Strombergs keeps his head to win BMX gold

Maris Strombergs (front) celebrates.

(BEIJING, August 22) -- Maris Strombergs of Latvia kept a cool head in a heated Men's race to carve a narrow victory as BMX made its Olympic debut on Friday, August 22.

Strombergs grabbed the decisive lead in the first corner and rode with smooth confidence to win the gold medal as rivals crashed in his wake.

Americans Mike Day and Donny Robinson each avoided a costly spill in the second turn to win silver and bronze, respectively, in the eight-man final.

Strombergs, the reigning world champion, was fastest in the three runs that make up the semifinals to secure the preferred inside gate start position. With Friday's achievement, he notched Latvia's first gold medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Day won his semifinals heat, but could not get around Strombergs in the final despite a strong effort in the first turn.

Robinson overcame a poor outside-lane start position, earned after crashing in the final of the three semifinal runs, to claim bronze, thanks to his excellent bike handling skills.

Sifiso Nhlapo of South Africa, who had not crashed in two days of qualifying, slipped out in the second corner, taking Damien Godet of France and Australia's Jared Graves with him.

Maris Strombergs bites his gold medal.

Maris Strombergs (R) takes the lead.

Australia advance in Water Polo penalty shootout

(BEIJING, August 22) -- Australia beat Italy 17-16 in a penalty shootout to advance to the play-off for seventh in the Men's Water Polo competition at the Yingdong Natatorium on Friday, August 22.

Australia's Sam McGregor nailed the final shot of the shootout after the game was locked at 10-10 at full-time and 13-13 after two periods of extra-time.

The shootout began with both teams missing their first attempts but scoring the next two.

Australian goalkeeper James Stanton then blocked the next shot by Leonardo Sottani and brought the crowd to their feet.

Australia's Robert Maitland and Italy's Luigi Di Costanzo converted and then McGregor scored the winner.

The match took unusual turns with both teams scoring four consecutive goals each before the next team would retaliate.

Italy began the game 2-0 with Australia fighting back to finish the first quarter 4-2 ahead. The second quarter was all Italy (5-1) but the third period Australia shut Italy out 4-0 to take the lead 9-7.

Italy's Alessandro Calcaterra was top-scorer with six goals, three from the final quarter to force the game into extra-time.

As the leading scorer with 22 goals, his skills will be needed in the 9-10 play-off on August 24.

Buy Sword of the New World
sword of the new world vis
sword of the new world gold
coh influence
city of heroes influence
buy coh influence
cov infamy
city of villains infamy
buy cov infamy
buy city of villains infamy
eve isk
cheap eve isk
buy eve isk
eve online isk
cheap wow gold
buy wow gold
wow gold
worldofwarcraft gold
eq plat
buy eq2 plat
cheap eq2 plat

No. 2 seeds crowned in Men's Beach Volleyball

Philip Dalhausser tries to block a shot.

(BEIJING, August 22) -- Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States won the gold medal by defeating Fabio Magalhaes and Marcio Araujo of Brazil 2-1 (23-21, 17-21, 15-4) on Friday in a thrilling final match in the Olympic Men's Beach Volleyball competition.

The Brazilian duo found form early in the first set, and Fabio's block gave the Brazilian side a 6-1 lead.

However, the US pair clawed back into the match, with Dalhausser showing why he has been named the best blocker in Beach Volleyball for the past two years. The 2.06m-tall American put in a pair of blocks that gave his team an 11-10 lead.

The set was evenly matched, but Fabio smashed the ball into the net and gave his opponents a narrow 23-21 win in the first set.

In the set second, Dalhausser blocked to earn his team a 9-8 lead, which was extended through a dink spike by Rogers. Dalhausser's heavy spike changed the score to 13-10.

Double blocks by Fabio helped his team establish a margin of three points. After the score was tied on 15-15, the Brazilian duo managed a 6-2 run which helped them beat the US pair 21-17 and force the match into a third set.

