Summer Olympic Games, Beijing 2008.

August 23



DAY SUMMARY

On the penultimate day of the 2008 Games, Team Russia won 12 medals – 4 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze. This was the team's best result in the current Olympics and allowed them to overtake Great Britain, securing third place in the overall medal standings.

The first, and for today, the first for herself, and for the entire team, gold medal in canoeing and kayaking was won by the renowned Maxim Opalev. This was the third Olympics for the athlete from Volgograd, and it finally brought him gold. The multiple world and European champion won the final race in the men's singles canoe 500 meters. Shortly after, the equally experienced Sergey Ulegin and Alexander Kostoglod could have repeated his success in the doubles competition, but in the end, they won silver, which they were unlikely to be upset about. The champions were the winners of the previous Olympics – the Chinese duo of Yang Wenjun and Meng Guanliang. In the men's singles kayak competition, our Artem Ryakhov finished fifth, while the Australian Ken Wallace took first place. The only Russian representative in the women's finals, Yuliana Salakhova, finished ninth in the women's canoe 500 meters, which was won by the Ukrainian Inna Osypenko-Radomska. Medals in the men's double kayak were awarded without the participation of Russians – the Spanish won, and the Hungarian women won.

The second gold medal of the day for Russia was won by the synchronized swimming team, who are unbeatable for the third consecutive Olympics. The team leaders, Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova, have now won their fourth Olympic gold medals in their careers.

The triumph of the Russian athlete in the individual competition in artistic gymnastics was no less expected. In the previous two Olympics, all the gold in this sport went to Russian athletes, and this time the Russian athlete, Evgenia Kanaeva, took the top spot on the podium. Her compatriot, Olga Kapranova, made a regrettable mistake and finished fourth.

And the last of the Russians, boxer Rakhim Chakhkiev, won a gold medal on Saturday. Unlike many of his teammates, he was not considered a favorite in his weight category, but he managed not only to reach the final but also to win against the world champion, Clement Russo. In other weight categories, the winners were: Somjit Jongjohor from Thailand (up to 51 kg), Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko (up to 57 kg), Felix Diaz from the Dominican Republic (up to 64 kg), and British James DeGale (up to 75 kg).

Three medals were won by Russian athletes – the women's team (Yulia Gushchina, Lyudmila Litvinova, Tatyana Firova, and Anastasia Kapachinskaya) won silver in the 4x400 meter relay. During the second and third legs, the Russian women were in the lead, but in the final stretch, they lost to the Americans. The US team also won in the same event for men, where the Russians unexpectedly took bronze. The team, which included Maxim Dyldin, Vyacheslav Frolov, Anton Kokorin, and Denis Alekseev, almost won silver, being in fifth place during the race. Another third place of the day was won by high jumper Anna Chicherova. She fought for gold until the very end, which unexpectedly went to Blanka Vlasic from Croatia, not the world leader in this discipline, and to Belgian Tia Hellebaut. Javelin thrower Ilya Korotkov, who finished sixth, and 1500-meter runner Anna Alminova, who finished eleventh, did not participate in the medal events. Victory in these events was won by Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway and Kenyan Nancy Langat. In the events where Russians did not participate, gold medals were won by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (5000 meters) and Wilfred Bungei from Kenya in the 800 meters.

Two medals were won by the Russian women's teams in team sports. But while the handball players lost to Norway with a humiliating score of 27:34 in the final, and won silver, which was tinged with sadness, the basketball players finished the Olympic tournament with their heads held high. By defeating the Chinese 94:81, they won bronze. The gold was won by the US team with a clear advantage. In other team finals, medals of the highest standard were won by the Brazilian volleyball players, the Argentine footballers, the German field hockey team, and the South Korean baseball team. In the individual competition of table tennis players, the entire podium was occupied by representatives of China.

And the day, which was so successful for the Russian team, began with Irina Kalentieva winning bronze in mountain biking. The world champion and World Cup winner, despite an unfortunate fall, managed to finish third. In the men's competition, Julien Absalon from France became the champion again, as he did four years ago.

Gleb Galperin also won bronze in the final event of the diving competition. And first place unexpectedly went not to the Chinese, who had won all the gold in this sport, but to Australian Matthew Mitcham, who performed brilliantly in the final.

Finally, in taekwondo, where Russians were not represented, the last medals of the highest standard were won by Maria Espinoza from Mexico (over 67 kg) and Korean Cha Dong-min (over 80 kg). There was also a major scandal here – the Cuban Angel Valodia Matos, after losing in the bronze medal match of the Olympic taekwondo tournament against the Kazakh Arman Chilmanov, in a fit of rage, hit the judge and was disqualified for life.

OVERALL STANDINGS