Lopezes reflect on medal haul at Beijing Olympics

Steven, Mark and Diana, the fighting siblings of Sugar Land, spend their days practicing and competing in a sport, Olympic taekwondo, where the name of the game is to kick and be kicked.

So it's not surprised that they leave the Olympic Games of Beijing a little bruised and, in bronze medalist Diana Lopez's case, more than a little hoarse from two days of cheering for her older brothers.

They leave China a little broken, too. Silver medalist Mark Lopez suffered two broken bones in his right hand on the first exchange in his first of four matches and will face surgery when he returns home next week.

And, given the law of averages, it's no surprise they will leave a little downhearted, too, in the wake of a referee's controversial decision Friday that helped short-circuit Steven Lopez's path toward a third career gold medal and relegated him to bronze.

But for the siblings and their coach, oldest brother Jean Lopez, the hardware around their necks and their placement in the medal listings pale in comparison to the satisfaction of experiencing the Olympics as a family affair.

"This was the chance of a lifetime," Diana Lopez said. "We made history, and we're coming home with three medals. We enjoyed it all: the process, the journey. We're here and we're healthy, even though Marky has his little bumps and bruises, and we have to thank God for everything."

Jean Lopez said the absence of a gold medal in the family's carry-on bags does not reduce the magnitude of its accomplishments.

"It (three medals) represents success. It really does," he said.

"I can't say we're not highly disappointed with the way things turned out (in Steven Lopez's quest for a third gold), but, looking at everything, you can't dismiss the fact that we created even more history. It's not the color of medal we wanted, but we brought three Lopezes to Beijing. They came as Olympians, and they will leave as Olympic medalists."

Upon the family's return to Texas, the first order of business is Mark Lopez's left hand, which was broken in his opening match Thursday against Nesar Amhad Bahave of Afghanistan. Team doctors talked about sending him home Friday, but when Mark Lopez insisted on attending his older brother's matches, they wrapped it in gauze and Ace bandages from fingers to wrist.

"First exchange of the first fight," he said. "I said, `Ooh, I felt that. But I said to just keep fighting and hopefully it won't affect me the rest of the time. The doctor and trainer did an excellent job of treating me. I didn't feel much pain."

He said he suffered a compound fracture of the third and fourth metacarpal and will undergo surgery as early as next week.

Looming next year is the world championships in Copenhagen, which Steven Lopez anticipates with a vengeance. Beyond that, the 2012 Olympics beckon.

"This (his performance Friday) encourages me," he said. "I'm upset. Golly, you know, I mean, jeez, I'm upset. I love winning. I hate losing. It drives me. By no means does this take away from me wanting to go back in 2012 and show them that I'm a champion."

Once Mark Lopez recovers from surgery, he intends to continue his quest of match, or at least keeping up, with Steven's four world titles.

"This is fun. We're having fun," Mark Lopez said. "Why stop something you love and have a lot of fun doing together."

First, however, will come rest and recuperation, even if they literally don't know the meaning of the phrase.

"I think we can have some r-and-r now," Diana Lopez said.

"What the hell is that?" Mark Lopez said.

"Someone said it to me yesterday," she replied.

"Yeah, and I didn't know what it meant then, either," he said.

Now, perhaps, he'll have time to learn.

U.S. Olympic team facing disappointing second-place gold-medal finish in Beijing

With just two days left before the end of the Olympic Games, some U.S. sports officials were fretting Friday about a likely U.S. second-place finish in the gold-medal count, far behind China, and wondering what went wrong this month.

U.S. athletes have suffered bitter disappointments in events such as track and field competitions and boxing, while top-ranked U.S. teams in softball, women's water polo and other sports have lost to upstart underdogs in gold medal matches.

Making matters worse, the beleaguered Americans have been powerless to stop Chinese athletes, who have pulled far ahead in the gold-medal tally, even in the games' second week when U.S. athletes were supposed to tighten the gap.

By the end of Friday, the U.S. team had won 31 gold medals behind the 47 earned by the Chinese delegation. U.S. athletes, however, were still leading in total medals at 102 to the 89 medals won by the Chinese.

Another 44 gold medals will be awarded in the last two days of the Olympics this weekend, including eight in track-and-field events where U.S. athletes have traditionally been strong. This year, however, U.S. track and fielders have struggled, and the chances of a come-from-behind win in total gold medals are slim.

A second-place U.S. gold-medal finish in Beijing would mark a first for the Americans since the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. The United States has won the gold-medal race in 16 of the 26 modern Olympic Games.

"There are more countries winning those medals," said Steve Roush, the U.S. Olympic Committee's chief of sport performance. "And there are only so many to win. If they're winning more, someone's winning less. And here in Beijing, we didn't step it up like they did."

Despite the disappointments, U.S. officials tried to paint a positive picture Friday, saying their athletes would likely top the U.S. performance in the 2004 Athens games when the Americans won a total of 102 medals. The Americans, in fact, crossed that mark around 10 p.m. Beijing time Friday.

The U.S. team will also likely win the total medal count this year, bittersweet consolation for a competition largely judged by its gold-medal tally.

The committee's chief executive officer, Jim Scherr, said U.S. athletes were doing well in team sports, although such competitions net only two medals - one for men and another for women - after days of play.

An historic performance by U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals this month, also grabbed headlines.

The problem, officials said, was U.S. athletes faced tougher competition in sports they usually dominated. Jamaican sprinters such as Usain Bolt, for example, dashed away the hopes of U.S. runners, while the Japanese softball team shocked the Americans by downing them in Thursday night's final game.

The losses continued when the Cuban baseball team beat the Americans in a Friday semifinals match.

"These games are significantly more competitive than in Athens," Scherr said. "We know some nations devoted significantly more resources in these games."

The Chinese government, in fact, spent at least $1 billion on athlete development in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, said U.S.-based Chinese athletics expert Xu Guoqui. By comparison, the U.S. Olympic Committee's annual budget is $150 million, with much of it coming from non-governmental sources.

"Chinese progress in sports has mirrored its economic growth," Xu said. "They have a lot more money to spend on sports now."

The Chinese reaped the rewards of that spending this year, especially in their targeting of medal-rich sports where their athletes haven't traditionally excelled. With the help of foreign coaches, the program led to Chinese gold medals in sports such as fencing and sailing.

Long and winding road for China' men to catch up with women at Olympics

Chinese men are still trekking on a long and winding road to narrow down the medal gap between themselves and the women's team at the Beijing Olympic Games, having reduced the difference in gold medals to 20-25 compared with a more drastic 4-12 at Barcelona in 1992.

By Wednesday, Chinese athletes have won 79 medals -- including 45 golds at the Beijing Olympic Games. Twenty of the golds went to men and 25 to women. While both have taken seven silvers, Chinese men also lag behind the women with a shortfall of nine bronzes.

"In my country, men and women are equal and we women are able to do everything as well as men," said gold winning weightlifter Chen Yanqing after retaining her 58kg title last week.

Nearly 60 years after Chinese women were put alongside men at production lines and other jobs outside home, it is the men who have been trying hard to catch up with women since Barcelona in 1992.

Chinese women took 12 golds at those Games, including four in swimming, two in diving, two in table tennis and one each in 10,000-meter walk, 72kg class judo, skeet and gymnastics. The men's team took four golds, one each in diving, gymnastics, shooting and table tennis.

The gap was reduced greatly at Atlanta, with the men/women gold tally standing at seven to nine, but rebounded to 11.5 to 16.5 in Sydney 2000, with one mixed gold in badminton, and staggered to 12.5 to 19.5 at Athens in 2004.

The outstanding performances of Chinese women are to a large extent attributed to their male teammates, who spent much time practicing with women in order to boost the latter's overall strength.

On the other hand, experts have interpreted the gap from anatomic perspective, saying Chinese women are rather similar to Western women in form and physical strength, while Chinese men are far behind their Western peers.

Despite their smaller build, Chinese men are eager to prove they can do as good as women, at least in sports where China enjoys traditional advantages, gymnastics and weightlifting, for example.

Four years after leaving Athens with only one gold, the Chinese gymnastics team have learned from their mistakes and carefully prepared themselves for revenge on home soil.

