Posts from Summer Olympic Games, Beijing 2008.

I just watched the fight between our Arthur (I forgot his last name) against the Chinese fighter and yesterday's fight between us and the Englishman, and I was convinced otherwise. You can't judge like that. While there's room for debate regarding Timurziev, and as it turns out, there were obvious judging errors, and those judges won't be judging anymore, the fight between us and the Chinese fighter was something else. Not only did the Chinese fighter barely throw any punches (where did they get 8 punches from?!), but he also constantly interfered with our fighter, basically clinching him, especially in the 3rd and 4th rounds, which should have resulted in penalty points. But that's just half the story. Our boxer fought until the end and landed a huge number of ACCURATE punches on that Chinese fighter, but the judges didn't register them! I don't know what to call it, but it's very unpleasant to watch such judging.

No, the Chinese are definitely up to something...
They already have 22!! gold medals... while the Americans only have 10...
Of course, I understand that as hosts they are allowed in all events, but why has no one even heard of most of these champions at the world championships???
Sure, you could assume they just don't participate anywhere so as not to waste strength preparing for the next Olympics, but it looks kind of unrealistic...

Added after 43 minutes
And how do you explain the Chinese woman's record in weightlifting? She beat our world record by 10!!! kg, when adding even 3 kg is very problematic there... read about it here...

Added after 4 hours 9 minutes


On another day of competition for the main sporting event of the four-year cycle, the Russian team's piggy bank was replenished with two medals - gold and silver. Both awards were brought to the team by Greco-Roman wrestlers - Aslanbek Khushtov took first place in the under 96 kg weight class, and Khasan Baroev lost in the final of the under 120 kg category to Cuban Mihaín López. Alexey Mishin also had a chance to fight for medals in the under 84 kg weight class, but lost in the quarterfinals to future champion Andrea Minguzzi from Italy.

Additionally, Russian tennis players guaranteed themselves at least one medal. Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva defeated American Serena Williams and Sybille Bammer from Austria, respectively. The gritty victory of same-time same-Games silver medalist Dementieva over Williams, who was considered one of the favorites of the Olympic tournament, turned out to be especially beautiful. Now Zvonareva and Dementieva will play each other in the semifinals. Another Russian Dinara Safina will play her quarterfinal match against world number one Jelena Janković from Serbia tomorrow. As for the men, the last Russian athletes have packed away their rackets - Igor Andreev and Nikolai Davydenko lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles event.

Russian female shooters could have brought medals to the country, but fate decided otherwise. Lyubov Galkina took a disappointing fourth place in the 50m rifle shooting, while Svetlana Demina failed to reach the Olympic final in trap shooting in the skeet discipline altogether, showing only a 12th result in qualification. Chinese Du Li and Chiara Carneiro from Italy became the Olympic champions in these events.

Russian gymnasts also had chances for medals. Sergey Khorokordin and Maxim Devyatovsky fell short of the podium by only 0.2 points and ultimately took fifth and sixth place, while Chinese athlete Yang Wei won the gold.

Russian swimmer Arkady Vyatchanin made it to the final of the 200m backstroke on his second attempt. In the first semifinal, our swimmer showed the same time as German Helge Möbius, so a swim-off was scheduled. In it, Vyatchanin proved to be far superior. Additionally, in the deciding race for the two hundred meter breaststroke. However, Russians were not represented in today's finals. Gold went to Japanese Kosuke Kitajima in the men's 200m breaststroke, Liu Zige from China in the same distance butterfly for women, Frenchman Alain Bernard, who beat world record holder Ian Thorpe of Australia in the 100m freestyle, and the Australian women's team in the 4x200m freestyle relay, improving the world record by over 5 seconds.

The judo masters were disappointing - Ruslan Gasimov lost to German Benjamin Berla in the very first round of competition in the under 100 kilogram weight category, and Vera Moskaliuk in the under 78 kg weight class lost in the 1/8 finals to Spanish judoka Ester San Miguel. The gold medals here went to Mongolian wrestler Naidan Tuvshinbayar, who became the first Olympic champion in his country's history, and Yang Shulun from China.

Russian archery representative Natalya Erdynieva was also unable to fight for medals. In the 1/8 final stage, she lost to future champion Zhang Juanjuan from China.

