Olympics Medal Tally

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

American Phelps wins Men's 100m Butterfly Olympic gold

Michael Phelps waves to spectators. (Photo credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

American Michael Phelps won the Men's 100m Butterfly gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Saturday.

Phelps clocked in an Olympic record of 50.58 seconds set up by Serbian Milorad Cavic on August 14, 2008. Cavic settled for the silver in 50.59 and Australian Andrew Lauterstein got the bronze in 51.12.

(L-R) Milorad Cavic, Michael Phelps and Andrew Lauterstein (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps competes. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps celebrates. (Photo credit: Wang Dingchang/Xinhua)

Michael Phelps celebrates. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Phelps: 200m Butterfly win for tenth Olympic gold

Michael Phelps swims during the final. (Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 13) -- "Baltimore Bullet" Michael Phelps hit his target in the Men's 200m Butterfly for his fourth gold at the Water Cube and tenth Olympic gold overall on Wednesday morning -- and did it with a new world record time of 1:52.03.

After qualifying fastest for the final in an Olympic Record time of 1:53.70. Phelps, the defending Olympic champion and world record holder, was never headed. While the margin was a little closer than predicted, Phelps was never seriously challenged in winning the gold medal.

Phelps took the race out fast and hard as he is accustomed to and the pace immediately hurt his rivals. Phelps' first split at 100m was 25.36. At the last turn Phelps was under world record pace with a split at the 150m of 1:22.75.

Lazslo Cseh of Hungary had another great swim in European Record time to finish with the silver medal in 1:52.70. Cseh is having a great Games and swimming very consistently and looks to be a great challenger for Phelps in the years to come.

Matsuda Takeshi of Japan, after being the second fastest qualifier for the final, finished with the bronze medal and an Asian Record in a time of 1:52.97.

Phelps did not have much time to take the win in as he was due out again on Wednesday morning in the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay.

Michael Phelps swims during the final. (Photo credit: Chen Kai/Xinhua)

Michael Phelps reacts after his win. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Women's Individual Time Trial: Armstrong mines gold

(BEIJING, August 13) -- Kristin Armstrong of the United States carved the winning difference on a long downhill section to claim the gold medal in the Women's Individual Time Trial on Wednesday.

Emma Pooley of Great Britain set an early fast time, but was knocked down to the silver medal by Armstrong's powerful performance in the second half of the one-lap, 23.5km course up and down a steep climb along the Badaling section of the Great Wall.

Karin Thurig of Switzerland took bronze less than two seconds ahead of cycling legend Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli of France.

Armstrong was four seconds slower than Pooley at the top of the main climbing section, but the 2006 world Time Trial champion powered over the second half of the course to win in 34:51.72 (40.445kph).

The gold is Armstrong's first in Olympic competition and the first by the USA Cycling team in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Pooley, who had never previously won a medal in international competition and only began racing in 2005, was almost the surprise winner in 35:16.01. The trained engineer calculated it well enough to settle for silver at 24.29 seconds slower.

Thurig scored a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal by also riding well in the second half of the course to finish with 35:50.99 at 59.27 seconds off the winning time. The two-time world Time Trial champion also won bronze in the Time Trial in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Longo-Ciprelli, 49, narrowly missed a career fifth Olympic medal by stopping the clock in fourth place in 35:52.62, nearly one second off the podium. The French veteran is racing in her seventh consecutive Olympic Games.

Cooler weather, light winds and cloudy skies welcomed 25 starters who raced one at a time in a race against the clock, but there was none of the heavy rainfall that drenched the Women's Cycling Road Race on Sunday.

Armstrong competes. (Photo credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Armstrong (C), Pooley (L) and Thurig (Photo credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Pak takes Women's Weightlifting 63kg title

Pak takes Women's Weightlifting 63kg title
Pak Hyon-suk (C), Irina Nekrassova (L) and Lu Ying-chi (Photo credit: Xu Yu/Xinhua)
The Women's Weightlifting 63kg final was held at the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium on day four of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. Pak Hyon-suk of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) won the gold medal in this event with a total of 241 kilos. Irina Nekrassova from Kazakhstan took the silver with a total result of 240kg, while Lu Ying-chi from Chinese Taipei got the bronze with 231kg.

Pak Hyon-suk competes. (Photo credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Pak Hyon-suk competes. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Pak Hyon-suk takes a lift. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Olympics spectacularly Inagurated

BEIJING, Aug. 8 The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games staged here on Friday night has caught nearly 4 billion people's eyes worldwide.

A dream-come-true resonance that longed for a hundred years and prepared for 84 months is giving millions of reasons to Chinese to have a sleepless night.

Judo Men - 73kg Elnur Mammadli of Azerbaijan gold for azerbaijan

20-year-old Elnur Mammadli of Azerbaijan won his home country the first gold in Judo Men - 73kg. Wang Ki-chun of Republic of Korea took silver. Leandro Guilheiro of Brazil and Rasul Boqiev of Tajikistan had bronze.

Men's 100m Backstroke: Peirsol (USA) grabs gold and world record

Peirsol celebrates his win. (Photo credit: Chen Kai/Xinhua)

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(BEIJING, August 12) -- Aaron Peirsol of the United States came back from a lackluster semifinal swim to win the gold medal in the Men's 100m Backstroke final at the National Aquatics Center on Tuesday, August 12.

