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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1996)
The Battalion TUESDAY July 30, 1996 mm Atlanta *96 Olympic GLANCE ATLANTA (AP) — Monday, Day 11 FALLEN SEED No. 1 seed Monica Seles lost to Jana Novotna, 7-5, 3-6, 8-6. DOMINATING VICTORY Reserve Nikki McCray led five players in double figures with 16 points as U.S. women defeated South Korea 105-64. HISTORICAL GOLD Carl Lewis won gold medal in long jump, becoming only fifth Olympian to win gold in four straight games; Michael Johnson won 400-meter dash in Olympic-record 43.49 seconds; Ameri can Allen Johnson won gold in 110-me ter hurdles. INDIVIDUAL MEDALS Americans Shannon Miller (gold on balance beam), Jair Lynch (silver on parallel bars) and Dominique Dawes (bronze on floor exercise) won medals. CLOSE CALL United States Softball advanced to gold medal game with 1 -0 victory over China in 10 innings. QUOTES OF THE DAY "I've got 48 hours to get ready, and I'll be ready in about two hours." — Michael Jonnson, after winning 400 dash, on whether it will be difficult to prepare for the 200. "We've got ballroom dancing and surfing ready to kick us off the Olympic bus." — Michael Costigan, the only American in the modern pentathlon. AGGIE SPOTLIGHT In USA Base ball's 10-8 defeat to Cuba on Sun day, A&M out fielder Chad Allen was one-for-five with a home run. Cumulative Stats (through 37 games) One /Down, One to Go Johnson wins gold in 400m, he will try to repeat in the 200m tonight ATLANTA (AP) — Record setting supersprinter Michael Johnson, gold on his feet and his chest, swept to victory on a manic Olympic Monday where Carl Lewis made his tory and drama was the name of the games. Johnson, decked out in gold shoes, blew away the field for an Olympic 400-meter record to complete the first half of his hoped-for historic double gold. Not to be outdone was 110- meter hurdler Allen Johnson, who set an Olympic record of 12.95 seconds despite knocking down most of the 10 hurdles along the way. Throw in Shannon Miller, the 19-year-old gymnast who grabbed a gold medal in the balance beam — her second gold of Atlanta. CflRL LEWIS' QUEST With a full moon above the Atlanta skyline, the Olympics awaited one last bit of drama: Lewis’ bid to capture a long jump gold medal in his final Olympic event. The 35-year-old, on his third leap of the night, soared into the lead and waited. Nobody beat him. Lewis’ jump of 27 feet, 10 3/4 inches earned his ninth gold medal, equaling the American mark held by swimmer Mark Spitz. He became only the sec ond athlete to win the same event in four straight Olympics; U.S. discus thrower A1 Oerter was the first. “I don’t see how I can top this,” said Lewis, who filled a plastic bag with sand from the long jump pit and waved it to the crowd. With an American flag across his shoulders, he then did a victory lap as more than 80,000 cheered him one last time. His eyes glistening with tears, Lewis mouthed the “Star Spangled Banner” with his last medal dangling from his neck. He then blew a kiss skyward. “I brought a lot of passion, a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work,” he said of his con tribution to the sport. WOMEN'S BftSKETBfILL In contrast, the distaff Dream Team continued to roll along Monday with a 105-64 demolition of South Korea. The Americans, winners of five straight in Atlanta, head into the medals round Wednes day as the solid favorites for the gold. The United States shot 68 percent in the first half and 57 percent for the game in topping 100 points for the third time in Atlanta. "The important thing is that we’re going into the medal round with a lot of con fidence,” forward Katy Steding said. “... We’ll do a lot of scout ing, watch some video and come out ready to play.” TRACK AND FIELD With the games heading into the final week, attention turned to two theatrical tales unfolding at the new Olympic Stadium: Lewis’ quest for a medal at his fourth and final Olympics, and Michael John son’s pursuit of gold medals in the 200 and 400 meters. Johnson, in his unique up right style, literally ran away from the competition to set an Olympic mark of 43.49 sec onds. He dedicated the victory to the woman killed early Sat urday by a terrorist bombing in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park. “It’s extra special for me, because it’s my first individual gold medal,” said Johnson, who was ill during the 1992 Games and was eliminated in the 