Isinbayeva sets new WR to win gold

Elena Isinbaeva competes. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Defending Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke her own world record with 5.05m to win gold in the Women's Pole Vault at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This was the third time that Isinbayeva set a new world record this year.

Jennifer Stuczynski of the United States cleared 4.80m to take the silver medal, while Athens 2004 silver medalist Svetlana Feofanova of Russia earned bronze with a vault of 4.75m.

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Elena Isinbaeva competes. (Photo credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Russia's Elena Isinbaeva successfully defended the Women's Pole Vault Olympic gold medal here on Monday.

Jennifer Stuczynski of the United States took silver and another Russian, Svetlana Feofanova, went away with the bronze medal.

Elena Isinbaeva competes. (Photo credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Elena Isinbaeva competes. (Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Elena Isinbaeva gestures during the final. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Blanik wins the gold medal in the Men's Vault

Leszek Blanik of Poland celebrates with his coach (Photo Credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Leszek Blanik of Poland scored 16.537 to win the gold medal in the Men's Vault in Beijing on August 18. Thomas Bouhail of France won the silver medal with the same score, but was placed second due to inferior execution.

The bronze medal went to Anton Golotsutskov of Russia who scored 16.475.

Blanik is the first Polish gymnast to win a gold medal in the Men's Vault. The 31-year-old veteran won a bronze medal at Sydney 2000.

Favorite for the gold, Romania's Marian Dragulescu, finished a disappointing fourth. The bronze medalist at Athens 2004 made a mistake on his second vault and it cost him dearly.

"I am unlucky in the Olympics. In Athens I was a favorite, but I made the same mistake like today. I am a multiple world champion, but in the Olympics, I haven't won a gold medal," said Dragulescu after the event.

Tunisian Oussama Mellouli wins Men's 1,500m Freestyle Olympic gold

Oussama Mellouli celebrates on the podium. (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images

The Men's 1500m Freestyle final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games took place in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, on August 17, 2008.

Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia won the gold medal in the event with 14 minutes 40.84 seconds.

Oussama Mellouli swims. (Photo credit: Chen Kai/Xinhua)

Oussama Mellouli celebrates. (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

Oussama Mellouli (L) receives congratulations. (Photo credit: Fei Maohua/Xinhua)

Romanian wins Women's Marathon gold

Tomescu Constantina of Romania lunges across the finish line. (Photo credit: Guo Dayue/Xinhua)

Romanian marathoner Tomescu Constantina added a gold to her country's Olympic medal count at the Beijing Games on Sunday morning.

38-year-old Tomescu led the pack from the 25km mark, and finished in 2 hours 26 minutes 44 seconds.

World record holder Paula Radcliffe of Britain lagged far behind.

Constantina Tomescu crosses the finish line. (Photo credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Constantina Tomescu displays the Romanian national flag. (Photo credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Constantina Tomescu celebrates her victory. (Photo credit:Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

Constantina Tomescu enters the National Stadium. (Photo credit: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 16) -- Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain became the first cyclist to repeat as Olympic champion in the Men's Individual Pursuit in the Laoshan Velodrome on Saturday.

A big pre-race favorite to defend his Athens 2004 Olympic crown, Wiggins stopped the clock in 4:16.977 to leave Hayden Roulston of New Zealand (4:19.611) with the silver.

Steven Burke, also from Great Britain, won bronze by erasing Russian Alexei Markov's early advantage. Burke claimed bronze in 4:20.947 to Markov's 4:24.149.

Wiggins, who set an Olympic record in qualifying on Friday, August 15, at 4:15.031, overcame a fast start by Roulston to win his fifth career Olympic medal.

Bradley Wiggins poses with his gold medal. (Photo credit: Hou Deqiang/Xinhua)

Roulston gave him a stout challenge, holding Wiggins at just 0.002sec at 2,500m. Wiggins powered ahead in the final kilometer to win by more than two seconds. Roulston's medal is New Zealand's second-ever medal in Olympic Cycling Track competition in the Men's Individual Pursuit. Gary Anderson won bronze at Barcelona 1992.

American Taylor Phinney, the youngest Cycling Track athlete in Beijing at 18, started fast against Roulston in the first round, but faded later on to finish seventh.

Jang Mi-ran of the Rok broke three world records

Beijing, August 16) -- Jang Mi-ran of the Rok broke three world records en route to gold in the Women's weight lifting 75 kilogram weight class on Saturday, August 16.

Jang, the silver medalist in Athens, combined 140kg in the Snatch and 186kg in the Clean and Jerk for a winning total of 326kg, 49kg ahead of the runner-up, Okha Korobka of Ukraine. Mariya Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan was third at 270kg.

Germany wins Olympic team dressage gold medal

German rider Isabell Werth rides horse Satchmo. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Germany won the Olympic team dressage gold medal, their seventh successive Olympic title, holding off a strong challenge from the Netherlands at the HK Olympic Equestrian Venue (Shatin) Thursday night.

German rider Isabell Werth rides horse Satchmo. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

German rider Nadine Capellmann rides horse Elvis Va. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

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)

Coughlin takes gold in Women's 100m Backstroke

Coughlin competes. (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 12) -- Natalie Coughlin of the United States won gold medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke final on Tuesday at the National Aquatics Center in an American record time of 58.96.

Coughlin, the defending Olympic champion, was second fastest qualifier into the final and sped out hard to see off the challenge from Monday's world record setter Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe .

This was the first gold medal for the US women in what has been a disappointing Games in the pool for them so far.

World record holder Coventry qualified fastest for the final but after her busy program she was unable to match Coughlin's speed and finished with the silver medal in 59.19.

Margaret Hoelzer, also from the US, touched out Gemma Spofforth of Great Britain to take bronze in 59.34.

Coughlin poses with the gold medal. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

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(L-R) Kirsty Coventry, Natalie Coughlin and Margaret Hoelzer (Photo credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Chinese men win 10m Synchronized Diving gold

Chinese Lin Yue and Huo Liang scored 468.18 points to win the men's 10m synchronized diving gold medal at the Olympic Games here on Monday.

Germany's Patrick Hausding and Sascha Kein claimed the silver with 450.42 points and Russia's Gleb Galperom and Dmitriy Dobroskok took the bronze with 445.26.

Lin Yue (L) and Huo Liang receive the gold medal. (Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

(L-R) Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein, Lin Yue (L) and Huo Liang and Dmitriy Dobroskok and Gleb Galperin (Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

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)