2008 Beijing Olympics News Medal Tally Count, Updates And Result

Germany snatches Olympic bronze medal

2008-08-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 21) -- Germany snatched the Olympic Women's Football bronze medal by beating Japan 2-0 in the bronze medal match at the Workers' Stadium tonight in Beijing. Both goals were scored by second-half substitute Fatmire Bajramaj in the 69th and 87th minutes.

Artur Taymazov defends his title

2008-08-21T06:53:00.004-07:00

(BEIJING, August 21) -- Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov defended his title in the Men's Freestyle Wrestling 120 kilogram weight class by defeating Russia's Bakhtiyar Akhmedov in the final on Thursday, August 21.

Taymazov took the first period 3-0 and continued his run in the second period, winning 1-0.

This is Uzbekistan's first gold medal in Beijing.

Netherlands win their first ever Olympic Women's Water Polo medal

2008-08-21T06:53:00.001-07:00

e Netherlands has beaten the United States 9-8 to win the gold medal in the Women's Water Polo final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the Yingdong Natatorium on Thursday, August 21.

IOC Athletes Commission election results released

2008-08-21T06:52:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 21) -- Moon Dae-Sung, Claudia Bokel and Ruiz–Luaces Yumilka have been elected into the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee, replacing Sergey Bubka, Robert Ctvrtlik and Barbara Kendall. Alexander Popov, who was first elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission in 1999, was re-elected into the commission.

Twenty-nine athletes were candidates for membership in the IOC Athletes' Commission, including current and retired Olympic athletes. According to IOC regulations, the Athlete's Commission is composed of 19 members, seven of whom are designated by the IOC president, with the other 12 made up of eight summer sports athletes and four winter sports athletes.

Moon Dae-Sung, who received the most votes, is an Olympic Taekwondo athlete from the Republic of Korea. He won a gold medal in the +80kg event at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He was followed by legendary swimmer Popov Alexander, with a total of 1,903 votes. Popov dominated sprint swimming throughout the 1990s and won five Olympic gold medals and four Olympic silver medals in his career.

Claudia Bokel, a German épée fencer, won the silver medal in the épée competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games with her teammates Britta Heidemann and Imke Duplitzer, while Cuban volleyball player Ruiz–Luaces Yumilka took part in three Olympic Games in a row since 1996 and twice won a gold medal with her team and claimed the bronze in 2004.

China's hurdler Liu Xiang came in eighth in the election with a total of 1,386 votes.

Created on October 27, 1981, the IOC Athletes' Commission is the link between active athletes and the IOC. The commission holds at least one meeting each year and meets regularly with the IOC Executive Board, to which it issues recommendations.

Campbell-Brown retains Olympic gold in Women's 200m

2008-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 21) -- Athens 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica successfully defended her Women's 200m title, crossing the line for gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a personal best of 21.74 seconds.

The 26-year-old was under extra pressure to retain her title after failing to qualify for the 100m at the Jamaican Olympic trials, but she was in control of the 200m race from the gun to the line.

World champion Allyson Felix of the United States finished second behind the Jamaican, as she did at Athens 2004, and continues the tradition of the world champion failing to win the Olympic gold a year later.

Kerron Stewart of Jamaica added another medal to the growing Jamaican total by narrowly grabbing the bronze in 22.00s, just ahead of Muna Lee of the United States, who ran a personal best 22.01s for fourth.

Stewart was the quickest into her stride and was ahead at the bend.

As the athletes entered the home straight, Campbell-Brown moved to the front and extended her lead down the final 50m.

It was a disappointing run from Felix, who failed to find her rhythm and had to watch as Campbell-Brown raced away for the second time in the Olympic Games.

Campbell-Brown's success means Jamaica has now won gold at 100m and 200m in both the Women's and Men's competitions and won six of the 12 medals available at those distances.

Campbell-Brown and her Jamaican teammates will now be hyper-confident of adding more medals from the Women's 4 x 100m Relay. They won the same relay in Athens.

Ashley golden, Zubari wins Israel's first Beijing medal

2008-08-20T06:40:00.004-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 20) -- 2008 world champion Tom Ashley of New Zealand won gold in the Men's RS:X (Windsurfer) with 52 overall points, just one point better than second-place finisher Julien Bontemps of France. Shahar Zubari of Israel finished second in the medal race to grab bronze with 58 points overall and give Israel's its first medal of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Ashley experienced his worst day of sailing on Tuesday, August 19, positioned 32nd in the final race of the opening series, and many wondered if he could climb back to win on Wednesday in the light shifty airs. He finished the medal race third behind Chan King-yin of Hong Kong and Zubari.

"I've done it. It's the most incredible feeling and I can't begin to tell you how I feel right now," Ashley said. "It was an insanely tough medal race -- the weather gave us a little bit of everything, but I tried to sail as consistently as I could."

Ashley was coached by Grant Beck of New Zealand, who was also instrumental in the three previous medal wins of Barbara Kendall who finished sixth earlier on Wednesday in the Women's RS:X medal race.

Julien Bontemps of France, who took the series lead on Tuesday, failed to medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, finishing ninth.

Shahar Zubari also created a Wednesday comeback to claim his bronze medal, reveling in the lighter shifty airs and flat seas -- sailing conditions he loves.

"I feel so happy. I'm only 20 and I feel like a superstar. I was lucky to have the wind on my side today," Zubari said. "When I finished, I counted back and realized I had won bronze. I was crazy with joy."

Russia's technical mastery wins Duet Synchronized Swimming Gold

2008-08-20T06:40:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova (RUS) lived up to their No.1 ranking, winning their third Olympic gold medal in Synchronized Swimming, at the National Aquatics Center on August 20.

The results mirrored the Melbourne 2007 World Championships with the top eight teams finishing in the same order.

Davydova and Ermakova, who won Duet and Team gold at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, were Beijing gold favorites.

The pair held a 0.416 lead over second-placed Spain in the free routine preleminilary on August 19. They produced an ambitious and beautifully executed routine in the final, earning perfect 10.0's from the five technical merit judges and three artistic impression judges. Their 49.917 gave them a combined score of 99.251.

Spanish duo Gemma Mengual and Andrea Fuentes took silver and in doing so claimed their NOC's first Olympic Synchronized Swimming medal.

Their free routine was well-constructed and executed, scoring 49.500, but their technical and free routines left them 0.917 behind Russia at 98.334.

Japan claimed bronze, continuing their record of never leaving an Olympic Games without a Synchronized Swimming medal. The Japanese duo Harada Saho and Suzuki Emiko improved on their preliminary performance to earn 48.917 in free routine for a combined 97.167.

China's twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen were unable to reproduce the timing of their preliminary Free Routine, and their small synchronization errors in the final were costly. A score of 48.250 for a combined 96.334 left them fourth.

Creative choreography was not enough for the fifth-place United States' Andrea Nott and Christina Jones to challenge for a medal.

Canada's Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon and Isabelle Rampling finished sixth with a combined 95.084.

Synchronized Swimming continues at 3:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT+8) August 22 with the Team Event Technical Routine.

Saytiev sates Russian appetite for Wrestling gold

2008-08-20T06:40:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Buvaysa Saytiev continued Russia's gold rush by defeating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan 0-1, 1-0, 3-1 to claim the Men's Freestyle 74 kilogram Wrestling title on Wednesday, August 20.

Saytiev's victory propelled powerhouse Russia's Wrestling gold tally in the tournament to a massive five.

The Beijing Games is the fourth Olympics for the legendary Saytiev. The 33-year-old won his first Olympic gold medal in this category in Atlanta and made the top podium again in Athens.

Wu wins gold in Women's Taekwondo -49kg division

2008-08-20T06:40:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Wu Jingyu of China won gold in the Taekwondo Women's -49kg category.

Wu beat Buttree Puedpong of Thailand 1-(-1), which was Wu's closest game of the tournament.

Wu scored the sole point with 55 seconds left in the first round with a defensive kick. The game then turned even more defensive and a deduction penalty given to Puedpong widened Wu's lead to two points.

On her way to the final, Wu beat Mildred Alango of Kenya 7-0 in her first bout and overran Hanna Zajc of Sweden 8-1 in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, she defeated Yang Shu-Chun of Chinese Taipei 4-1 to win a place in the gold medal match.

Tigiev and Saytiev advance into Men's Freestyle 74kg Wrestling final

2008-08-20T00:21:00.004-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Uzbekistan's Soslan Tigiev and Russia's Buvaysa Saytiev advanced into the final after beating their rivals in the semifinal of Men's Freestyle 74kg Wrestling on Wednesday, August 20.

Tigiev beat opponent Murad Gaidarov of Belarus 1-0 and 1-0.

Saytiev defeated Bulgaria's Kiril Terziev 8-0 in one period.

Greece escapes bottom of the barrel clash in Water Polo

2008-08-20T00:21:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Greece defeated China to win the second 7th-12th Classification match of the day in the Men's Water Polo at the Yingdong Natatorium on August 20.

Greece played some aggressive Water Polo to take the game 13-8 against the Chinese team. Greece will now play Germany in the semifinal on August 22. Both teams will be hoping to progress to the seventh-eighth deciding match, while China will meet Canada in the battle for eleventh and twelfth places.

Sahin and Stadnik move to final of Men's Freestyle Wrestling 66kg class

2008-08-20T00:21:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Turkey's Ramazan Sahin and Ukraine's Andriy Stadnik advanced into final after beating their rivals in the semifinal of the Men's Freestyle Wrestling 66kg class on Wednesday, August 20.

Sahin beat his rival Otar Tushishvili of Georgia 1-0 and 3-1.

Stadnik defeated Kazakhstan's Leonid Spiridonov 1-0 and 2-0.

Yin wins China's first Sailing gold

2008-08-20T00:21:00.001-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 20) -- Yin Jian, silver medalist in Athens, won the Women's RS:X (Windsurfer) with 39 points overall to give China's its first ever Olympic Sailing gold. Yin finished the medal race in third place, good enough to beat medal race winner Alessandra Sensini of Italy by one point in the overall standings. Great Britain's Bryony Shaw finished second in the medal race and earned bronze with 45 points overall.

