The Olympic Dictionary B

BABASHOFF SHIRLEY FRANCES (swimming, USA, b. Whittier, California, 31/1/1957). Two appearances (1972, 1976), 2 golds (4x100 m freestyle in 1972 and 1976), and 6 silvers (100 m freestyle 1972, 200 m freestyle 1972 and 1976, 400 m freestyle 1976, 800 m freestyle 1976, 4x200 m relay freestyle 1976). 1972 1-2-0, 1976 1-4-0. After the four silvers in 1976, all behind the East

Germans, she was the only one to publicly accuse them of having cheated. This earned her the nickname ‘surly Shirley’, but it was confirmed years later, when the state doping in the German Democratic Republic appeared in all its seriousness. She won 2 golds (200 m and 400 m freestyle in 1975), 7 silvers and one bronze in the World Championships, 16 American titles, and she set 11 world records, 3 in the 200 m, 2 in the 400 m, one in the 800 m, and 5 in the 4x100 m freestyle. Her brother Jack won the Olympic silver in the 100 m freestyle in 1976.

BADMINTON It has been an Olympic discipline since 1992. Governed by the IBF (www.internationalbadminton.org). Cf. Sports, Section IV.

BAHAMAS (Commonwealth of Bahamas, Caribbean, capital Nassau, area 13.939 km2, 331.277 inhabitants). 8 medals: 3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze. Best Olympics: Sydney 2000 with one gold and one silver. Best sport: track & field with 2 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Pauline Davis-Thompson, athletics, with one gold (4x100 m in 2000) and 2 silvers (4x100 m in 1996, 200 m in 2000). Since then, only one edition of the Games has been missed in 1980, due to the boycott. Durward Knowles competed in 8 Olympics in the sailing event (winning one gold in 1964 and one bronze in 1956, again in Star), and in the 1948 Games for Great Britain, from whom the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, then the others from 1952 to 1972, and again in 1988 for his country of origin.

BAHRAIN (Kingdom of Bahrain, Asia, capital Manama, area 728,3 km2, 752.647 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was formed in 1978 and recognised the year after by the IOC. Bahrain took part in the Olympics in 1984 and no medals were won.

BAILLET LATOUR (de) HENRI Count (IOC president, Belgium, b. Antwerp 1/3/1876, d. Brussels 6/1/1942) He was the third president of the International Olympic Committee after Vikélas (q.v.) and de Coubertin (q.v.), after whom he was nominated successor to the presidency in 1925, when the Baron resigned. He remained in charge until his death in 1942, dealing with, among other things, the delicate issues of amateurism and the Olympic programme.

BALAS-SÖTER IOLANDA (track & field, Romania, b. Timisoara 12/12/1936.) Three appearances (1956, 1960, 1964) and 2 golds, (high jump in 1960 and 1964). 1960 1-0-0, 1964 1-0- 0). Born near (q.v.) Johnny Weissmüller’s home (5 golds for swimming between 1924 and 1928), got into athletics through the caretaker, the ex-high jumper Luisa Ernst. Made her debut in 1949, finishing the season at 1.35 (the world record was 1.71). She developed a jumping technique which was not deemed advantageous by the experts which was a variation of the scissors technique but without the rotation of the torso and with the legs opening, instead of coming together towards the bar. In 1955, before the Melbourne games, she jumped 1.75 m performing the first of her 14 world records (plus 4 indoor). She was the favourite at the Australian Olympics, but she only came fifth and the winner, the American Louis Mildred McDaniel, took the record. On the 22 June 1958 in

9 The Olympic Dictionary

Clunj, she was the first woman to exceed 1.80 m. She won her first gold at the 1960 , reaching 1.85 m, 14 cm more than the second placed Pole Jaroslawa Jozwiakowska. “My first obstacle is the bar. It would be good to have a rival”, she often repeated at the time. In Japan, despite suffering from tendon and knee problems, she won the gold by jumping 1.90 m. The tendon problems forced her to abstain from the European Championships in 1866, but for years she was to be associated with other well-known abstainers, who forfeited to avoid gender checks, which had recently been introduced by the International Federation. She retired officially in 1967, losing a competition after 140 consecutive victories (unbeaten since 1958). During her career she won 2 European golds (1958-62), and one silver (1954), a part from the indoor gold in 1966. Her last world record, 1.91 in 1961, lasts 10 years. After retiring she married her ex-coach Ian Söter, taught physical education in Bucharest, and from 1988 to 2005 ran the Romanian Athletic Federation.

BALCZÖ ANDRÁS (modern pentathlon, Hungary, b. Kondoros 16/8/1938). Three appearances (1960, 1968, 1972), 3 golds (team event 1960 and 1968, individual 1972) and 2 silvers (individual 1968, team event 1972). 1960 1-0-0, 1968 1-1-0, 1972 1-1-0. Only 4th in 1960 due to poor performance in shooting (36th scoring), after missing the 1964 Games he came 2nd in 1968 (this time due to the equestrian event: 22nd). He finally won the individual gold in 1972 at 34 years old, recovering 3 positions in the last trial, the 3000 m race. He got on better in the team event (2 golds and one silver in three Games) and especially in the World Championships, where he won 5 individual golds (1963-65-66-67-69), and 5 in the team event (1963-65-66-67-70), plus 7 silvers and 2 bronze medals.

BALDINI ERCOLE (cycling, Italy, b. Villanova, Forli-Cesena, 26/1/1933). One appearance (1956) and one gold (road race). He won the gold at Melbourne in the same year that he won the world title in the pursuit, and the record for the all-round gold (46.393 km at Vigorelli in Milan, after setting the amateur record two years previously with 44.870 km). Arnaldo Pambianco went into a sprint at the 5th lap, but the other competitors didn’t follow so they could cover Baldini. At the ninth turning he had an advantage of 2.50 then he slowed down, finishing though with 1.59 on the Frenchman Geyre. During the prize-giving, the disc with the national anthem was missing. “The Italians sang along with journalists, coaches and thousands of immigrants. They sang and cried, so much so that the anthem didn’t reach the end, because it was lost amongst the sobs of those people”. As a professional Baldini came 3rd in the Giro d’Italia in 1957, winning the timed race hands down and rendering about twenty cyclists out of the maximum time, some of which were then re-admitted into the competition after protest. The year after he managed the Giro/world championship double. He won the pink jersey with 4:17 against the Belgian Brankart, and the World Championship of Reims, almost going immediately into a sprint, with 2:09 against the Frenchman Bobet. He also won the Gran Premio delle Nazioni, and 4 Baracchi Trophies (the first along with Fausto Coppi), and was the Italian road race champion twice (1957/58).

BALDINI STEFANO (track & field, Italy, b. Castelnovo di Sotto, Reggio Emilia, 25/5/1971). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004) and one gold (marathon 2004). 1996 0-0-0, 2000 0-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. After the disappointing results at the Atlanta Games (18th and last in the final of the 10.000 m and eliminated in the semi-finals of the 5000 m), he found his strength was in marathons, a discipline in which he started in Venice in 1995. He wasn’t in top condition at the 2000 Sydney Games and dropped out at the 18th km, whereas in he obtained his greatest accomplishment, becoming the second Italian to win the Olympic marathon after Gelindo Bordin (q.v.) ( 1988). Baldini held back from the other competitors in the main stages of the race, then attacked at the 36th km, closing the gap on the American Mebrathom Keflezighi (silver) and the Brazilian Vanderlei Lima (bronze), reaching the Panathinaiko Stadium in 2h10:55. At the 35th km, while in the lead, Lima lost 7 seconds because he was attacked and shoved to the ground by Cornelius Horan, an ex-Irish priest. ‘Marathon God’ stated La Gazzetta in celebration of the national athlete’s

10 The Olympic Dictionary victory. By 31 December 2007, Baldini had won, in addition to the Olympic gold, 2 European titles (1998-2006) and 2 bronzes (2001-2003) in the marathon, a half-marathon world title (1996), 6 Italian titles in the 10.000 m and 5 in the half-marathon, in addition to winning the marathon in Rome (1998) and Madrid (2001). He has run in 24 marathons beating the Italian record 3 times, the last time in 2h07:22 in London in 2006.

