Olympic Times – Sports Daily

The International Olympic Committee is no stranger to tough decisions. It took the risk of sending the games to Beijing and said “No” to New York in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet, despite all of that accumulated experience, some IOC members are struggling with their latest conundrum: choosing the Olympic host for 2016.
Just two days ahead of the vote, many were undecided.
And that means two things—it’s still too close to call between Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid and, for the next couple of days, IOC members are going to feel that they are the most popular people on the planet. Everyone in Copenhagen, where they are gathered, seemingly wants to be their new best friend.
Want to meet Michelle Obama? Not a problem if you’re an IOC member who needs a little pointer on which way to vote. The first lady, beating her husband to the Danish capital, has a two-room suite in the IOC hotel, with homely white leather furniture and an interactive table that, at the touch of a hand, gives bird’s eye views of how a Chicago Olympics might look.
Mrs Obama arrived Wednesday, two days ahead of the U.S. leader, and got straight to work on impressing IOC members.
“We’re not taking anything for granted, so I’m going to go talk to some voters,” she said.
IOC members who have been through this selection process repeatedly, previously sending the games to London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney, told The Associated Press that they could not remember a tougher choice. The AP canvassed the opinions of a dozen IOC members. With all four cities seen as amply capable, technically at least, of holding the Olympics, they said much will ride on how well or badly the cities make their case in final 45-minute presentations to the IOC on Friday before the successive rounds of secret balloting.
“I have two favorites,” IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz said. “It’s going to come down to the last, last presentation. It’s going to come down to the last minute.”
As tension mounted, so did tempers. Despite fresh IOC warnings that the cities should avoid criticizing their rivals, the Spanish Olympic Committee’s vice president, Jose Maria Odriozola, told the national Efe news agency that “Rio is the worst bid.”
Rio bid organizers said the criticism was “totally unacceptable” and formally complained to the IOC.
The outcome Friday could hinge on which cities are eliminated first and, if and when their favorites are knocked out, how IOC members subsequently line up behind the other candidates. That makes predicting a winner perilous and means that even members who say they already have made their choice are still worth lobbying.
“It is difficult enough to know where the first-round votes are going to go, so trying to imagine where the swinging votes are going to go is impossible,” said Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, whose father served as IOC president for 21 years.
“Events in the next 48 hours will decide the winner, because they will have a significant influence on the second- and third-round votes,” he said.
Samaranch said he believes nearly all the IOC’s 106 members already have a favorite. But IOC vice president Chiharu Igaya said “many” members are undecided.
Added British IOC member Craig Reedie: “This is really close. The closer it gets the more people will say, let me think about it. We all want to see the presentations. It’s what people see that will count. Decided? No, I haven’t actually. I’m getting close.”
Late, high-powered lobbying can be important—as then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, proved when London campaigned successfully for the 2012 Olympics. Blair traveled to Singapore ahead of the vote and spent two days lobbying members, inviting them to his hotel suite for one-on-one meetings.
Chicago tore a leaf from Blair’s playbook: Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett met with him last week to solicit his advice and get tips on navigating the IOC voting process.
But for the first time, there are no IOC executive board meetings in the days leading up to the vote. That means less opportunity for schmoozing.
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IT’s a strange world in which Michael Phelps can win a record eight Olympic gold medals and still be challenged for pre-eminence in the year of the Beijing Games.

But a bolt from the blue Caribbean, in the shape of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, managed to drag the spotlight from the Water Cube to the Bird’s Nest, as two of history’s greatest athletes framed the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge declared the two men the “icons of the Games”.

In a record-breaking year for records, the pair were also the foremost exponents of the art of going where no athlete has gone before.

Appropriately for the first Olympics staged in China, Phelps and Bolt represented the Yin and Yang of great champions — the swimmer and the runner, water and earth, a diet of 12,000 calories a day versus chicken nuggets for breakfast. Phelps lit up the Games by day (thanks to NBC’s insistence on morning finals in the pool) and Bolt by night.

But where Phelps’ triumphant march was expected, even demanded (NBC was counting on it), Bolt’s sudden rise to superstardom was a joyous gift for his troubled sport, beset by doping scandals which had tarnished its credibility along with some once-great names.

