Banished gymnast Van Gelder mulls lawsuit

Dutch gymnast Yuri Van Gelder, dubbed the ‘Lord of the Rings’, is mulling legal action after being kicked off his Olympics team and still wants to compete in Monday’s final, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
It was not yet clear how Van Gelder planned to secure his return “but we are looking at the best way,” lawyer Cor Hellingman told reporters.
The 2005 world men’s rings champion was sent home in disgrace on Tuesday after flouting strict rules imposed on the Dutch Olympics team by drinking during a night out on the town in Rio.
Van Gelder, 33, competing in his first Olympics, had sealed his place in the final of the men’s rings by coming eighth in Saturday’squalifiers.
But TeamNL said his behaviour in the hours after the qualifiers was “unacceptable” and it had been “left with no choice” but to ban him from continuing.
Hellingman said Van Gelder and his legal team were “considering taking steps which would allow him to return for the final” which could include an emergency appeal to the courts.
However, Van Gelder’s place in the eight-man final has already been given to France’s Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues.
He was the second replacement athlete added to the final line-up after Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov was also granted a place when Frenchman Samir Ait Said suffered a horrific leg break due a bad landing on the vault during qualifying.

Cuban boxer Argilagos secures first medal
Brilliant Cuban light flyweight Joahnys Argilagos underlined his rich potential as he became the first boxer at the Rio Olympics into the semifinals to guarantee at least a medal at the event.
The 19-year-old prodigy and world champion had Kenya’s Peter Warui running around in circles on his way to a unanimous points decision, as Cuba extended their ominous perfect start.
Cuba, with its rich boxing heritage, is among the most successful countries in Olympic boxing history and strongly fancied to do well again in Rio.
Julio Cesar La Cruz, a three-time world amateur light heavyweight champion with spectacularly graceful movement across the ring, was equally emphatic in a unanimous points victory over the hopelessly outclassed Mehmet Unal of Turkey.
Argilagos displayed the full array of his electric footwork, at one point ducking a haymaker from Warui, whose momentum took him tumbling into the ropes.
The Cuban merely grinned back at his opponent and later delivered a sucker-punch while appearing to look in the opposite direction.
Argilagos faces Colombian Yurberjen Martinez – who he has trained with in the past – in the semis on Friday, after he defeated Samuel Carmona Heredia of Spain on a split points decision.
“I felt more confident than in my first fight,” said Argilagos, after delivering one of the most impressive displays in Rio to date.
“I knew I was going to bring joy to Cuba and I stuck to my tactical masterplan.”
“The Colombian is going to be a very tough rival,” added Argilagos, also a former youth world champion and one of the hottest prospects around.
“We have never fought but we have trained together and I know that he has some good weapons.”
Martinez made his own small piece of history, with his bronze meaning Colombia has its first medal in Olympic boxing in 44 years.