The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog

The US fencing team dominated this year’s Olympics by winning  gold, silver and bronze at the Women’s Individual Sabre competition.

Mariel Zagunis managed to retain her Athens 2004 Olympic title after defeating countrymen Sada Jacobson in the gold medal bout 15-8, and 2006 world champion Becca Ward who narrowly beat her Russian rival Sofiya Velikaya 15-14 for the Bronze. The gold medal bout saw Zagunis take on teammate Jacobson to take gold.

“I’m delighted that we did so well. There have been a lot of upsets in this tournament as Sada [Jacobson] said, who’s fencing better when everyone’s fencing badly, and I couldn’t forget who I was fencing for. I’m honored to be here and be part of the sweep,” Ward said following the event.

“I just tried to treat it like any other competition. It really is a dream come true, but I’m glad it’s over. I did what I came here to do,” declared Zagunis.

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Republic of Korea’s Choin Min-Ho won the Olympic gold today at Judo men’s 60 KG category, against World No.1 Austria’s Ludwig Paischer with an ippon in 2:14. Choi finished third at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the 2007 Asian championships in Kuwait City and the 2007 world championships.

Fun pick. Via johnny-ong and 2008 Beijing.

Alina Alexandra Dumitru of Romania beat Yanet Bermoy of Cuba at the 48 kg Judo women’s finals today,  at THE Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium (USTB Gymnasium). Alina secured a gold medal, while Yanet followed-up with a silver one.  Paula Belen Pareto of Argentina won the bronze.

This just went in my inbox. Apparently, two Americans, family members of a coach for the U.S. Olympic men’s indoor volleyball team, were attacked by an unknown Chinese man on the opening day of competition at the Games. The Chinese man killed one of the Americans, before committing suicide shortly after.

The Beijing Municipal Government says the attack happened in downtown Beijing at noon on Saturday. Officials issued a statement saying the 47-year-old attacker, Tang Yongming, also injured an American woman and her Chinese tourist guide. The attack took place on the second level of the Drum Tower, a popular tourist attraction in north Beijing, all of this while the Olympics opening ceremony was in full swing, with fireworks and beautiful displays of choreography. Tang threw himself from the ancient monument used to tell time centuries ago.

“Our priority in this hour is to attend to the needs of the family members, the U.S. Olympic men’s indoor volleyball team and staff, and the entire U.S. Olympic delegation,” the USOC said in a statement. “In addition, the USOC is working closely with the United States Embassy, United States law enforcement authorities and local law enforcement authorities.”

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Buangan said it was “aware of the reports of the accidents suffered by two American citizens, we are working with the Chinese authorities to find out more on the cause of the incident.” He declined to comment further, but said U.S. officials were in contact with relatives of the two Americans who are in Beijing.

A Beijing Drum tower.

Ever wondered what’s it like living in the Olympics Village? It’s the home of the athletes during their stay at the Olympics, and let me tell you by now, it’s a wonderful place. A city in city.

Jake Humphrey, a correspondent for BBC Sports, had the honor of doing a tour of the Olympic Village, and from his writing, he seems as psyched as I’d be. Just a small look on the Village stats is enough to make you shiver. 128 tower blocks to house athletes and team members, over 4,000 staff on hand to keep the place looking trim, and 33,000 meals a day being served by the 2,400 kitchen staff and much more.

If you’re curious about the Village life, read Jake’s really interesting article.

Another sad story for true sportsmanship. Greek Olympic sprinter Tassos Gousis has failed a doping test, as reported yesterday by national TV. 29-year-old, who was due to compete in the 200 metres in Beijing, tested positive during tests conducted by the Greek anti-doping agency ESKAN before the team left for training in Japan. The Hellenic Olympic Committee was not available for comment when contacted by Reuters in Beijing.

Via Reuters

No, we’re not doing it. We prefer micro-blogging it over Twitter. But the NY Times is doing a hell of job in covering the event. So, we thought they deserve a good pat on the back and of course a link. LIVE-BLOGGING the Opening Ceremony by NY Times.

If you own a blog or work at a publication that live-blogs the event, then send us and e-mail or leave a comment bellow and we’ll link to you as official Beijing live-bloggers!

The now famous Beijing Olympics wall is located in the Xuanwu District, with thousands of people going past it. . The entire wall is 300 meters long and displays pictures and well-wishes for the Olympic Games, making a great little sister for the colossus live sized Great Wall of China. More pictures of the wall here.

Because there’s a lot of things going on in the Beijing Olympics, it’s virtually impossible for us to keep up with all the stuff and post about them. So, we decided to make a Twitter account especially made for the Olympics. You can always expect new updates there, detailing live events from our collaborator who’s there in the Beijing stadiums.

Follow our Twitter account here, please.