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Day 12 - As It Happened

Thursday 21 August 2008 01:23, UK

Image: Bolt: World record.

Great Britain's gold rush in slowed down on day 12 but there were still plenty great moments including another sensation sprint by Usain Bolt.

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Finish - Right that's about your lot for today, I for one need a lie down after all that excitement! Be sure to join us again tomorrow though for another day of medals and drama from Beijing - and keep those emails coming in! Athletics - More drama here in that race, Danvers almost caught Sheena Toster in second and just missed out on the silver but even so it was a superb performance from the British girl. Athletics - Britain's Tasha Danvers takes bronze in the women's 400m hurdles, behind Melaine Walker who set a new Olympic record of 52.64. Athletics - Wallace Speamon was disqualified for running out of his lane and loses his bronze, which goes to deposed champion Shawn Crawford, while Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles was the best of the rest and wins silver. Athletics - Wow! That's about all I can say to that. What a runner Bolt is he was definitely after Johnson's record as he kept pounding it out right through the line this time - the rest of the field were miles behind! Athletics - He's done it! A sprint double complete - and a new World Record too! He's beaten Michael Johnson's 19.32 and set a new mark of 19.30 - what a performance again as he powered away from start to finish. Athletics - After a nervy prowl around the start line - they're off! Athletics - Bolt and the rest of the field get ready by their blocks as the Jamican faces his date with destiny. Athletics - Here comes Usain! The 200m final is coming up - what is everybody expecting from him? Athletics - Allyson Felix makes it through the second heat easy enough, but Britain's Emily Freeman will not make it after being run out of contention. Hockey - Holland win through to the women's final after a 5-2 victory over Argentina, with a hat-trick from Maartje Paumen. They will face China in the final for the gold. Athletics - Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown wins the first semi-final of the women's 200m, with fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart joining her - Muna Lee of America also there but the Jamaicans again look good in the sprint. Basketball - It's Australia 85 USA 116 in the quarter-finals and the Americans stroll into the semi-finals of the competition, joining Lithuania and Spain. Athletics - Steve Lewis is out of the pole vault competition in the qualifying stages after three failures. Athletics - David Oliver takes the second 110m hurdle semi-final but it looks like it's Robles' gold to lose, after Liu Xiang pulled out Chinese hopes were with Shi Dongpeng, but he just misses out by inches as he's a close fifth. Athletics - Cuban world record holder and favourite Dayron Robles flies through his 110m hurdles semi-final comfortably. Bolt - Michael Allen's betting on Walter Dix to win at 25-1 in the hope that Bolt pulls a muscle - I still think the big Jamaican could limp his way to victory the form he's in. Basketball - The USA are now 69-46 up on the Australians in the men's quarters, looks like a smooth passage through for the NBA stars. Boxing - Mike wnats to know the score with the bronze medals in boxing, well Mike, once you get into the semis you are guaranteed a bronze as both losing semi-finalists get a bronze medal - the winners obviously fight it out for gold and silver. Bolt - Just over an hour until Usain Bolt's big date with destiny, it probably isn't a case of if he will do it but how I suppose, a world record? More showboating? Let me know what you think. Hockey - The Dutch are steaming ahead now and have gone 3-0 up against Argentina and look to have one foot in the final already. Athletics - Disappointing display from Mo Farah in the 5000m as he gets involved in a sprint finish which he can't handle and gets left behind and will not make the final. Hockey - Holland are 1-0 up against Argentina in the second semi-final of the women's hockey. Hammer - Aksana Miankova of Belarus set a new Olympic record as she took the gold in the women's hammer competition. Boxing - Degale wins it comfortably in the end and he nets a bronze at least and it will be another GB v Ireland battle in the semis as he faces Sutherland. Taekwondo - Mexican Guillermo Perez takes the 58kg gold, beating Yulis Gabriel Mercedes in the final. Boxing - Degale is 4-1 up halfway through his fight, the scoring is still baffling though, how they can say there's only been five punches landed in four minutes is beyond me! Boxing - Britain's James Degale is now fighting his quarter-final against Bakhtiyar Artayev, and he goes 1-0 up after the opening round. Softball - Japan beat Australia in