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| I HAVE DONE IT: Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi (front) celebrates as he wins the men’s 1500m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium |
On another cold, rainy night in the Olympic stadium, Australia’s Sally Pearson won the women’s 100m hurdles by two-hundredths of a second from defending champion Dawn Harper of the US. Unsure of the outcome, she let out a scream of delight when the scoreboard confirmed her victory.
Shaggy-haired Ivan Ukhov won gold in the men’s high jump for Russia, which also celebrated victories in diving and synchronised swimming as it edged up to fifth in the medals table after a disappointing Games so far.
Iran took gold and silver in the superheavyweight weightlifting competition, where Behdad Salimikordasiabi - Salimi for short - earned himself the unofficial title of strongest man at the Games.
The Iranians also captured a wrestling gold and their first ever athletics medal when Ehsan Hadadi hurled the discus 68.18 metres to take second place, just 9 cm behind Germany winner Robert Harting.
Elswehere on Day 11 of competition in London, Italy’s Josefa Idem, the only woman to compete in eight Olympics, advanced to the kayak final at the age of 47, powering past a field of 20- and 30-year-olds.
Two brothers won gold and bronze for Britain in the triathlon, adding to the host nation’s biggest medal tally for 104 years, and four medals were awarded for the first time in an Olympic cycling race when a photo finish could not separate the third and fourth finishers from the Netherlands and New Zealand. Makhloufi’s victory was controversial as it came just a day after he was temporarily disqualified for not trying in his 800m heat - and then reinstated when his team said he had a knee injury and had the decision overturned on medical grounds.
He broke away on the back straight of the final lap and accelerated around the last bend to win comfortably from American Leonel Manzano and Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider.
China moved one step away from a second successive clean sweep of Olympic table tennis golds when their women marched to a 3-0 victory over Japan’s young team.
The Chinese picked up two more wins in gymnastics. Deng Linlin beat her compatriot Siu Lu to the balance beam title an hour after Feng Zhe had won the men’s parallel bars title. Flying Dutchman Epke Zonderland caused an upset, however, by claiming the horizontal bar title ahead of Chinese favourite Zou Kai, who could only manage bronze.
American Aly Raisman won the women’s floor exercise title, 90 minutes after earning a bronze on the beam.
Russia’s Ilya Zakharov scored a surprise triumph in the men’s 3 metre springboard diving final, ruining China’s ambition of an eight-gold sweep in the sport.
Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberghe became the last men’s RS:X windsurfing champion at the Olympics, with the event being replaced by kiteboarding in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Marina Alabau Neira of Spain won the women’s title. In kayaking, Italy’s Idem advanced to the final where she aims to add to her gold from Sydney (2000), two silvers from Beijing (2008) and Athens (2004) and bronzes from Atlanta (1996) and Los Angeles (1984). “I don’t care about age,” a smiling Idem told reporters. “The stopwatch doesn’t ask.”
Canada’s women soccer players were less happy, accusing Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen of bias towards the US after their dramatic 4-3 extra-time defeat in the tournament semi-final on Monday.