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| Thursday, 19 August 2004 |
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Swimmer Francis out for the first time Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Greece ATHENS, Wednesday, Sri Lanka's ace swimmer and Asian double gold medalist, Conrad Francis will come out for the first time at the Olympic Games here when he competes in men's 100m butterfly qualifying round at the Olympic Aqua Centre here tomorrow (19). Francis, who created history winning two gold medals at the last Asia Pacific Swimming championships, is determined to make his presence felt. He has been working hard under the watchful eyes of Sri Lanka team coach K.P.P. Wilson. Currently training in Australia on an IOC scholarship, Francis targets to come out with his personal best, which would give a high elevation and probably a place in the next round. "I think it is going to be a good contest. I want to give of my best. It is impossible to make any predictions but let's see how the going would be," Francis said. Wilson said the Sri Lanka swimmers are here not to win medals but to gain their personal best timings. He is down to swim in lane two in men's 100m butterfly stroke heat two scheduled for Thursday morning. The eight swimmers competing in the particular heat are (in lane order with country and entry timing) Gordon Touw (SUR - 59.05), Francis (SRI - 56.36), Michael Rubacek (Czech Republic - 55.99), Andy Wibowo (Iran - 55.86), Nicholas Rees (Bahamas - 55.89), Oleg Lyashko (Uzbekistan - 56.08), Oleg Bisslik (ARU - 58.45) and Fernando Medrano (Nicaragua - 1:00.80). There are a total of 59 swimmers competing in eight men's 100m butterfly stroke qualifying round heats. On the entry timings, Francis is placed 53rd with 56.36 seconds registered in Macau last as his personal best. The hot favourites for the gold in the event are Americans Ian Crocker (50.76) and Michael Phelps (51.10). In fact, world record holder Crocker is the only swimmer out of the lot who has gone under 51 seconds. He has achieved this feat twice - 50.76 in Long Beach this year (which is the best ever in 2004) and 50.98 in Barcelona last year. Australia's Leisel Jones had the first role today in women's 200m breaststroke heats when she clocked the fastest time of two minutes and 26.02 seconds out of 32 competitors. Second for the semifinals has placed Anne Poleska of Germany (2:26.48). The world record holder and the fastest in this event, Amanda Beard of the USA was the next with a timing of 2:26.61. Boxing Meanwhile, Turkish boxer Erturul Ergezen today failed a medical examination and will not compete in his men's heavyweight 91kg first round bout. He was down to fight Venezuela's Vasquez Torres, who will now receive a walk over at Peristeri Boxing Hall. Greek sprinters withdraw Greeks Konstantinos Kederis and Ekaterini Thanou, the two sprinters who made the hosts ashamed after controversial motorcycle accident and failing to undergo a scheduled dope test, today withdrew from the Olympic Games. The duo took the decision after a meeting with the IOC's Disciplinary Commission this morning where they answered allegations that they had violated the IOC's anti-doping rules last Thursday. They appeared before the commission with their coach Christos Tzekos and lawyer Michalis Dimitrakoupolos. "I am innocent of all charges. But I have decided to withdraw from Olympic Games and also to end my co-operation with coach Tzekos," Kederis said. "I submitted my accreditation to the IOC Disciplinary Committee. With the love of the public, I will continue to take part in athletics though I would skip these Games. I wish Greek athletes good luck," Thanou said. Basketball In the women's preliminary round basketball competition continued at the P & F stadium, Czech Republic beat China 98-83 while Australia beat Japan 97-78. Hockey China edged out Spain 3-2 while the Netherlands crushed Germany 4-1 in women's hockey qualifiers played today. Soccer Asian soccer giants Korea did well to hold Mali to an exciting three-all draw after they trailed 0-2 at the breather in their men's soccer tournament match played at Thessaloniki last night. In the other men's soccer qualifiers played, Mexico beat Euro 2004 champions Greece 3-2, Argentina beat Australia 1-0 and Tunisia beat Serbs 3-2. Doping Then came the news today of American sprinter Torri Edwards, whose appeal against a two-year ban was dismissed by the ad hoc division of the Court of Arbitration (CAS). Hence, Edwards will continue to be banned until July 2006, as imposed by the American Arbitration Association for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs recently. |
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