International Olympic Committee : News

Swimming: Australian world championship trials results

5/3/2013 12:03:20 PM

Results of finals Friday on the eight and last day of the Australian Swimming Championships and world championship trials in Adelaide:

Men

50m backstroke: 1. Daniel Arnamnart 24.90, 2. Benjamin Treffers 24.97, 3. Ashley Delaney 25.35

400m individual medley: 1. Thomas Fraser-Holmes 4:10.14, 2. Travis Mahoney 4:18.09, 3. Jared Gilliland 4:19.31

1500m Freestyle: 1. Jordan Harrison 14:51.02, 2. Mack Horton 14:59.66, 3. Ryan Napoleon 15:24.25

Women

50m breaststroke: 1. Jennie Johansson (SWE) 30.83, 2. Leiston Pickett 30.86, 3. Alicia Coutts 31.47

50m freestyle: 1. Cate Campbell 24.27, 2. Bronte Campbell 24.59, 3. Brittany Elmslie 24.91

400m individual medley: 1. Keryn McMaster 4:40.76, 2. Samantha Hamill 4:42.79, 3. Taylor McKeown 4:42.83

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Swimming: National championships results

4/14/2013 10:23:00 AM

Results from the national swimming championships in Niigata, north of Tokyo, on Sunday, a qualifying event for the world championships:

Men

50m freestyle

1. Shinri Shioura 22.03

2. Kenta Ito 22.21

3. Yuki Kawachi 22.39

800m freestyle

1. Kohei Yamamoto 7:54.59

2. Ayatsugu Hirai 7:54.84

3. Fumiya Hidaka 7:58.29

200m backstroke

1. Ryosuke Irie 1:55.50

2. Kosuke Hagino 1:56.11

3. Hayate Matsubara 1:57.81

200m breaststroke

1. Akihiro Yamaguchi 2:09.31

2. Kazuki Kohinata 2:11.27

3. Yukihiro Takahashi 2:11.55

100m butterfly

1. Takuro Fujii 52.23

2. Yuki Kobori 52.38

3. Masayuki Umemoto 52.66

Women

50m freestyle

1. Yayoi Matsumoto 25.46

2. Haruka Ueda 25.54

3. Misaki Ago 25.59

1500m freestyle

1. Maiko Fujino 16:26.32

2. Ayano Koguchi 16:30.64

3. Yukimi Moriyama 16:44.23

200m backstroke

1. Sayaka Akase 2:09.37

2. Miyu Otsuka 2:11.02

3. Rena Nishiwaki 2:12.00

200m breaststroke

1. Rie Kaneto 2:23.11

2. Satomi Suzuki 2:24.80

3. Runa Imai 2:25.14

100m butterfly

1. Natsumi Hoshi 58.53

2. Yuka Kato 58.98

3. Nao Kobayashi 59.42

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Croatia and USA sparkle in Water Polo - London 2012

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Croatia won the men's competition for the first time since the country gained independence in 1991, and the United States won their first gold since the women's competition was introduced in Sydney in 2000.

Both teams had managed silvers, Croatia in Atlanta and the USA in Sydney and Beijing, but neither had looked down from the top of the podium.

Croatia took the men's tournament by storm, winning all eight of their matches, including Beijing runners-up USA and outside tip Montenegro in the knockout phase.

Hungary were in the hunt for their fourth consecutive gold and their 10th overall, but they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Italy, who went on to beat the pre-tournament favourites Serbia in the semis.

It should have been no surprise that Italy, the reigning world champions, spoiled the party for the Hungarians and Serbians, but few had backed them to make it all the way to the final.

A shock of a different sort came as the USA men's team finished eighth.

Their campaign started well with a win over Montenegro, but the Beijing silver medallists scraped out of Group B in fourth place, only to lose to Croatia in the quarter-finals, and to Spain and Australia in classification games.

Their female counterparts, however, proved worthy winners, overpowering a young Spain side in the final.

On their way to gold, the experienced team qualified second to the Spaniards only by goal difference, and beat Italy and Australia in the knockout stages.

Outstanding individual performances came from the USA's star woman Maggie Steffens, who bagged 21 goals from 27 shots in the tournament, and Serbia's Andrija Prlainovic who fired home 22 from 40 attempts.

