Summer Olympic Games, Beijing 2008.

August 16



DAY'S RESULTS

On the eighth day of the Beijing Olympics, 27 sets of medals were awarded, and two gold medals went to Russian athletes. The Russian women's foil team in the team competition and Valery Borchin in the 20-kilometer walk achieved a golden double, repeating the achievement of our wrestlers.

While it was still very early in Moscow, the Russian walking duo consisting of Valery Borchin and Ilya Markov started from the main arena of the Olympics, the "Bird's Nest," on a long journey through the stuffy Beijing. Both held their own in the leading group for a long time, but in the end, only Borchin was able to maintain the pace set by two-time world champion Jefferson Perez. And as they approached the stadium, the Russian accelerated and overtook the formidable Ecuadorian by 14 seconds.

Finally, the Russian musketeers, or rather musketeeresses, broke through. Victoria Nikishina, Aida Shanaeva, Svetlana Boyko, and Evgenia Lomonova more than made up for all the failures of the previous days, knocking out Egypt and Italy from the tournament and "defeating" the Americans in the final - 28:11.

The Russian tennis players Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva have not yet won medals, but they 100% guaranteed gold and silver for Russia by reaching the final of the Olympic tournament. Special words of admiration should be addressed to Safina. In an extremely difficult match, she overcame the resistance of the world's number one, Serbian Elena Jankovic, spent a difficult three-set doubles match at night, which lasted more than two hours, and on Saturday literally snatched a ticket to the final from the tenacious hands of the Chinese Li Na (7:6, 7:5). Only a true champion is capable of such a feat! However, Dementieva, who defeated Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals, is unlikely to agree to the role of a supporting actress. For Elena, this will be her second Olympic final in a row - in Sydney in 2000, she won silver.

But the Russian basketball players - the current European champions - left their fans without positive emotions. They suffered their third consecutive defeat, this time against the Australians, and, as the team's head coach, David Blatt, noted, his players completely lacked fighting spirit. And indeed, there was very little teamwork, and attempts to "save the motherland" alone looked too straightforward.

The Russian handball players could also have ended their performances at the Beijing sports festival, but thanks to a goal by defender Alexander Igropulo and a save by young goalkeeper Oleg Grams in the last minute, our handball team kept their chances of reaching the playoffs, drawing with Germany. However, now it depends not only on them.

And the Russian volleyball players continue to rack up victories. On Saturday, the team led by Vladimir Alekno quite expectedly defeated Egypt - 3:0.

The brilliant American swimmer Michael Phelps, having won his seventh gold in Beijing in the 100-meter butterfly, repeated the achievement of his equally brilliant compatriot Mark Spitz in terms of the number of top medals at one Olympics. The athlete from the USA has one more final ahead (4x100 medley relay) and an excellent chance to become the best in this indicator. In total, Phelps already has 13 Olympic gold medals.

The 100-meter race among athletes was also phenomenal. Sprinter from Jamaica Usain Bolt, as if a whirlwind, rushed along the track, managing to slow down at the finish, hit himself on the chest, and victoriously spread his arms like wings. At the same time, he also managed to break the world record, raising it to a cosmic height of 9.69 seconds. It is noteworthy that world champion Tyson Gay did not make it to the final.

Roger Federer, quite annoyed by his failures, still took Olympic gold. Together with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, he won in the doubles. The Swedes Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin were beaten in four sets.

And, finally, the semi-finalists in the men's football tournament were determined. The first pair consisted of the Brazilians and the Argentinians, and the second, unexpectedly for many, the teams of Belgium and Nigeria. The Belgians knocked out Italy (3:2), and the Africans - other representatives of the Black Continent, Ivory Coast (2:0). Forward of Moscow "Lokomotiv" Peter Odemwingie scored one goal. (sportbox.ru)

GENERAL STANDINGS