Likewise, Russian sabre fencers lost at early stages on the way to the podium to future champions. After a victory over the Russian team, the Ukrainian team beat the Americans and Chinese and received Beijing gold.

Another set of awards was contested without the participation of Russian athletes - German riders won the team dressage tournament. And two finals in canoe slalom scheduled for today were canceled due to bad weather.

Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev suffered a disappointing defeat in the 1/16 finals of his weight category against Chinese boxer Zhang Xiaoping. However, no one would raise a hand to accuse Artur of poor boxing – when unfair judging decisions come into play, no amount of boxing helps... Another Russian loss in this sport was Andrey Balanov, who lost to world champion Demetrius Andrade from the USA in the under 69 kg weight class.

As for team sports, Russians have nothing to boast about today. The only pleasant event for Russian fans is the victory of the men's volleyball team over the great Brazilians - 3:1. A second defeat in the beach volleyball tournament was suffered by the Russian pair Dmitry Barsuk and Igor Kolodinsky, but they managed to break into the playoffs and will continue their fight for medals. Also, the men's handball team lost, conceding a goal from the Danes in the last second. The basketball players also lost, falling 79:86 to the Lithuanian team. Finally, the Russian men's national table tennis team ended their appearances in Beijing ignominiously, losing to the Nigerian team. (sportbox.ru)

GENERAL STANDINGS

Added after 21 hours 35 minutes


On another competition day of the Beijing Olympics, Russian athletes won four awards, all of bronze merit. At the same time, medals in canoe slalom, archery and even swimming should be recognized as an undeniable success for the Russians.

Although the main heroines of the day should be recognized as the Russian tennis players. Dinara Safina beat world number one Jelena Janković from Serbia and became the third Russian semifinalist in singles. Thus, two of the three awards in this event will guaranteed go to Russians. Unfortunately, both pairs composed of Russian representatives ended their struggle at the quarterfinal stage. Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina lost to the Williams sisters, and Svetlana Kuznetsova and Safina to Chinese girls.

And the first of the Russians to ascend the podium on Friday was swimmer Arkady Vyatchanin. He came third in the final race over a distance of 200 meters backstroke. This medal, as they say in such cases, has a golden tint. Vyatchanin, who had been struggling with a high fever for the last few days, led for 150 meters of the distance, beating the world record pace, but the Russian ran out of strength at the finish; he was overtaken by recognized leaders in this type of swimming Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol. In other finals Yulia Efimova came fifth in the two hundred meter breaststroke, while American Rebecca Sonye won, German Britta Steffen unexpectedly won the women's 100m freestyle, and Michael Phelps received his sixth Beijing gold in the 200m individual medley.

Once again, our former specialty - artistic gymnastics - brought no medals to Russia. American Nastia Lyukin with Russian roots became the absolute Olympic champion. By half a point, she beat her compatriot Shawn Johnson, who ultimately became the silver medalist. Russians Ksenia Semenova and Anna Pavlova were unable to place among the winners, taking fourth and seventh places respectively.

The second bronze of the day was won by weightlifter Nadezhda Evstyukhina, who only slightly lost to Kazakhstan representative Alla Vazhenina in the fight for silver. The first place in the women's weightlifting competitions in the under 75 kilogram category went to Chinese Cao Lei, who was far stronger than her other opponents. And in the men's under 85 kilograms category, where Russians did not participate, same-country Chinese Lu Yong beat world record holder Andrey Rybakov from Belarus in a dramatic struggle.

In rifle shooting from a distance of 50m, Ukrainian representative Artur Ayvazyan prevailed. And Russian shooters received a medal without a fight today. Silver medalist in 10-meter pistol shooting Kim Yong-Su from the DPRK was caught using doping, which allowed Vladimir Isakov, who took fourth place on August 12, to move up one position.

Russian fans were pleased by the canoe crew consisting of Mikhail Kuznetsov and Dmitry Larionov, who took third place in the doubles canoe slalom competition. Gold in this event was won by a family duo from Slovakia Pavel Hochšorner/Peter Hochšorner. Gold for women in single kayak competitions was won by another representative of Slovakia Elena Kaliska.

Russian archer Bair Badenov won a bronze award in the men's individual championship. In the bout for bronze, Badenov defeated Mexican Juan Serrano. Badenov could have fought for gold, but in the semifinal he lost only in a shoot-off to Ukrainian Viktor Ruban, who ultimately became champion.

