Summer Olympics

British cyclist Chris Hoy has won his third gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, boosting Britain's total gold medal tally to 13, the country's best performance since 1920."Hoy, the silver medalist from Sydney and...read more

Great Britain's David Hoy has been dubbed the "Ultimate Olympian" after bagging three gold medals today in cycling.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown was moved to make a national TV broadcast congratulating UK...read more

Britain had their gold day today.British athletes scored medals in swimming, rowing, and cycling, resulting in one silver and four bronzes, and of course, a triumphant gold in the men's four rowing."The irrepressibly...read more

Update 20-08: Canada took another silver medal by Simon Whitfield. So now Canada is on 2 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. Still at the 17th place in the Medal Tally Update: Canada is going better and better. After...read more

Opinion We should not be surprised to hear that three of China's women gymnasts are not actually old enough to be participating in the 2008 Olympics. After all, the Chinese are good at cheating and they will tell...read more

(BEIJING, August 15) -- On August 14, 2008, a week after the Beijing Olympic Games began, its offici...

Lemke receives a gift from Liu Qi. (Photo credit: Zhang Yu)Photo Gallery(BEIJING, August 12) -- BOCO...

(BEIJING, August 9) -- BOCOG is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic attack on two relatives of a ...

IOC President Jacques Rogge addresses the welcome reception in Beijing, China, Aug. 6, 2008. (Photo ...

Tang Xiaoquan visits "One World One Dream" exhibitionPhoto Gallery(BEIJING, August 5) -- On the morn...

On Thursday, August 21 from 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a. m. there will be a news conference highlighting Be...

The BOCOG Competition Schedule Committee has decided that the Tennis matches scheduled for August 17...

Some Olympic events originally scheduled for August 14 were affected by bad weather. In order to ens...

On Friday, August 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in Conference Room 1, a press conference will be ...

(BEIJING, August 14) -- Starting August 15, BOCOG will begin selling and printing tickets for events...

With more than 42 per cent female athletes, Beijing sets a new record for women's participation in O...

Giselle Davies at the press conferenceFull coverage: Eighth IOC/BOCOG press conference(BEIJING, Aug....

IOC president Jacques Rogge talks with a journalist. (Photo credit: Zhang Yu)Photo GalleryInternatio...

(BEIJING, August 12) -- British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced that the International Me...

Full coverage: Fifth IOC/BOCOG briefing (BEIJING, August 13) -- On August 13, the fifth joint IOC/BO...

(BEIJING, August 20) -- A preview of the Cycling Mountain Bike competition at the Beijing 2008 Olymp...

Larisa Ilchenko competes. (Photo credit: Liu Dawei/Xinhua)Photo GalleryLarisa Ilchenko of Russia won...

Phil Dalhausser hits the ball against Renato Gomes. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)Phot...

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Russian open water superstar Larisa Ilchenko took the gold medal in Women's ...

(BEIJING, August 20) -- Italy has emerged victorious from the first 7th-12th Classification match of...

Australia is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal in Beijing, as it defeated Canada, 5-3, on Day 12. The Aussies will next face Japan, and that winner will play the U.S. for the championship.

Michael Johnson ran the perfect race when he set the 200m world record at the 1996 Atlanta Games. NBC analyst Ato Boldon outlines what stars must align for Jamaica's Usain Bolt to break that record tonight.

Australia and WNBA basketball star Lauren Jackson will undergo surgery on a persistent right ankle injury after the Beijing Games, the Australian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.

Until recently, no one would have bet against Julien Absalon of France to take the men's Olympic mountain biking title. He is still the favorite, but he has shown a few chinks in his armor this year.

The defending champion U.S. softball team survived an extra-inning nailbiter against Japan Wednesday before riding Crystl Bustos' ninth-inning blast to a 4-1 win and a spot in the gold-medal final.

Check out the best images from Day 12 at the Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao.

American Sanya Richards leads, fades and finishes third. Great Britain's Christine Ohuruogu wins gold.

Watch Germany's Matthias Steiner's win with full commentary.

All goals from the women's semifinal between Hungary and Netherlands.

Watch the quarterfinal match between France vs. Russia in men's handball.

France vs. Russia

Out of 77 applications for protests, guess how many were approved? None. Not one. Watch the video and shake your head.

Yep. Michael Phelps is going to be on Corn Flakes, instead. Um, okay. It just doesn’t have that ring, but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

There were definitely still areas to quibble about, but tonight the end result was satisfactory. Shawn Johnson finally gets her gold— yea, Shawn! Nastia Liukin adds to her collection with another silver. Of course, the Chinese gymnasts each had pretty major errors, so if that HADN’T been the result, well I just don’t know how ugly a post I would have to have written! And then on the high bar, Jonathan Horton pulled off a silver! So, that was a pretty good night for American gymnastics. The U.S. women end up with 8 medals overall, and the men end up with two.

