August 31, 2004 (Tuesday) Football (soccer): Manchester United F.C. sign England star Wayne Rooney from Everton F.C. The potential fee of £27 million is the second highest ever for an exclusively British transfer. (Reuters) August 30, 2004 (Monday) Football (soccer): Newcastle United F.C. dismiss their manager, Sir Bobby Robson, following a poor start to their Premier League season and alleged discontent in the dressing room. Striker Alan Shearer is named caretaker manager and is rumoured to be Robson's permanent replacement. (Reuters) Ice hockey: The 2004 World Cup of Hockey begins with Finland blanking the Czech Republic 4–0 in the opening match held in Helsinki. (AP) August 29, 2004 (Sunday) 2004 Summer Olympics: Men's Marathon: Vanderlei de Lima from Brazil is pushed into the crowd by Cornelius Horan (who ran onto the track during the Formula One 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone) while leading in the last 10 km of the race. Vanderlei loses around 15–20 seconds but finishes in third place. (BBC) Gold medal winners on day 16: (BBC) Athletics Men's Marathon: Stefano Baldini, ITA Boxing: Men's Under 48 kg: Yan Bartelemí Varela, CUB Men's 51–54 kg: Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz, CUB Men's 57–60 kg: Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa, CUB Men's 64–69 kg: Bakhtiyar Artayev, KAZ Men's 75–81 kg: Andre Ward, USA Men's Over 91 kg: Alexander Povetkin, RUS Handball: Men: Croatia Women: Denmark Gymnastics: Women's Individual All-Around Rhythmic: Alina Kabaeva, RUS Taekwondo: Women's Over 67 kg: Zhong Chen, CHN Men's Over 80 kg: Dae Sung Moon, KOR Volleyball: Men: Brazil Water Polo: Men: Hungary Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 60 kg: Yandro Miguel Quintana, CUB Men's Freestyle 74 kg: Buvaysa Saytiev, RUS Men's Freestyle 96 kg: Khadjimourat Gatsalov, RUS Kimi Räikkönen wins the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One ahead of Michael Schumacher, who clinches his seventh championship title. (BBC) Baseball: Team Curaçao beats team Thousand Oaks, California, 5–2, to win the Little League World Series. (ESPN) August 28, 2004 (Saturday) 2004 Summer Olympics: Gold medal winners on day 15: (BBC) Athletics: Women's High Jump: Yelena Slesarenko, RUS Women's 1500 m: Kelly Holmes, GBR Men's Javelin: Andreas Thorkildsen, NOR Men's 800 m: Yuriy Borzakovskiy, RUS Men's 5000 m: Hicham El Guerrouj, MAR Men's 4 × 100 m Relay: Great Britain (Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis) Men's 4 × 400 m Relay: United States (Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson) Women's 4 × 400 m Relay: United States