Russian judokas ended the Olympic tournament ignominiously, once again remaining without medals. Neither Tea Donguzashvili (over 78 kg) nor Tamerlan Tmenov (over 100 kg) managed to fight even for bronze, and yet they were the main hopes of the Russian team. The champions in these weights were Chinese Tong Wen and Ishii Satoshi from Japan.

Three more sets of medals were contested without the participation of Russians. In the men's épée team competitions, the French prevailed; gold in the women's badminton doubles went to the Chinese; and the first top-tier medal on the velodrome was received by German cyclists who won the team sprint.

The Olympic athletics tournament started on Friday, where the first two sets of awards were contested. Unfortunately, Russians failed to grab any medals. In shot put Pavel Sofyin came eighth, and the gold medal, the first for her country, was won by Pole Tomasz Majewski. In the women's 10,000 meters race with the second fastest time in history Tirunesh Dibaba from Ethiopia won, while Russian representatives Maria Konovalova and Inga Abitova came fifth and sixth. As for other results, it is worth noting Gulnara Samitova-Galkina's victory in the 3000m steeplechase semifinal with an Olympic record.

Russian boxers suffered another loss - world champion Sergey Vodopyanov, once again with questionable judging, lost to Akhil Kumar from India. Meanwhile, Russian team captain Alexey Tishchenko confidently defeated Anthony Little from Australia and reached the quarterfinals.

The day proved successful for Russian women's teams in team sports. Volleyball players beat the Algerian team (3:0), basketball players - the Brazilian team (74:64), handball players - a strong Hungarian team (33:24). And only the water polo team, having already lost their chances to reach the playoffs, lost their last group stage match to the Americans - 7:12.(sportbox.ru)

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

Heroine, thank you for the detailed report! The fact that three of our tennis players were on the podium in tennis is really cool!!!

Heroine, thank you for the information about the Olympics :) Huge respect! :) Regarding the judging... This morning, before work, I decided to have a cup of coffee and watch TV at the same time. They were showing a competition between Russian and American musketeers. The score was almost in our favor, and winning would have put us in the final, in a battle for gold against the Italians. But the judges decided otherwise. We had already started celebrating victory twice, but the Americans appealed, and the judge who had just awarded the winning point to the Russian team immediately rushed to consult with the other judges, and in the end, they took that point away... We have to give credit to our musketeer, Pozdnyakov, who, after such moments, managed to pull himself together and seemingly score another winning point... But the judges were not on our side. And again, they took it away, the score was 44-44. And luck smiled on the Americans. They were jumping for joy like monkeys. And Pozdnyakov, who was devastated by the unfair judging and whose arm was injured by the same American, lay defeated, his face buried in the floor. It was a very sad sight. It's frustrating for our guys. And it's disgusting to watch such judging... :( And the Chinese's golden streak is a bit unsettling and makes you think... I remember the Winter Olympics in Finland, where the Finns won almost everything. And in the end, almost the entire Finnish team was found to be using doping! I don't want to say anything, but it looks strange... Especially, I remember the recent performance of the weightlifters, where our girl won bronze. A Chinese woman won, and maybe it's just me, but she lifted the weight too easily, almost playfully, as if she were lifting a yoke with buckets, not a barbell. And she lifted the weight twice in a row and didn't even flinch... I want to hope that these are just my suspicions, then we can only state the fact that China is becoming a super sports power. And we are going downhill. It's frustrating, to be honest...

Today, the Chinese team won 8 gold medals... the day is not over yet. And to top it off, they also won 4 bronze medals.

I am amazed by the American swimmer Michael Phelps! He won everything possible! Is that even possible? :confused: :)

Yeah, me too. He has some inhuman speed! He's always ahead: by half a body length, a full body length, or even two. It seems like he's training in a pool with crocodiles. Although, maybe it's all about his suit? A special design, material? Water-repellent and so on. They did say that special suits were being developed for swimmers. But that's just speculation, nothing more.

The wetsuit, of course, played its part, and I think it was quite significant, but before, people somehow managed without them, and probably didn't shave their entire bodies :D and they swam pretty well... Although, from a hydrodynamic point of view, it's quite justified!

Guys, you're looking in the wrong place... you need to train. The Chinese are trained during practice, and that's why they beat everyone. And Phelps, of course, is a god. He's a phenomenon, but... everyone expected him to win eight medals.

