civil wars!
Eh ? I don't quite follow Mort .
Eritrea v Ethiopia ?
Mind you I saw two Russians competing for Georgia , Golvina in the womens trampoling & Albert Kutilov in the 103kg weightlifting.
Basketball saw a surprise defeat for the Lithuanians against Australia. Was it tactical to avoid playing the Yanks in the QFs ? Because that is who the Ozzies will do
Argentina led by Scola, Ginobli,Delfino & co send Russia crashing out. to take on China & I'm not sure about the other matchups but Croatia,Lithuania will take on Spain or Greece. Barring a miracle the US will take gold. Tables:
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7521779.stm Handball a magnificent game not covered on BBCi
but on Eurosport so catch it if you can. Team Gb hope to get a squad organised as hosts in 2012 so if you are athletic & flexible. blessed with great reflexes & hand eye co-ordination & prepared to take a bruise or two find your nearest club & you might be there for London 2012 !
Russia slipped to a surprise defeat in the mens volleyball but rested a set of key players against Poland having already qualified. As inthe womens a good chance of gold coming up against familiar opponents in the form of Brazil & Italy.
Tables:
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7564850.stmYelena Isbinyaeva saved the best for the pole vault final. She had a real tussle with long time rival Svetlana Feofanova .The pair do not get along at all. Yelena set a new WR following the footsteps of her idol Sergei Bubka also a showman.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7568077.stmUsain Bolt cruised his 200m easing up again & could well be on his way to taking Michael Johnsons WR.
Unsurprisingly in the mens steeplechase Brimin Kipruto maintained Kenyas stranglehold on the event followed by the familiar unfurling of the flag & team procession round the stadium.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7568422.stmIn a bit of karma after the violently partisan support in many events worse than Atlanta in some cases when you had uncivilised Yanks applaudig when foreign competitors made mistakes or lost marks Chinas golden boy suffered a calf & ankle injury meaning he could not defend his 110m hurdles title.
What a shame.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7568302.stmWill he get beaten with bamboo sticks for his failure ?
Pamela Jelimo won Kenyas first ever gold in a womens track event in the 800m.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7568691.stmAt one stage she was challenging the drug fuelled WR of Kratochvilava. Mind you she doesn't exactly look a woman either. And if shes 18 then I'm Father Christmas(which I'm not by the way).
In the 400 hurdles Angelo Taylor stormed through to regain the title whe won in Sydney 200 completing an American clean sweep with Clement second & Jackson third.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7568794.stmHis name must be up there with legendary Ed Moses but certainly not as cool or relaxed as Ed.
Irving Saladino took gold Panamas first ever as the former world champion leapt 8.3 odd metres in a lacklustre event.
The womens discus was won by this svelte nymph.
An equally delightful Cuban Barrios & Ukrainian Antonova came third.
In the gym hall the Chinese procession ably abetted by the judges continued. I have watched artistic gymnastics for nigh on two decades supporting the Russian & Soviet teams who have advanced the sport as in ice hockey.
The FIG changed the judging system in an effort to make the sport more objective but id this is the case how is the Chinese gymnasts hardly have any deductions ?
The asymmetric beam winner Je Hexin fell off in qualification & still made the final to win.Infact her Chinese compatriot performed better but there we are.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/gymnastics/7568438.stm The competitors look bemused by some of the scoring & the crowds certainly at the Worlds in Melbourne made their displeasure known at some of the scoring esp.with regards to marks awarded to the Russian team.
In an effort to keep other federations interested it seems they like to make sure the medals are spread around. A Pole Blanik won the mens vault on a tie-break from a Frenchman Bouhail.
How Golotsukov who had a higher technical difficulty for his two vault & performing them perfectly was marked lower is a mystery. Certainly to Golotsukov & to compatriot Semenova in the bars . Both looked mystified as did the Japanese yesterday.
The judging is shambolic to be frank . In the trampolining 5 times world champion Irina Kareva lost out to the Chinese again.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/gymnastics/7568916.stmAs I suspected before the games & as at Atlanta the homery is unsurprising. How nations like Poland & France have become medalling nations in five years & the likes of Vanessa Ferrari a world champion (funnily enough nowhere in Beijing) beggars belief.
And the skewed judging extends to todays diving. Julia Pakhalina desite performing more technical dives with great execution was edged out by the Chinese winner.
Tom Daley will not have to perform well he will have to perform superhumanly well to even get a medal against the Chinese. Apparently the Chinese competitors never make mistakes & are always flawless.
I am certain their weightlifters & certain others in the swimming & athletics have been doping using new drugs which the tests cannot detect.
They are desperate for medals & China has been caught systematically doping in the past with its swimmers (who claimed it was the turtle soup they were consuming, disgusting in itself).
Perhaps its also the stigma of losing face & not suceeding but with these judged events it does rankle.
In the water polo (also to be seen on Eurosport)it looks set to be a battle between the traditional powers plus USA int eh QFs namely Hungary, Italy, Croatia & Serbia.
Also a neglected sport in the UK which needs competitors to constitue a 2012 team as hosts. Again if you are fit look for your nearest club .You just never know you might be there in 2012 & beyond.