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Belarus shot putter stripped of Olympic gold

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 17:34:17 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Just hours after the close of the Olympics, a female shot putter from Belarus was stripped of her gold Monday in the first case of an athlete losing a medal for doping at the London Games.

With the disqualification of Nadzeya Ostapchuk, the gold medal was awarded to Valerie Adams of New Zealand — who winds up as Olympic champion for the second time in a row.

The International Olympic Committee said Ostapchuk, a former world champion, tested positive for steroids both before and after winning the shot put last week for her first Olympic gold.

After an IOC hearing, she was formally expelled from the games and had her victory and medal removed from the records. She was the eighth athlete, and first medalist, caught during the IOC's London drug-testing program.

"Catching cheats like this sends a message to all those who dope that we will catch them," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press.

Track and field's governing body, the IAAF, will consider further action against Ostapchuk, who could face a two-year ban from the sport.

Adams was bumped up from Olympic silver to gold, with Evgeniia Kolodko of Russia upgraded to silver and fourth-place finisher Gong Lijiao of China moved up to bronze.

London wraps up a dazzling Olympics

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:02:54 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Usain Bolt made himself a living legend — just ask him. Michael Phelps swam a last lap into history. A man ran on carbon blades. Two track stars and a long jumper produced perhaps the greatest night in British sports history.

Take a victory lap, London.

The nightmare that was supposed to be the 2012 Olympics — gridlock and chaos Underground and overground, a city locked down by terrorist threats, day after day of gray and drizzle — simply never materialized.

Instead, London threw a five-ring party.

"Nobody wanted to sit this dance out," said Sebastian Coe, the two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion and chief of the London organizing committee. "Everybody has wanted to be involved."

Or, as the stately Economist said: "Britain looked at itself and liked what it saw."

The games were not without controversy. Eight badminton players were sent home in disgrace for trying to lose — doing it to gain a better draw in their tournament, but violating the Olympic spirit of competition.

Organizers scrambled to sell last-minute tickets, and ended up giving some to the military, after unsightly photos of empty seats were splashed across the famously cantankerous British press.

US heading for win over China in both medals races

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:02:08 +0000

LONDON (AP) — With a surge of medals in track and field, the United States has sprinted ahead of China and is poised to finish atop the medals table at the London Olympics — maybe with the most golds ever collected by the Americans on foreign soil.

Heading into the final weekend of competition, the U.S. leads both the gold and overall medals races after trailing the Chinese most of the games.

The Americans pulled further ahead Friday. At the end of the day's events, the U.S. led China 94 to 81 in total medals and 41 to 37 in golds.

Bill Mallon, a veteran American medals prognosticator, believes the U.S. will win the overall race by 12 to 15 medals and the gold count by three to five.

Four more golds would equal the highest U.S. total on foreign territory in Olympic history — 45 at both the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 1924 Paris Games.

The gold haul in London is already the best for the United States since it won 44 in 1996 in Atlanta. Its highest gold count was 83 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which were boycotted by the Soviet Union.

The late U.S. charge in London has been spurred by the track and field team, with 26 medals, including eight golds, through Friday.

Rogge: Usain Bolt not a ‘legend’ yet

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:20:32 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Usain Bolt, you're not a "living legend" yet.

That's the verdict of IOC President Jacques Rogge, who said Jamaican sprinter is an "icon," but needs to prove his greatness over more than two Olympics before he can claim legendary status.

"The career of Usain Bolt has to be judged when the career stops," Rogge told a small group of reporters Thursday. "If you look at the career of Carl Lewis, he had (four) consecutive games with a medal."

Rogge spoke a few hours before Bolt completed an unprecedented sprint sweep, becoming the first athlete to win the 100 and 200 meters at consecutive Olympics. Bolt took the 200 in 19.32 seconds, four days after he defended his 100 title with victory in 9.63.

Bolt has spoken repeatedly of his desire to become a "living legend" in London.

"Let Usain Bolt be free of injury," Rogge said. "Let him keep his motivation, which I think will be the case. ... Let him participate in three, four games, and he can be a legend. Already, he's an icon."

Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals from 1984-1996, including four consecutive titles in the long jump.

AP source: IOC to strip Hamilton of Athens gold

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:54:33 +0000

LONDON (AP) — The IOC is set to formally strip American cyclist Tyler Hamilton of his gold from the 2004 Athens Games and reassign the medals after his admission of doping, according to an Olympic official familiar with the case.

With the eight-year deadline approaching, the official told The Associated Press the IOC executive board will meet Friday to readjust the standings from the road race time trial and award the gold to retired Russian rider Viatcheslav Ekimov.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hasn't been announced yet.

After years of denials, Hamilton told CBS's "60 Minutes" last year that he had repeatedly used performance-enhancing drugs. The IOC asked for documents from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency before reallocating the medals.

The gold will now go to Ekimov, a former teammate of Hamilton and Lance Armstrong.

American Bobby Julich will be moved up from bronze to silver, and Michael Rogers of Australia from fourth to bronze.

The Russian Olympic Committee has repeatedly pressed for Ekimov to be upgraded to gold.

Ekimov already has two Olympic gold medals — the track team pursuit at the 1988 Seoul Games and the road time trial at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Mile legend Bannister attends Olympic 1,500 final

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 04:41:54 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Roger Bannister will forever be remembered for four laps around the track.

So it was fitting that the first man to break the four-minute mile 58 years ago was front and center in the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night to watch the men's 1,500 meters, known as the metric mile.

