Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 1 for the U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 1 for the U.S. Open on Tuesday, making it the first time since January 2004 that a man other than Switzerland's Roger Federer held that top spot at a Grand Slam tournament.

Ana Ivanovic is the No. 1 seed on the women's side. The tournament begins Monday. The draw will be announced Thursday.

Amelie Mauresmo dominated at times and struggled at others Tuesday in a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament. Mauresmo, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion from France, rolled through the first set but had trouble with her serve in dropping the second.

She took control again in the deciding set, though she finished with 12 double faults after recording six in the second set.

The other two women's matches early in the day saw qualifier Monica Niculescus defeat Maria Kirilenko, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-1 and Flavia Pennetta beat Gisela Dulko, 6-3, 6-1.

In the men's draw, American Robby Ginepri defeated Agustin Calleri, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Crowd favorite Lindsay Davenport and Daniela Hantuchova won their first Pilot Pen doubles match Tuesday, defeating Olga Govortsova and Jill Craybas, 6-3, 6-4, in front of about 1,500 on the Grandstand court Tuesday afternoon.

Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungry defeated Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

Third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France avoided an upset by rallying to beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round.

Lopes-Schliep wins hurdles bronze

Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won a bronze medal in the 100-metre hurdles final late Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics, a race won by Dawn Harper of the United States.

Harper was timed in 12.54 seconds, with Sally McLellan of Australia taking silver.

Lopes-Schliep, of Whitby, Ont., ran in 12.64 seconds, the same time as McLellan, but officials ruled that McLellan was ahead by mere thousandths of a second.

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep drove hard to the finish - leaning with all her might - and in that split second, she raced out of the shadows for good.

The unheralded athlete from Whitby, Ont., won bronze in the women's 100-metre hurdles at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday, capturing Canada's first Olympic track and field medal in 12 years in a thrilling performance that perhaps changed the pecking order in Canada's crowded hurdling scene.

The 25-year-old product of Whitby, Ont., ascended to the podium a year after her right ovary was surgically removed following the detection of a cyst. The operation was performed before the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan, where she competed in the women's 100-metre hurdles.

Russian duo repeats gold in synchro swimming, Twin sisters finished fourth

The Russian synchronized swimming duet of Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova has repeated as Olympic champions.

Performing a perfect free routine to the classic Peer Gynt Suite at the Water Cube on Wednesday, Davydova and Ermakova won with a combined 99.251 points. The pair received all 10's - out of 10 - for technical merit.

Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes of Spain took the silver medal with 98.334 points and Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki of Japan took the bronze with 97.167.

Twin sisters Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen of China settled for fourth with 96.334. The American pair of Christina Jones and Andrea Nott finished fifth.

Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., and Isabelle Rampling of Burlington, Ont., finished sixth with 95.333.

superstar girl : Nastia Liukin

Nastia Liukin is going to have a very busy life outside of gymnastics. That doesn’t mean she’s putting gymnastics out of her life.

The Olympic all-around champion is considering competing at next year’s world championships in London.

“I’d love to stay around,” Liukin said Wednesday. “Gymnastics has meant so much to me. I’m going to be busy, but I’d love to keep going.

“I feel there’s one more medal at worlds I can win to give me 10. I missed out an all-around medal last year, so I kind of feel like it’s meant to be.”

Liukin is 18 and would be 22 for the 2012 Olympics, also in London. That can be ancient in women’s gymnastics. She also has dozens of opportunities outside sports—and millions of dollars in earnings—awaiting her back home.

American gymnast Nastia Liukin finished the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday by taking home more medals than any other gymnastics competitor and surpassing the haul of her own father in the process.

Her silver medal on the beam was her fifth prize of the Games, after taking silvers in the asymmetric bars and the team event, a bronze in the floor exercise and the gold medal in the women's all-round.

"To leave here with five Olympic medals, it just, it's amazing and it's more than a dream come true. I would have never dreamed this. It's been the experience of a lifetime and nothing could top this," she told reporters.

Her haul tops that of her father and coach, Valery, who won two golds and the two silvers at the 1988 Seoul Olympics competing for the Soviet Union.

"The only thing he can say to me is 'I have two golds'," she said,

Asked if she was thinking about beating his medal count as she saw the results flash up on the board, Liukin said: "Obviously that's not something he was thinking about but I sure was thinking about it."

