The New Nation - Internet Edition

Athletics hoping for record-breaking Olympics

AP, Beijing

Liu Xiang, Usain Bolt, Yelena Isinbayeva and the other titans of track and field face the same challenge when competition starts Friday - do something at the Bird's Nest stadium to top a memorable opening ceremony highlighted by a retired gymnast's spacewalk to light the Olympic flame. Consider it likely.

Under that fiery cauldron at the 91,000-seat stadium, the morning of the first day begins with Bolt and Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Tyson Gay of the United States qualifying for the 100 meters.

The first golden moment will come later Friday when Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia seeks to turn her domination of the 10,000 into her first Olympic title.

It will set off the scramble between African giants Kenya and Ethiopia to determine which is the dominant force in long-distance running.

That is hardly the only duel to highlight the nine days of competition which will last through the Aug. 24 closing day of the games.

While swimming is overwhelmed by one story - the dogged pursuit of a record eight gold medals for Michael Phelps - athletics has a captivating story every day as the sport tries to recapture its pre-eminent status at the games following years of doping scandals.

"The circumstances are here to have exceptional games," IAAF president Lamine Diack said.

There will be no bigger story than China's biggest star, 110-meter hurdler Liu. He is seeking to win what would likely be the only gold for the host nation in the iconic stadium.

The stage is set for the showdown with Dayron Robles of Cuba, who already lowered Liu's world record earlier this year by .01 second to 12.87. With heats and the semifinals, the drama will be spread over four days, culminating in the Aug. 21 final.

While Robles has been outstanding through the outdoor season, Liu has been struggling with injury.

His sore hamstring has many questioning whether the defending champion will be fit enough for the biggest race of his life.

Injuries also shadow the other marquee race of the athletics program.

In the 100, Gay has also struggled with a testy hamstring. He went down seeking to qualify for the 200 at the U.S. Olympic trials last month and has not raced competitively since.

Powell, meanwhile, has been recovering from a chest muscle injury which wreaked havoc with his early season coming into the games.

It puts a big question mark behind the three-way dash for gold, though both claim to be fully fit.

All eyes will be on Bolt, who shot onto the scene this year with a stunning world record of 9.72 seconds, shaving .02 off Powell's mark.

Even if a contender in the 100, the Jamaican is foremost a gold medal favorite in the 200 and along with the Jamaican sprinters could well beat the Americans in the 4x100 relay. It makes him a realistic prospect for a rare golden sprint triple, something not done since Carl Lewis in 1984.

American sprinter Allyson Felix was marketed early this season to do even better - a potential quadruple champion. But her failure to qualify for the 100 squashed that story, leaving her a mere favorite in the 200 and a potential candidate to add golds in both relay races.

Over longer distances, Kenenisa Bekele will seek to become the first 5,000-10,000 champion since his Ethiopian compatriot Miruts Yifter at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Bekele missed the double by .20 seconds in Athens four years ago when he was beaten at the line in the 5,000 by now-retired Moroccan great Hicham El Guerrouj.

However, in the 10,000 he will have to outrun his nation's greatest champion, Haile Gebrselassie. The veteran returned to the 10,000 for a last time since he refused to run the marathon in Beijing's heat and pollution. Getting an unlikely gold would make Gebrselassie the first triple Olympic champion over the distance.

Bekele will also clash with Bernard Lagat, the Kenyan-born American who is seeking to double in the 1,500 and 5,000. He did so at the world championships in Osaka, Japan, last year, where the humid and hot conditions were very much like Beijing's.

The United States is coming into the games with one of its strongest teams yet and could surpass than the record 14 gold and 26 medals overall it won in Osaka.

With athletics closing out the Olympics, the gold medal rush on the track could take on a meaning well beyond the sport. U.S. runners could decide one of the major questions dominating the games - will China or the United States finish at the top of the medal standings.

If that is not drama enough, there is the added dimension of world records hanging heavy in the evening air.

