12th September 2007
Australia and New Zealand battle it out for Olympic spot
Australia and New Zealand will be battling out for Oceania’s only berth for the Beijing Olympics in the men’s hockey. Papua New Guinea are also participating but it is unlikely they will faze Australia who are ranked number 2 in the world and New Zealand who are ranked 9th.
“It’s going to be the greatest test they have faced since I have been working with the team in the last year,” New Zealand coach Shane McLeod said after his team’s final training session.
Read more: Aussies, Kiwis fight for Olympic spot
US to pick 2008 Olympic weightlifting team in Atlanta 2 replies
Georgia Tech will host weight lifting championships to decide who will go to Beijing and participate in the 2008 Olympics. The countries top 60 athletes, 30 men and 30 women will compete for four spots each.
“Georgia has a rich history of Olympic weightlifting dating all the way back to the 1956 Melbourne Games,” said Team Georgia coach C.J. Stockel, referring to gold medalist Paul Anderson.
Read more: USA Weightlifting will pick its 2008 Olympic team in Atlanta
Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli eligible for Olympics
Oussama Mellouli was banned for 18 months for testing positive for amphetamines at a competition on November 30, 2006. The ban dates back to when he used the banned substance making him still eligible to compete next year in the Beijing Olympics.
Mellouli won gold medals for the 800-metre freestyle and silver in the 400 freestyle in March at the world championships in Melbourne, Australia. He will be stripped of those medals.
“The swimmer admitted that he had taken an Adderall pill two days earlier to prevent him from falling asleep so that he could finish writing a report which counted towards his final university diploma. If the swimmer was indeed guilty of negligence, such negligence was not sufficiently serious to suspend him for two years, which would have meant an automatic ban from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,” the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel ruled.
Still lots left to do for the Olympics
Steven Schwankert reports that there is still a lot left to be done for the Olympics and many promises are yet to be fulfilled.
- pollution still bad and cars are increasing in the city
- China still hasn’t issued third-generation (3G) telephony licenses
- having English speaking taxi driver is still a dream
Read more: For Beijing Olympics, Lots Left to Do
11th September 2007
Decoturf to be used in the Beijing Olympics
Decoturf has been selected as the surface for the tennis events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“DecoTurf is honoured and gratified to be selected as the tennis surface for the Beijing Olympics” said John Graham, managing director of Deco Turf.
The tennis events will be held from August 10th to the 17th.
Read more: DECOTURF FOR OLYMPICS
Asafa Powell 1 reply
Born:
Country: Jamaica
Sport: 100 and 200 meters
Asafa Powell currently holds the world record for the 100 meters with a time of 9.74 seconds. Despite holding the world record, he has some misfortune in the big events being disqualified and having problems with injury. He is confident of winning gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Career highlights:
World Record 9.74 sec 1st 2nd Heat Rieti 09 September 2007
11th IAAF World Championships 3rd Final Osaka 26 August 2007
2006 Commonwealth Games 1st Final Melbourne 20 March 2006
2nd Athletic Final IAAF 1st Final Monaco 18 September 2004
2004 Olympic Games 5th Final Athens 22 August 2004
1st Athletic Final IAAF 7th Final Monaco 13 September 2003
Asafa Powell focusing on the Olympics
After breaking his own 100 meter record, Asafa Powell is setting his sights on the ultimate goal of a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics next year.
“Next year my only goal is the Olympics,” the Jamaican sprinter said Monday, a day after improving his time by three-hundredths of a second to 9.74 at the Rieti Grand Prix. “I plan to race many more times before the Olympics than I did this year.”
He has an unlucky run in the major races. He was “disqualified for a false start at the 2003 worlds, finished fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics and missed the 2005 worlds because of a groin injury”.
Read more: Asafa Powell focusing on Beijing Olympics after improving his 100-meter world record
Malaysia hoping for more qualifiers
Malaysia has only had five athletes qualify for the Beijing Olympics so far. The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar is confident however that there will be more.
“It’s still early days as some of the sports have yet to hold their qualifying tournaments. We expect some from badminton. I am confident that we will have about the same of number of athletes like we did for the 2004 Athens Olympics,” Tunku Imran said. “For now, I urge the athletes to double their efforts. It is a great honour to be an Olympian.”
Malaysia is participating in the torch relay for the first time. The torch will run through Kuala Lumpur on April 21st 2008.
Read more: OCM confident more will qualify for Beijing Games
Terrorist and Al-Qaeda warning from Interpol 2 replies
Interpol has sent a warning to Beijing residents regarding the possibility of terrorist attacks during the Beijing Olympic Games.
“The alliance to permit the hosting of a safe and secure 2008 summer Olympic Games will need to embrace the public sector, the global law enforcement community, the private sector and - of particular importance - a vigilant public at home and abroad,” Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble said in a speech to Chinese security officials in Beijing on Monday.
Interpol will be helping to screen visa applications for visitors to China leading up to the Olympics.
Jaycee John to miss qualifier for Bahrain
Nigerian born striker, Jaycee John will miss Bahrain’s qualifying match in Group B against Uzbekistan. He was suspended by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) for missing some training sessions. Bahrain lost to South Korea 1-0 making it difficult for them to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
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