Victoria Nikichina and Svetlana Boyko simply outdid Americans Emily
Cross, Hannah Thompson and Erinn Smart through most of the final late
Saturday.
Italy beat Hungary 32-23 for the bronze. The U.S. beat Hungary 35-33
to advance.
Rowing: Britain continued its dominance in men's four rowing and won
gold for the third straight Olympics, holding off Australia to win in
6 minutes, 6.57 seconds.
Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge used a
fantastic sprint over the final 500 meters to make sure that the gold
medal will stay in Britain for another four years.
Julien Despres, Benjamin Rondeau, Germain Chardin and Dorian
Mortelette of France are the bronze medalists after crossing the line
in 6:09.31.
Elsewhere, David Crawshay and Scott Brennan of Australia won the gold
in men's double sculls rowing, leading all the way to win in 6
minutes, 27.77 seconds.
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson of Estonia won the silver
medal. Britain's Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham are the bronze
medalists.
Also, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand won the gold
in women's double sculls, defending their Athens triumph by
one-hundredth of a second.
The twin sisters won in a thrilling finish, nipping Germany's
Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth at the line. The crowd, which
was roaring for the final 500 meters, was silent while waiting for the
result to be posted.
Drew Ginn and Duncan Free of Australia earned the gold in men's pair
rowing, using their outstanding technical precision to win by more
than 2 seconds. David Calder and Scott Frandsen brought Canada its
first medal of the Games with the silver. New Zealand's Nathan Twaddle
and George Bridgewater were the bronze medalists.
Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania won gold medal in
women's pair rowing, bringing their combined career Olympic gold medal
haul to a nine.
China won the silver and Belarus the bronze.
Olaf Tufte of Norway won the gold in men's single sculls, successfully
defending his first-place finish four years ago in Athens. Tufte
trailed at the 1,500-meter mark Saturday, only to finish strong down
the stretch ahead of Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. New Zealand's
Mahe Drysdale was the bronze medalist.
Drysdale complained of illness earlier this week and was carried off
the water on a stretcher.
Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria won the women's single sculls, pulling
ahead late to win her first gold medal in the event.
American Michelle Guerette won the silver medal and Ekaterina Karsten
of Belarus won the bronze.
Track: Fani Halkia, the reigning Olympic champion in the women's
400-meter hurdles, told reporters she was `shocked' to learn she had
tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone and would be
unable to defend her gold medal.
Halkia spoke to Greek journalists early Sunday morning at a central
Beijing hotel. She said she was summoned by the head of Greece's
Olympic delegation and told of the results of the first sample she
gave to World Anti-Doping Agency doctors.
`I am shocked,' she said, according to Greek media reports. `I have
undergone more testing than anyone else.'
Halkia was tested a few days before the Games, in Japan, where
Greece's track and field team had been training. She said she had
volunteered to take part in the World Anti-Doping Agency's pilot
program in which athletes submit themselves voluntarily to regular
testing.
Halkia, who has moved out of the Olympic Village, said she was sorry
she couldn't take part in the Games and that she had expected to make
the 400-meter hurdles final.
Preliminaries in that event were scheduled to begin Sunday afternoon.
Halkia said she didn't know how the banned substance was found in her
sample, but she didn't reply to questions about Dimitrios Regas, a
400-meter runner who shares the same coach with Halkia and who tested
positive for methyltrienolone before the Olympics.
Fifteen Greek athletes, including Halkia, have tested positive for
methyltrienolone. They include 11 weightlifters, swimmer Yannis
Drymonakos, Regas and sprinter Tassos Gousis, who was sent home a few
days before the Olympics. The IOC also has barred sprinter Katerina
Thanou from the Games for her role in a drug-testing scandal at the
Athens Games four years ago.
Weightlifting: Super heavyweight Jang Mi-ran has broken three world
records to claim South Korea's second weightlifting gold in Beijing
and the unofficial title of the world's strongest woman.
Jang set world records Saturday in the snatch as well as the clean and
jerk. Her total score of 326 kilograms (718.7 pounds) beat the
previous world record by 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds).
