|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Archive for the 'Beijing' TagU.S. men’s volleyball rebounds to beat Serbia; goes to semisAugust 20th, 2008, 10:59 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMThe U.S. men’s volleyball rebounded from a 2-1 deficit against Serbia to post a 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) Wednesday to advance to the 2008 Olympic Games semifinals. The U.S. withstood a 28-point performance from Serbia’s Ivan Miljkovic to move on to a Friday (Beijing time) semi with Russia. Clay Stanley had a team-high 18 points, Anaheim’s Reid Priddy added 17 as the U.S. moved to within a game of its first Olympic final in 20 years. Who’s the biggest Olympic star not named Michael Phelps?August 18th, 2008, 3:01 pm by TODD HARMONSON, OCREGISTER.COMWith his eight gold medals, we can concede top honors to Michael Phelps. These should be known as his Olympics. But he’s not the only star of the Games so far, especially with world records dropping all over the place and gymnasts dazzling with regularity. So, cast your vote for the biggest non-Michael Phelps star of the Summer Olympics so far, then come back to check out the rest of our in-depth coverage of the Olympics (especially Orange County’s Olympians). {democracy:2}
Swail-Ertel 19th in Olympic triathlonAugust 17th, 2008, 9:04 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-Australia’s Emma Snowsill ran away with the 2008 Olympic Games triathlon gold medal Monday. Snowsill, carrying an Australian flag, stopping to high-five fans in the final 100 meters, finished in 1 hour, 58.27 seconds, 66 seconds ahead of runner-up Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal. Julie Swail-Ertel, a water polo silver medalist in 2000, was 19th, 4:11 behind Snowsill. Related: Edwards advances to Olympic 100 semifinalsAugust 16th, 2008, 6:21 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
Edwards now moves on to Sunday’s semifinals with the 100 final later that day. Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson had the fastest time of the second round, winning the second quarterfinal in 11.02. Her countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser took the opening quarter in 11.06. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas won the third heat at 11.21. Related: U.S. women’s water polo beats Russia, has chance at medalAugust 15th, 2008, 5:00 am by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM
The Americans’ early domination led to a 12-7 victory over Russia and pushed the women into the semifinals Tuesday. They advanced by virtue of a tie-breaker edge over Italy. “We played strong in the first quarter,” said Brittany Hayes, who played at Foothill High and USC. “We gained control of the game, almost everyone scored.” Eight U.S. players had goals, including Hayes, with one, and Natalie Golda, with three. Golda is from La Habra and played at UCLA. Rock stars at Tiananmen SquareAugust 15th, 2008, 3:36 am by Summer Bailey - OC Tourist & #1 Olympic FanBEIJING - Here we are, the four of us dressed in our usual O.C. beach attire (T-shirts, shorts, sunglasses, etc…), strolling along Tiananmen Square to take in the grandeur, the history and the buzz of it all. Just then, from about 50 feet away, a squealing Chinese mother of three comes running toward us with a smile on her face and a camera in hand. She makes the hand motions to ask us to pose in a picture with her children. We find it surprising but of course we comply. She gleefully thanks us in broken English and we move on. “That was wild,” says my son. But before I could comment, it happens again. This time it is an elderly Chinese couple who is asking. And so it went, throughout the square. We were surrounded by maybe 50,000 Chinese people and were probably only four out of 20 anglo foreigners. Everyone smiled at us and even more so if we attempted our Chinese as we greeted them. “Ni Hao!” What a blast! Lochte knocks off Peirsol in 200 back finalAugust 14th, 2008, 7:23 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-Ryan Lochte ended Irvine Aaron Peirsol’s bid to become the first man in 36 years to sweep the Olympic backstroke events in consecutive Games. Lochte pulled away from Peirsol in the final of the 200-meter backstroke final at the National Aquatics Center Friday for a world record 1 minute, 53.94 second victory. Peirsol was second in 1:54.33. Related: Lezak ties for bronze medal in Olympic 100 freestyle finalAugust 13th, 2008, 7:54 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
France’s Alain Bernard won the race in 47.21 seconds, followed by Australia’s Eamon Sullivan in 47.32. Lezak and Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho tied for third at 47.61. Girls on the prowlAugust 13th, 2008, 7:36 pm by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM
That’s just how Misty May-Treanor and partner Kerri Walsh met reports here Thursday after dispatching of their latest beach volleyball vicitims before it was barely 9:30 a.m. “Now,” May-Treanor said, “what do we do with the rest of our day?” Related: In the first match of the day, the Americans completed pool play at 3-0 with a 21-12, 21-15 victory over Norway’s Nila Haakedal and Ingrid Toerlen. The pairings for the next round of the tournament will be conducted Thursday night. May-Treanor, of Costa Mesa, and Walsh are the defending Olympic gold medalists. After the match, May-Treanor stopped to sign autographs, pose for pictures with fans and hug tennis player Lindsay Davenport. The two have been friends for years. Davenport, a long-time Orange County resident, is here competing in women’s doubles. So what, exactly, were the plans for the rest of the day? “We’re going to see the Forbidden City,” May-Treanor said. “Then I need to go back to the silk market. I’m not sure where that is, but I know there’s a Starbucks close by.” Click here for a full story about the match. Related: Youngs and Branagh continue to roll on the beachAugust 13th, 2008, 11:32 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
