Schwarzer breaks OR in Men's 50km Walk

Alex Schwazer competes. (Photo Credit: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

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(BEIJING, August 22) -- Alex Schwarzer of Italy won the Men's 50km Walk gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a time of three hours and 37.09 minutes on August 22.

The 24-year-old Italian broke the previous Olympic record of three hours and 38.29 seconds set by Vyacheslav Ivanenko of the USSR ten years ago. With this achievement, he adds his first Olympic gold to his trophy shelf, next to bronzes earned at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships.

"It's the best, it's the highest level. I'm delighted," Schwarzer said excitedly when talking about his gold medal.

"This is for my grandfather who died in July. I'm very sad about it. He's been there for me my whole life, but now I'm sure he is happy," he added.

The silver medal went to Jared Tallent of Australia in three hours 39.27 minutes. Tallent won bronze in the Men's 20km Walk at these Games on Saturday, August 16.

"This is what you do it for. Just warming up this morning and thinking of all the years of hard work that come down to this. I can't believe it - two medals at the Olympics," said Tallent.

Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia took bronze in three hours 40.14 minutes.

"I feel very disappointed. I don't know why. I don't think I had any te

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chnical problems or mistakes. I got a silver four years ago (Athens 2004 Olympic Games), but now it's only a bronze. It's such a pity," said Nizhegorodov.

Clay leads Decathlon Discus Throw

(BEIJING, August 22) -- Bryan Clay of the United States is far ahead of a clutch of contenders in the Decathlon after the Discus Throw, the seventh of 10 Decathlon disciplines.

Clay, silver medalist at Athens 2004, scored 950 points with a throw of 53.79m in this discipline. He has attained a total of 6455 points so far.

Oleksiy Kasyanov from Ukraine has moved up to the second position after throwing 48.39m for 837 points. So far, he has accumulated 6172 points, holding off Andrei Krauchanka from Belarus with a total of 6139 points. Krauchanka threw 44.58m for 758 points.

Trey Hardee of the United States is now in fourth place after the Discus Throw, with 6114 points. He threw 43.55m for 737 points.

Decathlon world record holder and reigning world and Olympic champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic has moved to eighth position from seventh. He now has 5974 points after scoring 777 points with a throw of 45.50m. Sebrle set the world record seven years ago with a final score of 9026.

The eighth discipline of the Decathlon, Pole Vault, will be held at 12:55 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8) on August 22 at the National Stadium.

'Bird's Nest' packed with fans

Jamaican runner Usain Bolt (center) (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Since last Friday, August 15, when the Olympic Athletics competitions kicked off, the National Stadium has seen almost a full house every day as spectators from home and abroad flooded the stands to catch a glimpse of the action.

The National Stadium, or the "Bird's Nest," has a capacity of 91,000.

Jacques Rogge, IOC president, was quite satisfied with the venue's organization and environment. He attended the first day of Athletics competitions on August 15, and said jokingly that he saw only two vacant seats in front of him.

Last Sunday, August 17, the Women's Marathon event kicked off at Tian'anmen Square at 7:30 a.m. After 2 hours and 26 minutes, 38-year-old Romanian Constantina Tomesku dashed across the finish line at the "Bird's Nest." Tens of thousands of spectators greeted her with cheers and applause. Many of these fans arrived at the stadium around 7:00 a.m., and waited over two hours to root for the athletes in their last push to the finish.

On the morning of Monday, August 18, famous Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang withdrew from the 110m event because of a foot injury. This sad news did not affect the occupancy of the venue -- the National Stadium was full of fans on Monday night.

The 'Bird’s Nest' sees the final of the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

In the past four days, records have fallen one after another at the "Bird's Nest." Those at the stadium will not easily forget the moment history was made as Jamaican Usain Bolt claimed the title of the fastest man in the world, clocking 9.69 in the Men's 100m.

Undoubtedly, spectators at the "Bird's Nest" will have more incredible stories to tell as the Games continue.

Yelena Isinbayeva celebrates. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Athletics Day 5 Preview: Richards chases first individual gold

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Sanya Richards of the United States will aim to capture her first individual gold medal in the Women's 400m final at the National Stadium on Tuesday, August 19. Another four gold medals will be decided in the evening session, including the Women's 100m Hurdles, Men's 1500m, Men's Discus Throw and Men's High Jump.

Women's 400m - Final

Richards was the fastest qualifier for the final in 49.90 seconds. The Jamaica-born runner holds 4 x 400m Relay gold medals from Athens 2004, and the 2003 and 2007 world championships but is yet to win an individual gold. Her best individual result was silver at the 2005 world championships.

Despite a poor start to the year, reigning world champion Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain displayed promising form during the first two rounds in Beijing, and could win a medal.

Shericka Williams of Jamaica was also impressive in the semifinals, clocking a season's best of 50.28, and could do very well on Tuesday.