It takes a huge talent to hold 90,000 people in thrall but Bolt captured them at the Bird’s Nest from the moment he dashed down the straight to win the 100m in a world record 9.69sec, becoming the fastest man on the planet, despite a side-stepping celebration over the last 20m that may have cost him up to 0.1sec.

But Bolt’s Calypso rhythm and youthful exuberance brought much-needed star quality to the main stadium.

The only time that 21-year-old Bolt was deadly serious was when he stepped onto the blocks for the 200m final. A 200m specialist as a junior competitor, he was desperate to break his hero Michael Johnson’s lauded world record of 19.32sec from Atlanta in 1996.

Bolt ran the half-lap with his eyes only on that mark and every fast-twitch fibre straining forward, stopping the clock in an astonishing 19.30sec.

And he wasn’t finished there. The showman of the Games then combined with former world 100m record-holder Asafa Powell and his Jamaican team-mates to set a third world record in the 4x100m relay.

His name was attached to three of the five world records to fall at the Bird’s Nest.

If Bolt was the king of the track, Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva was the queen of the air, after she soared to a world record of 5.05m in the pole vault to clinch her second successive Olympic gold medal.

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GREECE’S former 400m hurdles Olympic champion Fani Halkia has been handed a two year ban for her positive dope test at the Beijing Games, the Greek athletics federation said.

The federation confirmed a decision by its judicial committee to punish the former star.

A gold medallist at Athens in 2004 Halkia was expelled from the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for the banned steroid Methyltrienolone.

Halkia, her coach and two other athletes who failed tests also face maximum sentences of five years in prison in Greece over their respective cases.

The four suspects deny any wrongdoing and Halkia claims she was the victim of sabotage.

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The International Olympic Committee is seeking to improve the ticketing system for upcoming Games in Vancouver and London to avoid the problem of empty seats that occurred in Beijing this year.

The IOC and London organizers, meanwhile, expressed confidence Thursday that the 2012 Olympics will be a success despite the global economic downturn. And London’s Olympic chief said the Games will be “secure” from terrorism.

Olympic officials concluded weeklong meetings aimed at passing on lessons learned from the Beijing Games, which the IOC described as “an indisputable success” that could lead to further social, economic and political progress in China.

The Beijing review was meant to transfer knowledge to upcoming host cities, particularly London for 2012. Organizers of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, also took part. So did officials from the four cities bidding for the 2016 Summer Games: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

“The 2008 Games set new standards for organization, venues and athletic performances, but we can always improve,” IOC Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli said. “I’m confident that the London organizers will host a first class event with a uniquely British atmosphere.”

Ticketing and empty seats were singled out as key issues. While tickets were sold out in Beijing, there were still vacant seats at some of the venues, Felli said.

He said this may have been because ticket-holders did not stay at the venues for long or back-to-back sessions. Also, some tickets were allocated to groups across China which may not have shown up, he said.

Some tickets also ended up on the black market, while fake tickets were sold to unsuspecting fans in online scams.

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IOC president Jacques Rogge foresees no immediate threat to the Olympics from the global financial crisis and says the fight against doping will be a key priority for a second term in office.

Rogge, a 66-year-old Belgian who has led the International Olympic Committee since 2001, notified members last Friday that he will seek re-election next October for a final four-year term that will take him to 2013.

He spoke in a telephone interview with The Associated Press ahead of a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday where he publicly announced his candidacy for another term at the helm of the IOC.

No challengers are expected and Rogge’s re-election is considered a formality at the October 2009 assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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In the wake of Beijing’s Olympics, London is preparing for what will be the most demanding multimedia Olympics ever in 2012.

The U.K.’s home broadcaster, the BBC, and operator BT are among the many stakeholders figuring out how to provide for a record amount of coverage for the Games as well as build a massive IP (Internet Protocol) network to support broadcasters and journalists from around the world.

The BBC has seen exponential growth in interest in Web-based Olympics coverage, said Ben Gallop, head of interactive for BBC Sport. Gallop was one of several presenters at a forum on Thursday discussing media technology for the 2012 Olympics.

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Equestrian rider Rodrigo Pessoa has been stripped of his fifth-place finish at the Beijing Olympics and banned from competing for 4 1/2 months after a positive drug test on his horse.

The sport’s governing body Friday also fined the 36-year-old Brazilian $1,766. He is suspended until Jan. 10, 2009.