Women's Marathon 10km: Ilchenko wins gold in final flurry

2008-08-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Pre-race favorite and three-time world champion Larisa Ilchenko of Russia put in a withering finishing burst with only 50 meters remaining to win the gold medal on Wednesday in the Women's 10km Marathon swimming race at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

Ilchenko is known for her race tactics of sitting just off the feet of the leaders and moving past them in the final stages and that is just how the race panned out for the dominant Russian who won in 1:59:27.7, just 1.5 seconds ahead of Britain's Keri-Anne Payne.

Payne shared the lead for almost the entire race with British teammate Cassandra Patten who lost the battle between the teammates for silver.

Payne and Patten surged to the front from the start and led the swimmers through the first and second laps, stopping at the feeding station at the end of the second lap but remaining in the lead.

Joining Ilchenko behind the leading pair were Marianne Lymperta of Greece and Chinese swimmer Fang Yanqiao. The third lap saw the pack become strung out heading into the feeding station at the end of lap three.

The lead remained the same at the beginning of the fourth and final lap with the two British swimmers out front and Fang dropping back to the chasing pack. Ilchenko, on the heels of the two British swimmers, was joined by Venezuala's Andreina del valle Pinto Perez and Brazil's Poliana Okimoto.

With a few hundred meters to go on the final lap, Ilchenko drew up to the feet of Payne and Patten. And with 50 meters to go the smooth-stroking Ilchenko made her move and drew alongside and then cruised past the British swimmers to sprint to the line and take the gold medal.

Payne and Patten could not be split for almost the entire race but Payne snatched the silver medal in 1:59:29.2, with Patten winning the bronze medal in 1:59:31.0.

In a great sign for the future of the sport, the youngest swimmer in the field, 16-year-old Ana Cunha of Brazil had a great race and was in the mix in the final stages, eventually finishing in fifth position.

In an historic day for the Olympic Games, the first amputee to compete at the Olympic Games, Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee in a scooter accident in 2001, finished 16th.

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Britain takes gold, silver in Cycling Track Men's Sprint Final

2008-08-19T07:48:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Britain's Chris Hoy took the gold medal in the Cycling Track Men's Sprint final after out riding compatriot Jason Kenney who claimed the silver. Minutes earlier, France's Mickael Bourgain surmounted Levy Maximillian of Germany for the bronze.

Hoy's win brings his third gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics after taking first place in both Men's Keirin and Men's Team Sprint events.

Zou wins his third Beijing gold in Horizontal Bar

2008-08-19T07:48:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- China's Zou Kai took the gold medal in the Horizontal Bar with a score of 16.200. Zou had already won two gold medals at Beijing 2008 in the Men's Team and Floor Exercise events.

Jonathan Horton of the United States claimed the silver medal with 16.175, and the bronze medal went to Fabian Hambuechen of Germany with 15.875.

If somebody asked Zou at the start of the Games whether he was expecting to win three gold medals, it is doubtful whether the fresh-faced gymnast would have said yes. However, Zou has been the beneficiary of his own surefire technique and the mistakes of the favorites in the Floor Exercise and the Horizontal Bar.

Tonight in the Horizontal Bar, Zou received the highest A Score out of the eight gymnasts. The A Score is the measure of how difficult a gymnast's routine is. With 7.200 for the A Score, Zou needed to make as little mistakes as possible, which he achieved by scoring 9.000 for his B Score, which is an assessment of the gymnast's execution.

Favorite for the gold medal Fabian Hambuechen of Germany performed first, but his performance was lackluster and he could only win the bronze medal. The result must be bitterly disappointing for Hambuechen, who has not been able to perform at his best throughout the entire Olympics. He leaves Beijing with the bronze medal and three fourth-place finishes, including the Team final.

Horton can consider himself unlucky not to win the gold, missing out by only 0.025 of a point. The performance tonight by the pint-sized American was spectacular and he received the highest B Score of all eight gymnasts. Horton is by far the United States' most successful male gymnast at Beijing 2008.

Dark Horse Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands set himself up for a tilt at the gold medal with a spectacular opening routine. Unfortunately the 22-year-old Dutchman fell from the bar, which destroyed his gold medal hopes in one foul blow.

Steiner uses last lift to snatch +105kg gold

2008-08-19T07:48:00.001-07:00

Men's Over 105 kilogram Weightlifting final on Tuesday, August 19. Steiner lifted a total of 461kg, 203kg in the Snatch and 258kg in the Clean and Jerk, to beat Chigishev by one kilogram for the gold.

Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia finished with a total of 448kg for the bronze medal.

Steiner lifted 198kg on his first Snatch attempt, followed by 203kg and then an unsuccessful 207kg attempt. Chigishev had a perfect performance all night, beginning with three successful lifts ending with 210kg in the Snatch. Latvia's Scerbatihs finished third place after the Snatch with 206kg, as Ukraine's Artem Udachyn finished 1kg better with 207kg.

Jeon Sang-guen from the Republic of Korea bombed-out in the Snatch.

These rankings were all changed by the Clean and Jerk portion of the competition. Udachyn could only succeed on his second attempt of 235kg and finished with a 442kg total. Scerbatihs, meanwhile, succeeded right off the bat with 242kg, but could not manage another lift and ended at 448kg in the total, enough to beat the Ukranian Udachyn out of third place.

Steiner missed his first attempt of 246kg, but succeeded in lifting 248kg on the second try. Chigishev breezed through the Clean and Jerk, going from 240kg to 250kg for a total finish of 460kg. Germany's Steiner needed a final lift of 258kg, 10kg more than his second attempt, to edge the Russian lifter for the gold. In a dramatic Olympic moment, Steiner lifted exactly what he needed to clinch his victory.

Steiner finished seventh in the 2004 Olympics in the 105kg weight category, and took the gold in the 2008 European Championship over 105kg Snatch competition, bronze in the Clean and Jerk and silver overall with a total weight of 446kg.

Gold finally comes for Johnson in the Beam

2008-08-19T07:46:00.001-07:00

However, tonight was a different story for Johnson. Li Shanshan of China, a heavy gold medal favorite and top-ranked qualifier, fell down from the beam and her medal chances nosedived sharply. Another Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei, who competed first and scored 15.950, had no chance of winning gold because of instability during her routine. Even Liukin, who has been so perfect during the Games, walked a small step forward when dismounting, which was a tiny mistake that probably cost her gold.

Anna Pavlova of Russia finished fourth with 15.900, followed by Gabriela Dragoi of Romania with 15.625. Li came sixth with 15.300.

Tunnicliffe radiant in Laser Radial win

2008-08-19T01:14:00.006-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 18) -- Anna Tunnicliffe of the United States staged a stunning and dramatic comeback to claim the Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy) gold medal from rising star Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania in light and shifty winds before a packed crowd on Tuesday afternoon.

In the box seat going into today's race, Tunnicliffe, the World No.1 Laser Radial sailor, made a dive for the windward end of the crowded start line and, in doing so, crossed early and had to return and restart.

That created easy picking for Volungeviciute who finished with Silver and Xu Lijia of China who took bronze.

With the US sailor out of the back door, China took the early lead, but it was not long before the Lithuanian had the upper hand. Choosing the opposite side of the course to Xu, Volungeviciute led around the first windward mark. Although Xu stayed in close touch, she never caught her rival.

As the leaders reached the last mark of the course, Sarah Blanck of Australia, also in medal contention, caught a shift and made her way to third place, but she needed to pass Xu to win bronze. Then, out of ninth place appeared Tunnicliffe, who had gone to the left side of the course. She came through to finish the race in second place.

"I had a really bad start. It was very hard to focus when my competitors were gaining points on me," said Tunnicliffe after her victory. "At the last mark, I saw a big puff at the left side of the course, and I said to myself, 'I already have a medal, so why don't I give it a try?' I went to the left and moved to the front of the fleet."

"I'm very excited. This is phenomenal. It is absolutely unbelievable," she said about winning gold. "This is my first Olympics and first medal. I've been wanting this for many years. It is a dream come true."

Volungeviciute may have missed gold, but she won the race, the silver and created Olympic history as the first Lithuanian sailor to win an Olympic medal.

"I won the race today. I'm very proud of myself. I'm also very happy to get the first Olympic sailing medal for my country," said Volungeviciute. "I have to say Anna is the strongest. I'm very satisfied with my result. I want to thank my coach. He's been with me for 12 years. Without him, I would not be here today."

Because Xu stayed calm she kept Blanck at bay in fourth place, the same rank as in Athens.

Li wins fourth Olympic gold medal of his career

2008-08-19T01:14:00.005-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- China's Li Xiaopeng won the Men's Parallel Bars tonight, guaranteeing his place in history as one of China's most decorated gymnasts. Li has won two gold medals at Beijing 2008, which is on top of his two gold medals at Sydney 2000.

Li scored 16.450 for a less difficult routine but had a very high level of execution. Yoo Won-chul of the Republic of Korea won the silver medal with a score of 16.250. Anton Fokin won the bronze medal with a score of 16.200.

Cejudo claims 55kg gold in Freestyle Wrestling

2008-08-19T01:14:00.004-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Henry Cejudo of the United States claimed gold in the Men's Freestyle Wrestling 55 kilogram class after beating Japan's Matsunaga Tomohiro 2-2, 3-0 on Tuesday, August 19.Abas, was defeated by 20-year-old Cejudo in the final at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Cejudo got his start in Olympic level wrestling by helping Women's Wrestling 48kg bronze medalist Patricia Miranda train before the 2004 Games. In 2007, Cejudo won his second straight national title, his first Pan-American Games gold medal, and went to his first World Championship where he was knocked out in the first round.

Twenty-eight-year-old Matsunaga is the 2008 Asian champion.

US and China to meet in final

2008-08-19T01:14:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Reigning Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States advanced to the Beijing 2008 Women's Beach Volleyball final with a 21-12, 21-14 victory in 39 minutes over sixth seeded Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil.

They will meet top-seeded Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China, who defeated their compatriots, fourth-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, in another semifinal match on Tuesday.

Both the US and Brazilian teams went to the semifinal with an undefeated record in the Beijing 2008 tournament. However, the US pair, who had posted 12 straight wins in a row in Olympic matches since Athens 2004, turned out to be too strong for the Brazilians to overtake.

The first set was lopsided, with the US duo maintaining a five to six point lead through the whole set. May-Treanor's spike in the last minute nailed the score at 21-12.

The second set wasn't much different. The Brazilian pair fought to take an early 4-3 lead; however, May-Treanor and Walsh quickly leveled the score at 5-5 and again took over the lead. The Brazilian pair saved themselves twice at match point after the score reached 20-12, but Rocha's service error gave the US team the point to win the match.