Russia's achievements are not particularly outstanding, but I tried to sum up the medals of the former USSR countries, and the result is quite good...
By the way, I can't find complete statistics on the USSR's performance anywhere.
For example, on the main website about the Olympics, there are statistics on performances since 1896, and...
...the USA has 2100+ medals in its history (almost 900 of them gold)
The British have 660+ medals
Australia has 386
The Chinese have 320+ medals, including this Olympics, but only since 1984!!!
Russia has 248 medals from 1996-2004
Ukraine has 70 medals from 1996-2004

But nothing is said about the USSR (it is only mentioned a couple of times in the records)
Statistics are only kept from 1996 for the separated countries (even 1992 is not counted :confused:)

P.S. By the way, Michael Phelps won one of his gold medals by beating the second-place finisher by one hundredth of a second... it's not a fact that everything was fair :) sometimes even the "photo finish" devices make mistakes when it's really needed, and it's impossible to see such a thing visually...

Our girls did great, words fail me =) I mean Dementieva, Safina, Zvonareva and Isinbaeva =)

August 17



RESULTS OF THE DAY

On Sunday, 37 sets of awards were contested at the Olympics in Beijing. Representatives of the Russian team won two golds, four silvers and four bronzes! Russians have never gathered such a harvest in Beijing before!

Certainly, the super-achievement of Russian beauties Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva, who took the entire Olympic tennis podium, stands apart. They gave the fans an unforgettable performance, without complaining about the tight schedule, hot weather and referee own will.

No less significant was the first gold medal in women's athletics. The role of "trailblazer" fell to Gulnara Galkina-Samitova. Leaving all opponents far behind, she flew like a bird through the 3000 meter steeplechase, stopping the stopwatch at 8.58,81. This is a new world record. Third place in this discipline was taken by the current same-world champion Ekaterina Volkova.

Unfortunately, Tatyana Lebedeva again failed to become an Olympic champion in the triple jump, taking second place. As in Athens, she was overtaken — with a new Olympic record of 15 meters 39 centimeters — by Cameroonian Françoise Mbanga Etone. Lebedeva trailed by only seven centimeters. Knowing her character, we look forward to rehabilitation in the long jump.

Yulia Pakhalina's second place in the three-meter springboard diving is akin to gold. The Chinese women let no one overtake them here, and our compatriot managed to compete with them almost on equal terms. By the way, this is already Pakhalina's second silver medal in Beijing; in total, the same Penza native has one gold, three silvers and a bronze in her Olympic piggy bank.

In women's freestyle wrestling in the weight up to 63 kilograms, Alena Kartashova also took second place, losing only to the Athens Olympic champion Japanese Kaori Icho.

The "bronze" count of the Russian team was supplemented by weightlifter Hadzimurad Akkaev in the weight up to 94 kilograms. At the same time, he trailed the winner by only four kilograms, performing in the "uncomfortable" group B.

Anton Golotsutkov's third place in the floor exercise somewhat softened the unpleasant aftertaste left by our gymnasts' performance in Beijing. This Chinese-style medal is currently their only one.

Unfortunately, the sabre fencers remained without medals, which we had every right to expect. In the semifinals, they lost to the Americans by just one touch, and in the match for third place they also lost to the Italian team by a minimal margin.

The women's basketball, handball and volleyball players completed the group tournament. The basketball players, pupils of Igor Grudin, lost to the Australians (55:75), took second place and will meet Spain in the quarterfinals. The volleyball players, Giovanni Caprara's team, seem to have found their rhythm and defeated the representatives of Serbia convincingly. By draw, the first opponent in the playoffs for the Russians became the Olympic hosts. And finally, the handball players, beating the German team with a score of 30:29, advanced to the quarterfinals from first place in the group, where France awaits them. The women's national water polo team defeated the Greeks in the match for seventh place.

American wonder-swimmer Michael Phelps won his eighth medal in Beijing together with teammates in the 4x100 meter relay and broke compatriot Mike Spitz's record for the number of gold medals at a single Olympics. In total, it is frightening to say, Phelps became a fourteen-time Olympic champion. The US athlete will receive one million dollars from a sponsor for his achievement.

