Day Three: China takes more gold, leading in medal count
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
On the third day of the Beijing Olympics, China has proven itself to be a serious contender to win the most medals at this year's games. As of 7:30 pm Beijing time on Monday, China had taken eight of a total of 32 gold medals issued, accounting for a quarter of the Olympic gold given out so far.In terms of total medals won, China's 13 total medals were one more than the United States' 12. South Korea was in third place with seven total medals and four gold medals. South Korea's four golds were second only to China's eight and one ahead of the three won by the US.
Yue/Liang take gold 10m synchronized platform
Monday at the Watercube, Divers Lin Yue (林跃) and Huo Liang (火亮) won China's second gold medal in diving so far, winning the men's 10 meter synchronized platform. The pair has been dominating international competitions heading into the Beijing games and appear to be having no trouble assuming the role of heirs to Chinese diving legends and Athens gold medalists Tian Liang and Yang Jinghui.
Lin and Huo's combined score of 468.18 beat out Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding of Germany (450.42) and Gleb Galperin and Dmitry Dobroskok of Russia (445.26).
Chen gives China third weightlifting gold medal
Chen Yanqing (陈艳青) won weightlifting gold for the second Olympics in a row, taking the top spot in the women's 58 kilogram class and giving China its third weightlifting gold in three days.
Chen is the first woman to win Olympic weightlifting gold twice.
The 29-year-old Chen, who had been coaxed out of retirement for the Beijing games, snatched 106 kilograms and lifted 138 for the clean and jerk, for a winning total of 244 kilograms. Chen beat out Marina Shainova of Russia and O Jong Ae from North Korea, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Tian and Wang win again in beach volleyball
China inched closer to its first beach volleyball gold on Monday as Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie (王洁) defeated Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet Van Breedam of Belgium in a hard-fought 2:1 victory (18-21, 21-19, 15-13).
With wins against fellow Group A members Switzerland and Belgium, Tian and Wang look likely to advance to a berth in the tournament's top 16. The pair will play the undefeated duo of Susanne Glesnes and Kathrine Maaseide of Norway at 11 am Beijing time on Wednesday.
Lin Yue/Huo Liang image: sports.mop.com
Chen Yanqing image: Xinhua
Tags: Chen Yanqing, Diving, Huo Liang, Lin Yue, Olympics, Tian Jia, Wang Jie
China's men lose badly to USA, women to play tonight
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The USA men's basketball team easily handled China last night, winning 101-70. The star-studded American team put on a dunking clinic, stealing the ball 14 times for easy fast break points. Yao Ming had a double-double--13 points and 10 rebounds. Zhu Fangyu was the second leading scorer for China with 11 points and 8 rebounds.Expect a better game tonight when the two countries' women's teams meet. Last time they played, China won 84-81, behind 26 points from point guard Miao Lijie. China played strong defense as well, forcing 18 turnovers and holding Lisa Leslie to just 10 points. In the teams' first meeting of that tournament, the USA won, 86-61.
The USA has made some personnel changes since then, most notably adding Candace Parker, the most exciting player in women's basketball right now.
Related:
China upsets USA in women's basketball
USA dishes China its first loss in basketball test tournament
Tags: basketball, Beijing Olympics, Miao Lijie, Olympics, Yao Ming, Zhu Fangyu
China's women aiming for gold in beach volleyball
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Since first appearing as an exhibition sport in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and making its debut as a medal event in Atlanta four years later, the fast-paced sport of beach volleyball has quickly become one of the most popular Olympic events.
An easy-to-understand combination of power, speed and spandex, the sport pulled 3.5 billion viewing hours during the 2004 games in Athens and has already proven quite popular with Chinese audiences during this year's Beijing games, with spectators consistently packing the stands at the beach volleyball ground in Chaoyang Park.
As an Olympic sport, beach volleyball has been dominated by the triumvirate of Brazil, the US and Australia – no other countries have won gold medals in either men's or women's beach volleyball to date. Each country has won gold once in the women's event.
This year there may be a new world order in Olympic beach volleyball, as China has a good shot at joining the women's beach volleyball gold club. Fielding its best talent ever and enjoying a home-field advantage, China has two talented teams in the women's competition that are both considered serious medal contenders.
Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie (王洁) – who beat Lea Schwer and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland 2:0 on Saturday – are top seeds in Pool A after placing second in the qualification round for the event. They are expected to advance beyond their group, which also includes Belgium and Norway.
China's other women's team, consisting of Zhang Xi (张希) and Xue Chen (薛晨), has also started off on the right foot in the Olympic tournament, beating Greece's Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani 2:1 in Chaoyang Park on Sunday. Zhang and Xue – who was named top rookie in 2006 by the International Federation of Volleyball - are playing in Pool D, which is rounded out by Germany and South Africa.
Experience will be a big factor for both pairs – each of whom have been playing together since 2006. Tian Jia has played in previous Olympics and has also been playing internationally since 1998 and she has extensive international experience playing together with Wang.
Zhang and Xue, both making their Olympic debut on Sunday, dropped one set to their Greek opponents, but according to Xue, who at 19 is the youngest beach volleyball player competing in Beijing, any Olympic jitters are behind them.
"We were a little bit strained in the game and the rivals are very strong, so we lost a set," Xue told Xinhua after the match, "But we'll be very confident in playing in the next matches," she said.
Xue Chen image: 2008.sina.com
Tian Jia/Wang Jie image: hi.baidu.com
Tags: beach volleyball, Olympics, Tian Jia, Wang Jie, Xue Chen, Zhang Xi
Baseball coach breaks with Olympic gag order
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China put a gag order on its coaches and athletes for the pre-Olympic period, making none of them available to talk with foreign media (with the exception of press conferences at international competition).But Jim Lefebvre broke that silence when he spoke with Seattle Times reporter Steve Kelley a few days ago. Five years ago, Lefebvre took a detour from his long Major League Baseball career to lead China's baseball team.
The team isn't expected to have much success at these games, and two of the three ballparks that were built in Beijing will be torn down after the Olympics. But Lefebvre, who will likely return to the United States this fall, has high hopes for baseball's future in China and some interesting stories from his time with the Chinese team.
On why he decided to speak to Kelley, Lefebvre says:
"With the Olympics about to begin, the Chinese officials have come to me and said no coach, or player, or manager can talk to the media," Lefebvre said. "So this, what I'm doing now, is against their policy. I asked them why we can't talk and they told me they didn't want to put a focus on their team and I told them, 'You know, that bothers me.'
"We have players who deserve some attention. We have a guy who played in the CBA [Chinese Baseball Association], quit the game and worked in the restaurant business for eight years. Now he's our best pitcher. That's a story that should be told."
Tags: baseball, Beijing Olympics, Jim Lefebvre