** Updated Coverage Of The Olympic Games

[Iron Man]

---- hello everybody , I hope you are fine after some moments of thinking I've made up my mind to post this topic about the olympic games that will start tomorrow , of course I'll try to cover the main games and the main achievements of your favourite sportsmen and women and the most famous athletes in the world and I'll try to cast some focus on the Arab athletes wishing that they manage to bring us some medals and honour the arabic flag , the mission is not that easy but the challenge is worth the endeavour and the fight and as the father and the creator of the modern olympic games Cobertain states : " the most important thing is to participate " and I add to prticipate and win here we go with the real story of the olympic games [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] "The Olympics" redirects here. For other uses, see Olympics (disambiguation). For the 2008 Olympic Games occuring in Beijing, see 2008 Summer Olympics. The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. The Olympic Games[1] are an international multi-sport event. The Modern Olympic Games were inaugurated in Athens in 1896, and are held at the beginning of every Olympiad. The Games were organized as a summer sports event through 1920. In 1924 the winter games began in Chamonix, France. Until 1992, they were both held in the same year. Since then, the summer games are held during the first year of an Olympiad, the winter games during the third year.[2] The original Olympic Games (Greek: Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες; [Olympiakoi Agones] (help·info)) were first recorded in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and were celebrated until AD 393.[3] Interest in reviving the Olympic Games proper was first shown by the Greek poet and newspaper editor Panagiotis Soutsos in his poem "Dialogue of the Dead" in 1833.[4] Evangelos Zappas sponsored the first modern international Olympic festival in 1859. He paid for the refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium for Games held there in 1870 and 1875.[4] This was noted in newspapers and publications around the world including the London Review, which stated that "the Olympian Games, discontinued for centuries, have recently been revived! Here is strange news indeed ... the classical games of antiquity were revived near Athens".[5] The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894 on the initiative of a French nobleman, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin. The IOC has become the heart of the "Olympic Movement", a conglomeration of sporting federations that are involved in the organization of the Games. As the Olympic Movement has grown so has the profile and complexity of the Games. Participation in the Games has increased to the point that nearly every nation on earth is represented. With the proliferation of satellite communications, the internet, and the continuing trend towards globalization, the Olympics are consistently gaining supporters.[6] This growth has created numerous challenges never before envisioned by Baron de Coubertin. Some of these difficulties include political boycotts, the use of performance enhancing medications, bribery of officials, and terrorism. Despite these challenges the Olympics have continued to thrive and flourish. Each successive Games attempts to add more events in order to keep up with the ever-evolving advance of athletic expression around the world. The upcoming games in Beijing are planned to comprise 302 events in 28 sports.[7]. The most recent Winter Olympics in 2006 featured 84 events in 7 sports.[8] While the Olympic Games do continue to evolve, they also encompass many rituals that were established during it's infancy in the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of these traditions are on display during the Opening and Closing ceremonies, and the medal presentations. For its part, the Olympic Movement has made considerable progress in fostering participation among as many nations as wish to compete, as well as focusing on the Olympic motto: Citius Altius Fortius - Faster, Higher, Stronger. ----------------------- Today's news Rafael Nadal will begin his quest for an Olympic gold medal against Italian Potito Starace, while top seed Roger Federer faces a tough opener against Russia's Dmitry Tursunov after the draw for the tennis event. [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal of Spain, who will overtake Federer as world number one on August 18, appears to have the tougher half of the 64-strong draw which also includes Serbian Novak Djokovic and in-form Briton Andy