Athletics Day 8 Preview: New queen to be crowned in Women's 5000m

Updated: 2008-08-22 02:26:02

(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.

Swimming Day 10 Preview: Ilchenko leads field in Women's Marathon 10km

Updated: 2008-08-19 13:28:52

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Russian open water superstar Larisa Ilchenko will enter the Women's 10km Marathon swimming race as overwhelming favorite to take gold, in an event making its Olympic debut at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Wednesday, August 20.

Ilchenko has dominated open water swimming since 2004, winning five consecutive 5km world championships and three consecutive 10km races. Given her ability to win in all water conditions and temperatures, she should adapt quickly to the warm shallow waters of the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. The nineteen-year-old athlete often chooses to sit behind the leaders and make a move in the last kilometer, so should relish the calm conditions and be able to swim the race on her terms.

Cassandra Patten of Great Britain burst on to the scene with a surprise silver medal at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne, Australia. A brave performance saw her lose a sprint to the line by only one second against the seemingly unbeatable Ilchenko. She also claimed silver to Ilchenko earlier this year at the world championships in Seville. Patten finished in eighth position in Final of the Women's 800m Freestyle event at Beijing 2008.

The experienced Angela Maurer of Germany will also be in strong medal contention. Her performance to claim fourth place at the 2007 world championships was far better than it looked on paper. She swam most of the race trapped in the rough conditions of the main pack but fell short of the leaders by only a few seconds. Maurer was the 25km gold medalist at the 2006 world championships in Italy.

Other top contenders also include Jana Pechanova of the Czech Republic, a silver medalist at the 2004 world championships and consistent performer over the 5km, 10km and 25km disciplines. Spain's Yurema Requena and Brazil's Poliana Okimoto could also challenge for a medal after strong 2008 seasons.

South Africa's Natalie du Toit became the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games when she booked her place in the Women's 10km Marathon event. The 2002 South African Sportswoman of the Year finished fourth in the 2008 10km open water world championships in Spain and may find herself in medal contention. Toit won five gold medals in the pool at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

The oldest competitor is 35-year-old Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands, a two-time 10km open water world champion who finished a disappointing 11th in the 2008 world championships; her experience could put pressure on the leaders.

The youngest competitor 16-year-old American Chloe Sutton, who has improved tremendously of late over the 5km discipline, and a strong 2007 10km World Cup campaign suggests she is ready go the extra distance.

Men's Beach Volleyball Day 9 Preview: Giant killers face real giants

Updated: 2008-08-19 20:27:58

(BEIJING, August 19) -- In Wednesday's semifinal, Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States will take on Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes of Georgia in the Olympic Men's Beach Volleyball competition.

After their unexpected 0-2 defeat to Latvian duo Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs, the second-seeded US pair have maintained good form and fought all the way into the semifinals.

The fifteenth seeded Georgians were defeated in their first two matches, but they managed to win the ones that followed, including the two where they remarkably upset Austria's Clemens Doppler and Peter Gartmayer and the Netherlands' Richard Schuil and Reinder Nummerdor.

The question is whether or not the Georgian duo can continue their giant-killing run. The problem is, this time, they will face real giants.

In the other semifinal, two Brazilian teams will fight for a final berth.

The No. 3 seeds and defending champions Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego of Brazil have shown strong determination to defend their title by beating every team they have encountered so far.

Their opponents, No. 4 seeds Fabio Magalhaes and Marcio Araujo, also from Brazil, are powerful gold medal contenders. As one of the most successful teams on the FIVB World Tour, Magalhaes and Araujo are doubtless capable of challenging the unbeaten defending champions.

Sailing Day 10 Preview: Great Britain in pole position to claim Laser gold

Updated: 2008-08-19 01:19:55

(QINGDAO, August 18) – Medal races in the Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy) and Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy) will be held on race Area A of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center on Tuesday, August 19, with Paul Goodison in a commanding position to claim Great Britain's third gold medal at the Sailing regatta. He takes an 18-point lead into the double-points race.

Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy)

Paul Goodison finished first, fourth and sixth in Monday's races to lead Rasmus Myrgren from Sweden by 18 points. The ISAF World Ranked No.3 will add to Great Britain's already impressive collection of Yngling and Finn gold medals and Men's 470 Silver.

Myrgren and a few others will fight for the silver and bronze medals, including current third placed overall Gustavo Lima from Portugal, Athens bronze medalist Vasilij Zbogar from Slovenia who is in fourth place and fifth placed Deigo Romero from Italy.

Pre-Olympic favorites Andrew Murdoch from New Zealand and Julio Alsogaray from Argentina are in danger of missing medals, while double world champion and World No. 1 Tom Slingsby from Australia will not make the medal round after finishing in 22nd place, having been unable to get good upwind boat speed.

Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy)

World No.1 Anna Tunnicliffe from the United States is in the box seat going into the double-points medal race on Tuesday, with a seven-point advantage over her nearest rival Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania, but she does not have it all her own way.

World No. 2 Chinese Xu Lijia came out strongly, scoring a bullet in race seven. She finished the day with an 11th and a sixth to be third overall going in to the medal race. Only Xu and Volungeviciute can challenge Tunnicliffe for gold.

Out of contention for gold by a mere point, but in the ring for silver and bronze is World No. 3 Sarah Blanck of Australia, Sarah Steyaert of France and Evi van Acker from Belgium.

Women's RS:X (Windsurfer)

The five pre-Olympic favorites are vying for gold with one race remaining in the opening series. Three-time Olympian Alessandra Sensini from Italy, who took over the series lead from Chinese sailor Yin Jian on Monday, heads the rush for gold following races seven, eight and nine.

Others in contention are World No. 1 Marina Alabau of Spain, Bryony Shaw of Great Britain and Jessica Crisp of Australia, third, fourth and fifth overall.

There is only 11 points between the top five.

Another favorite, Barbara Kendall from New Zealand, dropped off to seventh on Monday, 20 points off the lead. She will need to come up with something special on Tuesday if she is to claim her fourth Olympic medal on Wednesday.

Men's RS:X (Windsurfer)

Tom Ashley of New Zealand, one of the pre-Games favorites, is leading the charge for gold with one race remaining in the opening series to be sailed on Tuesday, and the double-points medal race to be sailed on Wednesday.

Only 12 points separate the top five, but things could change again on Tuesday in the expected lighter conditions in the 7-10 knot range.

