Kevin Pietersen texts were 'banter' insist South Africa

The text messages sent by England batsman Kevin Pietersen to members of the South Africa team were "banter", according to the Proteas team manager.

Pietersen was dropped for the third Test for failing to confirm that the messages were not derogatory towards England players and management.

"Text messages were sent, but it was banter," said Dr Mohammed Moosajee.

Moosajee said the texts were not sent to Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers, but did not reveal the recipients.Initial reports suggested that Steyn and De Villiers, both of whom have been team-mates of Pietersen in the Indian Premier League,received the texts during the second Test at Headingley.After being named man of the match for his 149 in Leeds, Pietersen hinted that the third Test at Lord's could be his last,before retracting his threat to retire in a video posted on YouTube on Saturday."Allegations that Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers were the recipients of the texts are unfounded, and until such time that the allegations are met with the correct facts and evidence, we shall not comment," added Moosajee.

"This is the last time that management or the players will comment on the issue and our focus moving on is the team's preparation and how we plan to go about winning the next Test match at Lord's."

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board wanted assurances that the 32-year-old had not sent "derogatory" text messages before he could be selected for the final Test, which England need to win to avoid being replaced by South Africa at the top of the world rankings.Sunday's squad announcement was delayed by six hours in order for the dispute to be settled, but Pietersen was eventually replaced by Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow.England cricket managing director Hugh Morris said: "It was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room.

"A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team. This has not been forthcoming despite clear timelines being set to allow the selectors to pick the squad for the third Test match."

However, Moosajee has claimed that texts were not of a derogatory nature and said that the ECB has not made a formal request to see them.

"There have been untruthful allegations in the media implicating members of our squad in the current issue between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB," he said.

"The ECB has not made a formal approach to see the text messages as is currently being reported in the media.

"This internal issue between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB has been publicised for weeks even before we arrived in the UK, and we do not want to get ourselves involved in an issue that has nothing to do with us."

Mexico claim gold as Brazil's Olympic jinx continues

Brazil's Olympic curse struck again as Mexico secured arguably the greatest triumph in their history by winning London 2012 gold at Wembley.

Oribe Peralta wrote his name into Mexican folklore with a deadly double against the five-time world champions, who many believed were destined finally to end their agonising wait for Olympic glory.

But despite Hulk pulling a goal back in stoppage-time and Chelsea new boy Oscar missing a last-gasp sitter, Brazil were a shadow of the attacking force that had smashed in 15 goals en route to the final and displayed the defensive frailty that has long dogged them.

In sharp contrast, Mexico completed their transformation from one of the most notorious also-rans in world football to a side capable of delivering on the biggest stage.

And they could not have picked a better time than in front of 86,162 at the home of football in what was their first truly global major final.

The game promised to be a goal-fest, with Brazil having scored three times in all five of their matches and their opponents netting seven in their last two.

But few would have predicted the fastest goal ever in a FIFA tournament final - also thought to be the quickest in Olympic history - after just 28 seconds.

Manchester United right-back Rafael's hospital pass was intercepted by Javier Aquino and the ball broke for Peralta to race goal-ward unchallenged and fire home.

It was not the first time Brazil had been behind at London 2012 and they might have levelled in the 13th minute when Thiago Silva headed Neymar's free-kick over.

Oscar also should have done better than find Jose Corona when he was allowed to turn and shoot eight yards out.

Brazil's sloppiness continued as they found it hard to penetrate a fiercely committed opposition and made poor decisions when they did.

They made an attacking change just past the half-hour mark when midfielder Alex Sandro was withdrawn for Porto team-mate Hulk.

And the substitute almost caught out Corona with a piledriver from nearly 35 yards but the goalkeeper recovered well to foil Leandro Damiao's rebound.

Marcelo should have tested him again when he flashed wide from Damiao's lay-off and his timing was all wrong again moments later when he went through the back of Peralta, rightly earning a booking.

Hulk was making a real impact, winning a free-kick that Romulo ultimately glanced wide in first-half stoppage-time.

The urgency Brazil had been lacking arrived straight from the restart and Neymar was so close to sending a screamer into the top corner before being left with a nosebleed after colliding with Corona.

Mexico's response to the threat was to send on Miguel Ponce for Aquino, while continuing to target Neymar, Israel Jimenez the next to be booked for doing so.

Santos star Neymar skied a good chance when the ball fell to him 10 yards out but Mexico weathered the storm and were unlucky not to double their lead in the 64th minute after another defensive howler.

Marco Fabian robbed Thiago Silva and although Gabriel came rushing out, his save set up an overhead kick Fabian smashed against the crossbar.

Leandro Damiao had a good chance nicked off his toe and powered a free header wide from a corner before Peralta rightly had a second goal ruled out for offside.

Fabian almost scored legitimately when he nodded over Jorge Enriquez's flick-on from a corner but made amends 15 minutes from time with a free-kick that Peralta netted with a bullet header thanks to simply non-existent marking.

Thiago Silva failed to connect properly from a flick on with a corner but Brazil were showing little sign of a remarkable comeback and even began arguing amongst themselves, with Rafael and Juan Jesus involved in a furious exchange.

