1.		China		45	14	20	79
2.		United States		26	28	28	82
3.		Great Britain		16	10	11	37

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt became the first man to win both the 100 and 200 meters at the same Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984.

For many, the first time they saw Usain Bolt, he was high-kicking over the finishing line at the Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing on Saturday, pounding his chest and recording the almost indecently quick time of 9.69sec in claiming his first Olympic gold medal in a world-record time.

Go back 12 months and few people at all had heard of him. Last summer, the men fighting for the 100 metres gold medal were expected to be Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, while Derrick Atkins, the emerging talent from the Bahamas, split the pair at the world championships in Osaka.

Bolt had been in Osaka too, winning a silver medal behind Gay in the 200 metres and another in the 4 x 100 metres relay. People acknowledged Bolt was a talent, but as a 200 metres man, not someone with out-and-out speed. Until just over a year ago, Bolt had not run in a senior 100 metres race.

Yet 12 months on, Bolt, the Jamaican who will be 22 on Thursday, looks a good thing to become the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the sprint double at the Olympics. And who would bet against him breaking Michael Johnson’s 200 metres world record of 19.32sec set 12 years ago at the Atlanta Games?

Medal Standings

Total

1	CHN	46	15	22	83
2	USA	29	34	32	95
3	GBR	17	12	11	40
4	RUS	16	16	19	51
5	AUS	11	13	14	38

_{(BEIJING, August 22) -- Seven gold medals will be decided on day eight of the Athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium. The clash between Ethiopian distance greats Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba in the Women's 5000m final is likely to be a highlight of Friday's action.}

_{Women's 5000m - Final}

_{Reigning Olympic and world champion Defar was the fastest qualifier for the Women's 5000m final after an impressive run of 14:56.32 in her heat.}

_{Main rival and world record holder Dibaba won her heat in 15:09.89, setting up a much-anticipated battle between the two distance greats.}

_{Other contenders for a medal include Beijing 2008 10000m silver medalist Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey and Gulnara Galkina-Samitova of Russia, who set a world record in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase on Sunday, August 17.}

_{Men's 50km Walk - Final}

_{With reigning world champion Nathan Deakes of Australia absent because of a hamstring injury, France's Yohan Diniz is a slight favorite to take gold after he won the silver medal behind Deakes at the 2007 World Championships.}

_{Alex Schwazer of Italy will be Diniz's main rival and has been in good form in 2008, finishing third at the world race walking challenge in Russia.}

_{Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia will be out to improve on his silver medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.}

_{Men's Pole Vault - Final}

_{Reigning world champion Brad Walker of the United States was knocked out of the competition after failing to clear his opening height in the qualifying round.}

_{The door is open for Steve Hooker of Australia, Evgeny Lukyanenko and Igor Pavlov of Russia to fight it out for the gold.}

_{Women's Long Jump - Final}

_{Reigning world and Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia will hope to add to her silver medal from the Women's Triple Jump.}

_{Carolina Kluft of Sweden, the reigning Olympic and three-time world champion in the Heptathlon, is still in the hunt for her first major Long Jump title since deciding to concentrate on the event.}

_{Naide Gomes of Portugal, the 2008 world indoor champion, along with Brittney Reese of the United States and Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil, will also be in contention for a medal after promising performances in the qualifying round.}

_{Men's 4 x 100m Relay - Final}

_{The anticipated showdown between sprinting giants the United States and Jamaica will not happen after the US relay team failed to finish their heat, dropping the baton on the third change.}

_{Athens 2004 champions Great Britain will not have an opportunity to defend their title after they were disqualified in heat one.}

_{Jamaica has never won an Olympic gold medal in this event, but with the likes of Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell in their team, they have a big opportunity to make history in Beijing.}

_{Trinidad and Tobago posted the fastest qualifying time of 38.26 seconds.}

_{Women's 4 x 100m Relay - Final}

_{Jamaica posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.24 to advance to Friday night's final.}

_{Athens 2004 silver medalists Russia, and Belgium, the reigning world bronze medalists, also looked impressive in their heats.}

_{Like the Men's 4 x 100m Relay team, the highly fancied US women's team also dropped the baton on the third change and was disqualified.}

_{Men's Decathlon - 110m Hurdles, Discus Throw, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1500m}

_{At the conclusion of day one, Bryan Clay of the United States was in prime position for the gold medal with 4,521 points. The 2005 world champion led the competition after every event, winning the 100m and Long Jump.}

_{Defending champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic climbed from 27th position to fifth after five events.}

_{Athens 2004 bronze medalist Dmitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan pulled out of the competition after limping across the line in the 100m with a heavily strapped thigh. Tom Pappas of the United States withdrew after the Long Jump when he was in 12th place.}

_{Men's 4 x 400m Relay - Round one}

_{The United States have dominated the Men's 4 x 400m Relay in the Olympic Games, winning 15 out of a possible 21 Olympic titles.}

_{The US trio of LaShawn Merritt, Jeremy Wariner and David Neville took a clean sweep in the Men's 400m, and will be a force to be reckoned with.}

_{The Bahamas, who won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in 2:59.18, should again be prominent.}

_{Poland finished third at the 2007 World Championships with 3:00.05 and also have the potential to be among the medals winners.}

_{Women's 4 x 400m Relay - Round one}

_{The United States have won two of the past three Olympic titles as well as the 2007 World Championships gold. Sanya Richards and Deedee Trotter will be their strongest runners.}

_{Rivals Russia won silver at Athens 2004 but went one better at the 2005 World Championships, claiming gold.}

_{Jamaica, led by Novelene Williams and individual 400m silver medalist Shericka Williams, also look a medal chance.}

BEIJING (AP)—These Olympics started with tears for the U.S. women’s volleyball team, and they ended with tears.

Brazil won its first gold medal in women’s volleyball on Saturday, beating the U.S. 3-1 and ending an emotional run by an American team struck by tragedy hours after the opening ceremony.

The U.S. team’s sobs at the end, however, weren’t about grief. They were about perseverance.

“I looked at the medal around my neck and it’s such an accomplishment for this team and the USA and these girls,” wing spiker Logan Tom said. “It just brought tears to my eyes, and I’m more than thrilled.

The Brazilians won a tight and tense deciding set in their first Olympic final to win 25-18, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21, and blemish the return of U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping to her hometown. As a player, Lang led the Chinese team to the gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.