Murray. Federer's opponent Tursunov, ranked 35, won his fourth career tournament in Sydney this year and was runner-up in Indianapolis last month. But Federer, who has made the Olympics one of his top priorities this season, will be familiar with his powerful game after they played a practice match this week. The Swiss star also holds a 2-0 career advantage over the Russian while Nadal has won all of his four meetings with Starace and and is yet to drop a set. The British number one Murray, who won his first Masters title in Cincinnati last week to climb to a career-high ranking of six in the world, faces Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun in his opening match. The 21-year-old Scot is scheduled to play Nadal in the quarter-finals, while Djokovic would be a likely semi-final opponent. Third seed Djokovic plays Robby Ginepri of the United States. Murray and his brother Jamie face Canada's Daniel Nestor and Frederick Niemeyer in the opening round of the doubles tournament. Defending champion Nicolas Massu of Chile, currently ranked 125, received a kind draw against Belgium's Steve Darcis. Massu and Fernando Gonzalez will open the defence of their doubles crown against Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic, with a likely second-round clash against Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. Nadal and Tommy Robredo are on a quarter-finals collision course with top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, followed by a possible semi against Federer and Wawrinka or experienced Indian duo Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes. The Olympic tennis tournament starts on Sunday and finishes a week later on August 17. AFP / Reuters ----------------------- Beijing 2008 - Italy, Brazil, Argentina all win Eurosport - Thu, 07 Aug 17:21:00 2008 World champions Italy, Brazil and Argentina all got their men's Olympic football campaigns off to winning starts in Beijing. [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Group A Argentina were grateful that Barcelona allowed Lionel Messi to stay in Beijing despite winning their appeal to recall him as the diminutive winger scored the first and set up another to secure a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. There were shades of offside for the opener as Messi latched onto Juan Roman Riquelme's superb through ball to slot past goalkeeper Vincent Angban. Sekou Cisse equalised early in the second half after rising above Pablo Zabaleta to head home, but late on the Argentine quality shone through as Riquelme and Messi combined again, this time to set substitute Lautaro Acosta up with a simple tap in. In the other Group A match, Australia and Serbia fought to a 1-1 draw, with Ruben Zadkovich's second-half strike for the Socceroos cancelled out 10 minutes later by Ljubisa Rajkovic. Group B The United States have taken the early lead in Group B courtesy of their 1-0 win over Japan. Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden's goal just after the break was enough seal the victory. Netherlands saw their campaign get off to an inauspicious start as they were stifled by a solid Nigeria to finish 0-0. The game was marred by the late sending off of Evander Sno for the Dutch for an at best clumsy challenge that landed on an opponent's ankle. Group C Brazil were made to struggle in their Group C opener by a solid Belgium side who had both Marouane Fellaini and Vincent Kompany sent off before Sao Paolo midfielder Hernanes finally grabbed the winner with just over 10 minutes remaining. The win was enough to send the side featuring Diego and Rafinha - who both, like Messi, have been allowed to remain by their clubs - to the top of the group. China struggled to a 1-1 draw against a spirited New Zealand side, who went down to 10 men in the first half when Steven Old's blatant handball earned him a second yellow card. Despite their advantage, the hosts failed to make it count, and they were shocked when Jeremy Brockie blasted home on 52 minutes. Defender Li Weifeng spared China's blushes with five minutes left with an excellent glanced header from a corner. Group D Honduras almost made it to half-time before conceding against Italy, but a volley from Sebastian Giovinco (pictured) and a Giuseppe Rossi penalty saw them go into the break 2-0 up. Cagliari's Robert Acquafresca added the third on 52 minutes to send the Azzurri top of Group D. South Korea and Cameroon shared the spoils in an exciting encounter in which Chu-Young Park opened the scoring before Mandjeck Georges equalised for the Africans. Albert Baning's last-minute sending off was the fifth of the day. Tony Mabert / Eurosport

