Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay: Phelps leads record relay

Updated: 2008-08-13 13:05:19

(L-R) Ricky Berens, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps of the United States shout encouragement to Peter Vanderkaay. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 13) -- The US Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle team, led out by the indomitable Michael Phelps, smashed the world record on the way to winning the gold medal on Wednesday.

The triumph keeps alive Phelps' dream of gathering a record eight golds at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The win also brings Phelps his 11th career Olympic gold to date.

The US team of Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay led for the entire race and stretched the world record margin throughout the race.

Lochte followed Phelps' lead-off leg and established command under the world record time by 3.63 seconds. Berens slightly increased this lead, handing over to Vanderkaay to anchor the relay home and extend their lead on the world record. They smashed the world record, shaving off 4.68 seconds to break the seven-minute barrier at 6:58.56.

(L-R) Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps celebrate their victory (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

US and Russia fought out the first 200m, with Australia's Grant Hackett edging the Russians out for second place at the 400m mark. Canada enjoyed a great third leg through Brent Hayden, to give them second place behind the US at the 600m mark.

Russia's Alexander Sukhorukov swam a fast final 200m to move past Canada and grab the silver medal in 7:03.70 which was also under the old Olympic record.

Australia, through Nick Ffrost, also overhauled the Canadians to take the Bronze medal in 7:04.98.

In Synch: China sweeps first four Diving events

Updated: 2008-08-13 16:51:23

(L-R) Kai Qin and Wang Feng of China pose with the gold medal. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 13) -- China is halfway toward its dream of eight Diving gold medals after Qin Kai and Wang Feng won the Men's Synchronized 3m Springboard with a score of 469.08. The host nation has won all four Synchronized Diving events of the Beijing Olympics. Dmitry Sautin and Yuriy Kunakov of Russia earned silver, while Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov of Ukraine took bronze.

Qin and Wang are the reigning world champions and were the heavy favorites coming into the event. Their supremacy was evident from start to finish -- they ranked first in each of their six dives, including an emphatic 94.50-point final dive that put them ahead of Russia by 50 points.

Legendary Russian diver Dmitry Sautin, five-time Olympian from 1992 through 2008, won his eighth Olympic medal at the age of 34. The Russian pair overcame an eighth-ranked fifth dive with a solid score on their final dive to secure silver.

The pair from Ukraine pulled ahead in a tight race for third with an 84-point fifth dive that put them temporarily in second place. Needing near-perfect final dives to reach the podium, the US and Canadian pairs fell short and Kvasha and Prygorov won bronze by 4.32 points.

Canadian diver Alexandre Despatie, silver medalist in the Individual 3m Springboard at Athens, and his 37-year-old partner Arturo Mirnada were in third place through the first three dives but a poor fourth dive dropped them into fifth place.

The Individual Diving events begin on August 14 with the Women's 3m Springboard. Qin Kai will take part in the Individual Men's Springboard event with compatriot He Chong. The event is scheduled to begin on August 18 and end on August 19.

Synchronized Men's 3m Springboard, final standings:

1. China -- Qin kai and Wang Feng, 469.08

2. Russia -- Dmitry Sautin and Yuriy Kunakov, 421.98

3. Ukraine -- Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov, 415.05

4. USA -- Chris Colwill and Jevon Tarantino, 410.73

5. Canada -- Alexandre Despatie and Arturo Miranda, 409.29

6. Germany -- Pavlo Rozenberg and Sascha Klein, 402.84

7. Great Britain -- Nicholas Robinson-Baker and Benijamin Swain, 402.36

8. Australia -- Scott Robertson and Robert Newberry, 393.60

Qin Kai (L) and Wang Feng pose with gold medals. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Wang Feng and Qin Kai compete. (Photo credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

A Wrestling gold for France after 84 years

Updated: 2008-08-13 18:16:48

Steeve Guénot wins the gold (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 13) -- Steeve Guénot became the new Olympic champion of the Men's Greco-Roman 66 kilogram Wrestling weight class after defeating Kanatbek Begaliev of Kyrgyzstan on August 13. He is also the first French Olympic Wrestling champion in 84 years.

The 22-year-old started the bout well, taking the first period 3-0. His opponent gained one point in the first par terre of the second period, but Guénot came back in the second par terre to take the period 3-1.

This is Guénot's best senior achievement by far. His older brother Christophe Guénot will compete in the 74kg weight class bronze bout.

The silver medalist, twenty-four-year-old Begaliev, placed 11th in Athens four years ago. He was also the silver medalist at the 2006 World Championships.

China makes history by winning its first Team gold in Women's Gymnastics

Updated: 2008-08-13 12:53:33

China team gains the highest place on the podium. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 13) -- China made history today by winning its first Olympic gold medal in the Team event of Women's Gymnastics. China won the gold medal with a total of 188.900 points.

The United States won the silver medal with a total of 186.525 points and Romania won the bronze with a total of 181.525 points.

China entered the Team final as favorites, but it was pushed all the way by a determined United States. The two sides' first rotation was the Vault, with the United States taking a slender lead.

