Olympic star loses ugly battle

Olympic gold medalist Gabriela Szabo has been ordered to pay £3,000 (€4,500) to a rival she described as being ugly.

The blonde Romanian 5,000 metres runner, winner of gold at the Sydney Olympics, was found guilty of defamation by a Bucharest court.

She had said in a Playboy magazine interview that Violeta Beclea-Szekely was not invited to compete in international meetings because she was ugly.

Beclea-Szekely, said the comments had made her daughter cry. She added that she was going to donate the money to a church or an orphanage.