an epic 4-3 encounter that went all of 12 innings and they now go through to face USA for the final gold for softball as an Olympic sport. Boxing - Darren Sutherland destroys world silver medallist Alfonso Blanoc Parra 11-1 in the middleweight quarters to guarntee a bronze - a third medal for Ireland's boxers so far! Medals - Reading all your emails you lot have GB going well beyond 20 golds! The star sailors, canoe man Brabants, Lisa Dobriskey in the 1500m, Tom Daley in the diving, women's 4x400m relay etc etc! Taekwondo - World champion Wu Jingyu of China has beaten Thailand's Buttree Puedpong in the women's 48kg final to win China's first taekwondo gold. Basketball - The Redeem Team of the USA are taking on Australia in the men's B-Ball quarters, it's tight at 21-19 early on. Athletics - Michael Rimmer revealed after his 800m heat that he has been struggling with a bout of food poisoning. "I felt quite rough," said the 22-year-old afterwards. "I think it was a mix between the food poisoning and nerves. I am over it but I felt a little flat out there. The thought of going out in a heat is horrible. I want to feel the plane ticket was worth the money and show I am worthy of being here." Diving - The women's 10m platform qualification is under way and there is British interest in the shape of Tonia Couch and Stacie Powell. The top 18 after five dives qualify for the semi-final on Thursday. Mid-way through and Couch is in 12th and looking good to progress. Taekwondo - Our man Rohullan Nikpai has bagged his loot as he claims the bronze medal - Afghanistan's first ever Olympic Games medal. Medals - Pete Taylor has reminded me about Tim Brabants in the canoe! He could well get a medal at either the 500m or 1000m competition.Medals - The gold rush and medal table is the big talking point right now. I'm not sure we can hang on to third place with Russia just three golds behind, but we could come fourth with Germany and Australia five golds behind. As for our golden hopefuls left - Phillips Idowu is my man, he's nailed on for the triple jump, then there's Shanaze Reade in the BMX and a couple of modern pentathletes that could medal - any more thoughts? Athletics - It's hammer time, as ther big girls come out for the hammer final - not a good start though as the cage gets rattled from the opener! Hockey - China have done it! The hosts continue to perform as the Chinese women make the Olympic final for the first time by knocking out the holders 3-2. Athletics - Michael Rimmer just squeezes through in his opening 800m heat, it was a slow time so he needed to be in the top two and he just managed that on the line. Hockey - China take the lead against Germany in the women's semi-final - the hosts go mad, as do the crowd, with 11 minutes left and a place in the final in the balance. Athletics - Over to the BIrd's Nest now as the athletics gets underway, Michael Rimmer is going in the 800m heats pretty soon. The big one on this 'Bolt Day' is of course the 200m final which starts at 3.20pm UK time and will finish about 20 seconds later, maybe even sooner?? Hockey - Fraser Watchorn from lovely Dublin has emailed in informing me that they no longer bully-off in hockey - thats a shame they should bring that back! Hockey - China equalise at 2-2 and as you'd expect thew crowd go wild. You have to hand it to the Chinese for their enthusiasm! Error - Jana Bilek spotted my deliberate mistake earlier saying gold instead of golf - unfortunately the only prize you get is a mention! I'd get some goodies to give away but the penny-pinchers here won't pay for them! Sports - Thanks to Chris Spicer for his kind comments on our live service, much appreciated so keep them coming in! He wants fishing and 20/20 cricket in the Olympics and for the Games to last longer than two weeks, I'm not sure I could last out more than two weeks of this, it's hard work you know! Hockey - Germany have just gone 2-1 up on China in the women's semi-finals. Wrestling - Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia has won the men's 74kg freestyle title beating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan in the final. Taekwondo - Teenager Michael Harvey's Olympic dream is over, the Afghan Nikpai was just too good and he goes on to try and win a bronze medal, which would also pocket him £25,000 from a mobile phone company in his country. Taekwondo - The Afghan is hounding the Brit here! Sorry for that again...he's 3-0 up after two rounds. Sports - Gary Ward from Huddersfield loves dressage apparently, but wants golf for amateurs included. He also agrees with me that Bolt just loves winning with style - well said Gary! Taekwondo - Michael Harvey takes on Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan in the repecharge rond hunting for bronze in the bounce-and-kick fest. Basketball - It's all over for China and Yao Ming - a heavy 94-68 defeat to Lithuania dumping them