"We don't think about numbers. The only numbers we think about are 21 (points, to win a set), winning in two sets and finishing No. 1," May-Treanor said when asked what she thought of their winning streak.

Frodeno wins gold in Men's Triathlon

2008-08-19T01:14:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 19) -- With only 50 meters to go to the finish line, Jan Frodeno of Germany out-sprinted 2008 world champion Javier Francisco Gomez of Spain, Athens 2004 silver medallist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield to claim the gold in the Men's Triathlon on Tuesday.

Gomez sped up 700 meters before the end to finish the race, but failed to break away from the leading group. Whitfield followed suit, but was caught by Frodeno, who kept the lead till the end. He clocked one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds. The German had no notable achievement in international tournaments on his resume previous to this Olympic win.

Whitfield came in second at one hour, 48 minutes and 58.47 seconds, and the bronze winner was Docherty, who finished in one hour, 49 minutes and 5.59 seconds.

New Zealand's Shane Reed led the men out of the water at 18 minutes and 0.31 seconds. He was followed closely by Igor Sysoev of Russia and Frederic Belaubre of France. Belaubre is a three-time World Cup winner.

The 55 competitors then broke into a leader group of 43 and a chase group of the rest at the start of the first of six laps in the cycling leg. The leader group shape remained unchanged until lap four, when Axel Zeebroek of Belgium, Dirk Bockel of Luxembourg and Serrano Francisco of Mexico took off and built a 44-second lead on the chase group. The leader group was then further reduced to only two members, as Serrano failed to keep up. The lead was increased to 52 seconds when the cycling leg concluded.

Zeebroek and Bockel were soon caught up by the chase group, as the cycling portion cost them so much energy that they could not help but fall back in the run.

A group of five was at the head when the bell was rung to signal the final lap. Frodeno, Whitfield, Docherty, Gomez and Ivan Rana of Spain ran the final straightaway first. Rana did not survive the last sprint for gold and finished fifth, after compatriot Gomez.

Tunnicliffe radiant in Laser Radial win

2008-08-19T01:14:00.001-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 19) -- World No.1 Anna Tunnicliffe of the United States won gold in the Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy) with 37 points overall, five points ahead of Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania, who won the medal race and finished with silver. Tunnicliffe went into the final day of the Laser Radial with a seven point advantage over Volungeviciute and finished second in the medal race to clinch first place overall. World No.2 Xu Lijia, of China, finished the medal race in third place and took bronze on 50 points.

Goodison too good, dominates fleet for Laser gold

2008-08-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 19) -- Paul Goodison of Great Britain clinched gold in the Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy) with a ninth finish in the medal race and an overall point total of 63, eight points ahead of Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia who finished second in the medal place to claim silver. Goodison, who finished fourth in Athens, added to Great Britain's impressive gold medal -- making it three gold so far for his NOC. Diego Romero of Italy, an early leader in the regatta, grabbed bronze with 75 points overall.

Goodison came into the medal race 18 points ahead of his nearest rival, so all he had to do was keep Rasmus Myrgren of Sweden from finishing first. The Briton sat on top of his Swedish adversary throughout the two lap windward/leeward course at the back end of the fleet.

"It was quite tricky and pretty stressful," Goodison admitted. "I waited to make sure that I got the gold at the end of the day -- and there was only way to guarantee it. Sweden knew it was coming too -- but I just had to do what I had to do."

Goodison's actions also cost the Swede a medal even though Myrgren went into the race in second place overall.

Race winner Andrew Murdoch of New Zealand threw everything at Zbogar to try get rid of of the Slovenian in the light shifty airs, knowing it would cost him the bronze medal, but like Myrgren, the New Zealander missed out.

"It was really shifty, so it was hard to choose which course to take," the Slovenian sailor said. "I was able to sail my own race, as Britain was keeping an eye on Sweden. I think I had an advantage because I have already won bronze at Athens, so I didn't feel pressure and make mistakes."

He Kexin wins China's seventh Gymnastics gold at Beijing 2008

2008-08-18T07:32:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- He Kexin carried out the most difficult moves tonight in the Uneven Bars, but so did Nastia Liukin of the United States. Both scored 16.725, with even the Score A (a measure of difficulty) of both gymnasts being an identical 7.7. According to the rules of Artistic Gymnastics, the gold medal went to He because she made fewer mistakes than Liukin.

The gold medal is He's second of the Games as she won the gold medal in the Women's Team event on August 13. Liukin has now won four medals at Beijing 2008, with her other three medals being the gold medal in the All-Around, the silver medal in the Team final and the bronze medal in the Floor Exercise event.

Yang Yilin won the bronze medal with a score of 16.650. Yang has won a Team gold and the All-Around bronze medal at Beijing 2008.

Despite the disadvantage of competing first, as the first competitor tends to score less due to the conservative attitude of the judges, He dished out a nearly flawless performance and scored 16.725.

Liukin was the second to compete and performed a routine with the same level of difficulty as He's routine. However, six Score B judges found more flaws with her performance and she was ranked behind He despite having the same overall score.

Beth Tweddle of Great Britain finished fourth with 16.625.

Brown Trafton wins Women's Discus Throw gold

2008-08-18T07:32:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Stephanie Brown Trafton of the United States won the Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal with a throw of 64.74m in the Women's Discus Throw final on August 18 at the National Stadium.

Yarelys Barrios from Cuba threw 63.64m to take silver, while Olena Antonova of Ukraine earned bronze with a throw of 62.59m.

Blanik wins the gold medal in the Men's Vault

2008-08-18T07:32:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Leszek Blanik of Poland scored 16.537 to win the gold medal in the Men's Vault in Beijing on August 18. Thomas Bouhail of France won the silver medal with the same score, but was placed second due to inferior execution.

The bronze medal went to Anton Golotsutskov of Russia who scored 16.475.

Blanik is the first Polish gymnast to win a gold medal in the Men's Vault. The 31-year-old veteran won a bronze medal at Sydney 2000.

Favorite for the gold, Romania's Marian Dragulescu, finished a disappointing fourth. The bronze medalist at Athens 2004 made a mistake on his second vault and it cost him dearly.

"I am unlucky in the Olympics. In Athens I was a favorite, but I made the same mistake like today. I am a multiple world champion, but in the Olympics, I haven't won a gold medal," said Dragulescu after the event.

Great Britain sets world mark and wins gold in Team Pursuit

2008-08-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Great Britain rewrote the history books with an Olympic and world record in winning the Men's Team Pursuit at the Laoshan Velodrome on Monday.

Great Britain nearly caught Denmark in the final lap to claim its first Men's Team Pursuit gold medal since the London 1908 Olympic Games and improved on the previous record it set Sunday (3:55.202), finishing in 3:53.314.

Denmark (4:00.040) was out-gunned from the beginning of the 4km, 16-lap test against the clock, taking their first Team Pursuit Olympic medal since a bronze in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

In the bronze medal round, New Zealand (3:57.776) scored an impressive victory ahead of defending Olympic champions Australia (3:59.006).

The race was nearly a dead heat at the midway point, but New Zealand slowly pulled away to win their first medal in Men's Team Pursuit competition in the Olympic Games.

Australia was hoping to win its sixth medal in seven Olympic Games, but failed.

Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins was the key motor for Great Britain and scores his second gold medal of Beijing 2008 after winning the Men's Individual Pursuit.

He will line up with partner Mark Cavendish in the Madison in Tuesday's final day of competition at the Laoshan Velodrome.

Chen wins gold for China

2008-08-18T01:01:00.004-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Chen Yibing won China's first gold medal in the Men's Rings since the legendary Li Ning shared gold with Japan's Gushiken Koji at Los Angeles 1984. Chen scored 16.600 to win the gold medal.

The silver medal was won by China's Yang Wei, who scored 16.425. The bronze medal was won by Ukraine's Oleksandr Vorobiov, who scored 16.325.

Chen, 23, was the favorite going into the event and did not disappoint his home crowd. The seventh out of eight gymnasts to perform, Chen thrilled the crowd with his near-perfect execution. The gold medal is Chen's second gold medal of the Games, along with his gold medal in the Team event.

Yang performed the most difficult routine, which was enough for him to snare the silver medal. The silver medal is Yang's third medal of the Games, along with his gold medals in the Team and All-Around events.

Bronze medalist Vorobiov combined a fairly difficult routine with excellent execution, which allowed him to receive a slightly better score than Italy's Andrea Coppolino and France's Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues who both received a score of 16.225.

The world gasps as Liu walks away from Men's 110m Hurdles

2008-08-18T01:01:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- In the biggest upset of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for host country China, world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang stumbled at the start of his qualifying heat in round one of the Men's 110m Hurdles on Monday morning. He later withdrew entirely from the event.

After Mohammed Issa Al-Thawadi of Qatar in lane three made a false start, Liu slipped off the blocks himself. When the athletes gathered at the start to get set a second time, Liu was conspicuously absent.

"A 110m Hurdles race without Liu is such a pity," Al-Thawadi said after the race. "I really wanted to be just next to Liu's lane because he's such a big champion. It's a great pity I lost an occasion to race with him. I hope he will come back soon."

At a press conference following the event, Liu's coach confirmed that the star's withdrawal was as a result of an injury to his right take-off foot, which has been affecting him for about six years. Liu reported on his own website Sunday that he was suffering from a sore Achilles tendon.

Liu's showdown with Dayron Robles, the Cuban who took away his world record earlier this summer, was one of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the Games.

During his warm-up, Liu grimaced as he attempted to stride over a set of two hurdles. He stepped onto the track with the other runners in his heat and warmed up in his start lane. In one practice run, he fell to his knees and held his leg.

After the false start, he attempted a run several times, but eventually shook his head, removed his race numbers and began to repeatedly kick a wall.

Liu took first place at the world championships in Osaka, Japan, last year with a time of 12.95 seconds, but has yet to break 13 seconds this year or even turn in a top 10 performance.

Robles overtook Liu's world record in April 2008 when he ran 12.87 at the Ostrava Grand Prix in Czech Republic. The Cuban just missed out on a medal at the 2007 World Championships when he finished fourth. So far in 2008, he has run 13.01s at the Shanghai Grand Prix and 13.20s at the Berlin Golden League meet.

Terrence Trammell of the United States was also disappointed after failing to finish his race due to an injury. He was looking to finally win a gold medal after earning four major silver medals in his career.