After none was set at the worlds in Osaka, this season has already been exceptionally productive. Five world marks have already been set, with Robles and Bolt grabbing most headlines.

Pole vaulter Isinbayeva, though, is the only one to do it twice this year. And the defending Olympic champion usually delivers when counted on. At 26, she has improved the indoor and outdoor world record 23 times.

Rice completes medley double in world record

AFP, Beijing

Australia's Stephanie Rice completed the Olympic medley double with victory in the 200 metres final in world record time at the Beijing Games today. Rice, 20, followed up her world record triumph in the 400m medley on Sunday when she came from behind to overhaul Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry and lower her world record by 0.47secs to two minutes 08.45 seconds.

Coventry took silver in an African record 2:08.59 with American Natalie Coughlin finishing third in 2:10.34.

"I feel great, it's so good I pulled through," Rice said. "I felt a little sick last night but I was up for the challenge and tried to get the best out of myself.

Classy Aussies thrash South Africa 10-0 in men's hockey

AFP, Beijing

World number one Australia pulverised hapless South Africa 10-0 on Wednesday to continue their impressive march towards retaining the Olympic men's field hockey gold medal.

Eli Matheson slammed a hat-trick and Jamie Dwyer and David Guest scored two goals each as the Kookaburras recorded their second successive win in Pool B at the Olympic Green Hockey stadium.

Meanwhile, Asian Games champions South Korea were given a scare by Games debutants China before romping to a 5-2 win in Pool A with Jang Jong-Hyun scoring three penalty corner goals.

China snatched a 2-0 lead by the eighth minute before the Koreans hit back to follow up their 3-1 win over the same rivals in the Asian Games final in Qatar two years ago.

Australia, who had routed Canada 6-1 in their first game, displayed their awesome strike power with five goals in each half as the 13th-ranked South Africans wilted under the onslaught.

Dwyer, whose golden goal against the Netherlands won Australia their maiden Olympic men's title in Athens four years ago, opened the floodgates with a second- minute goal.

Grant Schubert, Fergus Kavanagh and Des Abbott were the other scorers for Australia, who clash with Pakistan in their next game on Friday.

"We had a real solid game," said Matheson, whose only other hat-trick was also against South Africa.

"Maybe I should play a bit more against them. But our overall play was good, we kept the ball speed up and had a good balance with our forwards."

Guest said the way Australia had started should serve as a warning to other teams.

"If we maintain what we did, it will work for us," he said. "We did not give away too many penalty corners and now have two days to recover and see what we can work on."

Dwyer, who took the field despite suffering a hip injury against Canada, said he felt comfortable enough to play.

"I did not feel good that day because of the bruised hip, but physical therapy has done a lot of good. I am ready for more action."

South Africa, beaten 5-0 by the Netherlands in their first match, need a big turnabout if they are to avoid finishing bottom of the 12-nation competition.

"When you concede 15 goals in two matches, it's a tough battle to keep your morale up," said striker Emile Smith. "We have to take in the good and work out the bad.

"We have played the two strongest teams in our pool. So hopefully it should get easier now." South Africa, who finished tenth in Athens, next play Britain on Friday.

Pellegrini feared naked truth in world record bid

AFP, Beijing

Federica Pellegrini became Italy's first female Olympic swimming champion on Wednesday with a record-breaking performance achieved by wearing two swim suits.

The 20-year-old Italian carved 0.63sec off her old mark in setting a world record of one minute 54.82 seconds in the 200m freestyle final for her country's first gold medal in the pool at the Water Cube.

Slovenian Sara Isakovic won silver in 1:54.97 with China's Pang Jiaying taking the bronze in 1:55.05.

But Pellegrini then revealed that she took the precaution of wearing a training suit under her racing swimsuit to prevent potential embarrassment.

"I put the training suit under the other suit because the swimsuit can sometimes break very easily," she said.

"In order to avoid problems and show myself naked, I put on another swimsuit, a normal training one not a Speedo LZR Racer."

Pellegrini went one better than her silver medal behind Romania's Camelia Potec in the 200m Olympic final in Athens.

