Lithuania's hopes for a medal in men's basketball in Athens are largely pinned on Sarunas Jasikevicius (photo), the 6'4" guard who missed the last-second shot against the U.S. team in Sydney four years ago.
However, the Lithuanian team, which won the European championship last September, lost 93-80 to Serbia-Montenegro last week. Commenting the loss, Jasikevicius said, "I'm shocked, I'm really shocked. We were just a little out of form and a little bit tired, and we don't want to be our best at this point."
Estonian racer Markko Martin of the Ford team came second in the Neste Rally Finland, part of the World Rally Championship. Marcus Gronholm of the Peugeot team won by a confident margin of 34.7 seconds over the 22 stages of the contest held Aug. 6 - 8 in Jyvaskyla, Finland. "I'm very satisfied with the second place and the eight points. If there had not been that accident in Argentina, I would have been faster this time, but 'ifs' and 'woulds' do not count," Martin said after the contest. His vision reportedly has not yet recovered from the major car accident at the Argentine Rally, the previous leg of the championship.
Marian Pahars, the Latvian striker for the Southampton Saints, re-injured his ankle again last week though team physicians were hopeful that he would be well for the start of the Barclays Premiership tournament. "Marian took a heavy impact on his ankle and there was a very minor strain there, but it should not put him out for too long," club physician Jim Joyce was quoted as saying on the team's Web site. "He is still undergoing treatment at the moment, but we expect him back in training next week, and he could be available for the start of the season," Joyce added. Due to his injury Pahars made just nine starts for the Saints in the 2002/2003 season and only eight in the last campaign, which he finished with a groin strain.
Greek authorities have banned Belarusian Sports Minister Yury Sivakov, who was scheduled to lead Belarus's delegation to the Olympic Games, from entering Greece. The ban was agreed upon by all EU members and is based on Sivakov's alleged involvement in the disappearance of three opposition politicians and a journalist in Belarus. In a December 2003 report, Cypriot lawmaker Christos Pourgourides, a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe rapporteur on the high-profile disappearances in Belarus, suggested Sivakov, a former interior minister, might have been involved in arranging the disappearances.