Pessoa’s horse Rufus tested positive Aug. 23 for nonivamide, a banned pain-relieving medication.

They placed fifth in the individual jumping final. Pessoa lost in a jump-off for the bronze medal won by Beezie Madden of the United States.

Pessoa was defending the individual title he won at Athens in 2004. He also won bronze medals for Brazil in team jumping at Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

from: ap.google.com

This year’s Olympics Games attracted attention that went far beyond the sporting events themselves. Press coverage of China flourished: whether it was regarding political tensions, extravagant opening ceremonies, environmental reform, or underage gymnasts, the press could never get enough of China during the Games.

Now that the Olympics have passed and the hype has cooled, what remains of the nearly decade long process of massive publicity, construction, and preparation for the Games? The Chinese slogan for Beijing’s Olympic bid was xin Beijing, xin Aoyun or “New Beijing, New Olympics.”

While many may have hoped that these Games would catalyze reform in the Chinese government or provide incentives for real environmental improvements, most modifications to create the “new Beijing” seem to be only temporary.

For the first time in Olympic history, all aspects of the Olympic Games will be meticulously measured. Beijing will be the first host city to produce a full Olympic Games Impact report. It will focus largely on quantitative measures of economic and sports development. While this report won’t be concluded until two years from now, it will certainly lend a great deal of insight into the Games. Until that report is published, however, the world is left to wonder what kind of a mark these Olympics have left behind, both on China and the US.

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The selected host city for the 31st Olympic Games in 2016 will be announced tomorrow (Thursday) at an IOC meeting in Copenhagen. There are currently four cities competing to host what is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world.

Chicago (USA) is the favourite to win the rights to host the 2016 Games, followed by Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Madrid (Spain) and Tokyo (Japan).

The other cities on the shortlist were Prague (Czech Republic), Baku (Azerbaijan), and Doha (Qatar), however they have now been eliminated.

Hosting the Olympic Games is likely to have a positive impact on the winning nation’s property market. Average property prices in the run-up the Olympic Games in the last five host cities – Beijing (China), Athens (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Atlanta (USA) and Sydney (Australia) – appreciated at a significant pace, outstripping average national property price growth.

source: homesoverseas.co.uk

Greek Tourism Development Ministry has signed a memorandum of cooperation between the ministry and the organizing committee for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 2011 on Monday.
The Tourism Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos said on Monday that Greece would once again meet the challenge, as it had done for the Olympic Games of 2004, organizing a sports event to the highest standards in 2011.
The 13th World Summer special Olympic Games will be held in Athens from June 25 until July 4 in 2011, which will bring more than 70,000 athletes, coaches, volunteers, family members and reporters to Greece during that time.
Spiliotopoulos stressed that it was the obligation of his ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), which were sponsors of the event, to assist the efforts of the organizing committee that were chiefly based on volunteer work.
The GNTO has undertaken to promote the Games through an advertising campaign, promotional events and the distribution of printed material.
The first special Olympic Games started from 1968. Among the 170 million intellectually disabled people worldwide, some 2.25 million people have participated in the special Olympic activities. The 12th World Summer Special Olympic Games was held in Shanghai from October 2 to 12 , 2007.

Speaking to the Guardian, Wiggins admitted that he had been struggling to give his all in the event after winning gold in the individual and team pursuits, and the pair finished only eighth despite being reigning World Champions.
Wiggins said: “Cav is like my little brother and I love him dearly. But we left the stadium without saying a word to each other and we’ve yet to speak.”
The Belgium-born cyclist, who also won gold, silver and bronze in Athens, admits the result in Beijing was a shock to both of them.
“We should have been good enough to win the Madison but in the past I’ve always been the leader so it was weird when the roles were reversed.

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The high-spirit United States beat Australia 53-44 to win their third Paralympic gold in wheelchair rugby here on Tuesday.

The U.S. team won their first two gold medals since the wheelchair rugby was introduced to the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics as a demonstration sport. They took the bronze in Athens four year ago.

Having a redemption of Athens’ loss, the exciting Americans celebrated their fifth straight victory at the tournament with a “wheelchair dance”, spinning their “vehicles” at the court, while the Aussies, with obvious disappointment on the face, gave each other consoling hugs.

“Winning a gold medal compares only to when I was born and when I got married,” said Will Groulx, the American leading scorer.

