The lowering of the Olympic flag
Jacques Rogge hands the Olympic flag to London Mayor
London Mayor Boris Johnson waves the Olympic flag
Monday, August 25, 2008
Hand over of Olympic flag
The lowering of the Olympic flag
Jacques Rogge hands the Olympic flag to London Mayor
London Mayor Boris Johnson waves the Olympic flag
London 2012 preview performance
London 2012 preview performance
a red double-decker bus during the eight-minute performance prepared by London, host city of the next summer Olympic Games in 2012
eight-minute performance prepared by London, host city of the next Summer Olympic Games in 2012
Fireworks light up night sky
Fireworks go off
Fireworks illuminate the sky
Fireworks light up night sky
Fireworks illuminate the sky
Monday, August 18, 2008
Vos laps field to win first Dutch gold on Cycling Track
Marianne Vos of the Netherlands erased her disappointment of finishing sixth in the Cycling Road Race with a clear victory in the Women's Points Race at the Laoshan Velodrome on Monday.
Vos lapped the field and won the first of 10 sprints to lock up the gold medal in the 100-lap, 25-kilometre race featuring 10 point sprints. It is the first Olympic medal of her career.
Yoanka Gonzalez of Cuba won the second, eighth and 10th sprints to take the silver medal and Leire Olaberria of Spain took the bronze with 13 points. Gonzalez's silver was the first Olympic medal in Cycling Track for Cuba.
Olaberria tied Maria Luisa Calle of Colombia on points, but the tie-breaker was the position across the line in the final sprint. With second in the final sprint, the Spanish rider claimed the final spot on the podium.
Sarah Hammer of the United States, Wadami Satomi of Japan, Verena Jooss of Germany and Li Yan of China crashed just after the second sprint when riders touched wheels in the bunch. Only Li could continue.
Great Britain's Rebecca Romero, a day after winning the Women's Individual Pursuit gold medal, was active throughout the first half, chasing down breakaways, but every time she tried to pull away from the pack, someone marked her wheel.
Calle chased her down to pull to a tie with Vos after six sprints.
Vos went on to the attack to lap the field ahead of the seventh sprint to gain a decisive, 20-point bonus. Gonzalez surged into second with two sprints to go, leaving Calle and Olaberria to race for third.
Bekele wins Olympic Men's 10000m gold
Bekele wins Olympic Men's 10000m gold
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele clocked 27:01.17 to win the Olympic Men's 10000m run here on Sunday.
Great Britain sets world mark and wins gold in Team Pursuit
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.
Chinese gymnast He Kexin wins Uneven Bars gold
Chinese gymnast He kexin claimed the Women's Uneven Bars title with 16.725 points at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.
Nastia Liukin from the United States, who also collected 16.725 points, had to stand second according to a tiebreak rule.
Yang Yilin from China got the bronze with 16.650 points.
(L-R) Nastia Liukin, He Kexin and Yang Yilin
IOC satisfied with Games-time operations
IOC satisfied with Games-time operations
The eighth joint IOC/BOCOG press briefing was held on Monday at the Main Press Center (MPC) after two days break. According to Giselle Davies, IOC director of Communications, the next joint briefing will be held on August 23. The lower frequency of the meetings demonstrates that the IOC is satisfied with the smooth operation of the Games.
"In Athens, we had fewer coordination commissions that were run on a daily basis," reflecting that "the Games are going on very well and we can get out and enjoy the sports," said Davies.
The canceling of press briefings on August 16 and 17 was a joint decision made by IOC and BOCOG. Daily press conferences are not a convention of past Games. Since "transport is working smoothly, people are getting to the venues without any problems, and athletes have competition and give us very positive feedback," the officials remarked that they would rather provide more time for journalists to visit the venues and cover the important events than having them sit in press conferences with the IOC and BOCOG.
Australia's two Emmas seize gold and bronze in Women's Triathlon
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.