“This is definitely my last Olympics,” the 38-year-old Orange County native said. “Three is enough for me. Can you imagine me competing at 42? I would be in a wheelchair.” Youngs and partner Nicole Branagh, however, show no signs of slowing down at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The pair continued to cruise through the first round Wednesday, knocking off Cuba’s Milagros Crespo and Imara Estevez 2-1 at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground. Late Kljestan goal not enough for U.S.August 13th, 2008, 3:57 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
After spotting Nigeria a 1-0 first half lead and then giving up a second half goal, Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA and Huntington Beach cut the gap to 2-1 with a late penalty kick. The U.S. nearly scored the equalizer in the 90th minute when Charlie Davies’ header of a Dax McCarthy cross bounced off the cross bar. Thirty-seconds later Nigeria goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin had to make a difficult save on a low, hard shot from McCarthy. U.S. rolls over Venezuela in women’s volleyball; China nextAugust 13th, 2008, 3:32 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
“We’re Americans,” outside hitter Logan Tom said. “It’s our job to help people out. No, no, no, that was a joke.” Any volleyball diplomacy ended in the third set, where all joking aside, the U.S. shifted gears on the way to a 4-1(25-17, 20-25, 25-14, 25-18) 2008 Olympic Games first round victory at the Beijing Technological Institute Gymnasium Wednesday. Laguna Hill’s Tayyiba Haneef-Park posted a match high 17 points, with Tom adding 15. Middle blocker Heather Bown of Yorba Linda added 10 points. The U.S. was so impressive in the final three sets that Venezuela coach Tomas Fernandez went so far as to predict that the Team USA will still be playing when the Beijing gold medal final rolls around August 23. “I believe it is highly probable they will win the gold medal,” Fernandez said. First the U.S. will have to get past Feng Kun and defending Olympic champion China Friday night (Beijing time) in a super charged match. The match is one of the hottest tickets in town, primarily because the U.S. is coached by Jenny Lang Ping, who remains Chinese icon nearly a quarter-century after leading China to a gold medal in the 1984 Games, the country’s Olympic debut. Ping knows that the current Chinese side isn’t likely to squander a gift like the Venezuela did Wednesday. “I think our team had some things didn’t work out,” Tom said. “I know they took a set off us but I’m glad it happened because it made us fight even harder.” Ping’s acknowledgement that the stakes are about to get harder was evident when veteran Danielle Scott-Arruda spent the last two sets on the bench, finishing with just two points. “I wasn’t able to adjust,” Scott-Arruda said later. “I can do better.” She’ll have to against China. Phelps wins fourth and fifth gold medals in BeijingAugust 12th, 2008, 8:32 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBeijing - Five down. Three to go. Michael Phelps passed the halfway point in his bid to win eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games with a pair of world record victories Wednesday morning at the National Aquatics Center bringing his career total to 11 golds, the most by an Olympic swimmer. Phelps opened the day by winning the 200-meter butterfly in a world record 1 minute, 52.03 seconds despite not being able to see the final 100 meters because of goggle problems. Phelps then led off in blazing fashion a Team USA’s victory 4×200 freestyle that smashed the world record and destroyed the field. A U.S. team of Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Peter Vanderkaay, was clocked in 6 minutes, 58.56 seconds, well under the previous of world record of 7:03.24 set by the U.S. at last year’s World Championships and more than five seconds ahead of second place Russia. The race was almost over from the start, Phelps opening up a 3/4-body length lead in the first 50 en route to posting a 1 minute, 43.31 split. Lochte, swimming second, put the race out of reach, giving the U.S. a more than four-second lead. Phelps couldn’t see during world record victoryAugust 12th, 2008, 8:14 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBeijing-Michael Phelps’ world record-setting victory in the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday morning just got even more impressive. It turns out Phelps had a equipment malfunction en route to his 1 minute, 52.03 clocking. “I couldn’t see anything for the last 100,” Phelps said. “My goggles pretty much filled up with water, it just kept getting worse and worse through the race and I was having trouble seeing the wall. But it’s fine. I wanted to break the record. I wanted to go 1:51 or better but for the circumstances I guess it’s not too bad.” Irvine’s Neben 33rd in Olympic road race after mechanical problemAugust 10th, 2008, 7:34 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBeijing -Irvine’s Amber Neben placed 33rd, second among Americans, in a rain-drenched 2008 Olympic Games road race. Neben, 34, finished the 126 kilometer course 53 seconds behind Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke’s winning time of 3 hours, 32 minutes, 24 seconds. A chain problem at a critical juncture in the race cost Neben a shot at a much higher place. Neben’s Olympic ride capped an unlikely cycling career that began from ashes of another. A standout in cross country, track and soccer at Orange Luthern, Neben went to the University of Nebraska on a cross country/track scholarship. But a stress fracture during her sophomore season ended her distance running career. She stayed with the Cornhuskers program as a graduate assistant coach. In 1997 she bought a mountain bike as a way to stay in shape. A year later she performed well enough at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships that she decided to pursue a career as an elite road cyclist. Related: ADVERTISEMENT
 ADVERTISEMENT
|
