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2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INSIDE SPORTS
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2004
U.S. tops Olympic gold medal winnings
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
"These were the games where we saw the awakening of Asia," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. "The traditional strong nations that dominate the scene now will have to work extremely hard."
The American team amassed 103 total medals, topping its target of 100, and won 35 golds to 32 for China and 27 for Russia. But China played the lead role in the games' most significant trend — the improvement of Asian squads in a widening array of Olympic sports as they gift for the 2008 Beijing Games.
ATHENS, Greece — The United States finished atop the medal charts for the third straight Summer Olympics, with Russia the overall runner-up and China second in gold medals — its best showing ever and the leading edge of a surge by Asian teams.
Far East Asian nations won 65 gold medals in Athens, compared to 43 at Sydney in 2000. Japan alone uppped its gold total from five to 16, the biggest increase of any nation, while China won gold for the first time in tennis and men's track.
Goodbye to Greece
surge by Yahya town. Six nations won gold medals for the first time. The trailblazers included an Arab sheikh marksmans and an Israeli windsurfer. Two other countries, Paraguay and Eritrea, won their first medals of any sort.
Australian Olympic chief John Coates, whose team finished fourth, said China and Japan "have sent us an ominous warning. They're gearing up for a dominant performance in 2008."
FOOTBALL
Junior linebacker Gabe Toomey joins 64 other linebackers from around the country on the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate linebacker.
ToomeyselectedforButkus Awardpreseasonwatchlist
The Butkus Award has been present ed by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando every year since 1985, and is named after University of Illinois and Chicago Bear NFL Hall of Fame member Dick Butkus.
While additional players can be named to the watch list in the weeks ahead, the list will ultimately be trimmed down to 10 semi-finalists on Oct. 14. Following voting by the 30-member selection committee, composed of media representatives. The list is cut to three on Nov. 11.
The final award winner will be named, after the season concludes, on Dec. 10. The award is presented to the winner by Butkus himeself.
Jonathan Kealing
TALK TO US
Tell us your news. Contact Danielle Hilix or Joe Bant at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
Swimmer Michael Phelps watches the closing ceremonies with his U.S. teammates. Yesterday's events closed out the 2004 summer games. The U.S. earned 103 medals: 35 gold, 39 silver and 29 bronze.
Games end well in Athens
World says thanks to Athens for security, beauty, final ceremony
BY STEVE WILSTEIN Associated Press Columnist
ATHENS. Greece — Efharist
A nervous world learned the Greek word for thank you and repeated it endlessly at an astonishingly successful Athens Olympics that quelled fears, surprised skeptics and greatly honored the birthplace of the games.
Efharisto, Athens, for architectural masterpieces of stadiums and arenas that showcased record performances. The fountain sprays, reflecting pools and soaring arches. The undulating, giant white Wall of Nations that caught the whispering wind, bringing music to our ears and smiles to our faces.
Efharisto for the thousands of security forces who stood guard day and night, keeping terrorism away. An undercurrent of danger, a sense of tranquility.
fireworks and spectacular lighting kicked off the closing ceremony Sunday night, a two-hour extravaganza of folk dancing and music in the Olympic tradition that summed up the glee and relief the games brought to Greece. Afterward, thousands of athletes marched into the Olympic stadium, waving their arms and flags, snapping photos of each other, hugging, and basking in the cheers of 70,000 fans.
"You have won." International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge told the Greek people, who responded with a roar. "You have won by brilliantly meeting the tough challenge of holding the games. These were unforgettable, dream games."
A full moon lit up the sky, adding an extra sparkle to the night. Not quite as high above the celebration was the white security blimp, keeping a watchful eye on the all the action — as it did throughout the games.
He was right, even if they started slowly the first week with empty seats and vacant plazas as many Greeks took their holidays and frightened tourists stayed away. The second week saw the games transformed. The huge Olympic
Athletes who finished their events partied, roaming the Plaka, Syntagma and Omonia squares. It was Greece at its rollingick best, a spirited fusion of visitors from all countries, and of all colors and ages. It reminded us again, at a time when we need all the reminding we can get, that the Olympics celebrate humanity's highest aspirations, the universal quest for peace and the exalted qualities of body, mind and spirit that transcend cultures.
There had been no shortage of worries that Athens would not be ready for these games. As late as March 2000, the IOC considered moving the Olympics out of Greece, possibly to South Korea.
if that huskist. Athens, for coupling the ancient with the new, putting up with years of jarring construction, spending billions beyond your budget, and giving us a glimpse of your future as a sophisticated, modern city.
stadium was packed each night for track and field. Basketball, tennis and beach volleyball rocked.
"It's always nice to underpromise and overdeliver," said Jim Easton, an American IOC vice president.
