Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another as reigning Olympic football champions Argentina began the defence of their title with a 2-1 win over Côte d’Ivoire in Shanghai after a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) threatened the Barcelona star’s participation.
But someone with even more reason for celebration at the Games on Thursday was United States distance runner Lopez Lomong.
The Sudan-born 1 500m specialist was chosen as the American flag-bearer for Friday’s opening ceremony despite only becoming a US citizen in July 2007 after being kidnapped aged six and spending 10 years in a refugee camp.
China is a major investor in Sudan’s economy and rights groups have accused Beijing of not doing enough to resolve the conflict in the African state’s province of Darfur.
”This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American. Seeing my fellow Americans coming behind me and supporting me will be a great honour,” Lomong said.
Messi took the field 24 hours after a CAS verdict that clubs were free to prevent their players taking part in the Games because the Olympic tournament did not feature in the official calendar of world football governing body Fifa.
”We have decided to let ‘Leo’ Messi play in the Olympics,” Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Begiristain told reporters in the Spanish city.
The decision was made after Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola had held talks with the player.
Argentina’s South American neighbours Brazil, another giant of world football, struggled to a 1-0 win over a Belgium side reduced to nine men after both Vincent Kompany and Marouane Fellaini were sent off.
It needed a header two minutes from time by Manchester United striker Dong Fangzhou to ensure hosts China scraped a 1-1 draw against a New Zealand side down a man for more than half the game when defender Steven Old was red-carded for handball.
Defending Olympic men’s field-hockey champions Australia beat Germany, the team expected to be their main challengers at the Games, 2-1 in a warm-up match in Beijing.
Jamie Dwyer, one of the Australian goal scorers, was in no doubt of the result’s significance.
”These training matches have showed we have adjusted better than the Germans and that is a great sign,” he said.
But while Dwyer looked forward with optimism to the prospect of more medal glory, 22-year-old British boxer Frankie Gavin’s dreams of Olympic gold died.
The world lightweight champion, the favourite for the under-60kg title, was ruled out after failing to make the weight.
Terry Edwards, head coach of the British boxing team, said: ”Frankie has been working his whole boxing career towards the Olympic Games and he is obviously completely devastated.”
As the smog in Beijing’s skies showed no sign of shifting, the head of the World Health Organisation in China said concerns that pollution would affect athletes’ performances had been exaggerated. ”It is a very small risk for visitors from outside and even less so for athletes because they are in very good shape,” Hans Troedsson said.
Meanwhile, giant 2,26m basketball star Yao Ming was announced on Thursday as China’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.
However, that still left open the question of whom the Chinese would choose to light the Olympic flame, the symbolic final act of the opening ceremony. — Sapa-AFP