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ARGENTINIAN BEIJING WINNERS
Juan Esteban Curuchet and Walter Fernando Perez of Argentina clinch the gold in Men´s Madison competition in Cycling. It is Argentina´s firt Golden Medal at Beijing. A new edition, number 29 of the most important sports encounters in the world gathers again more than 14,000 atheletes from all disciplines and 136 Argentineans are participating in 20 different disciplines: Athletics, Men’s basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Men and women’s football, Women’s Hockey, Judo, Weightlifting, Swimming, Rowing, Taekwondo, Target shooting, Table tennis, Tennis, Sailing and Beach Volley.
The country not only will be present through the games, but also through advertising actions organized by the strategy Marca Argentina and Fundación Exportar. That way, the cultural, touristic and economic aspects of Argentina will be known and the country is going to be able to participate in business rounds.
In the history of the Olympic games, Argentina has participated in 16 and won 60 medals: 15 golden, 23 silver and 22 bronze.
The Argentine football team beated Brazil. Now, it is at the Olympic Games finals to defend its previous golden medal.
The three medals
So far, Argentina has won three medals: a golden one achieved by the cyclists Juan Curuchet and Walter Pérez at the Madison test; and the bronzes ones got by the judoka Paula Pareto and Carlos Espínola and Santiago Lange at Yatching.
Argentinian Hope
Men´s football and basketball teams will play to defend the golden medals obtained in the last games. There teams will have world stars like Lionel Messi, Juan Román Riquelme, Fernando Gago, Emmanuel Ginóbili, Fabricio Oberto and Luis Scola.
Regarding hockey, Las Leonas, women´s hockey team who won silver medal in 2000 and bronze in 2004 in Athens, are expected to shine.
First Gold Medal
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CYCLING- Men – Results |
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August 19 |
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Juan Esteban Curuchet, Argentina |
8,0 |
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Walter Fernando Perez, Argentina |
8,0 |
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Juan Llaneras, Spain |
7,0 |
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Antonio Tauler, Spain |
7,0 |
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Alexey Markov, Russia |
6,0 |
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Mikhail Ignatyev, Russia |
6,0 |
Juan Esteban Curuchet
Full name: Juan Esteban Curuchet
Gender: Male
Height: 5′11″ (180 cm)
Weight: 159 lbs (72 kg)
Born: February 4, 1965 in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Country: Argentina
Sport: Cycling
Family Relations: Brother of Gabriel Curuchet.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Esteban Curuchet (born February 4, 1965 in Buenos Aires) is a road bicycle racer and track cyclist from Argentina, who represented his native country at five Summer Olympics (1984, 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2004). He won the gold medal in the Men’s Madison at the 1999 Pan American Games alongside his older brother Gabriel. He also won gold medals in the Men’s Madison at the 2003 Pan American Games and 2007 Pan American Games alongside Walter Pérez . He was a professional rider from 1989 to 2000. He retired on August 19, 2008 winning the gold medal at Beijing Olympic Games.
Football Argentina in the finals!
Argentina and Brazil do battle, but fans’ attention drifts elsewhere
As the ball was kicked off at Argentina’s 3-0 win over Brazil, a large majority of the 53,000 inside the stadium were supporting China
- Tuesday August 19 2008 17:45 BST The Guardian
The two great football nations of the last 40 years pitched against each other in an Olympic semi-final in the capital city of China.
Things settled down when pictures of a relaxed looking Diego Maradona filled the big screens. The celebrity hint had been given and the chants of fans morphed into support for Argentina. Whether it was his status as a footballer or as a friend of Fidel Castro and the left which had proved so persuasive, we will never know but I doubt images of Pele would have been so influential.
The main difference between the cultures in sport-watching terms remains the role of food. Whereas in America watching sport can resemble visiting an all-you-can-eat restaurant, the Chinese prefer to keep the two activities separate. Food is too important to be hastily consumed while your attention is on something else
During an engaging if not enthralling first half, the matador Lionel Messi received most of the olés, quite rightly for he was the chief strutter of stuff.
