(BEIJING, August 17) -- Romanian Constantina Tomescu crossed the finish line of the Women's Marathon to claim the title at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2 hours 26.44 minutes on August 17.
"It was a great performance. I'm very happy to win a medal, but especially the gold. At the World Championships in Canada (2005 World Half-Marathon Championships), everybody said I couldn't run, but I showed today what I can do," said the victor.
"The gold medal, for me, it is great," Tomescu added.
World champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya came in second, clocking 2 hours 27.06 minutes, adding another silver to her success from Athens 2004.
"I feel great, and feel good for the win. In fact, I'm very happy," said Ndereba.
"To win a silver in my second Olympics, I can't take that for granted," she continued.
Zhou Chunxiu of China, silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships, ran a time of 2 hours 27.07 minutes to take bronze ahead of her compatriot Zhu Xiaolin, who completed the event in 2 hours 27.16 minutes.
The world record of 2 hours 15.25 minutes in this event was set by Paula Radcliffe from Great Britain in 2003.
(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.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record to win the Men's 100m gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games here Saturday evening.
Bolt clocked 9.69 seconds to beat his own previous world mark of 9.72 to be crowned the fastest man in the world.
Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago finished second in 9.89 seconds and Walter Dix of the United States got bronze in 9.91 seconds.
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.
(BEIJING, August 16) -- Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia in a thrilling 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 Men's semifinal on Friday evening at the Olympic Green Tennis Center to become just the third Spanish player in Olympic history to reach the final of the Men's Singles competition.
He will face Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, with whom he has a 3-3 head-to-head record, on Sunday, August 17, in the Men's Singles final.
The reigning Olympic gold medalist powered 4.60 meters holding off the other 8 qualifiers with 4.50 meters.
The world record of 5.04m in this event was set by Isinbaeva herself in July 2008.
MUST WATCH- SINGAPORE WOMEN'S TABLE TENNIS FINALS AGAINST CHINA WORLD NO. 1 TEAM @ CHANNEL U 7.30PM. CHEERS ON TEAM SINGAPORE.
(BEIJING, August 15) -- Michael Phelps continued his attack on winning a record eight gold medals on Friday pocketing his sixth at the National Aquatics Center, this time in the 200m Individual Medley.
He swam yet another world record, saving 0.57 seconds off the mark he set at the US trials in July this year.
Phelps was never in trouble and led comfortably throughout, touching the wall in 1:54.23.
The field stayed with Phelps during the Backstroke and Butterfly legs but the defending Olympic champion took the lead during the Breaststroke leg and pulled away in the final 50 meters of Freestyle.
Phelps has dominated every event he has entered, including the 400m Individual Medley.
Hungarian Laszlo Cseh put in another great performance, again edging out Phelps' teammate Ryan Lochte to win the silver medal in a European record time of 1:56.52.
Cseh now has a pair of silver medals from the Individual Medley events after finishing second to Phelps in Sunday's Men's 400m Individual Medley.
With only 10 minutes to recover after winning the gold in the 200m Backstroke, Lochte could only manage the bronze medal in a time of 1:56.53, just one hundredth of a second behind Cseh.
Lochte now has a pair of bronze medals in the Individual Medley events after finishing third in Sunday's 400m Individual Medley.
The Women's Heptathlon High Jump final was held at the National Stadium on day seven of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China. Hyleas Fountain of the United States finished the event in first place with a height of 1.89m.
(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.
Britta Steffen of Germany won the gold medal of the Women's 100m Freestyle in a time of 53.12 seconds at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Friday.
The silver medal went to world record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia, who clocked 53.16, while the bronze medal was taken by Natalie Coughlin of the United States, who touched the wall in 53.39.
(BEIJING, August 13) -- Stephanie Rice of Australia underlined her dominance in the Medley events when she broke her own world record to win the Olympic Women's 200m Individual Medley gold medal in a new mark of 2:08.45.
Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry took silver and American Natalie Coughlin the bronze.
James Blake of the United States ousted Roger Federer of Switzerland in the Men's Singles quarterfinals at the Olympic Games here on Thursday.
(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.
Lisbeth Trickett of Australia clocked 56.73 seconds to take the Women's 100m Butterfly gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Monday.
American Christine Magnuson finished second in 57.10 and another Australian, Jessicah Schipper, took the bronze in 57.25.
Michael Phelps of the United States swam his way to Olympic gold in Beijing on Sunday morning. He was the first to break a World Record in this year's Games, clocking 4:03.84 in the Men's 400m Individual Medley, surpassing his previous record setting time of 4:05.25.
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary got the silver in 4:06.16 and Ryan Lochte of the United States finished third in 4:08.09.
