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...Athens as losers. But the jubilant performances of many of these athletes reminded us that the Olympics draw their greatest glory from the dignity of competing and finishing?even if it's in last place. Naturally, the Games' most exceptional winners will remain etched in our minds. Take Hicham El Guerrouj, Morocco's rendition of a Giacometti stick figure, who stayed ahead of Kenya's Bernard Lagat seemingly by dint of facial contortion alone to capture a long-elusive Olympic win in the 1,500-m race. Or Birgit Fischer, Germany's 42-year-old kayaker who won her eighth...
...though, came from Brunei's Jimmy Anak Ahar, the Southeast Asian nation's sole Olympic athlete, who straggled far behind the pack in the 1,500 m, erasing his country's dreams of Olympic respectability. Still sucking wind after his 4:14.11 time, 40 seconds slower than gold medalist El Guerrouj, Ahar swept past reporters, his head downcast. Yet the Bruneian's performance was surely more honorable than that of Uzbekistan's Olga Shchukina, who not only finished last in her qualifying group in the shot put but later tested positive for an anabolic steroid, or Iranian flag bearer Arash...
...ARRESTED. GILBERTO HIGUERA "EL GILILLO" GUERRERO, 34, alleged narcotics capo said to be responsible for up to half of the illegal drugs smuggled into the U.S.; in Mexicali, Mexico. One of Mexico's most wanted men, authorities say Guerrero is the principal operative of a drug cartel allegedly run by kingpin Ismael Zambada. "This man's fame is practically one of the legends of drug trafficking," said Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha following the arrest...
DIED. ISIDRO (EL INDIO) LOPEZ, 75, saxophonist and crooner considered to be the father of Tejano music; of complications from a stroke and brain aneurysm; in Corpus Christi, Texas. The native Texan, who was half Apache (hence "El Indio"), formed the Isidro Lopez Orchestra in 1956, combining a Big Band sound with accordion-laced Mexican-style polka called conjunto. Also nicknamed "the Mexican Elvis," he wrote more than 500 songs, including rock tunes such as Mala Cara and Macho Rock 'n' Roll...
...head scarves - were treated with special reverence by the crowds. So was windsurfer Gal Fridman, who sailed Israel to its first gold medal in 52 years of competition, and whose victory seemed all the more appropriate given that his first name means wave in Hebrew. And when Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, perhaps the greatest middle-distance runner of all time, finally hauled in the 1,500-m gold medal that had eluded him in two previous Olympics, he fell to the track and bawled. His fellow runners picked him up and hugged him, then laughed as he performed a victory...