BALLANGER FELICIA (cycling, France, b. La Roche-sur-Yon 12/6/1971). Three appearances (1992, 1996, 2000), 3 golds (sprint 1000 m 1996 and 2000, 500 m time trial 2000). 1996 1-0-0, 2000 2-0-0. She lost the bronze in 1992 against the Dutchwoman Haringa and won the next two Olympics in the 1000 m. In 1996 she beat the Estonian Salumäe in the quarter-finals, won 2 golds in 1988/92, also due to using the ‘sur place’ technique for 3 minutes, then struck like lightning in recovery. In 2000 she was forced into the third trial in the final, the first for her in 3 years, by the Russian Grishina. Four days previously in Sydney, she had won the 500 m time trial beating her main rival, the Australian Ferris by 556 thousandths, who she’d already beaten in the final of the Olympics in ’96 and in 3 World Championships. After two bad accidents in 1993 (a broken collarbone and a rib pierced with a piece of wood), she returned to competition winning the silver in ’94 in the sprint, and she won 10 World Championship golds doing the time/speed double in 1995, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99. She won 19 French titles and set the world record in the 500 m 6 times. The last, 34.01 in 1998 in Bordeaux, is still unbeaten. Her mother called her Felicia because she was a fan of Felice Gimondi, winner of one World Championship, one Tour de France and 3 Giro d’Italia competitions.

BANGLADESH (People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Asia, capital Dacca, area 147.570 km2, 158.664.960 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was formed in 1979 and recognised the year after by the IOC. Bangladesh took part in the Olympics in 1984 and no medals were won.

BARBADOS (Kingdom of , Caribbean, capital Bridgetown, area 431 km2, 293.894 inhabitants). Medals: one bronze (Obadele Thompson, 100 m, in 2000). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1955 and was recognised in the same year by the IOC. Barbados took part in the Games in 1960 in the mixed team of West Indies with and . James Wedderburn of Barbados won the bronze in the 4x400 m. In 1962, 4 years before independence from Great Britain, the O.C was re-established, and from ’64 onwards Barbados has competed in all of the Olympics, except in 1980 due to the boycott.

BASEBALL Official Olympic sport since 1992, it has not been included in the 2012 London programme, ruled by IBAF (International Baseball Federation – www.ibaf.tv). Cf. Sports, Section IV.

BASKETBALL Made its debut at the Games in 1936, with the first women’s tournament taking place in 1976. Ruled by FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball – www.fiba.com). Cf. Sports, Section IV

BASQUE PELOTA It was part of the Olympics only in , 1900. It is governed by the FIPV (Federación Internacional de Pelota Vasca – www.fipv.net ). Cf. the chapter on forgotten and demonstration sports in Sports, Section IV.

BAUMGARTNER BRUCE ROBERT (wrestling, USA, b. Haledon, New Jersey, 2/11/1960). Four appearances (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996), 2 golds (open >100 kg 1984, super heavyweight <130 kg 1992), one silver (open <130 kg 1988) and one bronze (super heavyweight, <130 kg 1996). 1984 1-0-0, 1988 0-1-0, 1992 1-0-0, 1996 0-0-1. After the success of Los Angeles (against the Canadian Molle), he lost the final at Seoul against Gobezhishvili. Considered in decline after coming 7th place

11 The Olympic Dictionary in the World Championships in 1991, he won the rematch against the Georgian in the 3rd heat in , getting into the final against the Canadian, Thue. He missed the gold at his 4th Olympics due to a defeat in the 2nd heat against Shumlin, and then beat the same Russian in the final reaching 3rd place, and winning his fourth medal at Atlanta. He won 3 golds, (1986/93/95), 3 silvers and 3 bronze medals in the World Championships, 8 golds and 4 silvers in the World Cup, and 17 American titles. He was also president of the USA Federation.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Made its debut at the Games in 1996. Ruled by FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball – www.fivb.org). Cf. Sports, Section IV.

BEAMON ROBERT “BOB” (track & field, USA, b. South Jamaica, New York, 29/8/1946). One appearance (1968) and one gold (long jump). “Bob, you destroyed us and the long jump event”, said Lynn Davies, the defending Olympic champion, after Bob Beamon’s jump at the 1968 City Games. On 18 October of that year the American, who had previously won 2 American titles, improved his world record, bringing it to 8.90 m, 55 cm more than the previous one, benefiting from the perfect conditions - the altitude (2.248m above sea level), maximum allowable wind (+2 m/sec), a very fast run-up (38 km/hr) and precision take-off. After that gold and the world record, beaten 23 years later by Mike Powell, Beamon never managed to repeat the win; he never managed more than 8.20 m, squandered all his earnings in a few years and quickly fell into oblivion.

BEARD AMANDA RAY (swimming, USA, b. New Port Beach, California, 29/10/1981). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004), 2 golds (4x100 m medley 1996, 200 m breaststroke) 4 silvers (100 m breaststroke 1996, 200 m breaststroke 1996, 200 m medley 2004, 4x100 m medley 2004) and one bronze (200 m breaststroke 2000). 1996 1-2-0, 2000 0-0-1, 2004 1-2-0. She was 14 years old when she stepped onto an Olympic podium for the first time with her teddy bear, beaten in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke by the South African Penny Heyns (before managing the double). The gold in the 200 m breaststroke in 2004, just the second for the USA after Wichman’s in 1968, was won with the last dip at 36.81, recuperating a good 1.16 against the Australian Jones and beating her by 23 hundredths. She won one gold in the 200 m breaststroke, plus 2 silvers at the World Championships in 2003. She was the first world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke won at the trials in 2004. She started doing cover shots, with very glamorous photos, for several magazines and even for Playboy in 2007.

BECCALI LUIGI “NINO” (track & field, Italy, b. Milan 19/11/1907, d. Daytona Beach, Florida, USA 29/8/1990). Three appearances (1928, 1932, 1936), one gold (1500m in 1932) and one bronze (1500m in 1936). 1932 1-0-0, 1936 0-0-1. He was the first Italian to win an Olympic gold in a race and the European Championship Title in Athletics. Coached by Dino Nai, a university veterinary lecturer, and representing Pro Patria Milano, he made his debut at the Amsterdam Games but was only fourth in the 1500m heat. Although he alternated athletics with work, he managed to train twice a day, becoming a forerunner in methods similar to those of professionals. “Why do they go so fast today, compared to us 40 years ago?” he said to La Gazzetta in 1974. “Because they train more, or rather, it’s the only thing they do. We also had to work. I had already understood then how things were and I trained more than the others, even secretly. Taking advantage of my job situation (I was a council surveyor, responsible for road maintenance, so I was on the road, unsupervised), I would go to the track and allow myself a few kilometres. Then in the afternoon, at the Giuriati track, I would work on speed.” The highest point of his career was at the Los Angeles Games, when coming from behind (last 300 m in 41.7) he took the gold in the 1500 m. A year later he equalled the world record winning the Universiade di Torino in 3:49.2, then in the space of a few days, on 17 September 1933, he was the only record holder running the 1500m at the Milan Arena in 3:49.00 (Italian record for 23 years) In 1936 in Berlin he didn’t manage to repeat the Los Angeles winning of the gold; he was outrun after 500 m and settled into third place behind John Lovelock and Glenn

12 The Olympic Dictionary

Cunningham. He moved to the USA and finished his running career in 1941, then dealt in the wine trade. During his career he also won a gold (1934) and a bronze at the European Championships, and 10 Italian titles (8 in the 1500 m, 1 in the 800 m, 1 in the 5000 m).