However, they should have staged an amazing comeback in stoppage-time, Hulk racing on to a long ball from Marcelo and rifling into the net before crossing for an unmarked Oscar to somehow nod wide from six yards.

Hulk: This could be the time to move

FC Porto striker Hulk has revealed he is ready to quit the Portuguese club this summer and move to England, with Chelsea rumoured to be keen on signing him.

Hulk, 26, has been linked with a move for some time and Real Madrid, Paris St Germain and most recently Zenit St Petersburg are all said to be interested along with the West London club.

However the Brazilian has now given them hope that he may leave Porto this summer after scoring a consolation goal for his country in the Olympic final defeat to Mexico.

"This could be the time for me to move," he said. "I would feel comfortable with moving clubs and the English league is one that appeals to me."

However, earlier Porto president Pinto da Costa insisted he has not spoken to Hulk's agent about the striker's future, reiterating he will not be allowed to leave for less than his €100 million release clause.

"I didn't meet Hulk's agent. Hulk is a player with a buyout fee and if any club want him, they just need to pay that, they don't need to come here," said da Costa.

"Hulk will only leave if it interests both Porto and the player. But so far nothing happened to make me think we'll reach that point. Therefore, I expect that for this season Hulk will remain a Porto player."

Hulk's agent Teodoro Fonseca told Radio Renascenca that you can never rule out a move.

"Hulk has a contract, he likes FC Porto, but at the moment everything has a question mark," he said. "We sometimes want a player to stay, but the conditions aren't the best. Sometimes clubs have to give up a right, a player, or a person to keep their structure. People come and go, but the clubs stay. Everything is possible in the world of football."

Silva: Torres facing moment of truth

Manchester City playmaker David Silva believes Chelsea's Fernando Torres is set to embark on "the most important season of his life" as the duo prepare for Sunday's Community Shield clash.

Silva and Torres helped Spain to the Euro 2012 title earlier this summer, capping a memorable 12 months for the pair. However, Silva insists Torres' true test will come next season as he aims to fill the void left by Didier Drogba.

"Chelsea will notice Drogba's absence because he was important for them. But in football things come to an end and now is the moment of truth for Torres.

"It may be the most important season of his life, because he will have more minutes on the field," Silva is quoted as saying in the Mirror.

Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo has added midfielders Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Oscar to the squad for next season, but the Italian says he has faith in Torres to spearhead the Blues' attack.

"I was very happy with him at the end of last season," Di Matteo said. "There are great expectations on the team and he is part of it.

"He was brought in to be a fantastic striker and hopefully he will be able to fit in and show the qualities that he has. He is full of confidence. He's not been back long but he's looking good in training."

Usain Bolt wins third gold in Jamaica 4x100m relay victory

Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the 2012 Olympics as he anchored Jamaica's sprint relay team to a sensational world record.

Jamaica's quartet clocked 36.84 seconds to smash the old mark by two-tenths of a second and leave the USA team in silver.

Nesta Carter and Michael Frater produced excellent first and second legs but it was 100m and 200m silver medallist Yohan Blake's blistering third leg that set the platform.

Bolt provided the perfect finale - exploding away to leave Ryan Bailey trailing as the capacity crowd stood to acclaim him.Canada were initially given bronze before being disqualified when third-leg runner Jared Connaughton was seen to have stepped inside his lane, meaning Trinidad and Tobago were promoted into third.

Bolt's gold meant he matched his haul from the Beijing Olympics and that he now has six Olympic golds before his 26th birthday.

It was a fitting way to conclude a wonderful nine days of athletics in the Olympic Stadium.

Bolt has once again been the star of these Games, and in celebrating with a 'Mobot' as he crossed the line paid tribute to the great home track hero of the past fortnight, Mo Farah.

Olympics high jump: Anna Chicherova of Russia wins gold

World champion Anna Chicherova has added an Olympic gold to her medal collection after winning the women's high jump final.

The 30-year-old Russian, who won bronze in Beijing four years ago, was the only woman to clear 2.05m.

Brigetta Barrett of the USA and Russia's Svetlana Shkolina both jumped personal bests of 2.03m to take silver and bronze respectively.

Chicherova's gold was Russia's 21st of the Olympics.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is to step down as Fota chairman

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh will step down as chairman of the Formula One Teams' Association (Fota).

He took over from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo in 2009, but will not stand for re-election.Ferrari, Red Bull and Sauber withdrew from the group in a dispute over teams' spending after the 2011 season."We have tried to be a galvanising, stabilising force, trying to understand the issues of all the players," said Whitmarsh in a statement.

"Whatever happens, we'll continue to try and do those things. But I think it would be quite neat for someone else to have a go at it.

"I care about Formula 1, whatever role I'm in. McLaren, I think, has been an extraordinarily good citizen, in my opinion, of the sport."

The future of Fota was thrown into doubt by the dispute late in 2011,but Whitmarsh feels that his not seeking re-election will present a chance for someone else to continue its work.

"At the moment we've got 10 races left and I'll concentrate on that and on other things.

