Word: medaling
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Once every four years, the world's sporting minnows swim with the big fish at the Games. Each time, a few find their way to the front. Eighty-six of the 202 teams at the Olympics had never won a medal of any color. Israel, which had managed one silver and three bronzes in its 52-year Olympic career, was one of five countries to strike Olympic gold for the first time in Athens. These teams are nowhere near the all-time tally of the U.S., which has collected nearly 900 golds. But maybe the elusiveness of Olympic laurels makes...
...Three countries earned their first medals in Athens. Eritrea swept into the global sporting elite with Zersenay Tadesse's bronze in the men's 10,000 m. Paraguay won surprising silver in the men's soccer. And the United Arab Emirates won its inaugural medal - a gold - when Ahmed al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai's royal family, shot to victory in the men's double trap...
...have good confidence in my skills," Fridman says, and it showed out on the water. In second place going into the 11th and final race, he had racked up enough points to secure a medal, but needed some alchemy - or at least some wiles - to turn it gold. When regatta leader Ricardo Santos of Brazil latched onto him at the start, says Fridman, "I decided to take him where the wind was not the strongest." It was a winning move: Santos faded with the wind and couldn't keep up, whereas Fridman muscled back into a better position. "When...
...Israel, the victory was a salve for not only its painful history but also a politically fraught incident in the Games' first week. Iranian champion judoist Arash Miresmaeili, a medal favorite in the under 66-kg class, had been drawn to fight Israeli Ehud Vaks, but failed to make weight. Questions swirled about how a veteran like Miresmaeili could let this happen. Then he told a newspaper back home that it was no accident: "I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the Palestinian people...
...Fridman spoke out for peace after collecting his medal, saying, "If you want to fight someone, fight in sports." But he doesn't want to talk politics. His decision to dedicate his win to the Munich dead was emotional, patriotic, but not political. "As an athlete," he says, "I don't think that should be the focus at all." Asked about Fridman's win, the Palestinians, too, tried to steer clear of politics?and only partially succeeded. Team leader Akram Zaher praised the Israeli's achievement: "He worked hard to get his medal. I just ask his government, to give...