Asian Cup 2004: Two quarter final matches were held. The
Republic of Korea is defeated by
Iran 4–3 after two Korean own goals in the second half, Iran advances to the semi-finals to face China. In the other game, Japan ties Oman after
extra time 1–1 and a penalty shootout proceeds; after the first five rounds of shootout, the teams were tied 3–3, but Japan wins the 7th round to advance to the other semi-final match against
Bahrain.
Asian Cup 2004: China defeats
Iraq 3:0 in the first quarter final match to advance to the semi-finals stage for the first time since 1984. In the other match
Uzbekistan is defeated by
Bahrain in penalties 4:3, after an aet result of 2:2; This ends Uzbekistan's hopeful run at the Asian Cup.
Canoe polo: During the weekend of 24 to 25 July, the Netherlands defeated Germany 5–4 in the final of the canoe polo 2004 world championships held in
Miyoshi, Japan. In the first half of the final the Dutch dominated and this resulted in a score of 3–1 by half time. The perseverance of the German team was strong and they fought back to a score of 3–3. Just ten seconds before half time Jeroen Dieperink scored for the Dutch. Because of this setback Germany had to play a more offensive game in the second half. Two minutes before the end of the match Wouter Ottjes scored the winning goal for the Netherlands.
Copa América: In the final match
Brazil defeat
Argentina by 4 goals to 2 after a penalty shoot-out, the teams being tied 2 – 2 at the end of normal play.
(BBC)
Tour de France: In a dominating performance in the last
individual time trial in and around
Besançon,
Lance Armstrong scores his fifth stage win of the 2004 Tour, putting an exclamation point on a virtually certain sixth consecutive Tour win.
Jan Ullrich finishes second in the stage, 1:01 behind.
Andreas Klöden moves up to second overall and
Ivan Basso stays ahead of Ullrich for third; this will be the first time that Ullrich has finished off the podium in seven Tours.
(ESPN)
NBA: In a key development involving the upcoming trial of
Kobe Bryant on
sexual assault charges,
Colorado District Judge
Terry Ruckriegle has ruled that details of the sex life of Bryant's accuser in the three days before her July 1, 2003 hospital examination can be admitted as evidence in the trial.
(ESPN)
July 22, 2004
Tour de France:
Lance Armstrong wins Stage 17 at
Le Grand-Bornand, the first time anyone has won three successive mountain stages since
Gino Bartali in 1948, and now looks unbeatable barring a major accident before next Sunday's finish in Paris.
Richard Virenque amasses an unbeatable points total for his seventh King of the Mountains title.
(LeTour)
An unnamed high-ranking official of the
Tour de France states that American cyclist
Lance Armstrong will not compete in the 2005 Tour preferring to ride in either
Italy's or
Spain's national tour.
Bill Stapleton, Armstrong's agent, and Dan Osipow, communication director, deny the report.
(NYT)
Tour de France:
Lance Armstrong wins Stage 15 at Villard-de-Lans and takes the overall lead in the race.
Ivan Basso, who finished second in the stage, moves into second place overall, 1:25 back.
(ESPN)
Tour de France:
Lance Armstrong wins the 13th stage at Plateau de Beille, dropping almost all of his main rivals. French rider
Thomas Voeckler retains the yellow jersey, but his margin over Armstrong has shrunk to 22 seconds. Italy's
Ivan Basso, who was the only rider to stay with Armstrong today, is third overall.
(ESPN) During the stage, American rider
Tyler Hamilton withdraws from the race due to severe back pain.
(NBC Sports)
The
St. Louis Blues'
Mike Danton pleads guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, involving an unsuccessful plan to hire a hitman to kill his agent.
(CBC)
July 15, 2004
UEFA Cup 2004–05 First qualifying round, first leg:
Major League Soccer: The league announces that a new franchise based in
Salt Lake City will begin play in the 2005 season. Along with a previously announced expansion franchise owned by Mexican club
Chivas, called
Chivas U.S.A., this will bring the total number of MLS teams to 12.
(ESPN Soccernet)[dead link]
The
Los Angeles Lakers announce
Rudy Tomjanovich as their new coach, confirming reports from the previous day. Details of the contract were not announced, but the deal is reportedly for 5 years and $30 million.
(ESPN)
Tour de France: Early in Stage 6,
Lance Armstrong crashes along with several other riders. Armstrong suffered a minor scrape of one leg, but was not otherwise hurt, and soon rejoined the
peloton. He and major rival
Jan Ullrich completely avoided a second crash near the finish that involved all but about 30 riders. There were no major changes to the overall classification.
(ESPN)
Tour de France:
Lance Armstrong relinquishes the overall lead after a wind- and rain-swept Stage 5. The
peloton, which included Armstrong and all his key competitors, gave up over 12 minutes to a five-man breakaway. The riders in the breakaway are not considered to be threats to win the Tour.
(ESPN)
Tour de France:
Lance Armstrong takes the overall lead after the Stage 4 team time trial of the Tour de France. Six of the top seven places in the general classification are occupied by members of Armstrong's
US Postal Service team. Armstrong's nearest major contender, Phonak team leader and former teammate
Tyler Hamilton, is in eighth, 36 seconds back.
(ESPN)
Olympic qualifying: American
swimmerMichael Phelps broke his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley competition with a time of 4:08.41. His previous record of 4:09.09 was set at the 2003 World Championships in
Barcelona.
(ESPN)
Euro 2004:
Greece win the final, defeating host nation
Portugal 1–0. It's the first major football championship triumph for Greece, and a surprise result.
(BBC)(ESPN)
Cycling: British cyclist
David Millar is suspended from competition by British Cycling, including the
Olympic Games, following a confession to a French investigating magistrate that he had taken the hormone
EPO. He had previously been banned from participating in the
Tour de France which begins on Saturday.
(BBC)
The thirteenth seed, 17-year-old Russian
Maria Sharapova, beats former champion
Lindsay Davenport (USA) 2–6 7–6 (7–5) 6–1 to reach her first grand-slam final.
(BBC)
Former NBA center
Manute Bol is seriously injured in a major car accident. The 43-year-old
Sudanese-American activist sustained a broken neck and his immediate condition was unannounced.
(ESPN)
BSN Finals: The
Coamo Marathon Runners tie the best of seven series in game six, defeating the
Ponce Lions, 101–72, in a game filled with protests by the Lions, who turned their backs on the local Runners' fans, the game's referees and the rival team during most of the fourth quarter, almost causing a riot. The Lions are fined a total of 12,000
dollars in fines.
(BSNPR.COM in Spanish)