Light-Flyweight (48kg)

Medal favorite China’s Zou Shiming should defeat Paddy Barnes of Ireland and move into the gold medal match.

In the other semifinal bout, Pan American Champion Yampier Hernandez G of Cuba will fight Mongolian surprise packet Serdamba Purevdorj, who shocked Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Apart from Ruenroeng, Purevdorj also eliminated medal contender Luis Yanez of the United States in the Round of 16.

Flyweight (51kg)

The most anticipated bout in this weight class is the one between Italy’s Vincenzo Picardi and Thailand’s Somjit Jongjohor.

Jongjohor defeated Picardi in the semifinal of last year’s World Championships, and eventually claimed the silver medal. Picardi won the bronze medal in the same tournament.

In the other semifinal bout, Russia’s Georgy Balakshin will fight Andris Laffita Hernandez of Cuba.

Bantamweight (54kg)

The most competitive bout in this weight class will be between Enkhbat Badar-Uugan of Mongolia and Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova. Badar-Uugan, the runner-up at last year’s World Championships, cruised to the semifinal with easy wins in his first three bouts, while Gojan brought Indian boxer Akhil Kumar back to earth in the quarterfinals with a convincing 10-3 victory.

Kumar was confident of winning a medal after he eliminated World No. 1 Sergey Vodopyanov of Russia after a tight bout in the Round of 16.

In the other semifinal bout, Cuba’s Yankiel Leon Alarcon will meet Bruno Julie from Mauritius, which is a showdown between the bronze medalist of the 2008 Pan American Championships and the reigning African champion.

Featherweight (57kg)

Medal favorite in this weight category is Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko, who has defeated a series of tough opponents to reach the semifinals, including Russia’s Albert Selimov, the reigning world and European champion and China’s Li Yang, the bronze medalist at last year’s World Championships.

Lomachenko’s semifinal rival is Turkey’s Yakup Kilic, an opponent he should outbox.

The other semifinal bout is between Azerbaijan’s Shahin Imranov and France’s Khedafi Djelkhir.

Imranov, who edged out Cuba’s Idel Torriente, the Pan American Champion 16-14 in the last round, should overcome his opponent and meet Lomachenko in the gold medal match.

Lightweight (60kg)

The final match in this category should be between two medal favorites. Yordenis Ugas of Cuba and Alexey Tishchenko of Russia should defeat their respective opponents, Daouda Sow of France and Romanian Georgian Popescu in the semifinals and compete for the gold medal.

The Romanian reached the semifinal because his quarterfinal opponent Baik Jong-sub of the Republic of Korea pulled out before the morning weigh-in due to a chest injury sustained in his previous bout.

Light Welterweight (64kg)

Medal favorite in this weight class is Thailand’s Manus Boonjumnong, the gold medalist at Athens 2004, who ousted a tough opponent in the previous round, Kazakhstan’s Serik Sapiyev, the reigning world and Asian champion.

Fighting against the Thai will be Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo, who eliminated Russia’s Gennady Kovalev, the silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, 5-2 in the quarterfinal.

The other semifinal is between France’s Alexis Vastine and Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic. Neither of them met strong resistance in the previous rounds.

Welterweight (69kg)

The most anticipated fight in this class is between Kim Jung-joo from the Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan’s Bakhyt Sarsekbayev. Kim is now the medal favorite after he upset Demetrius Andrade of the United States 11-9 in the quarterfinal round. Sarsekbayev, the Asian champion, hasn’t been troubled in his previous bouts.

China’s Hanati Silamu will fight Cuba’s Carlos Banteaux Suarez in the other semifinal. Hanati defeated three unheralded opponents in his initial bouts but he will be challenged by the Pan American champion in the semifinal.

Middleweight (75kg)

Two surprise semifinalists will fight in this weight class. James DeGale of Great Britain will take on Ireland’s Darren John Sutherland. DeGale finished off Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Artayev, the Athens 2004 gold medalist 8-3. Sutherland thumped Venezuela’s Alfonso Blanco Parra, the silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, 11-1 in the quarterfinals.

