Beijing Paralympic Olympic Games 2008 Opening Ceremony Live Online

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Beach Volleyball: US to go on the medal charge

The United States will expect to do well elsewhere in Beijing on Friday (August 22). There is a morning start in the Beach Volleyball Men's final between the United States's Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, who play Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes.

US teams won gold medals at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 (Beach Volleyball didn't enter the Olympic roster until 1996) but missed out in Athens. The two teams have played each other seven times, with Araujo and Magalhaes winning five matches.
If Dalhausser and Rogers win, then both Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball gold medals will go to the United States, after Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh's victory in the Women's final.

Incredible Bolt:Michael Johnson praised

Michael Johnson has praised Usain Bolt for breaking his 200m record and said the Jamaican is a true great.

Bolt, who turned 22 on Wednesday, won in 19.30sec, 0.02sec quicker than Johnson's 12-year-old record.

Johnson also expects Bolt to lower both the 100m and 200m records even further.

Johnson told the Daily Telegraph: "Every now and again along comes an athlete for the times and I believe Usain Bolt is that athlete.

"It happened for me in 1996, it happened with Carl Lewis in 1996 and Jesse Owens in 1936 and now it is happening for Usain.

"He doesn't just want to win races and medals, he wants to test the limits of human ability. I am happy for him and I congratulate him on breaking my record.

"And yet, despite all has achieved in Beijing, I still believe he can run faster and take both records even lower. There is still much more to come from Usain Bolt."

British Olympic:Gold Medal Tuesday Wrap

Sprinter Christine Ohuruogu became the first British woman to win the Olympic 400 metres title on Tuesday.
Ohuruogu produced a storming finish to overhaul favourite Sanya Richards and win in a time of 49.62 seconds to add Olympic gold to the world title she won in Osaka last year.
American Lolo Jones looked to have the 100m hurdles won before hitting the penultimate hurdle and stumbling to seventh.
Team-mate Dawn Harper took advantage to win in 12.54s with Australian Sally McLellan winning silver ahead of Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep after a photo-finish.
Gerd Kanter added the Olympic discus gold medal to his collection with a winning throw of 68.82m.
Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi showed nerves of steel when winning the 1500m title in 3min 32.94sec.
European champion Andrey Silnov won the high jump title with a clearance of 2.36m, two centimetres ahead of Great Britain's Germaine Mason and Yaroslav Rybakov.
Great Britain won a further two gold medals in cycling as they took their total medal total in the discipline to 14 - eight of them gold.
Chris Hoy beat team-mate Jason Kenny to secure his third gold of the games in the men's sprint just moment's after Victoria Pendleton had won the women's sprint.
But Hoy's team-mate Bradley Wiggins could not add a third of his own in the Madison as he and team-mate Mark Cavendish were out of the medals as Argentina duo Juan Esteban Curuchet and Walter Fernando Perez won gold from Spain and Russia.
Germany's Jan Frodeno took gold in a thrilling sprint finish to the triathlon.
Frodeno burst past Sydney champion Simon Whitfield to win his first Olympic title with New Zealander Bevan Docherty taking the bronze medal.

Argentina advance in heated match

Argentina will meet Nigeria in the Olympic Men’s Football final after their 3-0 victory over Brazil.

Sergio Aguero grabbed a brace, while Juan Riquelme added a penalty goal in the 76^th minute.

Things turned ugly in the match as Lucas and Thiago Neves were sent off in the 81^st and 84^th minute respectively for dangerous play.

Meanwhile Nigeria booked their place in the final with a 4-1 thrashing of Begium. Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke collected a double for Nigeria, with Adefemi Olubayo and Chibuzor Okonkwo adding to the scoreline. Laurent Ciman scored the consolation for Belgium.

Phelps wins record eighth gold

(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.
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 equals Spitz's record

Michael Phelps equalled Mark Spitz's record haul of seven golds with victory over Milorad Cavic in the 100m butterfly.

Phelps trailed the Serbian swimmer for the whole race but somehow managed to touch just 0.01 secs in front to draw level with Spitz's record, set in Munich in 1972.

The American set a new Olympic record in the process, touching in 50.58secs with Australia's Andrew Lauterstein finishing third and world-record holder Ian Crocker in fourth.

Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry finally claimed gold at the Games, winning the 200m backstroke in a world record time of 2:05.24.

Coventry's win was her first gold of the games after three second-placed finishes earlier in the swimming programme.

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington destroyed the rest of the field in the 800m freestyle to claim her second gold of the Games, breaking one of swimming's most illustrious world records in the process.

Adlington's time of 8:14.10 was 2.12s under Janet Evans' 19-year-old world record as she added gold in the 800m to the one she won in the 400m freestyle earlier in the week.

The 19-year-old was six seconds clear of the rest of the field as Italy's Alessia Filippi took silver and Lotte Friis of Denmark the bronze.

Brazilian Cesar Filho Cielo claimed his second medal of the Games with victory in the 50m freestyle in a new Olympic record time to add to the bronze he claimed in the 100m.

