Afzal's Blog: Olympics

Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts

Unknown Saturday, August 11, 2012

Indian Wrestler Yogeshwar Wins Olympic Bronze

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt gave India lot to cheer about by winning the bronze medal on a day when the hockey team, eight-time Olympic champions, ended their worst-ever Games with a wooden spoon in 12th position in London on Aug. 12, 2012.

Yogeshwar clinched the bronze medal in the men's 60kg category at the ExCel Arena to give the country its fifth Olympic medal from the London Games.

A determined Yogeshwar, who had lost in the quarterfinals in Beijing, churned out one of his best performance against North Korean Jong Myong Ri winning the bronze medal play-off match 3-1 at the ExCel Arena, which was packed with Indian supporters.

Yogeshwar, who was in his third Olympics, also became the third Indian wrestler after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav and Sushil Kumar to win an Olympic medal. Jadhav and Kumar had won bronze medals in 1952 Helsinki and 2008 Beijing Games.

In the bronze medal match, Yogeshwar put up a spirited performance despite losing the first period 1–0. Struggling to barely open his right eye, he came back strongly in the second period winning it 1–0.

Realizing that bronze medal was almost in his grasp, there was no stopping Yogeshwar in the third and the final period that he won 6–0.

Unknown Friday, August 10, 2012

Olympics: US Women Set World Record; Win Gold in 4x100m Relay

Carmelita Jeter powered the United States 4x100 meter women's quartet to a world record time of 40.82 seconds giving them the gold medal for the first time at the Olympics since 1996.

Jeter screamed down the stretch to cross the finish line in London on Aug. 11, pointing the baton at the clock to signal that the previous record was erased from the books.

The US quartet of Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter shattered the previous record of 41.37, which had been set by the German Democratic Republic in 1985 by over half a second.

Jamaica finished second, while Ukraine won a very creditable bronze medal.

Unknown Thursday, August 09, 2012

Olympics: Bolt Creates History; Retains 200m Title

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has created Olympic history by becoming the first man to win the 100 and 200 meters in successive games.

Bolt Thursday night (Aug. 10) ran the 200 meters in 19.32 seconds to finish ahead of fellow countrymen Yohan Blake, like he did in the 100 meters on Sunday, and Wallace Weir at the London Games to become the first man to win the two sprint titles in back-to-back Olympics.

Surely nobody can question his status as the greatest sprinter in history.

"It's what I came here to do. I'm now a legend," Bolt said.

Bolt had complained of slipping on the blocks as he won the 100 meters, but he got off to a flying start in 200 meters, springing out of the blocks and running an excellent bend.

To his credit, Blake, who ran 19.44 seconds, was still in contention as they came off the bend and for a moment it looked as if he could close. But Bolt is Bolt and he maintained a lead of just over a meter which he stretched out in the closing strides, looking across to Blake as if to say "I'm still number one."

Blake finished 0.4 second ahead of Weir to highlight that at almost any other time he would be a great champion and maybe one day he will be, but for the moment, Bolt is the king of sprinting.

Unknown Thursday, August 09, 2012

Olympics: Australia Stun Hungry to Take K4 Gold

Australia fired off the start to take victory in the men's kayak four (K4) 1,000 meter final on Aug. 9, 2012 beating the Hungarian favorites before a roaring crowd on Dorney Lake.

Hungary, who had been looking to add gold to the titles they won in 2004 and 2000, took the silver and the Czech Republic collected bronze.

The Australian crew fell back into their boat and punched the water in delight at their win.

Unknown Thursday, August 09, 2012

Olympics: US Beach Volleyball Pair Win Third Gold

United States pair Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their third straight Olympic gold medal in women's beach volleyball by beating compatriots Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21–16, 21–16 in the final on Aug. 9, 2012.

May-Treanor and Walsh took gold in Athens in 2004 and again in Beijing in 2008. No other beach volleyball team, men or women, have retained an Olympic title, let alone won a third.

At the end of the match, the two women fell to their knees face-to-face in the sand and hugged.

Then they got up, bathed in tears, and ran off in different directions to embrace family and friends and do high fives with Olympic volunteers.

After a while, May-Treanor returned to the sand and performed a few solo dance moves, which she later described as "the shuffle."

Unknown Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Olympic Football: Brazil Beat South Korea 3-0; To Face Mexico in Final

Brazil beat South Korea 3-0 at Old Trafford to advance to the Olympic men's football final on Tuesday (August 7, 2012). Midfielder Romulo put Brazil ahead in the 38th minute and Leandro Damiao scored a brace in the second-half to help Brazil reach its first Olympic men's soccer final in 24 years.

The Brazilians will now face Mexico, who came from behind to defeat Japan 3-1 in the other semi-final, in the final at Wembley Stadium on August 11, 2012.

Brazil were the bronze-medalist in 2008 but hadn't reached the Olympic final since the 1988 Seoul Games. Japan will now play against South Korea for the bronze medal on Friday (August 10, 2012) in Cardiff, Wales.

Unknown Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Olympic Wrestling: Iran’s Rezaei Wins Gold

Iran's Ghasem Gholamreza Rezaei grappled to Olympic wrestling gold in the men's 96kg division on Aug. 8, defeating Russia's Rustam Totrov on points in the final.

Rezaei, 26, won 3–0 to take down the 2011 world bronze medalist and secure a third wrestling gold for his country.

Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia beat Cuba's Yunior Estrada Falcon 3–0 in the bronze medal match.

Jimmy Lidberg, the 2011 world silver medalist from Sweden, won the second bronze medal in the category, beating Belarusian athlete Tsimafei Dzeinichenka 3–1.