“This feels so great. We set a goal four years ago, we promised to each other we were going to make it and it is great to see how all the hard work and determination became a gold medal.”

The Aussies, who won a silver at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, should be proud of their own performances as the Americans hardly took any advantage to end the second quarter 21-20.

However, the world’s No. 1 U.S. strengthened their defense at the second half of the game, when the Australian top scorer Ryley Batt often found himself blocked by two or three aggressive Americans.

Will Groulx, who scored 11 of his 16 goals, helped the U.S. to establish a five goal lead by the third quarter and extended the gap to seven in the end.

However, the 19-year-old Australian “Magic Boy” Batt remained the shiniest star of the game with 23 goals and 12 assists.

“I’m not disappointed at all. I would have liked to win gold of course but the U.S. played a better game. Both teams had such great defence, you couldn’t have asked for a better match,” said Batt.

Earlier, the Athens runner-up Canada defeated Britain 47-41 to win the bronze medal. The Britons, ranked No. 4 in the world, repeated their Athens 2004 fourth place.

Mike Whitehead scored 14 goals to become Canda’s best scorer, while Briton Troye Collins led his teammates with 16 goals.

In another two matches of the day, defending champion New Zealand beat Germany 28-25 to place fifth.

The New Zealanders were far from their tournament goals as they missed out on the semifinals by losing the first two preliminaries to Britain and Australia with identical 39-38. Germany, however, bettered their Athens position of seventh to stand on the sixth.

New Zealand captain David Klinkhamer took the fifth finish as a “complete heartbreak”, saying his team “has gone from hero (winning Athens gold) to zero”.

“We underperformed and there is no way to sugar coat it,” said Klinkhamer. “We failed in executing our game plan and we lacked basic rugby techniques. We don’t get to compete often and need to travel more.”

Asian powerhouse Japan, who are also set for a medal, suffered another major setback after they surprisingly lost to Germany at the first round of the fifth place playoffs.

However, the Japanese, most of whom got a haircut to show their determination to win after preliminaries, found no trouble to defeat inexperienced China, trouncing the host 58-32 to finish seventh.

China, who trained less than one year, finished their first Paralympics with five straight losses but showed no regret after the match.

“As rookies, we are here to learn from the world’s top-level teams and I’m proud that we have been improving match by match and my players have never given up on the court,” said China head coach Wen Yan.

“The losses have only inspired us to work harder to do better in London,” she said.

from: xinhuanet.com

After he hosts NBC’s Saturday Night Live this weekend, there might not be much more the network can squeeze out of Michael Phelps.
For now, anyway. Phelps’ historic eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics were the driving force behind NBC’s prime-time Olympic ratings, just as Phelps’ six golds in Athens were the key to NBC’s 2004 Olympic ratings. NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol told The New York Times that after NBC gained Olympic officials’ support in its bid to have swimming finals moved from evenings to mornings so they could be shown live in prime time on the East Coast, the “first outsider” he consulted was Phelps, who was agreeable. After Phelps worked his way through various NBC outlets — this week giving Jay Leno his best rating in nearly three months — it was inevitable he’d end up on SNL.
But even though rehearsals have left Phelps “completely confident” about hosting SNL, he also says he’s “more nervous doing this than swimming in Beijing, I’ll tell you that.” Not to worry, says SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels: “No matter what happens, they can’t take those medals away.”
Phelps says he enjoys watching SNL when he can stay up to watch, adding he grew up as a “huge, huge fan” of the late SNL comic Chris Farley — who skated with Olympian Nancy Kerrigan when she hosted SNL— and that Farley’s Tommy Boy is his favorite movie.
Phelps says he has a funny side the public hasn’t seen: “In my group of friends, I’m one of the most sarcastic. … I’m actually a really, really sarcastic guy.” (And he didn’t sound sarcastic saying that.)
In hosting SNL, whose stage was used for NBC’s coverage of some Beijing Olympics action as announcers called events off TV monitors, Phelps joins a long line of athlete-hosts, including LeBron James and Peyton Manning in 2007. Charles Barkley mauled Barney the purple dinosaur on a basketball court. Tom Brady appeared in his underwear for a mock sexual harassment training video. Michael Jordan danced in a hula skirt. Says Phelps: “I’m just looking forward to having fun.”
Michaels says Amy Poehler played Phelps’ mother in rehearsals, although it’s still unclear which skits will appear on the show. Michaels added it’s possible Tina Fey will play GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But don’t expect Phelps to perform anything that suggests his political preferences: “I’ve tried to stay away from jumping on political bandwagons. That’s something I try to keep to myself.”
Asked if future SNL shows might include Beijing Olympians, Michaels says probably not. Instead, “we’ll start thinking about 2010″ — meaning the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Think NBC is asking Phelps if he snowboards?