The 29 year-old took silver at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He has twice finished second at the World Championships, in 2003 in Paris, and 2007 in Osaka when he ran 12.99, the first time he went under 13 seconds in a major final.

In the same lane Liu was assigned to run in one heat later, Trammell fell dramatically after hurting his hamstring.

"He's a veteran in hurdles for the United States, and we're going to have to pick it up and make sure we represent the US," said David Payne, after seeing his teammate fail to finish his race.

David Oliver of the United States enters round two as the fastest qualifier, after running a time of 13.30 seconds, putting him ahead of Colombia's Paulo Villar in 13.87s and Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados, who ran 13.38s.

Yipsi Moreno leads Women's Hammer Throw prelims

2008-08-18T01:01:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Cuban Yipsi Moreno led a field of strong contenders with 73.92m in the Women's Hammer Throw at the National Stadium on August 18.

The Athens 2004 Olympic Games silver medalist boasts a personal best of 76.36m and multiple world championship medals. She won golds in the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and finished second in 2005 and 2007.

China's Zhang Wenxiu threw the second furthest on Monday, marking 73.36m, while Martina Hrasnova of Slovakia followed with 72.87m to take third place going into the final.

Germany's Betty Heidler, who won the World Championships in Osaka and also set a national record of 76.55m, struck 71.51m to advance.

Darya Pchelnik of Belarus sits third in the world rankings, with a personal best throw of 76.33m. She passed through the prelims with 71.30m.

Her compatriot Aksana Miankova leads the 2008 world rankings with her national record of 77.32m, the third best throw of all time. She threw 69.77m to qualify for the final.

The Women's Hammer Throw final is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8) on August 20 at the National Stadium.

Aussies win gold in style with medal race victory

2008-08-18T01:01:00.001-07:00

(QINGDAO, August 18) -- With disqualification the only thing standing in the way of gold for Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page of Australia in the Men's 470 (Two Person Dinghy), the pair put an exclamation mark on their victory by finishing first in the medal race. Wilmot and Page took over first place after the third race and never looked back, building an insurmountable 22 point lead before the final race and winning with 44 points overall.

Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield of Great Britain jumped from fourth to second (75 net points) after a third-place finish in the medal race and Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset of France (78 points) held off Sven and Kalle Coster of the Netherlands for bronze with a better finish on the final day of racing.

Australia's two Emmas seize gold and bronze in Women's Triathlon

2008-08-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt of Australia won gold and bronze medals in today's Women's Triathlon race. The silver medal went to Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal.

Snowsill won the gold with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 27.66 seconds. Fernandes finished in a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 34.63 seconds, while Moffatt won the bronze medal with a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 55.84 seconds.

Laura Bennett of the United States led out of the water, followed closely by Magali di Marco of Switzerland and Sarah Haskins of the United States.

On the 40km bike course, two packs came together early to form a leading group of 24 triathletes. After three laps, the leading group was in front of the chasing group by one minute. The margin was widened to nearly two minutes after five laps.

As the women headed out onto the 10km running course, Snowsill and Fernandes immediately surged to the front and opened up a slight gap over the rest of the field, which they maintained till the end.

Romanian gymnast triumphs in Women's Floor Exercise

2008-08-17T07:42:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 17) -- Romania's Sandra Izbasa caused an upset today by winning the gold medal in the Women's Floor Exercise. Izbasa, the last gymnast to perform, scored 15.650.

The United States' Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Johnson, who performed first, looked unbeatable when China's Jiang Yuyan and Liukin could not surpass her score of 15.500.

However, Izbasa stunned the crowd by putting in an excellent performance and winning the gold medal.

Johnson put in a strong performance without any noticeable errors, but Jiang's high-leaping routine looked a chance to beat the 16-year-old American's score. Jiang, however, fell short when the judges gave her a score of 15.350.

Russia's Anna Pavlova continued her terrible day when she made a series of mistakes in her routine. She was given a score of 14.125. Pavlova finished last in the Women's Vault earlier tonight.

China's Cheng Fei was expected to challenge Johnson for the gold medal, but she made numerous errors in her routine, including a fall. Cheng's score for execution was the worst of all eight competitors and she finished with a total score of 14.550, which was only higher than the hapless Pavlova.

Liukin was once again elegant on the floor, but she just fell short of Johnson with a score of 15.425. In the end, the 18-year-old Izbasa, who finished eighth in the Floor Exercise at the 2007 World Championships, blew the field away with a commanding last performance.

Untouchable China grabs Women's Table Tennis Team gold

2008-08-17T07:42:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 17) -- The first gold medal ever for the Table Tennis Team event went to China at the Peking University Gymnasium, Sunday, August 17. The silver medal went to Singapore who staged a hard fight against the determined host.

Olympic veteran Wang Nan of China played the first match against Singapore's Feng Tianwei winning 3-1. World No. 1 Zhang Yining (CHN) faced a determined Li Jiawei (SIN) in the second match. After losing the first game to Li, Zhang found her pace and ultimately overtook the Singaporean 3-1. In the doubles match, China's Zhang Yining joined forces with teammate Guo Yue and claimed a 3-0 victory.

The win had not come as easy as hoped. With Chinese President Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge among the cheering crowd, the pressure for the Chinese team to win was tremendous.

Men's 1500m Freestyle: Mellouli gold shatters Hackett dream

2008-08-16T23:05:00.003-07:00

(BEIJING, August 17) -- Australian Grant Hackett's bid for a record third consecutive Olympic title in the Men's 1500m Freestyle fell apart as Tunisian Oussama Mellouli proved faster than the Australian on Sunday, at the National Aquatics Center.

Mellouli's time for the gold medal of 14:40.84 was an African record.

Against the expectations of many, he stuck with the two fastest qualifiers, Hackett and Canadian Ryan Cochrane, throughout the race and began to pull away with 200m left.

The lead three swimmers Hackett, Cochrane and Mellouli were never near to threatening the world record at any stage of the race with Cochrane turning in first place, at the 800m mark, in 7:51.06.

It was at the 1100m mark that Mellouli made his move on the leader Hackett. He increased the pace to see if the Australian veteran and world record holder could go with him but Hackett was found wanting.

From that point on Mellouli pulled away and swam the last 50m in a 28.45 split to ensure Hackett couldn't mount a comeback.

Hackett tried hard to close the gap in the last 100m with a last 50m split of 27.9 but it was not enough and he had to settle for the silver medal in 14:41.53.

Hackett's recent form suggested he could have been able to respond to the challenge from Mellouli but he was unable go with the Tunisian when it was needed.

Cochrane qualified second-fastest for the final in an Americas record 14:40.84 and was with the leaders throughout the race, finishing with the bronze medal in 14:42.69.

Yuriy Prilukov of Russia, who qualified third for the final in a European record 14:41.13, finished fourth.

Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay: Australia smashes world record for gold

2008-08-16T23:05:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 17) -- The Australian Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay team made up for some disappointing performances on the last few days of competition at the National Aquatics Center to break the world record and take the gold medal on Sunday, the final day of swimming competition.

As the defending Olympic champions, world champions, world record holders and fastest qualifiers for the final they proved their credentials with a series of stunning swims to take the gold medal in a world record time of 3: 52.69 and slash 3.05 seconds off the old world mark.

The US team led early thanks to a blistering Backstroke leg of 58.94 from 100m Backstroke gold medalist Natalie Coughlin but the Australian team of Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper, and Lisbeth Trickett performed flawlessly to rein in the US and open up a decisive gap.

Jones swam a stunning second 50m of her Breaststroke leg to pull away from the US's Rebecca Soni in a world record split - 1.82 seconds under the world mark. Schipper also swam an exceptional Butterfly leg to strengthen Australia's lead over the US and further lower the world record split by 2.75 seconds.

Trickett took to the water with a good lead over Dara Torres (USA) who swam an excellent final leg in 52.27 but Trickett held on to bring the Australians home.

The US team of Coughlin, Soni, Christine Magnuson and Torres also went under the old world mark in winning the silver medal in 3:53.30.

China had a great swim to take the bronze medal in an Asian record 3:56.11. Their team was comprised of Zhao Jing, Sun Ye, Zhou Yafei and Pang Jiaying.

Great Britain finished fourth but in the process managed to set a European record 3:57.50.

Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay: Phelps wins record eighth gold

2008-08-16T23:05:00.001-07:00

((BEIJING, August 17) -- Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay final on Sunday but this time needed some help from his friends.

The US team of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Jason Lezak and Phelps won at the National Aquatics Center in a time of 3:29.34 and in doing so broke the world record by 1.34 seconds.

The defending Olympic champions and world record holders led from start to finish.
Peirsol gave them a great start with a 53.16sec split. Hansen increased the lead on the world record split taking it 0.39 seconds under at the race's halfway mark. Brenton Rickard swam his breaststroke leg in 58.56, faster than Hansen, to bring the Australians into second place.

Phelps fought off the Australian challenge in the Butterfly leg before Lezak kept Eamon Sullivan on his shoulder until the wall.

The Australian team of Hayden Stoeckel, Andrew Lauterstein, Rickard and Sullivan finished 0.70 seconds behind the US to win silver in an Oceania record 3:30.04, also under the old world record.

Australia went into the race as world champions but only as beneficiaries of a US disqualification at the 2007 world championships.

Japan's team of Miyashita Junichi, Kitajima Kosuke, Fujii Takuro and Sato Hisayoshi took bronze in an Asian record 3:31.18.

Russia finished fourth in a European record 3:31.92.

Canada's first Women's Wrestling gold, second silver for Icho

2008-08-16T05:09:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 16) -- Wrestler Carol Huynh took Canada's first Beijing gold, and forced Icho Chiharu of Japan to her second straight silver, in the Women's Freestyle Wrestling 48 kilogram weight class final on August 16.

Huynh won the first period 4-0 with a three-point takedown. Icho tried her best in the second period but still lost 2-1.

Huynh became the first Canadian female wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal. This is also Canada's first gold medal of these Games.

Icho took the 48kg silver medal in Athens. After that, the 26-year-old almost won all major international events, including two World Cups, two World Championships and the 2006 Asian Games. She came to the final with all the odds in her favor, but instead took another second place finish.

On the other hand, this is the best senior result for 27-year-old Huynh, who only won two senior championships before this tournament: the 2006 Golden Grand Prix and the 2007 Pan-American Games.

Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record, despite scare

2008-08-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 16) -- American Michael Phelps won his seventh gold on Saturday in the Men's 100m Butterfly final at the National Aquatics Center, to equal Mark Spitz (USA) as the only person ever to have won seven gold medals at a summer Olympic Games.

But Phelps had to survive a big scare from unheralded Serbian Milorad Cavic to do it.

Phelps won in an Olympic record time of 50.58, to take his gold medal tally to seven, but by the slimmest of margins - 0.01 seconds. He had a huge battle on his hands after Cavic touched first on the 50m mark at 0.09sec under the world record.

Phelps and Cavic battled it out in the last 50m. A monumental upset looked to be approaching - until Phelps dug deep and out-touched Cavic on the wall.

Cavic finished with the silver medal in a time of 50.59.

Australia's Andrew Lauterstein won the bronze medal in 51.12. World record holder Ian Crocker of the United States swam in fourth place at 51.13.

Ukraine's Petriv wins Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol gold

2008-08-16T00:04:00.001-07:00

Ukraine's Oleksandr Petriv scored 780.2 points to win the Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol gold medal at the Olympic Games here on Saturday.

Germany's Ralf Schumann scored 779.5 points for the silver and his compatriot Christian Reitz got the bronze with 779.3.
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A perfect day for Zhang Ning

2008-08-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 16) -- Thirty-three-year-old Zhang Ning fought against all odds to defend her Badminton Women's Singles title on August 16 after defeating her teammate Xie Xingfang in the final.
World No. 1 Xie Xingfang's journey to the final was much easier than Zhang's. Conceding just one game in four matches, Xie came to the final as the favorite. In contrast, World No. 7 Zhang's stamina had been questioned since the beginning of the tournament. Even after Zhang battled to the final, few believed she could win on tired legs.

However, Zhang was the first player to turn on the gears in the final. In the first game, Zhang countered Xie's attack with precise crosscourt flights and hairpin shots. She stayed ahead most of the game and won a comfortable 21-12.

Xie made a second-game comeback as expected, using smashing combined with drops to put pressure on Zhang Ning's exhausted legs. When Xie took the second game 21-10, most thought Zhang's chance of winning this match was running out.
But Olympic-gold-medal-proven Zhang showed the crowd she had the heart of a champion. In the last game, Zhang continued her precise shots and drops, leaving little room for Xie to operate. Zhang led the game from start to end winning the game with a final score of 21-18. After such an outstanding performance, it's hard to believe Zhang is a 33-year-old Badminton veteran.

This year's Games may be Zhang's last Olympic appearance having already planned to retire after her Athens gold. She is also the eldest Badminton Women's Singles Olympic champion in history.

Winner Of The Day

2008-08-15T06:51:00.003-07:00

Photos: Ruban's win concludes Archery competition

Photos: Germany wins Olympic team dressage gold medal

Photos: Lu Yong of China wins Men's 85kg Weightlifting gold

Gold for US gymnast, finally

2008-08-15T06:51:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August) -- The US gymnastics team finished the first six days gold-less. It could only watch as China won gold in the Men and Women's Team event.

However, today was another day. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson starred in the Women's All-Around final to win the gold and silver medals. The bronze medal went to China's Yang Yilin.

In the first rotation of four, Johnson was ranked first after a difficult move gave her 15.875 in the Vault. China's best gymnast, Jiang Yuyuan, was unable to land cleanly after dismounting from the Vault and scored a low 14.825. Once a gymnast's score dips below 15.000 on a single apparatus, their medal chances skydive. Liukin and Yang Yilin earned 15.025 and 15.175 in the Vault respectively.

Uneven Bars specialist Yang, who is the best-ranked qualifier in the Uneven Bars final, caught up to Johnson after she scored an outstanding 16.725 on the Uneven Bars in the second rotation. Liukin was the second-highest scorer on the apparatus with 16.650. Johnson, whose specialty lies with the Floor Exercise and the Vault, finished with 15.275.

Johnson competed first on the Beam in the third rotation. She scored 16.050, her first Beam score above 16.000 at Beijing 2008. Yang finished with a Beam score of 15.750. Liukin, who competed last in this rotation, needed 15.975 to replace Yang in first place, which she did with an outstanding 16.125.

Liukin held onto her lead with 15.525 in the Floor Exercise, taking her total score to 63.325. Johnson finished with a total score of 62.725 and Yang finished with a total score of 62.650.

Men's Team Sprint: Great Britain dominates rival France for gold

2008-08-15T06:51:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 15) -- Great Britain flew past long time rival France to win their first Men's Team Sprint Olympic gold medal on Friday, opening five days of competition at the Laoshan Velodrome.

The German team pipped Australia by 0.008 seconds to claim bronze thanks to a stunning final leg by Stefan Nimke, the only returning member from the Olympic champions in Athens 2004.

France had beaten Great Britain in three consecutive world championships, but an emotional final-leg showdown between Men's Sprint rivals Chris Hoy (Great Britain) and Arnaud Tournant (France) fell in favor of the British.

After topping both qualifying rounds, Great Britain sprinted to victory in 43.128 seconds with France settling for the silver medal with 43.651.

Great Britain were the fastest on all three laps, with Jamie Staff setting the tone ahead of Gregory Bauge in the first lap.

Jason Kenny held the gap against Kevin Sireau in the second lap, before Hoy sealed the victory.

The French team removed veteran Tournant in favor of Mickael Bourgain in the first round, a decision that almost backfired, with France only edging Germany by 0.046 seconds to pass to the gold medal round. Tournant was back in the rotation for the gold medal race.

The Netherlands team, a medal outsider after taking bronze at the Manchester 2008 World Track Cycling Championships in March, failed to make the medal rounds.

The US team qualified for the final spot in the first round after the race jury relegated Poland for deliberately riding on the blue band during the initial qualifying round.

Medal Of The Day

2008-08-14T07:57:00.002-07:00

Photos: Naidan from Mongolia wins Men's 100kg Judo gold
Tuvshinbayar Naidan from Mongolia claimed the Men's 100kg Judo title at the Beijing Olympics here on Thursday, beating Askhat Zhitkeyev from Kazakhstan in the final.

Photos: Cuba's Lopez wins Men's Greco-Roman 120kg gold medal
Cuba's Mijain Lopez beat Russia's Khasan Baroev to win the Men's Greco-Roman 120kg gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Thursday.

Photos: Yang Xiuli wins in Judo Women's -78kg
Yang Xiuli of China won gold in Judo Women's -78kg by defeating Cuba's Yalennis Castillo with a hantei after overtime failed to decide a winner

Photos: Ukraine wins the gold defeating China
Ukraine has won the gold in the inaugural Women's Team Sabre event at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 14, defeating China 45-44.

Photos: Italy's Cainero wins Women's Skeet gold
Italy's Chiara Cainero won the Women's Skeet gold at the Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday. Cainero defeated American Kimberly Rhode and German Christine Brinker in a shoot-off after the trio tied at 93 hits. Rhode grabbed the silver and the bronze went to Brinker.

Yang wins gold in Men's All-Around

2008-08-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 14) -- China's Yang Wei proved that he is the world's best all-round gymnast today by winning the gold medal in the Men's All-Around.

Yang entered the final rotation with a comfortable lead over the rest of the field. The lead was a tremendous advantage for Yang, who knew he did not need to excel on his weakest apparatus, the Horizontal Bar.

Yang performed well in the Rings, the Vault and the Parallel Bars. His 16.625 in the Rings was only bettered by his compatriot Chen Yibing, who pulled out of his last rotation and finished last.

Yang finished with a total of 94.575 points, which was a long way ahead of silver medalist Uchimura Kohei of Japan who scored a total of 91.975. Uchimura will rue his mistake-ridden performance in the Pommel Horse, where he finished with 13.275 - the worst score of any competitor.

The bronze medal was won by French dark horse Benoit Caranobe, who scored a total of 91.925 points. Caranobe was the ninth-highest-ranking gymnast in the qualification phase, but an outstanding performance in the Vault secured the bronze medal. Caranobe was the top-ranking gymnast on the apparatus, scoring 16.600.

Germany's Fabian Hambuechen, who was seen as the only real rival to Yang, performed poorly today. Hambuechen was clearly upset after a bad performance in the Vault. He finished seventh with a total of 91.675.

Japan's Tomita Hiroyuki would have had a chance to win a medal if he had not fallen from the Rings. Due to the fall, Tomita could only manage a score of 13.850 on the apparatus. He was the best-performed gymnast in the Horizontal Bar and finished with a total score of 91.750.

Winner Of The Day

2008-08-13T08:34:00.004-07:00

Photos: Men's Individual Time Trial: Cancellara delivers gold

Photos: German Romeike wins Eventing Individual Jumping gold

Photos: Georgia's Tsirekidze wins Men's 90kg Judo Olympic gold

Photos: China's Chen catches up to win gold in the Women's 25m Pistol

Photos: Sa Jaeh-youk of the Republic of Korea puts a damper on China's winning streak

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Girl Singer Lip-Synched Song

2008-08-13T08:34:00.003-07:00

At this point in time, nothing the Chinese do anymore at these Olympic Games would surprise me. They could shave a bear and put him out on the wrestling mat and it wouldn't shock me in the least. And on top of that, I'm sure the bear would test positive for steroids as well.

The reason why nothing surprises me anymore is primarily because of this. While we all know the Opening Ceremony used CGI effects to upgrade the experience for TV viewers, it appears they also pulled a Milli Vanilli on us.

Yep, the girl in the top right hand corner there, 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, charmed the whole world when she came out and "sang" the patriotic song "Hymn to the Motherland" at the Opening Ceremony. But of course, she didn't actually sing it. So who did?

That would be 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. I bet you can't guess why she didn't actually get to sing the song in person.

At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.

Damn, that's harsh. Although the fact that they didn't throw her out into the forrest to fend for herself after they ripped her song is probably considered a compliment in China. See, they're sort of behind on women's rights. She should just be glad she's still alive.

But, really, was this just about looks, China? Tell us more.

"The main consideration was the national interest," Chen Qigang, the show's musical designer said. "The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression."

I'm just guessing here, but I could have sworn some infamous German guy may have said something similar to that during the 1936 Olympic Games.

Anyway, Chen said the decision was "fair" which must be Chinese for "not fair at all." But it also begs the question, why was 9-year-old Lin Miaoke allowed to give interviews right after her performance to all the top Chinese newspapers in which she lapped up the praise for her singing?