By Tuesday, Chinese men have won seven out of the country's nine golds in gymnastics, with Li Xiaopeng, 27, taking his 16th world title and fourth Olympic gold to surpass former gymnastic legend Li Ning as China's golden gymnast.

Twenty-year-old Zou Kai won his third Olympic gold on Tuesday in horizontal bars, following two earlier titles in floor exercise and men's team.

"Today's success is due to the hard work, confidence and excellent skills of our gymnasts," said Huang Yubin, one of the coaches for the men's team, after Tuesday's competitions. "After the failure in Athens, we put all the critical media reports up on the walls of our gyms.

It had the desired effect on the team, who dazzled the judges and fans at the Beijing Games with their stunning displays of strength, skills and determination to win a team title as well as individual golds in individual all-around, floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, parallel and horizontal bars.

"After four years of hard work, I think the gymnasts have made a very impressive comeback and are among the biggest highlights at these Games," said Xiao Tian, deputy chef de mission of the Chinese delegation and deputy head of the sports administration.

While playing on home soil did boost the Chinese players' confidence, Xiao said their failure in Athens was rather "accidental". "It's not that they were not good, but rather, they failed to bring their techniques into full play last time."

With four more days to go before China's almost certain top finish of the Beijing Games, Xiao said Chinese men have seemingly narrowed the gap with women.

Besides gymnastics, better scores in men's weightlifting have also helped Chinese men to hold up their half of the sky.

Chinese strongmen have seized four, or half, of all the weightlifting golds at the Beijing Games, compared with two out of three in Athens. "As far as weightlifting is concerned, our men and women have all demonstrated their best performances -- everything was perfect," said Xiao.

Cui Dalin, another deputy chef de mission, gave all athletes thumbs up at a press conference on Saturday, halfway into the competitions. "Our men and women have all been doing well at these Games. The young men, in particular, are on their way to reverse women's dominance on the medal tally."

Though Monday's sudden pullout of top Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang for foot injuries saddened all domestic fans and dashed one of the host country's most-coveted gold medal, the absolute majority of the public agreed it was not fair to crunch Liu alone with the high expectations of the 1.3 billion Chinese.

China decided to popularize athletics, swimming and other internationally dominant sports among its youngsters at the start of the century, but the campaign has been rather sluggish at schools given the lack of proper facilities in the countryside and overburden of schoolwork for city kids.

Yet despite the country's top position on the Olympic gold tally, China still needs to train more Liu Xiang, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps type of athletes for future Olympics -- and more importantly, for the overall improvement of its people's health.

The country has also been training harder for the "big ball games" -- with the immediate effects being its men's volleyball and basketball teams entering top eight at the Olympics.

The men's volleyball team, long overshadowed by the glory of the women players who won five consecutive world championships since the early 1980s, have also made history at the Beijing Games by making top eight despite their loss to Italy on Monday. It failed to enter semifinals though, after Wednesday's loss 0-3 to defending champion Brazil.

Before Beijing, their sole Olympic show dated back to 1984, when China appeared at the Los Angeles Games as the replacement team and finished the last in the eight competitors.

The women's volleyball and basketball teams, meanwhile, have both entered semifinals.

With Wednesday's defeat to Lithuania 68-94 in the quarter-final, the men's basketball team repeated their eighth-place finishing in Athens and failed to live up to their commitments of making a breakthrough on home soil.

Despite their shattered dream, avid fans vowed continued support for the 7-foot-6 NBA star Yao Ming and his team. "I support you for ever. I'll never take your victory as a 'miracle', no matter how long I have to wait," said a netizen named "kiysan_dweb9" at sina.com.

While women's soccer team still won sympathy and support after being knocked out in the quarterfinal, many Chinese fans refuse even to talk about the men's team. All were infuriated by their 0-2 defeat on Aug. 10 to Belgium and even worse, by defender Tan Wangsong and midfielder Zheng Zhi's kicking and elbowing of their opponents. Both were sent off after the attacks.

"I really don't know where the men's soccer team is leading now, after decades of promises to 'take dominance in Asia and march into the world'", said Beijing soccer fan Zeng Tao. "I see no hope in them."

Olympic dreaming

With all the excitement surrounding the Olympics in Beijing, you have to live in a cave if you haven't seen American Michael Phelps win one of his eight gold medals. Or catch a view of 40-something Dara Torres cruise by competitors more than 20 years her junior.

In a sport that gets less recognition than the predominant ones, the Indianola High School varsity swimmers are living in the moment - as is the sport itself.

Indianola senior Anna Aldridge was fortunate enough to get to Omaha to witness the Olympic trials and to see Phelps live.

Phelps secured eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, breaking the 36-year-old record. He reset seven new world records and has 13 career gold medals. His eight on one Olympiad broke the record of seven set my Mark Spitz in 1972.

"To see him live is pretty amazing," Aldridge said. "It's crazy to see him on (television), breaking all these records. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Witnessing history aside, the swimmers are learning a few new things from watching the Olympics. They all see what the benefits of hard work can accomplish.

"It shows that getting up early to practice and all the hard work they put in," said Indianola senior Hillary Criswell. "That's cool, because that is what we all have to do."

Watching the swimmers style has changed routines for the swimmers.

Aldridge learned a little something from watching the American swimmers, including the sideways dolphin kick from off the wall.

"I watched the style and how they move their feet. I have been doing a lot of stretching to my ankle to help with my kick," Aldridge said

Will the current popularity of the sport parlay into bigger roster numbers for high school swimming? The answer is yes and no said Indianola coach Kurt Lickiss.

"Every Olympic year, we'll have 20 more kids out the following year an extra five then the year after that we're back to normal," Lickiss said. "I can't think of a swimmer that is out because of the Olympics.

"But the kids that are out, it really motivates them. They get fired up."

The Jiang family's 70-year Olympic bondage

This year's Olympic Games is being held for the first time on Chinese soil.

But for one family in Shanghai, their link with the games goes back more than 70 years.

For 50-year-old Jiang Shi-wei, the Beijing Olympic Games carries special meaning - his family has a 76-year-old Olympic legacy.

Jiang, a businessman, said: "It was 1932 when China first participated in the modern Olympic Games. Back then, there was only one athlete, Liu Chang Chun, who competed at the games.

"The leader of the team was my father's uncle, Shen Si Liang. When it came to the 1984 Olympics, my father was a journalist with the China Daily and he reported on the games."

For the past 20 years, Jiang has been collecting Olympic memorabilia from all over the world. He owns the first article written about the Olympics in 1896 by Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the International Olympic Committee.

Most of the medals he owns have been in his family for years. The rest of the collection was obtained by exchanging Olympic items with other enthusiasts in the US. And he has been invited numerous times to show his collection to the public.

But 2008 has a special meaning for him - not just because China is hosting the games, but - because it means fulfilling the four dreams of his granduncle.

Jiang said: "The first dream is that China would compete in the Olympics, which he himself fulfilled in 1932. He also realised his second dream, which was to lead a dozen athletes to compete at the 1936 Games.

"The third dream was witnessed by my father who saw the Chinese athletes win our first medal. My granduncle's last dream is that China could one day host the Olympic Games."

With China winning 32 golds at the last Olympic Games, hopes are high that the Chinese will manage a bigger haul of the medals, given home advantage and heavy investment in training.

With 639 athletes, this is the largest contingent China has fielded so far for the Olympics.

In Medals Contest, U.S. And China Are Tops

Crystl Bustos of the United States hits a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to give the U.S. a 4-0 lead against Japan in the women's semifinal softball game.




Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the 200-meter world record with a time of 19.3 seconds to win the gold medal. Churandy Martina (left) of Netherlands Antilles and Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe come in after him

Like two sprinters leaving the rest of the field behind, the United States and China are neck-and-neck in total medals at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. leads the host country 82-79 in total medals. But China leads the U.S. in gold medals, 45-26. Russia is running a distant third with 45 total medals.

Speaking of swift runners: Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 200-meter race — and a gold medal — in a world-record 19.3 seconds Wednesday night. He finished 0.52 seconds in front of Churandy Martin of Netherlands Antilles. Bolt is the first sprinter to win gold in the 200- and 100-meter races in the same Olympics since American Carl Lewis in 1984. Bolt is also the only racer to date to smash world records in both races at the same Olympics.

