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Post from: EveryJoe

Beijing Olympians Arrive Back Home

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, and Katie Hoff) place third for the Bronze Medal.

In addition to Rice, the Australian team included Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer, and Linda MacKenzie.

Persistance paid off for Alain Bernard of France as he took the Gold Medal in the men’s 100m freestyle event. Bernard was bested by the Americans in the 4×100m freestyle relay for the Gold earlier in the meet.

Eamon Sullivan of Australia took the Silver Medal and Jason Lezak of the United States and Cesar Cielo Filho of Brazil tied for the Bronze.

Defending Olympic champion, Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands finished fourth. Hoogenband announced his retirement from competitive swimming after the race.

As Jeanne reported earlier, Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima won the Gold Medal in the men’s 200m breast stroke event, setting a new world record of 2:07.64. He was followed by Brenton Rickard of Australia and Hugues Duboscq of France for the Silver and Bronze Medals.

Post from: EveryJoe

Scenes from the Water Cube – August 14

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 awarded the Bronze.

Australia’s Stephanie Rice picked up her second Gold Medal of the Beijing Games with a win in the 200m women’s individual medley, clocking a world record time of 2:08.45. Just behind her was Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, followed by Natalie Couglin of the United States. Rice won Gold earlier in the week in the women’s 400m individual medley.

Michael Phelps led off the American team in the men’s 4×200m freestyle event and after that it was never a contest for the Gold. The American team, which also included Ryan Lochte, Ricky Bevens, and Peter Vanderkaay, shattered the world record with a time of 6:58.56.

The Silver Medal went to the Russian team and the Bronze Medal was awarded to the Australians.

Michael Phelps also earned Gold in the men’s 200m butterfly event, with a world record time of 1:52.03. He was followed by Laszlo Cseh of Hungary for the Silver Medal and Takeshi Matsuda of Japan for the Bronze.

Post from: EveryJoe

Scenes from the Water Cube – August 13

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 mark of 4 minutes and 29 seconds.

Australia was not so fortunate in the men’s 400 freestyle. Grant Hackett, though he at one point led the race and was favored to win it, finished sixth. It was Park Tae-hwan of South Korea who won the gold medal.

In Women’s Gymnastics, China recieved an outstanding performance from Deng Linlin on the vault. Despite a poor exhibition by He Kexin on the uneven bars, China remains far ahead of its closet competitor Romania. As America prepares for Sunday’s qualification, the team will have to do so without Samantha Peszek, who sprained her left ankle during warmups.

Among the competitions continuing tomorrow are basketball, boxing, rowing, badminton and fencing.

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Updates

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.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stephanie Rice Smashes World Record for 400 IM Gold