Tag Archives: 2008 Olympic Games

López Defends His Greco-Roman Wrestling Title at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

It’s a tale of redemption for Mijaín López at the 2012 Olympic Games…

The 29-year-old Cuban wrestler took down Heiki Nabi of Estonia 2-0, 1-0 on Monday to claim his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men’s Greco-Roman wrestling 120 kg category at the London Games.

Mijaín López

But it was López’s semifinal against Riza Kayaalp of Turkey that proved to be the most highly anticipated match of the day.

The wrestling world was left in shock and disbelief when Kayaalp beat the seemingly unbeatable Lopez at the 2011 World Championships. López had won world titles in 2005 and 2007, claimed the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and then went on to the next two world championships.

Mijaín López

But Lopez restored order to the heavyweight division he’s ruled for years by dropping Kayaalp in that semifinal match. He scored a couple of late points while on offense to win the first period. That set the tone heading into the second period, which also went to the “par terre” tiebreaker position. This time López  stayed on the bottom, keeping Kayaalp from scoring on him. Kayaalp flailed wildly as he attempted to pick López off the mat, but nothing worked.

Following that redemptive win over Kayaalp, López believed no one else could touch him… And that proved to be the case when he defeated Nabi in the final in similar fashion to take home the gold.

Mijaín López

“I think it was a really good fight,” said López, whose performance on Monday solidified his place as one of the great Greco-Roman heavyweights of all time.

With the victory, López becomes the third wrestler to win multiple gold medals at 120 kilograms, joining Russian legend Alexandre Karelin and Alexander Koltschinkski of the former Soviet Union.

Asked if he’d be back for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, López was noncommittal.

“I mean I am [almost] 30 already. I have three Olympics behind me. It is going to be a little bit more difficult, but life goes on,” said López.

Nabarrete Zanetti Wins Brazil’s First-Ever Gymnastics Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

Call him the new “lord of the rings.” Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti has taken down the defending champion at the 2012 Olympic Games, earning his place in the annals of Brazil’s sports history…

The 22-year-old Brazilian gymnast edged out a victory over China’s Chen Yibing to claim the gold medal on Monday in the men’s rings final at the London Games.

Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti

Nabarrete Zanetti and the rest of this finalists faced the difficult task of trying to unseat Chen, the 2008 Olympic Games champion in this event, after he kicked off the competition with a score of 15.800.

No one could top the four-time world champ’s impressive score until Nabarrete Zanetti’s 15.900 at the end of the competition.

Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti

Nabarrete Zanetti had qualified fourth for the men’s rings final with the highest execution score, but he had the lowest marks in difficulty among the eight gymnasts.

But, he matched Chen’s difficulty score on Monday at 6.800 and was one of three gymnasts to score at least a nine in execution.

“I’m very happy, I was the last gymnast to compete and I stayed calm and took my moment,” said Nabarrete Zanetti.

Nabarrete Zanetti, who came in second to Chen at the 2011 World Championships, claimed Brazil’s first-ever Olympic gymnastics medal.

Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti

“This medal isn’t just for me but for all the athletes and all the gymnasts in Brazil,” Nabarrete Zanetti told reporters after he struggled to hold back the tears during the victory ceremony.

Nabarrete Zanetti’s performance knocked Italian Matteo Morandi into the bronze position with a score of 15.733.

Gonzalez Claims His First Olympic Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

In a close final, Asley Gonzalez was thisclose to winning Olympic gold… But instead he had to settle for the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The 22-year-old Cuban judoka lost to Song Dae-nam on Wednesday in the men’s -90kg category in judo when the South Korean fighter scored a half-point waza-ari just 10 seconds into overtime of their hard-fought final that was tied at the end of the regulation five minutes.

Asley Gonzalez

Song secured the gold by using speedy footwork to throw Gonzalez—ranked No. 4 in the world— for the win; both players were on the defensive for most of the match.

Gonzalez just couldn’t find a productive combat rhythm against the Dae-nam’s conservative approach.

Asley Gonzalez
It was the first Olympic medal for Gonzalez, who competed at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Gonzalez’s medal is Cuba’s second silver in judo after Yanet Bermoy lost the women’s 52 kg class final to North Korea’s Kum Ae-An on Sunday.

Alvear Claims Colombia’s First-Ever Olympic Medal in Judo…

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London Olympics 2012

Now that’s how you shake it of… Following a crushing 10-second loss to eventual winner Lucie Decosse of France in the quarterfinals, Yuri Alvear bounced back to claim her place on the medal podium at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The 26-year-old Colombian judoka, the 2009 world champion, beat Fei Chen of China on Wednesday to take the bronze medal in the in the 70kg division in women’s judo.

Yuri Alvear

In the process, Alvear—who placed seventh after losing a very close match to Leire Iglesias of Spain at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing—landed in the annals of Colombian sports, giving her country its first Olympic medal in judo.

Yuri Alvear

Having learned that Alvear had won Colombia’s first Olympic judo medal, the country’s president Juan Manuel Santos called her to thank her. The only problem was, she was too busy to speak to him.

“At that moment I was heading to the medal ceremony so I couldn’t talk to him,” Alvear said laughing. “I told him I would call him back when the ceremony finished.”

Tenistas Melo & Soares Make Olympic History at the London Games

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Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares still have to win three matches to win the gold medal in men’s doubles tennis at the London Games… But they’ve already made Olympic history.

The 28-year-old and 30-year-old Brazilian tennis players set two Olympic tennis records on Wednesday when they defeated fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 1-6, 6-4, 24-22, at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Marcelo Melo & Bruno Soares

The second-round match at Wimbledon had the most games – 63 – in a best-of-three-set match in men’s doubles in the Olympics. The previous record was 59 games, set at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Melo and Soares’ third set, with 46 games, was the longest set in men’s doubles at the Olympics. The previous record was 36 games in a 19-17 final set at the same match in 2008.

