Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-07-16 From: CRI

Surprises have featured time and again in the swimming competitions of the ninth All-African Games which is held in Algiers, capital of the North African country Algeria.

Although Cameron Vander Burgh from South Africa got one gold in the men’s 50 breaststroke, he enjoyed the glory of medal-awarding ceremony twice on Saturday because of the mistake of the organizers.

The working staff just played the last two sections of South Africa’s national anthem, the version of the national anthem during the apartheid.

That aroused dissatisfaction from South African sport minister Makenkesi Stofile who came in person to greet winners from his country.

The protest lodged by Stofile forced the organizers to stage the medal-awarding ceremony anew.

Burgh’s time was 27.74 seconds. He has won a gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke in 1 minute and 2.05 seconds.

In addition, three swimmers made false start in Saturday’s competition and were informed of the mistake when the competition wrapped up.

The first two were Chanelle Van Wyk from South Africa in the women’s 100m backstroke and Shahd Mostafa from Egypt in the women’s 800m freestyle.

The Zimbabwean team lost a silver already in bag because of false start.

2004 Athens Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry rushed to the competition of women’s 4×100 m freestyle, no more than 10 minutes after women’s 800m freestyle in which she got a gold by a large margin.

Conventry saved the Zimbabwean team who was lagged far behind and fought to the second at last with a time of 3 minutes 56. 49 seconds, just 0.44 seconds behind the gold winner South African team.

But the result was announced void by coaches who said the third swimmer of Zimbabwean team made a false start. (Xinhua)