The deciding set was much less competitive than expected. After an early 6-1 lead, Dalhausser stole the show by exhibiting his amazing defensive abilities with three consecutive blocks. Fittingly, it was his block that ended Fabio's spike and wrapped up the third set 15-4.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/swimming/n214551909.shtml

(BEIJING, August 16) -- One more gold, and Michael Phelps won't have to share the "Athlete with most gold medals in a single Olympics" title with compatriot Mark Spitz, who did this 36 years ago in the Munich Games.

But this time, Phelps's own efforts will not be enough to achieve this Olympic immortality. He will have to rely on his relay teammates. As the defending Olympic champions, world record holders and fastest final qualifiers, they will not let him down.

Standing in their way are the teams from Australia and Japan, who qualified second and third fastest, only 0.01 and 0.06 seconds behind them.

In the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, however, defending champions Australia may see less competition, qualifying over a second faster than Great Britain and the United States, who came in second and third.coh influence

In the Women's 50m Freestyle final, 41-year-old Dara Torres from the United States will be under the spotlight.buy coh influence
cov infamy She had showed her competitors that her age is no issue in the pool by clocking the fastest time into the final. However, she is sure to meet the close competition from world record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia and Friday's 100m Freestyle gold medalist Britta Steffen of Germany.eve isk

buy city of villains infamyThe Men's 1500m Freestyle will be the last chance for Grant Hackett of Australia to bring something home from Beijing. And if he wins gold, it will be a history-making third straight 1500m title.

city of heroes influence

Phelps swims into history with eighth gold

(L-R) Phelps, Hansen, Lezak and Peirsol hold up their gold medals.

(BEIJING, August 17) -- American Michael Phelps won his eighth and final gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics with a world record swim by the United States team in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay. The win brings Phelps' 14th career Olympic gold, five more than any other athlete in Olympic history.

Phelps along with teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak clocked 3:29.34, lowering their world record time of 3:30.68 set in Athens 2004. The US team had gone into the race as defending Olympic champions and fastest qualifiers.

Also swimming below the previous record, the Australian team took silver at 3:30.04. Japan claimed the bronze medal in 3:31.18.

Phelps also surpasses the record Mark Spitz (USA) set in Munich 1972 for the most gold medals won at a single Olympic Games.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/noc/anoca/n214563824.shtml

Natalie du Toit

(BEIJING, August 19) -- "It was a freak accident. When I was riding home from a swimming practice on a motor scooter, a car drove into my leg. I didn't know what would happen. But I had a dream of being part of the Olympic Games and seeing how well I could do. I didn't ever think that I wouldn't make the Olympic Games."

Natalie du Toit is possibly one of the most inspirational people you could ever hope to meet.

As a teenager, the South African athlete garnered a lot of attention as she fired across the swimming pool. Although she missed qualifying for the Sydney Olympic Games, she shrugged it off, looking forward to Athens for her Olympic debut. After all, she was only 16 at the time. With this goal in mind, she trained tirelessly. However, only one year after the Sydney Games, while she was working towards an appearance in Athens, a car accident put her in the hospital with a serious leg injury.

At the medical center, doctors amputated her leg through her left knee.

Rather than allow this to bring her down, she was back in the pool four months later. "I knew I had no muscle, I had no fitness. I had nothing basically. That is why I had to build up all my fitness again," she said, with determination.

Not long after climbing back into the water, she earned the world's admiration by being the first athlete with a disability to qualify for a final of an international able-bodied swimming event, the 800m Freestyle at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Although she wears a prosthetic on land, "while swimming, I can be free of any prosthetic limb," said Du Toit proudly. The talented athlete has proven that the mind can be as strong as you will it to, pushing herself to train through her disability. She narrowly missed qualifying for the Athens Olympic Games, but created a huge name for herself in the Paralympic Games, taking five golds and one silver.