BEKELE KENENISA (track & field, Ethiopia, b. Bekoji 13/6/1982). One appearance (2004), one gold (10.000 m) and one silver (5000 m). As a youngster he played football, but he ran too much thus ruining the team’s tactics. He then decided to go into athletics to emulate the performance of the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie (q.v.). He dominated the youth scene, until winning his first medal in 1999, a silver in the 5000 m at the Junior World Championships. Tall 1 metre 60 cm and weighing 53 kg, he has great power and suppleness, and is equipped with an impressive rhythm change, which allows him to finish races like a 400 m runner. His speciality is cross-country, in which he has won 11 world titles, a record of wins in this competition, (6 long and 5 short), from 2002 to 2008; in 2002 he was the first to take the long-short double. He arrived at the 2004 Athens Games with the success of the 5000 m and 10.000 m world records realised in the space of 9 days, and he met all expectations winning the gold in the 10.000 m, in front of his fellow countrymen Sihine and Tadesse (with his idle Gebrselassie fifth), and the silver in the 5000 m, coming behind the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj (q.v.). During his career he had also won 3 world titles in the 10.000 m (2003-05-07), a bronze in the 5000 m, an indoor world title in the 3000 m (2006), and an African title in the 5000 m (2006). In 2005, the year of the World Championships, he lost his fiancée Alem Techdale, 17 years old, the junior world champion in the 1500 m, due to a heart malfunction while she was training with him. “Without running I don’t know how I would have got over the greatest tragedy of my life. It was difficult to go on and I skipped many weeks of training. The Helsinki gold medal is the most important one, because I can dedicate it to Alem; I loved her very much. I ran with her in my heart and I continue to think about her every day”. He is the record- holder in the 5000 m (12:37.35 2004) and 10.000 m (26:17.53 2005).

BELARUS (Republic of Belarus, Europe, capital Minsk, area 207.600 km2, 9.688.796 inhabitants). 47 medals: 6 gold, 15 silver, 26 bronze. Best Olympics: Sydney 2000 with 3 golds, 3 silvers and 11 bronze medals. Best sport: track & field with 3 golds, 3 silvers and 6 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Yekaterina Karsten-Khodotovich, rowing with 2 golds (individual 1996 and 2000) and one silver (individual 2004, and also won a bronze in 1992 in the coxed four with the Unified Team). From 1952 to 1988 there were Belarusian athletes in the USSR team, and in 1992 in the Unified Team. One of the most famous gymnasts was Olga Korbut (q.v.) (4 golds and 2 silvers in 1972/76), Svetlana Boginskaya (3 golds, one silver and one bronze in 1988/92) and Vitaly Scherbo (q.v.) (6 golds in 1992, before 4 bronze medals with Belarus in 1996). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1991, the same year as becoming independent from the USSR, and the IOC recognised it in 1993. As a result Belarus was able to compete in the Olympics. Belarus has never hosted the Games, but 7 preliminary heats in the Olympic football tournament were held at Minsk in 1980.

BELGIUM (Kingdom of Belgium, Europe, capital Brussels, area 30.528 km2, 10.457.344 inhabitants). 145 medals: 39 gold, 52 silver, 54 bronze. Best Olympics: Antwerp 1920 with 14 golds, 11 silvers and 11 bronze medals. Best sport: archery with 11 golds, 7 silvers and 3 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Hubert Van Innis (q.v.), archery, with 6 golds (au cordon dore 33 m 1900, au chapelet 33 m 1900, mobile target 28 m individual 1920, 33 m individual 1920, 33 m team event 1920, 50 m team event 1920) and 4 silvers (au cordon 50 m 1900, beursault 1900, moving target 50 m individual 1920, 28 m team event 1920). The Olympic Committee was formed in 1906 and recognised the same year by the IOC. Belgium only missed the Games in 1896 and 1904, and hosted the Games in Antwerp in 1920. Brussels has been nominated 3 times without success.

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BELIZE (Kingdom of Belize, Central America, capital Belmopan, area 22.965 km2, 287.698 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1967 and was recognised in the same year by the IOC. Belize took part in the Olympics in 1968, 1972 and 1976 as British Honduras, and since 1984 (3 years after independence) as Belize. No medals have been won.

BELLUTTI ANTONELLA (cycling, Italy, b. Bolzano 7/11/1968). Two appearances (1996, 2000) and 2 golds (pursuit 1996, individual on points 2000). 1996 1-0-0, 2000 1-0-0. She left athletics due to knee problems (she was the first junior Italian record holder in the 100 m hurdles with 13.46 which was held for 14 years, until 1999), and after also playing basketball in the C league, three months before Atlanta she set the world record in the 3 km in 3:31.924. She then won the gold in 3:33.595 beating the Frenchwoman Clignet. “She envies my position on the pedals? She could have adopted it herself”. Four years later she came fifth in the sprint pursuit won by Zijlaard van Moorsel (q.v.), but she won the gold in the points race, winning 19 in the various sprints, 3 more than the Dutchwoman. She also won one European Championship gold (1997), one silver (’95) and one bronze (’96) in the World Championships in pursuit, one World Cup for overall competition (1997) and 4 for specialities, 13 World Cup races, 16 Italian titles. She left cycling and concentrated on two-man bobsleigh. In the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City she came seventh with Gerda Weissensteiner. Subsequently, in the same year, she was coach for 6 months before resigning.

BENELLI ANDREA (shooting, Italy, b. Florence 28/6/1960). Five appearances (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004), one gold (skeet 2004) and one bronze (skeet 1996). 1996 0-0-1, 2004 1-0-0. He won the gold in the play-off, after finishing with 149 out of 150 like the Finn Kemppainen, who was in the lead with 25 targets from the finish and then made a mistake. “I had the 1623 harness and my wife and I were racking our brains to work out which number could come out. Nothing. But do you want to know when I shot the last target? At 16.23…..”. He then celebrated with a run around the field. “Don’t write that I was making aeroplane shapes like Montella. Mine was jubilation Batistuta style. This is the year for gold in Florence, Fiorentina is back in the premier league, and I’ve won the Olympic gold, which I’ve aspired to all my life”. In the previous 4 Games he came 20th in 1988, 25th in 1992, 3rd in 1996 and 5th in 2000. He also won 9 golds (individual 1987/90, team 1981/86/89/93/94/99/2006), 4 silvers and 3 bronze medals in the World Championships, 7 golds (individual 1994, team 1986/94/95/2000/01/07), 5 silvers and 6 bronze medals in the European Championships, one gold, 2 silvers and one bronze in the individual event in the World Cup finals (plus 18 golds, 10 silvers and 5 bronze medals in the cup competitions), 4 individual Italian titles for excellence. He also set two world records in 1996, with 125/125 and 150/150. His father Luciano won the overall skeet title in ’77. Two years later Andrea, after winning the gold at the Mediterranean Games said: “I’ll be the Olympic champion one day”.

BENIN (Republic of Benin, Africa, capital Porto Nuovo, area 112.622 km2, 9.032.787 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1962 and was recognised in the same year by the IOC. Benin competed in the 1972 Olympics as Dahomey, in 1975 it assumed its current name, with which it competed in the Games from 1980 to 2004. No medals were won. Best placing was Barthelemy Adoukonou, 9th position in featherweight boxing in 1980.

