(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.
