Mustafina takes bars gold: Russia’s Aliya Mustafina (picture) made up for the disappointment of missing out on the individual all-around gold medal by claiming victory in the women’s Olympic uneven bars final yesterday. The 2010 world champion finished ahead of defending champion He Kexin of China, with Great Britain’s Beth Tweddle claiming a crowd-pleasing bronze medal. Meanwhile, Yang Hak-Seon triumphed in the men’s vault final to hand South Korea their first ever Olympic gold medal in the event.
Croat lands trap title: Croatia’s Giovanni Cernogoraz won the men’s trap shooting Olympic gold medal ahead of Italian Massimo Fabbrizi and Kuwaiti Fehaid al-Deehani. Cernogoraz, sixth after the qualifying round led by Australian Michael Diamond, won the gold in a shoot-off with Fabbrizi after they finished the final round tied on 146 points. Al-Deehani won a shoot-off with Diamond for bronze after they finished the final tied on 145.
Volley line-up complete: The draw for the women’s Olympic volleyball quarter-finals was confirmed as the round-robin group stages came to an end late Sunday. Two sides finished with five wins from five – Russia in Pool A and the US in B – while Algeria (A) and Serbia (B) both ended without a win. Russia will face defending champions Brazil while the Dominican Republic lie in wait for the US. China and Japan meet in an all-Asian affair, while Italy will go up against South Korea in the fourth and final encounter. Great Britain and Turkey are the other sides to exit at this stage.
Judoka fails drugs test: American judoka Nicholas Delpopolo has been disqualified from the Olympics after admitting consuming food spiked with marijuana. Delpopolo, who fought in the men’s 73kg category of the judo competition and finished seventh, failed a drugs test carried out on July 30 which showed traces of marijuana in his system.
Italy walker kicked out: Italy’s reigning 50km walk champion Alex Schwazer admitted doping yesterday and said his career was over after he was withdrawn from the Olympics for failing a drugs test. “My career is over. I made a mistake. I wanted to be stronger for this Olympics, I was wrong,” Schwazer said. “I take full responsibility for what has happened. I did it by myself, it was my idea.” A source with knowledge of the case said Schwazer, 27, had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO during a test conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) at a training camp in Oberstdorf, Germany.