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Memmel Competed With Injury

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

Chellsie Memmel's ankle injury was worse than anyone realized.

Memmel said after the U.S. women won the silver medal in team gymnastics Wednesday she'd been competing with a broken bone in her right ankle. The 2005 world gymnastics champion hurt the ankle during training Aug. 4, but competed on uneven bars in both the preliminaries and the team finals.

"I have mixed emotions," she said. "I would have loved to compete on four events, but the silver medal for my team is great."

After missing much of the last two years with a devastating shoulder injury, Memmel became one of the feel-good stories of the summer when she finished behind reigning world champ Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin at both the national championships and Olympic trials. She missed the 2004 Olympics with a foot injury.

The Americans expected to put Memmel up on all four events during qualifying, but that became impossible after she hurt her ankle. She was still able to do uneven bars, though, because it doesn't put much pressure on the ankle, and the Americans badly needed her score on the event. Memmel won the world title on bars in 2003, and has one of the most difficult routines in the world.

"I just had to believe in myself and know that I could do it," she said. "That's exactly what I did."

Dancer Injured In Opening Ceremony Rehearsal

BEIJING - A dancer was injured in a rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, and Chinese media reports she could face a life of paralysis.

Beijing organizing committee spokesman Wang Wei on Wednesday confirmed the injury to 26-year-old Liu Yan, but did not confirm reports that she was paralyzed below the waist.

"This is a very private question," Wang said. "I understand that she was seriously injured, but I'm not sure whether she is paralyzed or not. She's hospitalized at this moment."

The accident took place July 27 in a rehearsal at the National Stadium - also known as the Bird's Nest - but was reported only this week by several Chinese-language newspapers.

IOC Calls Photo Of Spanish Teams 'Clearly Inappropriate'

A picture in a newspaper advertisement that a spokeswoman for the IOC called "clearly inappropriate" has left the Spanish basketball team apologizing for its contents.

The Spanish men's and women's basketball team posed for the picture pulling on the skin behind their eyes to make it look as if they are Asian. The pictures have run in an advertisement for the Spanish courier company, Seur, in the Spanish sports daily, Marca, for the last month.

The Spanish coach and multiple team members, many of whom play in the NBA, said the picture was taken out of context and they did so only after being implored to by Seur's representatives.

"If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologize for it," the Spanish star Pau Gasol said. "We never meant anything offensive by it."

Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said in an e-mail message: "We understand that the Spanish team intended no offense and has apologized. The matter rests there as far as the IOC is concerned."

Chinese Police Rough Up British TV Reporter

Police in Beijing dragged away and roughed up a British television journalist as he observed a group of foreigners holding a demonstration for Tibet less than half a mile from the Olympic Green.

Witnesses said the journalist, John Ray of Britain's Independent Television News, was wrestled to the ground by police, dragged along and shoved into a police van.

Ray was covering a demonstration by Students for a Free Tibet who chained themselves together at the entrance to a park for China's ethnic minority groups or unfurled banners nearby. Security agents swooped in rapidly to arrest the demonstrators, who have made near daily protests during the past week in spite of a intense security blanket over the capital.

3 Chinese Critically Injured In Crash Near Rowing

Three Chinese were critically injured and a Croatian coach was taken to the hospital following a collision between a bus from the athletes' village and a van on the way to the Olympic rowing park.

The accident happened near the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

Australian rowing team doctor Greg Lovell, a passenger on the bus, said three of the four people traveling in the van were critically injured in the "major" collision. Lovell was treated for a minor scrape on his knee.

"The bus collided with the van and in turn moved off the road and hit a guard rail," said Lovell, who was listening to music when he was jolted by the accident.

Croatian coach Dragutin Milinkovic was injured and taken to a hospital, said Croatian Olympic Committee spokeswoman Gordana Gacesa. Milinkovic was struck in the head, suffering cuts and bruises.

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