The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog

On his final lift, Matthias Steiner of Germany pulled ahead of Russia’s Evgeny Chigishev to win the Men’s Over 105 kilogram Weightlifting final on Tuesday, August 19. Steiner lifted a total of 461kg, 203kg in the Snatch and 258kg in the Clean and Jerk, to beat Chigishev by one kilogram for the gold.

Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia finished with a total of 448kg for the bronze medal.

Steiner lifted 198kg on his first Snatch attempt, followed by 203kg and then an unsuccessful 207kg attempt. Chigishev had a perfect performance all night, beginning with three successful lifts ending with 210kg in the Snatch. Latvia’s Scerbatihs finished third place after the Snatch with 206kg, as Ukraine’s Artem Udachyn finished 1kg better with 207kg.

Jeon Sang-guen from the Republic of Korea bombed-out in the Snatch.

These rankings were all changed by the Clean and Jerk portion of the competition. Udachyn could only succeed on his second attempt of 235kg and finished with a 442kg total. Scerbatihs, meanwhile, succeeded right off the bat with 242kg, but could not manage another lift and ended at 448kg in the total, enough to beat the Ukranian Udachyn out of third place.

Steiner missed his first attempt of 246kg, but succeeded in lifting 248kg on the second try. Chigishev breezed through the Clean and Jerk, going from 240kg to 250kg for a total finish of 460kg. Germany’s Steiner needed a final lift of 258kg, 10kg more than his second attempt, to edge the Russian lifter for the gold. In a dramatic Olympic moment, Steiner lifted exactly what he needed to clinch his victory.

Steiner finished seventh in the 2004 Olympics in the 105kg weight category, and took the gold in the 2008 European Championship over 105kg Snatch competition, bronze in the Clean and Jerk and silver overall with a total weight of 446kg.

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Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden made history on August 15 in their epic 7-6(6), 4-6, 19-17 defeat of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France to book their spot in the Men’s Doubles final at the Olympic Green Tennis Center.

The last was the longest set ever played in Men’s Tennis at any Olympic Games and set a new record for the most number of games (59) played in a Men’s Olympic (best-of-three sets) match.

Aspelin and Johansson won on their second match point as the clock approached 10:30 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8). Johansson jumped into his teammate’s arms as the crowd gave a standing ovation.

This is only the Swedish team’s third tournament playing Doubles together. They reached the semifinals in Doha and Bastad earlier this year.

for more http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/tennis/n214547652.shtml

Benjamin Philip Kleibrink of Germany took gold in the Men’s Individual Foil at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 13, while the silver medal went to Ota Yuki of Japan in a 15-9 bout.

The bronze medal went to Italy’s Salvatore Sanzo, who scored the winner against the flow of play, disappointing China’s Zhu Jun in a two round, 15-14 bout.

In the quarterfinals, Germany’s Benjamin Kleibrink eliminated Lei Sheng of China 15-7 to advance to the semifinals, while Italian Salvatore Sanzo outscored Erwann le Pechoux of France 10-9 to secure his place in the semifinals.

Italian Andrea Cassara (World No. 3) failed to reach the semifinals, losing to World No. 9 Zhu Jun of China 15-14.

This is Kleibrink’s first Olympics, though he went into the event with a World No. 6 ranking.

Germany claimed its second Fencing gold of the evening, when reigning world champion Britta Heidemann defeated Romanian Ana Maria Branza in the final of the Women’s Individual Epee at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a 15-11 bout on August 13.

The final marks a vast progression for both athletes, with Heidemann improving on a tenth place finish at Athens in 2004, when Branza finished sixteenth.

Ildiko Mincza-Nebald of Hungary won bronze, beating hometown hero Li Na of China, also with a score of 15-11

Standings

Women’s Individual Epee

HEIDEMANN Britta                     Germany          Gold
BRANZA Ana Maria                    Romania           Silver
MINCZA-NEBALD Ildiko            Hungary           Bronze

Men’s Individual Foil

KLEIBRINK Benjamin Philip       Germany          Gold
OTA Yuki                                 Japan               Silver
SANZO Salvatore                     Italy                 Bronze

Medallists Kayak (K1) Men Gold medal won by GRIMM Alexander from Germany at Beijing 2008.  LEFEVRE Fabien from France Followed for Silver Medal, Where as BOUKPETI Benjamin from Togo Bagged the Bronze Medal at Canoe/Kayak competition at Beijing 2008 today.