In the medal mix are: Nick Dempsey from Great Britain, who admits he is driven by his teammates' medal-winning performances in Qingdao; Julien Bontemps, the Frenchman at his second Olympics who feels he has nothing to lose; and Shahar Zubari of Israel, who led the regatta for several days while the winds were light.

Star (Men's Keelboat)

The Stars are scheduled to sail two races on Area C on Tuesday. This will bring them within one race of completing their 10-race opening series.

Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom of Sweden have the lowest average, but like nearly every other boat in the fleet, have discarded a deep finish (in their case, a 15th in the 16-boat fleet).

Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson of the Great Britain poured it on in the final two races on Monday, and might keep the momentum going.

Frenchmen Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau were the bronze medalists in Athens and their consistent sailing might be enough to land them silver or gold.

Expect the fleet to return to the dock with the scores close enough so that the final race of the opening series will be one in which everyone is fighting for points to get into the medal race rather than build a cushion for the medal race.

Tornado (Multihull Mixed)

The Tornados are scheduled to sail two races on Area C on Tuesday. This will bring them within one race of completing their 10-race opening series.

It is no surprise recent past world champions are tied for the lead in this fleet. Spaniards Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz and Australians Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby have 20 points each after seven races.

With 29 points separating the top 12 of this 15-boat fleet, nobody can be ruled out.

Light air is forecast for Tuesday, and they could be the conditions for Chupacabra to make its presence known.

Rowing Day 8 Preview: Shunyi offers seven more gold medals

Updated: 2008-08-17 00:35:33

(BEIJING, August 16) – The final seven gold medals of the Olympic Rowing regatta will be awarded in Shunyi on Sunday, August 17 with the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls leading the way.

Lightweight Women's Double Sculls

Netherlands, Canada, China and Finland are expected to contest the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Gold medal. The Dutch crew is a slight favorite after registering the fastest heat time on Sunday and by following it up with the fastest time of the semifinals. They had to work hard to overcome a pace-setting Finland in the semifinal, but their confidence will be boosted by the way they lifted over the last 350m.

Canada and Finland have both improved as the week has progressed while China has had a steady regatta and could be among the medals. Germany could surprise on the day while Greece may find the going too tough.

Lightweight Men's Double Sculls

Great Britain is the favorite in the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls. They were the fastest of the four heat winners on Sunday and convincingly won their semifinal over Italy and Cuba on Friday. 2006 and 2007 world champions Denmark will start in the fifth lane after a less than perfect semifinal row, but the pair remain genuine gold medal contenders.

Greece won the second semifinal on Friday. The world championship silver medalists should be in the race for a medal while Italy, Cuba and China will need to find a turn of speed to book a place on the victory dais.

Lightweight Men's Four

Denmark will start the Lightweight Men's Four A-final as favorites after posting the fastest times of the heats and semifinals. The crew has done everything right this week, but will find its strongest gold medal opposition in Poland, Canada and France.

World champions Great Britain and Netherlands will start in the first and sixth lanes, respectively, but can't be discounted. Only three seconds separated the six qualifiers after the semifinal -- an indicator as to how close Sunday's gold medal contest will be.

Women's Quadruple Sculls

Great Britain's world champion Women's Quadruple Sculls crew will be out to make history on Sunday by being the first women's Rowing crew from that NOC to win an Olympic gold medal. Their form this week suggests they could do just that, but they will first need to overcome China, who posted the fastest qualifying time with their runaway six-second heat win over Ukraine.

Germany and the United States should be in the running for medals while Australia and Ukraine appear the least likely.

Men's Quadruple Sculls

With only two seconds separating the six starters after the semifinals, the Men's Quadruple Sculls final A is shaping up as one of the closest races of the regatta.

Poland has been the most consistent crew this week with a heat and semifinal win, but second semifinal winner Italy, Australia and the United States have never been far behind. It is a very open race and it wouldn't surprise if Germany and France also challenged from their outside lanes.

Women's Eight

Romania and the United States are equal favorites for the Women's Eight gold medal after storming into final A with impressive heat wins on Monday.

A win for Romania would secure their fourth Women's Eight Olympic title in a row and victory for the United States would avenge the silver medal won at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

A Romanian victory would also be the sixth career Olympic Gold medal for Georgeta Andrunache and the fifth for Viorica Susanu after their victory in Saturday's Women's Pair.

Canada and Netherlands seem the most likely gold medal hurdles to the two favorites while Great Britain and Australia have not been far off the pace all week and could medal.

Men's Eight

World champions Canada will be out to reverse a 35-year-old trend that has seen no current world champion Men's Eight collect Olympic Gold the following year. Their commanding seven second heat win over Poland on Monday would indicate they are just the crew to do it.

Great Britain delivered a similarly impressive four-second heat win over the United States and enter Sunday's race as co-favorites.

Equestrian Day 9 Preview: Defending Jumping Team champions US tipped again

Updated: 2008-08-17 00:37:40

(HONG KONG, August 16) -- The Jumping competition for Team and Individual medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games continues over the second qualifier at the HK Equestrian Venue (Shatin) on Sunday. Seventy-seven riders will negotiate the course.

Defending gold medalist the United States starts as the favorite after three clear rounds in the first qualifier. The team has two of its Athens 2004 pairs, Beezie Madden riding Authentic and McLain Ward with Sapphire, competing.

Germany needs to put on a better performance to recapture the gold medal they lost at the Athens 2004 Games when Ludger Beerbaum and Goldfever were disqualified. The team starts only from 11th position.

Switzerland is banking on Christina Liebherr and Steve Guerdat, who qualified in the second spot along with Brazil and Canada.

Winner of the 2007 Pan American Games, Brazil is in good form, with only one time fault for defending Individual gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa riding Rufus in the qualifying round.

The Netherlands only has one original member of its world champion team riding: Gerco Schroder.

Canada, second to Brazil in the 2007 Pan American Games, had two clear rounds in the qualifier, including one from World No. 3 Eric Lamaze.

Jos Lansik from Belgium is a definite prospect for an Individual medal after a steady round on Cumano.

Sole Irish representative Denis Lynch is another contender for the Individual medal. He and 10-year-old gelding Lantinus went clear in the qualifier.

The competition on Sunday forms the first of two rounds for the Team medals and, at the same time, sorts the Individual rankings of all riders.