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal continued to stamp out victories in major tournaments, adding the main Olympic trophy to "Roland Garros" and Wimbledon. In three sets, he dealt with Chilean Fernando Gonzalez quite easily. The Williams sisters expectedly became Olympic champions in doubles.

Jamaican sprinters allowed no one else on the podium in the 100 meters, Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia won the 10,000 meter run, improving his own Athens Olympic record. (sportbox.ru)

August 18



RESULTS OF THE DAY

On Monday, 18 sets of awards were contested at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Russian athletes pleased fans with a gold, silver and three bronze medals.

First and foremost, one should note the brilliant victory of Elena Isinbaeva. The Russian athlete entered the pole vault sector with the intention not only to win gold but also to set a new world record. And so it happened! Soaring to 5.05, Isinbaeva surpassed her own achievement and gave fans unforgettable moments of joy. The bronze award was won by another of our renowned pole vaulters – Svetlana Feofanova.

Silver and bronze were brought to the Russian team by our weightlifters. Dmitry Klokov took second place in the final of the 105 kilogram weight category, while another Russian Dmitry Lapikov showed the third result. The first was Belarusian Andrei Aramnov, who set a world record.
In artistic gymnastics, Russia took a bronze medal today. Anton Golotsutkov took third place in the vault final. He trailed the winner — current world champion on this apparatus Pole Leszek Blanik — by less than one tenth of a point. The Polish gymnast showed the same result as Frenchman Thomas Bouhel but beat him on tie-breaking indicators. This bronze became Golotsutkov's second in Beijing - earlier he took third in the floor exercise.

Now about unfulfilled medal hopes. More than others, perhaps, the Olympic champion of Sydney Irina Karavaeva disappointed Russian fans. Our athlete, considered the main contender for gold, made a gross error on the last landing and ultimately showed only the fifth result. Another potential medal was lost by Russian cyclist Olga Slyusareva, who took eighth place in the points race on the track. Our runner Svetlana Klyuka could have won bronze — but she lacked the strength to overtake Moroccan Hasna Benhassi at the finish.

As for team sports, first of all, our and Danish handball players were pleasing. The former — with their victory over Korea 29:22, the latter — over Germany 27:21. It was the Danes' victory that allowed Vladimir Maksimov's pupils to advance to the quarterfinals, where they will battle the French. The Russian volleyball team lost to the Poles in five sets in the last match of the group stage, thus taking second place in their group. Finally, the basketball team leaves the Olympics without glory, losing a meaningless match to Argentina 91:79. (sportbox.ru)

GENERAL STANDINGS

No less significant was the first medal of the highest standard in athletics. Gulnara Galkina-Samitova turned out to be the "trailblazer".

Actually, Valery Borchin won the first gold in athletics a day earlier :)

Added 10 minutes ago

I want to hope that these are just my suspicions, then it remains to state the fact that China is becoming a super sports power... And we are going downhill... It's a pity... really...

Regarding doping and other things... I have serious doubts about African athletes. Cameroon, which beat Tanya Lebedeva, doesn't show results above 14.70 anywhere except at the Olympics, and at the Olympics, it's almost a meter more. Strange. Yesterday, there was a women's 800m race. The winner from Kenya looked as if she had been injected before the start, both after the finish and at the award ceremony. No emotions, nothing, and her body was stiff; it seemed like she was about to fall.
The judges are favoring the Chinese. This is clearly visible. In gymnastics, in jumping, and even in boxing. There may also be doping. The sports world has invested a lot of money in the development of new drugs, and by the time they learn to identify and ban them, their users will have won many more gold medals.
As for our athletes... The problem is not with the athletes. They give their all. The problem is with the leaders. As long as Mr. Tyagachev is at the head of the ROC, we will continue to go downhill. This is a complete misunderstanding... A simple coach becomes the highest sports official. I hated him after Salt Lake City. How he let down our figure skaters and skiers. Fetisov too. Five of our athletes are suspended before the Olympics. Think about it. Five athletes who could have realistically won five medals!!! And our officials are silent, keeping their mouths shut. They should all be fired! But, unfortunately, this is not realistic. They have too many connections in the highest leadership of the country. So, we, ordinary fans, can only silently gnash our teeth and curse the unfair judging, watching through tears as our country is humiliated before the whole world.