"We'll see what happens, but my recommendation to them will be that someone else does it. It'll be a good opportunity for them."

Fota was formed in 2008 with the aim of representing the interests of the teams when dealing with the sport's governing body the FIA, the commercial rights holders and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.

Mo Farah wins men's 5,000m to claim second Olympic gold

Britain's Mo Farah joined the sporting greats and produced an unforgettable crescendo to London's Olympics as he added 5,000m gold to his 10,000m title.

In an almost unreal atmosphere inside the Olympic Stadium, Farah went to the front at 600m and was roared down the home straight and into the history books.Farah's gold was Great Britain's 27th gold medal of these Games.He produced a last mile of four minutes 00.50 seconds and a final lap of 52.9 secs to hold off Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel and Kenya's Thomas Longosiwa in 13 mins 41.66 secs.

It was not a fast race, but big finals seldom are, and the 29-year-old from west London got his tactics spot on.Farah, whose wife Tania is due to give birth to twins in the next few weeks, said: "It's unbelievable. I was feeling tired coming into the race. When I took the lead I knew I had to hold on to it.

"Those two medals are for my two girls - they can have one each. I don't know what's going on. Everything has a time and it's all worked out. Two gold medals - who would have thought it?

"A week ago his stunning victory in the 10,000m final had provided a wonderful final act to 

"Super Saturday".This was always going to be a tougher contest still. Going into the race Farah was ranked only 11th in the world on season's bests, while seven men who lined up had quicker personal bests.

But he had shown in winning 5,000m gold at the World Championships in Daegu that he could run a brutal 10,000m and recover sufficiently within a short period of time to take on the world's best again.As he came out on to the track, Farah triggered a deafening standing ovation from the capacity home crowd.

When he was announced to the crowd it was as if gold had already been won, thousands waving union jacks and bouncing up and down, and every section he passed on every lap roared as if he were on the final straight.The early pace was pedestrian, the first five laps all 70 seconds or slower, and only when Gebremeskel went to the front with five laps to go did the pace pick up with a 60-second lap.The noise was immense, Farah slotting in behind the Ethiopian in second with 1000m to go.

He pushed on to the front with a lap and a half left and was joined by his training partner Galen Rupp of the United States, but then went hard again at the bell and down the back straight to open a metre lead he would never relinquish.British men had never before won an Olympic long distance gold. Farah now has two in the space of one remarkable week, and joins greats like Emil Zatopek and Lasse Viren who have also won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the same Games.

Olympics football: Mexico shock Brazil to win gold

Mexico stunned favourites Brazil 2-1 at Wembley to win the men's Olympic football gold medal for the first time.

Oribe Peralta struck from the 18-yard box after 32 seconds following some poor Brazilian defending.Fabian Marco hit the Brazil crossbar before a completely unmarked Peralta headed his team's second goal.

Brazil, also hoping to win gold for the first time, pulled a goal back through Hulk in injury-time, before Oscar headed wide when well positioned.But the South American side scarcely deserved to take the game into extra-time after a very patchy performance, particularly in defence.

Mano Menezes's team had scored three in each of their previous five games and were treating the tournament as an important staging post ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2014.But if they are to succeed on home soil they will have to show a significant improvement from what they produced at Wembley, with star forward Neymar a largely peripheral figure.

Menezes went into Saturday's match under huge pressure to deliver gold and fill the one significant missing blank for the Brazilian team, but if the game was to be Brazil's coronation as Olympic champions then Mexico clearly had not read the script.They defeated Brazil 2-0 in a friendly earlier in the summer and stunned Wembley when Peralta's low strike nestled in the bottom corner while many inside the stadium were still taking their seats.Manchester United defender Rafael was partly at fault for the goal, his sloppy pass allowing Javier Aquino to nip in and dispossess Sandro, with the ball running invitingly into the path of Peralta.

Brazil could not find their stride - a situation not helped by a series of niggly fouls that broke up play and angered coach Menezes, who could be seen waving an imaginary card on the touchline.And their disappointing start was put into stark perspective when Menezes made a change just after the half-hour mark, bringing on Hulk for Alex Sandro.The substitution made a difference and Jose Corona managed to palm clear a swerving strike from Hulk while Marcelo shot wastefully wide after he had linked with Oscar and Leandro Damiao to carve open the left side of the Mexican defence.By the early stages of the second half it was obvious that Mexico had opted to try to defend their lead.

This seemed to play into the hands of their opponents, particularly Neymar, who had disappointed in the opening half but briefly relished the chance to repeatedly run at the Mexico defence.He twice shot wide and saw another effort blocked, but his influence soon faded and Mexico almost struck with a swift break.There was more shoddy Brazilian defending involved too, as Fabian dispossessed an opponent far too easily and eventually saw his overhead effort rebound off the crossbar.

An unmarked Peralta later slotted home from six yards but Brazil were saved by the offside flag. There was to be no reprieve with 15 minutes remaining.A free-kick was delivered from the right and the Mexico striker was left completely alone to head home from eight yards.

