Olympic highlights: August 21, 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008 

August 21, 2008 is the 12th major day of the 2008 Olympic games. The below article lists some of the highlights.

Events

Women's 20km walk

Olga Kaniskina, who represents Russia, has set a new Olympic record in the women's 20km walk with her time of 1 hour and 36 minutes. After the race Kaniskina said that the weather did not affect the record.

"I think my regular training is the most important factor contributing to my victory," she said, explaining the factors that she believes led her to victory.

Star class sailing

Britons Iain Percy and Andy Simptson won the gold medal in the star class sailing event after a successful performance in the final round, which took place today. The pair started today in silver medal position, and gained one place in the final round to win the gold medal.

Tornado class sailing

Spanish Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz won an Olympic gold medal in Sailing's fast Tornado catamaran class. Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby from Australia finished in second place and the Argentinean pair of Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola won the bronze medal.

Men's marathon 10 km swimming

Maarten van der Weijden, a long distance swimmer from the Netherlands, beat the favorites in the men's marathon 10 km swimming event to secure the gold medal with a time of 1:51:51.6. David Davies, who was one of the favourites to win the gold medal, was overtaken by Weijden in the final 500 metres of the race.

Davies finished 1.5 seconds behind Weijden.

Women's beach volleyball

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won the Olympic gold medal for the United States in the women's beach volleyball competition by winning every set in the final against the Chinese Tian Jia and Wang Jie.

Both sets were won 21-18.

Men's 400 meters sprint

American LaShawn Merritt won the final of the Men's 400 meters in an event which saw all three of the medals going to the American team.

Women's 200m sprint

Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold medal in the final of the women's 200m sprint with a time of 21.74 seconds.

Allyson Felix, the defending Olympic champion, who was representing United States, won the silver medal, with her time being approximately 0.2 seconds behind the time of the winner.

Men's Triple Jump

Nelson Evora won the men's triple jump at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Evora won the gold medal with a jump of 17.67 meters beating silver medalist Phillips Idowu of Great Britain by 5 centimeters (17.62 meters). Leevan Sanders of the Bahamas won the bronze medal with a triple jump of 17.59 meters. link Nelson Evora of Portugal Wins Men’s Triple Jump Gold Medal

Medal Table

Medal Count _update

2008 Olympics - Beijing, China
Flag	Country	G	S	B	TOT	Rank
	China	51	21	28	100	1
	United States	36	38	36	110	2
	Russia	23	21	28	72	3
	Great Britain	19	13	15	47	4
	Germany	16	10	15	41	5
	Australia	14	15	17	46	6
	South Korea	13	10	8	31	7
	Japan	9	6	10	25	8
	Italy	7	10	10	27	9
	Ukraine	7	5	15	27	10

Other countries

	Netherlands	7	5	4	16	11
	France	6	15	17	38	12
	Jamaica	6	3	2	11	13
	Spain	5	9	2	16	14
	Belarus	4	5	9	18	15
	Kenya	4	5	4	13	16
	Romania	4	1	3	8	17
	Ethiopia	4	1	1	6	18
	Canada	3	9	6	18	19
	Poland	3	6	1	10	20
	Norway	3	5	2	10	21
	Brazil	3	3	8	14	22
	Czech Republic	3	3	0	6	23
	Slovakia	3	2	1	6	24
	New Zealand	3	1	5	9	25
	Georgia	3	0	3	6	26
	Cuba	2	9	11	22	27
	Hungary	2	5	2	9	28
	Denmark	2	2	3	7	29
	Thailand	2	2	0	4	30
	North Korea	2	1	3	6	31
	Switzerland	2	0	4	6	32
	Argentina	2	0	3	5	33
	Mexico	2	0	1	3	34
	Kazakhstan	1	4	7	12	35
	Turkey	1	4	3	8	36
	Zimbabwe	1	3	0	4	37
	Azerbaijan	1	2	4	7	38
	Uzbekistan	1	2	3	6	39
	Slovenia	1	2	2	5	40
	Bulgaria	1	1	3	5	41
	Indonesia	1	1	3	5	41
	Finland	1	1	2	4	43
	Latvia	1	1	1	3	44
	Belgium	1	1	0	2	45
	Dominican Republic	1	1	0	2	45
	Estonia	1	1	0	2	45
	Mongolia	1	1	0	2	45
	Portugal	1	1	0	2	45
	India	1	0	2	3	50
	Iran	1	0	1	2	51
	Bahrain	1	0	0	1	52
	Cameroon	1	0	0	1	52
	Panama	1	0	0	1	52
	Tunisia	1	0	0	1	52
	Sweden	0	4	1	5	56
	Croatia	0	2	3	5	57
	Lithuania	0	2	3	5	57
	Greece	0	2	2	4	59
	Trinidad and Tobago	0	2	0	2	60
	Nigeria	1	0	3	4	61
	Austria	0	1	2	3	62
	Algeria	0	1	1	2	63
	Bahamas	0	1	1	2	63
	Colombia	0	1	1	2	63
	Kyrgyzstan	0	1	1	2	63
	Serbia	0	1	1	2	63
	Tajikistan	0	1	1	2	63
	Chile	0	1	0	1	69
	Ecuador	0	1	0	1	69
	Malaysia	0	1	0	1	69
	South Africa	0	1	0	1	69
	Sudan	0	1	0	1	69
	Singapore	0	1	0	1	69
	Vietnam	0	1	0	1	69
	Armenia	0	0	6	6	76
	Chinese Taipei	0	0	4	4	77
	Ireland	0	0	2	2	78
	Afghanistan	0	0	1	1	79
	Egypt	0	0	1	1	79
	Israel	0	0	1	1	79
	Morocco	0	0	1	1	79
	Moldova	0	0	1	1	79
	Mauritius	0	0	1	1	79
	Togo	0	0	1	1	79
	Venezuela	0	0	1	1	79

	Total	296	294	348	938	N/A
Source: Beijing 2008 Official Site

Sources

• "Records" — Beijing 2008, August 21, 2008
• "Kaniskina blazes to 20km walk gold, Clay in decathlon pole" — AFP, August 21, 2008
• "Olympics: Percy and Simpson sail to gold in Star class" — Guardian Unlimited, August 21, 2008
• "Spain wins gold medal in sailing's Tornado class" — International Herald Tribune, August 21, 2008
• "Men's Marathon 10km: Maarten van der Weijden surprises favorites" — Beijing 2008, August 21, 2008
• "Flash: Walsh and May-Treanor claim gold in Women's Beach Volleyball" — Beijing 2008, August 21, 2008
• iHaveNet.com. "Nelson Evora of Portugal Wins Men’s Triple Jump" — Beijing 2008, August 21, 2008