Her dream of competing in the Olympic Games will come true on Wednesday, in the Women's Marathon 10km. She qualified for Beijing in May, when she placed fourth in the World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain.

"I am not the first ever amputee to qualify for the Olympics. There is an American gymnast George Eyser who won six medals in the 1904 Olympics with a wooden prosthesis for his left leg," said Natalie modestly.

Du Toit has become one of South Africa's most well-known motivational speakers. She talks to groups about her experience, urging listeners to be all that they can be. "It is important to swim your own race and not someone else's" is one of her most memorable quotes.

At the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Natalie strode ahead of the South African squad, carrying her nation's flag.

In the past ten days, she has been swimming in the Water Cube every morning. "Actually at this stage, all training has been done. These days I swim to get relaxed. Nothing hard," shrugged Natalie.

"Beijing is an amazing city. After all competitions, I will go to the Great Wall, Forbidden City and see pandas," she said.

Her favorite Fuwa? "I like Beibei and Huanhuan most. Beibei symbolizes swimming and water. Red is a lucky color in South Africa. So I bought Huanhuan also. I hope they can bring me good luck!"

Photos: Ilchenko takes gold in Women's 10km Marathon Swimming

Larisa Ilchenko poses with her gold medal. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Larisa Ilchenko of Russia won the Women's 10km Marathon Swimming title at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on Wednesday.

Larisa Ilchenko clocked 1 hour 59 minutes and 27.7 seconds, followed by Keri-Anne Payne in second and Cassandra Patten in third. Both Payne and Patten are from Great Britain.

Larisa Ilchenko competes. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)

Larisa Ilchenko gears up to the finish line. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)

Larisa Ilchenko celebrates her victory. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)

Women's Marathon 10km: Ilchenko wins gold in final flurry

Larisa Ilchenko gears up to the finish line. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Pre-race favorite and three-time world champion Larisa Ilchenko of Russia put in a withering finishing burst with only 50 meters remaining to win the gold medal on Wednesday in the Women's 10km Marathon swimming race at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

Ilchenko is known for her race tactics of sitting just off the feet of the leaders and moving past them in the final stages and that is just how the race panned out for the dominant Russian who won in 1:59:27.7, just 1.5 seconds ahead of Britain's Keri-Anne Payne.

Larisa Ilchenko poses with her gold medal. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Payne shared the lead for almost the entire race with British teammate Cassandra Patten who lost the battle between the teammates for silver.

Payne and Patten surged to the front from the start and led the swimmers through the first and second laps, stopping at the feeding station at the end of the second lap but remaining in the lead.

Joining Ilchenko behind the leading pair were Marianne Lymperta of Greece and Chinese swimmer Fang Yanqiao. The third lap saw the pack become strung out heading into the feeding station at the end of lap three.

The lead remained the same at the beginning of the fourth and final lap with the two British swimmers out front and Fang dropping back to the chasing pack. Ilchenko, on the heels of the two British swimmers, was joined by Venezuela's Andreina del valle Pinto Perez and Brazil's Poliana Okimoto.

With a few hundred meters to go on the final lap, Ilchenko drew up to the feet of Payne and Patten. And with 50 meters to go the smooth-stroking Ilchenko made her move and drew alongside and then cruised past the British swimmers to sprint to the line and take the gold medal.

Payne and Patten could not be split for almost the entire race but Payne snatched the silver medal in 1:59:29.2, with Patten winning the bronze medal in 1:59:31.0.

In a great sign for the future of the sport, the youngest swimmer in the field, 16-year-old Ana Cunha of Brazil had a great race and was in the mix in the final stages, eventually finishing in fifth position.

In an historic day for the Olympic Games, the first amputee to compete at the Olympic Games, Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee in a scooter accident in 2001, finished 16th.

Swimming Day 11 Preview: Men's Marathon 10km Dyatchin and Lurz to battle

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia and Thomas Lurz of Germany, the two men who have dominated Open Water Swimming for the past five years, are expected to continue their rivalry when the Men's Marathon Swimming event makes its Olympic Games debut at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Thursday, August 21.