from: usatoday.com

Oscar Pistorius, the South African “Blade Runner,” won his second gold medal of the Beijing Paralympics with a victory in the 200-meter sprint on Saturday, but the day was marked by controversy as the Iran wheelchair basketball team pulled out of the Games ahead of a possible matchup against Israel.

The Iran team was scheduled to play the United States on Saturday in a quarterfinal-round match but withdrew before the game. The winner would go on to meet the winner of the Canada-Israel game.

A spokesman for the Iranian delegation denied that Iran pulled out because of the possibility of playing Israel. The country has had a longstanding no-contact policy with Israel, and Iranian athletes have pulled out of events rather than meet Israelis in sports events.

The spokesman said that the Iran wheelchair basketball team withdrew because the Beijing organizers had swapped the starting times of the US-Iran and Canada-Israel matches. That swap had been made without explanation.

“Each match should be done one after another,” Iran deputy chef de mission Iran Doust said. “But unfortunately, concerning our match they didn’t observe the order and that’s the reason” for the pullout.

As it happened, Canada defeated Israel. The Canadians will face the Americans on Sunday.

TRACK AND FIELD: Pistorius won his second gold at the Bird’s Nest before a crowd of more than 50,000, taking the 200 meters by nearly a full second over the silver medalist, Jim Bob Bizzell of the U.S.

“This race is definitely going down as one of my best ever races,” Pistorius said. “I’ve never run in front of a crowd this big and just the crowd, the athletes, it was an awesome race and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better.”

He has one race to go, the 400 meters on Sunday.

China won five gold medals at the stadium on Saturday. Eighteen-year-old Yang Sen won the men’s 100-meter T35 in a world record 12.29 seconds, while Wang Fang retained her crown in women’s 200-meter T36. Yu Shiranwon the men’s 200-meter T53, and Xia Dong (men’s shot put) and Jimisu Menggen (women’s discus throw) won gold medals with world-record performances.

Xinhua’s wrapup of the day’s action is at this link.

The International Paralympic Committee’s “Sixty Seconds” YouTube show for Friday/Saturday (see window below) begins its highlights package with Friday’s Canadian sweep of the women’s 200-meter medley (SM13). Chelsey Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., finished first in a world record 2 minutes 28.15 seconds, followed by Winnipeg’s Kirby Cote of Winnipeg and Valerie Grand’Maison of Montreal. That’s followed by early Saturday road racing action, including American Oz Sanchez’s gold medal in the 12.7-kilometer hand-pedaled cycle time trial with an average of 23.35 mph, and the victory by Heinz Frei of Switzerland in another HC category. There’s also football seven-a-side (S9) action, with Russia taking on Brazil:
Universalsports.com’s re-stream of its coverage of Saturday’s track and field events is available at this link. The site’s one-hour-20-minute highlight package from Saturday’s early events are at this link.

SWIMMING: At the Water Cube, Erin Popovich finally didn’t win a gold medal — she won a silver. Popovich finished second to Huang Min of China in the women’s 50-meter butterfly (S7). “She took it out fast and had a better race than me,” Popovich said. “Hats off to her. China is having a phenomenal meet.”

Popovich, who has won 4 golds at these Games and 14 in her Paralympic career, has one more race in Beijing: the 50-meter freestyle on Sunday.

Justin Zook of the U.S. won gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (S10) after setting a world record in the preliminary heat of the event.

Countryman Jarrett Perry also set a world record during a preliminary heat of his event, the 100-meter backstroke (S9), but the final was won by Australian Matthew Cowdrey, his third of the Beijing Games to go along with two more from Athens 2004. Perry took the bronze.

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY: The American team had its hands full with a tough Japan team, winning by 44-37. Will Groulx led the U.S. with 12 goals and four steals, while Bryan Kirkland pitched in 11 goals and four assists.