Did you see Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva break the world record in the pole vault? It was kind of funny to me, because she won the gold WAY before attempting the Olympic record and then the World record. What was funnier was how bored she seemed with the opening rounds of the pole vault. She didn’t really start pole vaulting until it was at a decent height, so in the early rounds she took a nap! She was really amazing. In fact, watching her pole vault was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100 meters… nobody even came close to beating her. American pole vaulter Jenn…

USA 25 gold, 26 silver, 26 bronze, 77 total China 42 gold, 14 silver, 18 bronze, 74 total Russia 10 gold, 14 silver, 18 bronze, 42 total Australia 11 gold, 11 silver, 12 bronze, 34 total Great Britain 15 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze, 32 total France 4 gold, 11 silver, 14 bronze, 29 total Germany 11 gold, 7 silver, 8 bronze, 26 total South Korea 8 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze, 24 total Japan 8 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze, 22 total Italy 6 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze, 19 total Ukraine 5 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze, 17 total Netherlands 3 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze, 12 total Canada 2 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze, 11…

20 August 2008 - Beijing – Rashid Ramzi, the newly crowned Olympic men’s 1500m champion, had a decision to sleep on last night – if he could get to sleep. As Ramzi left the National Stadium, his body clock was worrying him more than the dilemma of whether to double and run in the 5000m.

20 August 2008 - Beijing, China - Christine Ohuruogu had done the impossible - twice! And even she was finding it hard to believe. “I just feel very numb,” said the recently minted Olympic 400 metres champion, as she made her way slowly through the ‘Mixed Zone,’ where the athletes meet the media after their events.

20 August 2008 – Beijing, China - Prediction is a dangerous game in this business. Few who watched Lolo Jones skimming above the ten high hurdles in her first two races in Beijing this week would have bet against the American taking the gold on Tuesday night (19).

19 August 2008 - Beijing, China - 'LIVE' Event by Event reports covering the Athletics events of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008, will be available at the conclusion of each round of each event from Friday 15 to Sunday 24 August 2008.

19 August 2008 - Beijing - The men’s 200-metres final – which has been building since Jamaica’s Usain Bolt set his 9.69 seconds World record while winning the 100 metres last Saturday – is finally here. It should be the high point of a day which has two other finals, two key semifinals, and qualifications in three events.

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<strong><a href="http://www2.usa-gymnastics.org/events/2008/trials/"… Read

Olympic Games recap for day 10 from the 29th Olympiad, Beijing, China. Read

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Read

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Read

Michael Phleps swims to Olympic History with a Record setting 8 Gold medals in the 29th Olympiad. Read

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Henry Cejudo had a decision to make as a young boy. He could follow the footsteps of his father and… Read

In a race that was marked by lead changes and a nail biting finish, Laser Radial sailor Anna… Read

Four years ago in Athens, the women’s eight rowed to a silver medal, and they’ve worked ever… Read

The US won its sixth fencing medal on Sunday, in the men’s team sabre event. At the time, it… Read

American freestyle wrestler Clarissa Chun was one step away from a gold-medal match, but lapses cost… Read

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As of Tuesday evening (Eastern time), the <a… Read

<p>Late Saturday afternoon, we watched badminton on TV. Badminton! And it was riveting, even… Read

<p>When Jason Lezak touched the wall in yesterday&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 4x10 medley… Read

<p>&nbsp;<img… Read

<p>My Boston friends were right. With primetime coverage running from 8 p.m. until after… Read

<p>So, I&#39;ve finally made it back to Tuscaloosa!&nbsp; I was in NC for about a week… Read

...well, I&#39;m actually in Carolina; North Carolina that is.&nbsp; Finally, I have been… Read

So far this summer, our basketball team has been together once for about a two and a half week… Read

<p>My name is Stephanie Wheeler and I am on the US Women&#39;s Wheelchair Basketball… Read

Here are the Women's Olympic Flyweight 49 KG/108 Lbs weight class Quarterfinal pairings. This tournament will resume later this morning along with the Men's Olympic Flyweight tournament. Date/Time (ET) Country Bib Name Country Bib Name 08/20 – 3:00 AM Chinese Taipei 13 Shu-Chun Yang Iran 6 Sara Khosh Jamal 08/20 – 3:15 AM China 1 Jingyu Wu Sweden 11 Hanna Zajc 08/20 – 3:30 AM Venezuela 15 Dalia Contreras Rivero United States 14 Charlotte Craig 08/20 – 3:45 AM Vietnam 16 Thi Ngoc Truc Tran Thailand 12 Buttree Puedpong Get more 2008 Summer Olympics content at Combat-Hooligans.com

Here are the pairings for the Quarterfinals in the Men's Olympic Flyweight Taekwondo tournament. These matches will take place early this morning along with the Women's Olympic Flyweight Quarterfinals. Date/Time (ET) Country Bib Name Country Bib Name 08/20 – 4:00 AM Mexico 76 Guillermo Perez Afghanistan 65 Rohullah Nikpai 08/20 – 4:15 AM Thailand 79 Chutchawal Khawlaor Australia 66 Ryan Carneli 08/20 – 4:30 AM Chinese Taipei 80 Mu-Yen Chu Dominican Republic 70 Yulis Gabriel Mercedes 08/20 – 4:45 AM Spain 71 Juan Antonio Ramos Brazil 69 Marcio Ferreira Get more 2008 Summer Olympics…