London 2012 insists have yet to be upstaged
London 2012 insists have yet to be upstaged
After watching the spectacular fireworks and dazzling choreography of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, many are wondering whether or not it will be possible for future Olympic committees to recreate an equivalently breathtaking show. But 2012 Olympic host London believes they are ready to take on the challenge.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph released Saturday, chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) Sebastian Coe said London is prepared to match the spectacle and charm of the Beijing Opening Ceremony.
Coe and fellow organizers "weren't cowed at all" after watching the Beijing ceremony, he insisted. At one point in the interview Coe even went as far to say that the London Games can "go further on so many fronts."
But that does not mean the London committee was not duly awed in Beijing; they were impressed. Speaking for his colleagues Coe stressed, "They were more pumped up because it was so good. I think they were quite excited by the challenge." He continued, "But we can do something as good, set in a different context" -- a British one.
Coe kept mentioning two words -- creativity and fun. Both, he claimed, are representations of Britain's unique culture. Creativity, he insisted, is "Britishness in the very best sense of the word."
As far as the fun part goes, London knows how to throw a good party, and that is what they plan to do, Coe beamed. "We're actually quite good at partying," he said. "Let's turn it into a giant party."
Citing the famous string of British pop music and West End stars that are part of the planning team, Coe seemed quite certain that the organizing committee will be able to put on a great super-fun show.
ROK blasts Austria to claim Team Table Tennis bronze
ROK blasts Austria to claim Team Table Tennis bronze
The Republic of Korea steamrolled Austria 3-1 to capture the Men's Team bronze medal at the Table Tennis tournament at the Beijing Olympic Games Monday.
Chen reclaims Rings gold for China
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.
'Super Dan' lives up to his World No. 1 rank
Men's Singles World No. 1 Lin Dan of China thrashed Malaysia's World No. 2 Lee Chong-wei 21-12, 21-8 to win the gold in the Beijing Olympic Badminton tournament on Sunday, August 17.
The anticipated heart-pounding dream final turned out to be a frustrating exit for Lee, who was bidding for Malaysia's first Olympic gold.
"I suffered a lot of pressure tonight but I do not want to use it as an excuse for my defeat," he said.
Maybe it was the pressure that made a normally sharp Lee lose his edge on court and essentially provide no match for Super Dan's quickly-adapted strategies and crosscourt smashes.
In the first game Lin raced into a 7-1 lead. Eager to close the gap, Lee made too many unforced errors, enabling the World No. 1 to stretch his winning margin to 16-8 before closing out the game 21-12.
Lin continued to attack Lee in the second game, opening up an 8-0 lead and forcing his opponent to chase shuttles to all four corners of the court before killing rallies off with his smash. As the game progressed, Lee simply had no answers to Lin's speed and the Chinese left-hander closed out the match in just 41 minutes.
"I have tried my best but Lin Dan played perfectly tonight," said Malaysian sport icon Lee. "I couldn't match his shuttle speed. He was much stronger than me and controlled the whole match."
"At the end of the match it is not who is playing at a higher level, it is all about who is mentally stronger," Lee commented on his loss.
"I felt a lot of pressure playing in front of my home crowd," said an exhilarated Lin. "I thought it would be difficult to play the match and the pressure of the crowd might even be to my disadvantage, but I played well.
Liu Xiang withdraws from Men's 110m Hurdles
The first round competition of Men's 110m Hurdles took place at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, on August 18, 2008. Defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China dropped out after getting injured.
Liu Xiang takes off his jersey prior to the first round.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Ukraine's Dobrynska wins Heptathlon gold
Nataliia Dorbynska of Ukraine won the Olympic Heptathlon gold medal here on Saturday. Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine claimed silver and Hyleas Fountain of the United States took bronze
Nataliia Dobrynska finishes Women's Heptathlon 800m final.
Australia breaks WR to win Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
The final of the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was held in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, on August 17, 2008.
The Australian team won the gold medal in a new world record time, 3
Australian swimmers celebrate
Britain wins Sailing Yngling gold
British Yngling trio Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson snatched the first gold medal at Olympic Sailing Regatta here on Sunday.