Softball star Crystl Bustos swatted a three-run, ninth-inning home run against Japan to send the U.S. softball team into the gold medal game. The final score was 4-1. The Americans have a 22-game winning streak. Also in softball, Australia beat Canada 5-3.

In men's beach volleyball, Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser advanced to the gold medal round by beating Georgia 21-11, 21-13 in the semifinals Wednesday.

In women's field hockey, China beat Germany 3-2 to advance to the finals. And China's Wu Jingyu won a gold medal in tae kwon do.

But the host country has run into a few athletic obstacles on Day 12. In baseball, China lost to Cuba, 17-1. Meantime, South Korea cleaned the Netherlands' clock, 10-0.

USA Softball Team Advances to Gold Medal Game

The U.S. women's softball advanced to the gold medal finals after defeating Japan 4-1 in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Crystal Bustos hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning as the Americans extended their Olympic winning streak to 22.

The game was tied at zero until the ninth inning when Caitlin Lowe hit an RBI single, followed by Bustos' homer. The USA team will advance to the last finals until at least the 2016 Olympic Games.

Tied after seven innings, the teams went to the international tiebreaker in the eighth as both began their at-bats with a runner at second base. Neither could score in the eighth.

Monica Abbott pitched eight shutout innings for the U.S., which will face Japan again for gold Thursday. The Japanese team defeated Australia, 4-3, later Wednesday, with the winner meeting the Americans and the loser getting bronze.

The U.S. will battle Japan for the gold medal on Thursday at 6:30 a.m.

China turns the Games into its own gold factory

Take a left out of the Main Press Center, walk down the street and watch the gold flow to China.

Walk into the National Indoor Stadium two blocks away and see the tiniest, youngest-looking group of Olympic athletes ever beat the more-experienced Americans in the women's team-gymnastics final.

Stroll next door to the Water Cube, during the non-Michael Phelps portion of the program, and see the phenomenal Chinese men's 3-meter springboard synchronized-diving pair of Wang Feng and Qin Kai rout the field.
They could have done matching cannonballs on their sixth and final dives and still won easily.

China is winning.

Its athletes are following the script written seven years ago, as if this were Broadway, not Beijing.

China is hoarding gold. It had won 17 gold medals entering the late men's individual gymnastics, almost halfway to its golden goal of 40.

Seven years ago, when it was awarded the Games, China targeted sports such as weightlifting, shooting, diving and gymnastics, sports where mining gold might be easier. It found the athletes and began intensive training.

Four years ago, the plan already was working. China won the second-most golds at the 2004 Athens Games, finishing ahead of Russia.

I've never been a fan of medal counts. The Games, to me, are as much about the journey of Tacoma breaststroker Megan Jendrick, finding a way to qualify for another final in 2008 after missing the Olympics in 2004.

The Games are about an Iraqi sprinter, Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq, earning the opportunity to escape the horror in her country, crouch into the starting blocks and run one race against the world.

But China has staked its honor on these Games. It seems as if so much of its self-esteem is tied up in gold.

Not silver. Not bronze. Just gold.

The Chinese government will pay its athletes bonuses for gold medals. It has been reported that gold-medal winners on the table-tennis team will make $25,000 in bonuses.

Still, you have to wonder about the price China is paying."The Chinese women's gymnastic team made history today," coach Lu Shanzhen said, "showing the world that China's women's gymnastics is the greatest."

It's also the youngest and the tiniest. The average size of the Chinese gymnasts is 4 foot 9 and 77 pounds. The average American women's gymnast is 3 ½ inches taller and 30 pounds heavier.

"We have no proof," U.S. coach Martha Karolyi said sarcastically of the Chinese gymnasts, "but one of the little girls has a missing tooth."

There is almost a Cold War feel to China's pursuit of gold. For this country, these are the turn-back-the-clock Games, reminiscent of the big Soviet bear of the 1960s and '70s. There are the same successes and the same suspicions, the same factorylike sports-training institutes.

To answer critics who say their gymnasts are too young, China has produced passports proving each is at least 16, the required minimum age.

But the secretive nature of Chinese sports makes coaches like Karolyi justifiably suspicious.

It has been raining gold for China. Take away the amazing Phelps' five, and China has a 12-gold-medal lead over the United States after five-plus days of competition.
At the Water Cube, Wang and Qin were spectacular. Except for the different hairstyles, it was like watching one man diving alongside a mirror. They were that perfect. After their final dive, they wrapped each other in a long embrace on the pool deck as another sellout crowd screamed its appreciation.

"We performed very well today," Wang said. "We've coordinated for more than 20 months. That's all for this event. This gold is so important to my life."
It's now a world where silver is considered failure.

Chinese swimmer Zhang Li won a silver earlier this week in an impressive race in the 400-meter freestyle, but reacted without joy. He never smiled during the medal ceremony.

And when the winner, Korean Taehwan Park, pulled him into the pictures that the photographers demanded after the medal ceremony, Zhang sadly stared at their lenses with his disappointment.

Silver doesn't spend.

What happens to Zhang after the Games?
China has staked its reputation on success in these Olympics. This is its chance to slake the insecurities built during the isolationist years of the Cultural Revolution.

Instead of wilting under this enormous pressure, many of the Chinese have embraced it, and made it their home-court advantage.

In the National Indoor Stadium Wednesday morning, the fans chanted, "Chi-na. Chi-na. Chi-na." When veteran Cheng Fei fell off the balance beam, the crowd gasped as if it were watching a Wallenda walk across a canyon.

It erupted lustily on every Chinese dismount.

Finally, after American Alicia Sacramone's second tragic mistake — falling at the end of a tumbling run — practically assured the Chinese the gold, Deng Linlin, Jiang Yuyuan and Cheng put on a tumbling show for the home folks that had fans shrieking their approval. Their floor exercises almost felt like an end-zone dance.
China is chasing gold in Beijing and celebrating like it's the arrival of a great new era.

U.S. rematch vs. Brazil is new chance for Hope Solo

Goalkeeper Hope Solo, center, has reconnected with teammates since a falling-out at the World Cup last year.
Hope Solo was in doping control when she heard the news. Brazil had thumped Germany 4-1 and would be playing the United States in the Olympic gold-medal game.
She let out a cheer that echoed off the walls like a gun shot.
Solo was back.
This was the match she had waited 11 months to play. The match her coach had taken from her at the World Cup. This was the opponent she wanted to face. Eleven months ago her soccer career had fallen apart in China. Now everything was falling back into place in China.
After midnight, Solo, the former Washington star from Richland, patiently answered questions for almost 15 minutes after her team's 4-2 win over Japan in the semifinals. Then after most of the reporters left, she relaxed briefly and opened herself up just a little more.
"I didn't see myself back here months and months ago," Solo said barely above a whisper. "I don't know. I talked to my family about it. I can't believe I made it back.
"I was in no shape to go forward months ago, but it feels good after everything that's happened. It's amazing to get this chance to play against Brazil again."
Solo will get the chance that former U.S. coach Greg Ryan denied her in the 2007 when he benched her in favor of veteran Brianna Scurry in the World Cup semifinal against Brazil. The U.S. lost that game 4-0 and an angry Solo said she would have made the saves Scurry didn't, if she had been the keeper.
After those comments, Solo was ostracized. She wasn't allowed to sit on the bench for the team's third-place win. She wasn't allowed to eat meals with the team. She practically was under house arrest in China.
But Ryan was fired, and Pia Sundhage replaced him and returned the job of goalkeeping to Solo.
Truth, justice and talent have won out. Solo has faced down her fears and her critics. She has found something deep within herself that has allowed her to overcome.
"I feel great right now," she said. "I feel great with my teammates. I've never been that player that's been overly close with my teammates, just because we're all so busy.
"And I'm 27 years old. We have our lives at home. I have my good support system back at home. You come in here and you're as close as you need to be to get the job done. But I feel great right now. And I feel great with my teammates."
Maybe she still hasn't found that soccer sisterhood that was so much a part of previous women's Olympic teams, but Solo has found peace.
There is a mutual respect. An understanding that everything that happened in this country 11 months ago is ancient history. All that matters is the gold-medal game against the Brazilians on Thursday.
"It will be nice to get some revenge, I guess," Solo said. "It has nothing to do with those shots [that Scurry allowed]. That was 11 months ago. I don't think it's a personal thing any more. I think it's our team wanting to reclaim what we could have gotten at the World Cup. It has nothing to do with anything personal right now."
Solo was playing some of the best soccer of her life when she was yanked out of the lineup by Ryan. She was undefeated and hadn't allowed a goal in almost 300 minutes.
That Brazilian game should have been hers, and even though she says this gold-medal game won't be personal, it will be.
"I think it would be nice to play Brazil because you always want to reclaim what you could have had," she said. "But if they hadn't made it to the final, I still would have been happy, because we did what we needed to do to get here."
After an opening-game loss to Norway, the U.S. has blown through the field. This team doesn't have the glitter or the names of the past U.S. team — no Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy or Brandi Chastain.
With scorer Abby Wambach out with a broken leg, Solo is its only recognizable player.
"I think one of the most amazing things with our team is that we don't have that big-name player," she said. "People don't really know us, and I think our team is finding so much energy with that.
"We have numerous people scoring goals. We have numerous people stepping up. But for us, we like it that we don't have a big-name player. We have new faces. Everything feels fresh. It's like we're making our own statement. Writing our own script."
Brazil has been a metaphor for all of the injustice Solo has faced in the past 11 months. Brazil has meant despair. Now, in Thursday's gold-medal game, she will be given the chance to change the meaning of that metaphor.
Brazil can mean hope for Solo.

