Weekend Headlines: August 18, 2013 (Updated)

* Caribbean: On Saturday, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became the first three-time male winner of the 200-meter dash at the world track and field championships.

Update: Bolt won his third gold medal of the world track and field championships after anchoring Jamaica's victorious men's 4x100 meter relay team.

* U.S.: Miguel Tejada received a 105 game suspension from Major League Baseball (MLB) over testing positive for an amphetamine weeks after Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games for violating the MLB’s drug policy.
 
* Chile: Employees at the world's largest private copper in Chile seeking better pay and improved working conditions staged a 24-hour strike last week.

* Mexico: Mexican airline Aeromexico and advertising firm Catatonia issued an apology regarding issuing a commercial casting call barring “dark-skinned” people from auditioning.

Video Source – YouTube via Universal Sports

Online Sources including Update- USA TODAY; BBC News; ITV; ESPN New York; The Guardian; CNN

London Calling: Usain, the “Living Legend”

Is Usain Bolt of Jamaica the greatest sprinter ever? The case could certainly be made after an amazing run on Thursday in the London Games.
Bolt put his name in the record book by becoming the first man to successfully defend both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash in the Olympics. He accomplished this on Thursday night by winning the 200-meter sprint with a time of 19.32 seconds.

According to the BBC, Bolt “ran a brilliant bend from lane seven to lead by a meter coming into the straight.

Glancing to his left he was aware of (fellow Jamaican Yohan) Blake closing in a fraction at 150m, but held his form to cross the line with a finger to his lips”.

Jamaican runners swept the medal tally in the race with Blake winning silver and Warren Weir earning bronze.

After the race, Bolt boasted that his victory made him a “living legend” while Blake acknowledged that he is “the god of track and field.”

Bolt also praised iconic sprinter Jesse Owens yet he criticized Carl Lewis who in the past has cast doubts on Jamaica’s drug testing program for runners.

“Carl Lewis, I have no respect for him. The things he says about other track athletes is really downgrading other athletes. I think he is looking for attention because no one really talks much about him,” said Bolt at a press conference.

Bolt will be looking to add a sixth Olympics gold this weekend in the 4x100 meter relay, an event Jamaica won in Beijing four years ago.

Several Latin American athletes made it to the medal stand on Thursday including:

Usain Bolt wins again in world record time

On Sunday Usain Bolt broke his own 100-meters record with a 9.58 second sprint to win gold at the world championships in Berlin. The Jamaican was almost equal to the task earlier today as he won the 200-meter dash in record time:

Bolt shattered the previous 100m and 200m record by 0.11 seconds; his speed and relative ease in winning has brought up rumors of possible doping. Yet track and field’s ruling body said that he tested negative in a drugs test taken after his 9.58 second run.

Bolt’s double win raises Jamaica’s gold medal tally to five in a world championships dominated by the island’s sprinters. Bolt will hope for a third gold this Sunday 4x100m men’s relay.

Online Sources- CNN, BBC Sport, Washington Post, AP, Herald Sun, YouTube

Olympics Spotlight: “Lightning” Bolt strikes twice

* Twelve years ago, I sat in my bedroom and watched the TV in awe as Michael Johnson ran like the wind and captured the 200m in world record time. With his ubiquitous gold shoes covering his feet, Johnson won a unique double after having been crowned “World’s Fastest Man” in the 400m a few nights before.

All these years later and once again I sat in that same cramped bedroom with jaws agape after viewing Jamaica’s Usain Bolt capture the 200m gold in magnificent style. Much like his victory in the 100m, Bolt won with ease and in world record time. “This was an incredible performance,” said Johnson after Bolt’s historic victory; despite his own unique double gold in Atlanta, Johnson recognized the immense talent of Bolt.

Is it any wonder that Bolt was referred to as a “man from another planet” in the Spanish TV’s call of the race?

* It is rare to have athletes from two different Latin American countries fight for a gold medal. Yet that was the case earlier today when Mexico's Guillermo Perez won top honors over Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of the Dominican Republic in men’s 58kg taekwondo. Perez triumphed in a hard-fought match that was decided by the judges after both athletes were tied. Perez’ gold is Mexico’s first in these games and the country’s first gold medal since 2000. Mercedes’ silver puts the Dominicans on the medal board.

* In other medal-winning performances:

• Melaine Walker joined Bolt on the medal platform after triumphing in the women’s 400m hurdles. The Jamaican pulled away from the U.S’ Sheena Tosta in the final quarter of the race and won in an Olympic record of 52.64 seconds.
• Cuba's Yipsi Moreno won the silver in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 74.7m.

* In men’s basketball, defending Olympic champion Argentina squeaked by Greece 80-78 and set up a must-watch semifinal match against the U.S. Another defending Olympic champion- Brazil­­- beat China in straight sets in the quarterfinals of men’s volleyball and advances to play the Italians.

Sources- IHT, TVNZ, Los Angeles Times, Guardian UK, YouTube, BBC Sport, Canada.com, Reuters UK

Daily Headlines: June 2, 2008

* Jamaica: Congrats to sprinter Usain Bolt who became the “world’s fastest man” by setting a new world record in the 100 meter dash on Saturday.

* Brazil: A U.N. representative has accused Brazilian police of committing “thousands” of extrajudicial killings.

* Venezuela: Will Venezuelan gas stations become the next industry to be nationalized?

* Mexico: A poll reveled that most Mexicans believe that drug cartels are winning against the police.

Sources- New York Times, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Guardian UK

Image- CNN