In the battle for Southeast Asian supremacy in the Olympics, Indonesia is ahead with one gold, one silver and three bronze medals followed by Thailand (1-0-0), Malaysia (0-1-0), Singapore (0-1-0) and Vietnam (0-1-0). The Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei are medal-less.
Indonesia’s gold comes from the men’s doubles, its silver from the mixed doubles and the bronze from the women’s singles – all in badminton – and two bronze medals in weightlifting. Badminton ranks 31st in the medal tally.
Thailand got its gold from weightlifting, same with Vietnam’s silver. Malaysia has a silver from men’s singles in badminton, while Singapore has a silver from the women’s team in table tennis.
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China wept and Chinese reporters did not hide their sorrow when the coach announced that China’s greatest player after Yao Ming –Athens Olympic 110m hurdles champ Liu Xiang – pulled out of his pet event.
He was aware of the injury but decided to run yesterday. He grimaced as he stretched and took to his starting block. His coach said he had two injuries – one to the leg and one to the foot. Liu Xiang is China’s second richest player after Yao Ming and is seen as the person likely to be voted Beijing Olympics most popular player. Last year Yao Ming grossed 380 million yuan (P2.28 billion) while Liu made 160 million yuan (P.962 million).
As of yesterday, 3,667 doping tests have been carried out in what is considered the largest-ever testing program of the Olympics. The tests included 2,905 urine and 762 blood tests. The urine tests include EPO tests. The blood tests comprise 454 Human Growth Hormone tests, according the IOC News Bureau.