We trod like pilgrims to a shrine up the dusty stones of the Acropolis to gaze with awe at the 2,500-year-old Parthenon. Our imaginations did the rest, letting us feel the spirit of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle — that brain bunch who laid the foundation for our culture.
"The world discovered a new Greece," said Athens 2004 president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who made it all happen with her fierce determination to overcome construction delays and avoid humiliation.
These games took us to their sacred origin in Olympia to watch the shot put, to Marathon to stand on the spot where the race got its name.
The scourge of sports — steroids, stimulants and other drugs — intruded but didn't spoil the games. A record two dozen athletes were caught, seven lost medals, and there could be more to come as the test results keep rolling in
Greek sprint stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou broke their countrymen's hearts — and angered many — when they pulled out of the games after questions over missed drug tests and a suspicious motorcycle crash the night before the opening ceremony.
There were scandals and controversies. as always.
because it's eliminating the cheats and protecting the clean athletes," Rogge said. "The more we find, the better."
Even the final event, the men's marathon, was marred an hour before the closing ceremony when a defrocked Irish priest bolted from the crowd and grabbed the leader, Brazil's Vanderlei de Lima, about three miles from the finish. De Lima recovered and finished, but had to settle for a bronze when a protest by his track federation was rejected.
Three gymnastics judges were suspended after it was determined South Korean Yang Tae-young was scored improperly, costing him a gold medal that went to American Paul Hamm.
"Each positive test is a blessing for us
"I was scared, because I didn't know what could happen to me, whether he was armed with a knife, a revolver or something, and whether he was going to kill me," de Lima said. "That's what cost me the gold medal."
The marathon medalists, gold winner Stefano Baldini of Italy, American silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, and de Lima received their olive wreaths and medals at the closing ceremony.
These Olympics saw the rise of China as a sports superpower as it positioned itself for the 2008 games in Beijing.
lisen for the 2016 game.
The United States, buoyed by the brilliance of swimming star Michael Phelps but embarrassed by the three losses and mere bronze of its once-vaulted men's basketball team, won the most medals.
The caudron of the Olympic Flame was slowly lowered, symbolically lighting the torches to be carried around the world to the next Summer Games. At 10:48 p.m., Athens' flame was extinguished, singers took the stage and volleys of fireworks again lit up the sky.
Friday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. The article, "Soccer team plans to meet, score goals this season," stated the women's soccer team's record last season was 40-20-3. The article also stated the team's tournament record last season was 18-6-1. The team's record the past three seasons is 42-20-3. The team's record last season was 18-6-1.
CORRECTIONS
And, once more, Athens, Efharisto!
Friday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. The article, "Soccer team plans to meet, score goals this season," included a photo incorrectly labeled as junior forward Caroline Smith. The correct photo is shown at right.
SMITH
Kansas athletics calendar
TODAY Soccer @ BYU, 3 p.m.
Thursday
TUESDAY Volleyball @ Arkansas, 7 p.m.
Soccer vs. Milwaukee (KU Invitational Tournament), 5
Volleyball vs. Loyola (Oral Tribal Tournament, Tusa) 5 p.m.
Volleyball va. North Texas (Oral Roberts Tournament,
Tulsa) 10 a.m.
football vs. Tulsa, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY
**Voleybolt** vs. Oak Roberts (Oral Roberts Tournament,
Tube) 7:30 p.m.
Men's Basketball © University of British Columbia (nth)
**Men's Basketball vs. Lamarg College (exh)** (@UBC)
**Men's Basketball @ University College of the Frasier Valley All-Stars (exh)**
*Limited Edition* 3:00 p.m.
Soccer vs. St. Louis, 2:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
MON
WOMEN'S GOLF
Kansas hires Auburn assistant as newwomen'sgolfcoach
O'Neil replaces former women's golf coach Megan Menzel, who departed this summer due to a desire to spend more time with her family.
The Kansas women's golf team named Auburn assistant coach Erin O'Neil as its new head coach on Saturday.
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"Erin comes to us with great experience and outstanding credentials," said Kansas athletics director Lew Perkins. "We look forward to watching her teams play."
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O'Neil's tenure at Auburn stretched from 2000-04. In 2002, she was part of a Tigers team that tied for second place in the NCAA Golf Championships. Auburn finished fourth in 2001 and ninth in 2003.
Prior to coaching, O'Neil spent three years playing professional golf on the Futures Tour (1997-99) and the Kosiado Ladies Asian Tour (1998).
O'Neil was a four-year letter winner at the University of Georgia from 1994-97. She led UGA to SEC championships in 1994 and 1997. O'Neil was also a three-time all-SEC selection from 1994-96 and was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 1994.
"I am very excited to become a part of the KU family," O'Neil said. "I look forward to working with the team and helping them move to the next level."
The Kansas women begin their season Sept. 13 at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
— Eric Sorrentino
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