EVENTS
Sportsman of the Year
Heisman Trophy
Swimsuit 2001
CENTERS
Fantasy Central
Inside Game
Multimedia Central
Statitudes
Your Turn
Message Boards
Email Newsletters
Golf Guide
Cities
Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
Sports Illustrated
Life of Reilly
Television
SI Women
SI for Kids
Press Room
TBS/TNT Sports
CNN Languages
COMMERCE
SI Customer Service
SI Media Kits
Get into College
Sports Memorabilia
TeamStore
|  |
A Russian collapse
Latest: Thursday September 21, 2000 02:01 PM
|
By Mitch Gelman and Adam Levine, CNNSI.com
SYDNEY, Austria -- After failing to win gold as a team, the Russians had a chance for redemption in the individual all-around competition.
Svetlana Khorkina, the 21-year-old star of the Russian team and one of the best in history on the uneven bars, was expected to perform a great set of routines. Instead, the 1996 Olympics uneven bars gold medalist fell on the same release move she missed during team competition.
But by then it was almost academic. In the previous rotation, perhaps due to a vault set two inches too low, Khorkina had fallen flat on her knees when she under-rotated on her first attempt.
While Khorkina and the other Russians were missing complicated maneuvers, the Romanian gymnasts, who won the team gold, were steady and sharp on their way to a one-two-three-finish.
As Khorkina walked off silently, the pig-tailed gold medalist, Andreea Raducan, stood on her coach's shoulders, blowing kisses to the crowd.
|
The men's 50-meter freestyle provides a rematch between the gold and silver medalists in the 1996 Olympics, Russian Alexander Popov and U.S. swimmer Gary Hall Jr. Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband, who already has two gold medals in these Games, is also in the race.
|
|
American boxer Dante Craig was knocked to the mat and out of the Olympics Thursday night by Turkey's Bulent Ulusoy. Fighting in the 57 kilograms (147 pounds) weight class, the Cincinnati native had overcome the loss of his mother and son and improbable odds in just getting to the ring in Sydney.
|
|
Track and field competition begins at Olympic Stadium with qualifying in the 100-meter and 400-meter races, as well as javelin and triple jump. The first medals will be awarded, as well, when the shot put finals are held in the evening session.
|
Peta Edabone, the Australian softball player who hit a two-run, two-out home run in the bottom of the 13th inning off superstar pitcher Lisa Fernandez to beat the U.S. 2-1.
|
|
Forget the medal count, the drug count is getting up there: Thirty-three athletes have been left home because of concerns they would not pass drug tests in Sydney, and 10 athletes have been banned from Games since arriving here hoping to compete.
|
|
|
Speedo scored the marketing coup of the Games so far by outfitting Eric "The Swimmer" Moussambani in a new blue-and-black speed suit. Huge photos in local papers illustrated stories that predicted the suit would help the dogged swimmer cut time off his record-slow 100-meter freestyle.
|
|
|
An unlikely Web site was being hammered for Olympics news. Not for results or stats, but for insight. Journalists and fans were clicking around the French-language site mariejoseperec.com for clues as to why the French 400-meter runner quit the Games.
|
|
|
Veteran U.S. gymnast Blaine Wilson, who performed poorly in both team and individual competition, then snapped to a reporter: "I don't have to explain myself to anyone, not to you, not to my family, not to anyone."
|
|
|
Wearing windmill hats and carrying tulips, the Dutch have been painting the town orange the past few days while celebrating a baseball win over Cuba and superstar swimmers Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn's victories in the pool.
|
|
Cycling helmets, in all colors and styles, are the sleekest, coolest new addition to the athletic fashion in these Games. Aerodynamically crafted and light as feathers, the helmets come with racing stripes or Darth Vader shields.
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2001
CNN/Sports Illustrated
An AOL Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.
|
|
With a victory in the women's 800-meter freestyle, 
The unofficial mascot of The Dream, an Aussie TV comedy show that spoofs the Olympics each night, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, helped the show achieve near-cult status when swimmer Michael Klim carried the stuffed animal onto the medal stand.
The 2000 version of the Dream Team probably won't lose a game, but after beating Lithuania by just nine points, they now own the dubious honor of the smallest margin of victory by a team of all pro players. No team came within 32 points in '92. That dropped to 22 in '96. If the trend continues, the U.S. better watch out in Athens.
It's do or die for the U.S. softball team when it faces New Zealand following three straight extra-inning losses. The girls of summer must regroup -- and get some hits -- to stay alive.