Johnson silver in floor exercise by a sliver

Doug and Teri Johnson scooted from their seats down to the front row and leaned over the rail to snap photos as their daughter, Shawn, marched to the podium Sunday to collect her third silver medal of the Beijing Olympics.She spotted them among the 18,000 at National Indoor Stadium, and parents and child exchanged heartfelt looks.It was a magic moment for the West Des Moines family, not diminished by the fact that Johnson, 16, missed gold again, finishing behind Romania's Sandra Izbasa in the women's gymnastics floor exercise final.

"It's a win," Teri Johnson said. "She came out and gave the fight of her life. I've never seen her do better."

Johnson, who also has team and all-around silver medals, is now one of the most decorated U.S. gymnasts in Olympic history, and has a chance to add a medal in the balance beam final Tuesday. Only two U.S. gymnasts have won more than three total Olympic medals. Shannon Miller won seven in two Olympics, and Mary Lou Retton won five in one.

"Oh my God, I can't believe we're here, much less on the medal stand," Teri Johnson said. "I'm just numb."

Doug Johnson was caught up in the moment, helping lead a "Way to go, Shawn!" cheer along with her agent, Sheryl Shade, and her family, and a friend from Iowa.

"She's given everything she had," Doug Johnson said.

Johnson was upbeat about her latest silver medal but craves more.

"I really want to go for gold on beam," she said.

She gets a day off today and will spend it showing her parents around the Olympic Village.

She also will watch her roommate, all-around champion Nastia Liukin, compete in the uneven bars final. Liukin took the floor exercise bronze.

Johnson said she doesn't know how she could have improved her score of 15.550, to Izbasa's 15.650. Liukin scored 15.425.

But she said Izbasa deserved the gold.

"Sandra had an amazing routine," Johnson said. "She stuck her landings, and she has amazing flexibility."

Johnson was first to take the floor with her routine, which includes a difficult tuck double-double on her first tumbling pass.

Then the wait while the seven others performed was excruciating. Liukin and Izbasa were the last to go.

"It was very tough," Johnson said. "I'm definitely not used to that. I'm usually last. Sitting and watching the seven other girls was the most nerve-wracking thing. I wasn't sure how my score was going to hold up."

The U.S. was looking for its first gold medal in floor exercise.

Every previous champion was from the Soviet Union, Russia or one of the former Eastern Bloc countries.

Izbasa was the sixth Romanian champion.

The Americans had won only four medals ever in the floor exercise. Julianne McNamara won silver and Retton bronze in 1984 in Los Angeles, Miller bronze in 1992 in Barcelona and Dominique Dawes bronze in 1996 in Atlanta.

Johnson had scored 15.525 on floor exercise while taking silver in Friday's all-around competition, scored 15.100 in team competition after a penalty for stepping out of bounds and was third in qualifying with 15.425.

"This is a lot more of a struggle than we ever thought it would be," Teri Johnson said.

Alicia Sacramone, 20, of Winchester, Mass., just missed a medal in the vault earlier Sunday with a score of 15.537.

North Korea's Un Jong Hong won with 15.650.

Germany's Oksana Chusovitina, a 33-year-old, eight-time world medalist in vault who has previously competed for the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan, took silver at 15.575. China's favored Cheng Fei landed on her knees on her second vault and scored 15.562.

A Russian perspective

The Olympic spirit is everywhere in Beijing. Even far from the sports venues, you can still feel that the city is hosting the Games.

I'm not just talking about clean streets, new buildings, good roads and sparkling hotels. The Games add another dimension to Beijing, making it more energetic than I can ever remember and giving people here a fresh view of life. I'm sure that the same thing will happen in my native city of Sochi in 2014.

I have been looking closely at Beijing life and want to share my impressions with you.

Chinese people are very friendly. This more than makes up for the occasional lack of strong English speakers. But some of the communication difficulties result in funny moments. For example, I spent 15 minutes explaining to a taxi driver that I wanted to go to the Great Wall where the cycling competitions are taking place. After getting nowhere in English, I started to speak Russian and it rescued me. The driver actually understood Russian better than English!

It is quite easy to get around Beijing during the Games. You can use buses and the underground. Moreover, it is free for members of the Olympic family. The Chinese have constructed a special underground line to Olympic venues. It's a great way to ensure you're on time and not held up in traffic, even with the dedicated Olympic lanes on roads set up for cars.

Right now in Beijing they are enforcing a traffic reduction rule: cars with an even registration number can go out on the even dates of the month and vice versa with the odd numbers. The result is simple: half the cars on the roads during the Games. But even so there are occasions when the traffic is heavy - especially when everyone heads for the Olympic Green at night, such as after Usain Bolt won that incredible 100m gold.

Recently I went with some colleagues to see one of the women's field hockey matches. Although I found the sport quite unusual, the most incredible thing about the day was seeing a group of people in the stadium wearing matching T-shirts. We found out that these people had helped to build the Olympic venues in Beijing.

I was very touched by the attitude of our Chinese hosts towards these people who had played a very important, but often overlooked role in the staging of the Olympics. We too must not forget the people who help make our Winter Games in Sochi come to life.

I also believe that the Games are reflecting Chinese culture well. The country's style and tradition is everywhere, from the opening ceremony through to the competition venues themselves. A few days ago I found a cultural showcase in the middle of the Olympic Green called "China Story", where you can learn about the history of China, local life and even try to write Chinese characters. Of course, it's difficult to learn, but it's interesting to see your name written out in Mandarin.

Naturally, I'm following the performance of Russian athletes closely and was very proud of the performance of our female tennis players, who managed a clean sweep of gold, silver and bronze in the individual competition. I was really impressed by the Russian fans who had travelled from all over our country to watch the matches in Beijing. Some guys from Novosibirsk even stretched out a big 'Russia-Novosibirsk' flag along the whole stand!

Most didn't know who to support in the final - Elena Dementieva or Dinara Safina! In the end they supported both, calling to Safina when she was losing: "Stand firm!" and when Dementieva lost form: "Lena, we are with you!" So to be at the Olympic final with that kind of atmosphere and watching two Russian athletes, was a real privilege.

Games of energy and brilliance

In this EFE photo, Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's tennis singles event. Nadal is now officially the No. 1 tennis player in the world starting today

Olympic Games are usually unforgettable for the athletes, for the countries, for the glory and sometimes even for the shame. However, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games could be the subject of a book all by itself. New world records and history unraveling before spectators' eyes are happening almost every day. The Games have not even ended, yet a more than impressive cadre of the world's super athletes have given organisers, fans and the media more than enough of what they came here for, not to mention the Olympic spirit.

