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World University Games

Medals shattered at World University Games

By Nick ZaccardiJul 8, 2013, 5:47 PM EDT
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The XXVII Summer Universiade, also known as the World University Games, kicked off in Kazan, Russia, over the weekend with some 10,000 athletes from more than 150 countries … and one small problem.

The medals aren’t quite world class.

At least two athletes’ medals have broken already, according to R-Sport, which describes the medals as having “a central emblem attached to the rim with a spindly structure.”

You can view the medals here.

Chinese diver Qin Tian dropped his bronze medal from the three-meter springboard competition on the floor, and it broke. Organizers quickly gave him a replacement, Qin said.

“Now I have two medals, and I’m going to take care of them very carefully,” Qin told R-Sport.

Russian freestyle wrestler Azamat Laipanov had his gold medal broken in similar fashion.

“We’ll get home, and we’ll fix it,” he said, smiling.

Bob Bryan’s Olympic gold medal ‘not even a circle anymore’

Bolt’s London Olympic spikes stolen

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Associated PressJun 15, 2018, 5:05 PM EDT
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DERBY, England (AP) A signed pair of running shoes worn by eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has been stolen from an address in Linton, Derbyshire.

The white, blue and red spikes were used by the Jamaican great in a 100 meters heat at the 2012 Games, Derbyshire Police said.

“The spikes are part of an extensive collection that I have built-up over the last 10 years,” the victim said. “There are only four or five pairs of spikes that have been signed from the London 2012 Olympics, they are absolutely irreplaceable.”

The victim did not want to be named.

A 35-year-old man has been charged in connection with the theft. The shoes have yet to be recovered.

Bolt, 31, who retired after the 2017 world championships in London, won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, although he later lost the 2008 relay gold after a team-mate was disqualified for doping.

Anne Donovan, basketball Hall of Famer, gold medalist, dies at 56

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By OlympicTalkJun 13, 2018, 8:18 PM EDT
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Anne Donovan, a Hall of Fame basketball player and Olympic gold medalist, has died of heart failure at age 56.

Donovan coached the Storm to a 2004 WNBA title.

“While it is extremely difficult to express how devastating it is to lose Anne, our family remains so very grateful to have been blessed with such a wonderful human being,” Donovan’s family said in a statement, according to reports. “Anne touched many lives as a daughter, sister, aunt, friend and coach.

Donovan, a 6-foot-8 center, made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team (as its youngest player after her freshman year at Old Dominion) that ended up missing the Moscow Games due to the U.S. boycott.

She then earned gold with the U.S. in 1984 and 1988, being the oldest player on the latter team at 26. She was inducted as a player into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Donovan later was an assistant coach for the 2004 Olympic champion team and head coach for the 2008 Beijing team that took gold. She also was the first female head coach of a WNBA champion team with the Storm in 2004.

“USA Basketball mourns the passing of Anne Donovan,” USA Basketball said in a statement. “She played for her first USA Basketball team in 1977 and during her Hall of Fame, 31-year USA career, she was a member of five U.S. Olympic teams and four USA World Championship teams as an athlete and coach, culminating in leading the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team to gold as our head coach in Beijing. She used to say she bled red, white and blue. As much as we remember her accomplishments in the game, we mourn a great friend who will be greatly missed.”