Olympic highlights: August 10, 2008

Sunday, August 10, 2008 

August 10, 2008 is the 2nd major day of the 2008 Olympic games, the below article lists some of the highlights. As a lot of the new records were in swimming events, this articles has several sections on swimming races.

Events

Men's 400 metre individual medley

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps shows off his Olympic gold medal as he stands on the victory podium with teammate Ryan Lochte, bronze medalist, and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, silver medalist, at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing.

Swimmer Michael Phelps won the gold medal for the U.S. Team in the 400 individual medley swimming event.

Phelps clocked in at 4:03.84 managing to break his previous best time of 4:05.25 by almost 2 seconds, and setting a new world record in the event. His gold medal is the first gold medal won in the 2008 games. Phelps will swim the men's 4x100m freestyle relay tomorrow in an attempt to win his second gold medal.

Laszlo Cseh from Hungary came in second and received the silver medal, while Ryan Lochte from the U.S. came in third to win bronze.

Men's 100 metre breaststroke

In the semifinal of the men's 100 metre breaststroke, the Norwegian Alexander Dale Oen , set a new Olympic record with a time of 59.16.

The Japanese Kitajima Kosuke and the Australian Brenton Rickard finished in second and third place respectively, both with times of under one minute.

Women's 400 metre individual medley

In the final of the women's 400 metre individual medley, the Australian Stephanie Rice , set a new world record with a time of 4:29.45. By doing this she took the gold medal.

Rice beat the previous world record by over two seconds.

The Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry finished in second and won the silver medal.

Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay final

In the final of the women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay, the team from the Netherlands, set a new world record with a time of 4:29.45. By doing this she took the gold medal.

The team beat the previous world record by over two seconds, with their time of 3:33.76.

The American finished in second and won the silver medal, while the Austraian team, which won in 2004, took the bronze medal.

Women's synchronized 3 metre springboard

The Chinese Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) and Wu Minxia (吴敏霞) received gold medal for a total of 343.50 points.

"We have prepared really well beforehand. We had all kinds of simulations in training, including those designed to help us deal with distraction and concentrate on the match," said Jingjing after the event.

The Russian group won the silver medal, and the Germans achieved Bronze.

Women's team archery

In the final of the women's team archery , the South Korean won with a score of 224. By doing this the team took the gold medal and set the Olympic record, due to that fact that this was the first time the event appeared in the Olympics.

China, Britain, France and South Korea all reached the semifinals of the event.

Women's 10 metre air pistol

The Chinese Guo Wenjun received gold in the Women's 10 metre air pistol, after scoring a total of 492.3 points.

Women's Road Race

The Women's Road Race took place despite the weather, with heavy rain throughout the race, with large amounts of spray from bike tyres and camera motorbikes. Several riders slid off the track, however no major crashes occurred. Nicole Cooke of Great Britain won the gold, with Emma Johansson (Sweden) and Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) receiving Silver and Bronze, respectively.

Medal Table

2008 Olympics - Beijing, China
	Country	G	S	B	TOT
	China	6	2	0	8
	United States	2	2	4	8
	South Korea	3	2	0	5
	Italy	1	2	1	4
	Russia	0	3	1	4
	Japan	1	0	2	3
	France	0	2	1	3
	Hungary	0	2	1	3
	North Korea	0	1	2	3
	Czech Republic	2	0	0	2
	Australia	1	0	1	2
	Netherlands	1	0	1	2
	Spain	1	0	1	2
	Cuba	0	1	1	2
Source: Beijing 2008 Official Site

Sources

• "Phelps shatters world record in 400m medley" — Melbourne Herald Sun, August 10, 2008
• "American Phelps wins men's 400m individual medley in world record" — Xinhua News Agency, August 10, 2008
• Sean Maguire. "Phelps swims for first of eight golds target" — Reuters, August 10, 2008
• "Flash: Norway's Oen rewrites OR in Men's 100m Breaststroke Semifinal" — Beijing 2008, August 10, 2008
• "Flash: Stephanie Rice sets new world record in Women's 400m Individual Medley" — Beijing 2008, August 10, 2008
• "Women's Sync. 3m Springboard Final" — Beijing 2008, August 10, 2008
• "Women's 10m Air Pistol Final" — Beijing 2008, August 10, 2008
• "Chinese duo leap to springboard gold" — Mail & Guardian, August 10, 2008