They may not be the most conventional pair seeking Olympic glory. But a former Playboy centrefold and a pizza waitress from Cincinnati are hoping to emulate such luminaries as Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci.
The first day of the Olympics Games produced some mixed results for the South African contingent on Saturday. The most positive South African result on Saturday came from Donovan Cech and Ramon di Clemente when they secured their place in Wednesday’s semifinal of the men’s 2 000m Rowing Pairs.
Two Greek sporting legends were last night suspended from the Athens Olympics amid suspicion they faked a motorcycle accident to cover up a missed drugs test. Sprinters Kostas Kederis and Ekaterini Thanou were removed temporarily amid growing anger their behaviour had brought scandal to the sporting showpiece.
The South African women’s hockey team’s defensive frailties were horribly exposed as they were crushed 6-2 by The Netherlands in the opening match of the Olympic Games hockey tournament on Saturday.
Rain gave South Africa a glimmer of hope as they looked to escape with a draw in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka. South Africa were 21-2 at close as the Sri Lankan new-ball bowlers came up with incisive spells. But rain, which had washed out the first two sessions, came back to force an early closure.
South African defender Lucas Radebe’s career could be over after he suffered a suspected rupture of the Achilles’ tendon during Leeds United’s goalless draw at Wolves on Saturday. The 35-year-old was carried off on a stretcher after extended treatment on the pitch 18 minutes into the game at Molineux.
Ryan Cox, after an aggressive race up front, was the only survivor among South Africa’s team of three in a thrilling 224km Olympic Games road race through the city streets of Athens that was won by Paolo Bettini of Italy on Saturday.
Hestrie Cloete, South Africa’s golden girl at the Athens Olympics, had to bus into the athlete’s Olympic Village when she was left stranded at the airport in a culmination of communication problems in the SA Olympic camp.
The charred bodies of women and children lay heaped inside a dozen torched huts in the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi on Saturday, where nearly 159 people were killed in an overnight attack. The victims were shot, hacked to death with machetes or burnt inside their homes, during a raid on the camp near the capital Bujumbura.
More than 200 of South Africa’s greatest inventions went on show this weekend in an exhibition designed to highlight innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. The inventions and innovations range from the Kreepy Krauly pool cleaner to the noisy vuvuzela and the famous dolos concrete structures which protect harbours and seawalls worldwide.