International athletics newcomer Jeremy Wariner succeeded United States great Michael Johnson as Olympic 400m champion on Monday as the US became the first nation since 1992 to sweep the medals in an athletics event.
The addition of the fresh-faced Wariner to the roll call of Olympic champions put the US neck-and-neck with China in the overall gold medal tally with 23 apiece.
It also helped blot out the latest doping scandal, which saw Russian Irina Korzhanenko stripped of her shot-put gold, the first Olympic track and field champion to lose a title for doping since infamous Canadian Ben Johnson.
Wariner (20) picked up a golden souvenir on his first trip to Europe, taking control down the stretch to win in 44 seconds ahead of Otis Harris and Derrick Brew.
”Apart from being born, this is the greatest moment of my life,” said Wariner, who was out of the blocks behind Harris, shadowed him down the stretch, then pounced after the final bend.
Wariner served notice he would be a force to be reckoned with when he clocked the top time of the year at the US trials last month.
While Wariner struck gold at his first Olympic attempt, Briton Kelly White’s victory in the women’s 800m was a monument to perseverance.
Holmes (34) ended years of frustration at major championships when she took the gold ahead of Hasna Benhassi of Morocco and Slovenian Joland Ceplak.
Only the finish-line photo could separate Benhassi and Ceplak, who were given the same time after they surged past a fading Maria Mutola of Mozambique.
Mutola, the defending champion who has dominated this event in recent years, was run out of the medals.
Six of the day’s 19 medals were in athletics, and five in gymnastics, where fans’ frustration with judging sparked a shout-fest that briefly brought the proceedings to a halt.
The International Gymnastics Federation had already replaced three judges involved in American Paul Hamm’s disputed all-around victory over South Korean Yang Tae-Young.
But the replacement judges provoked the ire of the crowd on Monday with a low high-bar score for 2000 Olympic champion Alexei Nemov of Russia.
Appeals from Nemov himself barely quieted the crowd, and Hamm began his routine amid the din. He finished second behind Italian Igor Cassina.
The final night of apparatus finals saw European floor-exercise and balance-beam champion Catalina Ponor of Romania capture Olympic gold in both events.
In men’s finals, Ukraine’s Valeri Goncharov won the parallel bars with a score of 9,787, edging Japan’s Hiroyuki Tomita by 0.012 of a point.
Four gymnasts scored 9,762 but China’s Li Xiaopeng, the defending Olympic and reigning world champion, won the bronze medal on deduction tie-breakers.
China also missed out on what seemed a likely table tennis gold, but found another in the unexpected quarter of women’s wrestling.
South Korean Ryu Seung-Min denied China a third straight sweep of Olympic table-tennis gold with his victory over Wang Hao in the men’s singles final.
Ryu was elated to become the second South Korean to date to win an Olympic table-tennis singles gold, but said the pressure on Wang contributed to the Chinese player’s defeat.
”I have to admit that, even though I won today, Wang Hao is still the better player,” Ryu said. ”He was under a lot more pressure than me.”
The defeat, followed by the US’s victory in the softball final against Australia, erased China’s lead in the gold column.
However, they remained tied with the Americans at the end of the day thanks to Wang Xu’s victory in the women’s freestyle wrestling 72kg class.
Wang Xu shocked Japan’s five-time world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi in the semis en route to the title, but the Olympic debut of women’s freestyle still proved a medals bonanza for Japan.
Saori Yoshida in the 55kg class and Kaori Icho in the 63kg class grappled their way to gold, while Chiharu Icho settled for silver against Irini Merleni, whose 48kg gold was the first-ever awarded in the sport and sparked a welter of weeping by the Ukrainian.
Wrestling’s golden girls boosted Japan’s total to 15, good enough for third place ahead of Australia on 13.
After the US snagged their third straight Olympic softball crown at the expense of Australia — who at least became the first team in the tournament to score a run against the US — a crack Aussie team overpowered Britain to win track cycling’s 4 000m men’s team pursuit gold.
Bulgaria rediscovered its Midas touch in weightlifting, with Milen Dobrev winning the 94kg class with an explosive display that denied Greek hope Akakios Kakiasvilis a record fourth Games gold.
Russia’s Khadjimourad Akkaev, the world junior champion, took silver with 405kg and countryman Eduard Tjukin lifted bronze on 397,5kg. — Sapa-AFP
Special Report: Olympics 2004