Dyatchin will start as one of the favorites after winning back-to-back world championship golds over the 10km distance in 2007-08. He also won four of the 2007 World Cup events, finishing in second place on three other occasions.

Dyatchin will take a lot of confidence from his 2007 world championship defeat of Lurz, when the pair played a game of cat and mouse for the last kilometer before a brilliant tactical move on the final turn of the last lap by Dyatchin caught Lurz off guard and gave the Russian the gold.

Lurz has also had his share of success over the 10km distance, winning gold at the 2004 and 2006 world championships as well as a World Cup victory in Dubai earlier this year.

The biggest threat to Dyatchin and Lurz may come from inexperienced marathon swimmer David Davies of Great Britain. Davies has already competed in the 1500m event at Beijing 2008, where he finished sixth.

Competing in his first open water world championships earlier this year, Davies was the surprise silver medalist, beating the more fancied Lurz and finishing only 0.3 seconds behind gold medalist Dyatchin. A similar performance at Beijing 2008 could put him in medal contention.

Russian Evgeny Drattsev is a strong medal challenger after taking bronze at the 2006 and 2007 world championships, and finishing fifth in 2008.

Fourth in this year's world championships in Spain, Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands will also be out to claim a medal. At the 2008 world championships, he took gold in the 25km discipline, and bronze over 5km. This flexibility in adapting to different tactics and speed across multiple distances should allow him to challenge the big guns in Beijing.

Since taking silver at the 2006 world championships, Valerio Cleri of Italy has been disappointing at world-championship level. However, strong performances throughout the 2007-08 World Cup seasons suggest he has timed his form perfectly to challenge for a medal in Beijing.

Other contenders include Mohamed Monir of Egypt and Ky Hurst of Australia who have been inconsistent over the past few years, but have proven at World Cups and world championships they can cause a surprise on their day.

American Mark Warkentin's pet event has been the 25km. However, a seventh place at the 2008 world championships over 10km, improving from 20th in 2007, suggests he might be one to watch.

Photos: Argentina outpowers Brazil 3-0 in Men's Football semifinal

Sergio Aguero (R) of Argentina vies with Anderson of Brazil. (Photo credit: Wang Qingqin/Xinhua)

Ronaldinho of Brazil vies for the ball. (Photo credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua)

Angel Di Maria (No. 11) of Argentina vies with Diego of Brazil. (Photo credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua)

Argentinian players celebrate their victory. (Photo credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua)

Women's Marathon 10km: Ilchenko wins gold in final flurry

Women's Marathon 10km: Ilchenko wins gold in final flurry
Larisa Ilchenko gears up to the finish line. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)
Photo Gallery>>

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Pre-race favorite and three-time world champion Larisa Ilchenko of Russia put in a withering finishing burst with only 50 meters remaining to win the gold medal on Wednesday in the Women's 10km Marathon swimming race at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

Ilchenko is known for her race tactics of sitting just off the feet of the leaders and moving past them in the final stages and that is just how the race panned out for the dominant Russian who won in 1:59:27.7, just 1.5 seconds ahead of Britain's Keri-Anne Payne.
Women's Marathon 10km: Ilchenko wins gold in final flurry
Larisa Ilchenko poses with her gold medal. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Payne shared the lead for almost the entire race with British teammate Cassandra Patten who lost the battle between the teammates for silver.

Payne and Patten surged to the front from the start and led the swimmers through the first and second laps, stopping at the feeding station at the end of the second lap but remaining in the lead.

Joining Ilchenko behind the leading pair were Marianne Lymperta of Greece and Chinese swimmer Fang Yanqiao. The third lap saw the pack become strung out heading into the feeding station at the end of lap three.