The Netherlands took the silver and Greece got the bronze.
(L-R) Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson celebrate.
Romanian wins Women's Marathon gold
Romanian marathoner Tomescu Constantina added a gold to her country's Olympic medal count at the Beijing Games on Sunday morning.
38-year-old Tomescu led the pack from the 25km mark, and finished in 2 hours 26 minutes 44 seconds.
World record holder Paula Radcliffe of Britain lagged far behind.
Federer and Wawrinka win in Men's Doubles
Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden to get the gold medal in the Men's Doubles Tennis at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 16.
Thomas Johansson (left) and Simon Aspelin
Men's 1500m Freestyle: Mellouli gold shatters Hackett dream
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.
(L-R) Hackett, Mellouli and Cochrane pose with their medals
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.
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay: Phelps wins record eighth gold
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.
(L-R) Hansen, Phelps, Peirsol and Lezak hold the American flag
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.
Emmons repeats Athens tragedy
Despite not shooting the wrong target this time, the 4.4 that the United States' Matthew Emmons scored on his last shot was no better than the zero from his last shot in the same event final four years ago.
After nine shots in the final of the Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions, Emmons was leading by 3.3 points over Ukraine's Jury Sukhorukov. Qiu Jian of China was in third place with one tenth of a point less.
After that, history repeated itself. Emmons shot an amateurish 4.4 points on his last shot. Qiu Jian shot 10.0 to win the gold medal with a tenth of a point more than Sukhorukov, who scored 9.8 on his last shot. Four years ago in Athens, China's Jia Zhanbo was lifted from second to win gold when Emmons hit his neighboring target and earned zero on his last shot.
Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia, the current world and Olympic record holder was the highest-ranked shooter after qualification with a score of 1176, which was one point short of the Olympic record that he set at Sydney 2000. Due to Emmons' mistake, Debevec was lifted into third position and won the bronze medal.
Reigning champion Jia Zhanbo failed to make it to the final, finishing a disappointing 24th after qualification.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Japan's Yoshida wins Women's Freestyle 55kg Wrestling gold
Japan's Yoshida wins Women's Freestyle 55kg Wrestling gold
Japan's Yoshida Saori beat China's Xu Li to win the Women's Freestlye 55kg Wrestling gold at the Beijing Olympic Games on Saturday.
Xu took the silver while Canada's Tonya Verbeek and Colombia's Jackeline Renteria took the two bronze medals.
Yoshida Saori of Japan (2nd, L), Xu Li of China (1st, L), Tonya Verbeek (2nd, R) and Jackeline Renteria
Rafael Nadal enters Men's Tennis final
Rafael Nadal enters Men's Tennis final
Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the Men's semifinal Tennis Match at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China.
Swimming Day 8 Review: Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record, despite scare
Swimming Day 8 Review: Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record, despite scare
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.
After winning three silver medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe finally won gold in the Women's 200m Backstroke and she smashed the world record in a time of 2:05.24.
World record holder Margaret Hoelzer of the United States was unable to reel in Coventry and finished with the silver in 2:06.23. Nakamura Reiko of Japan won the bronze medal in an Asian record time of 2:07.13, at 1.89 behind the gold medal winner.
In the Women's 800m Freestyle final, Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain broke the oldest world record left in the swimming pool.
Adlington touched in 8:14.10 to knock an incredible 2.12 off Janet Evans' (USA) 19-year-old old world mark and claim the gold medal.
Italian Alessia Filippi, third fastest into the final, won the silver in 8:20.23 and Lotte Friis of Denmark took bronze in 8:23.03.
Unheralded Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho won the Men's 50m Freestyle final in a major upset to win the Men's 50m Freestyle final, emerging in an Olympic record time of 21.30.
Frenchman Amaury Leveaux took the silver in 21.45 and Thursday's 100m Freestyle champion Alain Bernard of France could only manage the bronze in 21.49. World record holder Eamon Sullivan of Australia finished the final as sixth fastest in 21.65.
