Boxing legend Muhammad Ali stole the thunder on the opening day of the Olympic boxing tournament making a grand entrance to a hero's welcome here on Saturday. Suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Ali, now 58, slowly made his way to his ringside seat to a rapturous applause from the crowd, many of whom scampered down from their seats to take photos of the Peoples' champion. As he shuffled his way around the ring, Ali hugged and kissed `Aussie' Joe Bugner, who went the distance with the three-time world heavyweight champion.Bugner is at the venue as a television commentator. The crowd chanted 'Ali, Ali' as he sat watching the opening session of the boxing. He was later mobbed by autograph-hunters and photographers, distracting attention away from the Olympic bouts.Ali won the 1960 light heavyweight gold medal at Rome fighting for the United States as Cassius Clay. Ali, self-styled as "The Greatest" and rated in many end-of-millennium surveys as the sportsman of the century, captivated the world when he lit the Atlanta Olympic flame four years ago.Daley questions Coe's recordDouble Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson has questioned Sebastian Coe's unofficial title as Britain's greatest-ever athlete. Coe, who captured 1500 metres gold and 800m silver in Moscow and Los Angeles in 1980 and 1984, topped most of the lists of Britain's best athletes of the millennium.Thompson, the 42-year-old gold medal winner in 1980 and 1984 was visiting a media centre in Sydney's Olympic complex when he said with a grin: ``I hear you have to call him Lord Coe when you try speaking to him now. ``The establishment very much think he is, but let's face it. The man in the street, and me and you are the ones who really know who it is.''Height of successThe tallest female athlete at the Sydney Olympics is Polish basketball player Margo Dydek. The 6ft 11in centre plays in the WNBA in America for the Utah Starzz where she once blocked nine shots in one game a league record. Basketball is not just the domain of giants, however. The smallest female athlete at the Olympics is 5ft 3in Australia point guard Kristi Harrower.CJ's scrambling the best for wifeWorld shot put champion CJ Hunter may have pulled out of the Olympics because of a knee injury but he is playing a vital role as his wife Marion Jones bids to win a unique five Olympic titles - as chef. Jones, who is competing in her first Olympics, said although she was sad because her and CJ had wanted to make the Olympics a family affair, he was making up for that disappointment by cooking her breakfast every morning. ``He made me the best scrambled eggs, bacon and toast this morning,'' Jones said.