Brazil's frustrating afternoon saw team-mates Juan Jesus and Rafael square up to each other in the final minutes.Hulk's injury-time strike into the bottom corner briefly ignited hope of a spectacular comeback and Oscar then headed wastefully wide at the near post as Mexico held on.

Craig Bellamy set to complete free transfer from Liverpool to Cardiff

Craig Bellamy will complete a free transfer move from Liverpool to Cardiff City, after he passed a medical on Friday morning.

Bellamy, 33, returns to the club where he spent a season on loan in 2010-11.The Cardiff-born forward, who scored 11 goals that season, will again wear the number 39 shirt.Cardiff boss Malky Mackay confirmed the club were in talks with the striker, who had a year to run on his contract at Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool.

"We're in advanced talks with both Liverpool and Craig," Mackay told BBC Sport Wales on Thursday.

"Brendan's [Rodgers] a good friend of mine and he's been fantastic to deal with in this situation.

"It's something we're progressing at the moment and we're hoping to have some more news in the next couple of days."

Rumours of Bellamy's return were fuelled this week when Liverpool manager Rodgers confirmed he had given the Welshman permission to move closer to his family in Cardiff.Bellamy played and scored for the Great Britain Olympic football team this summer and the forward's talents are well known to the current Bluebirds' manager.

"We've known each other our whole careers," said Mackay.

"We were together a long time ago at Norwich City.

"He's a proud lad from the area and he's a top player, a top talent."

Cardiff captain Mark Hudson thinks Bellamy can have a positive affect ono his side's bid to win promotion to the Premier League next season.

"He'll try and lead us with his experience and the knowledge that he's got of the game to get to that next level," said 30-year-old centre-back Hudson.

"That's what we want, we want to get there.

"The ambition of the club to bring someone like him in matches [the ambition of] everyone that's playing in the Cardiff shirt at the moment.

"We want to get to that next level and if we bring him in then it's going to help us, definitely."

Bellamy, who was captain of the 2010-11 side, scored 11 goals in a year that ended with the Bluebirds losing to Reading in the play-off semi-finals.Hudson remembers that season well and hopes the 33-year-old frontman finalises his move to Malky Mackay's team.

"He's an international and he's been at the top level for a long time," added Hudson, who joined Cardiff from Charlton Athletic in 2009.

"To be able to work with someone like that was beneficial to everyone that was playing with him at the time.

"I learnt a lot from him, the way he conducted himself and went about his day-to-day business.

"You look at him now, he's a role model.

"He's been to the Olympics and he's been captain of the Olympics [football] team.

"To have that experience can only help us."

Cardiff have won three of four pre-season friendlies so far this summer, as the squad prepares for the Capital One Cup first-round match at Northampton Town on Tuesday, 14 August.City face Newcastle United at home in their final warm-up game before that and as he assesses the season ahead, Hudson hopes his team will go one better than last season's play-off final defeat .

"Top two is the main aim for us," he said. "I don't think anyone wants to see us go through the play-offs again and I definitely don't.

"But with the squad we've got this year and the way we've gelled over the last 12 to 13 months, as a group we're a lot more solid now."

Meanwhile, Mackay has also confirmed that defender Darcy Blake is still in his plans for next season, even though the youth team product has not signed a contract extension.

"We offered Darcy a contract extension and he's turned that down, which he's got the ability to do that," said Mackay.

"Darcy probably feels that he needs first team football.

"He's not been able to get that through one reason or another... but he's part of my squad."

Juventus manager Antonio Conte gets 10-month match-fixing ban

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has been banned for 10 months after an investigation into match-fixing.

Last year Conte, 43, led the club to the Serie A title in his first season in charge without losing a single game.He was accused of failing to report alleged match-fixing involving former club Siena in the 2010-11 season.Conte, whose assistant coach Angelo Alessio was also banned, is set to appeal the decision and Juventus said both retained their full support.

Charges against Conte of direct involvement in match-fixing were dismissed last month, but the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said it was satisfied Conte was aware it was taking place during his time with Siena.Conte had a plea bargain deal rejected by the FIGC earlier this month. He put forward a proposal which would have seen him serve a three-month suspension and pay a fine of 200,000 euros.

The federation has now confirmed the 10-month sanction.Police had previously said Conte was being investigated on suspicion of sporting fraud and fraudulent association over allegations concerning a match between his Serie B side Siena and Novara in April 2011.In addition to the ban for Alessio, who was Conte's assistant at Siena, former Lecce president Giovanni Semeraro and ex-Grosseto president Piero Camilli are also facing suspensions.

"Juventus reiterates its full support for Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio in the hope the next stage of the process will finally prove their innocence," read a Juventus statement.

"A group of legal professionals have been appointed by the individuals concerned and, with the full support of the club, is already working to prepare grounds for an appeal."Grosseto and Lecce have both been excluded from Serie B, the Italian second tier, for the 2012-13 season for their part in the scandal of direct involvement in match-fixing. Both clubs have been relegated to Lega Pro, which covers Italy's third and fourth divisions.