The murderballers’ final group-stage game is Sunday against Canada, the team that beat the Amerks in the semifinal at Athens four years ago.
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL: While the U.S. men’s advanced through forfeit, the women’s team advanced to the gold medal game by beating Australia, 60-47, in the semifinal.

With less than five minutes to go, the U.S. was clinging to a 46-45 lead after fighting back after trailing for most of the third quarter. But the Americans pulled away at the end.

Christina Ripp and Stephanie Wheeler led the U.S. with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

The Amerkas will play Germany for the gold medal on Monday.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS: Nick Taylor and David Wagner won the quad doubles gold with a three-set victory over Boaz Kramer and Shraga Weinberg of Israel. Taylor and Wagner overpowered the Israelis in the first set, 6-0, lost the second by 4-6, but won the third, 6-2, to defend their gold from Athens four years ago.

TABLE TENNIS: The U.S. duo of Mitch Seidenfeld and Tahl Leibovitz lost, 3-2, to Ukraine’s Yuriy Shchepanskyy and Vadym Kubov in the Class 9-10 teams tournament to end American participation in the table tennis competition at the 2008 Paralympics.

Seidenfeld, who won a gold and bronze in the 1992 Games and a silver and bronze in 1996, lost his singles match while Leibovitz, of Ozone Park, won his. But the Ukranians won the doubles match to prevail over all.

source:olympics.blogs.nytimes.com

Australia’s Paralympic swim team produced a memorable night at the National Aquatic Centre on day five of the Beijing Paralympics last night when Peter Leek, Matthew Cowdrey and Rick Pendleton grabbed an historic triple gold medal haul – all in world record time.
The Australians dominated their respective 200 metre individual medley events with Leek (S8), Cowdrey (S9) and Pendleton (S10) in a memorable night at the Water Cube.
One of the rising stars of the sport, Leek kicked off the golden run with the teenage cerebral palsy sufferer from Sydney clocking his second win of the Games in a new world time of 2:20.92, blitzing his nearest rival, Wang Jiachao of China (2:29.71) by almost nine seconds.
Leek is set to return home a star with his medal tally now standing at two gold, two silver and one bronze.
Leek said the only secret to his “awesome” results in Beijing was 18 years of hard work.
“And every minute of that hard work has been worth it to get results like these,” he said.
“I knew I had to go out hard to win a race like this. So I just went for it and I can’t believe how fast the time is. I’m just stoked that time belongs to me because I think it’s going to be a long time before anyone beats it.”
South Australian teen sensation and two-time Paralympian, Cowdrey also grabbed his second gold of the Games and the fourth of his career with an amazing world record display in his 200 medley final, slashing nearly three seconds off his previous world mark to take the victory in an unbelievable S9 category time of 2:13.60.
Cowdrey who has a congenital amputation of his left arm to the elbow flew home over the final stages of the race to grab gold ahead of Ukrainian, Andriy Kalyna (2:17.21) with the South Australian having a running tally in Beijing of two gold and two silver.
“I knew I’d be close to going under 2:15 but I didn’t think a 2:13 was quite possible, so hey, I definitely came out, enjoyed the night and swam fast,” Cowdrey said.
“That was probably the biggest race of the meet for me, so now I’ve defended both titles from Athens I’m ecstatic. And that time was really, really quick so I don’t think I could have had a better night than tonight.”
Cowdrey, who trains with Peter Bishop and alongside Olympic silver and bronze medallist, Hayden Stoeckel at Adelaide’s Norwood Swim Club,believes confidence helped him more than anything else.
“In the marshalling area I was the only one really talking and just enjoying the time, and confidence is a good thing,” he said.
“Tonight’s the first night we’ve got more than one Aussie gold in the pool and I don’t think that even happened in Athens so it’s a good night. ”
A devastating breaststroke leg capped an unforgettable come from behind victory to John Shaw coached Coogee boy, Rick Pendleton who claimed his maiden Olympic gold four years after missing a medal in Athens by just 0.07 of a second.
Pendleton came from third place at the half way mark of the race to power home in the breaststroke and freestyle legs to a new world record time of 2:12.78 and upset Brazilian, Andre Brasil (2:14.20) and former world record holder of Canada, Benoit Huot (2:15.22).
“I’m glad to be the third one in the same category or same event to smash the world record – it’s a good trifecta,” he said.
“I’m just over the moon with that..wow! What a big swim and a big race and I’m glad to be on top at the moment.”
Pendleton, who was born without a left hand, said he was shocked with his time.
“I was expecting maybe a 2.14, so four seconds off my personal best, that’s a massive swim.
“I always knew that I’d be behind in the fly and backstroke so once I got to the breast stroke I knew I just had to drop the hammer and go for it.
“Just everything came together at the same time – everything falls into line properly for you, that’s the reason you go so fast.”
Adelaide 18-year-old, Jay Dohnt who lost both his legs and one hand to meningococcal disease at age 13 picked up Australia’s final medal of the night, a bronze in the S7 400 metres freestyle in a time of 4:59.47 to take their overall tally after five days to six gold, five silver and four bronze.
“I came here to get a medal and didn’t care what colour it was. This is the best. I am so relieved and happy,” he said.
In other news Australian team officials have taken responsibility for a mix up that witnessed female swimmer, Ellie Cole miss her final in the S9 200 metre individual medley on day five. Cole claimed a silver medal earlier this week in the S9 100 metres backstroke.
“For the team I take full responsibility. We probably didn’t warm her up enough. She’s a bit upset but we’re working through it,” he said.