In the other semifinal bout, Cuba’s Emilio Correa Bayeaux will fight India’s Vijender Kumar.

Light-Heavyweight (81kg)

With most medal favorites eliminated, or disqualified, in the previous round, Yerkebulan Shynaliyev of Kazakhstan is now the gold medal favorite. He will fight China’s Zhang Xiaoping, who beat Abdelhafid Benchabla of Algeria 12-7 in the quarterfinals.

The other semifinal bout is between Tony Jeffries of Great Britain and Kenny Egan of Ireland. Jeffries dominated the quarterfinal match with Hungary’s Imre Szello, knocking Szello down once in the final round to comfortably win 10-2. Egan also had a convincing victory, defeating Brazil’s Washington Silva 8-0.

Heavyweight (91kg)

Medal favorite in this weight class, Clemente Russo of Italy, will meet Deontay Wilder of the United States. Clemente should outbox his opponent and meet the winner of the semifinal between Russia’s Rakhim Chakhkiev and Cuba’s Osmai Acosta Duarte in the final.

The bout between Chakhkiev and Acosta Duarte is expected to be close. The Russian boxer was a silver medalist at last year’s World Championships and the Cuban is a Pan American champion.

Super-Heavyweights (+91kg)

Medal favorite in this weight class is Roberto Cammarelle of Italy, the reigning world champion, who has cruised to the semifinal without being troubled.

Cammarelle’s semifinal rival is Great Britain’s David Price. Price has improved a lot since Athens 2004, where he was eliminated in the qualifying stage. Price defeated Russia’s Islam Timurziev, the reigning European champion, in his opening match, but will face an even tougher challenge tomorrow.

The other semifinal bout between China’s Zhang Zhilei and Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Glazkov is expected to be close. Zhang, the bronze medalist at last year’s World Championships, crushed Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Myrsatayev 12-2 to reach the semifinal. Glazkov, the silver medal winner of the 2007 tournament, finished off Cuba’s Robert Alfonso Acea 5-3 in his opening match, before outboxing the 2007 African champion Newfel Ouatah of Algeria 10-4 in the last round.

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Strombergs’ win earned Latvia’s first gold medal in the Beijing Games.

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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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The first set was evenly matched with the US duo managing to end the set with a narrow 23-21 win.

The Brazilian duo won the second set 21-17. In the deciding set, the US duo made light work of their opponents, winning the set 15-4.

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Russia’s Olga Kaniskina led from the start to win the first gold of the day in the women’s 20km walk, and Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands timed his final burst perfectly to win the men’s 10km marathon swim.

Playing on wet sand in front of a crowd draped in multi-colored plastic ponchos, China’s Zhang Xi and Xue Chen took the bronze in the women’s beach volleyball.

The semi-finals and finals of the men’s and women’s BMX competition were postponed until Friday after officials decided the dirt course was too dangerous.

The rain, though, failed to dampen the buzz around Jamaica’s Usain “Lightning” Bolt, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday on Thursday after winning a second sprint gold and setting another world record the night before.

Bolt was again the toast of his Caribbean homeland with a blistering 200 meters win that broke American sprinter Michael Johnson’s 1996 world record.

Added to his earlier 100m victory, that made Bolt the first man since America’s Carl Lewis [Images] in 1984 to win the double and cemented Jamaica’s reputation for speed as well as reggae.

“I’m number one,” the joyous athlete mouthed at cameras, thumping his chest and blowing kisses at the 91,000 Bird’s Nest crowd.

In a remarkable double disqualification, Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix came fourth and fifth after Bolt but took silver and bronze when two athletes ahead were disqualified for running out of their lanes.

The Jamaican, variously dubbed the “U-Bolt” and “Insane Usain”, may now return to the track and try for a third gold in the 4×100m men’s relay on Friday.

JAMAICA, U.S. SHOWDOWN

Before then, the limelight turns to Jamaica’s similarly high-achieving women in Thursday’s 200m showdown.

Jamaican women have already swept the 100m medals.

The joint silver medalists from that race, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, plus defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, will lead the Jamaican charge in the 200m at 7:30 p.m. (1700 IST).

