Breaux Greer would never let a little thing like a torn knee ligament keep him out of the Athens Olympics.
Especially since he has a decent chance to become the first U.S. javelin thrower in more than a half-century to win a gold medal.
“They’re going to have to take me off on a stretcher, probably, because I’m going to give it everything I have,” he said.
Greer tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the one he plants hard to the ground as he lets go of the javelin. It happened on the best throw of his life, a record for U.S. throwers of 287 feet 9 inches in Norway on June 11.
Greer wears a brace on the injured knee with a sticker that reads “My knee feels fine.”
PREGNANT? NO PROBLEM: German archer Cornelia Pfohl, seven months pregnant, will compete in the individual and team events–the first time an Olympian has competed while in her third trimester.
“I am feeling comfortable, and it’s emotional to expect your child,” said the two-time medalist. “There’s no problem with my pregnancy. I can still practice archery.”
Four years ago, she won a team bronze medal in Sydney early in her pregnancy with now 3-year-old daughter, Mara.
DOPING? PROBLEM: In the first of what anti-doping authorities expect to be a record number of Olympic doping offenses, a Kenyan boxer was disqualified from the Summer Games after testing positive for a stimulant, IOC officials said.
David Munyasia was banned after testing positive Aug. 6 for cathine, a substance commonly found in khat, a brownish, leafy chew used in East Africa as chewing tobacco is used in the U.S. The test spotlights key changes in Olympic testing protocols expected to produce a marked increase in doping positives.
WON: The U.S. Olympic basketball team pulled away from Turkey in the fourth quarter for a 80-68 victory Tuesday.
LeBron James drew boos when he swiped at the ball and hit Turkey guard Ibrahim Kutluay in the eye.
CARRIED: Nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis and supermodel Naomi Campbell are two of the celebrities carrying the Olympic torch through Athens.
SUBBED: Gail Devers, the 37-year-old five-time Olympian, will replace Torri Edwards in the 100 meters in the Athens games after the world governing body of track and field recommended that Edwards be suspended for two years for taking a prohibited stimulant.
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Edited by the Sports staff of RedEye.