Added 15 minutes ago

I am amazed by the American swimmer Michael Phelps! He won everything possible! Is that even possible? :confused: :)

I don't want to say anything about Phelps. And I'm especially annoyed when our commentators call him the greatest Olympian in history, forgetting that in swimming, you can win eight gold medals at one Olympics, while in wrestling, boxing, and many other sports, you can only win one. And no one will convince me that our Karelin, Isinbayeva, Nemov, Sautin, and many others are less great athletes.
Marion Jones came to mind... How everyone admired her, were delighted with her, promoted her, and then her tearful face at the press conference...
No analogies, just something that surfaced from the depths of my memory ;)

P.S. Mutko came to mind with his "brilliant" idea. How to improve sports in the country. It turns out that we need to take sponsorship money from the federations and give it to the ministry :) That's what they have in mind. Not the results of the athletes, not the development of sports in the country, including mass and children's sports. Only money, how to grab a bigger piece for themselves. Scoundrels...

Russia is on the rise... I think the British won't be a problem... 3rd place is the minimum goal;
And of course, I want Ukraine to stay in the top 10 and not give up its place to the French.

August 19



RESULTS OF THE DAY

Tuesday, August 19, brought Russian fans two gold, one silver, and three bronze awards. Gold Olympic medals were won by wrestler Mavlet Batirov and high jumper Andrey Silnov.

Mavlet Batirov emerged victorious in the freestyle wrestling finals in the weight category up to 60 kilograms over Ukrainian Vasyl Fedoryshyn and became a two-time Olympic champion. The first medal of the day, of bronze merit, was brought by another of our wrestlers, Besik Kudukhov. In the bout for third place in the weight category up to 55 kilograms he won against Dilshod Mansurov from Uzbekistan.

The jumps of our athletes – Andrey Silnov and Yaroslav Rybakov – were gold and bronze. Silnov flew higher than all - 2 meters 36 centimeters, while Yaroslav Rybakov, who cleared the bar set at 2.34, lost only on attempts to Briton Jermaine same.

Another silver medal was brought by Russian weightlifting. This time, in the super-heavyweight category over 105 kilograms, Evgeny Chigishev showed the second result. Only one kilogram separated Evgeny from Beijing gold.

A bronze medal was won by Russian cyclists Mikhail Ignatyev and Alexei Markov. Choosing the right tactic in the team points race, our cyclists managed to bypass their opponents and take a good third place for themselves.

Once again, missed awards must be mentioned. It seems our athletes are leaders in the number of fourth places. Anna Pavlova took the so-called "wooden medal" in the women's balance beam exercises, Dmitry Sautin was fourth in diving from a three-meter springboard, and athlete Yulia Gushchina in the 400 meters fell eight hundredths of a second short of the podium. Even worse were our trampoline jumpers – Dmitry Ushakov and Alexander Rusakov took sixth and seventh places.

Russian boxer Alexei Tishchenko defeated Colombian Darleys Perez on points in the quarter-final bout of the weight category up to 60 kilograms. In the semi-finals, Tishchenko's opponent will be Armenian athlete Grachik Javakhyan.

Game sports brought more joy than sorrow to the fans. Victories of the women's handball team over the French and the basketball team over the Spanish in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournaments softened the disappointment from the defeat of the volleyball national team – Kaprara's pupils lost ignominiously to China – 0:3. (sportbox.ru)

August 20



RESULTS OF THE DAY

Wednesday, August 20 brought three top-tier medals to the Russian team's tally. Effort was made for this by Larisa Ilchenko in the 10 km swim, Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova in synchronized swimming, as well as wrestler Buvaisar Saitiev, who took a gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the weight category up to 74 kg.

The first gold of the day was brought by Russian swimmer Larisa Ilchenko, who won a gold medal in open water swimming over a distance of 10 kilometers.

Throughout the entire swim, which lasted nearly 2 hours, eight-time world champion Ilchenko stayed close to the leading pair from Great Britain. And with 100 meters left, the Russian very quickly bypassed her opponents, finishing with a two-second advantage.

The Russian duet Anastasia Davydova/Anastasia Ermakova brilliantly performed their free program, proving superiority over their rivals. All five judges gave them a score of 10.0 points for technique and three out of five judges gave 10.0 points for artistry.

For Davydova and Ermakova, this is already the third Olympic gold. Four years ago in Athens, they prevailed in the duet competitions and in the team championship.