Cielo touched in 21.30, 0.15 ahead of second placed Amaury Leveaux of France while his compatriot and the gold medal winner in the 100m, Alain Bernard, took bronze.

Phelps: I'm not unbeatable

US swimmer Michael Phelps has insisted he is not unbeatable despite providing yet more evidence to the contrary.

Phelps collected his fourth and fifth golds in Beijing, the 10th and 11th of his career, in the 200 metres butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay - both in world-record times.

Added to his six golds from Athens four years ago, that meant Phelps surpassed the nine golds won by Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina to cement his place in Olympic history.

The 23-year-old has three events left and remains on course to beat Spitz's achievement of seven golds in one Games after winning his heat in the 200m individual medley on Wednesday, but claimed: "It's not over yet. Anything can happen in the next three events.

"This is something we have been preparing for for the last four years. All the work is starting to pay off. But I am not unbeatable. Everyone can be beaten."

Phelps had to overcome his goggles filling with water to win the 200m butterfly in one minute 52.03 seconds, lowering his own world record by 0.06s ahead of Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda.

"I'm almost at a loss for words. To be the most decorated Olympian of all time, it just sounds weird. I am speechless," Phelps added.

"It started to sink in a little after the butterfly. I was trying to focus on my next race but I kept thinking 'Wow. Greatest Olympian of all time.' It's a pretty neat title and I'm definitely honoured.

"When you have an Olympic gold medal it stays with you forever. It never gets old listening to your national anthem with a gold medal around your neck."

Olympic Gold medal update

Michael Phelps has created history by being the first athlete to win 11 goal medals at the Olympic Games.

The USA team wins gold in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final in a world record time of 6:58.56 giving Michael Phelps his fifth gold of the Games.

In an earlier race, the American took 0.06 second off the previous record of 1:52.09 he set at Melbourne in March 2007 to claim his fourth gold and fourth world record in the Water Cube.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary (1:52.70) and Matsuda Takeshi of Japan (1:52.97) claimed silver and bronze, and the European and Asian records, respectively.

Two days after setting the world record in the Women's 200m Freestyle prelims, Italy's Federica Pellegrini swam and even faster 1:54.82 to take the gold medal in Wednesday's final. Second was Sara Isakovic of Slovenia (1:54.97) with China's Pang Jiaying (1:55.05) in third.

Australia's Stephanie Rice has broken the world record in the final of the women's 200 metres individual medley in a time of 2:08.45.

Phelps bags fourth gold

Michael Phelps became the most successful Olympic athlete of all time by claiming his 10th gold medal in the 200m butterfly.

Phelps collected his fourth gold of the 29th Olympiad in Beijing to add to the six gold and two bronze medals secured in Athens four years ago.

The 23-year-old led from the halfway point but was made to battle hard to win in a world record time of 1:52.03 seconds, beating his own previous best by 0.06s ahead of Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda.

That keeps the American on target to win an unprecedented eight gold medals in the Chinese capital, with another on the cards later Wednesday morning in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

World records were the order of the day as France's Alain Bernard and Australian Eamon Sullivan earlier traded times in the 100 metres freestyle in the National Aquatics Centre.

Bernard clocked a time of 47.20 seconds in winning the first semi-final, beating the previous mark of 47.24s set by Sullivan in the 4x100m relay earlier this week.

But Sullivan then went even quicker in the second semi-final, recording a time of 47.05 to reclaim the record and set up a mouthwatering final showdown on Thursday.

Another world record was broken in the women's 200m freestyle, Italian Federica Pellegrini taking gold in a time of 1:54.82 to lower her own mark set earlier in the week by 0.63s.

Slovenia's Sara Isakovic claimed the silver ahead of home favourite Jiaying Pang.

Yet another world record went in the women's 200m individual medley, Australian Stephanie Rice lowering her own mark by 0.47s.

Rice took gold in a time of 2:08.45, just finishing ahead of Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry with American Natalie Coughlin third.

Attractive Beijing Olympics 2008 opening ceremony photo gallery

Olympics: First hitch for China as medal eludes golden girl

Sport has many qualities but none ranks higher than its refusal to bend to the desires of those in charge, and if the organisers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were not aware of that fact then they are now.

After a stunning opening ceremony, what better way to begin the party than for China to win the first gold, which might explain why, when the competition schedule was drawn up, the women's 10m air rifle was nominated to be the first event of the Games.

The sport - a quiet, compelling test of nerve and skill - has been dominated in recent years by Du Li, a 26-year-old student from Shandong who won gold at the 2004 Games in Athens and has collected world championships and world cup victories with startling regularity ever since.

She arrived at the shooting hall this morning as favourite and was garlanded on to the stage by the home crowd, with the event itself seemingly nothing but a staging post on her way to the medal podium.

Two hours later Du had been vanquished by Katrina Emmons of the Czech Republic, who took gold with an Olympic record score of 503.5, with Lioubov Galina of Russia second and Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia third.