The second rotation for China and the United States was the Uneven Bars, which is regarded as China's specialty. China did not disappoint, gaining the lead with a dominant display on the apparatus.

He Kexin and Yang Yilin were outstanding in the Uneven Bars, scoring 16.850 and 16.800 respectively. Despite the best efforts of the United States' Nastia Liukin, who scored 16.900, the United States could not overcome China's dominance of the apparatus.

The United States gained slightly more points than China in the Balance Beam, a rotation that was marked by the mistakes of the United States' Alicia Sacramone and China's Cheng Fei. Sacramone was clearly affected by her mistake and also performed poorly in the next rotation, the Floor Exercise.

US team on the podium. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

The United States could not afford to make any mistakes against a disciplined Chinese side. China's Li Shanshan improved her country's chances of winning the gold medal by scoring 16.050 in the Balance Beam. This was an individual score that even the elegant Liukin could not match.

China's most experienced campaigner Cheng Fei sealed the victory with a solid performance in the Floor exercise.

Romania surprised Russia by winning the bronze medal. Romania performed well in the Floor Exercise, with only China receiving a higher score. Russia scored poorly in the Balance Beam and finished with a total score of 180.625.

The fifth to eighth places in the Team final were taken by Japan, Australia, France and Brazil.

Today's Medallists As of Aug 12 2008

Discipline	Event	Medal	Name	NOC
Canoe/Kayak - Slalom	Canoe Single (C1) Men		MARTIKAN Michal	Slovakia
			FLORENCE David	Great Britain
			BELL Robin	Australia
	Kayak (K1) Men		GRIMM Alexander	Germany
			LEFEVRE Fabien	France
			BOUKPETI Benjamin	Togo
Diving	Women's Synchronised 10m Platform		WANG Xin, CHEN Ruolin	China
			COLE Briony, WU Melissa	Australia
			ESPINOSA Paola, ORTIZ Tatiana	Mexico
Equestrian	Eventing Team		THOMSEN Peter, OSTHOLT Frank, ROMEIKE Hinrich, KLIMKE Ingrid, DIBOWSKI Andreas	Germany
			FREDERICKS Clayton, FREDERICKS Lucinda, JONES Megan, JOHNSON Sonja, ROSE Shane	Australia
			DICK Daisy, FOX-PITT William, COOK Kristina, HUNT Sharon, KING Mary	Great Britain
Fencing	Men's Individual Sabre		ZHONG Man	China
			LOPEZ Nicolas	France
			COVALIU Mihai	Romania
Gymnastics Artistic	Men's Team		CHEN Yibing, HUANG Xu, LI Xiaopeng, XIAO Qin, YANG Wei, ZOU Kai	China
			KASHIMA Takehiro, NAKASE Takuya, OKIGUCHI Makoto, SAKAMOTO Koki, TOMITA Hiroyuki, UCHIMURA Kohei	Japan
			ARTEMEV Alexander, BHAVSAR Raj, HAGERTY Joey, HORTON Jonathan, SPRING Justin, TAN Kai Wen	United States
Judo	Men -81 kg		BISCHOF Ole	Germany
			KIM Jaebum	Korea
			GONTIUK Roman	Ukraine
			CAMILO Tiago	Brazil
	Women -63 kg		TANIMOTO Ayumi	Japan
			DECOSSE Lucie	France
			WILLEBOORDSE Elisabeth	Netherlands
			WON Ok Im	DPR Korea
Shooting	Men's 50m Pistol		JIN Jong Oh	Korea
			KIM Jong Su	DPR Korea
			TAN Zongliang	China
	Men's Double Trap		ELLER Walton	United States
			D ANIELLO Francesco	Italy
			HU Binyuan	China
Swimming	Women's 100m Backstroke		COUGHLIN Natalie	United States
			COVENTRY Kirsty	Zimbabwe
			HOELZER Margaret	United States
	Women's 100m Breaststroke		JONES Leisel	Australia
			SONI Rebecca	United States
			JUKIC Mirna	Austria
	Men's 200m Freestyle		PHELPS Michael	United States
			PARK Taehwan	Korea
			VANDERKAAY Peter	United States
	Men's 100m Backstroke		PEIRSOL Aaron	United States
			GREVERS Matt	United States
			STOECKEL Hayden	Australia
			VYATCHANIN Arkady	Russian Fed.
Weightlifting	Men's 69kg		LIAO Hui	China
			DABAYA-TIENTCHEU Vencelas	France
			MARTIROSYAN Tigran Gevorg	Armenia
	Women's 63kg		PAK Hyon Suk	DPR Korea
			NEKRASSOVA Irina	Kazakhstan
			LU Ying-Chi	Chinese Taipei
Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 55 kg		MANKIEV Nazyr	Russian Fed.
			BAYRAMOV Rovshan	Azerbaijan
			AMOYAN Roman	Armenia
			PARK Eun-Chul	Korea
	Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg		ALBIEV Islam-Beka	Russian Fed.
			RAHIMOV Vitaliy	Azerbaijan
			TIUMENBAEV Ruslan	Kyrgyzstan
			TENGIZBAYEV Nurbakyt	Kazakhstan

2008-08-12 21:52:06

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