Sport is the activity in which ordinary people made of flesh and bones accomplish extraordinary feats, thanks to practice, practice and more practice. Sport becomes mythical and God gets the thanks He deserves when athletes surpass their own expectations or acts of fortune and misfortune appear out of nowhere. One of these could be swimming 17 races in nine days, medaling in 14 of them, pocketing 8 gold and all this of course, against the best on the planet. The athletic feat was so great and the legend created so young, that his name need not even be mentioned for the world to know about whom this author refers. As he would tell you himself, he is not the new Spitz, he is Phelps. Still, Phelps has only one date on the world calendar and it comes only every four years. This does not mean that the 23-year-old figure is less than Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. In fact, if Michael Phelps were the name of a country, it would be fifth on the overall standings, behind the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Germany.

On the other end, Jamaica's Usain "Lightning" Bolt cannot seem to find a worthy opponent, so much so that he could afford to jog into the finish line and still break the world record - which happened to be his own - with his closest rival from Trinidad and Tobago Richard Thompson at least two full lengths behind. After three Jamaicans took gold, silver and bronze in the 100 meter dash, some international press hail Jamaica as the fastest country in the world.

Meanwhile Spain's Rafael Nadal - a phenomenon of his own - is scooping up massive support as his extraordinary successes unfold everywhere he goes. Apart from André Agassi in the Atlanta Olympic Games of 1996, no tennis player of the "great elite" had won gold at the Olympic Games. Nadal did it with the energy and brilliance that have characterized his career and indeed, energy and brilliance seem to be what are characterizing the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games too.


In this EFE photo Michael Phelps raises his hands amidst a crowd of swimmers.

Argentina says adios to Russia with 91-79 win

Argentina fought off a fourth quarter surge by Russia to win 91-79 in the last game of the Men's Basketball preliminary round on Monday, August 18.

Argentina seemed to be on course for a swift victory when it closed the first quarter 27-16 and the half 45-39 without losing its lead more than once. Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni each scored 14 points in the first half, and Nocioni was on fire with 100 percent shooting including three three-pointers. Russia's Andrey Kirilenko also shot with perfect accuracy for 12 points in the first half, and he pulled five boards to help his team out-rebound Argentina 17-11.

Coming back from the break the Russian team came within five points when Sergey Bykov hit a foul shot after his made basket to bring the score 49-44, but Argentina charged forward 72-64.

In keeping with Russia's trend of opening each quarter strong, the fourth period saw a final push from Russia that even resulted in the team's second lead of the game, 73-72 after Kirilenko went to the foul line. Russia lost the lead, but J.R. Holden hit a three-pointer in response to two-points from Scola to narrow the gap 76-75 still in Argentina's favor. In the end, Russia couldn't surpass the defending Olympic champion and Argentina was able to regroup and pull out a win.

Scola racked up a staggering 37 points and eight rebounds without touching the bench once all game. Nocioni contributed 19 points and nine rebounds by the end, and Ginobili shot for 12 points with four assists. Russian captain Kirilenko led his team with 23 points, followed by Holden with 19 points and nine rebounds. Bykov and Andrey Vorontsevich tied with 10 points netted.

Argentina enters the quarterfinal as the second seed from group A, while Russia now exits the tournament.

Ukraine's Ruban wins men's individual archery gold

Viktor Ruban of Ukraine releases the arrow during the men's individual final of archery against Park Kyung-Mo of the Republic of Korea at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. Ruban defeated Park and claimed the title in this event.

Ukraine's Viktor Ruban scored 113 points to win the men's individual archery gold medal at the Olympic Games here on Friday.

The losing finalist, South Korea's Park Kyung-Mo took the silver medal on 112 points.

Russia's Bair Badenov took the bronze medal by beating Mexico's Juan Rene Serrano 115-110.



Gold medalist Viktor Ruban (C) of Ukraine, silver medalist Park Kyung-Mo (L) of the Republic of Korea and bronze medalist Bair Badenov of Russia stand on the podium at the awarding ceremony of the men's individual competition of archery at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. (Xinhua/Gesang Dawa)

U.S. Soni wins women's 200m breaststroke gold, shatters world record

Rebecca Soni of the United States competes during the final of women's 200m breaststroke at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. Rebecca Soni won the gold medal with a new world record of 2 minutes 20.22 seconds.

Rebecca Soni of the United States won the Olympic gold medal by shattering the world record 0.32 second in the women's 200m breaststroke final here on Friday.

Closely tailed by the world record holder Leisel Jones from Australia, Soni finished the first 150m at 1:43.70 and then fired a power charge in the final leg by touching home at 2:20.22, beating Jones in a body length advantage, and bettering her record 0.32 second.

Jones, who already bagged a silver for the event in the Athen Games, took her second in 2:22.05, and the bronze went to Norway's Sara Nordenstam who was timed 2:23.02.

"It feels great. I can't believe what just happened. I've won a gold medal. It has been a long road to get here," said Soni, who was only substituted to the event after Jessica Hardy withdrew due to a failed drug test.

"I turned (at the 150m mark) and realised I was first. I knew I had a little bit left in me, so I tried to stay relaxed and strong," the breaststroker added.

Soni, who swims in her strongest event, already blistered through her heat with an Olympic record 2:22.17, and cruised into the final on top of the namelist, leaving little doubt she was the swimmer to win.

Although the 21-year-old said she was nervous all day yesterday and this morning, the pressure is acturally off for her since the Southern California University swimming star already shined by presenting an unexpected silver medal performance in 100 breast Tuesday.

"It just flowed. I tried to keep my stroke strong. It's something I've been working on through the trials," Soni said.

Jones explained the failure of her second bid for the 200m breast to some breathing problem in the final 50m.

"I just cannot breathe in the last 50 (metes), so it happened in the past. I did my best," said Jones, who already snatch the title for women's 100m breaststroke race on Tuesday morning.

"I'm definitely not disappointed. It is probably more relief than anything," Jones said after the race, adding that a silver medal is enough for her to feel happy.

" I gave it everything I had, I couldn't have given it any more," the 23-year-old Aussie said.

Breakaway gold for American swimmer Lochte at Beijing Olympics

American swimmer Ryan Lochte has for years been sandwiched between routine winners Michael Phelps and Aaron Peirsol, and he finally freed himself with an Olympic gold medal here on Friday.

The 24-year-old swimmer defeated world record holder Peirsol in the men's 200-meter backstroke here in Beijing, clocking one minute and 53.94 seconds to wipe 0.38 seconds off the previous world record which he shared with Peirsol.

"I can't even put it into words," said Lochte on winning his first individual Olympic gold, "I touched the wall and was like 'thank you, finally.'"

In the pool, Lochte has been a challenger, to Phelps in the individual medley and to Peirsol in the backstroke. He was part of the team that won the 4x200m freestyle gold in Athens, but seemed to have always as runner-up in individual events. At the U.S. Olympic trials in July, Lochte finished second three times, each time beaten by a world record set by Phelps and Peirsol.

"I've been racing Peirsol and Phelps for 5 or 6 years now, and I think I'm used to getting up and racing them," said Lochte.

In the 200 backstroke, before he edged Peirsol to the second in the 2007 World Championships, the latter has dominated the backstroke for five straight years. At the Olympic trials, Peirsol staged a comeback to equal the record, but it was Lochte who finally stood out in the Beijing rematch.

"In the 200 backstroke, I swam as fast as possible, but tried not to use my legs as much, basically I (began) racing in the last 50 meters," he said.

Lochte's swimsuit didn't fit well before he jumped into the water, but it didn't hamper him from flashing for the gold. "Before I jumped in, I didn't have the suit as tight as I wanted. But as soon as I dove in, I got bubbled up, and I didn't really focus on my suit," he said.

Compared with his rivals, Lochte seemed less aggressive and more laid-back. He has sustained careless injuries from falling off trees and landing into bushes on a scooter, but he managed to regroup himself before major swim meets.

Responding to how he prepared for the events, he cited sleeping tight and feeding on Big Macs.

"I slept really well and I went to bed like at nine last night," he said.

"Nutrition is probably the last thing I worry about. I eats whatever tastes good. I've been eating Mcdonald's pretty much every meal here. I think it helped though."

