Chicago Tribune. From Tribune News Services . September 20, 2000
SYDNEY -- After 21 Olympic games, the mighty Cubans finally struck out.
The team that ranked as an international baseball dynasty for more than a decade took its first Olympic loss Wednesday and did so with little emotion. Former New York Yankee Hensley Meulens' bases-loaded double led the Netherlands to a stunning 4-2 victory.
Cuba (3-1) had breezed through the first two official tournaments, winning the gold in Barcelona and Atlanta while going unbeaten and rarely even challenged.
Defections took their toll in the last few years and the decision to allow professionals for this tournament narrowed the gap between Cuba and the rest of the world.
Cuba's loss left the United States (3-0) as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
Drug suspensions: A Bulgarian weightlifter was stripped of his silver medal after testing positive for a banned drug. A second athlete also tested positive in the first doping cases during the Sydney Games.
Ivan Ivanov, who kissed his barbell after clinching his medal Saturday in the 56-kg class, tested positive for a diuretic. The other athlete cited was hammer thrower Vadim Devyatovsky of Belarus.
Rowing ahead: The U.S. men's eight, winner of the last three world championships, qualified for the Olympic finals by winning its second-chance round. The Americans beat Romania by the tip of the boat--a minuscule 0.02 of a second over 2,000 meters--to advance to the medal race Sunday.
The women's eight won its heat and the women's quadruple sculls finished second in another, sending both to the finals. A second place for the men's lightweight double sculls advanced it to a semifinal Friday.
One left: Jeff Tarango became the lone American to reach the second round of men's singles when he beat Diego Camacho of Bolivia 6-0, 6-1 Wednesday. The other remaining American, Michael Chang, lost to Sebastien Lareau of Canada 7-6 (7-6), 6-3.
On the women's side, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams advanced.
Gold medalists: Among the winners ...
- Simon Fairweather of Australia won gold in men's archery, defeating Victor Wunderle of the United States 116-106.
- Renata Mauer-Rozanska of Poland took the women's 50-meter rifle. Melissa Mulloy of the U.S. was eighth.
- Richard Faulds of Britain won the men's double trap shooting.
- Canoeists Pavel and Peter Hochschorner of Slovakia won the C-2 slalom.
- Chen Xiaomin set two more world records in continuing China's domination by winning the women's weightlifting gold at 138 3/4 pounds. She lifted a world-record of 248 pounds in the snatch and had an overall lift of 534 1/2 pounds.
- Lin Weining of China won gold in the 152-pound class of women's weightlifting with a total of 534 1/2 pounds.
- Germany set a men's team pursuit track cycling world record of 3:59.710 to win gold. Ukraine, which had set the record in the semifinals, was second.
- France's Severine Vandenhende won the women's 63kg judo.
- In the men's 81kg judo final, Japan's Makoto Takimoto won.
- Russia defeated Switzerland to win the women's team epee. | 