The lead remained the same at the beginning of the fourth and final lap with the two British swimmers out front and Fang dropping back to the chasing pack. Ilchenko, on the heels of the two British swimmers, was joined by Venezuala's Andreina del valle Pinto Perez and Brazil's Poliana Okimoto.

With a few hundred meters to go on the final lap, Ilchenko drew up to the feet of Payne and Patten. And with 50 meters to go the smooth-stroking Ilchenko made her move and drew alongside and then cruised past the British swimmers to sprint to the line and take the gold medal.

Payne and Patten could not be split for almost the entire race but Payne snatched the silver medal in 1:59:29.2, with Patten winning the bronze medal in 1:59:31.0.

In a great sign for the future of the sport, the youngest swimmer in the field, 16-year-old Ana Cunha of Brazil had a great race and was in the mix in the final stages, eventually finishing in fifth position.

In an historic day for the Olympic Games, the first amputee to compete at the Olympic Games, Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee in a scooter accident in 2001, finished 16th.

Athletics Day 5 Review: The United States and Russia lead medal onslaught

(BEIJING, August 20) -- The United States and Russia extended their medal lead in Athletics over the rest of the pack with more gold on Tuesday, August 19.

Dawn Harper of the United States took advantage of a stumble by race leader Lolo Jones of the United States to win the Women's 100m Hurdles with a personal best of 12.54 seconds at the National Stadium.

Jones has been the leading 100m Hurdles runner in 2008 and, until she hit the eighth hurdle, appeared set for the gold medal.

Sally McLellan of Australia won Australia's first Athletics medal when she took silver in a photo finish ahead of bronze medallist, Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Jones finished seventh.

Andrey Silnov of Russia took Russia's fourth gold in Athletics at Beijing 2008 with his success in the Men's High Jump competition.

Silnov was joined on the podium by silver medallist Germaine Mason of Great Britain and Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia, who won the bronze.

Great Britain's Christine Ohuruogu won her country's first Athletics gold medal of the Games when she came from behind to win a thrilling Women's 400m.

The 24-year-old maintained her energy until the final 100m to cross the line in first place.

Shericka Williams of Jamaica and Sanya Richards of the United States followed Ohuruogu home for the silver and bronze medals.

History was made in the Men's 1500m, when gold medallist Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain kicked for home with 200m remaining to win his country's first-ever Olympic medal in a time of 3:32.94.

Ramzi was among the chasing pack until he began an all-out sprint to the finish where he held off Asbel Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya, who took silver, and Nicholas Willis of New Zealand who won the bronze.

In the Men's Discus Throw, Gerd Kanter of Estonia took the gold medal when he threw 68.82m to add an Olympic title to the world title he won in 2007.

Piotr Malachowski of Poland won the silver medal and Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, who took gold in Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000, finished with bronze.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles led the qualifying round in the Men's 200m semifinals, with times of 20.09 seconds and 20.11 seconds respectively. Defending Olympic champion, Shawn Crawford of the United States, also made it to Wednesday's final with a time of 20.12s.

Defending champion Jeremy Wariner of the United States showed that he is still the man to beat in the Men's 400m, finishing his semifinal in 44.15 seconds. In the second semifinal, Leslie Djhone of France finished first, while LaShawn Merritt of the United States led home the third semifinal.

Women's 200m rivals Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica and Allyson Felix of the United States made light work of qualifying for Wednesday's semifinals, finishing in the top two places of their second heat of the day.

Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic, with 67.69m, and Christina Obergfoll of Germany, with 67.52m, threw the two farthest distances to reach Thursday's Women's Javelin final. Steffi Nerius of Germany was third with 63.94m.

In the Women's Long Jump qualification round, Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil, Carolina Kluft of Sweden, Brittney Reese of the United States and defending champion and Beijing 2008 Triple Jump silver medallist, Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia, all reached Friday's final with ease.

The double gold dream of Beijing 2008 Women's 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia is still alive after she qualified easily for Friday's 5000m final. Dibaba's teammate Meseret Defar will start alongside her after winning the second heat.