LONDON: Jamaica’s sprinters aim to stay ahead of the pack as Usain Bolt bids to book a place in the men’s 200 meter final and Veronica Campbell-Brown attempts to become the first woman to win three golds at the distance.
On day 12 of Olympic competition, 16 gold medals will have been decided in sports ranging from beach volleyball to horse jumping and table tennis to taekwondo, but the focus will be on the track when the world’s fastest humans do battle.
China lead the medals table with 35 golds to 30 for the United States, while third-placed Britain are on 22, their best haul for more than a century.
On a cool and cloudy morning at the Olympic Stadium, American Ashton Eaton opened his bid to become the best all-round male athlete of the Games with a 10.35-second 100m dash and long jump of 8.03 meters that helped him to a 105-point lead in the decathlon.
Former Olympic champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic bowed out, however, after struggling in his race with an injury to his right heel.
British favorite Mo Farah, winner of the 10,000 at the weekend, was cheered around the track by 80,000 spectators in a 5,000 heat which he came through comfortably despite clashing legs with several rivals.
There was drama in the men’s pole vault when Cuban Lazaro Borges’ pole snapped in two places as he rose toward the bar, but he escaped unharmed. Russia’s 30-year-old double Olympic champion and world record holder in the women’s event, Yelena Isinbayeva, told Reuters yesterday she would compete again in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 having come a disappointing third in the London Games.
Her compatriot Ivan Ukhov revealed that he had been forced to borrow a T-shirt from a teammate to make his winning leap in the men’s high jump on Tuesday after his own vest was stolen midway through the competition.
It may even have helped. The shirt belonged to fellow Russian and 2008 Olympic champion Andrei Silnov.
“I guess Andrei being the 2008 champion just passed me the good luck,” Ukhov told Russian media.
Once again the main stadium was packed with enthusiastic crowds yesterday and mostly sold-out Olympic venues have underlined how the Games have caught the imagination of a public spurred on by Britain’s best gold medal haul for 104 years.
The women’s soccer final between the United States and Japan at Wembley today is set to break the Olympic attendance record with a crowd of at least 83,000, beating the previous benchmark of 76,489 in 1996 in Athens, Georgia.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said he was satisfied with the way the Games had gone.
“All in all I would say these are very good Games and I am a very happy man,” he told reporters.
Many Britons would agree, despite serious misgivings in the run-up to the Olympics over London’s ageing transport system, the shortage of guards to secure venues and the wisdom of spending 9 billion pounds ($14 billion) during a recession.
The Games end with a closing ceremony on Sunday at the main stadium which will celebrate British music. George Michael, Muse and Ed Sheeran are confirmed to perform, while Adele, Madness, The Who and Elbow are all rumored to be taking part.
British Olympic organizers are also planning a victory parade through London in September which is expected to draw more than a million people to the streets.
Yesterday, Hungary claimed two canoeing titles — Rudolf Dombi and Roland Kokeny beat Portugal in a photo finish in the men’s kayak double, while their women teammates denied Germany a fifth straight Olympic title in the kayak four.
Steve Guerdat of Switzerland won individual show jumping gold, while in table tennis China completed a second successive sweep of all Olympic titles when the men’s team beat South Korea 3-0.
The Italian men’s volleyball team pulled off a surprise 3-0 quarter-final victory over defending champions the United States to keep alive their dreams of a first Olympic gold.
The BMX bike action got underway with a relatively low key time trial seeding phase, and Dutchman Raymon van der Biezen was quickest in 37.779 seconds.
Today and tomorrow, eight riders face off in bunch races where the real thrills and spills of the sport are expected.
