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The 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing Games of the XXIX Olympiad - August 8 to August 24 |  |
| US team medals | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 2004 Games in Athens 2004 Medals | 35 | 39 | 29 | 103 |
| 2008 Games in Beijing 2008 Medals | 36 | 38 | 36 | 110 |
NBC plans to broadcast and archive 2,200 hours of video which users may watch live and call up on-demand for free. Perkins Miller is Senior Vice President of digital media for Sports and Olympics. Miller says, "We're talking about doing 25 sports online that we aren't really doing on broadcast. There will be significantly more content online than on air."
NBC will not offer computer users live video of any events also delivered live via traditional TV broadcast methods.
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Sports the
US Gold medaled in last time out | ||
 Swimming - 28(2004) 31(2008) At an age when most people are embarrassed just to be seen in a swimsuit, Dara Torres amazingly won the 50- and 100-meter freestyles to book an improbable berth on her record fifth Olympic team. American records were set in the events by 41-year-old Dara Torres, the oldest American swimmer to ever make the team. The suits - Australian and U.S. swimmers and others wearing the Speedo LZR Racer suit have set 38 world records since its introduction in February. And rival manufacturers are rushing to upgrade their bodysuits to a level that will satisfy swimmers and federations desperate to win medals in Beijing in August. Likely to include many of the same athletes, the 2008 men's team should beat the nine golds and 18 overall medals won in 2004. |
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| Track
& Field - 25(2004)
23(2008) Leo Manzano is one of three success stories that began years ago in different lands and will come together in the 1,500-meter race at the Beijing Games. Manzano (Mexico), Lopez Lomong (Sudan) and Bernard Lagat (Kenya) were all born in places where poverty and fear grabbed hold of so many lives and often controlled them. They now find themselves representing their adopted country. Their race is the 1,500 meters -- but their journeys have been about so much more than four laps around the track. Sanya Richards finished 2007 with the five fastest 400 times in the world and broke 50 seconds eight times. She also finished 2007 with an engagement ring from Aaron Ross. His proposal, made during a taping feature on Richards, aired on national TV prior to a Dec. 17 NFL game in which he was playing. Ross wound up six weeks later with a ring of his own, as a starting cornerback for the Super Bowl champion NY Giants. | Sayna Richards, who has battled an illness that caused painful ulcers in her mouth and on her legs, was impressive in winning the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., last month in 49.89 seconds. "It was good to see her get first place and qualify for the Olympics," Ross said. "She has been waiting for it for four years." While Richards is a medal favorite, Ross knows anything can happen. The Giants proved that against the previously unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl. "On any given day, anybody can win," he said. "You can fall, slip, pull up, anything. [Sprinter] Tyson Gay pulled up in the 200 and won't have a chance to run. Anything can happen. You can take nothing for granted." | |
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| Gymnastics
- 9(2004) 10(2008) The men - USA Gymnastics announced the six men and three replacement athletes it will nominate to the U.S. Olympic Committee to comprise the 2008 U.S. Olympic Men’s Gymnastics Team. The women - Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas were two women nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team after finishing first and second, respectively, at the Olympic Team Trials. The balance of the women's team will be determined following the selection camp in late July. Clip USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team | Wrestling
- 5(2004) 3(2008) Jake Deitchler, 18, won his Greco-Roman weight class at the trials and became the youngest U.S. Olympic wrestler since 1976. The women made their first debut in the 2004 Olympics. They came away with 2 medals for their efforts. The modern sport which returned to Olympics in 1896, involves two opponents trying to throw one another to the floor and pin them to the ground. There are two styles -- Greco-Roman, where holds are allowed from the waist up, and Freestyle, where holds are allowed on the whole body. Clip olympic wrestling men Clip olympic wrestling women | |
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| Cycling
- 4(2004)
5(2008) Bicycles were first developed in 1817and have long since been used as a form of transport. Cycling at the Olympics features four exciting disciplines: road, track, mountain biking and bmx. In the first modern Olympics (1896), the cyclists raced 87 kilometers over two laps of the marathon course. It wasn't until 1984 in Los Angeles that women got to join the action. Currently there are four events in the Olympic road-racing program: men's and women's road race and men's and women's time trials. Cycling Results. USA Cycling News | Shooting
- 3(2004) 6(2008) Air Force shooter Dominic Grazioli (San Antonio, Texas) will represent the U.S. on his first Olympic team in Beijing. He is the reigning National Champion in Men's Trap. Last year's national champion in Women's Skeet, Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.), a three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold medalist, 2000 bronze medalist) in Women's Double Trap will be in Beijing this summer to compete on her fourth consecutive U.S. Olympic Team, this time in Women's Skeet. Rhode made the switch to Skeet since the Women's Double Trap event was eliminated from Olympic competition following the 2004 Games in Athens. Shooting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games promotional video | |
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| Rowing
- 2(2004) 3(2008) Rowing has been part of the competition since the 1900 Summer Olympics. It had been on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to weather. Only men were allowed to compete until women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. There are two classes in the modern sport of rowing - sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, the crew members each row with two oars, one on either side of the boat. In sweep the rowers have both hands on a single oar and row on one side of the boat only. News and Results | Sailing