"I feel I never really left," the 83-year-old Bannister told The Associated Press after seeing Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi break away down the stretch to take the Olympic gold medal, the one prize he never collected.

Sitting with him on this special night was Sebastian Coe, the former two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 and head organizer of the London Games.

"Of all the people that I knew had to be in that stadium on the night of the 1,500 meters, it had to be Roger Bannister," Coe said. "It was one of my dreams come true. He is the senior partner of the milers."

Also rushing over to pay his respects was Hicham El Guerrouj, the former Olympic champion who still holds the world records in the 1,500 and the mile.

"He's my hero," the Moroccan said. "He's our spiritual father in the 1,500 and the mile."

There they were, three generations of middle-distance greats, all in the same room.

Once-powerful Russia far behind in gold medal race

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 04:14:52 +0000

LONDON (AP) — After a miserable first week in the gold medal stakes, traditional powerhouse Russia is showing signs of a revival — though not enough to avoid its lowest Olympic finish in 60 years.

While some of Russia's strongest events are still to come, the team is set to wind up outside the top three in golds for the first time since the Soviet Union began competing at the games in 1952.

It's a worrying sign for a country that will host the next Olympics, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, and follows Russia's worst-ever performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"Sure, we would like to have more gold medals," Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov told the RIA Novosti news agency. "But this is sports, and in many sport events we just lack a bit of luck and good fortune."

After lagging in 10th for total gold medals won in London behind even North Korea and former Soviet republic Kazakhstan, Russia started to come to life Monday, picking up three gold medals to move into a tie for sixth place with Italy with seven.

China and the United States are 1-2 in golds with 31 and 29, respectively, and host Britain third with 18.

Pyeongchang awarded 2018 Winter Olympics

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:04:00 +0000

The South Korean city of Pyeongchang was awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics on Wednesday after failing in two previous attempts.

Pyeongchang defeated rivals Munich and Annecy, France, in the first round of a secret ballot of the International Olympic Committee.

Needing 48 votes for victory, Pyeongchang received 63 of the 95 votes cast. Munich received 25 and Annecy seven.

The Koreans had lost narrowly in previous bids for the 2010 and 2014 Olympics.

Pyeongchang will be the first city in Asia outside Japan to host the Winter Games. Japan held the games in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.

Korean delegates erupted in cheers in the conference hall after IOC President Jacques Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words: "The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the 23rd Olympic Winter Games in 2018 are awarded to the city of Pyeongchang."

The vote totals weren't immediately released.

A majority was required for victory, meaning Pyeongchang received at least 48 votes among the eligible 95 voters.

It was the first time an Olympic bid race with more than two finalists was decided in the first round since 1995, when Salt Lake City defeated three others to win the 2002 Winter Games.

Federer loses to Berdych in Wimbledon quarters

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:22:00 +0000

For the first time in eight years, Roger Federer won't be striding onto Centre Court for the Wimbledon final this weekend.

The six-time champion was upset in the quarterfinals by hard-hitting Tomas Berdych on Wednesday, stopping his bid for a record-tying seventh title at the All England Club and extending his recent stretch of disappointing play.

The 12th-seeded Berdych used his big serve and forehand to beat Federer 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, on Centre Court for the biggest victory of the Czech's career.

It's the first time since 2002 that Federer has failed to reach the final. Since losing in the first round eight years ago, Federer had played in the championship match a record seven consecutive times. He won the title six times and finished runner-up once, bolstering his reputation as the greatest player of all-time.

Winner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles, Federer said he was unable to play his best tennis Wednesday because of pain in his back and right leg.

"I couldn't play the way I wanted to play," said Federer, who had been chasing the record of seven titles won by Pete Sampras and 19th-century player William Renshaw. "I am struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue. That just doesn't quite allow me to play the way I would like to play. It's frustrating, to say the least."

David Beckham to miss World Cup after injury

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:08:00 +0000

Unless David Beckham can mend it as well as he can bend it, soccer's now-limping glamour boy will miss this summer's World Cup -- a blow to tournament organizers, sponsors, TV viewers and average fans.

Beckham underwent surgery Monday for a "totally torn" left Achilles' tendon and is expected to be out of action for about six months, said Dr. Sakari Orava, who performed the operation. The 34-year-old midfielder was injured Sunday while playing for Italian club AC Milan.

"He will have to take it very easy during the next two to three weeks or a month, and then he will continue with a recuperation program slowly," Orava told The Associated Press. "The foot won't take much strain for two to three months."

Orava also said it would be "four months to running," and another two months before playing.

Beckham's spokesman, Simon Oliveira, said the tendon was completely repaired, and he expected Beckham to return to the game.

"David is expected to make a full recovery," Oliveira said.

That means Beckham won't be bending free kicks or curling pinpoint passes at the World Cup that begins June 11 in South Africa -- what he had hoped would be his fourth appearance for England at the tournament.

Luger killed in training run

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:41:00 +0000

A men's luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died Friday after a crash during training, an Olympic official with direct knowledge of the situation said. The death cast a shocking pall over the Vancouver Olympics hours before the opening ceremony.

The official told The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger's family hadn't been notified yet.

There was no immediate comment from Vancouver organizers, international luge officials or the International Olympic Committee. At the Whistler track, officials said the IOC and VANOC were preparing a joint statement to be released Friday afternoon.

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.

Rescue workers were at his side within seconds, chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.