Britain's serial Olympic gold medallist Steven Redgrave was vague on Sunday on whether he will quit rowing, refusing to commit himself to another Olympic campaign but also refusing to rule it out. He is the only endurance athlete to win golds in five consecutive Games in a gilt run that began in Los Angeles in 1984. Only Hungarian Aladar Gerevich, in the far less physically demanding sport of fencing, has surpassed his achievement with six golds between 1932 and 1960. British tabloid the News of the World quoted him as saying it was all over. "That's it for me. It's over. This was my defining moment," he reportedly said. "I don't even think I'll go out in a boat any more. It's time to find something else to do." Asked in a press conference here whether he had raced his last race he said firmly: "No". Pushed on whether his Olympic career was over he replied: "No. I don't think so. I'm Sure there is something I'll be doing within the Olympic movement. It may not be rowing."About 1000 gays hereGay Games chief Garrie Gibson said on Sunday that elite athletes at the Sydney Olympics were afraid to admit their homosexuality. Gibson, the organiser of the 2002 Gay Games - also to be held in Sydney, believed that athletes were afraid to publicise their sexuality because they feared they would lose lucrative sponsorship deals. He believed 1,000 of the 11,000 competitors at Sydney were gay or lesbian. "For the vast majority of them their sexuality is something that they have had to hide, to keep hidden because they did not want their sexuality to be an issue in competing in Sports," Gibson said at a news conference.No wife, no luckRussia's Vyacheslav Voronin blamed his failure to win a medal in the men's high jump final on the Russian Athletics Federation. Voronin, the favourite, finished out of the medals as his unheralded compatriot Sergey Kliugin won a surprise gold. Voronin maintained lack of support from the Federation prevented his wife from joining him in Sydney. ``It's a pain that there have been problems between me and the Federation,'' said Voronin.Ben the bunglerAustralian wrestler Ben Vincent had a dismal time on the opening day of the Greco-Roman disciplines. Vincent is a former freestyle wrestler but was unused to the Greco-Romam variety where it is not permitted to use legs and was trounced 11-0 in both his bouts. ``I left freestyle in about April this year,'' Vincent said. ``I was actually in retirement up until the start of this year and just the lure of the Olympics, I knew there were positions up for grabs.''Stamp of approvalThe Australian Post Office sold more than 200,000 stamps featuring Australian gold medallists at the Sydney Olympics within 24 hours of issuing them. The stamp in question featured the victorious 4x100m freestyle swimming relay team of Michael Klim, Ashley Callus, Chris Fydler and Ian Thorpe. All Australian gold medallists will feature on special edition stamps. Blood, sweat and tearsThe Australian Red Cross has had a tough time of it during the Sydney Olympics. The number of people attending clinics to donate blood has dropped by 40 percent as people stay in to watch the Games on television. In a bid to remedy the shortfall televisions have been installed inside mobile blood-doning facilities to entice people to attend.(Agencies)