BENVENUTI GIOVANNI “NINO” (boxing, Italy, b. Island of Istria, Trieste, today Slovenia, 26/4/1938). One appearance (1960) and one gold (welterweight <69 kg). The third of 5 children of an Istrian fishmonger, Nino Benvenuti entered a gym for the first time at 12 years of age to become stronger. At 13 and-a-half years old and 39 kg, he faced and beat his first opponent, a 17-year-old who weighed 50 kg. It was the first step in an amateur career which saw him win 119 of 120 matches, 5 Italian titles and 2 European titles. In 1960 he also took the Olympic gold, beating the French Josselin, the South Korean Ki-Soo Kim, the Bulgarian Mitsev, the British Lloyd and in the final match the Soviet Yuri Radonyak (4-1) in Rome. As a professional he was equally brilliant; on

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18 June 1965 he took the world super welterweight crown beating another Italian in the sixth round in a knockout, Sandro Mazzinghi, in the San Siro Stadium in Milan, in front of 40.000 spectators. He lost his title a year later to the South Korean Ki-Soo Kim, and won it back on the 17 April 1967 in New York, defeating Emile Griffith on points, in a match followed on the radio at 4 in the morning by 18 million Italians. “Was it the hardest match of your career?” La Gazzetta asked him. He replied “No, because I was prepared to face Griffith and someone else together”. He lost in the return match but regained the crown in 1968, until the defeat which put an end to his career on the 7 November 1970 in Rome against the Argentinian Carlos Monzon. He retired after 90 matches, 82 victories (35 knockouts), 7 defeats and 1 draw; he attempted a career as an actor appearing in some films, and then became a sports commentator for Italian television network, Rai.

BERESFORD JACK (rowing, Great Britain, b. Chiswick, today London, 1/1/1899, d. Shiplake 3/12/1977). Five appearances (1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936), 3 golds (individual 1924, coxless four 1932, double 1936), and 2 silvers (individual 1920, eight 1928). 1920 0-1-0, 1924 1-0-0, 1928 0-1-0, 1932 1-0-0, 1936 1-0-0. He was the first rower to win medals in five editions of the Games, a record which was then beaten by Elisabeta Lipa Oleniuc (q.v.). He would still have been among the favourites in 1940, after winning the Challenge Cup at Henley (in the double) the year before, if the Olympics hadn’t been cancelled due to the Second World War. The silver in 1920 was won after being preceded by just one second by John Kelly (q.v.), the future father of Grace, the Princess of Monaco. In 1924 he benefited from the catch, just introduced, and after being beaten in the 1st heat by the American Gilmore, he recovered in the final; he did the same in 1936 against the Germans Kaidel and Pirsch. He won the British Championships for 8 consecutive years between 1920 and 1927, and 4 Diamond Sculls at Henley (1920-24-25-26). His father Julius, born in Wiszniewski in Poland, won an Olympic silver in 1912 in a coxed four.

BERMUDA (British colony, North America, capital Hamilton, area 53.1 km2, 64.559 inhabitants). Medals: one bronze (Clarence Hill, heavyweight boxer in 1976). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1935 and was recognised a year later by the IOC. Bermuda has competed in all the Games since 1936, only missing the Moscow Games in 1980 due to the boycott. It is the smallest country to have won a medal.

BERRUTI LIVIO (track & field, Italy, b. Turin 19/5/1939). Three appearances (1960, 1964, 1968), one gold (200 m in 1960). 1960 1-0-0. First European athlete to win the Olympic gold in the 200 m, he started doing the high jump in secondary school. He quickly passed to sprinting and at 18 he was already in the national team, making his debut at the Six Nations in 1957, with second place in the 100 and 200 m. Slim, light, excellent on bends, he divided his time between athletics and university. “I had an image of being a committed athlete and a conscientious student. But I worked harder on the books than on the track. They used to say that sprinters should keep themselves fresh, so training would be for three hours a week”. He went to the 1960 Rome Games fresh from the success of the European record in the 100 m (10.2), realised a few months previously, but abstained from this race to concentrate on the 200 m. He took to the track on 2 September when he easily won the heat (20.8) and the quarter-finals (20.9). On 3 September in the semi-final he beat the world record holders Ray Norton and Stone Johnson, equalising the record with 20.5, and two hours later entered the final as the favourite. He started well, reached Norton with a perfect bend, did the home stretch already in the lead and held out against his challengers, winning the gold with the same manual time as in the semi-final (20.62 electric time). He also took part in the 4x100 m in which he was fourth. In 1961 he was unbeatable (26 victories in 26 races), but in subsequent editions of the Games he never managed to repeat his prior success. In Tokyo he was fifth with 20.8, disadvantaged by running the final in the first lane, and seventh in the 4x100 m, while in Mexico City he was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 200 m, and was again seventh in the relay. He retired in 1969 and went back to his studies, graduating in chemistry, and found work in the public

15 The Olympic Dictionary relations office at Fiat. In addition to the Olympic gold, he gained 15 Italian titles (6 in the 100 m, 8 in the 200 m, one in the 4x100 m).

BETTINI PAOLO (cycling, Italy, b. Cecina, Livorno, 1/4/1974). One appearance (2004); one gold (road race). He won the Olympic Gold in the 2004 Athens Games, beating the Portuguese competitor Sergio Paulinho with a final sprint 300m from the finish. After the race he said “I tried first of all three laps from the finish; it was just a taster. Then I tried again at the last pass on the climb at Licabetto, but I didn’t think I’d be alone with the Portuguese competitor Paulinho. I had no choice though, I kept on going. I decided not to lose him, that I could do it on the final climb. I thought about the long stretch of flat plain still to cover and how I wouldn’t mind a fellow traveler. He was good. He rode to win right to the end. This time though I had more desire to win than he had. This is, and always will be, my greatest victory, because an Olympic gold goes beyond the cycling”. A specialist in the classics, he started to race at eight years old with his older brother Sauro (who died in a car accident in 2006). His dad Giuliano, a worker as well as the California Sport Group director, found an old bicycle in the rubbish and after having collected, renewed and painted it (“an iridescent colour, between light blue and violet”) and gave it as a present to Paolo. In career he had won, amongst others, two world titles (2006-2007), 3 World Cups (2002-04), 2 Italian Championships (2003/06), 2 Liege-Bastogne-Liege races (2000/02), 2 Giro di Lombardia (2005/06), 2 Zurich championships (2001/05), Milan-Sanremo race (2003), the Hamburg Classic (2003), the San Sebastian Classic (2003).

BHUTAN (Kingdom of Bhutan, Asia, capital Thimphu, area 46.640 km2, 658.481 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1983 and was recognised in the same year by the IOC. Bhutan has competed in all the editions of the Games since 1984, only taking part in archery. No medals have been won.

BIKILA ABEBE (track & field, Ethiopia, b. Bagora 7/8/1932, d. Addis Ababa 25/10/1973). Three appearances (1960, 1964, 1968), 2 golds (1960 and 1964 marathons). 1960 1-0-0, 1964 1-0-0. Born on a farm near Addis Ababa, at 19 years old he became a bodyguard for the Emperor Haile Selassie. Here he met the Finnish athletics trainer Onni Niskanen, who guessed his potential and trained him for the 1960 Rome Games. In the Olympic marathon he took his place at the start line with no shoes. His were worn out and those he had bought in Rome gave him blisters because his big toe was too long. According to other versions, his choice to run barefoot was down to habit, and the paving on Roman streets, according to Niskanen, provided more natural and effective support to the bare foot. The Ethiopian had no problems during the race. He was always in the lead in the group, he outstripped the Moroccan Rhadi on the Appian Way, and he crossed the finishing line under the Arch of Constantine with the best world performance (2h15:16.2). He was the first African to win an Olympic gold medal. He repeated his success in Tokyo four years later, this time wearing shoes, and despite an operation on his appendix six months previously. In Japan he improved his record on distance even more (2h12:11.2), and was the first athlete to win the gold in the Olympic marathon twice. In 1968 in Mexico City, his tendons were strained and he had a knee injury. “I won’t finish this race. You’ll win”, he said to his fellow countryman Marmo Wolde, a few kilometres into the race. He was right. It was the last of his 15 marathons, 13 of which he finished and 12 he won; Addis Ababa 4 times, once in Athens, , Kosice, Ozu, Zarauz and Seoul, in addition to the 2 Olympic marathons. In 1969 he was involved in a car accident and lost the use of his legs. He didn’t give up and he competed in archery in the Stoke Mandeville Games, the forefather of the modern Paralympics. He died at 41 years old due to a brain haemorrhage. Ethiopia named a stadium in Addis Ababa after him. In the film The Marathon Man in 1967, by John Schlesinger, the main character Dustin Hoffman watches the video of Bikila in action at the Rome Games.