Olympics "hockey semis"

Defending Olympic champions Australia suffered a major blow ahead of Thursday's men's hockey semi-finals when seasoned striker Grant Schubert was ruled out with a knee injury. Holders Australia led field hockey's top four nations into the Olympic men's semi-finals for the second time in a row after playing a 3-3 draw against Britain on Tuesday. In Thursday's semi-finals, world number one Australia clash with fourth-ranked Spain, while third-placed Netherlands take on number two Germany.

China will take on champions Germany and Argentina will play the top-ranked Dutch in the Olympic women’s hockey semi-finals on Wednesday.

Pool A leaders the Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 and qualify the semifinals with a full 15 points. Athens bronze medalists Argentina edged New Zealand 3-2, ranked following the defending champions Germany who downed Japan 1-0 to top Pool B.

China next play Germany and the Netherlands take on Argentina in semifinals on Wednesday.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games » Medal tally »

	Country	G	S	B	Total
1.	China	44	14	19	77
2.	US	26	26	27	79
3.	Great Britain	16	10	10	36
4.	Russia	12	14	18	44
5.	Australia	11	12	12	35
6.	Germany	11	8	9	28
7.	South Korea	8	10	6	24
8.	Japan	8	6	9	23
9.	Italy	6	7	7	20
10.	Ukraine	5	5	8	18
11.	France	4	12	14	30
12.	Netherlands	4	5	4	13
13.	Romania	4	1	3	8
14.	Spain	3	5	2	10
15.	Poland	3	4	1	8
16.	New Zealand	3	1	5	9
17.	Slovakia	3	1	0	4
18.	Canada	2	6	5	13
19.	Kenya	2	4	2	8
20.	Czech Republic	2	3	0	5
20.	Jamaica	2	3	0	5
22.	Denmark	2	1	3	6
22.	North Korea	2	1	3	6
24.	Ethiopia	2	1	0	3
25.	Switzerland	2	0	3	5
26.	Georgia	2	0	2	4
27.	Cuba	1	5	5	11
28.	Belarus	1	3	7	11
29.	Kazakhstan	1	3	4	8
30.	Zimbabwe	1	3	0	4
31.	Azerbaijan	1	2	2	5
31.	Norway	1	2	2	5
31.	Slovenia	1	2	2	5
34.	Turkey	1	2	1	4
35.	Indonesia	1	1	3	5
36.	Bulgaria	1	1	2	4
37.	Finland	1	1	1	3
38.	Estonia	1	1	0	2
38.	Mongolia	1	1	0	2
40.	Brazil	1	0	5	6
41.	Argentina	1	0	1	2
41.	India	1	0	1	2
43.	Bahrain	1	0	0	1
43.	Cameroon	1	0	0	1
43.	Panama	1	0	0	1
43.	Thailand	1	0	0	1
43.	Tunisia	1	0	0	1
48.	Hungary	0	4	1	5
49.	Sweden	0	3	0	3
50.	Uzbekistan	0	1	3	4
51.	Austria	0	1	2	3
51.	Greece	0	1	2	3
51.	Lithuania	0	1	2	3
54.	Algeria	0	1	1	2
54.	Colombia	0	1	1	2
54.	Croatia	0	1	1	2
54.	Kyrgystan	0	1	1	2
59.	Chile	0	1	0	1
59.	Ecuador	0	1	0	1
59.	Malaysia	0	1	0	1
59.	Portugal	0	1	0	1
59.	Singapore	0	1	0	1
59.	South Africa	0	1	0	1
59.	Trinidad & Tobago	0	1	0	1
59.	Vietnam	0	1	0	1
67.	Armenia	0	0	5	5
68.	Chinese Taipei	0	0	2	2
69.	Egypt	0	0	1	1
69.	Iran	0	0	1	1
69.	Israel	0	0	1	1
69.	Latvia	0	0	1	1
69.	Mexico	0	0	1	1
69.	Morocco	0	0	1	1
69.	Tajikistan	0	0	1	1
69.	Togo	0	0	1	1

Wrestler Sushil Kumar wins bronze

Another Olympic medal slipped out of India's wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt missed his lead in the third and final round to lose the wrestling quarterfinal tie of the 60kg free style category against Kenichi Yumoto of Japan.