out of the quarter-finals. Sports - Loads of emails flooding in - keep them coming in! Especially great to read them when watching the synchro swimming! James in Dublin wants golf in, I agree, but only if it's amateurs. Several calls for anything with judges deciding it being scrapped, after wtaching some of the judging in Beijing I'd certainly agree with that! Hockey - The women's semi-final between Germany and China has just bulleyed off. Sports - Daniel Asigno has called for 'The Boomerang' or 'Dingo tossing' to be included in the Olympics to help the Australians out a bit in the medal table, obviously as a neutral and professional I couldn't possibly agree with that! Taekwondo - Dominican Republic fighter Mercedes has just been denied a place in the final by a late late penalty against Ramos as it goes to sudden death. The ref obviously thought it was a case of Mercedes bends the rules..sorry... Sports - Lauren McGovern wants to ditch the 'ridiculous' trampolining and the 'horsey disco dancing' from the Games, I'd actually like to see a big horse trying to do staying alive but but I'm not sure that's what she meant - either way I'm in agreement - they're gone. Basketball - Yao Ming is taking a beating in the basketball, the Lithuanian team are all over him but he's powering through, although China still trail 50-36. Sports - Not sure I'd agree with emailer Robert's choices of Tug-of-War, Cross Country and Lacrosse for the Olympics, but I would agree that football, tennis and basketball should go, or be strictly limited to amatuers - the Olympics should be the pinnacle of the sports involved. Wrestling - More freestyle wrestling going down, I'd cut that from the Olympics personally, but Ramazan Sahin of Turkey has won the men's 66kg freestyle title. Taekwondo - Guillermo Perez of Mexico has done Great Britain and Michael Harvey a favour by making it into the final and giving the Brit a repecharge chance for a bronze. Hoops - Lithuania lead China 36-28 at half time in the basketball quarters, Yao Ming needs to pull his socks up, that may take a while though, but they and the crowd are still well in it. Netball - Lorraine Lockwood is sneakily logging on at work, thanks Lorraine! She wants to see netball included in the Olympics, and she's in good company as apparently so does Dame Kelly Holmes and Tesco! Bolt - You're a cynical lot out there, loads of suggestions that the big man Usain doesn't want to smash the world record in the 200m final later so he can keep shaving time off and earn more money - I just think he loves winning and also loves showboating over the line, must be hard to go out with the gameplan of winning well, but not that well? Water Polo - From general elections to water polo in one seemless bound, and in the pool Montenegro beat Croatia 7-6. Politics - Michael Broom's been on chuntering about Gordon Brown melting down Team GB's gold medals and flogging it off! I'm not one for political talk during sport but on a serious note the bookies have slashed the price of a general election this autumn with cunning old fox Brown hoping to sneak it through on the back of the Olympic feel-good factor. Sports - Mike form Horsham has emailed in, more than once, asking for a superstars-like contest between Chris Hoy, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Mark Spitz where they do each others sports - can't see the big man Hoy doing much in the pool myself! Softball - We've got Japan and Australia playing for a place in the final against the USA in the last softball competition before the sport is binned from the Olympics - any more sports we think should get canned? And what should replace them?. Basketball - Right then, as I settle into my seat China and the giant Yao Ming have just tipped off against the powerful Lithuanians with a boisterous home crowd behind them. TIme for me to hand over to my colleague Paul Higham for the remainder of today's action, which includes that athletics session at 1200. Will Usain Bolt win and break that 200m world record? If you want to continue sending in your views on that - or any other topic - email Paul at paul.higham@bskyb.com In our debate, George Pendarves adds: "Should Bolt take the world record, I really hope he does it in style like he did when he took the 100m record. It was amazing to see the difference in performance from the other runners, he was in a league of his own." Basketball - In the first of the men's quarter-finals, Spain have beaten Croatia 72-59. The USA 'redeem team' play Australia at 1300. Paul Boocock is backing Bolt to break that 19.32 mark in today's 200m - if he can be bothered. "In reply to your question, undoubtedly he could break the record if he wanted to - the guy is phenomenal! I think he just wants golds at this Games, as shown in his interview after the 100m. The records will come when he wants to break them!" Now Ben Bregazzi adds: "There is