Rory McIlroy brushed aside any lingering doubts over his ability to be a dominant force in golf by storming to a second major title with a stunning eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday.
McIlroy’s first big triumph, a similar eight-shot victory at last year’s U.S. Open, was followed by a series of poor showings in the majors, including a missed the cut in his title defense and tying for 60th place at the British Open last month.
Belarus’ Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of the women’s shot put gold medal at the London Games after she failed a drug test, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Monday. The IOC said in the statement that Ostapchuk was tested positive on both urine samples, indicating
the presence of metenolone, which is classifiedas anabolic agent under the 2012 Prohibited List, Xinhua reports.Metenolone is used to build muscle mass and help reduce fatigue, among other potentially performance-enhancing effects.
Valerie Adams of New Zealand, who finished second to Ostapchuk, was promoted to gold, while Yevgeniya Kolodko of Russia and Gong Lijiao of China took silver and bronze respectively.
Ostapchuk, 31, won the shot put by 21.36 metres, 66 centimetres better than Adams’ best mark.
The results raised speculation of doping as Britain’s men’s shot put competitor Brett Morse hinted on Twitter that Ostapchuk was using illegal drugs. The tweet was deleted soon after.
In the past few years, Adams was dominating in the discipline, beating Ostapchuk several times.
Ostapchuk won the World Championship in 2005, but finished runner-up behind Adams in both 2009 and 2011 and took bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Mr Obama said Mr Ryan was a “decent” man – but with a vision “fundamentally” at odds with his own.
Thousands have turned out as Mr Ryan and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tour key states.
Correspondents say the selection of Mr Ryan appears to have reinvigorated the Republican campaign.
But they caution that Mr Ryan is known for radical proposals to reform government social spending, including on health care programmes, that could prove deeply unpopular among some American voters.
We can do this. We can get this country back on track”
Paul RyanRepublican vice-presidential candidate
‘Back on track’
The new Republican duo have been continuing their bus tour of swing states that will play a decisive role in the 6 November election, with stops in North Carolina and Mr Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin on Sunday.
In High Point, North Carolina, the pair stopped to shake hands and exchange high-fives with thousands of supporters who lined the streets, with another 1,300 packing a stiflingly hot furniture warehouse for a rally.
It was, correspondents say, one of the best-attended Romney campaign events this year.
“We can do this. We can get this country back on track,” Mr Ryan told the cheering crowd.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS (7:15 p.m. ET): The closing ceremony is now over. Good show, London. Good show.
THAT’S IT … OH, WAIT (7:03 p.m. ET): Fans sigh when Flame extinguished. The Who comes on, lift spirits. “Don’t cry … Don’t raise your eye. It’s only teenage wasteland” (via USA TODAY Sports’ Kelly Whiteside)
*The Who just burned it down. Peace #London2012 (via USA TODAY Sports’ Mike Foss)
SPEECH TIME (6:40 p.m. ET): Seb Coe: “A wonderful Games in a wonderful city.” You can say that again. (via USA TODAY Sports’ Christine Brennan)
NEXT UP, RIO (6:30 p.m. ET): Mayor of London just handed Olympic flag to Mayor of Rio. Brazil will host 2016. Let the samba begin. (via USA TODAY Sports’ Kelly Whiteside)
QUEEN BY QUEEN (6:22 p.m. ET): First time ever in a stadium playing Queen where it was actually Queen that was playing it. (via USA TODAY Sports’ Christine Brennan)
MORE MUSICAL NOTES (6:20 p.m. ET): Freddie Mercury tribute. Queen bandmates pick up the rest of the song. You know where this is going …”We will, we will. …”
The 32-year-old, who had just scored a superb century in the drawn second Test against South Africa at Headingley, followed that bombshell by claiming he was ready to walk away from the sport due to what he perceived as problems in the England squad that he said “made it hard being me”. And then, with speculation increasing that he would be dropped when the third Test squad was named, the saga took a bizarre twist when Pietersen posted a video on YouTube on Saturday in which he claimed he was now ready to play in all forms of international cricket having previously opted out of limited overs action.