USA make a splash for gold - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Maggie Steffens scored five goals for the USA as they cruised past the Europeans in the tournament final.

The win gives the USA their first Olympic Water Polo gold, after silver at Beijing 2008, bronze at Athens 2004 and silver in the first women's Water Polo competition at Sydney 2000.

A flurry of seven unanswered goals across the second, third and fourth periods propelled the USA from 2-1 down into a commanding position, 8-2 up, in the final quarter.

Superb shooting and resilient defensive work by the USA kept their scoreboard ticking over, while denying their opponents vital chances.

A stunning performance from the tournament's 'All-Star' goalkeeper, Betsey Armstrong, kept the Spaniards from scoring the goals that, until tonight, had given them an unbeaten record.

Spain did rally to outscore their opponents in the final quarter, but they left it too late to seriously bother the eventual winners.

After the game, Steffens deflected the praise for her performance and insisted the credit should be shared among the USA team.

'Definitely it was from my team-mates. When you're getting up there it's about the pass, it's about the steal and our defensive blocks were really creating the offensive end for us,' said Steffens.

'And you could tell towards the second half the attacking side slowed down, but the defence really started to pick up, so I think that was really important.'

Asked when the gold medallists felt they had won the game, she added: 'We didn't feel like we had it in the bag until the final buzzer rings. We've learned that.'

Earlier, Australia took bronze with a dramatic extra-time win over Hungary.

In a repeat of the Beijing 2008 third-place play-off, the Australians looked to have won their second successive bronze in normal time.

A last-second Hungarian leveller forced the tight game into added time, but Australia scored two unanswered goals to clinch the match 13-11.

Italy send champions out - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/8/2012 10:29:00 PM

The Italians, the reigning world champions, overpowered the nine-time Games winners to advance.

Hungary had been chasing their fourth consecutive gold medal, but three defeats from six games in the tournament have put an end to their recent domination of the sport.

Italy went ahead in the second period of the match, firing home a thunderbolt for a 5-4 lead, and they were only occasionally troubled as they did not fall behind for the rest of the game.

The sides traded man-up goals in the opening minute of the third period, but it was Italy who pushed on to score another man-up, before firing in a penalty to pull ahead by three goals for the first time.

Hungary did have chances to pull goals back but did not capitalise on their opportunities.

Peter Biros, the Hungarian captain, kept the Beijing 2008 gold medallists in the hunt by blasting in a penalty before Italy restored their three-goal cushion from a counter-attack.

Two goals for Hungary put them back within sight of the Italians, who failed to score a man-up chance with three minutes left on the clock.

The world champions struck with a long-distance effort with 60 seconds remaining to yet again put two goals between them and their opponents.

With 39 seconds left, a Hungary power-play goal gave them a glimmer of hope, but as they piled forward in search of an equaliser, Italy flicked the ball across their goal-line to win 11-9.

Italy will now face a clash against Serbia, who had to battle against Australia earlier in the day - winning 11-8.

Serbia scored six unanswered goals in the second half to propel them to the semis.

Australia shocked the reigning European champions and pre-tournament favourites by dominating the first two quarters.

But the Serbians came back from an 8-5 losing position in the third period to win and dump the Australians out.

Filip Filipovic scored a hat-trick for the winning side, as Zivko Gocic and Andrija Prlainovic netted doubles.

In the other half of the draw, Boris Zlokovic was the four-goal hero as Montenegro marched on to the last four with an 11-9 win over Spain.

The Spaniards fought back in the final quarter, but strong second and third periods proved decisive for Montenegro, who hung on for victory.

Montenegro will now hope to improve on Beijing 2008, where they lost a semi-final to eventual winners Hungary, only to lose again to rivals Serbia and come in fourth place, missing out on a medal.

They will now face Croatia, who cruised into the semi-finals with an 8-2 win over the USA.

Five unanswered goals in the first half put the contest beyond doubt long before the final whistle.

Croatia are the only team with a 100 per cent record in the tournament with six wins from six.

Champions make waves - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

The reigning Olympic gold medallists shrugged off the USA in a superb performance, winning 11-6.