The competition begins at 7:15 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8). The first competitor into the arena is Karim El Zoghby from Egypt, riding Aladin.

Sailing Day 8 Preview: Finn and Yingling classes to try for gold again

Updated: 2008-08-17 00:53:59

(QINGDAO, August 16) -- The first set of 2008 Olympic Sailing medals were supposed to be awarded in the Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy) and Yngling (Women's Keelboat) classes Saturday, but more delays, due to light, shifty breezes, led to racing being abandoned. Now the two classes, along with the 49er, will sail their medal races on Sunday.

Finn

The Finns will sail for the first set of medals to be awarded at the 2008 Olympic regatta, with Ben Ainslie of Great Britain and Zach Railey of the United States competing for gold. Railey needs to put six boats between him and Ainslie to win, no easy feat in a 10-boat fleet.

Ainslie is seeking his third consecutive gold medal in the Finn and fourth medal in four Olympic Games. Daniel Birgmark of Sweden can try to put six boats between him and Railey or he can defend his bronze position against Guillame Florent of France, who is in fourth place with 50 points.

One point behind Florent is Christopher Cook of Canada, Gasper Vincec of Slovenia and Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic of Croatia will also try for bronze.

Yngling

Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson of Great Britain are winning the Yngling regatta as they go into the medal race, but Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen of the Netherlands are just one point behind them in second place.

Only the British and Dutch teams have a chance at gold and silver. The remaining eight boats in the fleet are in such a narrow band on the point spread that all have a chance at the bronze.

49er (Skiff)

Saturday was important for 49er competitors, as it was their last chance to make the medal race, which is to be sailed Sunday. The Danish crew of Jonas Warrer and Martin Ibsen are looking hot to take gold after sailing perfectly under pressure.

The Italian Sibello brothers, Pietro and Gianfranco, have moved up into second place, with Friday's leaders Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin of Australia dropping to third.

Athens 2004 Olympic Gold medalists Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez of Spain are back in the picture after their best day of the series.

Although pre-Olympic favorites for a medal, and even though they have made the medal race, British sailors Stevie Morrison Ben Rhodes's scores mean they cannot win a medal, while Athens silver medalists Rodion Luka and Georgii Leonchuk of the Ukraine did not make the medal race at all.

Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy)

Although three races were anticipated for Saturday, the weather failed and the Lasers only sailed the fifth race and the scoreboard changed yet again -- mostly because a race drop came into play.

Diego Romero of Italy has regained control of the top position that he lost to Paul Goodison of Great Britain on Friday.

Following Romero now are Rasmus Myrgren of Sweden, Athens Bronze medalist Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia and Goodison.

The points are so tight, just one point between each, even further down the board, that any of the top 10 could realistically win gold, including Julio Alsogaray of Argetina, who is now in 10th place.

Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy)

Like the Laser, only one of the three races took place on a day when Anna Tunnicliffe of the United States lost the lead she has held since the first day, as a race drop came into play. New Zealander Jo Aleh moved from fourth into the lead and Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania stays in second place after notching up another win on Saturday. Tunnicliffe is relegated to third overall, 10 points behind Aleh

A medal favorite coming into the series, Xu Lijia of China has moved into fourth, four points behind the American sailor and there are three others close behind her in what is developing into an interesting competition.

Star

The Stars are scheduled to sail Race 4, 5 and 6 of their series.

John Dane III and Austin Sperry of the United States are out in the lead with 14 points and Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Plantier Santos of Portugal and 2006 Star World Champions, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams of New Zealand are in hot pursuit.

After three races, only 11 points separate the top 10 teams.

Tornado

The Tornados are to hold three races on Sunday. Look for Fernando Echavarri and Fernando Paz of Spain and World No. 1 Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby of Australia to continue to perform well.

The fleet could have five races under its belt by the time it returns to the dock on Sunday and they will be able to discard their worst race. Positions will be shuffled a little as some competitors will be able to drop some deep scores.

Men's and Women's RS:X

Did not race on Saturday as breezes dwindled to almost nil. Each fleet has three races scheduled for Sunday.

Equestrian Day 8 Review: Britain's Werth holds slim lead in Individual Dressage

Updated: 2008-08-17 02:52:22

(HONG KONG, August 16) -- The battle for the Individual Dressage gold medal is a close fight, with Germany's Isabell Werth at 75.20 percent, barely securing her lead as she hunts for a sixth gold medal. Defending double gold medalist Anky van Grunsven from the Netherlands and Salinero are at 74.96 points. Both leading horses had major hiccups in their performances, with Werth's partner Satchmo shying in piaffe and Salinero cantering in half-pass.

Werth's test started with scores in the mid-80s, which dropped dramatically to the lower 70s after Satchmo spooked in the extended walk. She staged a valiant recovery to climb back in the scoring.

Heike Kemmer from Great Britain, in her second Olympic Games, is in third place at 73.00 percent, and aiming for her first Individual medal.

Steffen Peters from the United States and Ravel are in fourth place on 71.8 percent after losing points in the first pirouette.

A surprise challenger is Alexandra Korelova from Russia on former Police horse Balagur. They rank fifth on 71.40 percent.

The gap between the top five competitors is narrow, with a difference of only 3.80 percent between first and fifth place.

Swimming Day 9 Preview: One to go, Phelps!

Updated: 2008-08-16 23:06:33

Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record, despite scare

(BEIJING, August 16) -- One more gold, and Michael Phelps won't have to share the "Athlete with most gold medals in a single Olympics" title with compatriot Mark Spitz, who did this 36 years ago in the Munich Games.

But this time, Phelps's own efforts will not be enough to achieve this Olympic immortality. He will have to rely on his relay teammates. As the defending Olympic champions, world record holders and fastest final qualifiers, they will not let him down.

Standing in their way are the teams from Australia and Japan, who qualified second and third fastest, only 0.01 and 0.06 seconds behind them.

In the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, however, defending champions Australia may see less competition, qualifying over a second faster than Great Britain and the United States, who came in second and third.

In the Women's 50m Freestyle final, 41-year-old Dara Torres from the United States will be under the spotlight. She had showed her competitors that her age is no issue in the pool by clocking the fastest time into the final. However, she is sure to meet the close competition from world record holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia and Friday's 100m Freestyle gold medalist Britta Steffen of Germany.