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BILOZERCHEV DMITRY (gymnastics, Russia, b. Moscow 22/12/1966). One appearance (1988), 3 golds (rings, pommel horse, team event) and one bronze (all-round) for the USSR. In 1983 he became the youngest world champion gymnast at just 16 years old. A year later he won the Friendship Games, held for the countries that had boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. In 1985, after also winning the European Championships, he drank too much champagne and left the training camp without permission, and just 10 days after losing his licence, he crashed his father’s car. He broke his left leg in 42 places, seriously risking amputation. In 1986 he had an operation on his right ankle. Despite everything in 1987 he managed to win again at the World Championships. In 1988 he won 3 Olympic golds, but not the overall medal due to a fall from the bars which cost him a half point, and Artemov (gold) finished just 150 thousandths in front. In 1989 he was expelled from the national team ‘for his corrupting influence on other team members’, after spending two days drunk with his team-mate Gogoladze. He won 8 golds in all (all-round 1983/87, team event 1987, pommel horse 1983/87, bars 1983/87, rings 1983), and 4 silvers in the World Championships, 10 golds and one silver in the European Championships, 3 Soviet all-round titles.

BIONDI MATTHEW NICHOLAS “MATT” (swimming, USA, b. Moraga, California, 8/10/1965). Three appearances (1984, 1988, 1992), 8 golds (50 m freestyle 1988, 100 m freestyle 1988, 4x100 m freestyle 1984, 1988 and 1992, 4x200 m freestyle 1988, 4x100 m medley 1988 and 1992), 2 silvers (50 m freestyle 1992, 100 m butterfly 1988), one bronze (200 m freestyle 1988). 1984 1-0-0, 1988 5-1-1, 1992 2-1-0. He took part in various disciplines, such as baseball, basketball and football, and it was only when he was 18 that he concentrated exclusively on competitive swimming. “I started swimming to try something new, then I realised I wanted to continue because I realised that in the swimming pool I could obtain better results than on the basketball pitch”. Working for a few months in winter was sufficient for him to participate in the Olympic trials and get to the quarter-finals in the 100 m freestyle, snatching the last place in the relay team which won gold in Los Angeles. His development was phenomenal; in 1985 at the national championships in Mission Viejo he beat two world records on the same day, doing 48.95 in the 100 m freestyle, becoming the first man to get below 49 seconds. Unbeatable in the pool, before the Seoul Games he improved on the world record in the 100 m freestyle (48.42) and dominated the Korean Olympics, bringing home 7 medals (5 golds) and beating 4 world records. The first swimmer to attract the interest of the key sponsoring companies, he finished in Barcelona in 1992 with 3 medals (2 golds). He has set 11 world records (5 in individual competitions and 6 in relay). After retiring he concentrated on conference and business initiatives.

BIRD LARRY JOE (basketball, USA, b. French Lick, Indiana, 7/12/1956). One appearance (1992) and one gold. He retired immediately after winning at Barcelona, obtaining 8 out of 8 victories and an average of 44 points. In total he scored 67. “What was he like? As if Elvis Presley and the Beatles were together. Travelling with the Dream Team was like travelling with 12 rock stars”(Chuck Daly, the coach who didn’t call one time-out in the whole tournament). He won 3 NBA titles (1981/84/86) with the Boston Celtics.

BLANKERS-KOEN FRANCINA ELSYE “FANNY” (track & field, Holland, b. Baarn 26/4/1918, d. Hoofdorp 25/1/2004). Three appearances (1936, 1948, 1952) and 4 golds (100 m, 200 m, 4x100 m, 80 m hurdles 1948). 1948 4-0-0. Nicknamed ‘The Flying Housewife’ she was born Francina Elsje Koen and became Blankers-Koen after marrying her trainer, the former Olympic triple jumper Jan Blankers. She developed practising various sports, starting with tennis and then moving on to swimming, gymnastics and ice-skating. At just 17 years old the tried athletics and at her third official race she ran the 800 m in 2:29, establishing a new Dutch record. She soon gave up running this distance, as it was her dream to compete in the Games, and the 800 m for women was not included in the Olympic programme. She concentrated on sprinting and the high jump, making her debut at the Berlin Games at 18 years old, coming fifth in the 4x100 m (48.8) and in the high

17 The Olympic Dictionary jump (1.55). When she reached physical maturity she obtained her first significant results; on the 19 June 1938 in Amsterdam she ran the 100 yards in 11 seconds, achieving the first of 16 world records in 8 different events (100 e 220 yards, 100 m, 4x100 m, 80 m hurdles, high jump, long jump, pentathlon). In the same year she won two bronze medals (100 and 200 m) at the European Championships in Vienna. The Second World War and two pregnancies didn’t put a stop to her competing. In 1941 she became mother to Jan Junior and a year later, in Amsterdam, she ran the 80 m hurdles for the first time, equalling the world record of Claudia Testoni (11.3). During wartime she set another 5 world records, gave birth to Fanny Junior and in 1946, a few months after giving birth, she won the gold in the 80 m hurdles and in the 4x100 m in the European Championships in Oslo. In the 1948 London Games, after having already won two world records (100 m e 80 hs), she took part, by rule, to 3 individual performances only. She obtained 4 goulds, winning, between qualifications and finals, 11 competitions out of 11. She started on 2 August with the 100 m (11.9), then on 4 August the 80 m hurdles (11.2), 6 August the 200 m (24.4), and finally the 4x100 m where as the last relay runner she took the baton from Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs in the third position, and crossed the finishing line in 47.5, beating everyone. She was the only woman to win 4 gold medals (track & field) in the same Olympic Games. She said later “The most difficult race was the 80 m hurdles. I arrived together with the British athlete Maureen Gardner. I crossed the finishing line and I heard them playing God Save The King, and I thought I had lost, but instead they were playing the anthem because the Royal Family had entered the stadium. After the London Games she refused various publicity offers due to strict rules on amateurism stipulated by the IOC. In 1950 at the European Championships at Brussels, she won another 3 gold medals (100 m, 200 m, 80 m hurdles) and silver in the 400 m, bringing her European achievements to 5 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. She finished competing internationally at the 1952 Helsinki Games; not in good physical condition she withdrew from the final of the 80 m hurdles after knocking the second hurdle and she abandoned the semi-final of the 100 m. After the Swedish Olympics she continued to compete only at a national level, finishing in 1955 after winning her 59th Dutch title for shot putting (13 in the 100 m, 12 in the 200 m, 11 in the 80 m hurdles and high jump, 9 in the long jump, 2 in shot putting and 1 in pentathlon). She remained involved in athletics in charge of the Dutch athletic team from 1958 to 1968. When the IAAF elected her ‘Female athlete of the century’ in 1999, her body was already in the grips of Alzheimer’s disease. She died in 2004. Holland named an international event after her, the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games.

BLONAY GODEFROY JEAN HENRI LOUIS DE Baron (IOC president, Switzerland, b. Niederschönthal 25/7/1869, d. Biskra, Algeria, 14/2/1937). Well-known Egyptologist, after living in Paris for many years, he settled in Switzerland, teaching Indian language and civilisation studies at the University of Neuchatel. In 1899 he became the first Swiss member of the IOC and president of the IOC when de Coubertin (q.v.) resigned to volunteer in the First World War (1916-1919). He left the presidency on de Coubertin’s return from war, and was member of the IOC Executive from 1921 to 1937, and IOC vice president from 1925 until his death.

