Cycling gold for Germany
August 2, 2012
Cyclists Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte won gold in women's team sprint cycling Thursday, giving Germany its fourth gold medal at the London Olympics. China were initially named the winners, but were then relegated, moving Germany into first place. Australia won the bronze medal match earlier in the evening.
Guo Shuang and Gong Jinjie, who had set two world records en route to the final, thought they had won China's first Olympic gold in cycling, but were relegated when they committed an illegal change. The same penalty relegated Olympic and six-time world sprint champion Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish of Great Britain from the first round.
Immediately following Vogel and Welte's gold medal-winning performance, the German men's team of defeated Australia in the bronze medal race. Britain beat France in the gold medal match.
First bronze in 16 years
German Dimitrij Ovtcharov defeated Chih-Yuan Chuang of Taiwan Thursday to claim the bronze medal in the men's individual table tennis tournament. It is the first individual medal for Ovtcharov, who also won silver in the team competition four years ago in Beijing.
It was redemption for the Ukranian-born Ovtcharov after falling to world number one Zhang Jike of China in the semifinals earlier in the day. It is only the second medal for Germany in the men's individual competition. Jörg Rosskopf also won bronze at the 1996 games in Atlanta.
He opened the match with a close 12-10 win over Chuang, but the Taiwanese player bounced back, winning the next two games. After that, it was all Ovtcharov. The 23-year-old won the next three games, securing his second Olympic medal.
The bronze medal is a welcome high point for Ovtcharov, who just two years ago was the subject of a doping ban handed down by the German Table Tennis Federation in September 2010. He denied the allegations and appealed the ban, which was overturned one month later.
On Wednesday, fellow German Timo Boll, a strong favorite to medal at the competition, lost to Romanian Adrian Crisan in the fourth round.
Ovtcharov, Boll, and teammate Bastian Steger resume play on Saturday for the first round of the men's team competition. The trio will hope to do one better than their performance four years ago in Beijing that saw them win silver.
Bronze for Peters
German Judoka Dimitri Peters captured bronze in the men's 100-kilogram class competition Wednesday after defeating Ramziddin Sayidov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. It is the first Olympic medal for the 28-year-old, who lost to eventual winner Tagir Khaibulaev in the semifinals.
It was the second major tournament medal for the Russian-born Peters. He also won bronze at the 2006 European Championships in Finland.
Henk Grol of the Netherlands beat South Korean Hee-Tae Hwang to win the second bronze medal. Like boxing, the Judo competition awards two bronze medals.
dr/ng (AFP, dpa)