Six other players - Leonardo Bonucci, Simone Pepe, Marco di Vaio, Salvatore Masiello, Daniele Padelli and Giuseppe Vives - have been acquitted of the charges against them.In May, police searched more than 30 homes, including those of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and the lower divisions.

Lazio captain Stefano Mauri, 32, was held along with former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, while officers visited Italy's pre-Euro 2012 training camp to question left-back Domenico Criscito, 25.Five people were also arrested in Hungary on suspicion of being part of an illegal international betting ring.

Ashton Eaton Wins Decathlon Gold, Becomes Greatest Athlete Ever ?

Ashton Eaton of the United States won gold in the decathlon yesterday, cementing his place among the all-time great Olympic athletes ... if not atop that list.

Eaton dashed, hurdled, jumped and vaulted through 10 events, racking up 8,869 points - short of his own world record, but enough to secure the gold.

What the 24-year-old also won is renewed prominence for the decathlon, producer of icons from Jim Thorpe to Bruce Jenner (yes, that Bruce Jenner).

Considered by many to be the greatest decathlete ever, whether that means Ashton Eaton is the greatest athlete ever, or even now, is up for debate.

Usain Bolt proclaimed himself the greatest ever last night after winning the 200-meters. At Eaton’s news conference, he was asked the same question.
Ashton paused, but Trey Hardee, a fellow American decathlete who won the silver medal Thursday with 8,671 points, interjected on his behalf.
“So Ashton doesn’t have to sound selfish or self-centered, Ashton is the best athlete to ever walk the planet, hands down,” Hardee said.
He cited the history of the decathlon, dating back to ancient times, and the unparalleled rigors of competing in 10 events over two days.
Someone relayed Bolt’s comments to Hardee, and he fired off this salvo: “Just because you’re fast doesn’t make you an athlete,” he said.
Later, when someone relayed this to Bolt, he laughed and said that Ashton Eaton deserved the title, considering he had to do 10 events.
Case closed.

Dwight Howard Traded to Los Angeles Lakers

The Dwight Howard saga has finally come to an end, much to the extreme pleasure of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

This immature, dominant center has been traded to the purple and gold, getting his wish to leave the Orlando Magic and joining a roster that also included free agent signing Steve Nash.

With the league still needed to approve the deal, ESPN reports the Lakers will receive Howard; the Denver Nuggets will acquire Andre Iguodala; the 76ers will receive Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson; and the Magic will get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and one protected future first-round pick from each of the three teams.

The blockbuster positions Los Angeles to really challenge for the title in what ought to be one of Bryant's final years as a true NBA superstar.

David Rudisha breaks 800m world record in Olympics win

David Rudisha became the first athlete to set a new world record on the track at London 2012 as he won 800m gold at the Olympic Stadium.

The 23-year-old Kenyan stormed his debut Olympic final to become the first man inside one minute 41 seconds, clocking 1:40.91.Botswana's Nijel Amos took silver, with fellow teenager Timothy Kitum in third.British runner Andrew Osagie was in eighth place but still clocked a personal best of 1:43.77.

Reigning world champion Rudisha led from the off, setting an opening lap of 49.28 seconds, and stormed further clear down the back straight to beat his own world recordWith the rest of the field dragged along by his pace, only Abukaker Kaki in seventh failed to record a personal best.

Rudisha told BBC Sport: "Wow! I'm very happy. This is the moment I have been waiting for for a very long time. To come here and to break the world record is something unbelievable.

"I was well-prepared and I had no doubt about winning. Today the weather was beautiful and I decided just to go for it.

"Lord Coe is a very good friend of mine and earlier, in February, he took me round this stadium. That was good for me. I wanted to come here and make him proud."

In 18-year-old Amos and Kitum, 17, the future of the event looks in good hands but whether anyone can get near the dominant Rudisha before the next Games in Rio looks unlikely.Amos's time of 1:41.73 was the 11th fastest 800m of all time, and made him the fourth-fastest man ever over the distance with only Rudisha, Wilson Kipketer and 2012 Games chief Seb Coe running two laps of the track faster.Rudisha has set the three fastest 800m times of all time and managed six of the fastest eight 800m ever.

His pace was consistent throughout, clocking 23 seconds for the first 200m, 25 for the second, 25 for the third, and 26.1 for the final quarter.

Usain Bolt in the 200: Did He Double Up?

He did it in 2008 in Beijing.

Could Usain Bolt pull off the feat again in London?

A few days after his masterful performance in the 100 Meters, Usain Bolt took to the track again today and attempted to become the first sprinter in history to earn Gold in both the 100 and 200 in back-to-back Olympics. Read on to learn if he had reason to celebrate...

YES!

Bolt once again blew the field away, leading a Jamaican sweep of the top three spots by finishing in 19.32 seconds. Yohan Blake and Warren Weir took second and third, respectively.

The lightening quick athlete can now equal his performance from four years ago if he leads his country to Gold in the 4X100 relay. Do you dare doubt that he will?

What sets Sally Pearson apart from her Olympic hurdle rivals?

With a record-breaking run of 12.35 seconds in the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night, Sally Pearson finally - and fittingly - joined fellow Australians Shirley Strickland, Maureen Caird and Debbie Flintoff-King as an Olympic hurdles gold medallist.

