Olympic Newsdesk - Mongolian Officials Banned from Boxing Worlds; Dragila Retires

Mongolian Officials Expelled From Boxing Worlds

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has expelled the entire delegation of Mongolian team officials from the world championships in Milan for attempting to bribe a referee.

The ban only applies to officials, however. Boxers, coaches and team doctors for the Mongolian squad are allowed to stay.

Thursday was a rest day for the competition, which will resume on Friday with the semifinals in all 11 weight classes.

Russia has qualified eight of its boxers for the semifinals, while Cuba and Uzbekistan have four boxers each, Mongolia and Ukraine three each and host Italy two. The U.S., India and Kazakhstan are among the teams with one semifinalist each.

Pole Vault Pioneer Dragila Retires

Stacy Dragila, the first Olympic gold medalist in women’s pole vaulting, is retiring from the sport.

The 38-year old Dragila, who plans to be a coach, was the first star to emerge from women’s pole vaulting when it emerged in the mid-1990s. She won the gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the first year that the sport was included on the Olympic program.

“It was great to be a pioneer in the sport and to be the first one to win a gold medal at the Olympics,” Dragila told The Associated Press.

Dragila struggled with injuries late in her career and failed to make the U.S. team for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Trickett Contemplates Retirement

Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett of Australia, who won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, is taking an extended break from competitive swimming and is considering retirement from the sport, according to a report by The Associated Press.

The 24-year old Trickett told AP that she is evaluating her future in swimming and if she wanted to continue preparing for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

“I am having a break at the moment and retirement is on my mind, but it is not something that I have confirmed,” Trickett said. “I love swimming and everything it has done for me. I will see where my head is at in a few months.”

Trickett won gold medals in the women’s 100-meter butterfly and 4x100 medley relay at the Beijing Olympics last year as well as a gold 4x100 freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. She also won five golds at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Briefs…

…Olympic champion Evgenia Kanaeva of Russia won two gold medals at the world rhythmic gymnastics championships in Mie, Japan on Thursday, adding to her total of four for the competition. Kanaeva, who won the rhythmic individual all-around gold medal at the Beijing Games last year, won the ball and ribbon events to go along with the golds she claimed in the hoop and rope competitions on Tuesday. The world rhythmic gymnastics championships concludes on Sunday.

…Fatigue was the reason as Usain Bolt pulled out of a meet in Daegu, South Korea on Sept. 25. Bolt is also expected to withdraw from the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix meet on Sept. 20.

Written by Greg Oshust.

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