Track cycling off to fast and controversial start at Olympics; host nation adds golds

By Elena Becatoros

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — Track cycling got off to a speedy start on Day 6 of the London Olympics Thursday, with a string of world records broken on the first day of racing at the new velodrome, while the host nation added gold medals in shooting, canoe, and cycling and China predictably won another gold in table tennis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, an avid judo player, was the latest dignitary to watch the games. He was rewarded by Russia’s Tagir Khaibulaev winning the men’s judo 100-kilogram gold, defeating defending Beijing champion Tuvshinbayar of Mongolia with a match-ending ippon throw that Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron both stood to applaud.

Russia has already won two judo gold medals and a bronze this week, the country’s first judo golds since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

At the velodrome, the women’s team sprint world record fell three times in rapid succession, with home favourites Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish of Britain clocking 32.526 seconds over the two laps of the Velodrome during qualifying to improve on the previous mark of 32.549 set by Germany in April.

But British cheers were quickly silenced by the Chinese pairing of Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang, who went on to beat the record twice. And in a huge upset for the home fans, Pendleton and Varnish saw their medal hopes vanish when they were later relegated for making an early change in the first round.

More controversy erupted in the final when China won, but were then relegated to the silver medal position, giving gold to Germany, which had already seen defeat turn to victory against Britain. China lost the gold despite the furious protests of the riders and team officials.

Britain broke its own men’s team sprint world record to reach the final against France, then broke it again in the final to take gold. The team of Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy lowered the mark that Germany had set in 2011, posting a time of 42.600 seconds for the win and bettering the mark of 42.747 they had set in the previous round. It was Hoy’s fifth gold medal. He won one in Athens in 2004 and three in Beijing four years ago.

France won the silver medal with a time of 43.013 seconds, while Germany beat Australia to claim the bronze.

In the pool, Michael Phelps continued his bid to become the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics, while at Wimbledon, Serena Williams and British hopeful Andy Murray both advanced to the tennis semifinals.

Phelps plans to retire after his these Olympics, his fourth. He will swim the 200 individual medley final Thursday night in a showdown against rival Ryan Lochte, and then join his teammates for the 4×100 medley relay on Saturday.

American gymnast Gabby Douglas, nicknamed “The Flying Squirrel,”won the women’s all-around title, becoming the third American to win gymnastics’ biggest prize. It was her second gold medal of the London Games, coming two nights after she and her teammates gave the United States its first gymnastics Olympic title since 1996.

Separately, Olympic officials sought to draw a line under the badminton scandal, a day after eight players were disqualified from the women’s doubles for trying to lose their matches and secure a more favourable draw in the next round. The International Olympic Committee urged the Chinese, South Korean and Indonesian teams to investigate the players’ coaches.

Table tennis saw its second all-China final in two days, with Zhang Jike defeating Wang Hao 4-1 in the men’s singles. Li Xiaoxia defeated teammate Ding Ning in Wednesday’s women’s final, which means the Asian power has claimed 22 of 26 gold medals since pingpong was introduced into the 1988 Olympics.

In tennis, Murray delighted a crowd that included Prince William and his wife, Kate, by winning his quarter-final at Wimbledon, beating Nicolas Almagro of Spain, 6-4, 6-1. Murray goes up against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal Friday, after the Serb defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-1, 7-5.

Serena Williams also reached the semifinals, beating former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-0, 6-3. She’ll face top-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday for a berth in the final and a chance at the first singles Olympic medal of her career.

Serena and her sister Venus, seeking their third gold medal in doubles, reached the semifinals by beating No. 2-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-1, 6-1.

No. 3 Maria Sharapova won a matchup of first-time Olympians, beating Kim Clijsters 6-2, 7-5. Sharapova’s opponent Friday will be fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, who defeated No. 6 Petra Kvitova of Germany 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Britain also won gold medals in men’s canoe double and in shooting. The host nation swept the two top spots in men’s canoe slalom, with Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott winning gold, and David Florence and Richard Hounslow taking silver. Slovakian twins Pavel and Peter Hochschorner, who were attempting to win their fourth straight gold medal in the event, had to settle for bronze.

Another British gold came in shooting, with Peter Wilson winning the double trap. The 25-year-old shooter, who holds the world record, scored 188 points and won by two points ahead of Sweden’s Hakan Dahlby, who claimed silver.

In kayak, France’s Emilie Fer won the women’s kayak slalom, ahead of Australia’s Jessica Fox, who took silver, and Spain’s Maialen Chourraut in third.

South Korea’s Ki Bo-bae took the Olympic title in the women’s individual archery, after Mexican Aida Roman agonizingly lost her nerve in a tense sudden-death shoot-off. The gold is Ki and South Korea’s second archery title and the country’s third medal in the sport at the London Games.

A boxing referee from Turkmenistan was expelled for his handling of a bout in which the result was overturned on appeal. In a bantamweight bout, Magomed Abdulhamidov of Azerbaijan fell to the canvas six times in the third round against Satoshi Shimizu of Japan, yet still won a 22-17 decision.

Boxing’s governing federation, known as AIBA, released a statement saying referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov “is on his way back home.”

15:21ET 02-08-12