The Italian sprinter owns both the 200m and 400m freestyle world records.

"The final was all about form and I showed that today," said Pellegrini.

"When I won I was saying to myself 'finally, finally,' because I have been waiting to win this 200m freestyle for the last four years. So I have been avenged."

Pellegrini and Isakovic have raced each other since they were young and are close frineds. "I know Sara since we were very young, we have always raced against each other, she has really exploded in these last few months," Pellegrini said. Isakovic said: "It's great to get the medal and the result, I wasn't expecting 1.54.

"I am so proud of what I achieved here and happy for Federica too."

Italy's previous best performance by a woman in the pool was by Novella Calligaris with a silver medal behind Australian Shane Gould in the 400m freestyle at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Marathon champ Noguchi's pullout fires up Kitajima

AFP, Beijing

Defending marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi's injury-forced pullout from the Beijing Games has made fellow Japanese Kosuke Kitajima more determined to win a second swimming gold medal here. "I feel sad to learn that an athlete capable of winning a medal cannot compete," said Kitajima who will defend his 200m breaststroke title on Thursday after retaining his 100m crown in a world record time on Monday.

"I will go full out to make up for that." Noguchi's no show, due to a tear in her left thigh muscle, has stunned marathon- mad Japan who are struggling to emulate their record haul of 37 Olympic medals, including 16 golds, from Athens.

Chen takes gold in 25m pistol

AP, Beijing

Chen Ying has won gold in the 25-meter pistol, giving China its sixth medal in shooting.

Chen was third entering the finals, but scored 208.4 points in the last round Wednesday to finish with 793.4 points and the win.

Chen won the 2006 world championships and finished fourth in the 2004 Olympics.

She trailed by five points entering the finals but outshot silver medalist Gundegmaa Otryad of Mongolia by 6.2 points for the win.

Otryad shot a 590 in the qualifying rounds to tie an Olympic record.

Otryad stopped shooting during one of her five-shot series in the final round because of an apparent malfunction. She was allowed to finish that series after the rest of the competitors.

Germany's Munkhbayar Dorjsuren shot a 789.2 for the bronze and China's Fei Fengji was fourth. Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria, who won the event in 2000 and 2004, finished fifth and Jo Yong Suk of North Korea was sixth.

Tsirekidze wins men's judo -90kg gold

AFP, Beijing

Georgian Irakli Tsirekidze won the men's - 90kg judo gold at the Beijing Games here on Wednesday.

Tsirekidze added the Olympic crown to the world title he won a year ago as he beat Algeria's Amar Benikhlef in the final to succeed compatriot Zurab Zviadauri as Olympic champion.

Egyptian Hicham Mesbah was a surprise bronze medallist but he thrilled the crowd with a massive pick-up on France's Yves- Matthieu Dafreville for a thudding ippon.

Swiss veteran Sergei Aschwanden picked up the final bronze medal with a come-from-behind victory against Russia's Ivan Pershin.

Champions Trophy cut to two venues

AP, Rawalpindi

The International Cricket Council has cut Rawalpindi as one of the venues for next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan on security grounds.

Rawalpindi was excluded because there had not been a chance to fully verify its security arrangements, leaving Lahore and Karachi to share all 15 matches.

Lahore will host eight matches including the opening match between Pakistan and the West Indies on Sept. 12 and the final, with seven to be held in Karachi.

"Concentration on two venues will provide extra level of comfort for all stakeholders," ICC chief executive Haroon Logart said in a statement Wednesday.

"During the recently completed Asia Cup there were no fixtures at Rawalpindi and that didn't allow us the opportunity to check the security arrangements, so there has been no way for us to formulate an opinion on the venue."

Security concerns had been high on the agenda for this Champions Trophy, with players and boards from Australia, England and New Zealand raising doubts as to whether Pakistan should host the tournament. Sri Lanka was put on standby as an alternative venue before Pakistan was affirmed as host.

Logart headed an ICC delegation that met security officials in the federal capital Islamabad, getting assurances that there will be the requisite security provided.

"What is clear from our visit is that there is a huge desire within Pakistan, as well as significant resources, to turn that aim into a reality," Lorgat said.

Two ICC delegations will visit the concerned countries ahead of the Sept. 12-28 tournament to give assurance on security. Logart will lead the delegation to England, where South Africa's team is currently touring, while ICC general manager David Richardson will travel to Australia and New Zealand.

The biennial tournament is the second-biggest 50-over international tournament behind the World Cup.

Schedule:

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies

Group B: South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England

Sept 12: Pakistan v West Indies, Lahore

Sept 13: Australia v India, Karachi

Sept 14: England v Sri Lanka, Lahore; South Africa v New Zealand,

Karachi

Sept 15: Pakistan v Australia, Karachi

Sept 16: South Africa v Sri Lanka, Lahore

Sept 17: England v New Zealand, Lahore

Sept 18: West Indies v India, Karachi

Sept 19: New Zealand v India, Lahore

Sept 20: Pakistan v India, Karachi

Sept 21: Australia v West Indies, Lahore

Sept 22: England v South Africa, Karachi

Sept 24: First semifinal, Karachi

Sept 26: Second semifinal, Lahore

Sept 28: Final, Lahore.

Bangladesh National Cricket team leaves the city for Australia today

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh National Cricket team led by Mohammad Ashraful will leave the city for Australia today to play three One Day International (ODI) matches against Australia National Cricket team in Australia.

Besides, Bangladesh will play five practice one-dayers against some selected squads of Australia.

Bangladesh will play the first practice one-dayer against Australian Institute of Sports at the Gardens Oval in Darwin on August 18.

Bangladesh will take on Australian Institute of Sports in the second practice one-dayer at the same venue on August 20.

Bangladesh will face Australian Institute of Sports in the third practice one-dayer at the same venue on August 23.

Bangladesh will meet Australian Institute of Sports in the fourth practice one-dayer at the same venue on August 25.

Bangladesh will play the fifth practice one-dayer against Northern Territory Chief Minister's Eleven at the same venue on August 27.

Bangladesh will face mighty Australia in the first ODI at the TIO Stadium in Darwin on August 30.

The Tigers will meet Aussies in the second ODI at the same venue on September 3.

Bangladesh will face Australia in the last ODI at the same venue on September 6.

The players are; Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (vice-captain),Nazim Uddin, Tamim Iqbal, Roqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Alok Kapali, Dhiman Ghosh, Mahmudullah Riyad, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mehrab Hossain (Junior), Farhad Reza, Dollar Mahmud and Nazmul Hossain.

National Kabaddi: Jail team, Army win

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh Jail team and Bangladesh Army registered wins in their respective matches of the Services Zone of the National Kabaddi Competition on Wednesday.

In the day's first match, Bangladesh Jail team outplayed Bangladesh Air Force by 31-12 points with two lonas at the Kabaddi Stadium.

In the day's second match, Bangladesh Army defeated Bangladesh Navy by 41-20 points including two lonas at the same venue.

Today Bangladesh Police will take on Bangladesh Jail team at 4.00 PM while Bangladesh Air Force will face Bangladesh Navy at the same venue.

Pioneer Football: BKSP will take on Rampura in final today

Sports Reporter

BKSP will take on Rampura KC today in the final of the Dhaka City Corporation Pioneer Football League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

After the final match Mayor of the Dhaka City Corporation Sadek Hossain Khoka will distribute the prizes among the winners as the chief guest. President of Bangladesh football Federation Kazi Salahuddin and the other high officials of Bangladesh Football Federation, Dhaka Metropolis Football League Committee and Pioneer Football League Committee will be present.

Liu sets 69kg weightlifting world record

AFP, Beijing

Liu Chunhong of China set a new world record in the women's weightlifting 69kg class by hoisting 125kg in the snatch at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The old record of 123kg was set by Russian Oxana Slivenko in October 2006.