Olympic highlights: August 20, 2008

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 

August 20, 2008 is the 11th major day of the 2008 Olympic games. The below article lists some of the highlights.

Events

Men's 200 meter sprint

Jamaican Usain Bolt, who recently set the world record for the one hundred meter sprint, has set a new world record in the 200 metre sprint with his time of 19.30 seconds, 0.02 seconds quicker than the previous world record, which was set by Michael Johnson in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

"This is a dream come true. You come out every day to be a champion and I'm just happy," said Bolt, after the race. "I've proved I'm a true champion and that with hard work anything is possible."

The silver and bronze went to Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix, respectively.

Women's swimming 10km

Russian Larisa Ilchenko took home gold in the women's marathon swim. Her final time 1:59:27.7. She beat the United Kingdom's Keri-Anne Payne by 1.5 seconds, and Cassandra Patten, also of Great Britain by 3.3 seconds.

Women's hammer throw

Belarusian Aksana Miankova set a new Olympic Record and won the gold medal in the final of the women's hammer throw with a score of 76.34.

Yipsi Moreno, who was representing Cuba, won the silver medal, while Wenxiu Zhang, from China finished in third place with a score of 74.32.

Zhang also set her new season's best.

Women's 400m hurdles

Jamaican Melaine Walker set a new Olympic record, national record and won the gold medal in the final of the women's 400m hurdles with a final score of 52.64 seconds.

Sheena Tosta, who was representing United States, won the silver medal, while Tash Danvars, from Great Britain, finished in third place with a final score of 53.84, a new personal best.

Men's Baseball

Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, and the Netherlands were eliminated in the matches leading up to the Baseball semi finals which will take place on August 21. Chinese Taipei defeated Canada in a closely matched 12 inning 6-5 game, but both failed to advance. China was defeated by Cuba 17-1, and the Netherlands was defeated by South Korea 10-0. The United States and Japan also played, with the US defeating Japan 4-2, but both were already guaranteed entry into the medal round. Japan will play the United States in the bronze medal round, while Cuba and South Korea will compete for the gold medal.

Other news

Liudmyla Blonska fails drugs test

Liudmyla Blonska may be stripped of her silver medal
Image: Eckhard Pecher.

Liudmyla Blonska, who won silver in the heptathlon is suspected of using illegal substances. As a result, she faces a lifetime ban and she may be stripped of her silver medal.

Kelly Sotherton, who competed against Bloska, criticised the athlete. "I've been saying all along that she got caught doping when she was scoring 6300, so how can she not be doping and scoring 6800?" she said.

"I've not seen any of her results since early June and then she comes out here and is producing good performances, which was suspicious," she continued. "The thing I hope is that the Russian and the American who will be upgraded get their medals in a proper presentation, otherwise they will have lost that moment forever."

Nick Davies, a representative of the International Association of Athletics Federations also criticised Blonska. "It is fair in life to give people a second chance but now (if it is proved) she has committed an offence again, it is a life ban and good riddance quite frankly."

Medal Table

Medal Count _update

2008 Olympics - Beijing, China
Flag	Country	G	S	B	TOT	Rank
	China	51	21	28	100	1
	United States	36	38	36	110	2
	Russia	23	21	28	72	3
	Great Britain	19	13	15	47	4
	Germany	16	10	15	41	5
	Australia	14	15	17	46	6
	South Korea	13	10	8	31	7
	Japan	9	6	10	25	8
	Italy	7	10	10	27	9
	Ukraine	7	5	15	27	10