[Cena4you]

thanks for your effort iron man

[Iron Man]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة Cena4you

thanks for your effort iron man

thank you my friend for the comment

regards

[بسـ الطفـε(｡◕‿◕｡)зـوله ــمة]

thanks Kimo for the topic

Inshalla I will be back with the updated news ^_^

[Iron Man]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة ♥МღА♥ЯღІ♥АღМ♥

thanks Kimo for the topic

Inshalla I will be back with the updated news ^_^

thank you Mimo for passing by
and if ever you have any news or information you are more than welcome to put it here
it is our topic

[Iron Man]

---- Beijing 2008 - Beijing Games open [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] The 29th Olympic Games, costing an estimated £20 billion and battered by political and environmental concerns, was declared open as China displayed its credentials as a modern, confident nation. [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Live text comments on all the events from the Beijing Olympics are available from 2am on Saturday. President Hu Jintao declared the Games open at the "Bird's Nest" stadium in front of 90,000 spectators and a worldwide television audience of up to four billion. "For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games," said Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee. "Tonight that dream comes true. Congratulations, Beijing." Minutes later, the Olympic cauldron was lit by Li Ning, the Chinese gymnast who captured three gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. A four hour opening ceremony, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Zhang Yimou, featured 5,000 competitors from 204 nations parade in a lavish event, with 35,000 fireworks lighting up a typical, smog-filled Beijing evening. A tightly-choreographed hour-long sector, shot through with themes from Zhang's signature movies Hero and House of Flying Daggers, portrayed China's colourful history from ancient dynasties to 21st century power. In a country where eight is a lucky number, the ceremony burst into life at eight minutes past eight on the eighth day of the eighth month. Organisers would welcome a dose of good fortune after seeing the build-up to the Games, planned as the crowning achievement of the country's breathless economic transformation, often overshadowed by disputes over human rights, press freedom and unease in the West over Chinese foreign policy. As tradition demands, Greece, the home of the ancient Olympics, led the parade of teams into the stadium with judoka Ilias Iliadis carrying his country's flag. But in a break from that famous tradition, the competing nations then filed through in the order based on the number of strokes of their names as written in Chinese characters. China, with a 639-strong squad, brought up the rear led by flag bearer, and basketball superstar, Yao Ming unleashing a huge roard from the crowd. Taiwan, classed as a breakaway province by China's Communist rulers, were given a rapturous welcome when their 24 competitors filed through with Iraq's five-strong delegation also attracting warm, sympathetic applause. The United Arab Emirates were led by Sheikha Maitha al-Maktoum, the first woman to lead a Gulf nation at the Games. Disabled swimmer Natalie du Toit, making history as the first athlete to compete against able-bodied competitors at an Olympics, led the way for South Africa. The United States were led in by Sudan-born Lopez Lomong, a former refugee from Darfur, in a politically-charged choice given the criticism of Chinese foreign policy over the conflict in the African region. South and North Korea, who failed to agree on marching in side-by-side, entered separated by three other nations. Tennis legend Roger Federer led the Swiss in on his 27th birthday Many heads of state attended the opening ceremony. They included US President George W. Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak. Before arriving in Beijing, Bush repeatedly highlighted during a speech in Thailand Washington's "deep concerns" over religious freedom and human rights in China. More than 100,000 security personnel have been called in to police the Games, amid fresh warnings of terror attacks from Islamic separatists while Beijing airport was also shut down just ahead of the start of the ceremony. The streets were unusually quiet as many of the Chinese capital's 17 million residents stayed at home after the city government declared a public holiday. [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]

[Iron Man]