Pearson, the pre-eminent sprint hurdler of the last two years, was once again a fluid study in technique and speed. But what exactly sets her apart from her rivals?

"To be become good hurdler you require three key skills: basic speed, excellent flexibility and extreme elastic strength," says Colin Jackson, former 110m hurdles world champion and now part of the BBC's athletics team. "Sally has all of those in abundance.

"We know from her performances over the flat 100m that she is a top sprinter; her flat speed is better than anyone else in the race.

"Her flexibility is specific to the hurdles. She is not just loose: she has a great range of movement specifically where it is necessary for her event.

"In technical terms, she has what we call a great split over the barrier. It means that she is in a strong position to run off every hurdle - she can get that front leg down quickly and run off it."

Pearson in full flight has variously been described as a stone skimmed across a lake, or water in a stream flowing over boulders.Like all great hurdlers she appears not to so much jump into each hurdle as float over them.

"As a hurdler you want to spend as little time in the air as possible," explains Jackson.

"You can only generate speed when you hit the floor. And when you are as technically efficient as Sally you can get closer to the hurdle before jumping and so clear it faster.

"If you watch the hips of a top sprinter from the head-on camera, you will notice that their hips do not sink at all - they stay at the same level all the way through the race.

"The trick is to keep your centre of gravity equal, just as you would if you were a flat sprinter. That's why you dip your head forward when you jump, so that you're not leaning backwards when you land.

"If you look at bronze medallist Kellie Wells, her torso twists as she clears each hurdle. You should always aim to keep your shoulders straight - you don't want any rotation.

"When you get over the barrier, get your arm out straight and then straight back. When Kellie's arm comes back it is way out wide, and that costs her one hundredth of a second at every hurdle.

"Sally's trail leg is also superb. That's the key one because it's the foot an athlete takes off on, and it's the first stride on landing.

"You actually have to be more aggressive with your trail leg than your lead leg, because that is the one that allows you to drive off the barrier."

Pearson has been coached by Sharon Hannon since she was spotted at a Little Athletics state championships in Townsville, Queensland, way back in 1999.

Her training regime is so brutal that she admits, after certain sessions: "I actually felt like I was going to die."

"As a young athlete Sally was always good to the first four or five hurdles," says Jackson.

"What she was worked on with Sharon was her technical endurance - the skill that allows an athlete to keep their speed over the barriers for the entire race, rather than just the first half of it.

"So Sally will train over 12 hurdles, rather than the normal ten.

"In her training she has to combine the speed of a sprinter with the lightness of a long jumper. If she puts on too much muscle bulk she will get faster but have too much to carry over the barrier, so she will do lots of plyometric work - jumping, leaping, bounding.

"In the gym, that equates to lifting weights like a jumper - not to put on mass, but to develop elastic strength. So she will do power-cleans, bench presses, squats and lots and lots of circuits."

Not since Cathy Freeman in Sydney 12 years ago had Pearson's home country invested so much hope in an athlete. "There is a page of Olympic history waiting for her name," declared The Australian newspaper, around the time she was packing her bags for London.There was also an unhappy omen hanging over her on the blocks: no woman has ever won the sprint hurdles title at the World Championships and then followed it with Olympic gold the following year.Pearson, nerveless, dealt with it all. And key to that was another of her trademark explosive starts.

"She attacks the 100m hurdles like it was 100m flat," says Jackson.

"She runs at the first hurdle like it's not there, which sounds strange but is actually the dream position to be in.

"Those first three hurdles are your acceleration phase, when you go from zero to close to your top speed. You do not want to be putting the brakes on there.

"Athletes without her mental confidence would come out of the blocks with six hard strides and then eight more which are 'approach' strides - leaning back, getting ready for the barriers.

"All that slows you down. From hurdles three to seven, the barriers are coming at you rapidly.

"You are just on auto-pilot. But if you are working well technically you will keep attacking the hurdles, and you will carry that speed all the way to the line."

Pearson took gold from reigning champion Dawn Harper by just 0.02 seconds. It was no fluke.

Olympics athletics: Taoufik Makhloufi wins men's 1500m gold

Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi left the rest of the field trailing to win the first global title of his career.

Makhloufi, 24, finished in a time of three minutes 34.08 seconds, racing away from American Leonel Manzano who took silver in 3:47.79, with Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider in bronze.Makhloufi was reinstated in the Games on Monday, having been disqualified for not trying in his 800m heat.

Defending champion Asbel Kiprop was last, apparently hampered by injury.

Makhloufi, a semi-finalist at last year's World Championships in Daegu, set off quickly and led alongside Iguider after the first lap, before falling back to sixth after the second lap.

He was battling hard with Kenya's Kiprop, but as the Beijing champion's challenge faded, the Algerian positioned himself well to attack the frontrunners in the closing stages.

He took the lead in the back straight and, with around 200m to go, accelerated easily away from his nearest rivals to race unchallenged towards the finishing line.