Other countries

	Netherlands	7	5	4	16	11
	France	6	15	17	38	12
	Jamaica	6	3	2	11	13
	Spain	5	9	2	16	14
	Belarus	4	5	9	18	15
	Kenya	4	5	4	13	16
	Romania	4	1	3	8	17
	Ethiopia	4	1	1	6	18
	Canada	3	9	6	18	19
	Poland	3	6	1	10	20
	Norway	3	5	2	10	21
	Brazil	3	3	8	14	22
	Czech Republic	3	3	0	6	23
	Slovakia	3	2	1	6	24
	New Zealand	3	1	5	9	25
	Georgia	3	0	3	6	26
	Cuba	2	9	11	22	27
	Hungary	2	5	2	9	28
	Denmark	2	2	3	7	29
	Thailand	2	2	0	4	30
	North Korea	2	1	3	6	31
	Switzerland	2	0	4	6	32
	Argentina	2	0	3	5	33
	Mexico	2	0	1	3	34
	Kazakhstan	1	4	7	12	35
	Turkey	1	4	3	8	36
	Zimbabwe	1	3	0	4	37
	Azerbaijan	1	2	4	7	38
	Uzbekistan	1	2	3	6	39
	Slovenia	1	2	2	5	40
	Bulgaria	1	1	3	5	41
	Indonesia	1	1	3	5	41
	Finland	1	1	2	4	43
	Latvia	1	1	1	3	44
	Belgium	1	1	0	2	45
	Dominican Republic	1	1	0	2	45
	Estonia	1	1	0	2	45
	Mongolia	1	1	0	2	45
	Portugal	1	1	0	2	45
	India	1	0	2	3	50
	Iran	1	0	1	2	51
	Bahrain	1	0	0	1	52
	Cameroon	1	0	0	1	52
	Panama	1	0	0	1	52
	Tunisia	1	0	0	1	52
	Sweden	0	4	1	5	56
	Croatia	0	2	3	5	57
	Lithuania	0	2	3	5	57
	Greece	0	2	2	4	59
	Trinidad and Tobago	0	2	0	2	60
	Nigeria	1	0	3	4	61
	Austria	0	1	2	3	62
	Algeria	0	1	1	2	63
	Bahamas	0	1	1	2	63
	Colombia	0	1	1	2	63
	Kyrgyzstan	0	1	1	2	63
	Serbia	0	1	1	2	63
	Tajikistan	0	1	1	2	63
	Chile	0	1	0	1	69
	Ecuador	0	1	0	1	69
	Malaysia	0	1	0	1	69
	South Africa	0	1	0	1	69
	Sudan	0	1	0	1	69
	Singapore	0	1	0	1	69
	Vietnam	0	1	0	1	69
	Armenia	0	0	6	6	76
	Chinese Taipei	0	0	4	4	77
	Ireland	0	0	2	2	78
	Afghanistan	0	0	1	1	79
	Egypt	0	0	1	1	79
	Israel	0	0	1	1	79
	Morocco	0	0	1	1	79
	Moldova	0	0	1	1	79
	Mauritius	0	0	1	1	79
	Togo	0	0	1	1	79
	Venezuela	0	0	1	1	79

	Total	296	294	348	938	N/A
Source: Beijing 2008 Official Site

Sources

• "Bolt claims 200m gold with record" — BBC Sport, August 20, 2008
• "Usain Bolt's rapid climb to the top of sprinting" — Times Online, August 20, 2008
• "Olympics: Danvers takes surprise bronze in 400m hurdles" — The Guardian, August 20, 2008
• "Records" — Beijing 2008, August 20, 2008
• "Women's 400m Hurdles Final" — Beijing 2008, August 20, 2008
• "Women's 400m Hurdles Final" — Beijing 2008, August 20, 2008
• "Women's Hammer Throw Final" — Beijing 2008, August 20, 2008
• "Marathon swim and BMX put new events on map" — Reuters, August 20, 2008
• "Men's Baseball" — Beijing 2008, August 20, 2008
• "South Korea batters the Netherlands for 16 hits" — ESPN, August 19, 2008
• "Duvergel hits grand slam as Cuba racks up 20 hits in win" — ESPN, August 19, 2008
• "Men's Preliminary Round, Canada vs. Chinese Taipei" — USA Today, August 20, 2008
• "Men's Preliminary Round, Japan vs. United States" — USA Today, August 20, 2008
• Associated Press. "Silver medalist Blonska fails drug test" — CNN, August 20, 2008
• Tom Knight. "Kelly Sotherton calls on IOC to act after silver medalist Lyudmila Blonska tests positive" — The Daily Telegraph, August 20, 2008
• "Medallist Blonska fails drug test" — BBC Sport, August 20, 2008