no way Bolt will make a massive new record, I feel he may break the WR but he'll ease up far too early and without the power right to the end and a dip on the line we'll never know how fast he could go! I only hope that this isn't the fastest he'll ever run and not be able to emulate it and regret not setting two great WRs." Sea Garvey on Bolt-Johnson says: "I'll be cheering on Bolt but I do feel a bit uncomfortable to see him win without appearing to be stretching every muscle and sinew! I agree Michael Johnson's 19.32 in the 200m was the most amazing run I'd ever seen - two 9.66-second 100m in a row! That makes Johnson the best as far as I'm concerned." Taekwondo - Good news for Briton Michael Harvey. His conqueror Guillermo Perez has just won through to the next round which keeps Harvey's bronze-medal hopes alive. Harvey will enter the repechage if Perez wins his next bout and makes the final. GB's sportsmen and women may be doing well in Beijing, but the British are still up to what they do best when it comes to sport - ticket touting. News has come through that four Britons have been detained for such offences. What will it be like at London 2012? For those of you wondering, tickets for the event will not go on sale until 2011. You'll just have to wait, but Id imagine a lot of people will be wanting to secure tickets after what they've seen over the past fortnight. John Orchard adds: "Should he (Bolt) take the world record, I really hope he does not take it with the air of arrogance which he did when he took the 100m record. I wasn't so much concerned with how quick his time was, but more hoped he would respect the other athletes and at least made it look like he was trying. I'm also a massive fan of Johnson's 200m record, and wouldn't like to see it go in the same way. I want to see him struggle to beat it." Unlike the 100m, personally I think the 200 record is just too good for him to break it while not at 100 per cent. Leon Sadler emails about Usain Bolt and Michael Johnson's world record and says: "Regarding Bolt, he strikes me as an athlete that likes to run against the competition, not the clock, seeking only to beat the opposition and dominate the race on the day. Johnson was an athlete that almost raced in spite of the competitors, he is all about 'run your own race, do not be distracted' etc. Is Bolt capable? Almost certainly. Will he deliver? Unless someone runs him a close second, (and really, who is going to do that?) then I do not see it happening." Do you agree? Email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com. With there being a lull in major action, I'll publish some of your views. Thanks for your emails, plenty are praising the efforts of Team GB - surprise, surprise! But how about this non-British debate - will Usain Bolt break Michael Johnson's 200m world record today? He doesn't seemed to have tried in the three rounds so far and broke the 100m record easing down last weekend. Personally I rate Johnson's 19.32secs set at the Atlanta Games in 1996 as the best run I've ever seen. But if Bolt puts his mind to it I fancy he could eclipse a mark I never thought I'd see beaten. Email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com Right now, canoeing semi-finals are just getting under way, but there is no British interest today there. Ditto for the synchronised swimming. However, Stacie Powell and Tonia Couch go for Team GB in the platform diving preliminaries at 1200. At 1315, British boxer James DeGale fights Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev knowing victory will give him at least a bronze medal in the middleweight class. So what's to come today? Well, the main action later will be in the Bird's Nest where the athletics gets under way 1200. The highlight will be the men's 200m. Can Usain Bolt break Michael Johnson's world record? Christian Malcolm goes for Briton, but surely the best he and rest can hope for is second place. There's also the women's 400m hurdles final in which Briton Natasha Danvers-Smith could claim a medal. Sailing - That Star race is now over and GB's Percy and Simpson have finished it in sixth place, one ahead of their main rivals Sweden. Being just two points off the overall lead, if they beat the Swedes tomorrow they will have a great chance of winning gold. However, a medal has yet to be guaranteed, so a match race looks unlikely. Martin McNeilis emails from Sweden where he is on holiday to stress: "I think we need to focus on the fact that these winners are the best on the planet and give them the respect they deserve." Well, Team GB's heroes are getting a parade in October, Martin - although after the English cricket and rugby teams flopped after such celebrations suggests that may not be the best idea! He adds his wife Helene is sad after her nation's poor efforts in recent days - Susanna Kallur, Stefan Holm and Carolina Kluft have all missed out on