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Photo taken on August 30 shows a general view of the construction site of the 80,000-seat 360-million-dollar National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. AFP PHOTO
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Olympics: social change for Beijing
ATHENS -- Senior Olympic officials believe their decision in Moscow three years ago to award the 2008 Olympics to Beijing has sent a wind of change blowing through the Chinese capital that is steadily gathering pace.
The old days when hosting an Olympics was simply putting on a sporting festival have long gone -- now it is a political and social event with all the implications that come with that.
Even in the three years since the decision to give the world's most populous nation the honour of staging the sporting world's most glittering prize, the effect has already been felt in the Chinese capital, Olympic officials say.
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Olympic Committee chief closes Olympics
ATHENS -- The 28th summer Olympics came to a close on Sunday with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge describing them 'as the unforgettable, dream Games'.
A lavish closing ceremony brought down the curtain on the showpiece but the spectre of doping, which had dogged the event from the very start when Greek national hero Kostadinos Kenteris skipped a drugs test, haunted it to the end.
Olympic hammer champion Adrian Annus of Hungary was stripped of his gold medal Sunday for refusing a doping test while Colombian bronze-medal winning cyclist Maria Luisa Calle Williams tested positive for a banned stimulant and is to be stripped of her medal.
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No tears for Argentina
ATHENS -- After 52 years without an Olympic gold medal, Argentina captured two in a single day here Saturday when the men’s basketball team followed the football squad to a championship.
Luis Scola scored 25 points and Argentina defeated Italy, 84-69, in the Olympic basketball final some 12 hours after Argentina defeated Paraguay, 1-0, in the Men’s football final.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Argentina guard Emanuel Ginobili said. “It’s unbelievable. After 52 years without a gold medal for Argentina we made it twice in a day.
“It’s difficult to describe and express my feelings. I want to cry and at the same time to laugh. I can’t wait to go back to Argentina and see the joy in the face of our people.”
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Americans settle for bronze
ATHENS -– Averting the worst United States finish in Olympic history, a dejected set of National Basketball Association players salvaged a bronze medal here Saturday by defeating Lithuania, 104-96.
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Taiwan president's wife to lead athletes to Paralympics
TAIPEI -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's wheelchair-bound wife will lead a group of athletes to Athens for the 2004 Paralympic Games, the presidential office said Sunday, warning China not to interfere.
Wu Shu-chen would lead the 25-member group of athletes to Athens five days ahead of the Paralympics, to be staged on September 17-28, said Huang Chih-fang, the presidential office's deputy secretary-general.
"The First Lady will try everything she can to cheer up our athletes" before she returns on September 20, Huang told reporters, adding the trip would be a physical test for her.
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Hu gives China record sixth Olympic diving gold
ATHENS -- Dark horse Hu Jia came from behind to give China a record sixth Olympic diving gold Saturday with victory in the men's ten-metre platform event.
The 21-year-old silver medallist from the 2000 Sydney Games had been in fourth position following the semi-finals but improved to claim his first major individual title ahead of Australia's Mathew Helm and defending Olympic champion Tian Liang of China.
Hu achieved 748.08 points with Helm surging past Tian on the final dive of six to take silver with 730.06 to the reigning champion's 729.66.
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Powell cancels trip to Athens
WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Colin Powell has cancelled a controversial trip to Athens to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games due to a busy schedule, the State Department said Saturday.
"Secretary of State Colin Powell informed Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis that, due to the press of business in Washington, the Secretary would not be able to travel to Athens to attend the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games," spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.
Powell's planned trip to Greece Saturday through Monday had sparked protests with hundreds of demonstrators marching in central Athens on Friday to denounce his arrival.
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Reign of US NBA stars ends, Argentina and Italy reach Olympic final
ATHENS -- Just 12 years after Michael Jordan and the United States Dream Team rolled to Olympic basketball gold, Argentina and Italy are living the dream and all that's left for Americans is a wake-up call.
Argentina inflicted the most humbling moment in American basketball history upon a United States squad of National Basketball Association stars, dethroning them 89-81 here Friday.
Emanuel Ginobili, a guard for the NBA San Antonio Spurs, scored 29 points to spark the South Americans into Saturday's Olympic gold medal game against Italy, which stunned previously unbeaten Lithuania 100-91.
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German Kayak queen Fisher grabs eighth gold
ATHENS -- German kayaker Birgit Fischer captured her eighth Olympic gold medal on Friday in the women's K4 500 meters, moving a step closer to a record equalling ninth career gold at the Athens Games.
Fischer and teammates Maike Nollen, Katrin Wagner and Carolin Leonhardt pounced on race leaders Hungary - Katalin Kovacs, Szilvia Szabo, Erzsebet Viski and Kinga Bota - in the final meters to snatch the gold.
With Saturday's K2 500m final coming up, Fischer can equal the record as the most successful woman athlete in the history of the Olympic Games with her ninth gold.
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Indonesian Olympic hero slams government over failures
JAKARTA -- Hotheaded Indonesian Olympic hero Taufik Hidayat, who scooped the country's only Athens gold medal, says his government's poor treatment of athletes is to blame for their failures.
Hidayat, who took the men's singles badminton gold, made the comment after he and other medallists met President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the Indo.Pos daily said.
"I feel that in other countries things are different. It seems that the government pays little attention to our athletes," Hidayat said.
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