News Of The Day

By: Jerry Xiao

Every other day I'm going to be writing about the most weird, akward, exciting, interesting, funny, stupid, or embarrassing news on the web on that day. Most of my titles will be coming from Yahoo! and the occasional Google. I will include a summary and a link to the original article if available. Here goes.

Hopes Of A Nation http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/track_field/news;_ylt=AoIR3fstGQU.6CbY5E9HKK6VTZd4?slug=ap-ath-trackandfield-heats&prov=ap&type=lgns

Liu Xiang has become much of the face of the Beijing Olympics as Houston Rockets star Yao Ming. He's the defending champ in the 110-Meter Hurdles, and possibly the best and only star China has in Track and Field. There's no doubt that Liu Xiang is the greatest star in China, following behind Yao Ming. However, with the hopes of a nation of 1.3 billion, Liu Xiang was unable to compete in the 110-Meter Hurdles. In one of the qualifying rounds, he limped out of the blocks, before a false start was called. But, instead of go back to the blocks, Liu Xiang walked out of the way and sat down next to a concrete wall, no longer having that seemingly huge smile seen on the posters anymore. He withdrew because of a foot injury that has been bothering him for the last six or seven years.

Two time Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammel of the United States also limped off the track after his second hurdle a few hours later. He withdrew because of an injured left leg.

Medal Update - Day 10

The following is a list of the medals won on day 10 of the games, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Women's Triathlon
Gold - Emma Snowsill - Australia
Silver - Vanessa Fernandes - Portugal
Bronze - Emma Moffatt - Australia

Box Office Numbers August 17th

1. "Tropic Thunder," $26 million.
2. "The Dark Knight," $16.8 million.
3. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," $15.5 million.
4. "Mirrors," $11.1 million.
5. "Pineapple Express," $10 million.
6. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," $8.6 million.
7. "Mamma Mia!", $6.5 million.
8. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," $5.9 million.
9. "Step Brothers," $5 million.
10. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," $3.7 million.

Did Phelps Win The Coveted 8th Medal?

Michael Phelps has become a household name all over the nation, attempting to do the impossible. Surviving 17 swims throughout the course of 9 days, Phelps has done the seemingly impossible. Phelps, alongside Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hensen, and Jason Lezak, won the 4 x 100 meter medley relay. Phelps Swam the butterfly leg of the relay, giving the United States a formidable lead, in which Lezak was able to hold onto. The United States has never lost the 4 x 100 meter medley relay in the history of the olympics since the United States started competing in the venue. Australia came in second, followed by China.

Mark Spitz's record has been the gold standard for 36 years, winning a total of 7 gold medals in one games. Phelps has finally beat that record, gaining an astounding 8 gold medals. When asked what he will remember about these games, he replied, "the whole thing." Phelps has swam into the history books, with a standard that will possibly be alive for years and years to come. Phelps has already become the most decorated athlete, with 14 gold medals. There's no telling when the next Phelps will gain the admiration of the world. Even at his young age, Phelps will probably have at least another games in his career. He could easily retire with 20+ golds. He's already won his way into the hearts of Americans all over the world. On the medal stands, Phelps did one more thing that he'd never done before. He broke down and cried. He's finally done the seemingly impossible, and he's beaten the odds. He's overcome the obstacles presented to him by the individual swimmers who all wanted to say that they beat the great Michael Phelps. He's presented some dramatic races, and changed the sport of swimming. Phelps has become the face of the American's in these games. He's surpassed all the other athletes in any way possible. When other countries think of America in these games, they'll no longer first think about Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James, or Shawn Johnson. They'll be thinking of the greatest athlete to set foot on the face of this Earth. They'll be thinking of Michael Phelps.

Possibly the most important quote of these games is,"When someone says you can’t do something, it shows that anything is possible. When you put your mind to a certain thing, it can happen. The biggest thing is nothing is impossible. All it takes is an imagination."

Medal Update - Day 9 (Cont'd)

The following is a list of the medals won overnight, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Men's Hammer Throw
Gold - Primoz Kozmus - Slovakia
Silver - Vadim Devyatovskiy - Belarus
Bronze - Ivan Tsikhan - Belarus

Mixed Doubles (Badminton)
Gold - Hyojung Lee, Yongdae Lee - South Korea
Silver - Nova Widianto, Liliyana - Indonesia
Bronze - Yang Yu, Hanbin He - China

Men's Pommel Horse
Gold - Qin Xiao - China
Silver - Filip Ude - Croatia
Bronze - Louis Smith - Great Britain

Women's Floor Excercise
Gold - Sandra Izbasa - Romania
Silver Shawn Johnson - United States
Bronze Nastia Liukin - United States

Women's 3-Meter Springboard
Gold - Jingjing Guo - China
Silver - Julia Pakhalina - Russia
Bronze - Minxia Wu - China

Men's Singles (Badminton)
Gold - Dan Lin - China
Silver - Chong Wei Lee - Malaysia
Bronze - Jin Chen - China

Women's 3000-Meter Steeplechase
Gold - Gulnara Galkina-Samitova - Russia
Silver - Eunice Jepkorir Kertich - Kenya
Bronze - Ekaterina Volkova - Russia

Women's Triple Jump
Gold - Francoise Mbango Etone - Cameroon
Silver - Tatiana Lebedeva - Russia
Bronze - Chrysopigi Devetzi - Greece

Women's 100-Meters
Gold - Shelly-Ann Frazer - Jamaica
Silver - Kerron Stewart - Jamaica
Bronze - Sherone Simpson - Jamaica

Men's 10000 Meters
Gold - Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha - Ethiopia
Silver - Seleshi Sihine Mekuria - Ethiopia
Bronze - Micah Kipkemboi - Kenya

Medal Update - Day 9 (Cont'd)

The following is a list of the medals won overnight, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Women's Quadruple Sculls Without Coxwain
Gold - China - China
Silver - Great Britain - Great Britain
Bronze - Germany - Germany

Men's Quadruple Sculls Without Coxwain
Gold - Poland - Poland
Silver - Italy - Italy
Bronze - France - France

Women's Individual Pursuit
Gold - Rebecca Romero - Great Britain
Silver - Wendy Houvenaghel - Great Britain
Bronze - Lesya Kalitovska - Ukraine

Women's Eight With Coxwain
Gold - United States - United States
Silver - Netherlands - Netherlands
Bronze - Romania - Romania

Men's Eight with Coxwain
Gold - Canada - Canada
Silver - Great Britain - Great Britain
Bronze - United States - United States

Men's Floor Excercise
Gold - Kai Zou - China
Silver - Gervasio Deferr - Spain
Bronze - Anton Golotsutskov - Russia

Women's Horse Vault
Gold - Un Jong Hong - North Korea
Silver - Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina - Germany
Bronze - Fei Cheng - China

Men's 85-94 kg
Gold - Ilya Ilin - Kazakhstan
Silver - Szymon Kolecki - Poland
Bronze - Khadzhimurat Akkaev - Russia

Men's Team Sabre
Gold - France - France
Silver - United States - United States
Bronze - Italy - Italy