Unknown Monday, August 06, 2012

India's Mary Kom in Olympic Boxing Semis, Ensures Medal for India

Boxer MC Mary Kom ensured another medal for India from the 2012 London Olympics with a convincing 15–6 victory over Tunisian Maroua Rahali in the quarter-finals of the women's 51kg category at the ExCel Arena in London on Aug. 6, 2012.

The winners of the two semi-finals compete for the gold medal while the losing semi-finalists are awarded a bronze each.

The Indian, a five-time World Champion, put in a dominant performance. But her style was in stark contrast to her performance on Aug. 5, when she beat Karolina Michalczuk of Poland.

In the first round, she sized her opponent and relied heavily on defensive tactics. She time and again tried to get inside of her opponent to land a punch but the Tunisian was able to keep her distance.

Both fighters did not throw many punches and the round ended 2-1 in the Indian's favour.

The second round, too, was similar as the diminutive Indian tried to keep away from her taller opponent. Relying on one-off punches, Mary Kom frustrated her opponent with her quick evasive measures.

Fighting conservatively, Mary Kom still was narrowly able to edge out her opponent 3-2.

With only a two-point lead, the Indian put the hammer down as she went for her opponent. Like in her pre-quarters bout, Mary Kom displayed her quick feet and fast hands with a flurry of combination punches.

She stepped inside her opponent, who had an advantage of height, and landed some telling blows. With the Tunisian clearly reeling under the pressure of the punches, Mary Kom went for the kill winning the round 6-1.

The fourth was a formality as the Indian conserved her energy and relied on counter-attacks. Her opponent too seemed to be out of energy, not even trying to reduce the seven-point deficit.

In the semi-final, the 29-year-old Indian, famously known as 'Magnificent Mary,' faces Great Britain's Nicola Adams, who is seeded second in the tournament.

At the 2012 World Championship, Mary Kom was defeated in the quarter-finals by Nicola.

For the first time in India's history, two female athletes have won medals in the same Olympics. Saina Nehwal gave India its maiden badminton Olympic medal, a bronze on Aug. 4.

Unknown Sunday, August 05, 2012

Olympic Tennis: Murray Beat Federer to Win Gold for Britain

Andy Murray ended his unsuccessful history at Wimbledon by thrashing Switzerland's Roger Federer to win the men's singles Olympic tennis gold for Britain in London on Aug. 5, 2012.

Murray dominated the final to win 6–2, 6–1, 6–4 and exact devastating revenge for his defeat to Federer in last month's Wimbledon final at the All England Club.

The Scot dominated in almost every department, outscoring Federer on the forehand and backhand and keeping unforced errors to a minimum.

Murray's gold is Britain's first medal in Olympic tennis since 1920 and first men's singles medal since Josiah Ritchie won gold in London 104 years ago.

The bronze medal went to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 7–5, 6–4.

Unknown Sunday, August 05, 2012

Bolt Wins Olympic Gold in Men's 100 Meters

Usain Bolt won Olympic gold in the men's 100 meters on Aug. 6, screaming to the line in an Olympic record of 9.63 seconds.

The Jamaican collected his fourth career Olympic gold ahead of teammate Yohan Blake, who clocked 9.75, with 2004 champion Justin Gatlin taking the bronze in 9.79 seconds.

Bolt's world record of 9.58 remained intact.

Unknown Sunday, August 05, 2012

Olympics: Indian Boxer Mary Kom Through to Quarters

Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom (29), who is making her Olympic debut, is through to the quarter-finals of the London Olympic Boxing Women's Fly (51K) event defeating Poland's Karolina Michalczuk 19-14 in the pre-quarterfinal round today.

Mary Kom next opponent will be Tunisia's Maroua Rahali.

Unknown Saturday, August 04, 2012

Serena Thrashes Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to Win Olympic Gold

United State’s Serena Williams won the Olympic gold medal in women tennis singles event on Saturday, destroying Russia’s Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1in a very one-sided final match.

In a match that lasted 62 minutes, Williams outplayed, out-powered Sharapova winning the first nine games before Sharapova could managed to take a game. This is Serena’s first Olympic singles medal; she has won two doubles titles at the Olympics with older sister Venus.

Top-seeded Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka took the bronze medal defeating No.14-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4.

Unknown Saturday, August 04, 2012

Saina Nehwal Wins Bronze; India’s Third Medal at London Olympic

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in the Olympic women's badminton singles event on Saturday after China's Wang Xin retired hurt with a knee injury. Chinese Wang was leading 21-18 1-0 when she conceded the match.

With this win, Saina becomes the second Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, after Karnam Malleswari's weightlifting bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics.

This is India's third medal at the ongoing London Olympic, with pistol shooter Vijay Kumar (silver) and seasoned marksman Gagan Narang (bronze) being the other medal winners.

Unknown Friday, August 03, 2012

Russia’s Sharapova to Take on US’s Serena Williams for Olympic Gold

Russia’s Maria Sharapova will take on United State’s Serena Williams in the Final of the London Olympic Tennis Ladies Single event on Saturday.

Sharapova dispatched off fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3 in the semis while Serena Williams decimated world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1 6-2 in the other Semi-Final.

Serena and Sharapova will now face each other not just for a gold medal but also to become only the second woman after Germany’s Steffi Graf to win all four grand slams and the Olympic title in their career. Serena Williams has a 8-2 win/lost (all-time) against Maria Sharapova.

Unknown Friday, August 03, 2012

Olympic Badminton: Saina Loses to Wang Yihan in Semis

India's Saina Nehwal went down to world champion Wang Yihan of China in the women's singles semi-finals of the London Olympics badminton event in London on Aug. 3, 2012.

Saina, the first Indian shuttler to reach the Olympics semi-finals, lost 13–21, 13–21 at the Wembley Arena.

The fourth seed will now play for the bronze medal on Aug. 4 against the other losing semi-finalist.