FanHouse Africa

A month after Jamaica's Usain Bolt won three sprint gold medals in the Beijing Olympics, South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius is looking to do the same at the Beijing Paralympics.

Early this year Pistorius successfully challenged the International Olympic Committee's ban on runners with prosthetic legs but failed to achieve a qualifying time for the Olympics. Today he ran an 11.16-second 100-meter dash, the fastest time in the 100-meter preliminary heats at the Paralympics.

Americans Jerome Singleton, Brian Frasure and Marlon Shirley had the next-best times, but all were well behind Pistorius.

Pistorius will also run the 200 and 400 meters. Bolt won the gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay.

Inflation in Zimbabwe is so stunningly high -- more than 11 million percent so far this year -- that a box of cereal costs more than 1,000 Zimbabwe dollars, while a teacher's monthly salary is 800 Zimbabwe dollars.

So with an economy that out of kilter, it seems more than a little perverse that President Robert Mugabe handed swimmer Kristy Coventry a suitcase full of $100,000 as a bonus for her performance in Beijing, where she won a gold medal and three silver medals.

"You have done well, daughter of Zimbabwe," Mugabe told Coventry. "We wish you well in life. We should praise her. She is our golden girl. Take care of her."

Coventry lives in the United States. Fortunately for Coventry, the cash she got was in American greenbacks.

Ous Mellouli, representing the small African nation of Tunisia, pulled off a huge upset in the 1,500-meter freestyle, defeating Australia's two-time defending champ Grant Hackett to win his country's first swimming gold medal.

Mellouli finished in 14 minutes, 40.84 seconds to defeat Hackett, the world record holder, who took the silver in 14:41.53. Ryan Cochrane of Canada took the bronze in 14:42.69.

In a sign of the globalization of the sport of swimming, Mellouli is the second African to win a swimming gold at these Olympics, following Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in the 200-meter backstroke.

The U.S. men's soccer team lost to to Nigeria 2-1 today at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, meaning Nigeria wins Group B and the United States misses what looked like a great chance of advancing to the knockout stage.

A red card from Michael Orozco in the third minute left the U.S. team shorthanded for the rest of the match, and Nigeria scored once late in the first half and once in the 79th minute. A U.S. goal in the 88th minute was too little, too late.

The Netherlands beating Japan today sealed the Americans' fate, and it will be the Netherlands and Nigeria advancing out of the round. For an American team that beat Japan in its first game and came within a minute of beating the Netherlands in its second, that's a disappointing ending.

Eight years ago, Lopez Lomong had escaped the Sudan and was living in a refugee camp in Kenya when he heard about the Olympic Games. Wanting to see the Games, he walked five miles to the nearest television, where he saw American Michael Johnson win the 400-meter dash. He tells his story:

"I want to be as fast as that guy," Lomong recalled thinking upon seeing the Olympics. "And that's what inspired me from that point on. I want to run as fast as that guy and I want to run for that country."

Lomong later left the refugee camp, came to America, became an American citizen and began running for Team USA. He was chosen as the American flag bearer for yesterday's opening ceremony.

While host country China's support of the Sudanese government is shameful, Americans can be proud that our country has welcomed Lomong.

"I am so happy," Lomong said. "I'm so proud to be an American."

Team USA has chosen its flag bearer for Friday's Olympic opening ceremonies, and it's an athlete who's only been an American for 13 months.

Lopez Lomong, a 1,500-meter runner who was born in Sudan but became an American citizen last year, will carry the stars and stripes into the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing. He was chosen after a vote of American team captains.

"It's more than a dream," Lomong said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I keep saying, I'm not sure if this is true or not true. I'm making the team and now I'm the first guy coming to the stadium and the whole world will be watching me carry the flag. There are no words to describe it."

Lomong was separated from his family in Sudan at age 6, lived in a refugee camp in Kenya, and came to America in 2001. His selection as the flag bearer is a powerful statement that, no matter how hard China may try to cover up the atrocities in Darfur, the people of Sudan must not be forgotten.

