Empty seats cause concern CHINESE officials have admitted that they are concerned about the lack of spectators at some Olympic events. They have hired volunteers, dressed in yellow shirts, to fill up empty venues and improve the atmosphere inside. But Wang Wei, a senior official with the Beijing Olympics organising committee (BOCOG), said other Olympics had experienced similar problems. The comments came after spectators and journalists noticed that certain venues were far from full, even though all events are sold out. Speaking at a daily press briefing, Wang said, "We are also concerned about this not full stadium [issue]." He said a number of factors had contributed to this, including the hot and humid weather in Beijing, as well as the rain. Wang said some spectators were also only turning up for specific events, even though they had tickets for a whole session. "For competitions like beach volleyball and basketball, [spectators] have one ticket for the whole afternoon, morning, evening," he explained. "They may choose to go to one of them, but not all of them." Wang, executive vice-president of BOCOG, said local authorities were hiring volunteers to fill empty seats. "If they find that there are not enough people, or if they find that there are too many empty seats, they organise some cheerleaders," he said. These cheer for both sides to "create a good atmosphere," he added. Although some events are full - such as Sunday's clash between the men's basketball teams from China and the United States - others have been less well attended. These include sessions of judo, badminton and water polo. "There were heaps of empties. It's sickening," said one spectator who went to the judo expecting to see a full house. There were even a number of empty seats at the opening ceremony on Friday. One reason for less-than-full venues could be that seats allocated to corporate sponsors are not being used. Many of these tickets are handed out the night before events take place, sometimes too late for those who get them to attend, according to someone with access to these tickets. A grandmother -- and a keen badminton fan A 97-YEAR-OLD grandmother has travelled 2,400 kilometres by tricyle to watch the Chinese badminton team in action at the Beijing Olympics. Xiao Xincui, affectionately known as old Xiao, sat in the back while her grandson Liu Xianghui provided the pedal power on their mammoth journey from Henan province in central China. The epic trip took five weeks and they arrived to see women's singles champion Zhang Ning play on Sunday. "I'm very excited to be here," said Xiao. Her grandson said he wanted to make the trip as a thank you to Xiao for bringing him up after his father died when he was young. Their journey has caught the imagination of the Chinese media and public and they now have tickets to see the 110m hurdles final at the National Stadium where the whole of China will be willing Liu Xiang to win another gold medal China captured gymnastics team gold CHINA delivered a stunning performance in front of a packed crowd to claim the men's team gymnastics gold in Beijing. Japan came second followed by USA. In a display described as "perfect" by Chinese coach Huang Yubin, the hosts scored 286.125 points to regain the Olympic crown they won in 2000. Defending champions Japan were pushed into second while the US, who were also in contention for silver until the last two events, claimed the bronze medal. China's male gymnasts have now won seven of the last eight world titles. Chinese coach Huang joked his hair had gone white under the strain of preparing the squad to win gold at the Beijing Games. The host nation's team had started slowly on the floor, one of their weaker events, though debutant Zou Kai delivered a clean and precise routine. The competition hotted up when the next rotation took them to the pommel horse where double world champion Qin Xiao had the crowd in the palm of his hand as his delivered a smooth, controlled performance. Chen Yibing, two-time world champion on the rings, followed that up with an excellent performance, scoring 16.575. Yang Wei followed suit in another demanding test of brute strength on rings while Li Xiaopeng's super vault and high bar, and Huang Xu's contribution on the parallel bars ensured China sealed the gold. Jones hit Olympic gold and record LEISEL Jones confirmed her dominance of Women's Breaststroke in the 100m final, winning the gold medal in a time of 1:05.17. The world record holder and world champion was easily fastest into the finals and extended her powerful form with an Olympic Record swim to touch comfortably for gold. She started out fast and turned at the 50m mark 0.20 seconds under the world record split, but was unable to hold that pace, fading in the last 15 meters to just miss the mark. This Olympic crown will be extra sweet for Jones who has dominated women's Breaststroke since 2005 but came away from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games with a disappointing bronze. Jones will now turn her attention to the heats of the 200m Breaststroke at the Water Cube on Wednesday where she again will enter the event as world champion and world record holder. Jones will attempt to clean sweep the