The Men's 1500m Freestyle will be the last chance for Grant Hackett of Australia to bring something home from Beijing. And if he wins gold, it will be a history-making third straight 1500m title

Judo Day 7 Preview: Heavyweights set to battle for final Judo gold medals

Updated: 2008-08-15 01:29:37

(BEIJING, August 14) -- With two Women's Judo gold medals already secured in Beijing, the host country sends out another favored judoka to do battle in the Women's +78kg weightclass. Meanwhile, the Athens silver and bronze medalists in the Men's +100kg will be fighting for the podium again and with Athens champion Suzuki Keiji of Japan electing to compete in a lower weightclass, the Heavyweight title is up for grabs.

Women's +78kg

Tsukada Maki of Japan is the reigning gold medalist from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Tsukada has struggled at recent events in this category and will need to be at her peak after twice finishing behind China's heavyweight hope, Tong Wen, coming second at the 2007 world championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and third at the 2005 world championships in Cairo, Egypt.

Tong has had two first-places finishes in 2008 -- at the World Cup in Budapest and the Super World Cup in Paris. Judo spectators have shown great enthusiasm in six days of competition in Beijing and will no doubt be hoping that their cheers will lead to yet another Chinese champion.

Tea Donguzashvili of Russia has already tasted Olympic victory by winning a bronze medal in Athens. Recently, Donguzashili won silver at the European Championships in Lisbon, going down to Anne-Sophie Mondiere of France, who will also be competing in Beijing.

Men's +100kg

Tamerlan Tmenov of Russia enters his third Olympic Games as the reigning silver medalist. He earned bronze at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and will want to finish off his Olympic medals collection with a gold medal. The 31-year-old from St. Petersburg has dominated the heavyweight division in Europe, winning the title, which he currently holds, seven times. So far in 2008 he has won 10 times in 14 international matches

Nineteen-year-old Teddy Riner of France poses a serious threat to the experienced Russian. Riner beat Tmenov in the final of the 2007 World Championships to become the youngest ever world champion in Men's Judo. The Frenchman has 11 victories in 13 matches this year. Beijing will be Riner's first Olympic Games.

Japan's hope of keeping the Olympic gold in the country of the sport's birth rests on the shoulders of 21-year-old Ishii Satoshi. The Japanese has won all five matches he contested this year and defeated reigning Olympic champion Suzuki at the Japanese Championships to grab his spot on the team. He is the 2006 Asian Games silver medalist. Ishii has never competed at the world championships and will be competing at his first Olympic Games.

Dennis van der Geest of the Netherlands is the defending Olympic bronze medalist from Athens and an experienced competitor at 33 years old. He placed second at the World Cup in Madrid in June, but finished off the podium in his other three World and Super World Cup events this year.

Beach Volleyball Day 6 Review: Austrian duo win tight match

Updated: 2008-08-15 01:31:32

(BEIJING,August 14) -- Thursday saw the conclusion of the remaining pool stage matches, with 16 Men's teams and 16 Women's teams progressing to the single-elimination stage.

The Men's competition was highlighted by Clemens Doppler and Peter Gartmayer of Austria, who continued to win in the match against Riccardo Lione and Eugenio Amore of Italy. Unexpectedly, the Italian duo, who had lost both previous matches, battled hard and the match ended in the Austrian duo's narrow win with close scores of 21-19 and 24-22 in two sets.

The match between two unbeaten teams ended in no surprise, with top seeds Chinese duo Wu Penggen and Xu Linyin overpowering Spain's Pablo Herrera and Raul Mesa in two straight sets, ending in an unexpectedly uneven match 2-0 (21-13, 21-15).

Defending champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor of the United States continued their winning streak with another victory, easily defeating Nila Haakedal and Ingrid Toerlen of Norway 2-0 (21-12, 21-15).

Similarly, the No. 4 seeds Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China effortlessly defeated the South African pair Vitalina Nel and Judith Augoustides 2-0 (21-13, 21-9).

Tennis Day 5 Preview: Semifinal spots up for grabs

Updated: 2008-08-14 02:56:41

(BEIJING, August 14) -- Three of the world's most exciting players, Roger Federer of Switzerland, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, lead the charge for a place in the semifinals of the Singles competition at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Thursday, August 14.

Men's Singles, Quarterfinals

James Blake of the United States has a mountain to climb against top seed Federer who has defeated the American player in all eight of their previous encounters. Federer is bidding for a place in the semifinals of the Olympic Games for a second time.

Paul-Henri Mathieu of France plays Athens 2004 Bronze medallist Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who has won three of their last four match-ups, while Gael Monfils of France faces No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Jurgen Melzer is looking to become the first Austrian to appear in the semifinals of an Olympic Tennis event, but standing in his way is next week's World No. 1 and fellow left-hander Rafael Nadal of Spain.

Women's Singles, Quarterfinals

Four-time Grand Slam semifinalist Jelena Jankovic of Serbia has a revenge match with No. 6 seed Dinara Safina of Russia. The Russian defeated Jankovic in the semifinals of a WTA Tour event in Los Angeles last month, en-route to winning the title.

No. 4 seed Serena Williams of the United States and No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia meet in the first match on Court 1. After four straight losses to the US player, Sydney 2000 silver medallist Dementieva recorded her first win over Serena Williams in the final of 2007 WTA Tour event in Moscow.

No. 7 seed Venus Williams of the United States has a first-time meeting with Li Na, the only surviving Chinese in the Singles of the Olympic Tennis event.

Men's Doubles, Quarterfinals

Doubles stalwarts Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India face No. 4 seeds Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Court 2. Federer is the only player still alive in the Men's Singles and Doubles tournament.

Top seeds and five-time Grand Slam Doubles champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan of the United States take on Chris Guccione and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the last match on Court 1.

Another Grand Slam champion team in action on Thursday is Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France, who will hope to outlast No. 8 seeds Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Women's Doubles, Quarterfinals

No. 2 seeds Serena Williams and Venus Williams are also in action in the Doubles and face Japan's Morita Ayumi and Sugiyama Ai in the last match on Court 2.

No. 4 seeds and French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain take on Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs of Australia.

Swimming Day 6 Preview: Sullivan duels Bernard, US women defend Athens gold

Updated: 2008-08-14 02:04:27

(BEIJING, August 12) -- The blue ribbon event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be decided on Thursday when Eamon Sullivan of Australia battles other fast men, excluding Michael Phelps, for gold in the Men's 100m Freestyle final.