Russian freestyle wrestler Buvaisar Saitiev won a gold medal in the weight category up to 74 kg. In the final, he defeated Uzbekistan representative Soslan Tigiev.

The first period went to the Uzbek, however, in the second segment of the bout Saitiev performed a successful move and equalized the score. In the third period, the Russian carried out two successful attacks and won the deciding segment, becoming a three-time Olympic champion.

The 33-year-old wrestler became the best in 1996 in Atlanta and in 2004 in Athens.

The Russian men's national volleyball team reached the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Beijing, defeating the Bulgarian team 3:1 in the first playoff match.
On the other hand, our men's handball national team lost in the quarter-final of the Olympic tournament to the French team with a score of 24:27.

The French team took the lead almost immediately after the start of the match and maintained the advantage throughout the game, leading by a difference of 4-5 goals. In the middle of the second half, the Russians managed to close in on their opponents to within one goal (21:22), but they could do no more. The French then scored three goals in a row, making the score 25:21 and calmly brought the match to victory.

Now the Russian national team will participate in the tournament for 5-8th places.
The Russian four-person kayak crew - Ilya Medvedev, Evgeny Salakhov, Anton Vasilyev, Konstantin Vishnyakov - reached the final with the best time in the semi-final heat.

Wednesday was also marked by a new world record from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in the 200 meters. This is already Bolt's second record in Beijing, having won a few days ago with a new world record in the hundred-meter dash.

Another Jamaican runner, Melaine Walker, following Bolt, won the 400-meter hurdles and set a new Olympic record.
Chinese Yin Jian brought her country its 44th gold medal by winning the windsurfing competitions.

New Zealander Tom Ashley became the winner of the windsurfing competitions at the Beijing Olympics. The 24-year-old athlete beat Frenchman Julien Bontemps by only one point.

Wednesday was not without scandals either. The doping test of Olympic silver medalist in the heptathlon, Ukrainian Lyudmila Blonskaya, showed the presence of the anabolic steroid stanozolol in her body. The IOC Executive Board is to consider her disqualification today, deprivation of the medal and Olympic accreditation. If this happens, the silver medal in the heptathlon will pass to American Hylis Fontaine, and the bronze — to Russian Tatyana Chernova.

Meanwhile, Olympic silver medalist Churandy Martina from the Antilles has already been stripped of his award won in the 200 meters.

The management of the US team protested the results of the men's final 200m race, the same one in which Jamaican Usain Bolt finished with a world record. The Americans claimed that silver medalist Martina stepped over the inner line of the track on the curve and, therefore, should be disqualified.

After carefully studying the video replay, the jury of the International Association of Athletics Federations decided to grant the protest. Thus, Churandy Martina is stripped of the silver medal and disqualified; silver will go to 2004 Olympic champion Shawn Crawford, and bronze to Walter Dix. Both represent the US team. (sportbox.ru)

GENERAL STANDINGS

Added after 23 hours 36 minutes

August 21



RESULTS OF THE DAY

On Thursday, the Russian team's tally was supplemented by six awards, three of which were gold. Thanks to this, our team's position in the unofficial team standings has noticeably improved. Russia moved up to fourth place, and the gap from Great Britain, which is third, is only one gold medal.

Early in the morning, 23-year-old native of Napolnaya Tavla Olga Kaniskina seemingly easily walked under the incessant Beijing rain 20 kilometers and won a gold medal, covering this distance with a new Olympic record. The 2007 world champion took the lead from the very start and let no one close, only receiving a warning once for breaking into a run. Note that on Saturday, another representative of Russia, Valery Borchin, covered 20 km faster than all others.

As always, we expected much from our wrestlers, and they, once again, did not fail, winning medals of three different merits in three weight categories. Georgiy Ketoyev, in the bout for a bronze award in weights up to 84 kilograms, defeated German David Bichnashvili on points. Bakhtiyar Ahmedov reached the final in weight up to 120 kg and lost to Uzbekistan representative Artur Taymazov, who proved clearly stronger than the Russian in the deciding bout. Gold for Russia in the category up to 96 kg was brought by Shirvani Muradov. The Dagestani wrestler proved stronger than Kazakh Taimuraz Tigiev in a stubborn fight. Thus, our freestyle wrestlers, who have completed their performance in Beijing, won three golds, two silvers and two bronzes!

