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The New York Times: The Seoul Olympics: Roundup

By September 27, 1988October 19th, 2021No Comments

This news article featuring Bob Mionske has been reproduced here for our media archives. To access the original article, follow the link.

The New York Times: THE SEOUL OLYMPICS: ROUNDUP; East German Cyclist Sprints To Victory in Last 300 Meters

AP
Published: Tuesday, September 27, 1988

Olaf Ludwig, an East German cyclist, took the lead with 3 kilometers left and outsprinted Brend Groene of West Germany in the final 300 meters today to win the men’s 197-kilometer road race.

Ludwig, the pre-race favorite, covered 12 laps on the 16.4-kilometer Tong Il Ro course, north of Seoul, in 4 hours 32 minutes 22 seconds. Groene followed by 3 seconds and Christian Henn of West Germany finished third.

Bob Mionske of the United States had a strong close to finish fourth in the field of 143 riders from 56 nations. Djamolidin Abdoujaparov of the Soviet Union was fifth, followed by Edward Salas of Australia, Roberto Pelliconi of Italy and Graeme Miller of New Zealand.

Ludwig and Groene pulled away from a group of 11 lead riders after 194 kilometers and opened a lead of several hundred meters that the rest of the contenders never threatened. Henn trailed the first- and second-place finishers by 21 seconds.

Groene led when he and Ludwig began the last sprint, but the East German was stronger and blew a kiss to the crowd and raised arms in the air as he crossed the finish line.

In stark contrast to the women’s road race Monday when no one was able to break away from the field until the final 5 kilometers, there was plenty of action at the front of the men’s event.

Six riders – including Zdzislav Wrona of Poland, Michel Lafis of Sweden and Gervais Rioux of Canada -were in the lead group after 141 kilometers. The rest of the field gradually cut into their lead of 2:05, however, and caught the leaders with two laps, or 32.8 kilometers, to go. Table Tennis Third-Ranked Player Upset SEOUL, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 27 (AP) – Ding Yi of Austria beat Chen Longcan of China, the third-ranked player in the world, in a preliminary match today.

Ding, ranked 55th in the world, beat Chen, 21-18, 21-17, 9-21, 21-14. Ding’s record is 5-0. Chen is 4-1.

Sean O’Neill of the United States lost to Tibor Klampar of Hungary, 13-21, 8-21, 8-21, in another men’s match. O’Neill’s record is 1-4. Diana Gee of the United States posted her first victory when she beat Blanca Alejo of the Dominican Republic, 21-7, 21-7, 21-10. Wrestling U.S. Wins Three Matches SEOUL, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 27 (AP) – John Smith, Jim Scherr and Tim Vanni got the United States freestyle team off to a winning start today with first-round victories.

Smith, the favorite to win the 136-pound class, easily handled Jozsef Orban of Hungary, 11-4. Scherr beat Doug Cox of Canada, 10-7, at 198 pounds. Vanni shut out Alfredo Marcuno of Spain, 16-0, on a technical fall at 4 minutes 12 seconds of their six-minute match at 105 pounds.

Smith will wrestle Simeon Chterev of Bulgaria, the 1981 world champion, in the second round. Chterev beat Kazuhito Sakae of Japan, 2-1, in the first round.

Scherr controlled the first round and moved out easily to a 10-0 lead. Cox, who defeated Scherr in the Pan-American Games, rallied in the second round and began pushing Scherr around, cutting into his lead one point at a time.

Vanni’s opening match was a rout. He opened an 11-0 lead in the first round and ended the match on the technical fall, leading by more than 15 points.

Lee Sang Ho of South Korea, second in the 1987 world championships and the 105-pound favorite here, apparently broke his right arm in his opening match against Takashi Kobayashi of Japan. Weight Lifting Russian Wins in 220-Pound SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 26 (AP) – Pavel Kouznetsov of the Soviet Union won a battle between current and former world record-holders today in the 220-pound class.