The game, which had been undulating, became a roller-coaster. A semi-slimline Ronaldinho hit the post. The ball went in but it was offside. Ronaldinho forced a save. The crowd oohed and aahed.
A fortuitous penalty was awarded to the Argentinians, maybe the ref was a new homer.
Three-nil and the semi final was over. Beijing had become Buenos Aires. Well, not really, although there had been couples tangoing outside.
Argentina and Brazil in role reversal
BEIJING, Aug 20 (Reuters) –
–Argentina’s crushing 3-0 win over Brazil in their Olympic Games semi-final was another demonstration of how the two great soccer rivals have swapped roles in the last few years.
–Argentina, often associated with pragmatic defence and gamesmanship, have adopted a stylish, passing game while Brazil have exchanged their previous flamboyance for brute force and counter-attacks.
–Argentina, inspired by forward duo Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi, provided the artistry and Brazil, led by senior coach Dunga, used rough-arm tactics that resulted in red cards for midfielders Lucas and Thiago Neves in the last 10 minutes.
“We won in the way we like to win, we kept faith in our style of play and we won deservedly,” said playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, an over-age player.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista said his team had learned the painful lessons from last year’s Copa America final in Venezuela, when the Brazilian style prevailed.
On that occasion, Argentina went into the final as hot favourites after sweeping their way to five successive wins with flowing football. But they ran into an ambush.
Brazil struck an early goal, managed to nullify Riquelme and Messi, hit them on the counter-attack and ran out emphatic 3-0 winners.
“We’ve learned the lesson that with Brazil, you have to wait for them and not go straight out and attack,” said Batista, who is only in charge of the Olympic team.
“We knew that Brazil would wait for us and that we had to have patience and not rush into attacking them. We played a great game in every sense and in every part of the field.”
Despite the limitations of the Olympic tournament and the lack of interest in Europe, Argentines felt Tuesday’s win had helped wiped out a series of bad results against Brazil.
Before the Copa America final, Argentina had also lost their previous two senior meetings by three-goal margins.
In an online poll organised by the Clarin newspaper, 63 percent of readers agreed that Tuesday’s win was the most enjoyable game the national team has played in the last 10 years.
Riquelme said it bettered their last senior win over Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in 2005.
“That was an incredible win as well, when we scored three goals in the first half but this was is special because we are in the final,” he said. “I hope it has made our country happy.” (Editing by Alex Richardson
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Basketball : Men’s Basketball Quarterfinal – Game 3 20 August 2008 – 22:15 |
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Argentina |
80-78 |
Greece |
Basketball: Argentina Edges Greece, Will Face U.S.
Argentina pulled out the most thrilling game of the Olympics while beating Greece, 80-78, on Wednesday. The game wasn’t decided until Greek guard Vasileios Spanoulis missed a three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired.
Argentina, the defending gold medal champion, will now face the United States in the men’s Olympic basketball semifinals on Friday. It will be a rematch of the 2004 semifinal, when Argentina defeated the Americans on route to beating Lithuania in the gold medal game. Manu Ginobili scored a game-high 24 points, including the final seven for Argentina, which has won five in a row after losing its Olympic opener against Lithuania.
“I’m very tired, drained,” Ginobili said. “We won a heck of a game, it took everything we had.”
Ginobili gave Argentina an 80-75 lead with 46 seconds remaining, when he drove inside for a layup. Greece responded on the next possession with Panagiotis Vasilopoulos drilling an incredible – and lucky – three-pointer off the glass. Ginobili missed a three-pointer that could’ve sealed the win with 10 seconds left, but Spanoulis rebounded the ball, raced up the floor and fired from long distance.
Argentina had already experienced a similar scenario against Lithuania, when Linas Kleiza drained a game-winning three-pointer. But this time, Spanoulos’s shot was long.
“We enjoy that one,” Argentina forward Andres Nocioni said, before describing his emotions as the shot was in air. “It’s like, total arena is silent. Nobody said anything. It was real tough. Great win.”