Now that Michael Phelps has left the country of China, and no doubt started to decide which companies are going to give him enough money to buy a 3rd world country, I've been watching the Olympics with more regularity. Other than setting my alarm to 5 A.M so I can watch USA basketball destroy their competitors  by 30 points, and watching the cuties of USA woman softball, I've started watching the Track and Field competition. In particular I enjoy the men's and woman's 100m, 200m and 400m races. A few things I've noticed when watching these races. The first thing I tink about is, DAMN…

We've got 3 site polls up for your voting pleasure. The first asks which was the best show of the month: HBO's Boxing After Dark featuring Joshua Clottey Vs. Zab Judah, WEC 35 featuring Carlos Condit Vs. Hiromitsu Miura, UFC 87 'Seek and destroy', TNA Hard Justice featuring Kurt Angle Vs. A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe Vs. Booker T or SummerSlam 2008 featuring Hell in a Cell. Te second poll asks if the IOc made the right decision to strip Ara Abrahamian of his bronze medal after his ceremony antics. The third asks what would be the best method for scoring Olympic Boxing (we recognize that there…

Here are opening round results in the Men's 58 KG/121 Lbs weight class (Olympic Flyweight) of Taekwondo at the 2008 summer games in Beijing. Guillermo Perez (Mexico)-3 Def. Michael Harvey (Great Britain)-2 Rohullah Nikpai (Afghanistan)-4 Def. Levent Tuncat (Germany)-0 Chutchawal Khawlaor (Thailand)-4 Def. M A Jean Moloise Ogoudjobi (Benin)-2 Ryan Carneli (Australia)-1 Def. Tshomlee Go (Philippines)-0 Mu-Yen Chu (Chinese Taipei)-7 Def. Dickson Wamwiri (Kenya)-0 Yulis Gabriel Mercedes (Dominican Republic)-3 Def. Pedro Povoa (Portugal)-0 Juan Antonio Ramos (Spain)-2 Def. Alfonso Martinez…

Looks like we have another Mike Tyson on the loose. From the Associated Press: Evander Holyfield apparently already had left Workers’ Gymnasium by the time Dzhakhon Kurbanov decided to bite his opponent’s shoulder in the evening’s final bout. Kurbanov was disqualified for biting Kazakhstan’s Yerkebulan Shynaliyev late in the third round of their light heavyweight bout, putting a bizarre coda on the third night of quarterfinal fights. The incident, which occurred when many fans had already left after cheering two of their three hometown fighters to victory, put a strange end on a card…

Despite pledging to avoid it, I have found myself tuned into the Olympics nearly constantly whenever I am home and I have the chance. There's something that bothers me about the Olympics, and I am not sure what I can really attribute it to. It just seems so...disposable. That isn't at all a slight against the Olympic athletes; they definitely deserve the highest praise for essentially giving their lives to represent their country. Let's be honest, though. Just about 2 weeks from now, football season will be alive and well, and baseball season will just start to get interesting. Hell, NBA…

Michael Phelps continues to amaze, this time coming from behind to win his 7th gold medal of these Olympics. Move over Mark Spitz. Michael Phelps won his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, edging Milorad Cavic by a fingernail, .01 of second in the 100m butterfly on Saturday at the Water Cube. Phelps, who was seventh out of eight swimmers at the first wall but made up ground with his turn, still looked to be behind Cavic in the final meters but got to the wall first in 50.58 to Cavic's 50.59. Spitz won his seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games. Phelps will try to beat…

In all honesty, Chile doesn't have a lot of great athletes, therefore, not much to look forward to in the Olympics. Our one realistic chance was in tennis, men's singles and doubles. In Athens, Fernando Gonzalez & Nicolas Massu won Gold in men's doubles. Just before winning the Gold in that match, Gonzalez had won bronze in men's singles. That was a good year for Chile. Gave us a name, at least in tennis. So come Beijing, we have the hope to get some medals again. Unfortunately, Gonzalez & Massu didn't last all that in men's doubles and Massu was knocked out in the second round or so.

And I don't know why...because Steffen Peter's had an amazing freestyle! It was brilliant! It made me cry it was so good! The Final Standings are... Anky with a 78.60%  for gold from the Netherlands Isabell Werth with a 76.650% for silver from Germany Heiki Kemmer with a  74.445% for bronze from Germany Fucking Anky Van Grunsven rode last and got an 82.40%. I clearly know NOTHING about dressage because I have no clue why she got the score that she got. I just don't get it. I mean her horse can't even fucking halt. Cal you tell I am pissed. I just don't know why Courtney and…

Jeffries goes from burgers to Olympic bronzeIrish Independent, Ireland - 22 minutes ago… during the 81kg quarterfinal boxing event at the Workers' Indoor Arena on Day 11 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 19, 2008 in Beijing, China. …