European champion Olha Korobka of Ukraine won the silver, and Mariya
Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan took the bronze.
Jang, who has dominated the weight class in recent years, snatched 140
kg (308.6 pounds) and heaved 186 kg (410.1 pounds) in the clean and
jerk.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Olympic digest: Protest costs wrestler bronze
Associated Press
Originally published 12:43 p.m., August 16, 2008
Updated 03:16 p.m., August 16, 2008
BEIJING ' Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was disqualified and
stripped of his bronze medal for dropping the prize in protest after a
disputed loss.
Abrahamian was punished by the International Olympic Committee for
violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony, becoming
the fourth athlete kicked out of the Games and bringing the number of
medals removed to three.
Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his
semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win
the gold in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division Thursday.
During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian, who also lost
a 2004 Olympic semifinal match on a disputed call, took the bronze
medal from around his neck and, angrily, dropped it on the mat as he
walked away. He didn't take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.
The IOC executive board ruled Abrahamian's actions amounted to a
political demonstration and a mark of disrespect to his fellow
athletes.
`It was felt that his behavior on the medal podium and during the
medal ceremony was not appropriate,' IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies
said. `His behavior was not in the Olympic spirit of respect for his
fellow athletes. Whatever grievances you may have, this was not the
way to go about it.'
The IOC said no athlete will receive Abrahamian's medal because his
disqualification wasn't connected to the competition itself, meaning
there will be only one bronze medalist, Nazmi Avluca of
Turkey. Normally, there are two at each weight class.
The 28-year-old Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after
matside officials after his loss to Minguzzi. He stormed from the area
where interviews are conducted and slammed a door tothe dressing rooms
so hard it shook an entire wall. He weighed whether to skip the bronze
medal match, only to have friends talk him into competing.
Elsewhere, Saori Yoshida of Japan has won her second successive
Olympic women's wrestling gold medal at 55 kilograms, pinning Chinese
teenager Xu Li. Yoshida has lost only one match in her international
career, to American Marcie Van Dusen earlier this year. She bounced
back from that loss with a series of easy victories in Beijing to
become the first women's wrestler to win two Olympic golds.
Xu, who doesn't turn 19 until December, would have been the youngest
Olympic wrestling gold medalist in any discipline. She lost the first
period 2-0, then was pinned by Yoshida 43 seconds into the second.
Winning the bronze medals were Tonya Verbeek, who earned Canada's
second wrestling medal of the games, and Jackeline Renteria of
Colombia. Carol Huynh of Canada earlier won the gold at 48 kg.
Van Dusen did not place.
Badminton: Top-seeded Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia
have won the gold in men's doubles, beating China's Cai Yun and Fu
Haifeng in three sets.
Kido and Setiawan recovered from a shaky start on their way to a win
against the second-seeded Chinese at Beijing University of Technology
Gymnasium.
Defending champion Zhang Ning of China won the gold in women's
singles, beating top-seeded compatriot Xie Xingfang in three
sets. Second-seeded Zhang defended the title she won in Athens.
Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti has won the bronze, beating China's
Lu Lan.
Beach volleyball: Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal have advanced to the
quarterfinals with a victory against Spain. The victory against Pablo
Herrera Allepuz and Raul Mesa kept the U.S. on track for an
All-American final.
Cycling: Spain's Joan Llaneras won the men's points race, adding that
gold to the one he claimed in the event at Sydney, Australia, in 2000
and the silver won in Athens four years ago.
Llaneras finished with 60 points, ahead of Germany's Roger Kluge, who
wound up with 58 for the silver. Britain's Chris Newton won the
bronze, with 56 points.
The points race is a complex 160-lap event where riders seek points
awarded in sprints every 10th time around the velodrome.
Fencing: Russia won the gold in women's foil fencing with an easy
28-11 win against the U.S. team. Russia's team of Evgenia Lamonova,
Victoria Nikichina and Svetlana Boyko simply outdid Americans Emily
Cross, Hannah Thompson and Erinn Smart through most of the final late
Saturday.
Italy beat Hungary 32-23 for the bronze. The U.S. beat Hungary 35-33
to advance.