After a shaky start to the London 2012 Games - with two defeats and two wins - the nine-time gold medallists looked back to their best with a ruthless win over the Beijing 2008 runners-up.

The victory puts the Hungarians ahead of the USA in Group B.

Their defensive display stopped their opponents finding the back of the net, while at the other end their accuracy and efficiency in front of goal was merciless.

Norbert Hosnyanszky blasted a hat-trick for the Hungarians, while captain Peter Biros netted two.

Adam Steinmetz, Norbert Madaras, Tamas Varga, Marton Szivos, Gergely Kiss and Tamas Kasas scored one apiece.

Elsewhere, Serbia cruised past Romania to win their group.

They hardly needed to get out of second gear as they brushed aside their opponents 12-4 to remain unbeaten in the competition.

The Beijing 2008 bronze medallists and European champions came into the Olympics as favourites, and their form will worry the other teams in the quarter-finals.

Serbia will play Australia in a quarter-final clash on Wednesday, and the Australians had the ideal preparation, as they beat Greece to book their last-eight spot.

Australia went behind in the opening minutes of the contest, but strong second and third periods gave them a well-earned win and a place in the knockouts.

In the first game of the day, centre forward Niksa Dobud scored six of the best for Croatia as they powered past Kazakhstan 12-4 to maintain their 100 per cent record.

The in-form side had already guaranteed top spot in Group A and a place in the quarter-finals, but their record of five wins from five matches sends a strong message to their rivals.

Later in the Water Polo Arena, Italy beat Spain 10-7 to clinch second place in Group A while Montenegro eased past Host Nation Great Britain, 13-4.

Aleksandar Radovic and Boris Zlokovic scored hat-tricks for Montenegro, while Mladan Janovic and Aleksandar Ivovic netted a brace each.

Women's semi-finals in sight - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Hungary booked their place in the semi-finals by beating Russia 11-10 in a thrilling encounter.

With the scores tied after three quarters, the Hungarians - going in search of their first Olympic Games medal in the women's event - clinched the final period by a single goal.

There were emotional scenes at the Water Polo Arena as the fourth-placed team from Beijing 2008 celebrated victory, and Russia came to terms with defeat.

Gabriella Szucs, Hanna Kisteleki, Dora Czigany and Dora Antal each scored a brace for Hungary. Rita Keszthelyi, Barbara Bujka and Ildiko Toth netted one apiece.

Evgeniya Ivanova fired in four for Russia, as Ekaterina Lisunova and Olga Beliaeva scored two each.

There was an even more dramatic conclusion later on in the day, as Australia beat China 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the scores had been locked at 16-16.

The team from Down Under clinched the contest with their fifth penalty throw after four quarters of normal time and two extra-time periods could not separate the teams.

Glencora Ralph and Nicola Zagame scored hat-tricks for Australia, while Gemma Beadsworth, Holly Lincoln-Smith, Kate Gynther and Ash Southern each netted twice.

Ma Huanhuan found the back of the net four times for China, while Fei Teng and Sun Huizi scored hat-tricks.

Australia progress to play the United States, who powered to a 9-6 victory over Italy.

A final-four spot keeps the USA in the hunt for their first Olympic Games gold, after reaching the podium in every Games since the sport was introduced at Sydney 2000.

Italy started strongly, scoring a penalty with just 17 seconds gone, then doubling their lead with a long-range effort.

But the USA hit back, with Melissa Seidemann scoring a hat-trick for the winners.

In the final game of the night, Spain edged out Great Britain 9-7, but they were pushed all the way.

Team GB came back from a four-goal deficit to get within one score of their opponents in the closing minutes, but it was the Spaniards who booked a place in the semis.

Croatia, Spain record wins - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

Croatia were too strong for Italy, wrapping up an 11-6 win to take up a commanding position in their group.

With three wins out of three, they stand top with just the bottom two teams - Kazakhstan and Australia - left to play.

Paulo Obradovic helped himself to two goals, while Damir Buric, Niksa Dobud and Maro Jokovic netted one each in the contest.

Pietro Figlioli and Valentino Gallo scored two each for Italy, while Niccolo Gitto and Alex Giorgetti netted one apiece.