Makhloufi, who won his 1500m semi-final impressively on Sunday, had been forced to race in the 800m after Algeria failed to withdraw him before the deadline.

He jogged through about 200m of his heat before quitting, and was then excluded from the Games for "not providing a bona fide effort".

However, after inspecting medical evidence, the International Association of Athletics Federations decided Makhloufi could race in the 1500m final.

Olympics cycling: Laura Trott wins omnium gold medal

Britain's Laura Trott won a superb second gold medal of the Games with victory in the women's omnium.

Having claimed gold in the women's team pursuit on Saturday, she is now a double Olympic and world champion at just 20 years of age.

"I can't believe this has happened to me," said Trott, who finished with a total of 18 points.

"I'm peaking at the right time and it's all thanks to the coaches, and the support of the crowd and my family."

The overnight leader in the multi-discipline event, Trott dropped back into second place behind American Sarah Hammer in Tuesday's opening session.Hammer stretched her lead to two points in the penultimate event, the scratch race, but Trott produced an Olympic record for the 500m time trial to snatch the gold.

That relegated 28-year-old Hammer to the second step of the podium, with Australia's Annette Edmondson taking the bronze.With the winner of each event in track cycling's version of the decathlon getting one point, the second-placed rider scoring two points and so on, Trott needed to beat Hammer by three clear places to win the inaugural women's Olympic omnium title.That is what happened at the World Championships in Melbourne in April, but so close were the two riders that many suspected the result here would be a tie, meaning the medal would be decided by the cumulative total of their three timed rides, the 250m flying lap, the 3,000m individual pursuit and the 500m time trial. That would give Hammer a 0.681 second advantage going into the time trial.

However, when French sprinter Clara Sanchez laid down an early marker of 35.451 it looked like Hammer was going to have to go considerably quicker than ever before, with Trott, a more accomplished sprinter, favourite to win the final discipline.Edmondson's 35.140 then gave Trott the opportunity to put three places between herself and Hammer - the leading pair the last to ride - and she did not disappoint the raucous velodrome crowd. Her 35.110 was another Olympic record for the dominant British track cycling team.

"I came into today not feeling as good as yesterday and to finish off with that last 500m is unbelievable," added Trott, who won three of the six events, was second in another and third in a fifth.She has now won eight gold medals from eight opportunities at the three major championships she has been to.

Sir Chris Hoy wins sixth Olympic gold medal with keirin win

Sir Chris Hoy claimed a sixth Olympic gold medal to become the most successful British Olympian of all time.

Having won gold on the first night of the track cycling in the men's team sprint, Hoy's triumph in the keirin was the perfect finale for Team GB.Hoy's six golds take him past rowing great Sir Steve Redgrave's five.And with a silver from Sydney 2000 as well, he equals Bradley Wiggins's record total of seven medals.

The 36-year-old Scot is sure he will not carry on for a fifth Games in 2016, but he is already assured of his status as track cycling's greatest ever sprinter.

Hoy, the defending Olympic and four-time world champion, hit the front with a lap to go and while he was momentarily overtaken by Germany's Maximilian Levy on the back straight, he came roaring back to win by a bike length.Levy, the silver medallist at the World Championships in April, had to settle for second again, with Teun Mulder of the Netherlands and Simon van Velthooven of New Zealand crossing the line together for third and a bronze medal each.

"I'm in shock. You try to compose yourself but it's surreal," said Hoy. "I wanted to win gold in front of my home crowd. I saw everyone stepping up to the plate and thankfully it worked out for me too.

"The keirin is a lottery and you never take anything for granted in it. I can't describe the feelings I have at the moment. This is enough for me - this is the perfect end to my Olympic career.

"I can't put into words what it means to me. It's one of the greatest feelings I have ever had.

"I'm 99.9% sure I won't be competing in Rio. How can you top this? [The 2014 Commonwealth Games in] Glasgow is another question, as that would be the dream ending for me."With a combination of bravery, cunning and power, the keirin, the final track cycling race of the Games, is always a favourite with the crowd.

An eight-lap race, the six riders spend the first five and a half of those riding behind a small motorbike, or derny.The speed is slowly ratcheted up before the derny peels away to unleash an almighty charge for the line.This most vocal of London 2012 audiences emphatically underlined the British team's domination of the last six days in the velodrome: 10 events, seven golds, a silver and a bronze. And the only medal missing was in the women's team sprint, the event that saw Pendleton and Jess Varnish disqualified when a place in the final was theirs.Most experts said Team GB could never repeat the success achieved by the track cycling team in Beijing 2008. Most experts were wrong.

Andrew Benson's Blog: Battle to catch Fernando Alonso

The 2012 Formula 1 season has already been an intoxicating mix of great racing and unpredictable results, but as the teams and drivers head off for their mid-season break it is clear that what it has served up so far has merely been an appetiser.

Had someone tried to set up the final nine races of the season, which are packed into three months starting from the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September, they could not have scripted it better if they had tried.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has a 40-point lead in the championship,deservedly so after producing one of the greatest half-seasons seen from any driver in a very long time.But the Spaniard, for all his innumerable qualities, does not have the best car and lined up behind him are four world-class drivers, all in faster cars, all but one a world champion, all aiming to haul him in.Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of the leading teams.