Canada tied with Aussies 3-3 in softballGlobalTV, Canada - 39 minutes ago… women's semifinal softball event at the Fengtai Softball Field during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. …

Games attract record viewers and Internet a hitMirror.co.uk, UK - 20 minutes agoBy Karolos Grohmann, BEIJING (Reuters) 20/08/2008 The Beijing Olympics will become the most viewed Games in their 112-year history, boosted by a hugely …

Beijing 2008 - Jeffries fights his way to medalYahoo! Eurosport, UK - 50 minutes agoA year later he delayed surgery after damaging a knuckle and had to spend almost a year away from the ring following the 2006 Commonwealth Games. …

Angela Hucles gets her point madeThe Virginian-Pilot, VA - 57 minutes agoAngela Hucles celebrates her second goal during the semi-final match against Japan at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China during the 2008 Olympics. …

A penalty corner late in the second extra period sealed the victory for Spain in a match for seventh place in which the United States wasted numerous opportunities.

He Chong won the men’s 3-meter springboard Tuesday by a wide margin.

The semifinal clash between Brazil and Argentina was marred by numerous fouls and two ejections for Brazil.

The United States is no longer dressing down for Olympic men’s basketball.

Jonathan Horton’s dangerous and daring horizontal bar routine won him an Olympic silver medal on the high bar on Tuesday.

Hotels in BeijingBuy 2008 Beijing Olympics TicketsBooks on China and BeijingBeijing PersonalsTagsBeijing China China Post Beijing 0lympicsBook the Fujian Hotel Beijing Book the Beijing Qianyuan International Business Hotel

Hotels in BeijingBuy 2008 Beijing Olympics TicketsBooks on China and BeijingBeijing PersonalsTagsBeijing China China Post Beijing 0lympicsBook the Fujian Hotel Beijing Book the Beijing Qianyuan International Business Hotel

Hotels in BeijingBuy 2008 Beijing Olympics TicketsBooks on China and BeijingBeijing PersonalsTagsBeijing China China Post Beijing 0lympicsBook the Fujian Hotel Beijing Book the Beijing Qianyuan International Business Hotel

Hotels in BeijingBuy 2008 Beijing Olympics TicketsBooks on China and BeijingBeijing PersonalsTagsBeijing China China Post Beijing 0lympicsBook the Fujian Hotel Beijing Book the Beijing Qianyuan International Business Hotel

Hotels in BeijingBuy 2008 Beijing Olympics TicketsBooks on China and BeijingBeijing PersonalsTagsBeijing China China Post Beijing 0lympicsBook the Fujian Hotel Beijing Book the Beijing Qianyuan International Business Hotel

China glistens with gold in the Olympic medal count but for one athlete the pressure to win may have been too much to shoulder. Related posts Hyde Park - nothing like Beijing (0) China v USA - who will win this blockbuster battle of the superpowers? (0) Liu Xiang Preps for Pressure of Beijing Olympics (0) Beijing to witness next [...]

Check out these rare pics of Michael Phelps before his Olympic fame. Related posts Phelps pays the price for his fame — facing the media (0) Olympic countdown - 40 - Fosbury’s flop (0) Olympic countdown - 36 days - Brundage’s power (0) Olympic countdown - 36 - Brundage’s power (0) Olympic countdown - 31 days - Snell’s success [...]

Michael Phelps has plenty of fans in his hometown of Baltimore and many watched his historymaking, eighth gold medal swim Saturday night at the citys ESPN Zone. Related posts Olympics figures continue to impress (0) Home and away, the Aussies are good value (0) Move over Murray, these Games ain’t for you (0) Liu Xiang: the end of an Olympic [...]

Serena and Venus Williams have one the gold medal in womens doubles tennis. It’s their second Olympic gold medal as they won doubles in 2000 as well. Related posts Your chance to talk to Michael Johnson (0) Why the Water Cube is so fast - and my tip for another GB gold (0) Who is winning the Olympic crying [...]

The marquee matchup between U.S. and Spain in mens basketball turns into a romp, with Team USA clinching their fourth victory in a 11982 game. They secure the top seed in their group. Related posts Liu Xiang Preps for Pressure of Beijing Olympics (0) Why China needs more Dog & Ducks (0) U.S. Basketball Wins First Round Against China [...]

China's He Wenna during the women's trampoline final on Monday.(Kazuhiro Nogi/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images) Trampoline is relatively new to the world of Olympic sports. The event, which made its debut in 2000, falls under neither rhythmic nor artistic gymnastics and is sometimes overlooked in the mix. But attention is being paid, in China and among Chinese-language [...]

Gerd Kanter is the newly crowned Olympic discus throwing champion from Talinn, Estonia.

The U.S. women's basketball team on Thursday will face the Russian team, among which will be a familiar face: South Dakota native Becky Hammon, who plays for the country where she plays professionally.

U.S.A. Captain Brenda Villa skipped home the game-winning goal with one minute remaining to give the U.S.A. water polo team a spot in Thursday's gold medal game.

The U.S. team's victory against Taiwan guarantees it a berth in the medal round.

