Pedro takes bronze
This time, Jimmy Pedro is sure he’s fought in his last Olympics.
Pedro won a bronze medal in the 73-kilogram class Monday, completing a brutal, seven-bout day by beating Daniel Fernandes of France.
Afterward, the 33-year-old Pedro announced he would not be back for the Beijing Games in 2008.
He has retired before — after the Sydney Olympics in 2000. But now, Pedro says it’s for real. He’s agreed to compete for a team in Germany — but no more Olympics.
“I knew I could still do it,” Pedro said of his comeback, which started in March 2003. “I know I can’t do it four years from now.”
Pedro’s shot at a gold medal ended with a loss in the round of 16 to eventual gold medalist Lee Won-hee of South Korea, but he recovered to become the first American to win two judo medals. He also won bronze in 1996 in Atlanta.
Lee beat Russia’s Vitaliy Makarov in the finals.
Pedro now plans to enjoy the rest of his fourth and final trip to the Olympics.
“It’s the perfect ending to a fantastic career for me,” Pedro said.
Stranger comes through
Lauryn Williams has yet to win an Olympic medal, but she already gained something equally valuable — faith in humankind.
When Williams, a University of Miami NCAA champion sprinter, found out a complete stranger had written her father a $10,000 check so he could watch her run, she was brought to tears.
Williams’ father, David, has leukemia and requires dialysis three times a week. He lives off his monthly $900 Social Security disability check, and did not think he would be able to see his daughter run in the biggest race of her life. He figured he would be watching on TV at home from Pittsburgh.
But Tim Wiebe, a cancer survivor and owner of a medical supplies company in Pennsylvania, read about Williams’ plight and decided to make the donation.
“I’m so excited that he’s going to be here,” Williams said. “It’s a blessing.”
Edwards still hopes to run
U.S. sprinter Torri Edwards will find out today if she can run at the Olympics, a day after three international arbitrators held a 5 1/2 -hour hearing on her doping case.
Edwards, suspended for two years for using a banned stimulant, spoke on her own behalf Monday evening in her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Edwards, the reigning 100-meter world champion, would be a medal contender in the 100 and 200 if she is cleared to run at the Athens Games.
“I have to be optimistic. My main goal here is to run at the Olympic Games, and that’s what I worked so hard for,” Edwards said.
Danish team member charged
A member of Denmark’s sailing team was charged with manslaughter after he struck and killed a British pedestrian while speeding in his car on the way to see his country’s handball team play.
The sailor, Niklas Holm, hit the man, identified as Errol Strachan, on a suburban Athens street Sunday night, police said.
Holm, who spent the night in a police station, was released after prosecutor Athena Stavropoulu charged him with manslaughter and speeding, both misdemeanors. A court date wasn’t immediately set.
Sealed with a kiss
Word around the Olympic Village is that the Australian women’s water polo team have a $500 bounty on whichever teammate can plant a kiss on U.S. tennis player Andy Roddick.
“I have an inside source who is supposed to be doing research for me to find out if they are planning an ambush,” Roddick said. “I’m thinking that it is going to be a hit and run, while I’m standing in line for food or something.”
Mardy Fish, who’s rooming with Roddick at the village, sees an opportunity to capitalize.
“I’m going to meet them and try and sabotage it and take half of the money,” he said. “I’m going to give one of them a key to the room.”
Gebrselassie could miss Games
The final 10,000-meter race of Haile Gebrselassie’s storied career could be over before it even begins.
A nagging Achilles tendon injury might force the Ethiopian star to miss the Athens Games, his manager, Jos Hermens, told the AP.
Gebrselassie, 31, is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in the grueling 10,000. He is seeking to become the first individual athlete to win the same running event at three Olympics.
FIFA changes yellow card rule
The U.S. team complained, and FIFA responded.
Under normal FIFA rules, a player who receives two yellow cards in the first round of a major tournament is suspended for the quarterfinals. Coach April Heinrichs had argued that the rule was unfair for these Olympics because not all the women’s teams are playing the same number of first-round games.
Under the change, players in the four-team Group G, which includes the U.S., will not be suspended if they receive a second yellow card in their third game. The only exception would be if a player receives two yellow cards — or one red card — in that third game.