source: hansonmediagroup.com.au

Pontypridd swimming star David Roberts is celebrating a golden hat-trick. Triumphing in the 400m freestyle (S7) in a new world record, won his third gold medal at the Beijing Paralympic Games.

Roberts’s time of 4:52.35 broke the record held by New Zealander Dean Booth’s since 2000 by 1.40 seconds. Not that he was satisfied.

“I expected better from myself this evening. I was really nervous when I was coming out and that doesn’t normally happen to me.

“I wanted to perform better but this is amazing to have my tenth Paralympic gold medal.

“I don’t know why I was nervous. That will be something I will be discussing with my coach before Sunday.”

He has amassed his ten gold medals from Games in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. And his 2008 campaign is not over yet he returns to the starting blocks on Sunday for the 50m freestyle before he competes in the medley relay on Monday.

Philip Carling, Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, was quick said: “David is always striving to excel and to better his performances. Ten gold medals in a career is absolutely superb. His success is particularly impressive considering how the Paralympic movement has moved on since Athens. We have seen other countries catching up yet, David has still maintained dominance in his events.”

Roberts is coached at the Wales National Pool in Swansea which was built with more than 8m pounds of National Lottery funding by the Sports Council for Wales. He is coached by former miner Billy Pye:

“In Billy Pye, we have a world-class coach and he has cultivated the careers of many swimmers including David. We can be very proud of the fact that the pool in Swansea supports many of the Paralympic swimmers competing in Beijing.”

The Pye training stable also features gold medallists Eleanor Simmonds, Rob Welbourn and Graham Edmonds.

Newport’s Pippa Britton faced a difficult encounter in the archery when she came up against fellow Brit Mel Clarke in the quarter-final of the compound. She will return to action next week for the team competition.

On the track, Tracey Hinton of Cardiff and guide runner, Steffan Hughes, qualified for tomorrow’s 400m semi-final.

Wales’s London 2012 hopefuls also put in promising performances. Chepstow sprinter Jenny McLoughlin, who is just 16-years-old, finished seventh in the heats of the 100m.

Meanwhile, her training partner, Kate Arnold of Newport, who turned 20 last week, delivered a new personal best, finishing ninth in the 200m. Arnold, a former swimmer made the switch from pool to track relatively recently and was originally not expected to qualify for Beijing.

Brian Alldis, who is coached by Tanni Grey-Thompson, was unable to advance to the semi-final of the 800m. The Cardiff wheelchair racer finished seventh in his heat which was won by David Weir:

“I’m a bit disappointed. I couldn’t get on the back of the pack as they pulled away and I was about two seconds off my PB. It was good that Dave was in the heat but it probably made it harder for me.”

The shot putt saw two North Walians take season bests. Beverley Jones of Queensferry finished fifth while training partner Rebecca Chin, the youngest member of the Welsh contingent at 16-years-old, finished tenth. Chin will be using the experience from Beijing as she trains towards London 2012.

Rower James Roberts demonstrated his potential for London 2012. Together with Karen Cromie of Northern Ireland, the Prestatyn rower today finished in fifth place in the double sculls at Shun Yi, an event won by hosts, China.

