Record time
Victoria Arlen set a new world record with victory in the 100m Freestyle - S6 yesterday as the Swimming program at London 2012 came to a close. The US swimmer had equalled her own world mark in qualifying and returned yesterday for a dominant victory, leading from the gun to win in 1:13.33, 1.41 inside her world record. Fellow 17-year-old Ellie Simmonds was second as the Briton claimed her fourth medal of the meet in 1:14.82, more than two seconds ahead of Tanja Groepper in third.
Lifters banned
LONDON - Two Russian powerlifters have been handed two-year suspensions after testing positive for human growth hormone at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The International Paralympic Committee announced both Nikolay Marfin and Vadim Rakitin tested positive for human growth hormone. A statement from the IPC read, "The athletes — Nikolay Marfin and Vadim Rakitin — each returned adverse analytical findings in blood samples taken before the start of the Paralympic Games."
'Emotional' end
LONDON - London 2012 organisers yesterday promised an emotional celebration to bid farewell to the Olympics and Paralympics, as the curtain falls on a summer of elite sport in the British capital. Coldplay will headline the show, entitled "Festival of the Flame", which will draw heavily on Britain's rich history of cultural, musical and seasonal festivals, artistic director Kim Gavin said. "The only narrative we have got is that we are taken through the seasons to the Coldplay music," he added.