After winning the 200 backstroke, Lochte hurried off to another face-off with Phelps in the 200 individual medley race, in which he again was the underdog, but still believed himself in winning.

"I wanted to beat Michael Phelps. Every time I got into water and raced him, I always feel like I can win. That's the way I've been training my mind," he said.

Lochte finished third like he did in the 400 IM, in which Phelps claimed the title with a sixth world record at the Games.

"I wanted to (defeat Phelps), but it didn't happen. I just got up, go back, look at the video, see what I did wrong and hopefully get better," Lochte said.

The ability to put himself at ease, coupled with a strong belief in winning, has not only propelled Lochte to be the second fastest swimmer at 1:55.22 in the 200 IM, but also spurred the ace Phelps on.

"I wouldn't have bettered the mark if Ryan and others didn't push so hard," said Phelps.

When the two stepped onto the podium, Lochte was still panting, but he found time for small talk and joke-sharing with teammate Phelps.

Review: Beijing 2008

GOING FOR GOLD: Beijing 2008 is a game for Olympics fans who like their virtual events to be as challenging as the real thing.
Beijing 2008 is the official game for this year's Olympics and carries on the traditional button mashing madness that started back in the 80s with other related titles.

However, unlike the early days, Beijing 2008 is definitely aimed at being more of a serious sports simulation than a furious arcade time-waster. This game features 32 countries (unfortunately only a fraction of the 204 total competing in the Olympics) and 35 events across a range of disciplines, each with their own techniques to master.

The immediate problem with this "serious sporting" slant is that Beijing 2008 becomes a lot of hard work. Although the numerous events feature similar elements to their controls, very few gamers will be able to sit down and get a medal on their first attempt. Or even on their fourteenth attempt.

It is obvious why Sega have made this game difficult to master, as it really does portray the amazing skill and dexterity required by the athletes who take part in the Olympics. But sadly, this has also removed some of the fun from the game as well.

Although the difficulty may deter plenty of casual players, it does open the doors to those people out there looking for a detailed sporting simulator.

Plenty of events, like the 100m sprint or shot-put simply require tapping two buttons as fast as you can (the PS3 version also allows you to waggle your analogue sticks if you prefer). But the more technically complex sports demand near-perfect timing and literally hours of practice.

For example, the diving event requires you to gently move your analogue sticks to guide your player through the diving motions - twisting and turning with the right timing to avoid a nasty belly-flop. There is a similar element to the gymnastic events where you must time the pressing of various buttons with on-screen directions to try and nab that perfect score.

Other events like the long jump use the typical button tapping for speed but then a quick change of controls to use the shoulder buttons for the final jump, where your timing indicates the angle and distance you travel. Press the shoulder buttons too early or for too long and your distance will suffer dramatically. Worse yet is pressing the buttons too late, resulting in an instant disqualification as you place a foot over the jumping line.

This leads onto the other issue with Beijing 2008. The game is very non user-friendly and although each event has the option of viewing a tutorial first, they are often too quick to fully comprehend. This doesn't help the fact that most of the events have very steep learning curves and that the AI opponents seldom screw up. The end result is an extremely frustrating experience that reminds you that not only could you not do these events in real life - you now also completely suck at video games as well.

After coming dead last in judo, cycling, hurdles, 100m butterfly stroke, high jump, long jump, table tennis and gymnastics, I was beginning to lose hope. Luckily though there are some events that are easier to pick up and play and therefore more fun.

Archery featured a surprisingly natural and fluid control system that doesn't appear to feature in any other of the events. By pulling back on the right analogue stick, your player pulls back the bow and with the left stick you aim your crosshair. The longer you try and aim the shot, the smaller the target becomes to indicate strain on your archer's hand.

Flicking the right stick forwards launches the arrow, and hitting near the bullseye was satisfyingly rewarding. Especially after half an hour of clay pigeon shooting where I managed to hit a whopping 1 out of 25 targets (Sweden won gold with 24 targets).

There is only a small amount of time that any one man can continue to look like a complete muppet while playing a game by himself. This amount of time is around 53 minutes, so after nearly an hour of seeing myself come dead-last in every event I decided to get three mates around. Beijing 2008 allows for up to 4 players to compete on the same console and up to 8 players online.

Truth be told, multiplayer does make this game more entertaining. This is mainly because your shame is now shared between the four of you, all fighting to avoid being the wooden spoon champion.

Some of the highlights were the long distance running events such as the 1500m where the controls were simple and the need to pace your runners for the three laps proved to be a fun challenge. Kenya was doing brilliantly until he suffered heart failure after full-on sprinting from the starting block.

The PS3 version of the game features some excellent graphics and sound that all help immerse you into the Olympic extravagance. Despite the unusually pixilated opening menu screen, the in-game visuals are extremely life-like. The animations of the human form across all events are stunning and often it feels like you are watching the real thing on TV.

The only short-fall lies in the similarity of the models getting recycled across a few of the different nationalities. Undoubtedly though, Beijing 2008 features some very detailed athletes and this obviously helps add to the realistic presentation of the game.

One thing that's clear about Beijing 2008 though, is that the game is extremely unforgiving to both your controllers... and your hands. With all the repetitive controls and button bashing, sometimes you are in so much pain you felt like you just ran 1500m... on your thumbs. Thankfully though, the game has a great range of events so splitting the running or swimming events with slower paced ones can help reduce the strain on your thumbs.

For those players who don't want their thumbs to resemble pork sausages, we discovered an excellent method that we came to call the "no-fingered-palm technique." As many of the events allow you to waggle your analogue stick to gain speed, you can simply place your palm on top of the stick and rotate your whole hand. Trust us, you'll thank this review later when you out-run your opponents when they stop for an RSI break.

Beijing 2008 isn't an easy game to nail down into an overall score. On one hand, the people considering purchasing Beijing 2008 are likely to be serious Olympic fans wanting to get a full-on experience in the events they watch on TV.

In this case, Beijing 2008 is sure to please and the challenging learning curve is more likely to spur players on to perfect their technique and claim gold. The game even allows players to train their own team of athletes and customise their perfect team.

Even breaking virtual World and Olympic records and having them displayed online for eternal glory is possible. But for others wanting a fun arcade-like game, Beijing 2008 is likely to just end up being too much work.

NBC hails multimedia 'phenomenon' in games coverage

US broadcaster NBC has claimed "phenomenal" ratings for its multimedia coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with viewing figures bolstered by on-demand, web and mobile content.

In the first four days of the event, the official broadcaster for the Olympics across the US saw viewing peak on Sunday with Michael Phelps' second gold of the games during the 4x100 mens' relay.

NBC, which has been using a new measurement system to combine viewing figures across all media outlets, saw TV viewing peak at 107.3 million across the US that night, up from 70.1 million on Friday.

Though TV still accounts for the vast majority of Olympic viewing, its share dropped the following Monday from 95% to 92% as the volume of online viewing of NBC's Beijing coverage grew.

The NBC website saw unique user numbers increase from 4.2 million last Friday, August 8, the first day of the games, to 7.8 million on Monday, August 11, when viewers wanted to replay Phelps' US swimming victory. NBC recorded 1.7 million downloads of the final 4x100 relay final.

In the UK, BBC Sport Interactive head Ben Gallop said bbc.co.uk recorded more traffic in the first two days of the games than in the entire two weeks of the 2004 Athens games.

Commenting on the record traffic, Gallop described Beijing as "a stepping stone for London - we want try things out and see how they work to learn for four years' time".

Alan Wurtzel, research president for NBC Universal, said the ratings are well ahead of the Athens games in 2004 and confirmed that the 2008 Beijing Olympics are the most viewed ever, with 114 million US viewers compared with 110 million for Athens.

Wurtzel also said the broadcaster has been "stunned" by the popularity of mobile content. On August 8 just 210,333 people accessed the NBC service, but by Monday this had more than doubled to 476,062.

More than half these people are accessing mobile content for the first time, NBC research found.

"These Olympics are influencing how people are using new technology," Wurtzel said. "Half of the people viewing on mobile are using it for the first time. After the Olympics, it will be interesting if these habits become part of their behaviour."