The Olympic dreams of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius were put on hold after he failed to make the South African roster for the 1600 meter relay. While Pistorius will not be competing against the world's best in Beijing in August, he does plan on competing in the Paralympic Games held there in September.

Oscar admits that a long legal battle which he was fighting for the right to compete against able-bodied athletes took much of his focus away from training for the games. But failing to make the South African team for Beijing hasn't crushed Pistorius' Olympic dreams completely as he hopes to try again to make the team for the 2012 Games in London.

Pistorius is featured in the end of this Nike Courage ad that will be seen during Olympic telecasts next month.

Oscar Pistorius's hopes of going to Beijing as a member for the South African Olympic team are getting dimmer. He ran the 400 meters in 46.25 at a meet in Switzerland today, 0.70 seconds slower than the qualifying time he needed to gain entry to the event during the Games.

The South African Olympic Committee gave him until July 17th to make the qualifying time. They can still choose him as a member of the 400 meter relay team but that's his last chance at running in Beijing.

"It's up to the (South African) federation but I know there are one or two guys hoping to make the squad who have not done as good as 46.25 this year so I'll just have to see when I get home."

If Pistorius is selected, it would be over the objections of the International Association of Athletics Federations. The organization said Tuesday that they would prefer Pistorius not be picked for the team. They couched their complaint as one of safety for Pistorius and other runners but it's more likely that this all goes back to their initial ruling about Pistorius's eligibility for the Olympics. They think that he's gained some kind of mechanical advantage thanks to his prosthetics and they want to close the door to him and other runners in his position.

Far from a baptism of fire, New German Chris Kaman easily swept through his first international contest, against Cape Verde today in the Olympic qualifiers in Athens. Caveman had 10 and 10 in 20 minutes, and the Germans won by 36.

Sadly, with that, Cape Verde has been eliminated from both this tournament and Olympic contention. Joining them among the ranks of the cast aside are Lebanon and Cameroon. The loser of Canada vs. Republic of Korea on Wednesday will also meet its Olympic doom.

Yep, that's right, a team I called a 'wild card' -- based solely on Samuel Dalembert and an affinity for Shareef Abdur-Rahim Grizzlies throwbacks -- could be gone by this time tomorrow. Slovenia destroyed the Canucks this morning. Dalembert was woeful -- 4 points on 1-of-8 shooting, 2 rebounds in 22 minutes of work. Korea might actually be the favorite.

Brazil and Greece match up Wednesday as well, in the best game on paper of the opening round. The winner avoids Herr Kaman and his friend Dirk in Friday's quarterfinals. Croatia and Puerto Rico will also be battling to avoid Slovenia (and, by extension, draw the winner of Canada-Korea).

Most of the Olympic men's basketball field has been set, with Argentina, Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Angola, China, Spain and the United States preparing for the August Games. The top three teams in the Olympic qualifying tournament -- which begins today in Athens -- will also compete in Beijing. Here's a quick look at the tourney.

The Favorite: Greece. The Greek team famously beat Team USA in the 2006 World Championships, setting off the maelstrom of righteous indignation which promised to (but didn't) revolutionize the way USA Basketball chose its teams. Greece boasts no current NBA players, but could beat a half-dozen NBA teams. Guard play makes the Greeks the favorites. Theo Papaloukas should be well-known in America, and Dimitris Diamantidis is one of the best perimeter defenders in Europe. Add good size up front and home court advantage, and it'd be a surprise if the Greeks didn't win this outright.

The Contenders: Germany, Brazil, Puerto Rico. At least one of these teams won't make it (unless Greece crumbles). Germany famously boasts both Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman now, though little else. Brazil will be without Leandro Barbosa, but has Tiago Splitter and some good guards. Also, Brazilian two-guard Alex Garcia shattered a backboard in the pre-game lay-up line in an exhibition last week. Awesome. But never count out Puerto Rico, with an assortment of former and current NBA players like Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Barea, and Peter John Ramos, as well SACRAMENTO STATE! product Joel (pronounced "Joe .... El") Jones.