Finals:

Eamon Sullivan will participate in the Men's 100m Freestyle final at 10:49 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8), carrying on his tug-of-war for world records with Alain Bernard of France. The two broke the WR in turns in the 100m Freestyle semis, and Sullivan wound it up with an even quicker time. Tomorrow's race will reveal which of the two will have the final edge over the other

The Women's 200m Butterfly semis saw China's Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang ascend to the top three, together with veteran Jessicah Schipper (AUS), who is also the world record holder. If the semifinal results are any indication of how tomorrow morning's final will go, the home crowd will go wild with celebration.

In the Men's 200m Breaststroke final, Kitajima Kosuke might dominate the pool again just as he did in the 100m Breaststroke on August 11, grabbing gold and setting a new WR. He qualified the fastest in the semis and is up for a second gold in Breaststroke. Mike Andrew Brown of Canada and Scott Spann of the United States might pose a threat though.

The Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay will be held later in the morning. France has placed ahead of the United States to top the qualifiers. Whether the US girls will shine as brightly as their male counterparts is still unknown, since France will likely aim for more than just a silver medal. The US women are, however, anticipated to add at least one more gold to their swimming medal chart. Meanwhile, Italy, China and Sweden are in competition for bronze.

Semifinals:

The Women's 100m Freestyle semis will be held early in the morning. In the prelims Hanna-Maria Seppala (FIN) and Britta Steffen (GER) swam neck-and-neck, an early sign that the semis will see an even fiercer battle.

Ryan Lochte of the United States topped the Men's 200m Backstroke heats almost two seconds slower than the WR he set himself in Melbourne Worlds, followed by Aaron Peirsol (USA) and Markus Rogan (AUT), who were also saving their energy for tomorrow's semis. All three veterans are medal hopefuls.

The Women's 200m Breaststroke semis await Jones Leisel (AUS), who championed the 100m Breaststroke Wednesday and qualified later in the evening for the 200m Breaststroke. She maintains the WR of the 200m Breaststroke, though she faces competition from compatriot Rebecca Soni, who topped the prelims breaking the OR. The clawing for gold might play out after their semifinal duel.

The Men's 200m Individual Medley semis welcome Michael Phelps, who has already grabbed five of the eight gold medals he is eyeing at these Games. Laszlo Cseh from Hungary and Ryan Lochte are also swimmers to watch. Sixteen qualifiers will fight for the eight final berths.

Heats:

After the morning duel Sullivan will take to the pool as the favorite for the Men's 50m Freestyle, with big-time rivals Garrett Weber-Gale (USA) and Frenchman Amaury Leveaux out to push the 22-year-old hard.

In the Women's 800m Freestyle heats, Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain and Katie Hoff of the United States will go into the race with the 1989 world record (8:16.22) under serious threat.

US swimming stars Michael Phelps and Ian Crocker will go head-to-head in the Men's 100m Butterfly in a key event that could derail Phelps from his quest for a clean sweep of the medals. As the current world and defending Olympic champion, Phelps is favored to take the event, though Crocker still holds the world record (50.40), which he set in 2005.

Margaret Hoelzer of the United States will need to see off Kristy Coventry of Zimbabwe and Laure Manaudou of France if she plans to take the gold medal in the Women's 200m Backstroke.

Judo Day 6 Preview: Suzuki the man to beat, Russia and Germany set to battle

Updated: 2008-08-14 02:58:57

(BEIJING, August 13) -- Thirty-two of the world's top judoka will compete for the gold medal in Men's -100 kg on August 14, led by Olympic champion Suzuki Kenji of Japan who has stepped down a weight division for the Beijing Games.

Vera Moskalyuk of Russia and Heide Wollert of Germany are likely to be the main contenders for gold in Women's -78 kg.

Men's -100kg

Suzuki is the only participant to win a triple world title, including the World Junior Title in 1998, World Title in 2003 and the Olympic gold medal at Athens 2004. Suzuki's most recent performances include gold at the 2008 Japanese National Championship in Fukuoka and Bronze in the 2008 World Cup in Prague.

Challenging him will be Henk Grol of the Netherlands. Grol has had a strong year in 2008, winning 22 out of his 24 matches internationally, but is a relative newcomer to the sport. The Dutch judoka won gold at the 2008 European championships in Lisbon, the 2008 World Cup in Vienna and the 2008 Super World Cup in Hamburg and will be making his Olympic debut in Beijing.

Luciano Correa enters the competition as the 2007 world champion. While he won gold at the 2008 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and the 2008 New York Open, he has rarely competed at the international level.

Arik Zeevi of Israel is competing in his fourth Olympic Games. He won bronze at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and recently won gold at the 2008 World Cup in Prague and Bronze at the European championships in Lisbon. ZEEVI has won 20 out of 25 matches in 2008.

Frederic Demontfaucon of France has stepped up a weight division from -90kg and has previously competed in two Olympic Games, winning bronze at Sydney 2000 and placing ninth at Athens 2004.

Women's -78kg

Vera Moskalyuk of Russia is one of two strong contenders for the gold medal. She finished a low ninth at Athens 2004 but has since recorded consistently strong results in major competitions, including the 2006 European Championships and three Super World Cups. Heide Wollert of Germany won the European championships in Lisbon, Portugal in 2008, and finished first on two occasions at the Super World Cup in Hamburg, Germany (2005 and 2006). Both wins came in the -70kg category. Moskalyuk and Wollert have met four times since 2007, recording two wins apiece.

Esther San Miguel, 33, is one of the oldest competitors in this weight category, and a three-time Olympian. While San Miguel finished out of medal contention at Athens 2004 (15th), she has won four World Cup events in the last four years. She suffered a knee injury in 2007 but has made a full recovery.

Lucia Morico of Italy won bronze in this category at Athens 2004. Morico has since finished second at the World Cup event in Rome in 2006, losing to San Miguel, and finished third at the European championships in Rotterdam in 2005, the World Cup in Lisbon in 2007, and the Super World Cup in Hamburg the same year.

Nakazawa Sae of Japan will make her Olympic Games debut in Beijing. Nakazawa won the World Cup in Budapest in 2006, the Asian championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2005 and the Doha 2006 Asian Games.