--------- Beijing 2008 - Phelps stars on lively opening day [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] American sensation Michael Phelps set an Olympic record on his very first heat in an eventful opening day to Phelps set off on his quest for a record eight gold medals, diving into the pool at the bubble-wrap Water Cube building to win his heat in the 400 metres individual medley in an Olympic record. Phelps first gold could come on Sunday, when the mighty U.S. swim team is well-placed to triumph in three of the four finals being staged. China off the mark Chinese hopes of quick wins were partly met as competition got under way in earnest. A woman's weightlifting gold and men's shooting gold came their way, though they lost the first medal to be awarded after the Chinese favourite buckled under pressure. Katerina Emmons won the first gold, in the women's 10-metre air rifle, for the Czech Republic. Pre-Games favourite Du Li of China finished fifth and left in tears. "There was pressure for all of us but for her it was even harder," Emmons said of her rival. "I'm sorry, but the Chinese press is putting a lot of pressure on Chinese athletes." "I wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home," said Du, who won gold in Athens in 2004. Pang Wei restored home pride in the shooting with victory in the men's 10-metre air pistol, the second gold for China after Chen Xiexia won, as expected, in the women's 48kg weightlifting. Sanchez shines in road race In the first event to test athletes' ability to withstand the heat and smog of a Beijing summer, Spain's Samuel Sanchez won the men's cycling road race along a gruelling 245-km route from the Forbidden City in Beijing to the Great Wall. More than a third of contestants dropped out, including favourites like German Stefan Schumacher who said the humidity and smog made a hard course even tougher. "I have a very, very strong headache," said Schumacher, after abandoning the race. "I suppose it's the pollution." The 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador could not handle the heat either. "I just didn't have any more strength in the legs," said Contador after giving up. Sanchez's Spanish team mates said they had decided to work together to support whichever of them had the best chance to win. "In the end it turned out that Samuel felt the best and so we played his card," said Spain's Carlos Sastre, this year's Tour de France winner. The women's cycling road race is along the same route on Sunday when it is forecast to be wet and cooler. Koreans, Brits on target Athens gold medallist Park Sung-hyun led a South Korean sweep of the women's archery ranking round, while Mexico's Juan Rene Serrano upstaged world and Olympic champions to take top spot in the men's round. The British trio of Alison Williamson, Charlotte Burgess and Naomi Folkard, meanwhile, delivered a surprise second place in the team ranking while China, runners-up four years ago, were third. South Korea archery official Um Sung-ho said the team would not be reading too much into the result. China lead amongst debate China's Olympic gymnasts sparked debate among the judges but the overwhelming favourites still topped the men's qualifying competition. Judges were seen to deliberate for up to 10 minutes each time they tried to agree on a score for Li Xiaopeng, Huang Xu and all-round favourite Yang Wei on the rings. Their lengthy discussions led the packed crowd to start slow-clapping at the National Indoor Stadium. But with memories of a 2004 Athens Games judging scandal lingering, they ignored the fans' reaction before finally settling on scores of 14.800, 15.300 and 16.225 respectively under the new open-ended scoring system that is making its Olympic debut. Brits power through Britain's Andrew Smith and Tracey Hallam both won their opening singles matches in the badminton tournament. Smith qualified for the men's last 32 after coming from behind to beat Petr Koukal of the Czech Republic 10-21, 21-12, 21-15. He will face Germany's Marc Zwiebler in the second round. "I was a bit nervous to start with," Smith admitted. "It's my first Olympic Games and it was tough being the first one up. "I felt more relaxed as I got further into the match and things came together for me." Hallam (pictured), meanwhile, beat Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin 21-15, 21-17. She now faces Kristina Ludikova of the Czech Republic in the round of 32. Team USA rule the court The USA's women treated President George W. Bush to a high-flying performance at the opening of the women's basketball tournament. The Americans, chasing a