Proud Uzbek Nurudinov eases to Rio gold

Weightlifter Ruslan Nurudinov lived up to his billing as the 'Pride of Uzbekistan' with a routine victory in the 105kg category on Monday, before promising himself a long sleep and a trip to the beach. "I am so tired, so very tired, I just want to sleep," said Nurudinov, who has undergone two bouts of knee surgery in the past two years, after winning with an overall total of 431kg. "Then I want to swim. If I'm lucky, man, I might go to the beach here in Brazil." Armenian teenager Simon Martirosyan put in a remarkable performance to take silver, the 19-year-old finishing ahead of two men who had beaten him at the European Championships in April with a career-best total of 417kg. It was Armenia's first medal in Rio. "I am the happiest man in the world," Martirosyan said. 

American Taylor leaps to second gold

Christian Taylor of the United States retained his men's triple jump title on Tuesday, recording the longest jump of the year to claim the podium top spot. Taylor, the defending Olympics and world champion, made his mark of 17.86m with his first jump, staking a claim for the gold medal that his rivals were unable to match. “The job is done,” Taylor said. “I wanted it so much. It came together, the stars aligned.”  

Lavillenie apologises for Nazi comparison      

French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie has apologised for comparing the booing he was subjected to during the final on Monday to the hostility of Nazi Germany towards Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games. The world record holder was barracked by the Rio crowd when attempting to jump 6.08m to stay in the competition against Thiago da Silva, who sprung a huge surprise by winning Brazil's first athletics gold of the Games in the event. Lavillenie gave the partisan crowd a thumbs-down at the start of his run-up to get them to stop the jeers. “In 1936 the crowd was against Jesse Owens,” he said of the black American sprinter whose four gold medals in Berlin were an affront to the Nazi ideology of racial superiority. “We've not seen this since. We have to deal with it.” On Tuesday, however, Lavillenie accepted that it was an inappropriate reference. “Yes, sorry for the bad comparison I made,” he said on Twitter. “It was a hot reaction and I realise it was wrong. Sorry to everyone.”   — Agencies