Sushil's campaign seemed nearly over when he lost his first round battle against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik but repechage provided him a ray of hope and the Indian proved simply irresistible as he beat three grapplers on the trot to win the bronze.

Though the Kazakh grappler scored one in the second period and managed to thwart Sushil, the Indian proved his superiority again in the third period and eventually prevailed 3-2 to trigger frenzied celebration among the Indians present at the Chinese Agricultural University in Beijing.

This is India’s second medal in the Beijing Olympics following Abhinav Bindra’s Gold in 10mt Air Rifle.

Argentina Thrashes Brazil 3-0 To Reach The Olympic Soccer Final

Argentina ended Brazil's hopes of an elusive Olympic gold medal with a comprehensive 3-0 victory in their men's football semi-final Tuesday and will meet Nigeria in Saturday's final.

Argentina: Romero; Zabaleta, Pareja, Garay, Monzón; Gago, Mascherano, Riquelme (Sosa 90), di Maria; Messi, Agüero.
Coach: Batista

Brazil: Renan Brito; Rafinha, Alex Silva, Breno, Marcelo; Diego (Jô 71), Hernanes (Neves 61), Lucas, Anderson; Ronaldinho; Sobis (Pato 61).
Coach: Dunga

Yelena Isinbayeva Wins Gold : Breaks Her Own Record

At the age of 26 Isinbayeva is seen as the best female pole vaulter in history. She has already been a 9-time major champion (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion).

Isinbayeva's current world records are 5.05 m outdoors, a record Isinbayeva set at the Summer Olympics Games in Beijing on August 18, 2008, and 4.95 m indoors, a record set at the Donetsk indoor meeting on February 16, 2008. The former was Isinbayeva's twenty-fourth world record.

The 26-year-old Isinbayeva beat the record by a centimetre with a clearance of 5.05 metres, finishing ahead of American Jennifer Stuczynski, who cleared 4.80m.

Medal record
Yelena Isinbayeva
Competitor for Russia
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Gold	2004 Athens	Pole vault
Gold	2008 Beijing	Pole vault
World Championships
Bronze	2003 Paris	Pole vault
Gold	2005 Helsinki	Pole vault
Gold	2007 Osaka	Pole vault
World Indoor Championships
Silver	2003 Birmingham	Pole vault
Gold	2004 Budapest	Pole vault
Gold	2006 Moscow	Pole vault
Gold	2008 Valencia	Pole vault
European Championships
Silver	2002 Munich	Pole vault
Gold	2006 Gothenburg	Pole vault
European Indoor Championships
Gold	2005 Madrid	Pole vault

Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan become the first athletes to win Olympic gold medal for Indonesia

Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan (L) of Indonesia compete with Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China at the men's doubles gold medal match of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games badminton event, in Beijing, China, Aug. 16, 2008. Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan won the match 2-1 and grabbed the gold medal. Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, the current world champions came storming back from one game down against the second seeded Chinese, by beating them for a 12-21, 21-11, 21-16 victory.

Career

In 2005, with Hendra Setiawan, he won the Asian Badminton Championships and the Indonesia Open. In 2006, the pair also won the Jakarta Satellite, the Hong Kong Open and the China Open after defeating Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-16, 21-16 at the finals.

In 2007, they won the Chinese Taipei Super Series and they became world champions after defeating Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae from South Korea, 21-19 and 21-19, at the World Championships finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They also won the China Super Series after defeating Guo Zhengdong and Xie Zhongbo 21-12, 21-19 from China at the finals and they won BWF World Cup Invitation after defeating Malaysian men's double Mohd. Fairuzizuan Mohd. Tazari and Lin Woon Fui 21-18, 21-15 at the finals in Yiyang, Hunan. In July, they became runner up China Masters Super Series after lose from Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, 15-21, 16-21. On December 2, they won the Hong Kong Super Series after defeating Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan 21-12, 18-21, 21-13 at the finals. At SEA Games 2007 Thailand, they help Indonesian team won gold medal men's event team and won gold medal men's double at individual event after defeating Singapore men's double from Indonesian births, Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Hendra Wijaya 21-17 and 21-12.

In 2008, at January, they won the Malaysian Super Series

Liu captures China's first Beijing swimming gold

Liu Zige led a thrilling Chinese one-two in the women's 200m butterfly on Thursday, giving the host country its first swimming gold of the Beijing Games.