fourth successive gold medal, overpowered the Czech Republic 97-57 under Bush's gaze, while the watching USA men's team almost triggered a half-time stampede. Earlier, hosts China stole some early thunder from their men's team with an electrifying 67-64 win over Spain in their Group B opener. Samoan in the hospital Samoa's Farani Tavui was taken to hospital after a knockout on the first day of the boxing competition. Tavui was floored by a right hook from Croatia's Marijo Sivolija-Jelica in the third round of their light-heavyweight bout. He managed to stand up but immediately went down again and medical personnel intervened. Zagunis leads American sweep Mariel Zagunis shook off early butterflies to win the USA's first gold at the Beijing Games, leading an American sweep of the women's individual sabre medals. The 23-year-old grew stronger as the tournament progressed, never trailing world number one and fellow left-hander Sada Jacobson in the final, winning 15-8. Her team-mate at the Oregon Fencing Alliance club, Rebecca Ward, won bronze. Marta heads Brazilian charge Women's World Player of the Year Marta was on target as Brazil beat North Korea 2-1 for their first win of the football tournament. World champions Germany and Olympic champions United States also won their first games, beating Nigeria and Japan respectively on a day which produced only nine goals in six games. Brazil went ahead in the 14th minute when North Korea defender Om Jon Ran over-hit a back-pass, and goalkeeper Jon Myong Hui played the clearance straight to Daniela, who scored into an empty net. Nine minutes later, Marta beat her hesitant marker to the ball and scored on the turn. Fallon falls short Team GB judo player Craig Fallon just missed out on the bronze medal match on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics. The 25-year-old was beating Israel's Gal Yekutiel with just over two minutes of in his under-60kg repechage final contest remaining. South Korea's Choi Minho won gold after beating one of Fallon's conquerors - Paischer - in the final. Bronze medals were awarded to Uzbekistan's Rishod Sobirov and Ruben Houkes of the Netherlands. Tragedy strikes China's desire for a trouble-free games were upended by the daylight murder of the relative of a U.S. volleyball coach. A 47-year-old Chinese man stabbed two American relatives of the coach and a Chinese tour guide at a popular tourist site, leaving one man dead, Beijing police said. The assailant then jumped to his death from high up the Drum Tower, a 700-year-old 45-metre (yard) high monument once used to sound time for the Chinese capital's residents. Attacks on foreigners in Beijing are rare. Olympic organisers have deployed a 100,000-strong security force to protect the 10,500 athletes and thousands of spectators, citing the threat of terrorism but sparking criticism they were blocking protests. Watch live coverage of the Olympics 24/7 on your PC via the Eurosport player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe. Or watch the action on British Eurosport - available in the UK on Sky channel 410 and Virgin Media channel 521. Reuters ----------------------------- Beijing 2008 - Phelps starts Games with record [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Michael Phelps safely cleared the first hurdle in his quest to win eight gold medals when he broke his Olympic record to qualify fastest for the 400 metres individual medley final. The American cruised through his heat in four minutes 07.82 seconds, wiping 0.44 seconds off the Olympic record he set to win the gold medal in Athens four years ago. Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, who finished third behind Phelps at Athens then won the world title in Montreal a year later when Phelps skipped the event, was second fastest in 4:09.26. Italian Luca Marin was third in 4.22 while American Ryan Lochte, who looms as the one of the biggest dangers to Phelps' bid to win an unprecedented eight goals, was fourth in 4.33. Phelps' time was the third fastest and just 2.57 outside the world record of 4:05.25 he set at the US trials six weeks ago to book his place in Sunday's final. Clean shaven but not wearing a full bodysuit, he was under world record pace halfway through the backstroke leg but eased down over the final freestyle leg to conserve his energy for the final. WOMEN'S 100m BUTTERFLY Australia's Jessicah Schipper topped the qualifiers for the women's 100 metres butterfly heats to book her place in Sunday's semi-finals. Schipper won her heat in 57.58 seconds and was just 0.12 ahead of American Christine Magnuson and China's Zhou Yafei, who