Radio Havana Cuba-Olympics Update no.3-17 September 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Olympics Update no.3 - 17 September 2000 FIRST GOLD MEDAL FOR CUBA Sydney, September 17(RHC)--As the second day of competitons in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was drawing to a close and most Cubans were asleep on the other side of the world, judoka Legna Verdecia woke up her countrymen with the island's first gold medal at the summer games. The Cuban judo expert also presented Latin America with its first Olympic gold after defeating Japan's world champ Noriko Narazaki in women's 52 kilo division. Verdecia,who won bronze in Atlanta, lost the gold medal to the Japanese judoka in the world championship last year and considers, her revenge. RHC reporter Nelson Acosta spoke with Verdecia after the awards ceremony and she was still visibly moved: "For me, this has been incredible. It's the culmination of two exhausting months before coming to Sydney and the result of four years of intense work and training. This victory was my dream and it came true. I want to dedicate this triumph to my Cuban people and to my family, including my husband, my mother and father. I'm really happy; I was confident that this medal was mine." Head coach Ronaldo Veitia said that Verdecia suffered a light shoulder injury after her first bout and doctors had to treat her shoulder every time she went out. Veitia described the young judo expert's performance as "excellent" and said she has great spirit. The Cuban head coach predicted more victories for tomorrow -- Cuban time-- when Atlanta 1996 champion Driulis Gonzalez, in women's 57 kilo division, gets into action. Coach Veitia still believes that Cuba is ready for better results in judo at the Olympics. Cuba now has one gold and one bronze medal provided by judo. The first athlete to give Cuba a medal was a bronze for Manolo Poulot in men's 60 kilo division yesterday. WRAP UP OF CUBAN ATHLETES' PERFORMANCE ON THE SECOND DAY OF COMPETITIONS Sydney, September 17(RHC)-- Wrapping up Cuban athletes' performance in Sydney today, in boxing, Olympic champion Maikro Romero had an easy victory in the 48 kilo division over Venezuelan Jose Varela. Maikro defeated Varela by points in the second round 15-1. Romero's next bout is September 21st. Three Cuban boxers have climbed into the ring so far with victories all. They are Roberto Guerra in 67 and Guillermo Rigondeaux in 54. The next in line are Josvani Aguilera and Jorge Gutierrez. In swimming, Rodolfo Falcon, silver medal winner in Atlanta, failed to make it to men's 100 meter back stroke. Falcon finished 7th with a time of 55.59 seconds in the second heat and was eliminated. Swimming competitions in Sydney have been very demanding since so far six new world records have been established. During the classificatory rounds, Falcon registered a slow time and he commented on the poor results to Cuban journalists in Sydney. Meanwhile Imaday Nunez in women's 100 meter breast stroke and Ana Maria Gonzalez in women's 100 meter back stroke were unable to get beyond the first classificatory heats. In men's volleyball, head coach Juan Diaz said that his team lost steam by the end of each set in their game against Holland. The Dutch squad defeated Cuba three sets to zero and even head coach Toon Gerbrands admitted that he was surprised with the result. Cuba goes against Spain on Septmeber 19th and top Spanish player Rafael Pascual declined to make predictions about the game. Cuba has traditoinally lost the first game in each of the three Olympic games in which it has participated. Cuba's Yaremi Perez was the Latin American archer in the best position in women's competition, though she eventually lost to Karen Scarotto from the United States. Perez was the only Latin American archer who made it through the classificatory rounds, winning over China's Hui Yu. Cuban rowers Mayra Gonzales in women's single and Yoennis Hernandez and Yosbel Martinez in men's double sculls have to wait for repechage to see if they manage to make it into the last stage of the competition. Meanwhile, women's softball suffered a setback at the hands of the powerful Japanese team 4-1. The Cubans did not make any hits and the team's only run came when Olga Ruyol hit a homer. Cuba's next contender is the United States. Baseball however gave Cuban fans reason to smile, though the game against South Africa resembled a mere training session. The Cubans won over their rivals by a KO in the 7th inning, 16 runs to nothing. The island's baseball players scored 18 hits with just one error. The victory went to pitcher Norge