With no golds on the horizon for US superstar Michael Phelps -- who swam only the semi-finals of the men's 200m medley this morning -- the spotlight fell squarely on the Chinese.

Liu smashed the 200m fly world record, out-duelling previous world record-holder Jessicah Schipper of Australia to seize the gold in 2min 04.18sec.

Jiao Liuyang, lying third at the final turn behind Zige and Schipper, claimed the silver in 2:04.72, also under Schipper's previous world mark of 2:05.40, while the Australian settled for bronze in 2:06.26.

"I didn't expect that I could swim so fast," Liu said. "I have never imagined that I could win the gold in the Olympic Games."

Schipper was under world record pace at the halfway stage, but couldn't maintain her challenge.

The Chinese swimmers sped to the final wall buoyed by the roars of the Water Cube crowd.

"The last 50 metres was hard work, it hurt quite a bit and the Chinese girls swam an awesome race," Schipper said. "I am very happy for them both."

Liu and Jiao emerged from the pool to an ecstatic ovation.

Their medals took China's tally at the pool to four, along with Zhang Lin's silver in the men's 400m freestyle and Pang Jiaying's bronze in the women's 200m freestyle.

"I didn't feel pressure before the competition, I tried to relax," Liu said. "In the race, I just swam at my own pace, not caring about the others."

Jiao said having her teammate in the final made things easier.

"The pressure was much less," she said. "We swam together and I felt like we were in training."

France's Alain Bernard won the men's 100m freestyle gold, overtaking Eamon Sullivan on the closing length to triumph over the Australian who had seized his world record in the event.

Bernard didn't add to the flurry of world records in swimming's blue riband event, but he gave France its first swimming gold of these Games and just their third swimming gold ever.

He also helped make up for French disappointment in the 4x100m freestyle relay, in which they narrowly lost out to Michael Phelps's world record-setting US squad.

Bernard won in 47.21sec, with Sullivan second in 47.32. Cesar Cielo of Brazil and US relay hero Jason Lezak shared bronze, in a dead heat of 47.67.

Dutch star Pieter van den Hoogenband, vying to become the first man to win the same Olympic swimming event at three games in a row, was fifth in 47.75.

The world record in the event had fallen three times in Beijing.

Sullivan seized the mark from Bernard with a lead-off leg of 47.24sec in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Monday.

Bernard regained the mark with a time of 47.20 in the first semi-final on Wednesday, and Sullivan snatched it back with his astonishing 47.05 in the second semi.

But for Bernard, gold was all that mattered. "The best moment is when I turned back, and I saw the number one next to my name," he said. "It's huge, unbelievable. At any moment I felt that I could be beaten."

Japanese breast-stroke king Kosuke Kitajima was also more than happy to capture his second gold of the Games, and his fourth overall, in the 200m breast-stroke despite missing out on a world record.

Kitajima, winner of the 100m breast-stroke on Monday in world-record time, repeated the double breast-stroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.

Kitajima won in an Olympic record 2:07.64, just outside the world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.

He held off a late challenge from Australian Brenton Rickard, who was second in 2:08.88, with France's Hugues Duboscq taking the bronze in 2:08.94.

"I'm very relieved that I got the gold medal," Kitajima said.

The 25-year-old, still the only swimmer to break 2:08 in the event, wasn't too disappointed to miss out on a new record.

"I was going OK until the last 50 metres, and then I ran low on energy, but it was a good swim and I am pleased with the time," he said.

Australia's world record-setting victory in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay gave Stephanie Rice her third gold medal of the Games, after record-breaking wins in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.

Australia won in 7:44.31, with China taking silver in 7:45.93 as the United States settled for bronze in 7:46.33.

Bajrang Lal Takhar disappoints in rowing

Bajranglal Takhar, who is already out of reckoning for the semi-finals, on Wednesday finished fourth among six rowers in Men's Single Sculls classification race at the Olympics here.

Takhar will now compete for 19-24 places. The Indian clocked 7:23.00 to finish fourth, way behind the 7:15.53 of the top finisher Patrick Loliger of Mexico.

Chile's Oscar Vasquez (7:17.17) finished second, while Egyptian Aly Ibrahim was third with a timing of 7:20.73.

Takhar was the only Indian in fray in the singles' event. The double sculls team of Devender Khandwal and Manjeet Singh have earlier failed to make it to the semi-finals.