Women's Breaststroke events and given her form since 2005 - and at these Games - few would bet against her. Canada makes men's water polo history MONTENEGRO thrashed Canada 12-0 in the first round and thus Canada now becomes the first team to not score a single goal in a Men's Water Polo match at the Olympic Games for 32 years. India celebrates first gold medal ABHINAV Bindra won the gold medal in the 10-meter air rifle on Monday, giving India their first medal of the Olympics. The 2006 world champion entered the final in third place but overtook China's Zhu Qinan and Finland's Henri Hakkinen by scoring 104.5 points for the title. Bindra finished with 700.5 points, to edge out 2004 winner Zhu who had 699.7 points for the silver medal. Hakkinen got the bronze with 699.4. Zhu's second place finish gives the Chinese three medals in the shooting competition after Guo Wenjun won the women's 10-meter air pistol and Pang Wei took the men's event. Apart from politics THE SHOOTING competition has provided one of the most poignant moments of the Olympics. On Sunday, Sharpshooters from Russia and Georgia embraced after earning medals for their countries, which have been teetering on the brink of war since the Olympics kicked off last week. Russia's Natalia Paderina and Georgia's Nino Salukvadze hugged after winning Olympic silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 10-meter air pistol competition. The rivals kissed each other on the cheek after standing on the medal podium with China's Guo Wenjun, who won the gold medal in the event. Iranian withdrawal makes titles AN IRANIAN swimmer at the Beijing Olympics who withdrew from a race that included an Israeli did so because he was ill, authorities said Monday. The swimmer, Mohammad Alirezaei, did not compete in the men's 100-meter breaststroke heat Saturday because of illness and not for any other reason, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Beijing told CNN. Iran could have faced sanctions from the International Olympic Committee if Alirezaei deliberately pulled out so he did not have to compete against Israel's Tom Beeri. Relations between the two countries are non-existent. Iran does not recognize Israel and accuses the Jewish state of trying to destabilise the republic. Israel has not ruled out military action to halt Iran's nuclear aspirations. Four years ago, at the Olympic Games in Athens, an Iranian athlete pulled out of the opening round of a judo competition that included an Israeli. According to press reports at the time, the Iranian president was quoted by the state news agency as saying the athlete's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories" and declared that the nation consider him to be "the champion of the 2004 Olympic Games." Iran's Swimming Federation told the country's Islamic Republic News Agency that Alirezaei complained of stomach pains 30 minutes before the meet. Doctors, suspecting appendicitis or a ruptured hernia, determined that the swimmer be hospitalized, the federation said. The Iranian National Olympic Committee (INOC) had said earlier that it did not foresee a problem with Alirezaei competing in the heat because there would be "no face-to-face situation" between the two men. "Alirezaei swims in lane one and the representative of Israel in lane seven, so they will not face each other," INOC secretary Ali Kafashian said, according to the news agency. American killed, coach's father-in-law A CHINESE man wielding a knife stabbed an American couple in central Beijing on Saturday, killing the man and seriously wounding the woman before jumping to his death from an ancient tower, said US Olympic officials and state-run media. A female Chinese tour guide also was wounded in the attack, which happened around noon at the Drum Tower, a popular tourist site, China's official news agency, Xinhua, reported. The US Olympic Committee identified the dead man as Todd Bachman, the father-in- law of Olympic Men's Indoor Volleyball Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. Bachman's wife, Barbara, suffered "serious and life-threatening" injuries, the committee said. However, Xinhua reported that she and the tour guide were in "stable" condition at a hospital. The couple's daughter, Elizabeth Bachman McCutcheon -- the coach's wife and a member of the 2004 indoor women's volleyball team -- was with them during the attack but was unharmed, USOC said. The attacker, identified as a 47-year-old man from Hangzhou, in eastern China, jumped from the second level of the building, a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Government Information Office told Xinhua. "It is impossible to describe the depth of our sadness and shock in this tragic hour," USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth said. "Our delegation comes to the Games as a family, and when one member of our family suffers a loss, we all grieve with them. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the Bachman and McCutcheon families." The ancient Drum Tower and the nearby Bell Tower are popular tourist sites. Both sites told the time in the capital city, with the bell rung in the morning and drum beaten in the evening, throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