Athens Olympic champion pentathlete Andrey Moiseev, winning a gold medal, repeated his success in the capital of China. Before the last event of the program, the 3000-meter run, the Russian had an advantage over his closest pursuer, Chinese Qian Renhua, of 13 seconds. Throughout the distance, Moiseev left no doubt about his class, finishing with the national flag in his hands.

In athletics, Russians also did not remain without precious metals. Gold could have gone to Russia in women's javelin throw, but for victory Maria Abakumova fell just a little bit short and she received silver. Although this notorious "little bit" became the main leitmotif for Russians at the XXIX Olympics. Before the last attempt, Abakumova led with a result of 70.78 m (Russian record), but Czech Barbora Špotáková managed to beat this achievement by 66 centimeters.

Both doping tests taken from Ukrainian Lyudmila Blonskaya after the completion of the Olympic competitions in the heptathlon showed the presence of a prohibited drug in the athlete's body — methyltestosterone. Now her medal will pass to American Hylis Fontaine, and the bronze medal passed to Russian Tatyana Chernova, who finished fourth.

The Russian women's relay four, consisting of Evgenia Polyakova, Alexandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and Yulia Chermoshanskaya, in the semi-final of the Olympic tournament showed the second result and qualified for participation in the final.

Russian Ilya Korotkov reached the final of the javelin throw competitions at the Beijing Olympics. Our athlete showed the second result in qualification group B, throwing the projectile 83.33 meters.

Russian kayaker Yuliana Salakhova fought her way into the final of the Olympic competitions over a distance of 500 meters, showing the second result in her semi-final heat - 1.53,603. And among men, kayaker Anton Ryakhov reached the final over the same distance. In his semi-final heat he also showed the second result - 1.42,968.

All three representatives of the Russian team - Svetlana Shkolina, Anna Chicherova and Elena Slesarenko - reached the final of the high jump competitions at the Beijing Olympics, showing a result of 1.93 m in qualification.

Russian Anna Alminova successfully passed the qualification in the 1500 meters run at the Beijing Olympics. She finished with a result of 4.04,36, which was the fifth time of the day.

Bronze medalist of the last two Olympics in Sydney and Athens Russian Sergey Makarov could not fight his way into the final part of the javelin throw competitions at the Beijing Games (video). In qualification group A, where the Russian competed, Sergey managed to show only the 14th result. The javelin thrown by Makarov flew 72.47 meters.

In game sports, semi-final and final battles took place today. Deciding matches were held for women's football (USA - Brazil – 1:0) and women's water polo (Holland – USA – 9:8). Brazilians and Americans reached the final of the volleyball tournament. News also arrived about the Russian women's national volleyball team, which ended its struggle at the quarter-final stage; its head coach Giovanni Caprara has resigned.

An epic match took place in basketball, where Igor Grudin's squad faced semi-monsters-semi-gods from the USA team. The final score (-15) does not reflect the true course of events on the court. In the first half, the Russian national team surpassed their opponents in almost all components, except for play on their own backboard. This eventually came back to haunt the Russians in the third and fourth quarters. Ambiguous refereeing decisions also played a role. The Americans immediately felt weakness in the actions of the Russian national team and made a deciding break in the middle of the third quarter. In the final ten minutes, the stars-and-stripes expanded their success, securing themselves against a nervous ending. The best among the Russians was center Maria Stepanova, who scored 14 points and fought desperately under both hoops. Alas, her efforts were not enough to reach the final. Now the Russian women's national basketball team will fight for bronze with the Chinese. And in the final, USA and Australia will play.

But Russia will be represented in the same women's handball final! Evgeny Trefilov's pupils, remembering the "heart-stopping" bout in the quarter-final against the French, immediately took the initiative into their own hands in the game with the Hungarians and did not let go until the very end of the match. The Russians went to the break leading by 5 goals. Before the final whistle, Hungarian handball players were able to reduce this gap only to two points. In the final, the Russian national team will meet the same Norway team, which in its semi-final beat Korea by a margin of only one goal. The last time our handball players met the Norwegians was in the final of the last world championship. And then the Russians confidently beat their opponents with a five-goal advantage. (sportbox.ru)

GENERAL STANDINGS

P.S. Also, our gold contender in the 800 meters run (men) Yuri Borzakovskiy, who was considered a favorite, did not make it to the final =(((