Mr Chen said she might not have known that the words she was singing could not be heard. She had, in fact, only known she was going to perform at all 15 minutes beforehand.

Oh, that's a good one China. How dumb do you think I am? You've been planning these Olympics since time immemorial and you're going to throw a 9-year-old girl out there who doesn't know she's lip synching? Man, that could go Ashlee Simpson real fast. I wonder why that didn't happen?

And here's the best part of this whole story. The 7-year-old girl with buck teeth had this to say when asked if she was upset about what had happened.

"I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all."

Sounds exactly like something a 7-year-old would say.

Moral of the story: Always be attractive, don't live in China.

China makes history by winning its first Team gold in Women's Gymnastics

2008-08-13T08:34:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 13) -- China made history today by winning its first Olympic gold medal in the Team event of Women's Gymnastics. China won the gold medal with a total of 188.900 points.

The United States won the silver medal with a total of 186.525 points and Romania won the bronze with a total of 181.525 points.

China entered the Team final as favorites, but it was pushed all the way by a determined United States. The two sides' first rotation was the Vault, with the United States taking a slender lead.

The second rotation for China and the United States was the Uneven Bars, which is regarded as China's specialty. China did not disappoint, gaining the lead with a dominant display on the apparatus.

He Kexin and Yang Yilin were outstanding in the Uneven Bars, scoring 16.850 and 16.800 respectively. Despite the best efforts of the United States' Nastia Liukin, who scored 16.900, the United States could not overcome China's dominance of the apparatus.

The United States gained slightly more points than China in the Balance Beam, a rotation that was marked by the mistakes of the United States' Alicia Sacramone and China's Cheng Fei. Sacramone was clearly affected by her mistake and also performed poorly in the next rotation, the Floor Exercise.

The United States could not afford to make any mistakes against a disciplined Chinese side. China's Li Shanshan improved her country's chances of winning the gold medal by scoring 16.050 in the Balance Beam. This was an individual score that even the elegant Liukin could not match.

China's most experienced campaigner Cheng Fei sealed the victory with a solid performance in the Floor exercise.

Romania surprised Russia by winning the bronze medal. Romania performed well in the Floor Exercise, with only China receiving a higher score. Russia scored poorly in the Balance Beam and finished with a total score of 180.625.

The fifth to eighth places in the Team final were taken by Japan, Australia, France and Brazil.

Michael Phelps: Life in the fast lane

2008-08-13T08:34:00.001-07:00

The deep gulps of air and fighting back of tears as Michael Phelps stood proudly upon the podium as US anthem the Star Spangled Banner rang around the Water Cube said it all.

It is a sound the 23-year-old American swimmer knows all too well. After winning the Men's 200 meters Butterfly final -- Phelps's fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games, each on a world record time -- another superlative can justifiably be added to the growing list of adjectives used to describe this amazing athlete: legend.

Phelps powered his way into Olympic history at Beijing 2008 to become the first person to ever win 10 Olympic gold medals. "I just kept thinking wow, I'm the greatest Olympian of all time, It's a pretty great title. It's pretty neat, I'm definitely honored."

"Listening to the anthem, with the medal around your neck is an amazing feeling," said Phelps, after his tenth record medal. "I am almost at a loss for words. Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian."

He is the classic wholesome all-American boy who, for an added twist of tension, even had the audacity to win the 200 meters Butterfly despite a goggle malfunction which affected his vision.

"When my goggles filled up there was nothing I could do. All I could do at that point was swim. I tried to see something at the 150 wall. I tried to see the T on the bottom to judge my turn. I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I was dead on. I'm just disappointed because I know I can go faster than that."

Faster was precisely what Phelps and his colleagues in the USA Men's 4 x 200 Freestyle team did to add an 11th gold to his list an hour after clinching the all-important tenth. They shattered another world record – Michael's 30th - by slashing an amazing 4.68 seconds off their own previous world record.

His 11 gold medals in total stand two clear of the previous best – the nine-gold-medal club consisting of four athletes: Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, Ukrainian gymnast Larysa Latynina, US swimmer Mark Spitz and sprinter Carl Lewis.

"When you have an Olympic Gold medal, it stays with you forever. You're always an Olympic gold medalist. It's amazing and it definitely never gets old."

Indeed by the time the Beijing 2008 swimming competition concludes Phelps could also become the first person ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, surpassing Mark Spitz's seven at Munich in 1972 and ratcheting up his overall tally to 14 gold medals.

Small wonder one of his friends sent him a cheeky text message after seeing Phelps step onto the podium for the tenth time: "Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face?"

At Athens 2004 Phelps took eight medals -- a feat only achieved by one other athlete, Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin, in Moscow in 1980.

Perhaps the most staggering thing is that, at 23 years old, Phelps is feasibly young enough to add more Olympic medals to his collection should he decide to carry on until London 2012.
So who is Michael Fred Phelps and what makes him the greatest Olympian in history?

Born in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland, Phelps – known as the Baltimore Bullet -- suffered Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a teenager and trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman, who was later an assistant coach to the US swimming team at Athens 2004.

He was a talented junior swimmer who became the youngest-ever US swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games when he represented his country at the age of 15 at the Sydney 2000 Games in the Men's 200 meters Butterfly. A few months later, at 15 years and nine months, he became the youngest man to set a swimming world record, again in the 200 meters Butterfly.

His first World Championship gold medal came in 2001, but the big breakthrough year was 2003, when Phelps won four gold medals and two silver at the World Championships in Barcelona.

At Athens 2004, Phelps extended that to six gold medals and two bronze (swimwear manufacturers Speedo offered Phelps one million dollars if he won all eight medals – an offer which has stayed on the table for Beijing 2008).

Indeed a succession of lucrative sponsorship deals meant Phelps could no longer train as an amateur, so when Bowman moved to coach at the University of Michigan in 2004, Phelps followed too and trained at a local swimming club in Ann Arbor called Club Wolverine.

Phelps has vowed not to work under any other coach than Bowman. "I don't think I would be where I am today with any other coach. He's always on top of things. We've been through a lot."

He maintained his grip as the world's No. 1 swimmer by winning four gold and two silver at the 2005 World Championships and then six gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Then came this week's incredible record-breaking feats.

The bad news for Phelps's rivals is that he hasn't lost his thirst for more titles.

"This is something we've been preparing for over the past four years. The hard work is paying off and it's starting to show."

That is surely the understatement of Beijing 2008. Debate among sports columnists will rage about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. Conjecture, of course ... but the record book is firmly on his side.

Winner Of The Day

2008-08-12T07:45:00.002-07:00

Photos: German Grimm wins Kayak K1 Men's gold

Photos: Men's Individual Sabre Review: Favorites fall, China takes gold

Photos: Members of the Chinese team celebrate winning the gold medal

Photos: German Bischof wins Men's 81kg Judo Olympic gold

Photos: Australia's Leisel Jones wins Women's 100m Breaststroke gold

China proves itself as Fencing power

2008-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 12) -- China's Zhong Man claimed the gold medal in a 15-9 two-round bout in the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Men's Individual Sabre on August 12 at the Fencing Hall. Nicholas Lopez of France took home the silver.

In so doing, Zhong became the first Chinese fencer in Olympic history to win this event.

"I feel as though I'm dreaming and now I'm more confident about the Team event. I want to dedicate this gold medal to my coach, Christian Bauer ," lauded Zhong.

Mihai Covaliu won the bronze medal final with a score of 15-11 against fourth place finisher Julien Pillet of France in a bout that only lasted two rounds.
"I did everything I could but Covaliu is a little bit stronger than I am and I was just really tired," Pillet said after losing his bout.

Some big names in the event were knocked out early in the day, with Athens 2004 silver medalist Zsolt Nemcsik of Hungary and Russian Stanislav Pozdnyakov failing to reach the quarterfinals.

Winner Of The Day

2008-08-11T07:56:00.002-07:00

Photos: Chinese men win 10m Synchronized Diving gold(Lin Yue (L) and Huo Liang receive the gold medal)

Photos: Italy takes gold, bronze in Women's Individual Foil(Maria Valentina Vezzali (R) and Nam Hyun-hee compete)

Photos: Mammadli of Azerbaijan wins Men's 73kg Judo gold

Photos: Italy's Pellegrini breaks Women's 200m Freestyle world record

Day 3 Preview: Action continues, more medals at stake

2008-08-11T07:56:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 11) -- It promises to be another record-breaking day of action on day three of Beijing 2008 with thirteen medals up for grabs in six different sports.

Once again, the spotlight will inevitably fall on the Water Cube, where four more finals will be contested and records are likely to tumble.

The most vulnerable looks to be the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay record, which will surely fall in the final and was smashed by the United States yesterday without Michael Phelps. Well you know the rest….The French and the Australian teams could have a say…

Alexander Dale Oen of Norway will swim in lane 4 of the Men's 100m Breaststroke final with the Athens gold medalist Kitajima Kosuke beside him in lane 5 and the world record holder Brendan Hansen in lane 2.

In the two women's finals of the morning the Women's 100m Butterfly final could be a battle between Australians Lisbeth Trickett and Jessicah Schipper, while the Women's 400m Freestyle final features Olympic record-breaker Federica Pellegrini of Italy and her strong rival Katie Hoff next to her.

In the semifinals, Phelps will go in the Men's 200m Freestyle as he continues his historic quest for eight golds.

Another Olympic-record breaker, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, will race with Laure Manaudou of France in heat 2, while Natalie Coughlin of the United States will be in heat 1 of the Women's 100m Backstroke semifinal.

The day's Diving final is the Men's Synchronized 10m Platform, in which 2007 World Champions Lin Yue and Huo Liang will try to grab China's second Diving gold medal, following Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia's Women's 3m Synchronized Springboard victory on Sunday. Russian duo Gleb Galperin and Dmitriy Dobroskok, who were silver medalists at the 2007 World Championships, will be in contention, as will Robert Newbery and Mathew Helm of Australia.

One of the more interesting competitors is 14-year-old British prodigy Tom Daley, who is the youngest diver at the Games.

The Republic of Korea (ROK) Men's archers will attempt, partly at least, to emulate the achievements of their women's team, who claimed a sixth consecutive title yesterday. The men's team is chasing a mere third title on the trot by comparison – and look good, having finished the Ranking Round in first place. Their stiffest competition could come from the Russian and Ukraine teams.