Kouznetsov lifted 190 kilograms (418 3/4 pounds) in the snatch and 235 kilograms (518 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk for a total of 425 kilograms (936 3/4 pounds). All but the snatch lift were Olympic records.

Andor Szanyi of Hungary won a silver medal with a total of 407.5 kilograms (898 1/4 pounds), and Nicu Vlad of Rumania won a bronze with 402.5 kilograms (887 1/4 pounds). All had previously held a world record in the event. The previous Olympic records in the snatch and combined total were set by Ota Zaremba of Czechoslovakia in 1980, while the snatch record was set by Micheal Hennig of East Germany the same year. Judo Another Gold for Korea SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 26 (AP) – Lee Kyung Keun of South Korea won a gold medal in the men’s 143-pound division today, beating Janusz Pawlowski of Poland by a decision.

Yosuke Yamamoto of Japan and Bruno Carabetta of France won bronze medals. Water Polo U.S. Beats Greece, 18-9, SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 26 (AP) – Jody Campbell had four goals as the United States overwhelmed Greece, 18-9, today, enabling the Americans to move into the lead in their group because of a loss by previously unbeaten Spain.

”Our offense has been sluggish, but we managed to get on track today,” Campbell said.

The Americans will advance to the medal round if they beat Hungary on Tuesday. Spain, which had beaten the United States, gave up four consecutive first period goals and was beaten by Yugoslavia, 10-8.

The Americans are now 3-0-1, as is Yugoslavia. However, the Americans lead because they beat the top-ranked Yugoslavs in their opening game.

Alan Mouchawar and Jim Bergeson each had three goals for the United States. Kevin Robertson and Peter Campbell each had two.

In other games today, West Germany beat Italy, 10-7, to remain undefeated in Group B. The Soviet Union beat South Korea, 17-4. Australia edged France, 7-6, and Hungary beat China, 14-7. Synchronized Swimming Ruiz-Conforto Leads in Solo SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 26 (AP) – The battle between Tracie Ruiz-Conforto of the United States and Carolyn Waldo of Canada began today with Ruiz-Conforto leading by two-tenths of one point after the solo preliminaries.

Ruiz-Conforto, the 1984 gold medalist, returned to competition after retiring and received 98.4 points for her second debut. Waldo received 98.2 points. ”It feels great to be back,” Ruiz-Conforto said. Mikako Kotani of Japan was third with 97 points, followed by Muriel Hermine of France, 95.6, and Karin Singer of Switzerland, 94.4. Field Hockey Australia Stays Unbeaten SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 26 (AP) – Australia, West Germany, Britain and the Netherlands advanced to the semifinals in the men’s tournament today.

Australia edged Spain 1-0 to finish the preliminaries with a 5-0 record in Group A. In the other pool, West Germany routed the Soviet Union, 6-0, for its fourth victory against one draw.

Britain outclassed India, 3-0, in Group B, while the Netherlands beat Pakistan, 2-0, in the other pool.

Canada and South Korea fought to a 1-1 tie, while Argentina beat Kenya, 5-1. Tennis Garrison Beats Shriver SEOUL, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 27 (AP) – Zina Garrison defeated Pam Shriver, 6-3, 6-2, today to win an all-American quarterfinal duel.

Garrison’s 66-minute victory assured the United States of a fifth medal in the first full-scale Olympic tennis competition since 1924. Gold medals go to the finals winners, with the silver going to the loser. The two semifinal losers each get a bronze.

Ken Flach and Robert Seguso of the United States reached the men’s doubles semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Morten Christensen and Michael Tauson of Denmark.

Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert already have reached the last four of the men’s singles; Garrison and Shriver are in the semifinals of the women’s doubles.

Stefan Edberg made sure of picking up two medals for Sweden.

Edberg, already in the semifinals of the men’s singles, reached the last four of the men’s doubles with Anders Jarryd. They beat Darren Cahill and John Fitzgerald of Australia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Garrison was joined in the women’s semifinals by Manuela Maleeva, the seventh-seeded Bulgarian, who beat Raffaella Reggi of Italy, 6-3, 6-4.