Golden day for Asia, Federer beaten

Greco-roman wrestling took the limelight for the wrong reasons on Thursday when Sweden’s Abrahamian rejected his medal and announced he was quitting the sport. He shouted and later whacked a barricade with his fist in a row over the judges’ decision during a semi-final bout with the eventual winner.

Olympic chiefs said he would face a disciplinary hearing.

The Water Cube again saw plenty of excitement.

France’s Alain Bernard won swimming’s blue riband event, the men’s 100 freestyle, by a whisker.

Stephanie Rice, the glamour girl of Australian swimming, took her third gold of the Games in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Then hosts China scored a shock one-two in the pool.

Nineteen-year-old Liu Zige destroyed the world record in the women’s 200 butterfly and compatriot Jiao Liuyang relegated Australian world champion Jessica Schipper to third.

“I just took it easy,” winner Liu said of home pressure, maintaining a Phelps-like calm. “I am always like this.”

China have dominated gymnastic in these Games, and Yang, unbeaten on the international stage since 2006, followed team gold with another in the men’s individual all-round event.

Thumping his chest and cupping his hands around his ears, he milked the crowd’s cheers even before the judges’ final scores were announced. His joy was magnified by past disappointments — taking silver in Sydney and missing out on a medal in Athens.

There was relief, too, for Chinese shooter Du, who steadied earlier nerves to win the women’s 50m rifle three positions. Du said she had nearly quit the sport after failing to win a medal on Saturday, when national hopes had weighed heavily.

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