BMX Abbreviation of bicycle-motocross, see Cycling.

BOHEMIA Before Czechoslovakia was founded (in 1918), which formed together with Moravia and Silesia, Bohemia took part in the Games in 1900, 1906 (intercalated), 1908 and 1912, winning one silver and 5 bronze medals, with 2 each for the fencer Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf (1908, individual and team), and the tennis players Hedwiga Rosenbaum (1900, women’s singles and doubles) and Zdenek “Jánsky” Zemla (1906, singles and doubles).

BOLIVIA (Republic of Bolivia, South America, judicial capital Sucre, administrative seat La Paz, area 1.098.581 km2, 9.524.569 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1932 and was recognised in 1936 by the IOC. Bolivia took part in the Games in 1936 with a swimmer Conrad

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Machuca, then at the 1964 Games. Since then Bolivia has only missed the 1980 Games due to the boycott. No medals have been won.

BONACOSSA ALBERTO Count (IOC member, Italy, b. Vigevano, Pavia, 24/8/1883, d. Milan 31/12/1953). Active sportsman and sports manager, he became a respected pharmacist, but he was famous first as an active sportsman, then as a manager. Competing in tennis at the 1920 Games, he met Count de Baillet Latour (q.v.) who permitted him entry to the IOC as a member in 1925, and stayed until 1953. In 1929 the Bonacossa family acquired four-fifths ownership of the Gazzetta dello Sport. The following year, Bonacossa organised the first international tennis matches in Italy. After the fall of Mussolini, he was nominated commissioner of CONI, a role he had from 28 July to 28 September 1943.

BONOMI BENIAMINO (canoeing, Italy, b. Verbania 9/3/1968). Five appearances (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004), one gold (K2 1000 m 2000) and three silvers (K1 1000 m 1996, K2 500 m 1996, K2 1000 m 2004). 1996 0-2-0, 2000 1-0-0, 2004 0-1-0. With only the right sideburn for good luck, he won the gold at Sydney along with Antonio Rossi (q.v.) with a 1.614 advantage over the Swedes, Nilsson and Oscarsson, and the paddles already lifted 10 m from the finish, something which some finalists didn’t like and complained about. He left the stroke position to Rossi, which had always been occupied by both. “Someone asked me if it was true Antonio was at the front because he was better looking, how crazy can you get…..”. In the K2 500 m in 1996, along with Daniele Scarpa (q.v.), he was in the lead 50 m from the finish before losing by only 32 thousandths to the Germans Bluhm-Gutsche. He also won one World Championship gold (K2 500 m in ’95 with Scarpa) plus 6 silvers, one gold (K2 500 m in ’97, with Luca Negri) and one bronze in the European Championships.

BORDIN GELINDO (track & field, Italy, b. Lumignano di Longare, Vicenza, 2/4/1959). Two appearances (1988, 1992) and one gold (marathon 1988). He was the first Italian to win the Olympic marathon, starting with mountain cross-country running. He made his debut in longer distances in 1984 winning the marathon in Milan. Coached by Luciano Gigliotti, he stopped working as a site manager to concentrate exclusively on running, and in 1986 he had his first international success winning the European Championships in Stuttgart coming in front of Orlando Pizzolato. A year later he ran in the marathon in Rome and came third there in the World Championships. In 1988 he came fourth in Boston setting the Italian record (2h09:27) and four months later he had his greatest success in the marathon at the Seoul Olympics (2h10:32), outstripping the Kenyan champion Douglas Wakiihuri and Ahmed Saleh from Djibouti in the final kilometres. He was the only white athlete to win a running competition in those Games. Speaking after Seoul he said he did allow himself some treats as an athlete. When I’m not getting ready for competition, I’ll drink maybe 5 glasses of wine a day. Custoza if it’s white, Recioto if it’s red. When I’m preparing for competition I don’t give up beer; I might even drink a litre a day”. In 1989 he came third in New York; in 1990 he was the first Olympic champion to win the marathon in Boston, when he gave the best Italian performance with 2h08:19. In the same season he repeated the European title success of Spalato, coming in front of Gianni Poli, and just 35 days later he won the marathon in Venice. In 1991 he came just eighth at the Tokyo World Championships and a year after he tried to repeat the Olympic success, but an injury from a fall at the refreshment point at the 5th km forced him to withdraw at the 30th. He retired in 1993 after 18 marathons, an Olympic gold medal, 2 European titles, a bronze medal in the World Championships, and an Italian title for the half-marathon. Today he is the marketing director for Diadora.

BORON KATHRIN (canoeing, Germany, b. Eisenhüttenstadt, ex East Germany, 4/11/1969). Four appearances (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) and 4 golds (pair 1992 and 2000, coxed four 1996 and 2004). 1992 1-0-0, 1996 1-0-0, 2000 1-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. Athlete with the most medals in women’s rowing.

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At the Olympics she won one gold less than the Romanian Elisabeta Lipă (q.v.), that she outclassed totalling 8 golds (pair 1990/91/97/99/2001, coxed four 1989/97/98) and the 4 silvers won in the World Championships. After coming 2nd in 2005 in the coxed four she took a year out to consider her future, but in 2007 she went back to rowing given the forthcoming Games at .

BORZOV VALERY (track & field, , b. Sambir 20/10/1949). Two appearances (1972, 1976), 2 golds (100 m 1972, 200 m 1972), 1 silver (4x100 m 1972) and 2 bronze medals (100 m 1976, 4x100 m 1976) for the . 1972 2-1-0, 1976 0-0-2. He was the only European to perform the double 100 m/200 m at the Games, having discovered that he had an aptitude for sprinting as a child. “My first trainer was my dog Tuzik; it was a constant race”. At 17 he joined the Institute of Sport and Physical Culture in Kiev, where he was transformed into a fully-fledged sprinter with advanced methodologies, such as calculation of body projection angles, aerodynamic analysis used in the aeronautical industry, the study of running action and reaction times. In Munich in 1972 he win his first gold medal in the 100 m (10.07, a European record), benefiting from the absence of the favourites, the Americans Eddie Hart and Reynaud Robinson, who weren’t at the start of the quarter-finals because their trainer had got the start times wrong, mistaking 16.15 for 6.15 pm. In Germany he also took the gold medal in the 200 m (20.00 European record), coming in front of Larry Black and Pietro Mennea (q.v.), and he won the silver medal in the 4x100 m, coming after the Americans. Already fulfilled, at the Montreal Games he won the bronze medal in the 100 m (10.14), behind Hasely Crawford and Donald Quarry, and in the 4x100 m, behind USA and East Germany. He retired before the Moscow Games following two tendon operations. During his career he also won 4 outdoor European titles (100 m in 1969, 100 m and 200 m in 1971, 100 m in 1974) and 7 indoor titles between 50 and 60 m. Married to the gymnast Lyudmila Turishcheva (q.v.) (4 goulds, 3 silvers and 2 Olympic bronzes between 1968 and 1976), after retiring he graduated in Education Studies and started a political career. He was the Minister for Youth, member of the Ukraine Parliament, president of the Olympic Committee and president of the Ukrainian Athletics Federation.

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA (Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe, capital Sarajevo, area 51.209 km2, 3.934.818 inhabitants). Until 1988 it was part of Yugoslavia. Independence was declared in 1992 and civil war broke out, which didn’t prevent the formation of an Olympic Committee, provisionally recognised by the IOC to allow participation at the Barcelona Games. The year after it was officially recognised, with subsequent participation in the Games in 1996, 2000 and 2004 without winning any medals.

BOTSWANA (Republic of Botswana, Africa, capital Gaborone, area 581.730 km2, 1.881.507 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1978 and was recognised in 1980 by the IOC. Since then Botswana has taken part in all the Olympics, without winning any medals.

BOWLING Never included in the Games. Governed by the FIQ (Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs – www.fiq.org).