recorded identical times of 57.70 in their respective heats. Australian world champion Libby Trickett, the favourite to win the gold, qualified 12th fastest in 58.37 while Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak, the Athens Olympic silver medallist, failed to make the semi-finals after recording the 17th time overall. Schipper, who holds the world record for 200 butterfly, said she was surprised at her time because she made a number of mistakes during the heat. "A few things went wrong there but I'm still going in as fastest qualifier and I still have some things to improve on," she said. Trickett swam conservatively to save some of her strength for a busy programme and was also surprised at how fast the heats were. "It's obviously a lot faster being at night and being an Olympic event it's going to be a lot tougher," she said. "I'm happy with that and I know I can keep going and keep on improving." Reuters ------------ Beijing 2008 - Sanchez victorious in road race [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Spanish climber Samuel Sanchez claimed his biggest ever career win when he claimed gold in the men's gruelling Olympic road race, held over 245km. Italian Davide Rebellin finished a close second to take the silver medal with Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara placing third to take the bronze. Pre-race favourite and reigning champion Paolo Bettini of Italy was left trailing after a decisive attack on the final climb by Australian Cadel Evans. That move also dropped his fellow favourite Alejandro Valverde of Spain, and ultimately led to a six-man finish after a tough 6hr 23min 49sec of racing in 26 degrees celsius and 90 percent humidity. Valverde finished 22sec down in a group containing Evans, with Bettini at 35. A thrilling end to the first big endurance test of the Games bore witness to a tough race of attrition that proved too much for some of the 143 starters, 18 of whom dropped out with two of seven laps of a hilly 23.8km loop to race. Austrian Christian Pfannberger launched an audacious solo attack around 40km from the finish shortly after 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador had dropped back following a spell of work for Valverde. But despite his efforts he went into the final lap with just a 20sec lead. He wasn't helped by the fact he dropped his water bottle before the final, 9km climb. He was caught early on the final climb, prompting an attack by Tour de France runner-up Evans. The Australian's move left Bettini and Valverde behind and created a leading bunch of around 13 riders which included compatriot Mick Rogers, American Levi Leipheimer and Rebellin among others. Another attack, this time from Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, split the leaders, forcing Rebellin, Rogers, Russian Alexander Kolobnev and Spaniard Samuel Sanchez to go off on their own. With Evans and a few other contenders sitting just 10secs in their wake, Schleck's insistence, with another fierce turn of pace on the climb around 14km to go, whittled the group down further. It ultimately left the 23-year-old Luxemburger with formidable Italian Rebellin and Sanchez on his wheel and proved too much for Rogers, who was left struggling to follow with Kolobnev, the Russian gasping for air. On the long flat section leading to the uphill finish line, however, Kolobnev and Rogers did well to close the gap and soon caught sight of the leading trio with 4km to race. Further behind, Cancellara had jumped out of Evans' group and produced a huge effort worthy of his three world time trial crowns to close the gap to Rogers. Together, they caught the leading trio with barely a kilometre to race. As they approached the short uphill finish, Kolobnev pulled to the front, but his effort was countered by both Sanchez and Rebellin, a formidable racer in the hilly one-day classics races in Europe. With just 250 metres to go, Sanchez produced a turn of pace which gave him the edge. Even before the finish line - where he crossed himself after a hellish day in the saddle - the Spaniard realised he had secured a well deserved win. FACTBOX Age: 30 (date of birth: Feb 5, 1978) Place of birth: Oviedo, Spain Career achievements: Winner of the Zuri-Metzgete road race, 2006 Second place in Giro di Lombardia road race, 2006 Third place in Giro di Lombardia road race, 2007 Fourth place in World Championship road race, 2006 Seventh place in Tour de France, 2008 Sanchez turned professional in 2000 and rides for Spain'sEuskaltel-Euskadi team. AFP & / Reuters ------------------ [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]

