SA young gun in semis

Young gun Andre Olivier made his Olympic debut look a doddle as he cantered home third in his 800m heat yesterday to book a spot in tonight's semifinals.

He settled into fourth place early in the race and, after the first lap, had worked his way up to third. Olivier pressed the attack on the back straight and, by the time he was sprinting for the line, he, Duane Solomon of the US and Dutchman Robert Lathouwers were comfortably at the front of the field.

"The American guy took it out hard, but that made it easy for us in the last 100m because the three of us broke away from the rest," said Olivier, who clocked 1min 46.42sec.

Solomon won the heat in 1:46.05 ahead of Lathouwers in 1:46.06.

Olivier, 22, said: "It's amazing coming out, having 80000 people sitting around. It's just incredible. It's a feeling you can't describe."

In tonight's three semifinals, the first two in each race will automatically qualify for Thursday's final, plus the two fastest runners-up.

"The semifinal is going to be tough," warned Olivier.

"If it's slow we'll have to do something special on the back straight; if it's fast, just wait for the last 100m.

"I'm in good shape. I just need to go out in the semi and run really hard.

"I'm sure if the pace picks up a personal best is within reach," added the middle-distance runner, who ran a lifetime best of 1:44.29 in Monaco nearly three weeks ago.

David Rudisha of Kenya is the out-and-out favourite for the Olympic title, but Olivier warned that there were some rivals who were keen to bring him down.

"There's a couple of hungry guys who want to get him. I'm hungry, but let's see when and if I get to the final."

The South African women's hockey team, ranked 12th in the world, delivered a 7-0 hiding to the 10th-ranked US team yesterday.

South Africa had lost three of its four previous games against the US.

Tarryn Bright and Pietie Coetzee netted two goals apiece yesterday and Leslie-Ann George, Jen Wilson and Dirkie Chamberlain all added to the score.

"We struggled to find our rhythm at the beginning of the week. Each game we have played better and finally we got it together today," said Bright.

The team's Olympic campaign had started with a 7-1 hiding from Argentina, who were beaten by the US.

This win, however, ensures they will not be in danger of receiving the wooden spoon when they play their elimination matches later in the week.

Richard Murray is South Africa's sole hope for a medal today.

He will race in the men's triathlon, which starts at 12.30pm, local time.