Tennis Day 3 Preview: France and China herald second-round action

Updated: 2008-08-12 03:31:10

(BEIJING, August 12) -- Action at the Olympic Green Tennis Center is bound to be hotly contested as many high profile Men's and Women's second round Singles matches and first round Doubles matches take place on Tuesday, August 12.

Men's Singles, Second Round

Rafael Nadal of Spain, who next week becomes World No.1, meets former No.1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia for what is arguably the match of the day on Center Court.

Roger Federer of Switzerland should have an easier encounter with Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador, who is playing his first Olympics by invitation of the International Tennis Federation.

France is the most successful NOC in the Men's tournament so far, with all four Frenchmen still alive in the competition. The No.26 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France has the toughest second round draw of his teammates, facing No.4 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Athens 2004 Gold medallist Nicolas Massu of Chile meets No.8 David Nalbandian of Argentina for the first time since 2004.

No.15 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile has a second meeting with 1.98m Marin Cilic of Croatia. The 19-year-old Cilic defeated Gonzalez, the Athens 2004 Bronze medallist and 2007 Australian Open runner-up, in the third round of this year's Australian Open.

The USA's hopes lie with No.8 James Blake, who plays 451st-ranked Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.

No.3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist Rainer Schuettler of Germany in the first match of the evening session on Court 1.

Women's Singles, Second Round

On her second day as the new World No.1, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia meets No.30 Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.

Chinese players Li Na, Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie carry home interest as the only surviving Chinese in the Olympic Tennis event. Zheng plays Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain, and Peng meets No.19 Alize Cornet of France in the first match of the day on Centre Court.

Athens 2004 Olympic Gold medallists Serena and Venus Williams of the United States meet Sam Stosur of Australia and Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, respectively.

Birthday girl Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain turns 26 and could have a double celebration should she defeat No.7 Dinara Safina of Russia in their second round match.

No.6 Elena Dementieva of Russia is one of three Russians going into the second round, alongside Safina and Vera Zvonareva. Dementieva, who will play Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden in the second round.

The Men's and Women's second round in Tennis will be held at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on August 12.

Men's Football Day 3 Preview: US and Nigeria watch out for the Dutch

Updated: 2008-08-12 16:28:27

(BEIJING, August 12) -- The Olympic Men's Football tournament will continue to crescendo when it resumes on August 13. Some teams have already booked their quarterfinal berths, others have to fight for survival, while some are ready to pack up and go home.

The group with the most intense competition is group B. Nigeria and the United States lead the group with four points. However, neither can afford a draw in their next match against each other because the Netherlands is snapping at their heels.

With two points in hand, the Netherlands must defeat Japan to keep its Olympic dream afloat. What's more, it needs to ensure that its goal difference will exceed Nigeria and the United States if those two sides play out a draw.

In addition to the above must-win matches, it will also be exciting to watch Italy and Brazil continue their goal rush. These two teams have scored a total of twelve goals in just four matches. Brazil gave minnow New Zealand a 5-0 hiding in its second game, while Italy has recorded two 3-0 victories.

Italy is usually recognized as being a master of defense, but head coach Pierluigi Casiraghi has included three forwards, Tommaso Rocchi, Sebastian Giovinco and Giuseppe Rossi, in the starting line-up and has been hugely rewarded.

"This is our mode of playing. We try to get the best from our three excellent forwards," Casiraghi said after Italy's win against the Republic of Korea.

Brazil also plays with three forwards upfront: Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato and Anderson. Ronaldinho, the 2004 and 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year, found his rhythm in Brazil's last match and scored his first competitive goal since December 12, 2007. Along with Giuseppe Rossi of Italy and Sekou Cisse of Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldinho is now the leading goal kicker of the tournament with two goals.

When the quarterfinals start on August 16, the first-placed team from group C will play the second-placed team from group D. So a rematch of the 1994 Los Angeles World Cup final between Brazil and Italy could be on the cards.

"We will try to finish first in our group. We still have another game and I think Brazil is in the same situation as we are," said the Italian coach Casiraghi.

Day 4 Preview: Paddlers, jumpers, grapplers, divers go for gold

Updated: 2008-08-12 04:28:56

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin of USA (Photo credit: Getty)

(BEIJING, August 12) -- Ok folks, the medal count is heating up as day four sees 19 medals at stake in 10 different sports and plenty more action as new sports join the fray.

Let's start, where else, at the Water Cube where, once again, the most medals in a single sport, Swimming, will be contested.

Michael Phelps of the United States will chase his third gold of the Games in the Men's 200m Freestyle. However the world record holder will face close competition from his compatriot Peter Vanderkaay and Park Tae-hwan of the Republic of Korea, the gold medalist in Sunday's Men's 400m Freestyle.

The Women's 100m Backstroke final could be fought out between Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe and Natalie Coughlin of the United States, while world record holder Leisel Jones is fancied for Women's 100m Breaststroke.

Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia, Hayden Stoeckel of Australia and Matt Grevers of the United States lead the medal favorites in the Men's 100m Backstroke final tomorrow morning.

In the diving competition, the question is less about whether China can bag another medal – the team's third of Beijing 2008 – rather, who is likely to stop them collecting all eight gold on offer?

Young duo Chen Ruolin, aged 15, and Wang Xin, 16 yesterday (August 11), compete in the Women's 10m Synchronized Platform final and are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the world.

The Australian pair Melissa Wu and Briony Cole won silver in front of their home crowd at the 2007 World Championships and could go close.

Also on water, but outdoors, the first Canoe/Kayak Slalom medals will be contested in the Men's C1 Canoe Single and K1 Kayak Single finals.

Tony Estanguet of France will be out to win the C1 title for the third consecutive time, but Robin Bell of Australia, the World No 1, and Michal Martikan of Slovakia, winner in Atlanta in 1996 and silver medalist in Sydney and Athens, could also feature.

Canooist Tony Estanguet of France (Photo credit: Getty)

In K1, Fabien Lefèvre of France, bronze medal winner in Athens, finished the heats with a second place finish at 168.06 seconds behind 2008 Tacen World Cup winner Peter Kauzer of Slovenia. Athens silver medalist Campbell Walsh of Great Britain came up with a ninth place in the heats, good enough to propel him to the semifinals. The reigning European champion will be a strong contender for gold.

There are two more shooting finals: the Men's 50m Pistol and Men's Double Trap.

