SPECIAL: Beijing Olympic Games Coverage

You can find several Photo Galleries from PhotoRun.net here: www.runningnetwork.com/show/galleries

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August 24, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) Team USA Places Two in Top 10 of Men's Marathon---Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, OR) and Ryan Hall (Mammoth Lakes, CA) were ninth and 10th , respectively, to put two Team USA athletes in the top 10 of the Olympic men's marathon for the first time since 1976 in competition Sunday morning. Brian Sell (MI) finished 22nd in 2:16:07.

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August 22, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) Bryan Clay upgraded his 2004 silver medal to 2008 gold in the decathlon, dominating competition during Friday evening action at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium. Clay (Glendora, CA) got his evening off to a very strong start, throwing a season-best 70.97m/232-10 to place third in the javelin. The performance earned him 904 points, bringing his total up to 8,269 with one event remaining in the 10-event competition. Ahead of the field by 479 points, his only competition was himself in the final event, the 1,500m.

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August 21, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) The women's 200 was another matchup between U.S. and Jamaican sprinters, with the heavyweights being defending gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica and silver medalist Allyson Felix of the United States. Campbell-Brown got out very well, leaving Felix to play catch-up after a slow start and around the curve. There was no catching the Jamaican, however, as she powered home to win in a personal-best 21.74, with Felix second in 21.93. It was the second-fastest time of Felix's career.

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August 20, 20008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) Team USA medal table, 2008 Olympic Games to date.

GOLD (3)
Stephanie Brown Trafton (Galt, CA), discus, 64.74m/212-5
Angelo Taylor (Decatur, GA), 400m hurdles, 47.25
Dawn Harper (Los Angeles, CA), 100m hurdles, 12.54

SILVER (5)
Christian Cantwell (Columbia, MO.), shot put, 21.09m/69-2.5
Jenn Stuczynski (Churchville, NY), pole vault, 4.80m/15-9
Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, CA), 400m hurdles, 47.98
Sheena Johnson Tosta (Chula Vista, CA), 400m hurdles 53.70.
Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles, CA), 200m, 19.96

BRONZE (6)
Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, NC), 10,000m, 30:22.22AR
Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, OH), heptathlon, 6619 points
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), 100m, 9.91
Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, NC), 400m hurdles, 48.06
Sanya Richards (Austin, TX), 400m, 49.93
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), 200m, 19.9

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August 19, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) Angelo Taylor, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson had talked about an Olympic sweep in the 400m hurdles as long ago at the Olympic Trials, and on Monday that plan played out to perfection. Taylor (Decatur, GA) won his second Olympic gold in the event, leading from start to finish in a personal-best time of 47.25. The 2000 gold medalist in Sydney, where he ran out of lane 1, Taylor duplicates a feat achieved only by Edwin Moses in this event, winning gold medals eight years apart.

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August 17, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING CHINA) On a Sunday morning that featured much better weather conditions than had been expected, the women's marathon brought more difficult results than expected for Team USA. Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, CA) was the only American finisher, placing 27th in 2:33:13. Constantina Tomescu Dita of Romania, a 38-year-old mother, stole the race at the half-way point, practically sprinting away. She ran alone at the front to win in 2:26:44.

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August 16, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) Team USA took home two more bronze medals, but it was a huge world record by Jamaican Usain Bolt that ruled Saturday night at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium. Already the world record holder with his 9.72 run this year at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, Bolt entered Beijing as the favorite. But even he stunned the crowd by running 9.69 while celebrating for at least the last 20 meters, enjoying a perfectly still 0.0 wind to become the first man to dip under 9.70 in wind-legal conditions . . . American Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) finished third in a PR 9.91.

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August 15, 2008 from USATF press release (BEIJING) It was anything but easy for either athlete, but Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, NC) overcame incredible odds to take bronze in the greatest women's 10,000m in history, and Christian Cantwell (Columbia, MO) persevered to win his first career Olympic medal, a silver in the men's shot put, Friday evening at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.

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August 15, 2008 LET THE TRACK & FIELD GAMES BEGIN! Sprinting to quarterfinals: The men's 100m sprinters also had a fairly easy time in Friday morning's first round, moving on to the evening's quarterfinals. World champion Tyson Gay (Lexington, KY) won the fifth heat in 10.22, Darvis Patton (Ft. Worth, TX) was second in heat 6 (10.25) and Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) was third in heat 7 (10.35) to automatically advance. Here's a USATF schedule link which has both Beijing and U.S. times.

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August 14, 2008 By Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire - The 2008 U.S. Olympic distance team - led by two-time Olympic 1500 meter medalist Bernard Lagat and 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor - is perhaps the best and most complete group of U.S. runners for the Summer Games ever. The Beijing team has veterans such as Lagat, Kastor, past Olympians Jen Rhines, Abdi Abdirahman, Shalane Flanagan, Anthony Famiglietti and Dathan Ritzenhein and rising stars such as Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher, Matt Tegenkamp, Galen Rupp, Jenny Barringer and Anna Willard .
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August 13, 2008 from USATF press release (INDIANAPOLIS IN) Bryan Clay, Brad Walker, Aarik Wilson, Jesse Williams, Tom Pappas and Jeff Hartwig will lead a talented group of U.S. men's jumpers, pole vaulters and combined events athletes at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China . . .

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Photo: Lopez Lomong, who will be running the 1500m, carries the U.S. flag as the during the Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony yesterday..

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It's finally here! August 8 or 8-8-08! The Beijing Summer Olympic Games official kick off with the Opening Ceremony which can be seen tonight on NBC. The Running Network has a special page set up with links to coverage and Larry Eder is on his way there as this is being posted. Be sure to bookmark the page as it will be updated regularly. Here's one of Victor Sailor's photos of the "Bird's Nest" stadium from last night. We will have many more photos from him and the PhotoRun team throughout the next few weeks. Click here for a link to a New York Times article about this visually stunning Olympic Stadium

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August 7, 2008 from USATF press release (INDIANAPOLIS IN) American Record Holders Dominate Team USAs Womens Distance Lineup---Team USA's Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Deena Kastor, Anna Willard, Hazel Clark and Jenny Barringer are a few of the standout women's middle and long distance runners to watch for at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.