août 2016

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Too much of a perfectionist to watch back her gold-winning 200 metres butterfly final from Rio's Olympic Games, Mireia Belmonte is of the belief that she would see too many things she would want to correct.

The Spaniard took gold, but is yet to re-watch one of the biggest swims of her career for fear of only picking out how she could have got an even better time in the Rio de Janeiro pool.

"No, I still haven't watched it," Belmonte told MARCA.

"Although, I am excited to, because I will see a lot of mistakes, when you swim you always see a lot of things that you could have done better.

"It still hasn't sunk in, I am still thinking about what it is that I have done.

"When I am with my family and coaches and I see what it means to them, it's great.




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Kenya's David Rudisha obliterated his rivals in the 800 metres final on Monday to become the first man since 1964 to retain his Olympic title over the distance.

Rudisha, the world champion and world record holder, stormed to victory with a devastating final-lap sprint that cemented his place among the greats such as New Zealand's Peter Snell, the last man to successfully defend an 800m Olympic gold.

Nicknamed 'King David' in Kenya, Rudisha hit top gear in the final 300 metres to surge ahead of his rivals with his trademark finishing kick and win gold in a season's best time of one minute 42.15 seconds.

"I am so excited. It is the greatest moment of my career," Rudisha told reporters.

After winning his first Olympic gold and setting a world record at the 2012 London Games, Rudisha suffered a couple of injury-ravaged years that dented his confidence and caused him to miss the 2013 world championships.

He struggled for much of the current season and came third in national Olympic trials but the 6-foot-3-inch Maasai runner looked in total control of the Rio Games final as his long stride and fluid running style propelled him to victory.

"It's been very difficult," Rudisha said, referring to his injuries. "I have stayed focused and positive. My coach has been great and given me hope."


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Croatia's victory against Lithuania and Spain's win over Argentina have confirmed the Olympic Games' basketball quarter-finals, with the host nation are nowhere to be seen.

The Spaniard's triumphed with a scoreline of 92-73 and there is plenty of positivity and optimism in the group, suggesting that they are capable of going all the way.

Final four fixtures are as follows (all times CET):

Australia vs Lithuania (16:00)

Spain vs France (19:45)

United States of America vs Argentina (23:45)

Croatia vs Serbia (03:15 on Thursday)



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French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie has apologised for comparing the booing he was subject to during the men's Olympic final on Monday to the hostility of Nazi Germany towards Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games.

The world record holder was barracked by the Rio crowd when attempting to jump 6.08 metres to stay in the competition against Thiago da Silva, who sprung a huge surprise by winning Brazil's first athletics gold of the Games in the event.

Lavillenie gave the partisan crowd a thumbs down at the start of his run-up in attempt to get them to stop the jeers and said after failing to clear the bar that it was a "bad look" for the Olympics.

"In 1936 the crowd was against Jesse Owens," he said of the black American sprinter whose four gold medals in Berlin were an affront to the Nazi ideology of racial superiority.


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Yohan Blake, the world's second fastest man, has finished behind Spain's Bruno Hortelano in the heats for the 200 metres at the Olympic Games.

The 24-year-old - best known until now as the sprinter who found out about a victory in a now-viral post-race interview - beat the Jamaican to post the fastest time in his heat, and the second fastest time of the round of 20.12 seconds - with 0.2 of wind against.

Only Canada's Andre De Grasse, who has also won bronze in the 100 metres, ran faster than he did.

"I think I am capable of running below 20 seconds," Hortelano said after his first round run, which was a personal best.

Getting off to a great start by reacting in 161 milliseconds, the sprinter powered around the bend in expert fashion and then inched ahead of Blake in a photo finish.



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Cuban-born Spaniard Orlando Ortega has ended the country's run of 12 years without an athletics medal at the Olympics by claiming silver in the 110 metre hurdles in Rio de Janeiro.


An incredibly tight race saw Ortega sandwiched between Jamaican Omar McLeod, who won gold, and the man who took bronze, Dimitri Bascou of France.
El huracán de emociones de Orlando Ortega

Following in the footsteps of his grandmother Cristina, who represented Cuba at the 1968 Games, Ortega insisted this was the beginning of something great in track and field for Spain.
De Llopart a Ortega, 13 medallas en atletismo

"This country has no limits," he said.

"Now is the beginning of something great for me and Spanish athletics."

Overall, Spain have struggled in the event, only having three finalists, in 1980 and 1984, and Ortega's emotion in the aftermath was evident.

Running in a time of 13.17, he fell to his knees before grabbing a flag and doing a lap of the track in celebration.


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After winning his 28th medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer, 23 of which are gold, Michael Phelps has announced his decision to retire from swimming for the final time.

Arguably the most successful competitor in the history of the Games, Phelps has dominated his sport over five different instalments of the competition.

Having initially said he was walking away from the sport after London 2012, Phelps returned to continue his dominance, but he now says it is finally time to walk away and he is doing so properly this time.