In the Women's 50m Freestyle semifianl, 41-year-old Dara Torres of the United States showed her semifinal competitors that age is no issue in the Women's 50m Freestyle by clocking the fastest time into the final.
Torres stopped the clock at 24.27. Cate Campbell of Australia, who was not even born when Torres made her third Olympic team, was the second fastest qualifier in 24.42.
Friday's 100m Freestyle gold medalist Britta Steffen of Germany qualified third fastest for the final in 24.43 and world record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia qualified fifth fastest - but will need to find extra speed if she does not want to miss out on both Olympic sprint freestyle titles.
Britain wins Rowing Men's Four gold
Britain wins Rowing Men's Four gold
Britain claimed the Rowing Men's Four title at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, finishing the 2,000-meter final race in six minutes and 6.57 seconds.
Australia took the silver in 6:07.85, while France got the bronze in 6:09.31.
Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge celebrate.
American Vincent Hancock wins Men's Skeet gold
American Vincent Hancock wins Men's Skeet gold
Vincent Hancock of the United States took gold in the Men's Skeet at the Beijing Olympic Games with a total of 145 hits. Hancock had to battle off Tore Brovold of Norway in a shoot-off for the title. Anthony Terras of France took the bronze medal, also after a shoot-off.
Tore Brovold, Vincent Hancock and Anthony Terras
Petriv comes back to grab another shooting gold for Ukraine
Petriv comes back to grab another shooting gold for Ukraine
Oleksandr Petriv of Ukraine was ranked fourth after the qualification round of the Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, only above German shooters Ralf Schumann and Christian Reitz. However, the three shooters with the lowest qualification scores were the ones who won the medals today.
Petriv won the gold medal with a total score of 780.2 (including 200.2 from the final), a new Olympic record for the final score. Schumann, who was tied with compatriot Reitz after the qualification stages on 579 points, beat Reitz by two-tenths of a point and secured the silver medal with a final score of 779.5. The bronze medal was left to Reitz who scored a final score of 779.3.
Keith Sanderson of the United States, who shot an Olympic record 583 in the qualification stages, performed poorly in the final, scoring only 193.6 to finish fifth with a final score of 776.6. Leonid Ekimov of Russia and Roman Bondaruk of Ukraine also shot poorly in the final after finishing second and third after the qualification stages. Ekimov (778.2) finished fourth and Bondaruk (774.7) finished sixth.
Petriv's victory must come as a surprise to both Schumann and Reitz. Schumann was searching for his fourth Olympic gold medal in the event, while Reitz is the world record holder.
Petriv's compatriot Artur Ayvazian won the gold medal in the Men's 50m Rifle Prone yesterday.
Djokovic captures Tennis bronze medal
Djokovic captures Tennis bronze medal
No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the Australian Open champion, defeated No. 8 seed James Blake of the United States 6-3, 7-6(4) to claim the bronze medal in the Men's Singles Tennis at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on August 16.
No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the Australian Open champion, defeated No. 8 seed James Blake of the United States 6-3, 7-6(4) to claim the bronze medal in the Men's Singles Tennis at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on August 16.
Australia wins Rowing Men's Double Sculls gold
Australia wins Rowing Men's Double Sculls gold
Australian rowers David Crawshay and Scott Brennan claimed the Men's Double Sculls title at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, clocking six minutes and 27.77 seconds in the final.
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson from Estonia took the silver in 6:29.05, while Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham from Britain got the bronze in 6:29.10.
David Crawshay and Scott Brennan compete
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson compete
Australian rowers David Crawshay and Scott Brennan claimed the Men's Double Sculls title at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, clocking six minutes and 27.77 seconds in the final.
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson from Estonia took the silver in 6:29.05, while Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham from Britain got the bronze in 6:29.10.
David Crawshay and Scott Brennan compete
Tonu Endrekson and Juri Jaanson compete
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