Ferrari

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has described the machinery in which Alonso started the season as "a car that was not a car".The F2012 was a second and a half off the pace in Melbourne in March. It has improved in leaps and bounds since then, but the Hungarian Grand Prix proved it is still far from the fastest car on a fully dry weekend.As Alonso puts it: "Lotus, McLaren and Red Bull have been ahead of us for the whole championship."

The reason Alonso is leading the championship by 40 points - a win and a third place - after 11 races is his ability to stay calm and get the most out of the car at all times.As ever, give him a sniff of victory and he just does not let go. And sometimes, as in the case of arguably his finest win in Valencia, he creates that chance himself.The Ferrari is arguably the fastest car in the field in the wet.That, and a fast and well-timed pit stop put him in a position from which he wrestled victory in Malaysia, and helped him to score the pole position from which he controlled the dry German Grand Prix.Elsewhere, he has relied on his own skill and determination to consistently notch up the results. Alonso has finished in the points for the last 23 consecutive races, which is only one shy of the all-time record, set by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari from 2001-3.

Ferrari also deserve a lot of credit, for consistently good pit stops, and solid strategy - although they have arguably let 27 points go begging through a lack of flexibility in Spain, Monaco and Canada.

Alonso has also benefited from the inconsistency of his rivals. But logic suggests that cannot go on and Ferrari's big task is to make the car significantly faster.As Alonso puts it: "Now we must try and make a good leap forward in terms of performance to allow us to keep the lead in the championship, because in the long term, what we have now will not be enough."

To be completely accurate, it would be better to say it "might not" be enough.Given the way he has been driving so far, Alonso might be able to hold on even if Ferrari don't improve their relative competitiveness. But it would be a whole lot easier if he had a faster car.

Red Bull

The serene canter to the title that was Sebastian Vettel's 2011 season is a thing of distant memory. How very different things look for the German prodigy this season.On balance, on race performance, the Red Bull has probably been the strongest car this season, albeit showing nothing like the dominant form it has for the last two years.But they have struggled to get a handle on the tyres and some atypical errors and problems have hindered their progress.Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber have been very evenly matched this season, neck and neck in qualifying and it is the Australian who is Alonso's closest pursuer in the championship, albeit by only two points from Vettel.Both men have had problems.

Vettel lost a certain fourth place - and possibly a third - when he crashed with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan in Malaysia. The Indian earned a penalty for it, but many felt it was Vettel's fault for pulling across him slightly.He lost a certain win in Valencia with an alternator failure, and his impatience and what some see as an arrogance in himself and his team meant a second place in Germany became fifth after a penalty for illegally overtaking Jenson Button.Webber, meanwhile, has been hit by what he referred to in Hungary as "friendly fire".A probable win escaped in Spain when the team erroneously failed to send him out for a second run in second qualifying and he was left down in 12th on the grid.And a strategy error cost him fifth place - and a finish ahead of Alonso - in Hungary.

The team have also earned themselves a bit of a reputation as 'bad boys' with a series of run-ins with the FIA for pushing the rules too far.The car, though, is easily good enough for either driver to overhaul Alonso.

The question is, will the intense intra-team battle between Vettel and Webber cost them both points?

McLaren

McLaren started the season with the out-and-out fastest car and, notwithstanding a mini-slump in late June and early July, have continued to have it for the vast majority of the season.Yet largely because of a series of operational errors, Lewis Hamilton finds himself 47 points behind Alonso in the championship.

Hamilton, by and large, has driven extremely well this season. Gone is the uncertain, haunted, error-prone figure of 2011, and in its place is a much calmer more serene driver. Only Alonso has driven better.

Be that as it may, Hamilton's biggest concerns surround whether McLaren can come to operate their car as effectively over a wide range of conditions as Ferrari do.The McLaren has proved very sensitive to tyre temperature, a problem that has only really been apparent on Jenson Button's car in the dry, but has left both drivers struggling in the wet.

If McLaren cannot fix that, Hamilton could find himself losing more big chunks of points to Alonso and other rivals when next there is a wet race.Bar a brilliant win in Australia and strong seconds in China and Germany, Button's season has been a disappointment for such a quality driver, and he is out of title contention.

Lotus

Lotus are yet to win a race but Kimi Raikkonen is a real championship threat.
Their problem has been qualifying at the front - the car is very fast in races, but they have often left themselves too much ground to make up.

Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean has been making too many errors and is too far behind to be considered a serious contender for the title, although a win is far from out of the question.But while the Frenchman had the edge on Raikkonen for much of the first half of the season, the Finn appears to have found his mojo again.Raikkonen was stunning in finishing second - and nearly winning - in Hungary.

And he is always brilliant at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps - Raikkonen has either won or not finished every race he has competed in there since 2004.Lotus are expected to race their new straight-line speed boosting device there, a track where it could provide a decisive advantage.Raikkonen is only one point further adrift of Alonso than Hamilton is. A win at Spa and it really would be game on for him in the championship.