Liu Xiang has been forced out of the 110m hurdles at the first hurdle (apologies), due to a leg injury. Round 1 of his event began this morning, and, but not before rumours were fluttering around the Bird’s Nest that he was injured. The crowd were on edge, but when Liu valliently came out for his heat it seemed at first that the fears were in fact unfounded. However Liu’s race ended before it had begun, as at a false start he pulled up unable to clear the first barrier. As the other racers returned to their marks Liu had to admit defeat… Here is the live text coverage as it…

2008 Olympic Football Match in Shanghai Bob’s Olympic experience kicked off on Wednesday at the football qualifiers in Shanghai. The game could hardly be described as thrilling – New Zealand lost 1-0 to Belgium in a match so one-sided that the Belgians appeared to miss opportunities out of embarrassment for their opponents more than inability. The highlight for the smattering of Kiwi fans being the team’s farewell haka – this being their final match having failed to qualify for the knock-out stages. The team will by now already have left China, as athlete’s permission to stay in the…

With the Olympic Rowing finals around the corner, Bob has interviewed British junior coach David Blackham to find out his thoughts on the emergence of a strong Chinese team, the weather conditions and the chance of the British rowers. Here is what he had to say, before heading out to see the Games for himself: David Blackham – British Junior Rowing Coach BOB: Rowing is a sport the Chinese have targeted in their campaign to top the medal table in Beijing. Have they been successful? They have definitely made big inroads, how successful and how far they have come at the very top level is yet…

The familiar site of a huge sporting event with empty seats has struck again in Beijing it seems. Many of the lower profile events – despite being completely sold out! – have failed to draw a full crowd. Empty Seats In Beijing Cause Concern For Organisers And Dismay For Fans This is really upsetting for fans, particularly those who have not been able to purchase tickets legitimately, but would love to be in these empty seats. Bob is speaking from experience. The Beijing organisers have said that they will be hiring “cheerleaders” who cheer for both teams to bolster the atmosphere.

The general concensus appears to be that it was a truely spectacular opening ceremony (and no need to any fears of upset). Bob watched the whole ceremony with friends, and here are out selection of the top 10 moments: China's Human Print Press - People Power 10 – The sea of printing blocks - representing the creation of printing in China - that moved in smooth waves as if computerised, but in fact powered by hundreds of men. A particularly nice touch at the end of the sequence when the men burst out and waved to the elated crowds. 9 - The moment when a group representing China’s…

I'm quite bit in awe as to how ridiculously high the bids have gone since July 21 not even a full month so far. Most ridiculous is toyota.me sold for just over US$90K. I seriously doubt that the Brazilian who bought the domain can keep it for very long though.As soon as Toyota wants that domain, he can be dragged into a prolonged legal battle.

The recently concluded auction of toyota.me have shown that the bidding process has been a big show of contrast. Quite a few bloggers have noted that the auctions has been like watching grass grow yet some .me domains like toyota.me had been sold in just a few days. Toyota.me, as a matter of fact, is the most expensive .me domain sold.

Today I make an small analysis on what .me domains are fetching good prices. I'm sure some observers and especially those who already bought their .me domains would be interested in finding out what are the relative values for their investments. In no way I'm an expert at domain appraisal. These are basically just observations from the ongoing .me

If you're planning to take home some footage, videos or even photos back home after your trip to Beijing for the Olympics, you might want to think about having a pro do the editing and finishing touches for those. Remember, videos and photos are meant to represent a great time in your life that's why you're catching it. A video of your favorite athlete's Olympic campaign or even just your vacation tour in and around Beijing this month will not be a cool presentation to friends and family when you get back.There are only a few companies who can do a masterful job for your footage that will be…

That's what I'm trying to figure out today when I found out that oglasi.me has overtaken insure.me in the .me domain auctions. From my initial snooping around oglasi is a Serbian word has something to do with car windshields. I guess the auto glass business in eastern Europe is doing very well that's why there's a good number of bidders willing.

When Usain Bolt sauntered over the finish line to smash the world record and win gold in the men's 100m final on Saturday night, the loudest cheer may well not have been in the Bird's Nest, nor in Kingston, Jamaica, but in the sleepy Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach. The town, population 23,000 is home to sports brand Puma's global headquarters. The German firm is not among the official sponsors at the Beijing Olympics, nor has it lavished millions on expensive roadshows or marketing campaigns - it has held its parties at a moderately sized Puma store in a shopping centre in downtown Beijing.