Athens 2004 gold medalist Mikhail Nestruev of Russia will be looking for another gold medal in the 50m Pistol but will confront Athens 2004 silver and bronze medalists Jin Jong-oh of the Republic of Korea and Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Former Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Tanyu Kiriakov of Bulgaria and Barcelona 1992 winner Kanstantsin Lukashyk of Belarus could also make the final.

The United Arab Emirates' Ahmed Al Maktoum will look to defend the gold medal he won in the Men's Double Trap at Athens 2004. Al Maktoum's main competition will surely come from Sydney 2000 gold medalist Richard Faulds of Great Britain.

From guns to horses -- a tight finish is expected in the battle for the Equestrian Eventing Team medals. Germany takes a slender lead into the final day -- less than one Jumping fault ahead of Australia. Great Britain, in third, looks good, as Italy looks to far back to contest the medals.

Germans Hinrich Romeike and Ingrid Klimke lead the Individual ranking event ahead of Megan Jones and Clayton Fredericks of Australia. All four riders are separated by less than one knock-down in Jumping.

Back indoors, the Beijing 2008 Men's Individual Sabre competition will see Russian fencing star Stanislav Pozdniakov in action. The Atlanta 1996 gold medalist has won a total of 17 World Championships, the latest in 2007. Challengers to watch are World No. 1 Nicolas Limbach from Germany and World No. 2 Luigi Tarantino from Italy.

The first Artistic Gymnastics gold medal of the Games, the Men's Team, is likely to be fought out between China, which has dominated the qualification stage, and defending champion Japan.

There are two more finals at stake in Judo: the Women's -63kg and Men's -81kg classes.

Lucie Decosse of France will be the favorite for the Women's -63kg title, in which reigning Olympic gold medalist Tanimoto Ayumi of Japan is also a contender. In the Men's -81kg,

2007 world champion Tiago Camilo of Brazil is a silver medalist from Sydney 2000. Kim Jae-bum of the Republic of Korea makes his Olympic debut but has beaten most of the leading contenders in the field.

The Beijing 2008 Weightlifting competition continues with medals to be decided in the

Women's 63kg and Men's 69kg categories, in which 2007 World Championship silver medalist Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia, and Irina Nekrassova and Maya Maneza of Kazakhstan will be among the favorites. China has the best chance of collecting another medal in the Men's 69kg with two contenders: 62kg Athens Olympic gold medalist Shi Zhiyong and young talent Liao Hui.

Wrestling enters Beijing 2008 with finals in the Men's 60kg and 55kg classes. Iran's Hamid Soryan Reihanpour has been the most dominant wrestler at 60kg, having won the last three World Championships, while Azerbaijan's 21-year-old Hercules Rovshan Bayramov is a potential winner of the 55kg class.

Park Sung-hyun of the Republic of Korea will be the archer to beat in the Women's Individual event. Her greatest threat looks to come from the No. 2 seed Yun Ok-hee, a fellow member from the all conquering Republic of Korea team which has won six Olympic Team events on the trot.

Several team sports continue, including Basketball, Hockey, Beach Volleyball, Women's Football, Volleyball, while there are further preliminary rounds in Boxing and Badminton.

The final Olympic Softball also starts -- the sport has been withdrawn from the Olympic roster after Beijing so is being contested for the final time.

Plenty of action then during day four of the world's greatest sporting show on Earth.

Handball Day 3 Preview: World champion Russia looking for first victory

Updated: 2008-08-11 01:38:01

(BEIJING, August 10) -- The Women's Handball prelims will continue on August 11, with 12 teams competing for eight quarterfinal spots. Powerhouse Russia, after tying with the Republic of Korea, looks forward to their first win in their second match.

Sweden vs. Russia

The two teams will compete in the last match of group B for day three. It has been 15 years since Sweden met Russia in an international tournament. In 1993 Russia beat Sweden 25-19 at the World Championships.

Sweden lost their first match 30-24 to Hungary, principally because of their inefficient attack. World champions Russia had a surprisingly tough start, held 29-29 by the Republic of Korea (ROK). Neither teams got off to a good start, but the 2007 World Champion Russian women hope to grab their first victory Monday evening.

The Republic of Korea vs. Germany

The ROK made an outstanding comeback in their opening match against Russia, and center-back Kim Ona is a player to look out for. Germany's top players are left-back Nadine Krause and goalkeeper Clara Woltering.

Last year Germany managed to beat the ROK, taking a 32-26 victory at the World Championships. The Republic of Korea had won their four previous encounters at international tournaments in the 1990s.

China vs. Romania

Romania had an easy start to the tournament, smashing Kazakhstan 31-19 on Saturday, while China, in their first match, managed to keep up with Norway's level of play for one half, but in the end they went down 30-23.

China only lost 31-29 at the 2007 World Championships to Romania, whereas in their two previous matches Romania finished six goals ahead. Yet it is still anticipated that Romania, as a European powerhouse, might overpower the host team.

Brazil vs. Hungary

Hungary beat Sweden 30-24 in their first match, whereas Brazil lost 24-22 to Germany on Saturday. They will meet in the first match of group B Monday morning.

Hungary has always proved too strong for the Brazilians at international tournaments, winning all four previous encounters, scoring 126 goals while only conceding 84. However, Brazil rattled Germany in the day one match and proved their potential to challenge the powerhouse.

Brazil's left-back and the team's top scorer to date, Aline Santos, will likely be a strong challenge for the Hungarian defense. While Hungary's left-wing Orsolya Verten and the world's top player, Anita Gorbicz, are players to watch.

Angola vs. Norway

The afternoon clash between African champion Angola and European Champion Norway might be a comfortable victory for the latter over the former, given that Norway beat Angola 32-26 in a preliminary match at last year's World Championships.

Angola played a strong first half in their opening match against France but faded in the second and went down 32-21. Norway showed all their class in their first game, beating China 30-23. The Europeans proved they are keen to win a third Olympic medal after two silver finishes (1988 and 1992).

Kazakhstan vs. France

The two will meet in the opening match of group A. France won the only encounter between the two teams at an international tournament so far, beating Kazakhstan 31-20 at the 2007 World Championships.

France has Sophie Herbrecht and goalie Valerie Nicolas to watch. Kazakhstan has to improve, as they went down 31-19 to Romania, but cornerstone Olga Ajiderskaya showed some class, scoring 10 goals in the day one match and might prove a threat to the French team.