Bridgend footballer Keryn Seal suffered a Spanish inquisition. Paralympic GB’s visually impaired five-a-side football team lost 3-1 to Spain in a dramatic game that saw Britain take an early lead before the European Champions dominated the second half.

Britain now lies fifth in the rankings after three matches with two to play. They take on Brazil on Saturday.

Fortune didn’t shine on the women’s wheelchair basketball team either. Losing 42-50 to Germany in the final group game, Clare Strange, from Newport, and Caroline Matthews of Cardiff will face Japan in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Racing has been delayed in Qingdao but sailor Steve Thomas and the Sonar crew lie seventh overall. Not yet halfway through the race schedule, there is still time for the Bridgend man to move into a medal spot.

ONES TO WATCH FRIDAY DAY 6

ATHLETICS Cardiff’s Tracey Hinton and guide runner Steffan Hughes of Aberaeron will be in the line-up for the 400m semi-final. Hinton won three medals at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000.

CYCLING After success on the track, hopes are now riding high for the ParalympicsGB road cyclists. Rachel Morris of Pembrokeshire is making her Paralympic debut in Beijing as she goes in the time trial. As a double world champion though, she will certainly not be fazed. Nor will Simon Richardson. He is also on time trial duty but confidence will be high after winning two gold medals in the Velodrome.

SWIMMING Gareth Duke produced an emotional performance four years ago in Athens but winning gold second time around will really be an achievement. Known as El Dulche to his team-mates, he was victorious over the 100m breaststroke in Athens and he is well remembered for his tearful medal presentation. Twelve months later, his went into the operating theatre to receive a new kidney donated by his father, Trevor. Newport’s Liz Johnson is also in the swim – she will be racing in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

SAILING Steve Thomas of Bridgend will be into races nine and ten in Qindao. They currently lie in seventh position overall.

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL Clare Strange and Caroline Matthews are into the quarter finals and will face Japan.

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY The rugby tournament kicks off which will see Oswestry’s Jason Roberts and Abergavenny’s Josie Pearson. Pearson is the only female in the entire competition to be playing murderball, as it is fondly described by Paralympians.

from: newswales.co.uk

The Japanese team is aiming to win 39 medals at the Beijing Paralympic Games–11 golds and 14 silver and bronze medals.
It will be difficult for the Japanese team to top the number of medals it won in Athens in 2004 because events at the Paralympics have decreased.
Japanese athletes won a record 52 medals in Athens–17 golds, 15 silvers and 20 bronzes.
After the Athens Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) reduced the number of events that had a small number of participants. Most of these events were designed for athletes with severe disabilities. The IPC stated it made the decision to enhance the value of the medals.
At the Beijing Paralympics, 472 events will be held, an about 10-percent decrease from the number held at the Athens Paralympics. The decrease in the number of events is expected to be a heavy blow to the Japanese team, which has done well in events for severely handicapped athletes.
Paralympics participants have various disabilities, including amputated limbs, neurological disorders and vision impairment. The degree of participants’ disabilities differs widely. To ensure fairness, the IPC classifies athletes according to their specific disabilities and the severity of the disability. For example, participants were grouped into 13 classes in the men’s 100-meter freestyle swimming event at the Athens Paralympics, and 13 different swimmers won gold.

source: yomiuri.co.jp

The Dutch delegation marched in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympic Games on Saturday night, making their 13th appearance at the world’s premier sporting event for elite disabled athletes.
The Netherlands was one of the 23 countries that participated in the first Paralympics in 1960. It also competed in all the editions that followed.
The Netherlands is entering a team of 80 athletes — 33 men and 47 women, in Beijing and will contest in 13 sports.
Lieske Libregts, the spokesperson for the Dutch team, told Xinhua that they hope to win six gold medals in Beijing and aim to finish in top 25 on the overall medal table, though the country was usually ranked between 10th and 15th at previous games.
Medal hopefuls include wheelchair bound Kenny van Weeghel, who took gold in 400 meters (T54) at the Athens Paralympics, and wheelchair tennis supremo Esther Vergeer, who won four golds in women’s tennis in the two previous Paralympics.
The country finished 15th at the Sydney Paralympics with 30 medals including 12 gold. However, it fell to 27th in Athens with 29 medals including five gold.

from: xinhuanet.com