[Iron Man]

Beijing 2008 - Team USA sweep past China [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Talismanic giant Yao Ming, flag carrier for China at the opening ceremony, could not protect his colleagues from the speed and power of the NBA professionals. Ming, who plays with the Houston Rockets, scored 13 points in the 101-70 loss to the U.S. in what was billed as the most watched basketball game in history. Bush and his father, former President George H. W. Bush, huddled with the U.S. team ahead of the game to wish them luck. "What's up, pops?" NBA scoring champion LeBron James (pictured) quipped to Bush's ageing father. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, the NBA's Most Valuable Player, won a huge cheer from the star-dazzled home supporters but the loudest shout from the raucous 16,000 crowd was for Ming, China's favourite athlete along with 110m hurdler Liu Xiang. The U.S. team is still smarting from winning only bronze at Athens in 2004 and has nicknamed itself the "Redeem Team". They have joked they will be unable to return home without the gold. The Americans will face a tougher test in their other Preliminary Group B matches against world champions Spain and a tough Greece side that stunned them in the world championship semi-finals in 2006. Argentina's defence of their Olympic title suffered a blow when they were upset 79-75 by Lithuania in their opening game. World champions Spain, in contrast, had too much firepower for Greece in their Beijing Games opener, rolling to an 81-66 victory. Earlier, Dirk Nowitzki's Germany overpowered Angola, while European champions Russia thrashed Iran. Led by Manu Ginobili, Argentina wiped out a 12-point deficit to tie the game at 75-75 before Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza nailed an off-balance three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left to seal a nail-biting win for Lithuania. The Lithuanians, three-times Olympic bronze medallists, went 60 percent from behind the three-point arc in the second half to keep Argentina at arm's length until a furious late fightback by the 2004 gold medallists. "I wasn't on fire -- I was just three for three (on three-pointers)," an underwhelmed Kleiza said. "It was actually a simple shot. It's very special to beat Argentina in our first game." Ginobili paid tribute to Lithuania. "You got to give them credit," said the San Antonio Spurs guard, who scored 19 points in a losing effort. "They made some unbelievable, tough shots. "It's not an upset in the sense that we couldn't lose to them. They're a great team and we knew it." Guard Rudy Fernandez finished with 16 points in Spain's win over Greece, Jose Manuel Calderon added 13 and Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol had 11 off the bench in Group B. "The first game of an Olympics is always the most difficult," Spain coach Aito Garcia Reneses told reporters. "But Pau Gasol is improving so the expectation is high." Olympic hosts China were taking on the United States in a Group B blockbuster later on Sunday. Reuters ----------- Beijing 2008 - Brazil romp as Ronnie scores brace [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] Ronaldinho scored twice as Brazil strolled to a 5-0 win over New Zealand at the Olympics, while a delightful goal from Ezequiel Lavezzi gave Argentina a late win over stubborn Australia. The South American pair, who take the tournament more seriously than their European counterparts, have 6 points from two games in their respective groups, enough to guarantee them a quarter-final place with a match to spare. Italy, breaking free from their traditionally defensive game, joined them after chalking up their second successive 3-0 win, this time over South Korea. African trio Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast won for the first time, Cameroon beating Honduras 1-0 with a harmless-looking Stephane Mbia shot misjudged by goalkeeper Kevin Hernandez. Nigeria overcame Japan 2-1 and Ivory Coast beat Serbia 4-2 with Chelsea's Salomon Kalou among the scorers. Gerald Sibon scored in the third minute of injury-time to give the Netherlands a 2-2 draw with the United States and Belgium beat nine-man China 2-0 to pick up their first points and leave the winless hosts on the brink of elimination. China, who have one point, had Tan Wangson sent off for a crude challenge and captain Zheng Zhi dismissed for elbowing in a 12-minute spell in the second half. New Zealand, facing Brazil with a team mainly made up of university students, were quickly in trouble when they fell behind to an Anderson goal after three minutes before Alexandre Pato headed a second just after the half hour. Ronaldinho added a third with a free kick which found its way through the entire New Zealand defence in the 55th minute, then won and converted a penalty six minutes later. Rafael Sobis completed the scoring. Ronaldinho, one of Brazil's three permitted overage players in the under-23 tournament, was overcome with emotion, despite the modest opposition. "It's a special day," he said. "Because of everything that has happened, because of my