Peirsol, the defending champion and world record holder, qualified fifth fastest in 53.56 for the final but showed his class in swimming down Liam Tancock of Great Britain who turned in front at the 50m 0.49 seconds under the world record mark.

Peirsol surged ahead to win comfortably in 52.45 to beat the world record of 52.89 he set in July.

After qualifying second fastest for the final, Peirsol's USA teammate Matt Grevers finished with the silver medal in 53.11.

Hayden Stoeckel of Australia, who qualified fastest for the final in an Olympic record 52.97, deadheated with Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin for the bronze medal in 53.18.

Tancock faded badly in the final 50m to finish sixth.

Peirsol has confirmed his dominance of this event in emphatic fashion despite slow heat and semifinal swims. His form will be a shot in the arm for the US Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay team with Phelps also in such irresistible form and they must go into the event as unbackable favorites.

Gymnastics Artistic Men's Individual Qualification

Manuel Carballo of Spain competes on the pommel horse. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Gymnastics Artistic Men's Individual Qualification event was held at the National Indoor Stadium during Day 1 of the Beijing Summer Olympics on August 9, 2008 in Beijing, China.

Anton Fokin of Uzbekistan competes on the ring. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Jonathan Horton of the United States competes on the parallel bars. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Louis Smith of Great Britain competes on the horizontal bar. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Alexandr Shatilov of Israel (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Artistic Gymnastics Day 2 Preview: United States and China the favorites

(BEIJING, August 9) -- A total of 98 women will be competing in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics at Beijing 2008. Seventy-two gymnasts will be participating in the team and individual competitions, while the other 26 will compete only in the individual competitions. A total of six gold medals will be awarded in the women's competition, including Team, Vault, Balance Beam, Uneven Bars, Floor Exercise and All-Around.

The top 12 teams from the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany qualified for Beijing 2008. The top three qualifiers were the United States, China and Romania. The top eight teams from the qualification round of the Olympic competition will advance to the final round of the Team competition, which will be held on August 13.

Romania won the Team gold at Athens 2004, with the United States taking the silver and Russia taking the bronze. After a disappointing performance at Athens 2004, China will be looking to win a Team medal at home and its strong performance in Stuttgart is a sign that it is on track. China will be the first team to perform in the qualification round this Sunday.

Cheng Fei of China competes on the floor. (Photo Credit: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

Gymnasts to look out for on the Chinese team include Yang Yilin, a native of Guangdong province. Yang is an Uneven Bars specialist, but is also seen as a chance for a medal in the All-Around event. He Kexin is also an expert on the Uneven Bars and has publicly stated that her goal at Beijing 2008 is to beat the United States' Nastia Liukin. Probably China's most well-known female gymnast is 20-year-old Cheng Fei, from Hunan province. Cheng competed at Athens 2004, but did not win a medal. She is a specialist in the Vault and Floor Exercise events.

The United States will be the favorite for the Team gold medal after being the top nation at the 2007 World Championships. The team will be spearheaded by 16-year-old Shawn Johnson, a native of Iowa. Johnson won the All-Around gold medal at the 2007 World Championships as well as winning gold in the Team and Floor Exercise events. Russian-born Nastia Liukin will be the favorite for gold in the Uneven Bars event, but will face stiff competition from China, which regards the event as its specialty.

Sandra Izbasa is the spearhead of the Romanian Women's Gymnastics team (Photo Credit: Getty)

Romania continues to be a gymnastics powerhouse, with a third place at the 2007 World Championships. Its two leading gymnasts will be Sandra Izbasa and Steliana Nistor. Izbasa won a gold medal in the Floor Exercise at the 2006 European Championships in Volas, Greece. Nistor is the most experienced gymnast on Romania's team and will be a medal threat in the All-Around and Balance Beam.

Russia will be nervous of missing out on its first team medal since 1952 after it performed poorly at the 2007 World Championships. The key to its Olympic campaign will be 21-year-old Anna Pavlova, who has been touted as the heir apparent to the retired Svetlana Khorkina, a seven-time Olympic medalist. Pavlova was very close to winning an All-Around medal at Athens, finishing fourth. Her best event is vault. Ksenia Semenova is Russia's strongest individual medal hope – she won the gold in Uneven Bars at the 2007 World Championship, beating Nastia Liukin.

Italy and Great Britain could muscle in and have a chance to win a team medal on the back of some outstanding individual talent. Italy's Vanessa Ferrari won an All-Around gold medal at the 2006 World Championships and earned a total of three gold medals at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships. Aside from giving Italy a chance to snare a Team medal, she will be looking to win individual medals in the All-Around and Floor Exercise events.

Uneven Bars specialist Nastia Liukin from the United States. (Photo Credit: Getty)

South African-born Beth Tweddle is reputed to the best British gymnast of all time. In 2006, she won gold in the Uneven Bars at both the World and European Championships. Great Britain finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships, one place behind Italy.

Artistic Gymnastics will be held at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium, which has a seating capacity of approximately 20,000. The design of the stadium is intended to resemble an unfolded Chinese fan.

ROK beats Italy to win Archery Men's Team event

The Archery Men's Team final was held at the Olympic Green Archery Field on day three of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. The ROK team of Im Dong-hyun, Lee Chang-hwan and Park Kyung-mo shot a total of 227 points to beat Italy's 225 in the event.

Lee Chang-hwan takes aim. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Park Kyung-mo takes aim. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Im Dong-hyun celebrates winning the gold medal. (Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)