Medal leader China mines more gold at London Olympics

LONDON: China leads the Olympic standings with 34 gold and 73 medals, whereas the U.S. is second with 30 gold among its 70 medals and the British rank third with 22 gold and 48 total medals.

On Tuesday Sally Pearson’s record-setting hurdles performance helped Australia double its gold tally at the London Olympics, while China continued to lead in medals.

Cyclist Chris Hoy helped Britain surpass its gold and overall medal total from Beijing in 2008 by winning the men’s keirin. It was Hoy’s sixth Olympic gold, a British record.

Pearson won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in an Olympic- record time of 12.35 seconds. She held off a late charge from defending champion Dawn Harper of the U.S., who tied the Olympic mark of 12.37 set by American Joanna Hayes in 2004. Another American, Kellie Wells, was third in 12.48.

“Relief was the first thing I felt, and then shock,” said Pearson, who was runner-up to Harper four years ago. “I didn’t realize how close Dawn was until the end. I said in my head, ‘Please don’t let this happen, I need this.”’

Pearson’s gold was the second of the day for Australia, which now has four at the London Games. Earlier, Anna Meares of Australia won the women’s cycling sprint, beating defending champion Victoria Pendleton of Britain.

Hoy moved one gold medal ahead of retired rower Steve Redgrave for most by a British athlete. It was also his seventh Olympic medal, matching the British record set by Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins six days ago.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to win, gold in front of the home crowd,” Hoy, 36, told the British Broadcasting Corp. “This is the perfect way to end my Olympic career.”

Gymnasts Deng Linlin and Feng Zhe won two of China’s three golds today. Deng won the women’s beam ahead of teammate Sui Lu, and Feng took the men’s parallel bars.

American Aly Raisman won the women’s floor exercise and Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands finished first in the men’s horizontal bar.
“It’s the best routine I’ve ever done,” said Raisman, who also won a team gold medal. “To have won a gold medal, two gold medals, is really special.”

Britain got golds from Laura Bechtolsheimer, Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester in team dressage; Alistair Brownlee in the men’s triathlon, and Laura Trott in the women’s cycling omnium. The British team won seven of the 10 track cycling gold medals.

China won its third table tennis gold medal as Ding Ning, Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia won the women’s team event. Dorian van Rijsselberge gave the Dutch team a second gold medal by winning the men’s windsurfing, with Spain’s Marina Alabau Neira taking the women’s event.

Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina of Russia won the synchronized swimming duets. South Korea’s Kim Gyuonwoo won the men’s 66-kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling gold, while Ghasem Rezaei of Iran took the 96kg competition.

Germany’s Robert Harting won the discus gold medal; Russia’s Ivan Ukhov took the high jump and Taoufik Makhloufi won the men’s 1,500 meters final. Ilya Zakharov of Russia won gold in the men’s 3-meter springboard and Iran’s Behdad Salimikordasiabi took the men’s 105kg weightlifting title.

Brazil and Mexico advanced to their first men’s soccer gold medal game. Brazil beat South Korea 3-0 and Mexico defeated Japan 3-1.

Women’s beach volleyball two-time defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the U.S. moved into the final by beating China’s Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego beat Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins of Latvia to reach the men’s gold-medal match.

The U.S. beat Australia 11-9 in overtime to move into the women’s water polo final against Spain, which beat Hungary 10-9.

On the track, two-time defending gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown and 100 meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, both of Jamaica, qualified for the women’s 200 meter final, along with three Americans -- world champion Allyson Felix, 400- meter Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross and Carmelita Jeter.

Usain Bolt opened defense of his 200-meter title by easing through the opening heat in 20.39 seconds, fifth fastest behind Alex Quinonez of Ecuador. The 200-meter semifinals are tomorrow, with the final on Aug. 9.
Lui Xiang of China, the 2004 gold medalist in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, was eliminated in the opening heats for the second straight Olympics. He clipped the first hurdle and limped off the track, kissing the final hurdle on his way out.