On top of TV coverage, NBC is offering an unprecedented 2,200 hours of live Olympic webcasts and 700 hours of additional, exclusive content distributed through cable TV, although some commentators have criticised NBC's decision not to post any events online until they have been aired on TV.

Wurtzel also admitted that NBC had feared that online content would cannibalise the TV audience, which is the most lucrative for advertising - but said this has not been the case. NBC's research showed that just 0.2% of its audience used the web exclusively.

Sport of eating to Award Cash Prize of Olympic Proportions

2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- When the very best from the sport of eating descend upon Chattanooga for the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sept. 28, 2008, it will be more than just the title on the line. Top-ranked eaters such as Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will also battle for some serious money as The Krystal Company announced today that it will award an unprecedented $50,000 in cash prizes, making it the largest cash purse in competitive eating history.
"Victory will be as good as gold at the Krystal Square Off V finals this year as we give away the largest cash purse in competitive eating history," said Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing, The Krystal Company. "As elite, world-class athletes, these competitors are focused on the title first and foremost, but winning some cold, hard cash will make victory taste even sweeter."
The winner this year will receive $20,000 in cash, twice the amount Chestnut took home in 2007 when he shocked a live audience of 10,000 by eating an unfathomable 103 Krystal Hamburgers in eight minutes. Chestnut's mark last year shattered Takeru Kobayashi's previous world record of 97.
The runner-up at Krystal Square Off V will take home a paycheck of $10,000, while third place will leave Chattanooga $5,000 richer. On the line for the remaining finalists are the following payouts: 4th - $3,000; 5th - $2,500; 6th - $2,000; 7th - $1,850; 8th - $1,500; 9th - $1,400; 10th - $1,250; 11th - $1,000; 12th - $500.
A seven-city qualifying circuit for Krystal Square Off V kicks off in Chattanooga with an opening ceremony on Aug. 22 followed by an eight-minute contest on Aug. 23. From there, the circuit journeys through six more cities with the winner of each regional qualifier awarded a seat to the World Championship in Chattanooga. Three wild card spots to the final will also be awarded based on performances in the regional qualifiers.
At the Krystal Square Off V final, the seven regional winners and three wild cards will face off against the world's number one ranked eater Joey Chestnut, who receives an automatic seat to this year's championship as the defending champion.
The Krystal Square Off is one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating and the only world hamburger-eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the world governing body of all stomach-centric sports.
For complete details on Krystal Square Off V, visit krystalsquareoff.com .
SOURCE The Krystal Company

Reviews mixed for Olympic gender equity

Women are competing at the 2008 Games in record numbers, yet the Olympic movement remains under fire on the gender front — accused of failing to reduce male dominance in its own ranks and tolerating countries which exclude women from their teams.

Of more than 11,000 athletes assembled in Beijing, 42 per cent are women. That’s up from less than 26 per cent in 1988, and illustrates the success of an aggressive campaign since then by the International Olympic Committee to move toward gender equity.

The IOC itself, and its affiliates, haven’t done nearly as well, falling short of their own goals.

Of the IOC’s 110 members, 16 are women — and only one serves on the powerful 15-member executive board. A sizable majority of the 205 national Olympic committees have executive bodies that are at least 80 per cent male, and only two of the 35 Olympic sports federations have women as presidents.

"I’m deeply disappointed," said Anita DeFrantz, the senior U.S. member of the IOC and chair of its Women and Sport Commission.

"I don’t understand why we haven’t been successful," she said. "I’m reviewing everything to determine what it is that’s blocking us."

One fundamental problem is that sports administration in many nations remains an old boys club. DeFrantz said change will be too slow unless the men in power commit themselves to grooming women as leaders.

DeFrantz also is among many advocates of women’s sports who have run out of patience with Saudi Arabia, the last major nation that bars women from its Olympic teams. She wants the Saudis — who have fielded a 17-man squad in Beijing — to be excluded from the 2012 Games in London unless they end their males-only policy.

"Perhaps after these games it will be clear they will be the only outliers and have to allow women to compete," DeFrantz said. "The women in that country deserve the opportunity."

Critics contend the IOC is failing to adhere to its own charter, which says discrimination on the basis of sex is "incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement." They suggest that a double-standard is at work, with the IOC more tolerant of gender bias than it was of the institutionalized racial segregation that triggered South Africa’s exclusion from the Olympics during the apartheid era.

However, many IOC members may be reluctant to bar the Saudis from London.

"I’d be surprised and disappointed if we took such draconian action," said senior IOC member Kevan Gosper. "All that would do is have the athletes of that country suffer."

Apartheid "was considered a crime against humanity," Gosper said. "I don’t think that can be considered parallel to the effort to bring women into absolutely equal gender balance."

Whether Saudi Arabia changes on its own remains to be seen. The government is generally wary of angering conservative Islamic clergy, yet the issue of women in sports has been raised recently in the Saudi media and reportedly has been debated by a high-level government advisory council.

Saudi Arabia currently bans sports and physical education classes in state-run girls’ schools. Women have discreetly formed a few sports teams on their own, but the level of competition is considered a world away from Olympic calibre.

Thursday events cancelled

Ben Ainslie and Britain's Yngling team have been forced to halt their medal pursuits as inclement weather conditions forced organisers to postpone all of Thursday's sailing events.

Defending Olympic champion Ainslee is leading the Finn class as he seeks a third successive gold medal, extending a narrow six-point advantage over the USA's Zach Railey on Wednesday.

However, thunder and lightning have joined heavy rain in forcing a postponement of proceedings, seeing organisers put all sailing and rowing events back to Friday.

The news also causes a delay for the British Yngling team's bid for gold, with two-time world champions Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson now having to race on their postponed day-off.

Seven out of 10 races in each category have been held, but light breezes on Wednesday had already caused a time delay leading up to the beginning of Saturday's medal races.

Britain have been impressive in both disciplines, with eight finalists in rowing already doubling the total number of athletes that reached the same stage in Athens four years ago.

Welcome to the Stretchy Pants Olympics

And now, live from Las Vegas, NBC Live Sports is proud to present: Saturday Night Badminton!

No? How about Saturday Night Fencing? Or maybe: Welcome to The Kayak Bowl!

The big U.S. broadcaster is paying a fortune to televise minority sports such as these from the Beijing Olympics, but don’t expect it to remake its fall TV sports schedule, no matter how many Golds Americans win at them.

We would have asked NBC why they go to the trouble of showing things like judo and rowing, but our top researcher, Keanu, already had a response: “They’d give you a boring answer, dude.” Then he went back to talking to his girlfriend on his mobile.

“So I was like…so he was like…so I was like….”

But, it’s no secret anyway. As everyone knows, track and swim and bike and gym have the lion’s share of gold medals, celebrity, television close-ups and cool stuff at the Olympic Games.

Athletics (47 Golds) has slick shades and gold chains, painted fingernails, cornrows and bad shoes. Swimming (34) already had slinky Speedos, now it has hydrodynamic artificial shark skin suits.

Gymnastics (18) has nymphs in glittery leotards and husky dudes in wife-beaters doing turns on dangerous gear. Cycling (18) has shaved legs and spectacular pileups. And check out the paint jobs on those bikes!

So far, so good. We know why we’re watching. In addition, that is, to the display of skill, strength and endurance from long years of selfless commitment by the athletes.

It’s okay then if, every four years, folks like NBC and the other big media help shine a light on the furthest corners of the world of sport, and even provide commentators to can explain it.

But are the interests of the great masses being sacrificed in the name of elitist sports for the middle classes, who can afford to buy specialist clothing and high-tech gear? Are the world’s most popular bat, stick and ball games being short-changed?

You judge: basketball and football get only two gold medals each. Baseball gets just one. But there are 14 for judo and 14 for rowing and 11 for shooting.

Okay, football and basketball and baseball have their own separate World Cup and NBA playoffs and World Series. But it’s still not clear whose perfect Saturday afternoon sports lineup the Olympic Games is supposed to reflect.

When was the last time you called in sick to sneak off to a fencing match (10 Golds)? Or try to bribe a client with a couple of tickets to the kayaking (12 Golds)?

