Olympics Highlights: Day 7
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Czech cyclist Jan Hruska is out of the Olympics after testing positive for what a Czech officialidentified as nandralone.
The International Cycling Union confirmed his disqualification in a statement from its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
In Prague, Jaroslav Nekola, the head of the Czech Anti-DopingCommittee, said the substance was nandrolone, an anabolic steroid.
Hruska was tested Sept. 13 during the Tour of Spain. A secondtest confirmed that “the anti-doping control … was indeedpositive,” the ICU said.
“The Czech Cycling Federation has started proceedings againstthis rider for breach of the UCI anti-doping regulations” and haswithdrawn him from the Olympics.
Hruska was to leave for Sydney on Wednesday, but his departurewas postponed until today pending results from a test on thesecond sample.
International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch has resumed his duties at the Sydney Games. He had returned to Spain as his wife was dying this past weekend.
Samaranch told reporters “These were not easy days.” He addedthat he is happy to be back and to be resuming his presidentialresponsibilities.
The 80-year-old Samaranch is attending his last games as head ofthe IOC.
French track star Marie-Jose Perec has left Sydney. French Olympic officials say the two-time defending 400-meter champion went to Singapore, where she and a companion were involved in ascrap that left a cameraman in a hospital. A sponsorshipspokeswoman says Perec left after being menaced in her hotel room.Both Sydney police and the hotel management say they’ve not beennotified of any such incident.
Archery
After sweeping the individual medals, three South Korean womenjoined to easily win the team title for the fourth consecutiveOlympics.
Basketball
In what was by far the closest basketball game a U.S. team (3-0) hasplayed using NBA players, the Americans led by only five points inthe final minute before defeating Lithuania (1-2) 85-76.
Michael Meeks was 8-for-8 from the field, including four3-pointers, and scored 24 points as Canada (3-0) clinched a berthin the quarterfinals by beating Spain (1-2) 91-77.
Italy downed New Zealand 78-66. Carlton Myers, a native of England, hit a 3-pointer with 12:55 to play that gave Italy (2-1) the lead for good at 48-47. His shot starteda 15-3 run that he capped with a 1-on-3 fast break where his layupwas goaltended.
France’s Antoine Rigaudeau had just two points at halftime on 1-for-7 shooting against China (1-2) but he found the range in the second half as France won 82-70. His 3-pointer with 5:38 to play gave France (2-1) the lead for good at 69-68 andstarted a game-closing 16-2 run.
Yugoslavia (3-0) clinched a berth in the quarterfinals but itwas a lot closer than expected. Angola (0-3) gave a top team ascare in a second consecutive game at the Dome, staying withinthree points until the final 1:19, when Yugoslavia pulled away to win 73-64.
Beach Volleyball
Rafer Johnson’s daughter Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davisrallied with a nine-point run to defeat Cuba’s Dalixia Fernandezand Tamara Larrea 15-9 to reach the quarterfinals.
The victory by the tournament’s third-seeded women’s team set upa quarterfinal match against Japan’s Yukiko Takahashi and TeruSaiki, who outclassed a Czech team in a 15-2 victory.
Boxing
Michael Bennett kept U.S. boxers unbeaten and advanced to aquarterfinal showdown with the great Cuban heavyweight Felix Savon.
The 29-year-old Bennett, who got serious about boxing afterbeing released from prison two years ago, pounded out an 11-2decision over Wojciech Bartnik of Poland at 201 pounds.
Savon, trying to join fellow Cuban Teofilo Stevenson and Lazlo Papp of Hungary as theonly men to win three Olympic boxing golds, stopped Rasmus Ojemayeof Nigeria on the 15-point rule (18-3) with 35 seconds left in thesecond round.
Cycling (Track)
Antonella Bellutti of Italy won the Olympic gold medalin the women’s points race. Leontien Ziglaard of the Netherlands,who set a world record in winning the pursuit, was second.
Equestrian
David O’Connor of the United States conquered the cross-countrycourse with a perfect ride to retain the lead in the individualthree-day event.
O’Connor, of The Plains, Va., added no penalties to his leadafter dressage on Custom Made. The other two U.S. riders also gotaround the course clean. The medals will be decided by theshow-jumping round on Friday. With his lead of 7.6 points, O’Connorcan knock down one fence and still take the gold.
Two riders in the early going were hospitalized after falls:Roberto Macedo of Brazil with a broken pelvis and Nils Haagensen ofDenmark with a broken shoulder.
Fencing
Ann Marsh of Royal Oak, Mich., won her first and second-roundfencing matches in women’s individual foil, but lost in the thirdround to a Romanian. Felicia Zimmerman of Rush, N.Y., lost inthe second round to a German. And Iris Zimmerman of Rush, N.Y.,lost to an Italian in the third round.
Gymnastics
Andreea Raducan led a Romaniansweep of the medals in the women’s gymnastics all-roundcompetition, but they were made to wait for theirvictory after some gymnasts were allowed to repeat vaultsbecause of faulty apparatus settings.
