The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog

Alex Schwarzer of Italy won the Men’s 50km Walk gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a time of three hours and 37.09 minutes on August 22.

The 24-year-old Italian broke the previous Olympic record of three hours and 38.29 seconds set by Vyacheslav Ivanenko of the USSR ten years ago. With this achievement, he adds his first Olympic gold to his trophy shelf, next to bronzes earned at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships.

“It’s the best, it’s the highest level. I’m delighted,” Schwarzer said excitedly when talking about his gold medal.

“This is for my grandfather who died in July. I’m very sad about it. He’s been there for me my whole life, but now I’m sure he is happy,” he added.

The silver medal went to Jared Tallent of Australia in three hours 39.27 minutes. Tallent won bronze in the Men’s 20km Walk at these Games on Saturday, August 16.

“This is what you do it for. Just warming up this morning and thinking of all the years of hard work that come down to this. I can’t believe it - two medals at the Olympics,” said Tallent.

Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia took bronze in three hours 40.14 minutes.

“I feel very disappointed. I don’t know why. I don’t think I had any technical problems or mistakes. I got a silver four years ago (Athens 2004 Olympic Games), but now it’s only a bronze. It’s such a pity,” said Nizhegorodov.

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Jamaican Usain Bolt set a new world record of 19.30 seconds in the Men’s 200m final to take the gold medal in this event on August 20, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Bolt has become the second man in history to sweep the 100m / 200m sprint double at the same Olympic Games, after Carl Lewis of the United States attained the achievement in Los Angeles in 1984.

Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles took silver with a nation’s best time of 19.82 seconds, holding off bronze medalist Shawn Crawford from the United States at 19.86 seconds.

World record holder Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia confirmed his supremacy in distance running by successfully defending his Olympic gold medal in the Men’s 10000m at the National Stadium on Sunday, August 17.

Bekele sliced almost four seconds off the Olympic record he set at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, finishing in 27:01.17. The silver medalist was perennial minor medalist Sileshi Sihine of Ethiopia, who clocked 27:02.77, while Micah Kogo of Kenya won bronze in 27:04.11.

The caliber of the race was so high that the first four finishers all beat the old Olympic record of 27:05.10.

Kidane Tadesse of Eritrea controlled the pace for most of the early stages of the race, with Bekele content to sit in third position.

The pace picked up when former world record holder and two-time Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia took control at the 6000m mark. With seven laps to go, Athens bronze medalist Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea regained the lead before Koso went to the front after 8000m.

Seven runners were in the front pack with two laps remaining, but at the final lap bell Bekele pulled away from Sihine, eventually winning by 20m.

Bekele is the sixth man to have won back-to-back Olympic titles in the Men’s 10000m.

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.

In the Women’s 50m Freestyle final, 41-year-old Dara Torres from the United States will be under the spotlight. 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.

The 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

Usain Bolt of Jamaica has won the Men’s 100m gold
medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a world record time of 9.69
seconds.

Silver medalist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago ran a time of 9.89
seconds, leaving American Walter Dix to take the bronze in a time of 9.91
seconds.

The 21-year-old broke his own world record of 9.72 seconds, which he set in
June this year. The Olympic record stood at 9.84 seconds, set by Donovan Bailey
at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Bolt came from relative obscurity to worldwide attention in the 100m at a
Grand Prix event on Long Island, New York, in late May, after demolishing the
field and breaking the world record in a time of 9.72 seconds, a stunning result
for anyone, let alone a runner who had been seen as a 200m specialist.

Pre-race favorite Powell, favorite in Athens 2004 and at last year’s world
championships, failed to live up to expectation both times, and again seems to
have cracked under the pressure, finishing fifth and 0.26 seconds behind his
arch-rival Bolt.

Reigning world champion Tyson Gay failed to qualify after running a time of
10.05 seconds in the semifinals. Gay was the United States best chance for
gold.

Gay got a decent jump from the blocks and was in contention early in the
semifinal race, but Powell and Richard Thompson overtook him. He was outleaned
at the line by American Darvis Patton, who finished in 10.03 seconds.

“I did my best,” Gay said. “I don’t have any excuses.”

As a result, Gay’s only chance at an Olympic medal will come in the relays.
He also failed to qualify for the 200m, after pulling up lame in the preliminary
round with a strained left hamstring at the Olympic trials six weeks ago.

“[I feel] a little bit bitter, but I did my best, and I don’t have any excuse
because I tried hard,” he said.

Gay’s remaining chance for a medal at Beijing 2008 is the Men’s 4 x 100m
Relay, which begins Thursday at the National Stadium, while Bolt can finally
relax with the gold around his neck.

The gold medalist explained his early celebration, raising his arms before
the finish line, “As soon as I saw I had covered the field and I knew I would
win, I was very happy and I started to celebrate.”

Final results of the Olympic Men’s 100m:

1. Usain Bolt – Jamaica 9.69 WR

2. Richard Thompson – Trinidad/Tobago 9.89 PB

3. Walter Dix – United States 9.91 PB

4. Churandy Martina – Netherlands Antilles 9.93 NR

5. Asafa Powell – Jamaica 9.95

6. Michael Frater – Jamaica 9.97 PB

7. Marc Burns – Trinidad/Tobago 10.01

8. Darvis Patton – United States 10.03

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia has won gold and set a new Olympic record in the Women’s 10000m at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15.

Dibaba’s time of 29:54.66 was enough to break the old record of 30:17.49 set by fellow Ethiopian Derartu Tulu and hold off silver medalist Elvan Abeylegess of Turkey who ran a time of 29:56.34. Bronze went to Shalane Flanagan of the United States in a time of 30:22:22.

The world record of 29:31.78 seconds in this event is held by China’s Wang Junxia China, set in 1993.

The famous, former world-record holder at the 100 M sprint section, Asafa Powell, pulled out of the Golden Gala 100 meters in Rome yesterday afternoon, after suffering a groin injury. The Jamaican burst out of the blocks in his heat but suddenly pulled up and did not run in the final.

“He’s OK, but he felt his groin cramp up and stopped running as a precaution,” said Paul Doyle, Powell’s manager.

Confession to the Associated Press report Asafa’s manager confessed this was a new injury, but also acknowledged the world class athelete has had similar issues before. Let’s just hope he’ll recover soon enough and that he’ll be in top shape in August, when the Olympics kick off.

At a news conference before the Rome meet began, Powell had told reporters it was good that Tyson Gay set a world (though wind-aided) record of 9.68 at the U.S. Olympic trials. “I think it is always better not to have all that pressure on your back. This year for the first time all eyes will be on Bolt and Gay. …”

Powell’s Jamaican teammate, Usain Bolt, one of the candidates on our 5 historical records that are likely to be broken at this year’s Olympics edition, set the 100-meter world record of 9.72 seconds in New York on May 31, improving on Powell’s 9.74.