The third day of the Olympic Fencing competition should see Italy dominate the Women's Individual Foil after capturing three consecutive Olympic victories in this event.

Italy's foil specialist Maria Valentina Vezzali is ranked World No. 1 with 16 World Championship medals under her belt and could become the first fencer to win three Individual Foil gold medals in consecutive Games.

World Nos. 2 and 3, Margherita Granbassi and Giovanna Trillini, also of Italy, could also challenge, alongside Sylwia Gruchala of Poland and Nam Hyun-hee from the Republic of Korea. Another interesting contender is Chinese fencer Luan Jujie, who is representing Canada and making a comeback at the age of 50. She last won gold at Los Angeles 1984.

The fifth and sixth gold medals of the Judo competitions will be contested in the Men's -73kg and Women's -57kg classes. Elnur Mammadli from Azerbaijan is the World No. 1 in the -73kg division. In the Women's -57kg contest, World No. 1 Sabrina Filzmoser from Austria will be challenged by World No. 2 Barbara Harel of France.

In Shooting, another two gold medals will be decided in the Men's 10m Air Rifle and the Women's Trap. China will have a chance to win its third shooting gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle with World No. 1 and defending champion Zhu Qinan of China being the favorite. Zhu's main threat will be Romanian Alin George Moldoveanu.

In the Women's Trap, San Marino's Daniela Del Din, the current World No. 1, will strive to win a first ever Olympic medal for the tiny European country. China's Liu Yingzi will provide some tough competition, though.

The Weightlifting medals being contested are the Men's 62kg and Women's 58kg classes, where the defending Olympic champions Shi Zhiyong and Chen Yanqing, both of China, are highly fancied to retain their crowns on home soil.

In the non medal sports, there are remaining first-round matches of the Men's and Women's Singles Tennis tournament to be played after play was decimated due to bad weather on August 10, when only nine of the 46 scheduled matches were completed.

Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay: USA obliterates world record

2008-08-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

(BEIJING, August 11)-- In one of the all-time great relay swims, the United States overhauled the French team in the shadows of the finish line to complete a stunning Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay win on Monday, smashing the world record by nearly four seconds in the process.

The US team of Michael Phelps, Garret Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak proved unstoppable, with Lezak producing a superb anchor leg to reel in Alain Bernard of France and give the US a victory by 0.08 seconds in 3min 08.24sec. Australia took Bronze in 3:09.91.

The world record set by the US on Saturday was smashed by the Americans again - by a stunning 3.99 seconds - and the first five finishers in the final (United States, France, Australia, Italy and Sweden) all went under the old world record.

The US and Australia went head-to-head for the first 200m, with France further back. France's Frederick Bousquet slipped past the Australians in the third leg to challenge for the lead. Lezak went into the final leg well behind Bernard, with the Frenchman holding a comfortable lead, but then Lezak began to haul in a fading Bernard over the final 30m. With both men lunging for the line, Lezak just touched out Bernard to give the US gold.

"It was unbelievable! Jason (Lezak) finished the race better than we could have asked for. In the last 50 (meters), I was like, this is going to be a really close race. At the end, as you could see I was pretty excited, I was very emotional," Phelps said after the race.

Australia's Eamon Sullivan set a world record for the Men's 100m with a stunning lead-off leg of 47.24 to shave more than two-tenths of a second off Bernard's old mark. Sullivan's superb swim means the 22-year-old will start as favorite in front of Bernard for the Men's 100m Freestyle. Heats start on Tuesday, 12 August.

Winner of the day

2008-08-10T06:30:00.003-07:00

Photos: China's Long Qingquan wins Men's 56kg Weightlifting gold

Photos: Japan's Uchishiba wins Men's 66kg Judo Olympic gold

Photos: Republic of Korea wins Archery Women's Team gold

Photos: Cooke celebrates on the podium

Photos: Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia pose with their gold medals

Photos: Silver medalist Sada Jacobson (L), gold medalist Mariel Zagunis (C) and bronze medalist Becca Ward, all of the United States, stand on the podium

Giant Czech towers over field in the Men's Trap

2008-08-10T06:30:00.002-07:00

(BEIJING, August 10) -- The Czech Republic's David Kostelecky put in a stellar display to win the gold medal in the Men's Trap in Beijing on August 10.

Kostelecky hit a perfect 25 targets in the final. He had the highest score in the qualification rounds, hitting 121 targets.

Italian Giovanni Pellielo won the silver medal, hitting 23 targets in the final and 120 in the qualification rounds.

A shoot-off for the bronze medal was held between former Olympic gold medalists Michael Diamond of Australia and Alexey Alipov of Russia after both shooters hit a total of 142 targets.

Alipov won the bronze medal after hitting three out of three targets compared to Diamond's two.

Kostelecky was the overnight leader in the event after hitting 73 targets after the first three qualification rounds on August 9.

The 33-year-old Czech continued his good form today, only missing one shot in the final two qualification rounds and earning a total score of 121, making him the best-placed qualifier going into the final.

The question on everyone's lips was whether Kostelecky would crumble under the pressure of having to shoot against two former gold medalists in the final -- Alipov, gold medalist at Athens 2004 and Diamond, gold medalist at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

In reply to this question, Kostelecky gave a resounding answer -- he hit a perfect 25 targets and won the gold medal with three more points than silver medalist Pellielo.

Pellielo put in a solid performance in the final, hitting 23 targets, but it was not good enough to beat the giant Czech (Kostelecky is 1.90m tall).

Alipov had mixed fortunes in the final. After shooting 121 in the qualification rounds, he performed poorly in the final, missing four targets.

However, he hit the target on his last ten shots, which was enough to force a shoot-off against Diamond for the bronze medal.

Italian Erminio Frasca looked like a strong medal contender but he collapsed under pressure in the latter stage of the final, missing three out his last four shots.

ROK women win sixth consecutive Team gold medal

2008-08-10T06:30:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 10) -- The Republic of Korea women set a world and Olympic record on the way to winning the gold medal, continuing their domination of women's archery and making history by winning their sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Sunday, August 10.

The ROK led China by two points at the conclusion of the first end and then continued to increase their lead throughout the remainder of the final.

Only needing a two to win the gold medal with her final shot, Park Sung-Hyun (KOR) nailed the 10 ring, a flashback to her final arrow against China which clinched the gold medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The ROK claimed their place in history with a final score of 224-215. Heavy rain after the semifinals had earlier forced a 30-minute delay before the medal matches could take place.

Earlier in the day the ROK set a 24-arrow world record when Park Sung-Hyun, Yun Ok-Hee and Joo Hyun-Jung combined for a score of 231 out of a possible 240 points against Italy in the quarterfinals.

The ROK score of 231 also established the Olympic record as the 24-arrow format is being featured for the first time in the Olympic Games.

The bronze medal match between France and Great Britain was a tense affair with the two teams staying within a few points of each other for much of the match.

Great Britain did not get off to a good start in the match with Charlotte Burgess hitting just a six on her first arrow.

The French team needed seven points to win with one arrow remaining and Sophie Dodemont withstood the pressure to score an eight, leading France to the bronze medal with a final score of 203-201.

Earlier, Great Britain and China competed in the first semifinal match. The key turning point of the contest came in the third end when Naomi Folkard shot just a six, allowing China to capitalize and eventually win the match 208-202.

In the second semifinal, France faced the ROK in a match conducted in heavy rain and wind. The combination of the inclement weather and the pressure of facing the No. 1 seeded team proved too much for the French who shot a four and three threes in their final eight arrows eventually losing 213-184.

China got the day off to a great start winning their quarterfinal against India 211-206.

Zagunis defends Women's Sabre gold

2008-08-09T09:41:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 9) -- The United States fencing team has dominated the Women's Individual Sabre competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, taking gold, silver and bronze.

Mariel Zagunis retains her Athens 2004 Olympic title after defeating countrymen Sada Jacobson in the gold medal bout 15-8, and 2006 world champion Becca Ward who narrowly beat her Russian rival Sofiya Velikaya 15-14 for the Bronze.

The gold medal bout saw Zagunis take on teammate Jacobson to take gold.

"I'm delighted that we did so well. There have been a lot of upsets in this tournament as Sada [Jacobson] said, who's fencing better when everyone's fencing badly, and I couldn't forget who I was fencing for. I'm honored to be here and be part of the sweep," Ward said following the event.

"I just tried to treat it like any other competition. It really is a dream come true, but I'm glad it's over. I did what I came here to do," declared Zagunis.

Feature: Katerina Emmons -- Shooting Golden Girl

2008-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Golden girl Emmons takes aim

You could say that shooting is in the blood for Katerina Emmons, the first gold medallist of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Not only is the winner of the Women's 10 meter Air Rifle the daughter of two-time world champion Petr Kurka, who doubles as her coach, she is also married to Athens shooting gold medallist, Matt Emmons.

In fact, the 24-year-old Czech Republic sharp-shooter met her husband-to-be at Athens four years ago, when, competing under her maiden name Katerina Kurkova, she won a bronze medal and Matt, representing USA, took the Men's 50m Rifle Prone gold (a title he will defend in Beijing on August 15).

Katerina, now ranked No. 4 in the world, described Matt as her "best teammate" after clinching her first Olympic gold medal with an Olympic Record 503.5 points, which included a perfect score of 400 points in the qualifying round. As a pair, they "work together as the best team in the world," she added.

They are considered to be shooting's 'golden couple,' although their Athens meeting was more than your average chance encounter between fellow competitors.

Instead, it came about under far stranger circumstances. After finishing her own events, Katerina worked as a shooting commentator for a Czech TV station.

One of her duties was to report on the Men's 50m Rifle Three Position, an event future hubby Matt was winning with ease going into the final round. Then, mysteriously and somewhat unusually, the stuff of nightmares happened.

Matt fired at the wrong target, lost his lead and missed out on the medals, finishing eighth.

Feeling sorry for him, as one shooter to another, Katerina sought Matt afterwards and found him seeking solace in a nearby beer garden. A conversation struck up and a relationship started -- albeit arranged around the world's major shooting tournaments -- their second meeting, for example, was in Bangkok.

They married in 2007 and have split their time traveling between the U.S. and the Czech Republic.

Shooting, though, wasn't Katerina's original sporting love. Growing up in Plzeň, the fourth biggest city in the Czech Republic, she competed as a swimmer until an illness ended a fledgling career.