Archer Mangal Singh Champia crashes out of Olympics

ndia's archery challenge in the Beijing Olympics came to an end with Mangal Singh Champia failing to replicate his ranking round form and crashing out in pre-quarterfinals in men's individual section here on Wednesday.

Champia, who sizzled in the ranking round to finish overall second, was pipped by Russian Bair Badenov 109-108 at the Olympic Green Archery Field.

Incidentally, Badenov had shot 658 -- way below Champia's 678 -- in the ranking round but when it mattered the most, it was the Russian archer who raised his game and clinched the issue.

Earlier in the day, Champia had little problem in sweeping aside Vaezi Hojjatolah of Ireland 112-98.

The Indian women team, which got a bye in the first round for finishing sixth in the ranking round, had earlier crashed out of the tournament with a defeat against China.

A dejected Champia said he just could not adjust to the format and that perhaps spelt his doom.

"I struggled for rhythm and the format did not allow me get into the groove. In practice, we shoot six arrows one by one but here, I had to shoot one, leave the lane for the opponent to fire one before I could go and have my second go at it," Champia said.

"It's not that I lost to someone who is a world beater but I think it simply was not my day. I had high hopes since finishing second in the ranking round and this is surely not my best performance," he added.

Champia said he would now focus his energies on the upcoming World Cup.

"Anyway, I cannot do anything about it anymore. Instead, I'll prepare for the World Cup and World Championship and then you have 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi," he added.

In individual events, senior member Dola Banerjee and L Bombayla Devi made an early exit losing their first round match while compatriot Pranitha Vardhineni did slightly better, managing to reach the next level.

Sania-Sunitha duo crash out of Olympics

A half-fit Sania Mirza and rookie Sunitha Rao tried every tricks in the book but still could not avert a defeat against top seeded Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina in the second round of the women's doubles tennis event of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The Indian scratch pair fought tooth and nail but it was the Russian pair, which ended on the right side of the nearly one-and-half hour battle, which they won 6-4, 6-4.

To their credit, Sania and Sunitha tried their best but the Russians were simply head and shoulders above them and in the end, their effort was just to delay the inevitable.

Sania, battling a wrist injury that forced her to retire midway through her first round singles match, and Sunitha, who had right thigh heavily strapped, began in the right earnest, breaking both the Russians to go 3-0 up in the first set.

But before the set could slip through their fingers, the Russians fought back. Shocked by the reversal, they responded by breaking back Sania in the fourth and Sunitha in the ninth games to eventually seal the set in 43 minutes.

The Indians shrugged off the setback and resumed with renewed vigour and they broke Safina in the third game to go 2-1 up but the Russians were at it again. They broke Sunitha in the fourth game to draw parity and even though Kuznetsova could not held her serve, the Russians placed them firmly in command of the proceedings and never relaxed their grip.

Sania expresses desire to play in Pakistan

India's tennis ace Sania Mirza has expressed her desire to play exhibition matches in Pakistan if such an opportunity comes her way in future.

Sania, who pulled out of her women's singles first round match against Czech Iveta Benesova due to a wrist injury, told a group of Pakistani reporters in Beijing that she had no problems playing in Pakistan.

"I think it is a good idea if such an opportunity comes my way to go and play in Pakistan," she said.

Sania commands great fan following in Pakistan where tennis remains a relatively low key sport compared to cricket and hockey.

"You don't have tournaments there otherwise I would have loves to come and play in Pakistan," she said.

However, the 21-year-old Indian, ranked 65 in the world, said her Pakistan tour would totally depend on her schedule.

Overwhelmed to know about her fan following in Pakistan, she said whenever she visited Pakistan as a junior player she received good reception.

"I remember that my first ever tournament outside India was in Pakistan. Its great place and I will definitely go there in future when the opportunity comes," said Sania.

She was also hopeful that with the rise of players like Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, tennis would eventually grow in popularity in the strife-torn nation.

"This will happen specially with Aisamul Haq performing and playing so well. I am sure a lot more people will be coming up to play tennis in Pakistan," said Sania.

Abebe Bikila Rome Olympic marathon on September 10, 1960

Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (in the picture) after winning the Rome Olympic marathon on September 10, 1960. Bikila was added to the Ethiopian Olympic team only at the last moment, as the plane to Rome was about to leave. Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, had few shoes left when Bikila went to try out shoes and he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably, so he ran barefoot, the way he'd trained for the race. Bikila won in a record time of 2:15:16.2, becoming the first African to win an Olympic gold medal.