I had my first opportunity to enter the Bird's Nest this morning, and, in spite of all the hype and hyperbole, it didn't disappoint. I had been up close to the stunning steel mesh structure on a number of occasions, but emerging onto the main concourse, the view from the entrance looking directly onto the action in the sunken bowl below, it was impossible not to be impressed by the sheer beauty of the venue. It helped that it was a brilliantly clear, sunny morning, with the Olympic flame burning against the backdrop of a deep blue sky overhead and the sweeping curves of the roof framing the…

Chinese sports fans have reacted furiously after China's most high-profile and charismatic sportsman Liu Xiang limped sadly out of the Olympics this morning, retiring hurt from his 110 metre hurdles heat. He appeared to be in agony during the warm-up, hobbling and grimacing as the rest of the athletes limbered up by the starting block. He lined up to compete, but, following a false start by another athlete, he tore off his competition sticker from his leg and limped sadly down the tunnel, slumping against a wall, his head in his hands. The 91,000 sell-out crowd inside the Bird's Nest, most of…

Sitting in traffic on an eight-lane highway behind a bus belching out black exhaust fumes last week, buildings 100 metres away barely visible through the haze, Beijing's claim that these would be a "Green Olympics" seemed laughable. Three days later, as the sun was setting behind the mountains which frame the beautiful rowing venue in the eastern suburbs of the city - a location so lush and green that it resembles Scotland or New Zealand rather than dusty northern China - a line of hybrid taxis waited outside, and solar-powered streetlights flickered on overhead, the Green Olympics…

Overt displays of patriotism do not come easily to most Brits. Whereas the Chinese and Americans are proud to wave their flags and bellow out the national anthem, we - or at least myself and most British people that I know, both out here in Beijing and back in the UK - tend to regard such unabashed, bare-faced displays of support for our country as somehow vulgar and faintly inappropriate. But yesterday, even the most repressed of patriots could not have helped but feel immensely proud to be British, as Team GB amassed its largest medal haul on a single day at the Olympics since 1908. Four…

China’s Zou Kai took the gold medal in the Horizontal Bar with a score of 16.200. Zou had already won two gold medals at Beijing 2008 in the Men’s Team and Floor Exercise events. Jonathan Horton of the United States claimed the silver medal with 16.175, and the bronze medal went to Fabian Hambuechen of Germany with 15.875. If somebody asked Zou at the start of the Games whether he was expecting to win three gold medals, it is doubtful whether the fresh-faced gymnast would have said yes. However, Zou has been the beneficiary of his own surefire technique and the mistakes of the…

On his final lift, Matthias Steiner of Germany pulled ahead of Russia’s Evgeny Chigishev to win the Men’s Over 105 kilogram Weightlifting final on Tuesday, August 19. Steiner lifted a total of 461kg, 203kg in the Snatch and 258kg in the Clean and Jerk, to beat Chigishev by one kilogram for the gold. Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia finished with a total of 448kg for the bronze medal. Steiner lifted 198kg on his first Snatch attempt, followed by 203kg and then an unsuccessful 207kg attempt. Chigishev had a perfect performance all night, beginning with three successful lifts ending with…

Henry Cejudo of the United States claimed gold in the Men’s Freestyle Wrestling 55kg class after beating Japan’s Matsunaga Tomohiro 2-2, 3-0 on Tuesday, August 19. Related posts Tunnicliffe radiant in Laser Radial win (0) Zhang Juanjuan of China clinches Archery Women’s Individual gold (0) Women’s 200m Backstroke: Coventry finally wins gold (0) Williams sisters grab the women’s doubles gold (0) Wardrobe Malfuction at Olympic Event: Water polo (0)

Reigning Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States advanced to the Beijing 2008 Women’s Beach Volleyball final with a 21-12, 21-14 victory in 39 minutes over sixth seeded Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil. They will meet top-seeded Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China, who defeated their compatriots, fourth-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, in another semifinal match on Tuesday. Both the US and Brazilian teams went to the semifinal with an undefeated record in the Beijing 2008 tournament. However, the US pair, who had posted 12 straight wins in a row in…

With only 50 meters to go to the finish line, Jan Frodeno of Germany out-sprinted 2008 world champion Javier Francisco Gomez of Spain, Athens 2004 silver medallist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield to claim the gold in the Men’s Triathlon on Tuesday. Gomez sped up 700 meters before the end to finish the race, but failed to break away from the leading group. Whitfield followed suit, but was caught by Frodeno, who kept the lead till the end. He clocked one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds. The German had no notable achievement in international…

Los Angeles TimesLiukin's Olympics Medals Vault Texas to Top Rung of GymnasticsBloomberg -39 minutes ago20 (Bloomberg) -- Nastia Liukin's path to five gymnastics medals at the Beijing Olympics began in a gym co- owned by her father, Valeri, in Plano, Texas. ...Celebrations planned for Nastia Liukin's homecoming this weekDallas Morning Newsall ...

Arab athletes at the Beijing 2008 OlympicsDaily News Egypt, Egypt -5 hours ago... ceremony for the women's 800-meter final during the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Monday, Aug. ... More: continued here Share This

Beijing Olympics: China stages Tibet opera during GamesTelegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom -6 hours agoA spokeswoman for the Meilanfang Grand Theatre said the show would be one of the key cultural performances of the Beijing Olympics, despite China's repeated ...Video: Witness - The Other Olympics - 19 Aug 08 - Part 2AlJazeeraEnglishChina well-versed ...