To stave off boredom, her champion-shot father -- who, unlike many sports-mad dads, hadn't pushed his daughter toward his own chosen sport -- suggested she try rifle shooting, which Katerina soon discovered she could excel at.

What started as fun and occasional practice soon became serious sport. Her first major international medal came in 2002 when she won the World Championships at the tender age of 18.

The bronze medal she won in the Women's 10m Air Rifle at Athens followed two years later, and although she failed to do better than 27th in the Women's Three Position Rifle competition, she managed to progress in her main event, taking a silver medal in the 2006 World Championships and claiming European Championship gold in 2007.

Having won the Good Luck Beijing International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup earlier this year, when she matched Chinese champion and World No. 2 Du Li's 2003 World Record score of 504.9 points, Emmons came to Beijing with high hopes.

Not that she crumbled under the weight of expectation. "I dealt with the pressure," Katerina told reporters after her victory. "The only way is just not to think about it. Just pull the trigger and shoot."

She is not sure whether or not she will eventually change her nationality and compete for the USA. "I will leave the door open. If I can, I'd like to shoot for the Czech Republic for as long as possible."

Indeed, Katerina's own Beijing Olympic odyssey is not yet over -- she could become a double Games medallist as she is due to compete in the Women's 50m Rifle Three Position competition on August 14, although it isn't her strongest event.

Then, there is also her dual role supporting Matt, who also has a double Olympic quest. "Half of my job is done and I've done it well. Matt is now going to do his job," she said.

With one medal in the bag, a glut of shooting gold medals could be heading back to the Emmons household from Beijing.

US Men's Basketball team holds press conference

2008-08-08T11:52:00.004-07:00

(BEIJING, August 8) -- The US Men's Basketball team held a press conference at the Main Press Center on Friday, August 8. The 800-seat center was fully occupied by fans wanting to hear from the dream team. Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski was joined by assistant coaches Mike D'Antoni, Nate McMillan and Jim Boeheim.

The squad caused a great stir. After being introduced one by one, the head coach promised that his team would give their best performance as they are ready to face their rivals.

During the question-and-answer session, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Mike Krzyzewski received the majority of the attention. Bryant said that it felt good to be in Beijing and that the team would do everything it could to take the gold.

The team members treasure their opportunity to play in the Olympic Games.

"Guys want to be here. Jason Kidd doesn't have to be here, Kobe Bryant doesn't have to be here, but they saw something and wanted to be here," forward Carmelo Anthony said.

"I'm grateful to be a part of this. It couldn't have been a better moment," said Tayshaun Prince, also a forward on the team.

The press conference lasted for an hour. The team will give their debut performance on August 10, competing with the Chinese men.

10 august schedule

2008-08-08T11:52:00.003-07:00

Overall Day 1 Preview: Let the action commence now

2008-08-08T11:52:00.002-07:00

ROK's Im Dong-Hyun targets gold (Photo credit: Xinhua)

In Men's and Women's Archery, the Republic of Korea World No.1 ranked athletes are both in action. Yun Ok-hee will shoot in the second group of the Women's Individual ranking round, while in the men's tournament top-ranked Im Dong-hyun goes in group 15.

The much-anticipated Beijing 2008 Swimming competition will make a splash with the preliminary rounds of the Men's 400m Individual Medley, (where the spotlight will fall on US swimming superstar Michael Phelps, the defending Olympic and World champion and world record-holder), 400m Freestyle, and 100m Breaststroke, while the women's events include: 100m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley (featuring the queen of world swimming, 19 year-old Katie Hoff) and 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay heats.

Among the other star swimmers on show, 41-year-old Dara Torres is part of the US Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay team, while two-time 1500m Freestyle gold-medalist Grant Hackett of Australia swims in the preliminaries of the Men's 400m Freestyle.

The Artistic Gymnastics event begins with men's qualification competition at the National Indoor Stadium. China, Japan, the United States and Germany are regarded as major gold medal contenders.

The Beijing 2008 Basketball tournament tips off with six women's round-robin preliminary matches between all twelve teams in groups A and B. In group A, outsiders Belarus take on highly-fancied Australia, while Brazil faces the Republic of Korea, and Russia plays Latvia in what could be closer encounters of the basketball kind.

World No. 1 United States should be too strong for Czech Republic (ranked ninth), while World No. 5 Spain plays host China (winners of the 2006 Asian Games), and African minnows Mali meets New Zealand in the day's group B matches.

The Beijing 2008 Women's Football tournament continues with the second round of preliminary group games, in which defending champions the United States could face an early exit from the tournament if they lose to Japan, having been surprisingly beaten by Norway in their opening group G game.

Most of the world's top players will sit out the first round of the Olympic Games Badminton competition at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, while the Women's and Men's Beach Volleyball competitions start with the first qualification matches, including Women's No. 1 seed Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China facing Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer of Switzerland in Pool A, while Men's No. 1 seed Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser of the United States take on Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Martins Plavins of Latvia.

The indoor version of Volleyball begins at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium with two traditionally strong teams - Italy and Russia - jockeying for an early advantage in what looks to be the pick of the day's encounters. Kazakhstan makes its Olympic debut in the sport, taking on 2007 European Championship silver medalist Serbia.

The Olympic Softball tournament opens at Fengtai Sports Center where the United States comes in search of its fourth consecutive gold medal in the event. Other contenders could include Japan (bronze medal 2004, silver medal 2000) and Australia (silver medal 2004, bronze medal 2000, bronze medal 1996).

Sailor supreme: Ben Ainslie (GB) (Photo credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Some 400 sailors from 62 nations and regions will competing in the Sailing competition in Qingdao, which begins with Finn and Yngling classes, including previous medalists like Ben Ainslie of Great Britain and Robert Scheidt of Brazil.

The Equestrian events of the 29th Olympiad begin in Hong Kong with Eventing Individual and Team Dressage competition in which 24 nations will participate, including defending Athens champions France, and Great Britain who, despite the loss of World and European gold medalist Zara Phillips, is expected to compete for gold.

It all adds up to a potentially enthralling opening day of action to get Beijing 2008 started off with a bang. Hang onto your hats, its going to be a 16 day ride.

Overall Day 1 Preview: Let the action commence

2008-08-08T11:52:00.001-07:00

(BEIJING, August 8) -- The greatest sporting show on the Earth gets officially underway on Saturday, August 9 with seven gold medals at stake in five separate sports and competition kicking off in a further 13 sports.

Two of them are vying to claim the first gold medal of the Games. Battling it out for the initial podium place are the winners of the Women's 48 kilogram Weightlifting contest and the Women's 10m Air Rifle Shooting contest.

Weightlifting starts at Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium at 10 a.m. local time (UTC/GMT +8) with 14 weightlifters from 11 countries trying to hoist the first gold of the Games.

Defending champion Nurcan Taylan was the toast of Turkey in Athens four years ago when she set a new world record, lifting a total weight of 210kg to push China's Li Zhuo into silver spot.

Taylan's form has since dipped and China could claim its first gold of the Games through 2007 World Champion, Chen Xiexia. However, the 25-year-old world record holder will have to out-lift the challenge of Thai duo, Pensiri Laosirikul and Pramsiri Bunphithak, who claimed silver and bronze medals at the 2006 Asian Games. Other potential medalists include Taylan's Turkish team-mate Sibel Özkan, Im Jyoung-Hwa of the Republic of Korea and Hiromi Miyake of Japan.

Chinese sharp shooter: Du Li (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Across the city, action starts earlier (8.30 a.m. local time) at the Beijing Shooting Range where Chinese hopes will be high with home-favorite Du Li of China defending the 10m Air Rifle crown she won four years ago in Athens.

However, the 2006 world champion will face strong opposition from current World No. 1 Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany, who is competing in her third Games but has yet to seize an Olympic medal, and Czech Republic shooter, Katerina Emmons, bronze medalist in 2004 (where she met her husband American gold medalist Matthew Emmons). Her father and coach, Petr Kurka, is also a two-time world champion.

The Men's 10m Air Pistol starts later in the morning and could be an open contest with the world's top two shooters in the event, Russian duo Vladimir Isakov and Vladimir Gontcharov, both missing.

The medal favorites include Sydney 2000 champion Franck Dumoulin of France, who won the event at the Good Luck Beijing International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup, while 22-year-old Chinese shooter Pang Wei is also likely to challenge.

Outdoors, the Men's Road Cycling race, at 245.4km distance, is the longest in Olympic history and will take in stunning scenery.

Starting at the Yongdingmen Gate in south Beijing, the route passes landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, the Imperial Palace Wall Relics Park, Yonghe Gong Lama Temple and ends with a grueling finish near The Great Wall, 70km north of Beijing.

Nothing new then for this year's Tour de France winner, Carlos Sastre of Spain, who comes to Beijing in hot form. However, the 33-year-old Spaniard will be challenged for gold by defending champion Paolo Bettini of Italy, and team-mates Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champion. Australians Cadel Evans, a Tour de France runner up, and three-time world individual time trail champion Michael Rogers could feature, while Levi Leipheimer leads the USA challenge.

In Fencing, the Women's Individual Sabre gold medals could go to US trio Rebecca Ward, Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson. Ward, ranked second in the world, starts as favorite, but defending champion Zagunis, World No. 5, and Jacobson (bronze medalist at Athens) could push Ward all the way. China's Tan Xue, with the home crowd behind her, could prevent a US gold, silver and bronze, with Russia's Elena Netchaeva, the reigning World Champion, also a potential medalist.

Two Judo finals will be decided on the opening day of action at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium (USTB).

Judo golden girl: Tani Ryoko aims for gold again. (Photo credit: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

In the Women's 48kg class, Tani Ryoko of Japan is going for her third consecutive Olympic Games gold. The seven-time world champion is competing in her fifth Games and scooped silver medals at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996. French judoka Frederique Jossinet was the silver medalist in Athens and is a strong contender again, with Michaela Baschin of Germany, first-place finisher at the 2007 and 2008 World Cups, also in contention.

Thirty-three competitors will contest the Men's 60kg medals. The favorite is consecutive world champion Ludwig Paischer of Austria, with former European champion Craig Fallon of Great Britain also in the hunt. The Netherlands' Ruben Houkes is currently ranked second in the world and could also feature.

Away from the medals, 13 other sports start on August 9, including individual sports archery, badminton, boxing, artistic gymnastics, sailing, swimming, and team sports basketball, beach volleyball, equestrian, handball, rowing and volleyball, while football, which started on August 6, continues.