Vladimir Salnikov Olympic Games in Moscow

Vladimir Salnikov (in the picture) of USSR after winning the 1500 metres freestyle event at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Salnikov won the gold medal with a time of 14:58:27 minutes.

Known as the Sultan of swimming, Salnikov created 12 world records. At the Moscow Olympics, he won three gold medals. In Seoul, he added one more.

He was the first man to break the 15-minute barrier in 1500m freestyle. Salnikov's titles also include four World Championship gold medals, four European Championship gold medals and one European Championship silver medal.

Carl Lewis Olympic athletes

Lewis is one of only four Olympic athletes to win nine gold medals and one of only three to win the same individual event four times. In the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Lewis matched Jesse Owens' achievement of winning four gold medals with victories in the 100m, the 200m, the long jump and the 4x100m relay. He went on to defend his long jump title three times, in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

In 1988, Lewis gained a second gold medal in the 100m after Ben Johnson was disqualified, and picked up a silver in the 200m. And in 1992, the American won another gold as he anchored the 4x100 relay team to victory.

Hassiba Boulmerka "Arab women" in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona

The path to Hassiba's victory in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona was charted in 1991 in Tokyo. In the Japanese capital, Hassiba had scored a stunning victory in the 1500m run at the World Athletics Championships.

She returned to Algiers and was hailed as a national heroine and a role model for all Arab women who wanted to break away from their conservative and restrictive roles. However, she was also condemned by Islamic fundamentalists. That mean she was forced to move to Europe to train. No one in the wide world expected Hassiba to win in Barcelona.

Especially after the manner in which Russia's Lyudmila Rogacheva set a torrid pace and burned away the rest of the field. But two hundred metres from the finish, Hassiba drove past Rogacheva and cruised to victory. Hassiba's success was regarded across the globe as the perfect answer to Muslim fundamentalists who had sought to restrict women from taking part in sport.

"Your victory in Barcelona is a victory for all Arab women. It gives hope for the progress of the Arab woman," Jordan's Queen Noor wrote to her in a letter.

Naim Suleymanoglu (Turkey)

Naim Suleymanoglu was born to Turkish parents living in Bulgaria. He was nicknamed Pocket Hercules as he was only 1.47m tall and he was the second of only seven lifters to clean and jerk three times their bodyweight. He missed the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 as Bulgaria joined the Soviet Union's boycott of the Games.

He was almost a victim of politics when the Communist regime in Bulgaria forced its Turkish minority to adopt Bulgarian names. He was known as Naum Shalamanov. He defected in 1986 to Turkey. There was also a battle over which country he would represent in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The Bulgarian government demanded and received $1,000,000 from Turkey to allow him to compete for Turkey. He won the featherweight gold in Seoul and repeated his triumph in 1992. In between he also retired briefly. When he went to Atlanta for the 1996 Games, it is safe to say that there was considerable pressure on him. After all, no weightlifter in history had won three successive gold medals. He engaged in a tremendous duel with Valerios Leonidis of Greece to clinch his third gold medal. And he did in style. By breaking his own world record.

Cathy Freeman Aboriginal populations of Australia.

Cathy Freeman had the honour to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Games. She symbolised the desire to reconcile the white and Aboriginal populations of Australia.

Ten days later, she won the 400m final which was a clear victory before an ecstatic crowd. Freeman's family was poor and, like many Australian Aboriginals, suffered discrimination from white Australians. Once, after winning many races at a primary school competition, Cathy, who wasn't given a trophy, had to watch as the white girls she had beaten received trophies.

Her family worked hard to raise the money Cathy needed to take her to competitions in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

Nadia Comaneci Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada

Romania's top gymnast Nadia Comaneci (in the picture) performs on the balance beam on July 18, 1976 during the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. She became the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10. She added the uneven bars and balance beam gold medals to her all-round title. She won five gold medals and along with Olga Korbut, helped to popularise the sport all over the world.

Scandal Ben Johnson (Canada)

Canadian Sprinter Ben Johnson's dream was always to beat US star Chris Lewis in the 100m. In his attempt to rattle Lewis during the 100m final in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Johnson false started. He did have his wish though in Seoul. Johnson lowered his own world record of 9.83 to 9.79 seconds and then had the cheek to say he would have timed better had he not raised his hand to celebrate just before he finished.