performance, because we qualified." Argentina, who dominated their game but squandered a string of chances, needed to be at their most creative to break down a packed Australian defence. They finally cracked it in the 78th minute when a stunning series of quick passes ended with Angel Di Maria floating the ball across to the far post, where Lavezzi sidefooted home a first-time shot. "We knew we were in for a game and that they'd defend in numbers, and that's how it transpired," said coach Sergio Batista. Villarreal's US-born forward Giuseppe Rossi and Lazio's overage striker Tommaso Rocchi scored in the first half for Italy as they played some excellent football against South Korea. --------------- Beijing 2008 - Korea win team gold, Britain misfire [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] South Korea beat China to win gold in the women's team archery, earning their sixth Olympic title in a row. Athens champion Park Sung-hyun, world No.1 Yun Ok-hee and Joo Hyun-jung maintained Korea's streak of having won every women's Olympic archery gold medal since 1984. South Korea set a world record against Italy in the quarter-finals, hammered France in the semis, and were never headed by the Chinese in the gold medal match. "We went into the Games with high hopes and expectations and our hard work really paid off," Park said. The 25-year-old, who ripped gold from China's grasp with her last arrow four years ago, was in imperious form on Sunday, shrugging off atrocious weather and heckling from the home crowd to lead her team to victory. France beat Britain by a point to win the bronze medal after driving rain and thunder forced a 15-minute postponement. "It's so frustrating and disappointing. It was too little too late," Alison Williamson said after she, Naomi Folkard and Charlotte Burgess (pictured) missed their chance. "This will make us more determined for the individual event and hopefully one of us will do something special." Joo came into the Games a virtual unknown outside Korea, but matched her illustrious compatriots arrow for arrow. Ranked 11th in the world, Joo said the South Korean team had prepared for whatever the weather or the Chinese fans could throw at them. "We knew that we would have to face the roars from the crowds, especially the Chinese people cheering on their national team," she said. "But we trained specifically to endure such noise and interruptions while we were training." China's Chen Ling, Guo Dan and Zhang Juan Juan were never able to get back on level terms with the Koreans after falling behind with their first three arrows. For Zhang, the disappointment of finishing second to South Korea was a familiar feeling and she conceded China still had some catching up to do. "The Korean team demonstrated their strength, we should learn from them and work harder," she said. ----------- Beijing 2008 - Golden ××××× opens British account [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] "Our plan went back more than 12 months in terms of what we were going to do today," an ebullient ×××××, 25, said. "Sharon (Laws) and Emma (Pooley) and I were all part of a team and we all knew we were good riders but the best chance we had was to ride together ... and try to win as a team," she said. "Riding as a team was the best way to be successful." With the British women riding consistently at the front of the pack throughout the race, Pooley launched an attack on the second and final lap of a 24-km circuit at the Great Wall. The attack caught Russian Natalia Boyarskaya and set ××××× up to join another attack group just a few kilometres from the finish. ××××× then launched a fierce sprint for the last hundred metres and narrowly edged out Sweden's Emma Johansson, who took the silver, and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy, who finished third. "Everything went according to plan," Laws said. "We're very pleased." Britain's coach, Dave Brailsford, said: "It wasn't just her. The whole team got it spot on." ××××× seemed so surprised with her own accomplishment that she let out a huge scream, similar to a war whoop, after she crossed the finish line. "I was just so happy and there were so many emotions that were coming out all at once that I probably wasn't composed enough to take my hands off the bars and do a salute that way," she said with a laugh when asked to explain the scream. "I just made so much noise because I guess that's just the person I am." Factbox: Nicole ××××× Age: 25 (date of birth: April 13, 1983) Place of birth: Swansea, Britain Career achievements: Silver medallist, road race, World Championships 2005. Bronze medallist, road race, World Championships 2003 and 2006. Previous Olympic result: Fifth, women's road race, 2004 Olympics ××××× won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2002. She is also a former winner of the World Cup series. Her favourite drink is a mixed berry smoothie. -------------- VIDEOS [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]

[No-Fear]

Ty for the news the olympics this year was fantastic
!!!!

[Simply >>> L<3vely]

i hope good luck 4 arab ppl
thanx kimo 4 the topic