The athletes of the XXIX Olympiad started arriving back to their homes around the world today, many to a hero’s welcome. Here are some scenes:

Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar (L) and boxer, Vijender Singh (R) meet with Indian President Pratibha Patel

(photo of Singh and Kumar © Newscom)

Michael Phelps didn’t compete in a final this morning in Beijing, but there was still plenty of action. Below are the results:

China’s Liu Zige won the women’s 200m butterfly event with a world record time of 2:04.18. She was followed by her teammate, Jiao Liuyang for the Silver Medal and Australia’s Jessicah Schipper for the Bronze.

Stephanie Rice and the Australian team prevailed in the women’s 4×200m freestyle relay, with a world record time of 7:44.31. The Chinese women (Yang Yu, Zhu Qianwel, Tan Miao, Pang Jiaying) earned the Silver Medal and the United States (Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle, …read more

World record times shattered in all four finals at the Water Cube on Wednesday. The most spectacular story is Michael Phelps winning his 10th and 11th Olympic medal, making him the most decorated Olympian in history. WOW! Phelps wasn’t the only story at the Cube, however. Below are scenes from all of the finals:

Federica Pellegrini of Italy took the Gold Medal in the women’s 200m freestyle event, with a world record time of 1:54.82. Pellegrini was the Silver Medalist in this event at the Athens Games.
Slovenia’s Sara Isakovic earned the Silver Medal and Jiaying Pang of China was …read more

By Guest Blogger Bo Durkop
In Sunday morning’s events swimming dominated the news. Michael Phelps earned his first Olympic Gold of the 2008 Beijing games, shattering his previous record in the Men’s 400-meter individual medley. With one event down, Phelps still has seven more gold medals to win in order to surpass Mark Spitz record for most gold medals won in a single olympics. Spitz won his seven gold medals during the 1972 Olympics.

Several countries made good showings today in Beijing. In the Women’s 400-meter individual medley, Stephanie Rice of Australia won the gold medal in record fashion with a …read more

Australia’s Stephanie Rice proved Sunday morning (in Beijing) that’s she more than a favorite of the Australian tabloid press. She broke the world record in the women’s 400 IM by more than a second-and-a-half, leaving the previous record holder, American Katie Hoff in her wake. Rice’s Gold Medal time was 4:29.45.
Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe captured the Silver Medal and Katie Hoff earned the Bronze.