China clung to its position atop the Olympic medal leader board on Monday after teenage marksman Zhu Qinan won the nation’s sixth gold medal, with the promise of more to come in the diving later in the day. Zhu (19) set a new world record of 702,7 points in the men’s 10m air-rifle gold, outshining compatriot Li Jie.
South Africa’s lone archer, Kirsten Lewis, shot herself through to the last 32 in the opening round of the Olympic archery competition, held at the Panathinaiko Stadium on Sunday. The South African advanced at the expense of India’s Dola Banerjee with a score of 141 to 131.
West Indies captain Brian Lara became the fastest batsman to score 10 000 Test runs when he made seven against England in the third Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday. Left-hander Lara, only the fourth man to score 10 000 Test runs, reached the landmark in his 111th Test and 195th innings.
Michael Schumacher will soon run out of records to set. In winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, he became the first formula-one driver to win 12 times in a season with teammate Rubens Barrichello completing the Ferrari 1-2 sweep. Schumacher has failed to win only once in the most lopsided season in formula-one history.
Eidur Gudjohnsen ensured Jose Mourinho’s reign as Chelsea manager got off to the perfect start with a 1-0 win over Premiership title rivals Manchester United on Sunday. The Icelander’s well-taken 15th-minute strike made the difference between the two teams and secured a valuable psychological edge for the west London club.
The underdogs roared at the Olympics in Athens on Sunday with basketball minnows Puerto Rico pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the 108-year history of the Games with victory over the United States ”Dream Team”. In the swimming pool, an expected duel between the Australian and United States contingents went out the window.
Greece’s Olympic 200m champion Kostadinos Kenteris and women’s 100m silver medallist Ekaterini Thanou have asked for a further 48-hour delay in their hearing with Olympic chiefs, their lawyer revealed. The two Greek stars risk being expelled from the Games for missing a mandatory drugs test last Thursday.
Click on image for full-size view.
The Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus have welcomed former president FW de Klerk’s decision to leave the New National Party. De Klerk resigned from the NNP on Friday, saying the party had gone too far in merging with the ruling African National Congress.
The story is like the plot of a Coen brothers film: A couple frustrated by their inability to conceive kidnap a baby. After widespread media coverage the child is found abandoned in a derelict house. When those charged appear in court, their greatest fear is not the law but the man mouthing threats in the public gallery, an alleged gangster whose child was kidnapped.