Word: medal
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...pair of victories in Europe a month later. Liu's triumphs even persuaded the Chinese Track and Field Association last month to change its official view of his chance at success in Athens. Liu was previously classified as a "possible" top-three finisher. Now he's an "expected" medal winner for the motherland...
...judo masters in the world, but their pre-eminence pales when compared with South Korea's supremacy in Taekwondo. Even though the sport has eight weight classes in the Olympics, each qualifying country is allowed to send only four athletes at most, presumably so Koreans can't monopolize the medal stands. For most South Korean Taekwondo fighters, then, the real challenge isn't just earning the gold: it's defeating fellow countrymen to qualify for the Olympics in the first place. Four years ago, for example, heavyweight Moon Dae Sung missed the Olympics after losing a last-minute rematch during...
...afford to be complacent. China's Wei Luo, who swept to a convincing gold in the 2003 world championships, looks likely to beat South Korean Hwang Kyung Sun in the 67-kg women's event, while Taiwan's Chu Mu Yen and Chen Chih Hsin are both strong gold-medal contenders. "In the case of Europeans and some Asian athletes, there is no skill difference compared with us," South Korean Taekwondo coach Kim Sae Hyeock told the JoongAng Daily. "It's just a matter of who trains better and more...
...BOXING Featherweight boxer Somluck Khamsing became a national hero after winning Thailand's first-ever gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games. As a reward, his adoring country even paid him a $1.6 million bonus. But Somluck's mercurial training habits caught up with him, and he was easily defeated in the Sydney quarterfinals. The former champ has made ends meet in recent years by hosting a TV game show, opening a BBQ restaurant and recording a hit album with two fellow fighters called Three Boxers Become Singers. Now, however, the 31-year-old is making his comeback after...
...track wearing his high-tech spikes and aerodynamic suit, he has another less visible secret weapon: he practices ancient techniques used by samurai and ninja to move more swiftly through the streets of Edo-era Japan. Suetsugu, 24, credits a centuries-old practice called nanba for the bronze medal he won in the 200-m race at last year's track-and-field World Championships, which made him the first East Asian since 1900 to land a medal in an international sprint competition. In Athens, the goateed native of Japan's southern Kyushu Island is entered to compete...