Du finished in fifth place with a score of 499.6 - an enormous deficit in a sport where decimal fractions are like tombstones for those who let them slip away. No wonder the Chinese woman was visibly upset as she took the last three of her 10 shots in the final, by which time it was clear her favouritism had turned to dust, and that she would not be taking her designated place as the first winner of the 2008 Games.

"I did well enough in qualifying, but I wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home," Du admitted afterwards, something that the winner acknowledged afterwards to reporters.

"I feel really bad for Du Li, I do - and I'd like to give these flowers to her because she can shoot way better than she did today," Emmons said, holding the flowers she was given at the medal ceremony led by IOC president Jacque Rogge.

Olympics 2008: Shooting Beijing, shooting, women's 10m air pistol Russian and Georgian medalists embrace on podium

A Russian and a Georgian shared a podium today, putting aside the conflict that has erupted between the two countries and providing a lift to a Georgian team that had contemplated withdrawing from the Games.

Nino Salukvadze took bronze for Georgia in the women's 10m air pistol, with Russia's Natalia Paderina collecting silver. After the medal ceremony the two posed together for photographers, their arms on each others' shoulders, and Paderina gave Salukvadze a kiss on the cheek.

"This medal is good for Georgia, especially during times like this," Salukvadze said. "I am very nervous today. It's very difficult for my people." The Georgian government has decided to keep its 35-member team at the Olympics, and Salukvadze expressed the hope that the Games' ideals of peace would provide an example to those watching.

"If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars," she said. "We live in the 21st century, after all. We shouldn't really stoop so low to wage wars against each other."

"It's very difficult for us as Georgians because of everything that's going on at home. It was nice that Natalia Paderina came up to me after and gave me a handshake," Salukvadze added. "Yesterday I thought the Georgian Olympic team might withdraw."

"As far as the hugging and kissing goes, I do that with many friends. I have many friends around the world and will always do that. There should be no hatred among athletes and people," she said. "Politicians should straighten out the situation today and if they don't, we'll have to get involved."

A team spokesman said the Georgian athletes were ready to leave the Olympics if it would help, but the International Olympic Council announced on Sunday morning that both the Georgia and Russia teams had decided to remain in Beijing.

Federer safely into round two in Beijing

Roger Federer cruised into the second round of the Olympics and then vowed not to "freak out" at his impending demotion.

Federer will have sat on top of the world rankings for a record 238 weeks by the time he is supplanted by Rafael Nadal on August 18.

The Swiss has had a poor year by his lofty standards, failing to win a grand slam with just the US Open to come this season.

Success in China would go some way to alleviating the disappointment and the 27-year-old certainly looked impressive in his opening-round 6-4 6-2 victory over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.

"My goal is to try to get the number one ranking back," he said afterwards.

"You can't keep your ranking forever. I think you have to have a different approach, see what the next step is.

"What I don't like to do because you don't play so well is freak out and have emergency meetings. That's not going to happen."

French Open and Wimbledon champion Nadal was not as impressive on Monday, requiring three sets to see off Italian Potito Starace 6-2 3-6 6-2.

After failing to convert seven consecutive break-point chances in the second and third sets, he broke for a 4-2 lead in the decider. He erased a 15-40 deficit on his serve in the next game, then broke again for the victory.

"I had a lot of opportunities. I didn't convert, so that was tough," Nadal said. "But I was winning the serves without problems. He had more problems than me when he was serving, so that gave me confidence."

Nadal next will face a former world number one in Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, a 7-5 7-6 (7/2) winner over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden.

Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic posted the first upset of the day, ousting fifth seed David Ferrer 7-6 (10/8) 6-2.

After the first set took 79 minutes, Spaniard Ferrer was not as crisp in the second, double-faulting five times.

Of the other numerous winners on Monday was Chile's Nicolas Massu, the defending Olympic champion.

Given a spot in the draw by the International Tennis Federation due to the fact that he stands 125th in the world, Massu came through with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Belgium's Steve Darcis.

The unseeded Massu will have his hands full in the second round as he will have to go up against seventh seed David Nalbandian.

The Argentinian moved through in convincing fashion with a 6-2 6-1 rout of China's Shaoxuan Zeng.

In other matches involving seeded players, ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 10th seed Gilles Simon of France and 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia all advanced.

Spain's Nicolas Almagro, the 11th seed, was upset by Gael Monfils of France 6-4 3-6 6-3.

In the women's draw, fourth seed Serena Williams won all but four games to complete a 6-3 6-1 victory over Olga Govortsova in a match held over due to rain on Sunday.

Sixth seed Dinara Safina and ninth seed Vera Zvonareva also progressed.

Safina beat Mara Santangelo 6-3 7-6 (7/1) while Zvonareva crushed Yan Zi 6-2 6-0.

Some 65 matches were scheduled for Monday after thunderstorms all but wiped out day one, when only nine matches were completed at the Olympic Green Tennis Center.