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Cuban Athlete Banned After Kicking Ref In Face Georgia-Born Lorig Downplays Political Angle Omega Finally Releases Phelps Photo Sequence

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

BEIJING - Cuba's Angel Matos deliberately kicked a referee in the face after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal match, prompting the World Taekwondo Federation to recommend he be banned for life.

"We didn't expect anything like what you have witnessed to occur," said WTF secretary general Yang Jin-suk. "I am at a loss for words."

The World Taekwondo Federation said after the match that Matos, along with his coach, Leodis Gonzalez, would be banned from all its future sanctioned events. His records at the Beijing Games will be erased.
Matos was winning 3-2, with 1:02 left in the second round when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. Matos was awaiting medical attention when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.
Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, who required stitches in his lip. Matos was escorted out.

"This is an insult to the Olympic vision, an insult to the spirit of taekwondo and, in my opinion, an insult to mankind," Yang said.

Matos' coach was unapologetic. "He was too strict," Gonzalez said, referring to the decision to disqualify Matos.

Afterward, he charged the match was fixed, accusing the Kazakhs of offering him money.

Hammon Embraces Hard-Won Bronze Medal
Becky Hammon never intended to make a political statement. She simply wanted to play basketball in the Olympics.

And despite criticism she absorbed by deciding to play for Russia, Hammon said Saturday the joy of helping her new team unite to win the bronze medal outweighed the negatives.

"For me, I've worked just as hard for this medal as a gold one, so to me it might as well be," Hammon said after scoring a team-high 22 points while leading Russia to a 94-81 victory against China.

"I wanted to be a positive leader for them and encourage them and just help them believe in themselves. I think if you watched us just a few weeks ago, we didn't have much belief in ourselves."

"She is a very important player," teammate Ilona Korstin said. "I am very glad she's on the team. Now she's a real part of our Russian team and she helps us a lot during the game. I hope she will continue to play for the Russian national team."

Hammon left that open, saying only that she planned to return to Texas and finish the WNBA season with San Antonio.

Ukrainian Weightlifter Expelled For Doping

Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov was kicked out of the Olympics, the sixth athlete caught for doping during the Games.

Razoronov tested positive for the steroid nandrolone after finishing sixth in the 105-kilogram (231.5 pounds) division Monday, the International Olympic Committee said.

Japanese Swimmer Collapses At Water Cube

A member of Japan's synchronized swimming team had to be helped out of the pool after she apparently fainted.

Hiromi Kobayashi, a 23-year-old from Osaka competing in her first Olympics, was taken off the deck on a stretcher after hyperventilating as the routine ended.

Two men in swimsuits jumped into the pool to assist the team, which was helping Kobayashi to the side. The other team members climbed out to await their scores, while the ailing woman clung to the pool's edge.

Kobayashi was lifted out by the two men in swimsuits and she buckled to her knees. Her body and head went limp as they carried her. She was wrapped in a white sheet and rushed away on the stretcher, attended to by several volunteers and medical personnel.

The woman hyperventilated because of stress, said Hiroshi Takeuchi, press officer for the Japanese team.

Kobayashi was conscious and resting at the arena, and did not require a hospital visit, he said.

While U.S. athletes have stayed silent about politics during these Olympics, their actions have spoken volumes.

First came the decision by U.S. team captains to pick runner Lopez Lomong, who was a Sudanese war refugee, to lead the U.S. delegation into the Aug. 8 Opening Ceremony as the team's flag bearer.

Many interpreted Lomong's selection as a dig at the Chinese government's support of Sudan, which has armed militias that have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the country's Darfur region.

Friday night, the U.S. team entered the political fray again by choosing archer Khatuna Lorig, who was born in what is now the country of Georgia, to be the U.S. flag bearer in today's Closing Ceremony.

With Georgia recently fighting a mismatched war against Russian troops in the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia, many saw Lorig's selection as a show of support by U.S. athletes for the besieged Georgians.

Lorig, however, played down the politics during a Saturday interview with McClatchy, saying her fellow U.S. athletes didn't pick her to score political points.

"It's more that they feel that I'm American, it doesn't matter where I was born," the 34-year-old West Hollywood, Calif., resident said. "I'm truly very proud to be an American and most definitely very proud to be on the U.S. team."

It really was that close between Michael Phelps and Milorad Cavic.

Official timekeeper Omega released a digital photo sequence of last week's riveting 100-meter butterfly finish at the Olympics - and it's still not clear to the naked eye just who won.

However, according to Omega timer Silvio Chianese, the results are clear.

"In the third set of images, with Phelps on the left, it is clear he is really pushing hard, while Cavic, on the right, is just arriving," Chianese told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Chianese explained that it requires 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of pressure to activate the touchpad.

"Any less and waves would set it off," Chianese said. "You can't just put your fingertips on the pad, you really have to push it. We explained all this directly after the race to Cavic and his coach."

The photos were taken by Omega cameras placed directly above the finish line, slightly angled to include two lanes in each photo.

Chianese said the touchpad is the primary source to determine the race winner, while the photos can only be used as backup material.

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