The match between the Brazilians and the Czechs was played over two days. It lasted four hours, 21 minutes.

On Tuesday, the longest set in Olympic history – 48 – was played when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Milos Raonic of Canada 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 in the second round.

Espinosa & Orozco Win a Silver in Women’s Synchronized Diving

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London Olympics 2012

It’s almost a case of déjà vu as Mexico’s Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco earn Mexico the country’s second silver medal in diving in two days, after Iván Garcia and Germán Sánchez claimed a similar diving silver on Monday.

Espinosa and her 15-year-old partner put on an impressive display to finish in second place in the Women’s Diving: Synchronized 10m Platform final at the 2012 Olympic Games on Tuesday, July 31—Espinosa’s 26thbirthday.

Paola Espinosa & Alejandra Orozco

China’s Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao—the favorites this year—took home the gold with 368.40 points. Espinosa and Orozco scored 343.32 points to earn the silver; and Canada’s Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito won the bronze with 337.62 points.

With her medal-winning performance, Espinosa enters Mexico’s history books as the first woman to win medals at two Olympics. She earned a bronze medal in the same event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with her partner Tatiana Ortiz.

Paola Espinosa & Alejandra Orozco

“It’s a great gift”, said Espinosa of winning a second medal with her new partner Orozco, the youngest athlete to represent Mexico at the 2012 Olympic Games. “It was a great competition for us. We’re very happy with this result and the truth is that we did it very well, we dove very well. Our expectations today were to be on the medal podium and that’s how it was.”

At the start of the competition, the British duo of Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch surprised the audience with their first two dives and remained behind the Chinese with Espinosa and Orozco ranked seventh.

Paola Espinosa & Alejandra Orozco
But in the third round the Mexican divers performed an excellent dive that gave them the maximum qualification (84.48 points) and moved them into second place.

“I realized (of the possibility to win the silver) from the first free dive, that we were already in second,” said Espinosa. “And I felt that we could [medal] because we‘ve trained very well, very strong. I believe Alejandra and I have made a great duo. We communicate very well.”

Paola Espinosa & Alejandra Orozco

The Mexican divers remained consistent in the last two dives and ended up with a solid point difference between them and the third place team. Following their fifth and final dive, Espinosa and Orozco hugged tightly knowing they’d done enough to medal.

“It was simply about going dive by dive, laboring as we have done for a long time,” said Orozco, who thanked her partner for the constant “support” and “motivation” she gave her.

Espinosa, competing in her third Olympics after her debut at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, hasn’t ruled out participating at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio of Janeiro.

“If God wants and my body and my mind, now that I am older, permit me, I will continue working for the next Games and be in the fight.”

Bermoy Picks Up Cuba’s First Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

It appears history does in fact repeat itself… At least where Yanet Bermoy is concerned.

Like she did in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 25-year-old Cuban judoka claimed her country’s first medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. And, another silver at that.

Yanet Bermoy

Bermoy claimed the silver in the 52 kg division in women’s judo, after succumbing to North Korea’s An Kum Ae.

“I come her to fight for the title,” she warned in the days before the competition and with that conviction she went to the mat in the ExCel Center, where she eliminated her rivals one after the other, including world No. 2 Bundmaa Munkhbaatar and Belgian Ilse Heylen, who won a bronze in Athens 2004.

Yanet Bermoy
Bermoy and An duelled for 5 long minutes and had to go to extra time where the North Korean fighter surprised the Bermoy with a leg sweep.

A disappointed Bermoy had to resign herself with a silver medal instead of the gold she’d been coveting.

“I had trained for that, I could have done better. But the Korean was too difficult to beat. I wanted to win by strategy, because I’ve never been able to throw,” said Bermoy. “The time I faced her this year in Germany (in the Grand Prix in Dusseldorf ) I beat her by two shido and I had to give a little more. I should not have lost concentration.”

Despite her disappointment, Bermoy  acknowledged being proud of being the first Cuban medallist and winning another medal in the Olympics: “Because it’s a challenge I set myself and finally got it.”

Mexico’s Yahel Castillo Receives National Sports Honor…

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He’s made a massive splash internationally this year, and now Mexican diver Yahel Castillo is reaping the rewards…

The 24-year-old Guadalajara native has been selected to receive Mexico’s National Sports Award—the highest honor the country bestows on its athletes— in the amateur sports category.

Yahel Castillo

It’s major recognition for rising diving star’s stellar performance in the last year.

Castillo and his teammate Julián Sánchez won a bronze medal in the Men’s 3m Synchronized Springboard at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships held in Shanghai, China in mid-July. The strong showing qualified him to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

But Castillo wasn’t done with his medal-winning ways…

During last month’s 2011 Pan American Games, he sat atop the medal stand twice. Castillo won the gold in the Men’s 3M Springboard, as well as the gold in Men’s 3m Synchronized Springboard with Sánchez.

Yahel Castillo

It’s a meteoric rise for Castillo, who placed seventh in the Men’s 3M Springboard in his debut competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Castillo will share the National Sports Award in the amateur category with Yadira Lira, the 38-year-old karate star who won a gold medal at the World Karate Championships last year.

Meanwhile, Boston Red Sox player Adrian Gonzalez, who won the Gold Glove and Silver Bat awards this season, was recognized in the professional sports category.

Other honorees include marathon runner Maria de los Angeles Ortiz Hernandez in the Paralympic sports category, Polish-Mexican race-walking trainer Jerzy Hausleber for his “sports legacy” and Olympic medalist Daniel Aceves for his work in the development and sponsorship of sports.

The honorees will receive a medal, a certificate signed by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and cash prize during a special ceremony later this month.