Rowing: Britain continued its dominance in men's four rowing and won
gold for the third straight Olympics, holding off Australia to win in
6 minutes, 6.57 seconds.
Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge used a
fantastic sprint over the final 500 meters to make sure that the gold
medal will stay in Britain for another four years.
Julien Despres, Benjamin Rondeau, Germain Chardin and Dorian
Mortelette of France are the bronze medalists after crossing the line
in 6:09.31.
Elsewhere, David Crawshay and Scott Brennan of Australia won the gold
in men's double sculls rowing, leading all the way to win in 6
minutes, 27.77 seconds.
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson of Estonia won the silver
medal. Britain's Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham are the bronze
medalists.
Also, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand won the gold
in women's double sculls, defending their Athens triumph by
one-hundredth of a second.
The twin sisters won in a thrilling finish, nipping Germany's
Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth at the line. The crowd, which
was roaring for the final 500 meters, was silent while waiting for the
result to be posted.
Drew Ginn and Duncan Free of Australia earned the gold in men's pair
rowing, using their outstanding technical precision to win by more
than 2 seconds. David Calder and Scott Frandsen brought Canada its
first medal of the Games with the silver. New Zealand's Nathan Twaddle
and George Bridgewater were the bronze medalists.
Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania won gold medal in
women's pair rowing, bringing their combined career Olympic gold medal
haul to a nine.
China won the silver and Belarus the bronze.
Olaf Tufte of Norway won the gold in men's single sculls, successfully
defending his first-place finish four years ago in Athens. Tufte
trailed at the 1,500-meter mark Saturday, only to finish strong down
the stretch ahead of Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. New Zealand's
Mahe Drysdale was the bronze medalist.
Drysdale complained of illness earlier this week and was carried off
the water on a stretcher.
Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria won the women's single sculls, pulling
ahead late to win her first gold medal in the event.
American Michelle Guerette won the silver medal and Ekaterina Karsten
of Belarus won the bronze.
Track: Fani Halkia, the reigning Olympic champion in the women's
400-meter hurdles, told reporters she was `shocked' to learn she had
tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone and would be
unable to defend her gold medal.
Halkia spoke to Greek journalists early Sunday morning at a central
Beijing hotel. She said she was summoned by the head of Greece's
Olympic delegation and told of the results of the first sample she
gave to World Anti-Doping Agency doctors.
`I am shocked,' she said, according to Greek media reports. `I have
undergone more testing than anyone else.'
Halkia was tested a few days before the Games, in Japan, where
Greece's track and field team had been training. She said she had
volunteered to take part in the World Anti-Doping Agency's pilot
program in which athletes submit themselves voluntarily to regular
testing.
Halkia, who has moved out of the Olympic Village, said she was sorry
she couldn't take part in the Games and that she had expected to make
the 400-meter hurdles final.
Preliminaries in that event were scheduled to begin Sunday afternoon.
Halkia said she didn't know how the banned substance was found in her
sample, but she didn't reply to questions about Dimitrios Regas, a
400-meter runner who shares the same coach with Halkia and who tested
positive for methyltrienolone before the Olympics.
Fifteen Greek athletes, including Halkia, have tested positive for
methyltrienolone. They include 11 weightlifters, swimmer Yannis
Drymonakos, Regas and sprinter Tassos Gousis, who was sent home a few
days before the Olympics. The IOC also has barred sprinter Katerina
Thanou from the Games for her role in a drug-testing scandal at the
Athens Games four years ago.
Weightlifting: Super heavyweight Jang Mi-ran has broken three world
records to claim South Korea's second weightlifting gold in Beijing
and the unofficial title of the world's strongest woman.
Jang set world records Saturday in the snatch as well as the clean and
jerk. Her total score of 326 kilograms (718.7 pounds) beat the
previous world record by 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds).
European champion Olha Korobka of Ukraine won the silver, and Mariya
Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan took the bronze.
Jang, who has dominated the weight class in recent years, snatched 140
kg (308.6 pounds) and heaved 186 kg (410.1 pounds) in the clean and
jerk.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress