Wearing a reminder of his painful failure four years ago, Felix Sanchez redeemed himself on Thursday to win the Olympic gold medal in the 400m hurdles. Three days after capturing the 800m Olympic medal, Kelly Holmes of Britain kept alive her hopes of a rare double when she cruised into the final of the 1 500m.
The Olympic women’s hockey tournament ended on a high note for the weary South African team. They beat sixth-ranked Spain 4-3 after extra time in a play-off for last place in the final game of the tournament. ”I am going to have a beer now and spend some time on the beach with the girls,” said relieved coach Ros Howell.
About 2 000 ecstatic Zimbabweans rolled out a red-carpet welcome to swimmer Kirsty Coventry, the country’s first-ever triple Olympic medal winner. At a reception party held in Coventry’s honour, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe gave her 000 (United States dollars) for her achievement.
Sundowns were fortunate to gain maximum points when they beat Santos 2-0 in a Castle Premier League game played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. Two glaring mistakes by rookie Santos goalkeeper Ryan Wuest cost Santos dearly. The first goal came in the 42nd minute.
Alwyn Myburgh — the pick of the South African 400m hurdles crop after a nail-biting semifinal on Tuesday night — failed to win any medals in the final on Thursday night. Felix Sanchez redeemed himself on Thursday to win the event — giving the Dominican Republic their first-ever athletics Olympic gold medal.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
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Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was released on R2-million bail in the Wynberg Regional Court on Wednesday. Thatcher was arrested earlier on Wednesday by the Scorpions in connection with his alleged role in an alleged aborted coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
Zimbabwe’s controversial President Robert Mugabe was voted the third-greatest African of all time, topped only by South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, in a survey for New African magazine, it was announced on Wednesday.
Thirteen Ukrainians were bitten by poisonous black widow spiders in one week, the newspaper Segodnya reported on Wednesday. Last week’s incidents occurred in the southern Odessa region. All the victims were farm workers bitten while digging onions.
After successfully campaigning to have an ”immoral” Axe deodorant advert banned from television because it was too risqué, a Christian lobby group has now set its sights on an Elastoplast advertisement. According to ChristianView Network, a new Elastoplast advert promotes adultery and/or infidelity.