    I've hung up my swimsuit, there is no going back"

Michael Phelps

"I'm living my best days now- in London I didn't care what I achieved looking back, I just wanted to stop swimming.

    "I appreciate them all equally, together they weight about seven or eight kilos!"

Michael Phelps

"It is great to be back and I've had one last chance to finish my career the way I wanted."



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A Brazilian judge has prohibited US Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen from leaving the country after the evidence they gave in a robbery case has been queried.

The pair had claimed that they and two other members of the swimming team had been robbed at gunpoint on their way home from a party in the early hours of Sunday morning, yet their accounts of events do not appear to match the CCTV recordings.

Footage from the Olympic Village shows the pair returning to the facility in a relaxed manner and at a time inconsistent with that given in their evidence.

As a result, local judge Keyla Blanc has banned the pair from returning home until the situation becomes clearer.


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Rio 2016 Olympic GamesBreathing problems halt goal celebrations
Neymar scares the Maracana

After falling in a collision with the Honduran goalkeeper in the semi-finals of the football competition, the superstar forward celebrated the subsequent goal only to fall down with clear breathing difficulty. After a nervy few minutes, treatment was successful, and Neymar returned to action as Brazil, and Barcelona, sang a sigh of relief.


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Brazil star Neymar scored the fastest goal in Olympic history when he gave the hosts the lead after just 15 seconds in their semi-final with Honduras on Wednesday.

The Barcelona forward robbed Johnny Palacios and saw goalkeeper Luis Lopez's desperate effort to clear ricochet off his chest and into the net for his second goal of the tournament at the Maracana.

Neymar's effort beats out Canada's Janine Beckie's strike against Australia after 19 seconds in the group stages for fastest goal.


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American gymnast Simone Biles has realised a number of her dreams at this summer's Olympic Games, scooping up medal after medal in the gymnastics competitions, while also grabbing a selfie with long-time crush Zac Efron.

The 19-year-old from Texas has long admired the film star and got the chance to meet him in Rio de Janeiro and to give and receive a kiss on the check.


With four gold medals, one bronze medal and one selfie with her idol, Biles will return home with fond memories of Rio de Janeiro.


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Just one final step remains for Brazil as they seek to end their hoodoo in the only competition that has eluded them to date.

It took a mere 14 seconds for Neymar - with the fastest goal in the history of Olympic mens' football - to set the hosts on their way and in the end it was an utter rout as they ran out victors by 6-0.

The game was up the second the Barcelona man found the net, and Brazil proceeded to rip their hapless opponents to pieces, producing some of that old 'jogo bonito' magic in the process.

After a slow start with goalless group games against South Africa and Iraq drawing fans' ire, they've exploded to life by registering a 4-0 win over Denmark followed by a 2-0 against Colombia and now this; at the other end their rearguard is yet to be breached.


Honduras rarely threatened and were hounded every time they received the ball, and Brazil's front four of Neymar, Luan, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Barbosa thrived on the platform provided by Wallace and Renato Augusto.

Gabriel Jesus, recently signed by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, effectively ended the contest with his second goal - his side's third - ten minutes before the interval.

Marquinhos found the net from a corner shortly after the break, with Luan and Neymar once again also netting in the second period.

After losing out in the finals of Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988, as well as last time round in London, the Selecao will be confident of finally claiming the crown that has become a national obsession on home turf.


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Ranked second behind the United States, Spain got off to a bad start in the Olympic tournament only to come back with four straight wins and increasing cohesion on the court.

Six-times National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Tony Parker of France conceded that Spain produced great form Wednesday.

"Spain is one of the best teams of the last seven to eight years," said a wistful Parker, 34, after he played his final game for France. "They have a lot of experience and they showed it tonight."

A team bristling with NBA players, Spain will now face the United States in the semi-finals on Friday after the struggling Americans defeated Argentina 105-78 later on Wednesday.

The Americans finally found their rhythm in Olympic quarterfinal play, recovering from an early 10-point deficit to earn a semifinal game against the Spanish team.

"We are in the perfect spot to be in the semi-finals," said Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez, noting that "we are playing in the Olympics, we have to enjoy it".

Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said his team executed their game plan perfectly on Wednesday and he gave a lot of credit to the team's elder statesman, NBA All-Star centre Pau Gasol, for creating space for his teammates to play aggressively.

"The rest of the team loves him and accepts his leadership," Scariolo said of the 36-year-old Gasol, who will join Parker at the San Antonio Spurs for the upcoming NBA season after spending two years with the Chicago Bulls.

The top scorer for Spain with 23 points was fellow Chicago Bull Nikola Mirotic. Half of the 24 players in Wednesday's game compete in the elite NBA, seven of them from Spain and five from France.

Despite the familiarity that comes with a classic rivalry and shared time in the NBA, the fifth-ranked French were quickly outfoxed by the Spaniards.

"We suffered a lot for their aggressiveness," said French coach Vincent Collet.

Collet, who has coached the national team since 2009, said it was too early to know if he will continue at the helm.

"We must digest the defeat, it's tough for me," said Collet.


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