Drugs and drama on penultimate day
A blood-inspired marathon win and an
emotional triumph for Iran's footballers dominated the
penultimate day of the Asian Games in Busan on Sunday as a drug
scandal rocked India's athletics team.
With 42 more gold medals settled ahead of the last day of
action, one of the most determined individual performances
on Sunday came from North Korean marathon runner Ham Pong-Sil.
Suffering from a stomach ache attributed to living in the
famine-ravaged Stalinist state, Ham was driven to the finish
line by a blood-written message on her wrist from friends, and
thoughts of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
"I could feel the Great Leader Kim Jong-Il was looking
after me, and I was able to finish the race well," she said
after finishing in 2 hours 33 minutes 35seconds.
"There was a blood-written promise (to win) on my wrist
from my friends."
Her time may have been modest, but it was more than
enough for Japan's Harumi Hiroyama and Hiromi Ominami who
finished second and third respectively.
Ham later revealed the effects of living in the starving
North began to take their toll near the end of the 42.2km
race.
"When I got to the top of the hill at the 40km mark I
felt a lot of stomach ache, but I didn't give up," Ham said.
"I haven't been eating food in my country, and I think
maybe I had digestive problems."
With only the men's marathon to be run on Monday, China
heads the athletics medal table with 14 gold, most of them in
women's events, after winning three of eight finals on Sunday.
Indian athletics officials spent the day digesting the
news that women's 1,500 metres gold medallist Sunita Rani had
returned a positive sample following her victory in the race
last Thursday.
Jagdish Tytler, chef de mission of India's Asian Games
team, said the 22-year-old runner had protested her innocence
at a hearing convened by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)
officials on Friday.
She is reported to have tested positive for the banned
steroid nandrolone but Indian officials insisted they had not
been told of the substance detected in her urine sample.
Long after the morning athletics events had packed up
from the Busan Main Asiad Stadium, all eyes were back on the
arena in the evening for Iran's football final against Japan.
Iran, who had been forced to regroup after skipper Ali
Daei withdrew from the squad last week following the death of
his father, successfully defended their 1998 title with a 2-1
win.
Javad Kazemeyan and Mohsen Bayatiniya were the
goalscoring stars of the night but they had to survive a
nervous last few moments when Satoshi Nakayama grabbed a late
reply.
The Asian Games' boxing competition climaxed with 12 gold
medals and surprisingly little in the way of controversy
following various juding rows earlier in the week.