Spain showed their strength in depth as they overcame Australia 13-9.

David Martin, Albert Espanol and Felipe Perrone each netted a brace for Spain, while Billy Miller was on target five times for the Australians.

Greece made light work of Kazakhstan, wrapping up an 11-4 success.

The Kazakhs slipped to their third successive defeat of the Games, while the Greek side claimed their second win out of three Group A matches.

Montenegro, meanwhile, clawed back a hard-fought 11-11 draw against Group B rivals Serbia in an enthralling clash - setting up an intriguing second week in the competition.

Serbia looked to be in control as they led for the majority of the match, but Montenegro kept pegging them back, and crucially clinched an equaliser in the very last minute of the game.

Reigning Olympic champions Hungary claimed their first points in the tournament following a 17-15 win over Romania.

Norbert Madaras fired home five for the eventual winners, while Norbert Hosnyanszky and captain Peter Biros netted hat-tricks.

Great Britain slipped to a third successive defeat, going down 13-7 against the USA.

Russia on a march, USA and Spain share spoils - London 2012 - Water Polo

8/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Russia overcame Italy to announce their intentions for a medal.

After a cagey first half, the World Championships bronze medallists pulled ahead in the third quarter and a late Italian fightback was not enough to bother them.

They now have a 100 per cent record in Group B, after beating Great Britain narrowly in their last game.

Russia scored first to lead at the end of the first quarter 1-0. They doubled their tally in the second period, but Italy pegged one back before half time.

The Russians stepped up a gear to win the penultimate quarter 4-1 to put daylight between them and their opponents.

An Italian late charge saw them win the fourth quarter 2-1, but the match finished 7-4 to Russia.

In Group A, Spain and USA held each other to a 9-9 draw.

Both sides were looking to build on winning starts, but they shared the spoils after a tense encounter at the Water Polo Arena.

Spain dominated the first half, while their opponents fought back in the second. The Spanish powered to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, and held the two-goal cushion going into the half-time break at 5-3.

The USA flew out of the blocks in the third quarter to claw back the deficit, before a Spain goal restored their lead to 6-5.

They had a fantastic chance to pull away, but captain Jennifer Pareja fired a penalty into the arms of the USA goalkeeper, and the USA capitalised by scoring again at the other end to level the scores at 6-6.

Another USA goal gave them the lead for the first time with a minute on the clock in the third period, and the quarter finished 7-6 to the USA.

Spain edged the fourth quarter by one goal, bringing the score to 9-9 at the final whistle.

Hungary snatched victory from China in a thrilling clash, edging ahead for the first time with less than two minutes to go before clinging on to win 11-10.

China were ahead for most of the Group A encounter, but Hungary were never too far behind, and pounced on their opponents in the closing minutes.

In the final game of the day, Australia recorded a big win, 16-3 against Great Britain.

The Australians led from start to finish, dominating in every area of the game to see out a comfortable victory.

Australia too strong for Italy - London 2012 - Water Polo

7/31/2012 12:00:00 AM

They led for almost all of the Group A match, but the Italians kept bouncing back in a thrilling cat-and-mouse encounter. However, Australia held their nerve to close out victory.

Australia captain Kate Gynther scored a hat-trick, while Nicola Zagame slotted home twice. Single goals from Holly Lincoln-Smith, Bronwen Knox, Rowie Webster, Glencora Ralph and Ash Southern completed the tally.

Italy duo Federica Radicchi and Tania di Mario each scored a brace, with Simona Abbate, captain Elisa Casanova, Aniko Pelle and Roberta Bianconi contributing a goal each to their haul.

Meanwhile, USA edged past Hungary 14-13 in a thrilling match.

Maggie Steffens scored seven for the winning side, while Courtney Mathewson found the back of the net four times.

Captain Brenda Villa, Kelly Rulon and Kami Craig each scored one goal.

Barbara Bujka scored four for Hungary, Dora Antal netted three, and Gabriella Szucs scored two.

Orsolya Takacs, captain Rita Dravucz, Ildiko Toth and Dora Csabai scored one goal.

In other games, Spain overcame China 11-6 and Russia edged out Host Nation Great Britain 7-6.