Women's 100m Hurdles - Final

Lolo Jones of the United States sent out a warning to her rivals in the semifinals of the Women's 100m Hurdles, recording the fastest time in the world this year and a new personal best of 12.43s.

Her compatriots Damu Cherry and Dawn Harper of the United States were the next fastest to progress to the final.

European champion Susanna Kallur of Sweden is out of the competition earlier than expected after she clipped the first hurdle and fell to the ground, failing to finish her semifinal.

Men's 1500m - Final

The big three - 2005 world champion Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, fastest qualifier Asbel Kipruto Kiprop and former world junior champion Augustine Kiprono Choge of Kenya all advanced to Tuesday's wide open final.

In a surprise result, 2007 world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States was knocked out when he finished sixth in his semifinal.

Men's Discus Throw - Final

Two-time Olympic Games champion Virgilius Alekna of Lithuania is in prime position to take out his third Olympic title in the Men's Discus Throw. He advanced to the final with a 65.84m throw in the qualifying round.

Gerd Kanter of Estonia, 2007 world champion, Piotr Malachowski of Poland will mount a strong challenge.

Men's High Jump - Final

Eight men cleared 2.29m in the qualifying round, one of those athletes being Athens 2004 Olympic Games gold medallist Stefan Holm of Sweden, who will hope to make it back-to-back success.

Three-time world championships silver medallist Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia, cleared 2.25m to progress through to the final, however he will need to find that extra spring in his step in the final if he wants to contend for a medal.

Donald Thomas of the Bahamas, 2007 world champion, has been struggling with form, and was knocked out of the competition with a disappointing 2.20m leap.

Men's 200m - Semifinals

Usain Bolt of Jamaica hopes to continue his journey to a double sprint gold, with another straight-forward victory in the second round of the Men's 200m.

Main threats Walter Dix, Shawn Crawford and Wallace Spearmon of the United States also advanced.

Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe was the fastest qualifier in 20.23.

Men's 400m - Semifinals

Reigning world and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner of the United States and danger man Lashawn Merritt of the United States, switched off in the final stages of their first-round heats to reach the semifinals.

The one-lap strength of the Bahamas will be in full force in the next round. Christopher Brown was the fastest qualifier in 44.79, Michael Mathieu is in personal best form, and Andretti Bain scraped through, placing third in his heat.

Reigning world indoor champion Tyler Christopher of Canada missed out, finishing fifth in his heat.

Men's 110m Hurdles - Round 2

David Oliver of the United States is the fastest sprint hurdler through to the next round of the Men's 110m Hurdles, after clocking 13.30 in Round 1.

World record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba easily won his first round heat to advance also.

Hometown hero Liu Xiang of China, the reigning world and Olympic champion, sensationally pulled out of the Olympic Games on Monday, August 18. Liu, who has been battling a hamstring injury, lined up on the blocks for the first round of the Men's 110m Hurdles. In visible pain when the field was recalled after a false start, a distressed Liu left the track.

Women's Javelin Throw - Qualifying

Reigning world champion Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic will rekindle her rivalry with Christina Obergfoll of Germany, when they hurl the spear in the Women's Javelin Throw.

Spotakova launched the javelin 69.15m in Zaragoza, Spain in May, the best throw in the world for 2008, a national record and the fourth longest throw ever.

Obergfoll is one of only two women in history who have thrown further than 70m. She won two silver medals at the last two world championships and will be desperate to add a gold to her collection.

Women's Long Jump - Qualifying

World indoor champion Naide Gomes of Portugal will tackle reigning world and Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia in an enthralling Women's Long Jump contest.

Gomes' only loss in a stellar year, came at the hands of Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil, who defeated her in Madrid in July.

Brittney Reese of the United States is also expected to be in the mix for a medal having finished second at major meetings in Monaco and Stockholm this year.

Women's 1500m - Round 1

Reigning world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain will face high-calibre opposition in the Women's 1500m. However, if she can come close to her personal best of 3:56.18, she will be hard to beat.

Gelete Burka of Ethiopia, who won bronze at this year's world indoors, will be Jamal's biggest threat.

Women's 200m - Round 1 and 2

Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica and Allyson Felix of the United States have an old score to settle when they go head-to-head for the 200m gold.

Campbell-Brown, the reigning Olympic champion, has been in impressive form over the 200m, holding the best two times for 2008 of 21.94 and 21.98.

Felix is a two-time world title holder, and will be seeking to make up for her loss to Campbell-Brown in Athens in 2004.

Beijing 100m silver medallists Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson of Jamaica will be confident of joining compatriot Campbell-Brown on the victory podium.

Women's 5000m - Round 1

An exciting battle looms between world and Olympic champion Meseret Defar of Ethiopia and world record holder Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia in the Women's 5000m.

Reigning world champion Defar ran 14:12.88 this year in response to Dibaba's world record of 14:11.55.

Dibaba is aiming for the distance double, in the Women's 5000m and 10000m.

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