MSNBCOlympics: Bountiful native Gibb's beach volleyball run comes to endSalt Lake Tribune, United States -1 hour agoBy Michael C. Lewis The Bountiful native and University of Utah graduate had his thrilling run in the beach volleyball tournament at the Beijing Olympics...Olympics: Bountiful's Gibb and partner still undefeated in beach ...Salt Lake TribuneBeijing ...

Multichannel NewsOlympics coverage gives NBC largest summer audience since 1996Xinhua, China -3 hours ago19 (Xinhua) -- US TV network NBC's first full week of Beijing Olympics coverage gave it primetime television's largest summer week average in 12 years, ...NBC’s Coverage of the Beijing Olympics Delivers the Most Dominant ...TVbytheNumbersNBCU Cable Nets Get ...

I've left it a few days partly because I have been busy in the village food hall piling on the pounds! But mostly because I wanted to gather my thoughts and not rush into writing anything too quickly. I suppose I should get right down to business and let you know how I feel about my performance and the 81kg weight category. Everyone who knows me will know that I am absolutely gutted not to come away from these Games with a medal. All my final preparations had gone well and I was relaxed and confident on the morning of the competition. My first fight was tight and scrappy against an…

As the Dutch superstar 'passaged' and 'piaffed' her way around the arena to her specially-composed music, we all knew she was going to take the title for a third time. She was in a class of her own and it was magical to watch. The victory makes Anky van Grunsven the first person ever to win the individual Olympic dressage title three times. If she wasn't before, Anky is now officially an equestrian great. Germany's Isabell Werth was inevitably second. Her test was still excellent although once again Satchmo spooked in the middle causing lots of oohs and ahhs to come from the stands. But now…

Laoshan Velodrome, Beijing A few days ago I asked the slightly ridiculous question of who is the greatest Olympian of all time. What prompted me to do so was having seen Usain Bolt's euphoric assault on physics in the 100m and the finale of Michael Phelps' accumulation of gold medallions in the pool. But "GOATs" are a bit like London buses at the minute: none for ages and then three at once. Now, I'm not going to suggest Chris Hoy is the greatest anything ever - I'll leave that to others. I'm just going to tell you if there is a humbler, more inspirational, more personable Olympic sporting…

As part of her linguistics degree at University College London, Christine Ohuruogu wrote a thesis on swearwords and swearing. It might have helped her understand some of the words that were coming out of British supporters' mouths when she came storming past Sanya Richards down the home straight on Tuesday night to win Olympic 400m gold. What a run. What a final 60 metres. What a 49.62 seconds. In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions There have been some wonderful displays from British athletes at…

Out with a bang? Or out with a whimper? It was frustrating to watch GB's hockey hopes fade. For all the excitement of the game against Australia, the men subsided with that draw against Canada - a country better known for their skills on the ice. And the women's path was blocked by a stubborn but limited USA side. It's hard to shake the feeling that opportunity was knocking. Ranked eighth and 10th in the world respectively, Britain's men and women will claim with justification to have made progress here in China. They each hope to finish in fifth place, which would be a significant…

Anna Tunnicliffe of the United States grabbed the Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy) gold medal on Tuesday, 19th August 2008. Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania came second, Xu Lijia of China took bronze. Via Beijing 2008

German Jan Frodeno captured the gold medal in the Men’s Triathlon in one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds. Canadian Simon Whitfield had silver with a timing of one hour, 48 minutes and 58.47 seconds, Bevan Docherty of New Zealand landed bronze with one hour, 49 minutes and 5.59 seconds timing. Via Beijing 2008

Matthias Steiner of Germany was the Men’s +105kg Weightlifting champion. He lifted a total weight of 461kg, 203kg in Snatch and 258kg in Clean and Jerk. Vgeny Chigishev of Russia came second with 460kg and Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia took bronze with 448kg. Via Beijing 2008

He Chong of China led the race by having a score of 572.90 points in Men’s 3m Springboard Diving event. Canadian Alexandre Despatie had silver with 536.65. Chinese Qin Kai took bronze with 530.10 points. Via Beijing 2008

The Men’s Trampoline gold went to Chinese Lu Chunlong who scored 41.00 points. Jason Burnett of Canada took silver with 40.70 and Chinese Dong Dong had bronze with 40.60. Via Beijing 2008

BEIJING -- Consistent with one of the grandest traditions in American politics, the U.S. Olympic Committee has been reprimanded for buying votes. According to the Around the Rings website, the USOC was giving $50 vouchers to U.S. athletes if they would vote in the election for representatives to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel denied intentional wrongdoing. He said all U.S. athletes had been guaranteed $50 vouchers for the Olympic village gift store upon checkout. He said the athletes had been told they would be given the…

BEIJING -- Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser were prohibitive favorites to win the men's beach volleyball competition until they lost their first match here. But they have rallied nicely, going undefeated since to advance to the final. On Wednesday, they won their semifinal match, 21-11, 21-13, over Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes of Georgia. The No. 1-ranked women's team, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, play for their second consecutive gold medal Thursday. -- Randy Harvey

