Boxer Manswell gets Pan Am silver

SANTO DOMINGO: Trinidad and Tobago champion Kerston Manswell had to settle for a silver medal in the heavyweight title bout against Cuban world champ Odlanier Solis Fontes at the 14th Pan American Games on Saturday night.`The Cuban, who defeated Manswell in the 2001 World Championships, dominated the Tobago-born pugilist from start to finish, winning by a lopsided 15-3 margin, dumping him to the canvas in the opening round on his way to victory. Manswell was expected to return home last night, and will celebrate his birthday today. This was Manswell’s third silver medal in a major tournament, following the 2002 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. The Tobago-born fighter’s silver medal brought the Trinidad and Tobago medal haul at the games to seven. George Bovell III who won the men’s 200 metres individual medley in the new national, Pan Am and Commonwealth Games time of 1:59.49 won four medals. Earlier at the |Games he splashed to gold in the 200 freestyle and silver in the 100 freestyle and 100 metres backstroke to become Trinidad’s most successful swimmer in the history of the games.

Milton Wynants of Uruguay won the final gold medal of the Games yesterday, taking first place in the men’s 195-km cycling race in four hours, 32 minutes, 41 seconds. Cuba’s Pablo Perez finished second and Jose Medina of Chile took bronze. The United States finished the competition with the most medals won, taking 271 overall, including 115 golds. Cuba were next with 152 medals, 72 of them gold. Canada, Brazil and Mexico rounded out the top five. Host Dominican Republic also fared well, winning 41 medals, including 10 gold, to finish in eighth place overall. On Saturday, thousands of Dominican fans celebrated the country’s final gold medal as the hosts held off a tough Cuban team 3-2 in a dramatic encounter to win its third gold medal of the day. The Dominicans won the first two sets, but Cuba stretched the match to a deciding fifth set before falling 25-16, 25-17, 14-25, 26-28, 15-13. The match was delayed for about 30 minutes after police fired a spray similar to tear gas at a crowd of people trying to get into the arena. The Dominicans also won gold Saturday in boxing and taekwondo. Saturday was another good day for the Americans in the pool, collecting three more gold medals to bring swimming their tally to 21. Cuban Yuriolkis Gamboa, Likar Ramos of Colombia, Patric Lopez of Venezuela and Juan Ubaldo of the Dominican Republic also won boxing golds. On Friday, Cuba won four of the six gold medals awarded, and two silvers.