- 2(2004) 2(2008) Sailing first became an Olympic sport in Paris in 1900, where time handicaps were used to adjudicate the race. The race format and the classes of competing boats have changed frequently since then. There are nine different boats that sail in the Olympics. Contested in a fleet racing format, boats of the same class race around the same course over a series of days, with a final regatta race on the last day of competition. Olympic sailing pits the highest level sailors against each other in equipment which sometimes has roots back in the first Olympic sailing races. News and Results | |
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| Taekwondo
- 1(2004) 3(2008) After being showcased as a demonstration sport in 1988 in Seoul and then in Barcelona in 1992, the martial art know as taekwondo became an official, full-fledged Olympic sport in Sydney. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, athletes will compete for eight sets of medals, four men's and four women's WTF President Stresses Importance of Fair Judging, Refereeing at Olympic Taekwondo Competition. At the meeting, WTF President Choue gave a plaque of appointment as Olympic referee to each of the 29 Olympic referees. They were selected based on their performances at a week-long training camp and the WTF’s world and five continental qualification tournaments. USA Team Photos | Basketball
- 1(2004) 1(2008) Team USA needs to erase the memory of a sixth place finish at the 2002 World Championships, and bronze medals at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Championships. Best teams: Other than the USA, in the opinion of InsideHoops.com the best teams are Spain, Argentina, Greece and Lithuania, in that order. In 1936 Basketball makes its competitive Olympic debut at the Berlin Games. The United States win all successive Olympic tournaments until the Munich Games in 1972 where the Soviets beat them in a controversial and confused finale. In 1976 Women make their first competitive appearance with the Soviet Union defeating the US in the final. 1992 American professional players take part for the first time in the Barcelona Games. As widely expected, the American "Dream Team" wins the gold medal. Results and recaps. | |
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| Boxing
- 1(2004)
1(2008) The United States has won more Olympic boxing medals than any other country ... but has been far from dominant in recent Olympic Games. The United States will be represented by nine boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. will participate in nine out of 11 events Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay - "The greatest". He was Olympic middle heavyweight champion as an 18-year-old in 1960 under the name of Cassius Clay. World heavyweight champion. 22 title fights from 1964 to 1967 and then 1974 to 1978. 56 wins in 61 fights. | Fencing
- 1(2004)
6(2008) Fencing is one of the only four sports found in every one of the Olympic games. There is an Epee event, Foil event and a Sabre event for the men. The women do not have the Sabre event. In the team events 12 countries may enter 3 people each. Once that happens they enter a match. The first team to score 45 hits will be the winners. Fencing also has team games. It has Foil, Epee and Sabre for men as well as women. The Official Website of the U.S. Fencing Association. | |
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| Beach
Volleyball - 1(2004)
3(2008) The USA can send a maximum of two teams in each gender. Since making its Olympic debut in Atlanta in 1996, beach volleyball has become the party sport of the Summer Games. "Hopefully we will be able to open up some eyes," said Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who, with partner Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Calif.), led all teams in Olympic qualifying points. There will be 24 teams each in the men’s and women’s brackets. The teams are broken into six groups of four for pool play, with 16 teams advancing to the single-elimination round. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have done just about everything a beach volleyball team could do: They won an Olympic gold medal in 2004 and are ranked No. 1 in the world. May-Treanor has 102 championships in her career, a record among women, while Walsh has 99. | Softball
- 1(2004)
1(2008) Baseball made its debut on the Olympic stage as a demonstration sport at the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912, but it was not until the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games that baseball was fully-embraced as an Olympic fixture, albeit as a demonstration sport. They'rrre out! Olympics drop baseball, softball Sports eliminated for 2012 Games, but could win way back in 2016. As for softball, no one has ever said anything about its removal other than the mere fact that the American women dominate their sport as though they are the only lineup on the planet. Indeed, so far, no one has gotten a hit off them in 2008. Apparently, being the best has its problems. Softball Headlines | |
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| Soccer
- 1(2004)
1(2008) | The first official men's Olympic soccer tournament dates back to the 1908 London Games, where Great Britain defeated Denmark to claim the first soccer gold medal. The United States has competed in the men's Olympic finals 12 times, including five straight tournaments from 1984 to 2000. For the U.S. women, Olympic gold show twice for the team, with first place medals in 1996 in Atlanta and in 2004 in Athens. The U.S. is looking to be the first women's team to win back-to-back Gold Medals. . Men's News and Results Women's News and Results | |
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| OLDEST
COMPETITOR Japanese horseman Hiroshi Hoketsu, who is based in Germany, has played down the fuss about him competing at the age of 67 on his mare Whisper although he has referred to himself as "the hope for old men." Hoketsu may be the oldest competitor in the 2008 Games but the title of oldest Olympian is held by Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who collected his sixth medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games aged 72 years and 280 days. | ||
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