BEIJING -- Softball is out of the Olympics after this year for one main reason -- the U.S. softball team is too good for the competition. The U.S. softball players, of course, have been arguing that that's not true. They almost proved their point Wednesday, needing extra innings to beat Japan, 4-1, in the semifinals. The two teams were tied after seven, forcing them into an international tiebreaker. Both teams were allowed to begin their halves of the extra innings with a runner at second. The United States quickly capitalized in the ninth with a three-run home run by Crystl Bustos of…

The U.S. women's softball team is so dominant that the only people fighting to keep it in the Olympics are from the United States. The Sporting News says they have no one to blame but themselves and their no-hitters and overpowering play. The U.S.  women, of course, disagree in this, the final year of softball in the Olympics."Softball is at its all-time high, not just in the U.S. but all over the world," said U.S. pitcher Jennie Finch, who is 2-0 and has allowed two hits in 11 innings of work. "To see it taken away is heartbreaking." But, in fact, the health of the…

Leave it to Bill Plaschke to not just find a huge statue of the former Laker center and MVP, but cut a video about it, and write a sweet column about the experience. An excerpt:He's tucked away outside a remote gate of a city park, no markers on a tourist map, no signs on the street. He's surrounded not by incense, but public toilets. He's staring not into the future, but at a parking lot. Those who visit offer him gifts not of gold and myrrh, but projectile spit and empty water bottles. But former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal doesn't seem to mind. Here, nobody can…

I would like to take this time out to really thank my loving church family, Scott United Methodist Church, back at home in Denver for all of their continued support and prayers.I have gotten so many emails and posts on my site from them. They were the original people to take up a collection for my mom to attend these Olympic Games and the outpouring of love was really overwhelming for her and myself.Scott really built the foundation for which I stand on to this day.I also want to personally thank her co-workers at UPS and The Gates Corporation for what they did privately for her as well.

Well the moment we have all been waiting for is almost here. The next three days will be big for us. Charlotte Craig will get things rolling for the U.S. Taekwondo team on Wednesday and then Marky and Diana go on Thursday.Those who know me and for others you have probably read, it is a known fact that I get way more nervous watching my brother and sister compete than when I step on the mat. Watching them I feel so helpless, so it will be interesting to see how I handle it all on Thursday. I guess you could say I am a lot like my mom in that regard as she has a hard time watching as well.

It was a late one last night, I didn't get back to my room until around midnight, so sorry for not getting the update in last night.I spent the early part of the day yesterday downloading and listning to music, doing basically nothing at all.I hit the track around 6pm and started my warm-up at 6:30. I got a great warm-up in too. Like I said earlier, the main focus for this race was to go out and start better than I did in the first round, which I clearly did, and work on getting the lead leg down faster from the first hurdle on down the track instead of getting in to a float stage like I did…

En unas horas jugaremos el segundo partido clave de la competición, ya que nos jugamos entrar en el cruce de cuartos. Es un partido importante, y debemos dar el máximo, ya que para nosotros sería una desilusión muy grande no pasar. Tenemos que salir concentrados desde el primer momento porque a estas alturas de la competición no se puede confíar en la teórica superioridad de unas selecciones sobre otras: cada equipo va a jugar sus bazas, y si no estás metido en el partido y tienes un mal día, te vas para casa.El batacazo contra EE.UU. ya está superado (cuando juegas un día sí y…

Clasificamos para la segunda fase. Eso fue lo que vimos a buscar. Clasificar para semifinales. Nuestro primer objetivo se cumple... tuvimos altibajos pero una vez mas tenemos la posibilidad de pelear por una medalla. El partido contra Nueva Zelanda fue raro porque antes de empezar sabiamos que ya estabamos clasificadas... entonces fue un partido donde metalmente estabamos distendidas. Hubo muchos cambios para darle mas descanso a todas. Mas alla del rendimiento del equipo, ganamos y pasamos a la semi. Objetivo cumplido!!! 

Olympic-Commercials.com is now listed on the “best on the web” aggregator Alltop.com! Featured in the Summer Olympics category, you can find Olympic-Commercials.com and other Olympic-related websites at http://summerolympics.alltop.com To commemorate this occasion, I have put together a quick ‘n’ dirty set of three alltop badges. Feel free to use them (a shout-out would be appreciated)!

Mini Cooper Rickshaws in Beijing Here’s a clever campaign done by Mini Cooper to promote their cars during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Found across Beijing, they have rickshaws with converted passenger cars to resemble Mini Coopers.

Here’s the Derek Redmond commercial for Visa’s Go World campaign. Credits: Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles Advertiser: Visa International Brand: Visa Credit Cards Tagline: Go World Voice: Morgan Freeman

Here’s another Visa created commercial for their 2008 Olympic Games “Go World” campaign. Narrated by Morgan Freeman. Credits: Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles Advertiser: Visa International Brand: Visa Credit Cards Tagline: Go World Voice: Morgan Freeman

Here’s a Visa commercial titled, Immortal, featuring narration by Morgan Freeman. This is part of their 2008 Olympic Games “Go World” campaign. Credits: Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles Advertiser: Visa International Brand: Visa Credit Cards Tagline: Go World Voice: Morgan Freeman