Raducan, the first Romanian to claim the all-round titlesince Nadia Comaneci in 1976, posted a winning mark of 38.893.
Simona Amanar, the winner of four medals at the 1996Olympics, took the silver with 38.642 and Maria Olaru, theworld all-round champion, the bronze with 38.581, in anerror-filled final that ended in controversy and confusion.
With the normal competition finished, officials gave the 18 gymnasts fromthe first two rotations the opportunity to re-do their vaultsafter it was discovered the height of apparatus was fivecentimeters too short.
In the end, the standings weren’t altered and Romania became just the second country to sweep the event and first since the Soviet Union in 1960. All-around favorite Svetlana Khorkina of Russia finished 11th.
Americans were shut out in the medals race. Elise Ray finished the highest of all Americans in 14th place. Teammates Amy Chow was 15th and Kristen Maloney was 20th.
Rowing
The United States qualified two boats to the finals in fiveclasses and Britain’s Steve Redgrave is still on target for five.
The American pair of Ted Murphy and Sebastian Bea advanced alongwith a four headed by Michael Wherley, who moved from a three-timeworld champion eight to the four.
The doubles tandem of Mike Ferry and Henry Nuzum and soloistsDon Smith and Monica Michini failed to qualify.
Wherley’s crew was in the same heat as the British fourspearheaded by Redgrave, who is trying to become only the thirdperson from any sport to win gold at five straight Olympics.
Sailing
J.J. Isler watched her overall lead in the women’s 470competition disappear as she dropped into third place after fourraces. She finished 15th out of 19 boats in the third fleet race,then rebounded to finish third in the next race.
Isler and several other skippers flew protest flags at the endof the first race on the Pacific Ocean. Protests are heard at nightback at the Rushcutters Bay marina.
While Isler faltered, brothers Jonathan and Charlie McKee ofSeattle moved into first place in the 49er class despite havingtheir worst day in the regatta.
The McKees finished 14th and 13th before rebounding to win thethird race. Under regatta rules, they are allowed to throw outtheir worst finish to date.
The Soling fleet races concluded Wednesday, with Americanskipper Jeff Madrigali finishing fourth to earn a first-round byein the match-racing series.
Shooting
Jonas Edman of Sweden fell one point short of a perfect 600score in the opening round, then held on to win the men’s 50-meterrifle prone event.
In the men’s 25-meter rapid fire pistol, Germany’s Ralf Schumannfailed in his attempt to win an unprecedented third straight goldmedal. Schumann scored 584 to place seventh in the eight-man final.Sergei Alifirenko of Russia won the event.
Zemfira Meftakhetdinova of Azerbaijan won the first women’sskeet competition. Zhang Shan of China, who won the open skeetevent at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, failed to qualify for thefinal.
Softball
Lisa Fernandez gave up a two-run homer to Peta Edebone’s in thebottom of the 13th inning as Australia rallied to win 2-1 and sendthe United States to a shocking third consecutive loss.
Fernandez struck out 25 and gave up just two hits, but theAmericans were unable to score until Christie Ambrosi’s RBI singlein the top of the 13th made it 1-0.
Swimming
American Lenny Krayzelburg, who emigrated from Ukraine 11 yearsago, won his second Olympic gold. He swam an Olympic record 1minute, 56.76 seconds—slightly less than a second off his worldrecord in the 200-meter backstroke. He also broke the Olympic markin the preliminaries and semifinals.
Inge de Bruijn of Netherlands won the 100-meter freestyle in53.83 missing her world record of 53.77. She won the 100 butterflySunday.
Therese Alshammar of Sweden took silver in 54.33. Americans DaraTorres and Jenny Thompson tied for third.
Agnes Kovacs of Hungary won the 200-meter breaststroke andMassimiliano Rosolino of Italy won the men’s 200-meter individualmedley in an Olympic-record 1 minute, 58.98 seconds.
Tom Dolan of the United States, who set a world record in the400 IM, was second.
Earlier Brooke Bennett followed up a magnificent American nightin the Olympic pool by getting started on a second straight goldmedal in the 800-meter freestyle being the top qualifier. Bennettwill try to join Janet Evans (1988, ’92) as the only back-to-backwinners of the event.
Tennis
Defending champion Lindsay Davenport withdrew because of aninjury, ending a bid by the U.S. team for a medals sweep in women’stennis. The top-seeded Davenport aggravated her sprained left footin a first-round victory.
Venus Williams extended her winning streak to 28 matches bybeating Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-2, 6-3 in the secondround. Williams’ victory left her one round from a quarterfinalshowdown with the last player to beat her, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario,who advanced to the third round by beating Patricia Wartusch ofAustria 6-2, 6-4.
Volleyball
The winless U.S. men’s team was shut out by Yugoslavia 25-25,25-20, 25-23.
While the Americans (0-3) aren’t mathematically out of thetournament yet, they’re at the bottom of Group B standings and needa lot of help to make the quarterfinals.