Off track ...

Dressed for success

China's female gymnasts will wear specially made outfits when they compete in the individual gymnastics events on Sunday.

Chinese sports brand Li-Ning sponsored outfits for five Chinese national teams - gymnastics, shooting, diving, table tennis and badminton - at the London Olympics. The company also custom-made different outfits for all the female gymnasts to help them distinguish their personalities in individual competitions.

"To connect the product's appearance with athletes' personalities more closely, we communicated with every Olympic gymnast on the women's team during the designing process to acquire their different preferences," said Li-Ning's designer Han Rouxue.

He Kexin also drafted a design that expressed her preference for dark colors and butterfly elements. The 20-year-old will compete in the uneven bars event with the special design on Monday.

A silver for flood victims

Women's 25m pistol silver winner Chen Ying kissed her fingers and said the medal was dedicated to Beijing, which was hit by torrential rains on July 21.

"It was not an easy job. Thanks, my fingers!" the defending Olympic shooter said.

Chen, who set an Olympic record four years ago in Beijing, was beaten by South Korean Kim Jang-mi, who finished with 792.4 points in the final.

"Athletes have different understandings of sports," she said.

"My hometown, Beijing, was hard hit by floods triggered by torrential rains after I arrived in London. The flood had a special meaning for me.

"I am not only fighting for the beloved sport and the country, but also for people in Beijing, including my coaches and family. I hope my hometown will be rebuilt and become better."

The rainstorm, reportedly the city's biggest in 60 years, killed 77 people.

Bus driver arrested

The driver of an Olympics media shuttle bus was arrested by police on Thursday following a fatal collision with a cyclist just outside London's Olympic Park.

The driver, in his mid-60s, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, following the incident late Wednesday. An AFP reporter saw a man's legs protruding from under the double-decker bus on a Games lane slip road leading from the park. The man's mangled racing bicycle lay nearby.

The cyclist, a man aged 28, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident happened just outside the perimeter of the Olympic Park behind the Riverbank Arena, where a men's hockey match between Pakistan and Argentina was taking place.

Aussie Rower detained

Australian rower Joshua Booth was detained by British police early on Thursday after he allegedly damaged a shop window following a night out drinking, the Australian team said.

Booth, 21, who was in the Australian men's eight that finished sixth in its final on Wednesday, also suffered minor injuries when he fainted while in police custody, Australian team chef de mission Nick Green said.

AFP-China Daily