“Thanks, I already got ringside at synchronised swimming (2 Golds) and after that we’re on standby for tickets to the archery (4 Golds)…”

Olympic wrestling (18 Golds) has come a long way from the jaggedy-assed wool combination suits the guys used to wear. But no amount of lycra can make up for the lack of lace-up leather facemasks, Indian headdresses, silk capes, oiled locks, weird tights and horrible fouls we’re used to seeing on Worldwide Professional Wrestling Federation night. There are no tag teams and no hair-pulling.

Jack Black knows that shunning showmanship won’t work. As he secretly transforms himself from monastery cook into successful wrestling pro in his movie ‘Nacho Libre’, Black explains the exigencies of pro sport to a puzzled orphan.

“When you are a man,” he says, “sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.”

PHOTO: Daigoro Timoncini of Italy (in red) fights Kenzo Kato of Japan during their 96kg men’s Greco-Roman wrestling qualification match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 14, 2008. REUTERS/Oleg Popov

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Yamamura of Japan attempts a block during their men's preliminary pool A volleyball match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk (CHINA)


Britain's Louisa Reeve and Olivia Whitlam (R) power in the women's pair at the Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 12, 2008. The rowing heats and finals will all be staged in mid-afternoon with the temperature topping 30 Celsius, combined with 75 percent humidity. AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)


Kobe Bryant #10 of the U.S. Men's Senior National Team dunks against Angola during a men's preliminary basketball game on day 4 of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Beijing Olympic Basketball gymnasium on August 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
Boyan Yordanov (R) of Bulgaria plays a shot as Kota

Stanley, Priddy power Americans past Italy

BEIJING (TICKER) —Clayton Stanley had 19 kills and William Priddy added 18 to pace the United States men’s volleyball team to a 3-1 triumph over Italy in a Pool A match on Tuesday.

David Lee had five blocks, and Ryan Millar and Stanley had three apiece for the United States, which recorded a 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 victory.

“I think today’s match had a lot to do with our serving and Italy’s receiving,” coach Ron Larsen said. “That helped us play a good block and defense. I think we did a pretty good job.”

The Americans were still without head coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose in-laws were attacked over the weekend. Todd Bachman was killed and wife Barbara remains in stable condition after they were attacked by a Chinese man with a knife while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower in Beijing on Saturday.

The attacker, later identified as Tang Yongming, 47, then committed suicide, throwing himself from the ancient monument.

“Hugh had not been involved in the game planning since what happened,” Larsen said. “He doesn’t have to worry about the game. We have spent four years approaching this game and preparing for it. We would not even ask him to worry about the games.

“He knows his priority - his family, first and foremost.”

Hristo Zlatanov had 16 kills and three blocks for the Italians.

In Group B matches, Russia rallied for a 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 16-14) victory over Germany and Poland breezed past Egypt with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 21-10) triumph. Brazil also was victorious, posting a 25-27, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 win over Serbia.

China rallied for a 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 16-25, 25-21, 16-14) victory over Venezuela in Pool A. Also in Pool A, Bulgaria defeated Japan, 29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19.

In beach volleyball, Americans Sean Rosenthal and Jacob Gibb won their second straight game with a 21-15, 21-13 triumph over Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann of Germany in Group F.

The United States duo looked very impressive with a variety of attacks that kept the German team off-balance.

Rosenthal had 13 successful attacks, while the 6-7 Gibb had 11 and five blocks. The pair converted on 71 percent (24-of-34) of their attacks.

The Chinese men’s beach volleyball duo of Linyin Xu and Penggen Wu rallied to a three-set triumph over Kristjan Kais and Rivo Vesik of Estonia in a Group A match.

The Chinese pair rallied after dropping the first set to post a 15-21, 21-11, 15-13 triumph.

Wu was successful on 24 of 45 attacks and had 23 digs, while Xu had seven blocks for China.

In a Group A match, Clemens Doppler and Peter Gartmayer of Austria recorded a 2-1 (20-22, 21-19, 15-11) victory over Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil. Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Raul Mesa were also triumphant in Group A, defeating Florian Gosch and Alexander Horst of Austria in straight sets.

Japan’s Kentaro Asahi and Katsuhiro Shiratori were victorious over Emiel Boersma and Bram Ronnes of the Netherlands in Group F, while Russian duo Igor Kolodinskiy and Dmitry Barsuk defeated Italy’s Eugenio Amore and Riccardo Lione in straight sets in Group D.

Beach Volleyball-Spaniards thunder on

By Jane Barrett

BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Spain’s Pablo Herrera showed the same form that won him a surprise silver in Athens at the Olympic beach volleyball on Tuesday, thundering the ball across the net to beat Austria 2-0 in their group match.

“That was such a fun game,” said Herrera, who changed partners after the last Olympics to team up again with Raul Mesa.

“If we keep playing like that we can really aspire to something,” the 26-year-old said.

The pair, who won the under-21 world championships in 2001 and the European championships in 2005, now face their biggest challenge in more ways than one.

Top-seeded duo Chinese Wu Penggen and Xu “Tiny” Linyin have stormed through their first two matches with 2.02-metre Tiny blocking almost everything that comes his way at the net.

At the other end of the rankings, bottom-seeded Japan put their first win on the board against the Netherlands in a three-set game of daredevil leaps and powerful overarm smashes.

“What we did today is so important for beach volleyball in Japan. Not that many people play there, so hopefully now they’ll see how fun it is,” said Katsuhiro Shiratori.

U.S. second men’s pair Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal also found their rhythm to beat Germany 2-0.

In the women’s draw, U.S. duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh lengthened their winning streak to 103 matches by beating Cuba 2-0 and the second-ranked teams from Brazil and China both won comfortably.

The third pool matches start on Wednesday, at which point the first teams will start to be eliminated.

Bulgaria’s captain out on doping suspicion

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)—The captain of Bulgaria’s Olympic volleyball team, Plamen Konstantinov, has been temporarily removed over a doping allegation, a sporting official said Tuesday.

Bulgaria’s Volleyball Federation chief Dancho Lazarov told private Darik radio that Konstantinov’s test has showed “illegal substances that were in the upper range of the permissible levels.”

He did not name the banned substance.

“Plamen himself wanted to get retested and that is why he left for Bulgaria. If the new results are negative he may return to Beijing,” Lazarov said.

The chairman of Bulgaria’s National Anti-Doping Commission said Konstantinov had not failed any doping test.

“His blood showed high levels of testosterone and although they were below the maximum admissible levels, the Volleyball Federation decided to take an extra precaution and remove him from the match,” Kamen Plochev told National TV.

“In their panic, the federation made a hasty decision.”

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said she had no information about any case.

Bulgaria’s captain out on doping suspicion

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)—The captain of Bulgaria’s Olympic volleyball team, Plamen Konstantinov, has been temporarily removed over a doping allegation, a sporting official said Tuesday.

Bulgaria’s Volleyball Federation chief Dancho Lazarov told private Darik radio that Konstantinov’s test has showed “illegal substances that were in the upper range of the permissible levels.”

He did not name the banned substance.

“Plamen himself wanted to get retested and that is why he left for Bulgaria. If the new results are negative he may return to Beijing,” Lazarov said.

The chairman of Bulgaria’s National Anti-Doping Commission said Konstantinov had not failed any doping test.

“His blood showed high levels of testosterone and although they were below the maximum admissible levels, the Volleyball Federation decided to take an extra precaution and remove him from the match,” Kamen Plochev told National TV.

“In their panic, the federation made a hasty decision.”

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said she had no information about any case.

India's Bindra wins gold in the Men's 10m Air Rifle

India's Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle in Beijing on August 11 with an incredible performance in the final. Bindra shot a total score of 700.5.

China's Zhu Qinan, gold medalist at Athens 2004, won the silver medal with a total score of 699.7.

The bronze medal was won by Finland's Henri Hakkinen, who was leading the field after the qualification round, but was unable to hold off Bindra and Zhu in the final. The Finnish shooter shot a total of 699.4.

Hakkinen shot 598 in the qualification round, giving him a one point lead over Zhu. Bindra was one point further back with 596.

Bindra signaled his intentions early in the final, with a 10.7 on his first shot. None of Bindra's shots in the final dropped below 10.0.

Hakkinen's performance in the final was solid, but it needed to be better. He averaged 10.14 per shot in the final, compared to Bindra's 10.45.