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

Chinese gymnast He Kexin wins Uneven Bars gold

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

Liu Xiang withdraws from Men's 110m Hurdles

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.

Ukraine's Dobrynska wins Heptathlon gold

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

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

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.

Federer and Wawrinka win in Men's Doubles

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

Australia wins Rowing Men's Pair gold

Australia wins Rowing Men's Pair gold


Australian rowers Drew Ginn and Duncan Free claimed the Men's Pair title at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, clocking six minutes and 37.44 seconds in the final.

David Calder/Scott Frandsen from Canada took the sliver in 6:39.55, while Nathan Twaddle/George Bridgewater from New Zealand got the bronze in 6:44.19.



Drew Ginn and Duncan Free celebrate their victory

Joan Llaneras of Spain wins Cycling Track Men's Points Race gold

Joan Llaneras of Spain wins Cycling Track Men's Points Race gold



Spain's Joan LLaneras won the Cycling Track Men's Points Race gold medal with 60 points at the Olympic Games on Saturday.

Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with 58 points and Britain's Chris Newton got the bronze with 56.



Joan Llaneras (R) and Roger Kluge celebrate.



(L-R) Roger Kluge, Juan Llaneras and Chris Newton

Britain beats France to win Cycling Team Sprint gold

Britain beats France to win Cycling Team Sprint gold


The Men's Team Sprint finals of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Cycling-Track event took place at Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing, China, on Aug. 15, 2008. The British team beat France in the match with a total time of 43.128 seconds to win gold



The British team competes


(L-R) Jamie Staff, Chris Hoy, and Jason Kenny of Great Britain

Slovakia's Kaliska wins women's Kayak (K1) gold

Slovakia's Kaliska wins women's Kayak (K1) gold


Slovakia's Elena Kaliska won the women's Kayak gold at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Friday. Australia's Jacqueline Lawrence took the silver and Austria's Violetta Oblinger Peters won the bronze.



Elena Kaliska competes.



Stephanie Lawrence, Elena Kaliska and Violetta Oblinger Peters