Australian team question Pearson disqualification
ELIZABETH JACKSON: It's been a night of high drama for Australia at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Sprinter Sally Pearson was disqualified after becoming the first Australian since 1974 to win the 100 metres sprint.
It took officials about four gruelling hours to decide to disqualify Pearson for a false start.
Australian athletics manager Eric Hollingsworth says he's not happy with the process.
Alister Nicholson reports from Delhi.
ALISTER NICHOLSON: Sally Pearson had every right to be emotional. The 24 year old thought she had won Australia's first gold medal in the women's 100 metres since 1974 only to have it taken away.
SALLY PEARSON: I guess I'm just numb right now. I don't really know how to feel, obviously devastated.
ALISTER NICHOLSON: The start of the race was the cause of all the controversy. English sprinter Laura Turner was deemed to have false started but ran the race under protest. She was no match for Pearson who won in 11.28 seconds.
Beaming with pride and draped in the Australian flag Pearson soaked up the moment. But as she prepared for the medal ceremony officials informed her of a protest.
ERIC HOLLINGSWORTH: The English team management protested against Sally. Obviously they had a girl who finished fourth and Sally being disqualified gives them the chance to get a bronze medal. It's as simple as that.
ALISTER NICHOLSON: Athletics Australia section manager Eric Hollingsworth didn't share the view that Pearson like Turner had false started.
ERIC HOLLINGSWORTH: All of us saw that it could be a false start but the data said she wasn't the one that broke. And that's what I think everyone needs to understand. She wasn't the one that broke even though all our TV screens and the pictures looked like she was the first one away.
ALISTER NICHOLSON: Was what the English did in the spirit of the games tonight?
Coppied by http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s3032892.htm
Showing posts with label Australian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australian. Show all posts
Friday, 8 October 2010
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Australian vote set to end in hung parliament
Watch Australian vote set to end in hung parliament
Australia appears to be heading for its first hung parliament for 70 years, following yesterday's election, with neither the ruling Labor Party nor the opposition Liberal-National Coalition sure of securing a majority.
A minority government, supported by up to four independent MPs and one Green, seems the most likely scenario. However, it could take several days – possibly a fortnight – for postal and early votes to be counted, determining the outcome in the most closely fought seats. What was clear last night was that voters had turned on Labor, punishing it for its mistakes in government and for dumping its own leader, Kevin Rudd, in favour of Julia Gillard, the country's first female Prime Minister. A national swing against the party of more than 5 per cent benefited not only the conservative Coalition but the Greens; many voters were infuriated by the government's ditching of an emissions trading scheme (ETS).
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Australia PM looks to independents
Search the news archive for more stories
The Greens won Melbourne, their first seat in the House of Representatives, and are set to hold the balance of power in the Senate, or upper house. In other history-making events, Australia's first indigenous MP, Ken Wyatt, was elected in Western Australia, while the country's youngest politician, 20-year-old Wyatt Roy, triumphed in Longman, north of Brisbane. The Greens' MP, Adam Bandt, has indicated that he will give his support to Labor. However, he will be courted in days to come by both main parties, as will the independents.
In a speech to the party faithful in Melbourne, Welsh-born Ms Gillard made a point of congratulating Mr Bandt and the three independents whose seats are assured (a fourth remained in the balance last night). She said Labor had "a good track record of working positively and productively with independents in the lower house and with Greens in the Senate".
Tony Abbott, of the Coalition, who has barely slept in recent days such was his determination to capture every last vote, warned his supporters against "premature triumphalism". But he told the crowd gathered in a Sydney hotel: "What's clear tonight is that the Labor Party has definitely lost its majority, and what that means is that the government has lost its legitimacy."
Coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-vote-set-to-end-in-hung-parliament-2058860.html
Australia appears to be heading for its first hung parliament for 70 years, following yesterday's election, with neither the ruling Labor Party nor the opposition Liberal-National Coalition sure of securing a majority.
A minority government, supported by up to four independent MPs and one Green, seems the most likely scenario. However, it could take several days – possibly a fortnight – for postal and early votes to be counted, determining the outcome in the most closely fought seats. What was clear last night was that voters had turned on Labor, punishing it for its mistakes in government and for dumping its own leader, Kevin Rudd, in favour of Julia Gillard, the country's first female Prime Minister. A national swing against the party of more than 5 per cent benefited not only the conservative Coalition but the Greens; many voters were infuriated by the government's ditching of an emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Related articles
Australia PM looks to independents
Search the news archive for more stories
The Greens won Melbourne, their first seat in the House of Representatives, and are set to hold the balance of power in the Senate, or upper house. In other history-making events, Australia's first indigenous MP, Ken Wyatt, was elected in Western Australia, while the country's youngest politician, 20-year-old Wyatt Roy, triumphed in Longman, north of Brisbane. The Greens' MP, Adam Bandt, has indicated that he will give his support to Labor. However, he will be courted in days to come by both main parties, as will the independents.
In a speech to the party faithful in Melbourne, Welsh-born Ms Gillard made a point of congratulating Mr Bandt and the three independents whose seats are assured (a fourth remained in the balance last night). She said Labor had "a good track record of working positively and productively with independents in the lower house and with Greens in the Senate".
Tony Abbott, of the Coalition, who has barely slept in recent days such was his determination to capture every last vote, warned his supporters against "premature triumphalism". But he told the crowd gathered in a Sydney hotel: "What's clear tonight is that the Labor Party has definitely lost its majority, and what that means is that the government has lost its legitimacy."
Coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-vote-set-to-end-in-hung-parliament-2058860.html
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