However, Johnson's urine samples were found to contain Stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later. He later admitted that he had used steroids even in the World Championships. Carl Lewis, who finished second was awarded the gold medal. Briton Linford Christie won silver and Calvin Smith of the US won bronze.

50m rifle prone (60 shots) World Record - Men

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
600 pts	Guy Starik	Germany(Ger)	5/18/2008	Munich	N/A
600 pts	Matthew Emmons	Thailand(Thai)	5/9/2007	Bangkok	N/A
600 pts	Sergei Martynov	China(China)	3/29/2006	Gothenburg	Guangzhou
600 pts	Sergei Martynov	Germany(Ger)	8/26/2005	Munich	World Cup
600 pts	Eric Uptagrafft	USA(USA)	5/11/2005	Fort Benning, GA	Fort Benning, GA
600 pts	Valérian Sauveplane	USA(USA)	5/11/2005	Fort Benning, GA	Fort Benning, GA
600 pts	Christian Lusch	Thailand(Thai)	10/27/2004	Bangkok	World Cup
600 pts	Wolfram Waibel Jr.	Australia(Aus)	3/3/2004	Sydney	N/A
600 pts	Wolfram Waibel Jr.	Czech Republic(Cze)	7/18/2003	Plzen	N/A
600 pts	Wolfram Waibel Jr.	Australia(Aus)	7/18/2003	Sydney	N/A
600 pts	Petr Litvinchuk	Germany(Ger)	6/11/2003	Munich	N/A
600 pts	Sergei Martynov	Germany(Ger)	6/8/2000	Munich	N/A
600 pts	Sergei Martynov	Argentina(Arg)	9/4/1998	Buenos Aires	N/A
600 pts	Thomas Tamas	Espanol(Esp)	7/29/1998	Barcelona	N/A
600 pts	Sergei Martynov	Germany(Ger)	5/23/1997	Munich	N/A
600 pts	Christian Klees	USA(USA)	7/25/1996	Atlanta, GA	Olympic Games
600 pts	Jean-Pierre Amat	Cuba(Cub)	4/27/1994	Havana	N/A
600 pts	Stevan Pletikosic	Germany(Ger)	8/29/1991	Munich	N/A
600 pts	Viatcheslav Bochkarev	N/A(N/A)	7/13/1989	Zagreb	N/A

50m rifle prone (60 shots) Olympic Record - Men

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
600 pts	Christian Klees	USA(USA)	7/25/1996	Atlanta, GA	Olympic Games
598 pts	Hubert Bichler	Espanol(Esp)	7/29/1992	Barcelona	Olympic Games

200m breaststroke World Record - Women

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
2:20.54 min	Leisel Jones	Australia(Aus)	2/1/2006	Melbourne	Australian Championships

200m breaststroke World Record - Men

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
2:07.51 min	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan(Japan)	6/8/2008	Tokyo	N/A
2:08.50 min	Brendan Hansen	USA(USA)	8/20/2006	Victoria	Pan Pacific Championships
2:08.74 min	Brendan Hansen	USA(USA)	8/5/2006	Irvine	US Summer National Championships
2:09.04 min	Brendan Hansen	USA(USA)	7/11/2004	Long Beach, CA	N/A
2:09.42 min	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan(Japan)	7/24/2003	Long Beach, CA	N/A

200m breaststroke Olympic Record - Women

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
2:23.37 min	Amanda Beard	USA(USA)	8/17/2004	Athens	Olympic Games

200m breaststroke Olympic Record - Men

Result	Name	Country	Date	Place	Event
2:07.64 min	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan(Japan)	8/14/2008	China	Beijing Olympics 2008
2:09.44 min	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan(Japan)	8/18/2004	Athens	Olympic Games
2:10.16 min	Mike Barrowman	USA(USA)	7/29/1992	Barcelona	Olympic Games
2:11.48 min	Mike Barrowman	USA(USA)	7/29/1992	Barcelona	Olympic Games
2:13.34 min	Victor Davis	Canada(Can)	8/2/1984	Los Angeles, CA	Olympic Games
2:15.11 min	David Wilkie	UK(UK)	7/24/1976	Montreal	Olympic Games