Olympic digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

South Korea open up with two world records

ARCHERY:Archery superpower South Korea delivered a stinging reminder of its strength yesterday with two world records on the first day of competition at Lord's.

Im Dong-hyun, who lost the world number one ranking to American Brady Ellison in 2011, shot 699 to break his own 72 arrow world record in the mens ranking round, and combined with Oh Jin-hyek and Kim Bub-min to set a new team record of 2,087.

Kim’s score of 698 would also have broken the previous world record of 696, while Oh brought up the rear on 690.

The United States, currently the worlds number one team and pre-Olympic favourites for gold, finished the day in fourth behind France and China.

Kim, who has strong myopia and has to aim at a ‘blob’ of colour on the target 70 metres away, was pleased to finish top of the ranking round but was characteristically cool on how the competition would play out. “It’s only the first round so I won’t get too excited about it,” he said.

Olympic and Saudi officials discuss hijab

JUDO:Olympic and Saudi Arabian officials are in talks with judo chiefs to find a solution after the sport's governing body ruled the Saudi's female competitor would have to fight without a hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

On Thursday, the head of the International Judo Federation (IJF) president Marius Vizer confirmed Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, one of the first two female athletes sent to the Olympics by the conservative Muslim kingdom, would not be allowed to wear a hijab.

Shaherkani is due to compete in the women’s heavyweight tournament next Friday, and her participation could now be in doubt.

An IJF spokesman said talks were underway between the Saudi Arabian National Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IJF to attempt to resolve the issue.

German hockey tweet insulting Greece was fake

TWITTER:An alleged Twitter post by a German hockey player poking fun at Greek athletes which angered many in Greece was a "cowardly fake", Germanys national Olympic committee said yesterday.

The tweet attributed to German Olympic flagbearer Natascha Keller read: “The Olympic village is filled with barefoot Greek athletes. As soon as we see them we are afraid that they will ask us for loans.”

It surfaced on Greek blogs earlier yesterday and provoked outrage from Greeks who left angry messages on the player’s Facebook page. “Whoever is behind this fake should be ashamed. Its a cowardly act, which deserves no further comment,” German Olympic mission chief Michael Vesper said in a statement.

Neither Keller nor her coach Michael Behrmann were available for comment.

In the peel of the Hunt, that was embarrasing

OFF THE HANDLE:The British minister in charge of the London Olympics said yesterday he could not promise a tournament without glitches – and then promptly broke an Olympic bell which flew off its handle and hit his publicist.

“My goodness me! Terrible moment there! Health and safety,” an embarrassed secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport Jeremy Hunt said after dropping an Olympic-size clanger with the ceremonial bell.

Checking his assistant was unhurt, Hunt said: “There we are, disaster averted, thank you. You got more TV there than you expected.”

Hunt could have been accused of tempting fate as he took part in a mass bell-ringing event to celebrate the official start of the Games.

Deselecting Idowu would be 'a nonsense'

TRIPLE JUMP:UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos yesterday said he expects Phillips Idowu to do "very well" at the London Olympics, even though head coach Charles van Commenee said he does not know if the triple jumper will be fit.

Van Commenee also said he had considered deselecting the Beijing silver medallist, who has arranged his own medical treatment in London rather than attend a training camp in Portugal, but De Vos feels that would be “a nonsense”.

“I think what Charles was saying is actually once someone has been selected, the only thing you can do if you have concerns is to deselect them and clearly it would be a nonsense to deselect someone of Phillips’ standing and ability,” De Vos told Sky Sports News.

Idowu has not competed since June 1st and is undergoing treatment on a trapped nerve which is causing problems in his left hip and knee.

His agent said the 33-year-old was “incredibly disappointed and surprised” that the British Olympic Association made public a request to see Idowu’s medical records, a request which was complied with on Thursday.