Fri, Aug 22, 2008 page23

• Olympic Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ATHLETICS

  Blonska thrown out

  Silver medalist Lyudmila Blonska was kicked out of the women’s long jump final yesterday following her positive doping test. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) temporarily suspended the Ukrainian athlete from the Beijing Games pending a final ruling today, the same day as the medal round of the long jump. “According to the decision of the IOC, Lyudmila Blonska has been removed from the start list for the women’s long jump final,” the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) said in a statement. Blonska was third in qualifying with a jump of 6.76m. The IOC’s disciplinary commission met to hear Blonska’s case yesterday and decided to provisionally suspend her. The IOC’s ruling executive board will issue its final ruling today. The 30-year-old Blonska tested positive for a banned steroid after she finished second in the heptathlon last Saturday. If found guilty of doping, she will be stripped of the medal and expelled from the Games. Blonska also faces a lifetime ban from the IAAF for a second doping violation. She served a doping suspension for the steroid stanozolol between 2003 and 2005. The third-place finisher in the heptathlon was Hyleas Fountain of the US, who would be bumped up to the silver if Blonska is disqualified. Russia’s Tatiana Chernova would move up from fourth to the bronze.

  ■HANDBALL

  South Koreans stage protest

  South Korea’s women’s handball team staged a pitch-side protest yesterday after Norway defeated them 29-28 in the Olympic semi-finals with a controversial goal in the game’s dying seconds. The South Koreans were unhappy that Gro Hammerseng’s decider was allowed to stand and remained in their seats on the sideline well after full-time in protest. They remained there for 20 minutes after the game ended before acknowledging their fans in the stands and walking off. The loss was the South Koreans’ second defeat to Norway in a major tournament in less than a year, after they were eliminated from the world championships by the same opponents. Olympic champions in 1988 and 1992, South Korea entered the tournament with high hopes. They were beaten by Brazil in the preliminaries, then lifted themselves in the quarters to eliminate hosts China 31-23. But they came up against the form team of the tournament in Norway, who won all five of their group matches before crushing Sweden 31-24 in the quarter-finals.

  ■DIVING

  China win another gold

  Chen Ruolin rallied on her last dive to earn four 10s, winning the gold medal in the women’s 10m platform yesterday and making China seven-for-seven with one event remaining. Chen totaled 447.70 points after hitting a backward two-and-a-half somersault with one-and-a-half twists with the title on the line. Emilie Heymans of Canada, who led by 7.15 points going into Chen’s last dive, earned the silver with 437.05. Chen’s teammate, Wang Xin, took the bronze at 429.50. American Laura Wilkinson, the 2000 Olympic champion, finished ninth in her final competition.

  ■GYMNASTICS

  Li Ning praises team

  China’s “Prince of Gymnasts” Li Ning gave the ultimate compliment to his country’s current crop of competitors, saying yesterday the men’s Olympic gymnastics team was even better than his own. Li, 44, won the most medals of any athlete at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, returning home with three golds, two silvers and a bronze, before retiring from gymnastics to build a sportswear company that bears his name.
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