BOXING Ancient discipline in the Olympic Games programme, and included in the modern Games since 1904, with the exception of Stockholm in 1912, as it was a banned sport in Sweden. Amateurs are regulated by the AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, www.aiba.org,), which is adopting the initials IBA, International Boxing Association (www.ibamensboxing.com). Cf. Sports, Section IV.

BRAGLIA ALBERTO (gymnastics, Italy, b. Modena 23/4/1883, d. Modena 5/2/1954). Three appearances (1906, 1908, 1912), 3 golds (all-round individual 1908 and 1912, team 1912), 2 silvers (pentathlon and hexathlon 1906). 1906 0-2-0, 1908 1-0-0, 1912 2-0-0. Star of gymnastics and show

20 The Olympic Dictionary business, the Modenese contributed to the development of the discipline, from the static poses at the end of the century to more dynamic exercises. The son of a builder in Campogalliano, he trained as a child in the family’s barn. At 12 years old he joined the Fratellanza di Modena sporting association, and then Panaro. He began in the Intercalated Games in Athens, winning 2 silver medals in the individual competitions in 5 and 6 events, beaten by the Frenchman Pierre Payssé. In London he won the gold medal in the individual competition (on 7 events: slow and fast bar exercises, parallel bars, pommel horse, static and flying ring exercises, rope climbing); and after a world bronze (team event 1909), the success was repeated in Stockholm where he won the gold medal in the team event. He left sport but in 1932 he was called to train the Italian team for the Los Angeles Games, the best ever for Italy (4 golds, one silver, 2 bronze medals). During his entire career he alternated sporting activity with acrobatics. After the Stockholm Games he was an acrobat in the Fortunello and Cirillino show, characters created in the Corriere dei Piccoli by the artist Sergio Tofano. He exhibited all over the world, but once back in Modena he squandered all his money on buying a bar and a farm. He died at 70 years old from thrombosis.

BRAZIL (Federal Republic of Brazil, South America, capital Brasilia, area 8.514.876 km2, 191.790.931 inhabitants). 76 medals: 16 gold, 22 silver, 38 bronze. Best Olympics: Atlanta 1996 with 3 golds, 3 silvers and 9 bronze medals. Best sport: sailing with 6 golds, 2 silvers and 6 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Torben Grael Schmidt (q.v.), sailing with 2 golds (Star 1996 and 2004), one silver (Soling 1984) and 2 bronze medals (Star 1988 and 2000). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1914, was recognised in 1935 by the IOC. Since 1920 Brazil has only missed one Games in 1928. It has never hosted the Games. has been nominated 4 times without success, Brasilia once.

BRISCO-HOOKS VALERIE (track & field, USA, b. Greenwood, Michigan, 6/7/1960). Two appearances (1984, 1988), 3 golds (200 m 1984, 400 m 1984, 4x400 m 1984) and one silver (4x400 m 1988). 1984 3-0-0, 1988 0-1-0. She started running at 14 years old in honour of her brother Robert, mysteriously killed by two gunshots while training on an athletics track in Los Angeles. She wasn’t promising in the beginning, but after marrying Alvin Hooks, the ex-footballer and 100 m runner, and giving birth to son Alvin Junior, she put herself through gruelling training sessions for 12 hours a day and in 1984 she won the 400 m at the USA Championships, qualifying for the Olympics. In Los Angeles, without the Soviet athletes, she won the gold medal in the 200 m (21.81 coming in front of Florence Griffith q.v. and Merlene Ottey q.v.), in the 400 m (48.83, USA record, beating Chandra Cheeseborough and Kathy Cook), and in the 4x400 m (3:18.29), the third member of the team also consisting of Lillie Leatherwood, Sherri Howard and Chandra Cheeseborough. It was the first female Olympic double 200 m/400 m, (Marie Josè Perec q.v. managed it after her in Atlanta). She told the Gazzetta, “You are way off track when you say that black people are lazy and don’t work hard in sport because of their natural disposition. On the contrary, since they were brought to America black people have toiled and were obliged to work hard. Our sweat has contributed to building the United States. Therefore it should be no surprise if I train hard to get good results. Years of slavery have got us used to working hard every day”. But her decline was as quick as her development. In subsequent years she only got a bronze medal in the 4x400 m at the World Championships in Rome, and a silver medal in the 4x400 m Seoul Games. She retired in 1991 to concentrate on training youngsters.

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS (Caribbean, capital Road Town, area 151 km2, 22.545 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1980 and was recognised in 1982 by the IOC. The British Virgin Islands have taken part in all the Games since 1984, without winning any medals.

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BROTHERS Numerous brothers have competed in the Games. The first on the podium were the American marksmen John and Sumner Payne in Athens in 1896, winners of two pistol events, the military and free pistol events. The first to win together were the brothers Reginald (Reggie) and Laurie Doherty, GBR, in the tennis doubles in Paris in 1900. The three German Gossler brothers Oscar, Gustav and the coxswain Carl won together in the rowing event in Paris in 1900. This was equalled in 1912 by three French Thubé brothers in sailing in 1912, 6 m class. The first foursome of brothers to win gold was made up of Henrik, Jan, Ole and Kristian Østervold, Norwegians who won in sailing in the 12 m class 1907 at Antwerp in 1920. The brothers with the largest number of medals are the Italians Nedo and Aldo Nadi, who won 9 golds and one silver in fencing between 1912 and 1920. There were also the Italian brothers Edoardo and Dario Mangiarotti, who won 7 golds, 7 silvers and 2 bronze medals in fencing (1936-1960). See the entry ‘Sisters’.

BRUMEL VALERY (track & field, Russia, b. Tolbuzhino 14/4/1942, d. Moscow 26/1/2003). Two appearances (1960, 1964), one gold (high jump 1964) and one silver (high jump 1960) for USSR. 1960 0-1-0, 1964 1-0-0. Born in a Siberian village, he took up athletics at 12 years old and at 17, when he was still dividing his time between the high jump and work in a food factory, he was already reaching 2 m. In 1960 he made the team for the Rome Games, where he jumped 2.16 m and won the silver medal, behind his fellow countryman Robert Shvlakadze (same measure but less faults) and beating the American John Thomas. In 1961 he jumped 2.23 m, setting the first of 6 world records. In 2 years he set the world record at 2.28 m, achieving a difference of 43 cm (his height was 1.85 m). He also won a European gold medal in Belgrade in 1962. With perfect abdominals he was versatile; he ran 100 m in 10.05, jumped 7.65 in the long jump, 4.25 m in pole- vaulting and 15.84 m in the shot put. In Tokyo he was the favourite, but due to ailments he stopped at 2.18 m, which was sufficient to win the gold medal with the same measure of John Thomas but less faults. He married the gymnast Marina Laryonova, but his career was interrupted on 4 April 1965 when he was involved in a motorbike accident which damaged his right leg. He had 37 operations and came back after 4 years, but he never managed more than 2.07 m. “By now there’s not much which can be done”, a Russian expert told the press. “When I saw him in action recently, obviously in so much difficulty, I started crying like a baby. But instead he said, “Don’t be upset my friend. This is the first step, before long I’ll be back to my old self”. And off he went, head high, smiling, waving at the public with his arms in the air, as if he had beaten a record, instead of making a jump which any junior would have managed”. He left athletics, got divorced and remarried the horsewoman Yelena Pyetushkova, and concentrated on writing his autobiography The right to jump, the novels Above the bar there is more space and Don’t betray yourself, in addition to 5 theatrical works. His life inspired the film Second attempt. He died in Moscow at 60, probably from alcoholism.