200 semifinals. “I’ve been saying all along this has noth ing to do with Barcelona, but now that I’ve got it I certainly feel better about what hap pened in Barcelona.” Finishing right behind Allen Johnson in the hurdles was teammate Mark Crear, giving the United States gold and sil ver. The American men, through the first 10 track and field events, had won six golds, three silvers and a bronze. GYMNASTICS Miller, bouncing back from weak performances in the all- around and the vault, un leashed a near-flawless per formance on the balance beam. She was later joined on the medal stand by fellow American Jair Lynch, who took silver on the men’s par allel bars, and Dominique Dawes, who collected bronze in the floor exercise. “I don’t know what else to say, but it feels great,” Miller said. “It was a great note to end on.” MEN'S DIVING U.S. Diver Mark Lenzi added to America’s medal haul with a bronze in the spring board, locking up third place with a sensational final dive. Chinese diving star Xiong Ni, in his third Olympics, picked up his first gold as the springboard champion. MEN'S VOLLEYBALL The U.S. men’s volleyball team was eliminated following its loss to Bulgaria and Brazil’s victory over Cuba. The Americans won’t win a medal for the first time since the boy cotted Moscow Games in 1980. The Russian Olympic com mittee on Monday appealed the disqualification of two of its medalists for doping offens es, claiming the drug that turned up in urine tests was *"'ot a banned substance. A de cision will not come before Tuesday night. Medals table 1996 ATLANTA Through Monday, July 29. Top 30 Countries Country G S United States 24 Germany 10 Russia 18 28 12 64 11 19“ 40 13 8 39 China 11 13 18 32 France 13 Australia Italy Romania 7 10 4 6 12 31 8 16' bfl Cuba 3 5 7 Poland Canada Ukraine Hungary Belarus 1 4 7 12 Netherlands 1 3 8i 12 South Korea 3 5 11 Japan 3 4 3 10 Britain 1 3 5 Brazi 2 2 Greece New Zealand Belgium 2 i 6 2: 2 6 Kazakstan Ireland 1 3t f 5 3 0 T Turkey 3 0 1 4 Czech Republic 1 2; 1 ab r h hr rbi 112 29 47 6 25 Day Continued from Page 1 stands. There are no school, state or regional rivalries — no bitter blood be tween players and spectators. "Whether you're sitting next to someone from Texas, At lanta or Duluth, Minn., there is a strong sense of uniting for a common good." Only a camaraderie exists. Whether you’re sitting next to someone from Texas, Atlanta or Duluth, Minn., there is a strong sense of uniting for a com mon good. This was the most lasting impres sion I took away from the Games. Of course. I’ll remember the bomb blast, the evacuation from Peachtree Street, the crowds and the excite ment forever. But traveling to Atlanta gave me a greater sense of what the Olympics are all about — camaraderie, patrio tism and bouncing back when adversi ty and evil threaten. Over time, these lessons will be re membered and pointed out well be fore the actions of some madman take precedence. I may not have planned on going to Atlanta, but I am glad I went. The Olympic experience cannot be dupli cated — and it is one that will never be forgotten. Bombing causes reflection I planned to write about the wonder ful details of the Olympics, but after Friday night, every thing else just seemed insignificant. I was down the block from the AT&T Olympic Village when the bomb exploded at Centennial Park. For some odd rea son, I just figured it was the Parsons’ Mounted Calvary cannon. Then I sud denly realized where I was, and the horror struck. I immediately ran down the street to see what had happened. That’s when I Ray Hernandez SPORTSWRITER saw the cloud of smoke rise above the mixer tower. I didn’t want to believe what was in front of me. I didn’t want to believe terror had hit so close to home. I felt just about every emotion in ah instant: horror, relief, fear and anger. 1 was shocked to see it happen. I was glad I wasn’t hurt, but I was afraid someone else had been hurt, or worse, jt was angry that people can be so cruel, j I was on my way to the World Bu& Party when I felt the blast. I think what scares me most about the incident was the fact that I was running late and I should have already arrived dt the party. There was no doubt that it was a bomb. I could feel the compression See Hernandez, Page 4 msmmmmss'ms The missing link in your Quest for your first Software Job! Credible Software Training brought to you by Phaedra Software Solutions. Inc. 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