Equestrian Day 3 Preview: Australia leads battle charge to Cross-Country

Updated: 2008-08-11 01:42:53

(HONG KONG, August 10) -- Australia leads the way at the end of Dressage on Sunday and the Eventing competition heads forward to the Cross-Country at the Hong Kong Equestrian Venue Beas River on Monday.

Sixty-nine riders from 21 NOCs will ride a course with 39 jumps over 4,560 meters.

Only the lowest three penalty scores from each team contribute to the team total, which is then carried forward.

The top three teams are closely ranked, with only 12 penalties between the first and third positions.

Australia leads on a score of 102.80 penalties. At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Australians were in the same position after the Dressage section and went on to win gold.

Germany is second on 110.50 penalties.

USA are a close third on 115.60.

Great Britain is playing catch-up after poor Dressage scores left them in fourth place on 121.80.

Italy is in a surprise fifth place on 127.40, ahead of experienced campaigner New Zealand, in sixth place on 136.50.

The Irish team will be relieved to leave dressage behind and move on to their preferred Cross-Country after poor tests left them in tenth place on 160.80.

In the individual rankings, Lucinda Fredericks from Australia with Headley Britannia leads on 30.40 penalties, followed by Karin Donckers from Belgium riding Gazelle De La Brasserie (31.70) and Ingrid Klimke from Germany with Abraxxas on 33.50. All three are seasoned Eventers.

The first rider out on the course will again be Mark Todd of New Zealand, riding Gandalf. Riders will start at intervals of three minutes, weather permitting on Monday morning.

First four gold medals at the Water Cube

Updated: 2008-08-10 01:19:31

(BEIJING, August 9) -- Four gold medals for the Men's 400m Individual Medley, Men's 400m Freestyle, Women's 400m Individual Medley and Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay will be given out at the Water Cube tomorrow morning, Sunday, August 10. Two semi-finals, in Women's 100m butterfly and Men's 100m Breaststroke will also be staged in the morning, followed by six prelims in the evening section.

The biggest star to hit the Water Cube tomorrow is Michael Phelps of the USA, known as the 'Baltimore Bullet,' who is aiming to break US swimming great, Mark Spitz's Olympic record of seven Gold medals -- the most won by an athlete at a single Olympic Games. Phelps rewrote his own Olympic record today with a time of 4:07.82 in the prelim. The swimming superstar will look to secure his first gold medal in Beijing tomorrow.

Michael Phelps is also the swimmer to watch in the Men's 200m Freestyle prelim later that night as he continues his quest for eight Gold medals. Phelps holds the world record with a time of 1:43.86. The emerging international star Park Tae-hwan of the Republic of Korea was the bronze medalist in the event at last year's world championships behind Phelps and Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands. Peter Vanderkaay (USA) and Jean Basson (South Africa) share the third fastest time in the event in 2008. Both will pose as strong competitors in this summer's Games.

The Men's 400m Freestyle Final will be centered on Larsen Jensen (USA), Grant Hackett (AUS) and Park Tae-hwan (KOR). Jensen swam the fastest time of 3:43.10 in the prelim and will be in the middle lane (lane 4) tomorrow. Hackett, finishing first in his heat and fifth overall, said "I swam very good and I am happy with that. It is going to be interesting tomorrow morning. You just have to love how close it is." This is a golden chance for him to take back the gold medal he lost due to a shoulder injury and undiagnosed asthma four years ago in Athens. Zhang Lin from China swam his personal best of 3:43.32, five-hundredths of a second faster than Park Tae-hwan and will be competing for a medal tomorrow.

Nineteen-year-old Katie Hoff (USA) will be the highlight of the Women's 400m Individual Medley on Sunday. Her biggest challengers are fifteen-year-old teammate, the top qualifier of today's prelim, Elizabeth Beisel, previous world-record holder Stephanie Rice from Australia and former Olympic medalist Kristy Coventry from Zimbabwe.

The Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay final is a virtual showdown between the Netherlands, the United States and Australia. The top two qualifiers from today's prelim, China and Germany will also be competing for a place on the podium.

The stars of the Women's 100m Butterfly include Lisbeth Trickett of Australia, her fellow Australian Jessicah Schipper, and 22-year-old Christine Magnuson of the United States.

All eyes will be on the US world-record holder Brendan Hansen and Athens gold medalist Kitajima Kosuke of Japan in the Men's 100m Breaststroke semi-final.

Current world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin of the United States is looking to confirm her dominance in the Women's 100m Backstroke on Sunday with a win at the National Aquatics Center. Coughlin's teammate Margaret Hoelzer holds the third fastest time in 2008 and will challenge Coughlin for the gold. Silver medalist from Athens 2004 Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe and bronze medalist Laure Manaudou of France will also be top contenders.

Leisel Jones of Australia has been dominant in the Women's Breaststroke since 2005 and will continue her campaign in the Women's 100m Breaststroke. This breaststroke talent is the world record holder and the reigning world champion and holds the fastest time of the year at 1:05.34. There will be immense pressure on Jones to continue her dominance in the Breastroke. Jone's main challengers will be Rebecca Soni and Megan Jendrick of Team USA.

In the Men's 100m Backstroke, famous American backstroker Aaron Peirsol is the gold favorite. Peirsol is the reigning Olympic champion and the reigning world champion as well as the current world record holder in the event. Matthew Grevers of USA and the Athens Silver medalist Markus Rogan of Austria also stand a chance for a medal. Other strong contenders include Liam Tancock of Great Britain, Helge Meeuw of Germany and Ashley Delaney of Australia.

Federica Pellegrini of Italy will take to the National Aquatics Center pool on Sunday with her sights set on defending the Women's 400m Freestyle crown despite challenger Katie Hoff (USA) breathing down her neck. Pellegrini currently holds the world record of 4:01.53 and has been in good form this year. Kate Ziegler of the USA and Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain will also be competing for Gold. The unpredictable ex-world-record holder Manadou cannot be discounted in this event despite the fact that she has yet to record a top 10 time in the event this year.

The USA Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay team are the two-time reigning world champions and have a strong pedigree in the event; they hold the world record of 3:12.46 set by Michael Phelps, Neil Walker, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. Challengers to the United States include the French team lead by 100m Freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard and the defending Olympic champions, the South African team with experienced Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman leading the team. The Australian team lacks experience but they will be led by the speedy Eamon Sullivan who was just a fraction of a second behind Bernard in competition.