For the Americans, world champion Allyson Felix, Muna Lee and Marshevet Hooker are hoping to regain sprinting pride for the sport’s traditional superpower.

Campbell-Brown was relishing the chance to bring more gold home. “Over the years, Jamaica is very strong, and I think everyone is just working very hard,” she said.

Also looming on Thursday is the 110m hurdles final, which was shaping into one of the high points of the Games but is now deflated by the absence of Chinese favorite Liu Xiang.

The Olympic champion limped from the track injured, leaving Chinese fans in tears and clearing the way for Cuban world record-holder Dayron Robles. “I’m very calm. I’ll win the gold medal,” he said.

The Chinese can at least console themselves with a look at the gold medal table, where they have built up a seemingly unassailable lead of 45. The hosts’ new sporting superpower status mirrors their growing global economic and political clout.

On a packed day of athletics, Americans Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merrit go head-to-head in the 400m on Thursday too.

The decathlon began with 100m and javelin rounds, with Czech world record holder and Olympic champion Roman Sebrle testing his battered body once again in athletics’ most grueling event.

He was speared in the shoulder by a javelin in early 2007.

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Chen, the favorite, had previously claimed the gold medal in the event at the 16th FINA World Cup in Beijing. She wrapped up Thursday morning’s competition with a perfect somersault-twist combination dive that scored 96.90 points, the highest of the semifinal session.

Paola Espinosa, the flag bearer for Mexico, dropped all her 3m Springboard events at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to concentrate on the 10m Platform events. She’s won gold over two legs of the World Series this year (Sheffield and Tijuana), and her strong semifinal finish shows she may be in position to upset China in Beijing.

Chen’s teammate Wang Xin is the reigning world champion. She and Chen clinched China’s third Diving gold in the Synchronized 10m Platform earlier in the Games.

Emilie Heymans missed her third dive to fall to fourth place. American veteran Laura Wilkinson, who is now 31, finished in fifth place to qualify for the final. She took gold in Sydney 2000 in this event.

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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.

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Aksana Miankova of Belarus has won the Women’s Hammer Throw gold medal in a new Olympic record of 76.34 meters in the Women’s Hammer Throw at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Miankova’s best throw put her well ahead of Athens 2004 silver medalist Yipsi Moreno of Cuba, who threw 75.20m, and China’s Wenxiu Zhang, who threw a season best of 74.32m to claim bronze.

Miankova still leads the 2008 world rankings with her national record of 77.32m, the third best throw of all time. She threw 69.77m to qualify for the final.

Moreno came into the final ranked first, with a throw of 73.92m in the preliminary round on August 18. The Athens 2004 Olympic Games silver medalist boasts a personal best of 76.36m and multiple World Championship medals. She won gold medals in the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and finished second in 2005 and 2007.

Zhang threw the second furthest in Monday’s preliminaries, marking 73.36m, while Martina Hrasnova of Slovakia followed with 72.87m to take third place going into the final.

Darya Pchelnik of Belarus sits third in the world rankings, with a personal best throw of 76.33m. She passed through the prelims with 71.30m.

Germany’s Betty Heidler, who won the World Championships in Osaka and also set a national record of 76.55m, had two fouls from three throws, with her only marking throw reaching a distance of 70.06m, taking ninth place.

Former World Junior Championships silver medalist Martina Hrasnova of Slovakia owns the second best throw of 2008 with a personal best of 76.82, but only managed to throw 71.00m to take eighth place.

25-year-old Kamila Skolimowska of Poland won gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and was fourth in Osaka, but failed to make any of her throws count.

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Taekwondo athlete Guillermo Perez of Mexico claimed the gold medal in the final match of the  Men’s  -58kg weight class on Wednesday by defeating Yulis Gabriel Mercedes of the Dominican Republic in the Olympic Taekwondo competition.

Both athletes were cautious and played conservatively in the first set, which ended in a 0-0 draw. Then Perez started his attacks and managed a defensive kick on his opponent which earned him one point. In the third set, Mercedes pulled one point back with an offensive kick and took the match into a fourth set.

Neither athletes managed to score in the deciding set, and judges ruled that Perez won the match by superiority.

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