BRUNA ENRICO (rowing, Italy, b. Venice 21/11/1880, d. Venice 7/2/1921). Three gold medals in Athens in 1906 (Coxed pairs 1000 m, coxed pairs 1 mile and coxed fours). He came from the glorious Venetian association of Bucintoro, which took its name from the galley, created in 1311, which the Doge of Venice and the Gentry used every year on Ascension Day, to celebrate the marriage of Venice with the sea. The association was founded in 1882, and two years later had its first success La Coppa Rialto. In 1911, with Olgeni (q.v.), Bruna was European champion in coxed pairs. Together with Olgeni, Scatturin (q.v.), Bettini, and De Filip as a cox, Bruna won the gold medal in 1919 at the Joinville military Olympics.

BRUNDAGE AVERY (IOC president, USA, b. Detroit, Michigan, 28/9/1887, d. Garmisch- Partenkirchen, West Germany, 7/5/1975). An athlete in his youth (three national titles in pentathlon and decathlon), he competed in pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Games, finishing 6th and 22nd respectively in the discus. IOC president from 1946 to 1952.

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BRUNEI (Sultanate of Brunei, Asia, capital Bandar Seri Begawan, area 5.765 km2, 390.058 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1984 and was recognised in the same year by the IOC. Brunei competed in the 1996 Games with one athlete, in 2000 with 2 and in 2004 with one. No medals have been won.

BRUSNIKINA OLGA (synchronised swimming, Russia, b. Moscow 9/11/1978). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004), 3 golds (duo 2000, team 2000 and 2004). 2000 2-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. Two months before the Sydney Games she won the European Championship gold, losing it when her team-mate Maria Kiselyova (q.v.) tested positive for ephedrine. Instead of the usual 3 months disqualification the Russian federation requested only one, allowing the two girls to compete in the Olympics, and placing her first in the duo (obtaining a 10 from 5 judges for the artistic element, and from 4 out of 5 judges for the technical element), and three days later in the team event with another 6 team-mates. The team’s repeat in 2004 allowed Brusnikina and Kiselyova to hold the 3 records in synchronised swimming. Brusnikina’s medal collection also has World Championship golds in the duo (1998 with Olga Sedakova) and in the solo (2001).

BUBKA SERGEY (track & field, Ukraine, b. Voroshilovgrad, today Luhansk, 4/12/1963). Two appearances (1988, 1922), and one gold (pole vaulting 1988 for USSR). He started to practise athletics at 10 years old, following his older brother Vassily to the track; at 15 he moved to under the guidance of the trainer Vitaly Petrov. Even though he dominated the pole vaulting world for 15 years, he had little lucky at the Olympic Games. He didn’t compete in Los Angeles due to a boycott. He won his only gold medal at Seoul with 5.90 m, beating his fellow countrymen Rodion Gataullin and Grigory Yegorov; he didn’t pass the qualifying stages at Barcelona, he didn’t go to Atlanta due to injury, and he didn’t pass the minimum required for competing in the Sydney Games. His performance was different in the World Championships. He was the only athlete to have won 6 titles in the same event (1983-87-91-93-95-97). He also won 3 indoor world titles (1987-91-95), a European outdoor title in 1986 and one indoor in 1985. He beat the world record 35 times (17 outdoor and 18 indoor), reaching 6.14 m (outdoor) and 6.15 m (indoor), still unbeaten records, and exceeded 6 m 82 times in his career. Equipped with considerable basic speed, excellent motor co- ordination and acrobatic ability, he used poles which were much more rigid than the usual poles, which he got from an American company, even during the Cold War. Although in training he had exceeded 6 m already in 1984, when the world record was 5.83 m, he capitalised his marked superiority to the full against his opponents, improving the record by 1 cm at a time. He finished his athletic career, and was a member of parliament from 2002 to 2006 and president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, and today is an IOC member and senior vice president of the IAAF.

BUDO Term describing some forms of Japanese martial arts, never included in the Games, but included as a demonstration sport in Tokyo in 1964, in its various forms, kyudo (archery), kendo (fencing) and sumo (Japanese wrestling).

BULGARIA (Republic of Bulgaria, Europe, capital Sofia, area 110.970 km2, 7.638.830 inhabitants). 207 medals: 50 gold, 83 silver, 74 bronze. Best Olympics: Seoul 1988 with 10 golds, 12 silvers and 13 bronze medals. Best sport: wrestling, with 16 golds, 30 silvers and 17 bronze medals between freestyle and Greco-Roman. Most decorated athlete: Maria Grozdeva (q.v.), shooting, with 2 golds (pistol 2000 and 2004) and 3 bronze medals (air pistol 1992, 1996 and 2004). In Athens in 1896, 5 Bulgarian athletes didn’t arrive in time to participate, due to a mix-up between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The Olympic Committee was formed in 1923 and recognised a year later by the IOC. Since 1924 Bulgaria has missed 3 editions of the Games, in 1932, 1948 and 1984.

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BURKINA FASO (Republic of Burkina Faso, Africa, capital Ouagadougou, area 270.764 km2, 14.784.289 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1965, when the country had been independent for 5 years and was called Alto Volta, and was recognised in 1972 by the IOC. That year at the Munich Olympics there was only one representative, after there had been two athletes in 1924 (Taka Gangua and Taki N’Dio) that had competed in the Paris Games in the javelin, for France. The name was changed to Burkina Faso in 1984 and since then has always competed in the Olympics. No medals have been won. Best placement: 9th place by Sounailla Sagnon in super welterweight (1988) and Drissa Tou in the flyweight (2000), again in boxing.

BURUNDI (Republic of Burundi, Africa, capital Bujumbura, area 27.834 km2, 8.508.229 inhabitants). Medals: one gold (Venuste Niyongabo in the 5000 m in 1996). The Olympic Committee was formed in 1990 and recognised in 1993 by the IOC. Burundi competed in the Games in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

BYELOV SERGEY (basketball, Russia, b. Nashchekova 23/1/1944). Four appearances (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980), one gold (1972) and 3 bronze medals (1968, 1976 and 1980). 1968 0-0-1, 1972 1-0-0, 1976 0-0-1, 1980 0-0-1. The success of Munich, with 51-50, in a final played three times, with a goal on the whistle by his brother Aleksandr (dead six years later due to a heart problem), interrupted a series of 7 golds and 62 consecutive victories by the USA at the Games. Sergey, who in that match scored 20 points, also won 2 golds (1967/74), one silver and one bronze in the World Championships, 4 golds (1967/69/71/79), 2 silvers and one bronze in the European Championships with the national team. With CSKA Moscow he won 2 Champion Cups (1969/71) and 11 Soviet titles (from 1969 to 1980, missing only 1975). As a coach he led Russia between 1993 and 1998 (year in which he was also federation president), winning 2 World Championship silvers and one European Championship bronze. He won two championships (with CSKA Moscow of the USSR in 1982 and with Ural Pern of Russia in 2001), and was also in Italy, on the bench of Cassino. In 1992 he became the first European to enter the Hall of Fame; the previous year FIBA had named him the best European player ever.

BYELOVA-NOVIKOVA YELENA (fencing, Belarus, b. Sovyetskaya Gavan, Russia, 28/7/1947). Four appearances (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980), four golds, (individual foils 1962, team foils 1968, 1972 and 1976), one silver (team foils 1980) and one bronze (individual foils 1976) for the USSR. 1968 2-0-0, 1972 1-0-0, 1976 1-0-1, 1980 0-1-0. She shared the record of 4 golds in women’s fencing with Giovanna Trillini (q.v.) and (q.v.). She could have won 5 if she hadn’t lost the last match 5-4 in the final section in 1976 against Bobis, the only win in 5 matches for the Hungarian, a play-off for the gold lost by Byelova-Novikova (she should have competed against the other Hungarian Schwarczenberger, gold, and the Italian Collino, silver). In that same year, 1976, she finished the team tournament unbeaten, with 13 out of 13 victories, and she celebrated her 29th birthday on the day of her fourth Olympic success. She also won 8 World Championship golds (individual 1969, team 1970-71-74-75-77-78-79), plus 4 silvers.

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