Thu, Jul 17, 2008 page18

• SPORT BEIJING BRIEFS

  • AGENCIES
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  ■CANOEING

  Olympic champion dies

  Hungary’s two-time Olympic canoe champion Gyorgy Kolonics died on Tuesday, most likely due to heart failure, during a practice session for the Beijing Games, the Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Federation said. Kolonics, 36, who won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000 and bronze medals in 1996 and 2004, fell unconscious and could not be resuscitated, Etele Barath, the federation’s president told state news agency MTI. “There’s not a whole lot anybody can say for now, everybody who was there is in shock and can’t really tell us what happened,” Gabor Ganczer, a spokesman for the federation said. Kolonics was set to compete in Beijing, his fifth Olympics, in the 500m and 1,000m double events with Gyorgy Kozmann. In an international career spanning over 16 years, Kolonics won 15 world championship titles. He rose to national prominence in Hungary after taking the 500m doubles title in Atlanta with Csaba Horvath.

  ■SWIMMING

  Singaporean looks to shine

  A Singaporean swimmer is using NASA-style technology to help the city-state shine at the Olympics. Tao Li is undergoing bright light therapy to adjust her bodyclock to the morning race times at next month’s Games. Five times a week, China-born Tao is given a 15-minute burst of strong light to enable her to peak in the mornings for the finals, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday. The treatment, at a light intensity of 3,600 lux and roughly nine times as strong as a brightly lit office, will last three weeks. Li will be competing in the 100m backstroke as well as the 100m and 200m butterfly events. “This therapy can help Tao Li become more alert both physically and mentally,” Taisuke Kinugasa, a Singapore Sports School doctor, was quoted as saying. Singapore has not won an Olympic medal in nearly half a century. Their sole success came at the 1960 Rome Olympics when Tan Howe-Liang won a silver medal in weightlifting.

  ■WEIGHTLIFTING

  Bribery claim earns ban

  An Indian female weightlifter accused of bribing her way to the Beijing Olympics has been dropped and replaced by a teammate, an official said on Wednesday. Shailaja Pujari found herself embroiled in controversy last month when she was named in media reports as offering 500,000 rupees (US$12,500) to a senior official to get picked for the Games. Pujari denied the charge, as did the official, Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) secretary Baldev Raj Gulati. Pujari, who was due to compete in the 75kg category, was replaced by Monika Devi (69kg) in the lone weightlifting berth offered to India after fresh selection trials were ordered by the sports ministry. “Monika won by a clear-cut margin,” Gulati told reporters. “We took into account their performance over the last 12 months and Monika definitely had the better record of the two. Besides, Shailaja’s past history of doping went against her.”

  ■OPENING CEREMONY

  Officials ready to target rain

  China may attempt to artificially influence the weather if rain threatens the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games next month, a meteorological official said on Tuesday. “Although it is an emergency measure, the meteorological administration has made serious preparations on artificially influencing the weather,” administration official Chen Zhenlin said. Speaking at a press conference on weather forecasting, Chen said meteorologists had been carrying out experiments on artificial weather modification since 2003, particularly tests on reducing rainfall.
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