Luis Vera while Carl Michaels suffered the defeat. Shortstop German Mesa made an excellent play preserving the "no hit no run" for the Cubans. Italy is Cuba's second rival. BASEBALL COMPETIONS ARE IN FULL SWING Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- Regarding other baseball results, Japan and the United States were the protagonists in the longest game with 13 innings with the victory gong to the U.S. 4-2. In a contest dominated by ptiching, it wasn't until the seventh inning that either team put a run on the scoreboard. The USA drew first blood in the 7th. Designated hitter John Cotto from the U.S. hit a triple before being sent home by teammate Mike Kinkade in the next at bat. Kinkade then scored on a fieldeers choice to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Japanese team came back in the next inning, scoring one run when lead-off hitter So Taguchi crossed home plate off a sacrifice hit by Tomohiro Izueka. Japan forced the game into extra innings in the 9th, but the U.S. closed the game with two more runs at the end of the 13th inning. The USA will now take on South Africa while Japan will look for a rebound against the Netherlands. The Dutch defeated Australia 6-4. COSTA RICA WINS ITS FIRST OLYMPIC MEDAL: BRONZE WITH CLAUDIA POLL Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- Four years after winning gold in Atlanta, swimmer Claudia Poll once again has written her name and her country, Costa Rica, in the history books. Poll won bronze in women's 400 meters free with a time of 4 minutes and 7.83 seconds. Brooke Bennet from the US took the gold, while her compatriot, Diana Munz, grabbed silver, surpassing the Costa Rican swimmer at 50 meters. Poll won gold in Atlanta in the 200 meters, a discipline which begins tomorrow and in which the Costa Rican swimmer hopes to revalidate her title. She is also in the list of participants for the 800 meters. THREE NEW RECORDS OUT OF THE SWIMMING POOL Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- Three new world records were established in swimming in Sydney, Sunday, for a total of 8 new marks in two days. For the first time Australian Ian Thorpe was left out of the headlines by Dutch Pieter van den Hoogenband when he broke Thorpe's supremacy in men's 200 meters free, previously established by the Australian in a classificatory heat. The Dutch athlete's time was one minute and 45.35 seconds. Inge de Bruijn completed Holland's excellent performance in swimming with gold in women's 100 meter butterfly: 56.61 seconds, deducting three hundredths from her own world supremacy. Meanwhile, Tom Dolan closed the day with a record in men's 400 meters individual medly, 4 minutes and 11.76 seconds, improving his own supremacy, established six years ago. CYCLING PROVIDES ANOTHER RECORD Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- In cycling, Dutch Leontine Zijlaard dominated the 3 thousand meter indivudal persuit semifinals with a new world record of 3 minutes and 30.816 seconds. German Robert Bartko got gold and set a new Olympic record in men's 4 kilometer individual pursuit while the French team dominated in the one kilometer sprint. MEXICAN GYMNAST SATISFIED WITH HER RESULTS Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- Mexican gymnast, Denisse Lopez, has managed to slip into the finals in women's vault. Considering her performance historic, Lopez, who due to an injury had to abandon the rest of the apparatus, claims that she is ready to give her all in the discipline. Whatever the final result is, she said, my dream came true. Despite the threat of a major injury to her knee, she is willing to complete next week. TWO POSSIBLE MEDAL WINNERS SAY GOODBYE TO COMPETITIONS DUE TO INJURIES. Sydney, September 17 (RHC)-- On Sunday, distance runner Salah Hissou, and sprinter, Frankie Fredericks, cancelled their participation in the Sydney Games due to injuries. Hissou, 28-- world champ in the 5,000 meter and a bronze medal winner in Atlanta is suffering from ankle pain. Fredericks, who has three Olympic medals in men's 100 and 200 meter dash along with being finallist in all world championships in the 200 meter distance since 1991, has an Achilles' heel injury. THE MEDAL COUNTDOWN AFTER TWO DAYS OF COMPETITIONS. Sydney, September 17(RHC)-- The United States has outsted Australia, the host country from the top place, accumulating 11 medals, five gold. 1)The United States 4 5 2 11 2) Australia 3 2 4 9 3) France 3 2 1 6 (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. Todos los derechos reservados. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-2827 2000-Sep-17 23:57:29