medals. No birthday joy for Helene then. With plenty of people doubtless logging on in the UK around now, this seems a good time to round up what's happened so far today. Britain have won three medals with Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten taking silver and bronze respectively in the women's 10lm open-water swim. Windsurfer Bryony Shaw later added a bronze medal. In the BMX cycling, British hope Shanaze Reade - the reigning world champion - bounced back after a first-run fall and she looks primed to challenge for the medals tomorrow. Sailing - It's just the Star class left in action at Qingdao today now and they have got on the water for their third race of the day. GB are currently ahead of gold-medal rivals Sweden. We'll bring you the result as soon as we get it. Sailing - In the Tornado class, it's a disappointing end to the day for GB. Leigh McMillan and Will Howden could only finish 12th in their final race of the day so they slip back to ninth overall. They will contest the medal race tomorrow, but a podium finish is now beyond them. Sailing - Dempsey was actually seventh in the medal race which meant he finished two points shy of the medal places. It's an agonising fourth-placed finish overall for the man who won bronze in Athens four years ago. Sailing - Dempsey misses out on a medal. With Israel finishing second he had to be at worst fifth but France took fourth to claim silver with China fifth. Dempsey was down in eighth I think. Sailing - Hong Kong win the medal race but that's not affecting the medals. Israel cross second. New Zealand take third so it's gold for Tom Ashley. Sailing - Dempsey needs to move up one place if he is to win a medal. France are in front. Israel remain second in this race and that's what's causing the Briton trouble. Sailing - Israel's Zubari is up to second in this race now as they hit mark two - bad news for Dempsey. New Zealand's Ashley is in third on course for gold. Dempsey is down in sixth - he needs to move up to medal. Sailing - At the first mark, Hong Kong lead but significantly New Zealand are second which mean they are on course for gold. Fance are now second overall, although Bontemps has just fallen off his board and loses valuable time. Dempsey is down in seventh which isn't good news. With the Israeli up ahead, the Briton is fourth overall as things stand. Ian Taylor has responded to my Chris Hoy debate and says: "I think it's a moot point really. On an individual basis, who wins the most gold medals, or medals in general, is more determined by who can compete in the most events, defined by how similar the events are and whether it is physically possible due to timing and physical constraints. Who knows, or even cares! They are all great athletes who did Britain proud." Fair point Ian! Sailing - The French, British and New Zealand boards are at the front of the race as they head to the first mark. All three are on different courses though. Sailing - They are under way. Two boats have to return to the start as they were over the line. It looks like Dempsey has made a decent start with his French rival close by. Sailing - As they prepare for the off, Nick Dempsey will win gold if he wins this medal race. Fourth place will be enough to secure at least the bronze. Likewise a win for either the Frenchman Julien Bontemps or New Zealand's Tom Ashley will win them gold. Israel's Shahar Zubari is other man to be wary of, although he has plenty of points to make up. He will be looking to win the race and then hope his rivals finish down the field. Sailing - The male windsurfers are now out on the water, hopeful of being given the go-ahead to race. Anyone want to air their opinions and comments? What about this GB sailing team - they really rule the waves don't they? Five medals now. Let me know your views and perhaps how they compare with the track cycling heroes, who bagged 12. I'm also still waiting to hear your thoughts on Chris Hoy's achievement of winning three golds in a single Games. He's the first Briton in 100 years to do that. Does that make him our greatest Olympian? Email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com Sailing - That's men's race featuring Dempsey has been put back due to dying winds at Qingdao. Hopefully they can still get that raced today. Otherwise they will have to return tomorrow. Sailing - Still to come today is the medal race in the men's windsurfing where Briton Nick Dempsey is hoping to pick up a medal. It will be gold if he wins the medal race as he's currently second overall, just a point behind the leader from France, Julien Bontemps. Sailing - More good news from Qingdao for Team GB. In the Star class, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson have added a second place to their earlier first. That keeps them in the silver-medal position. Series leaders Sweden took that race and they now lead by three points. They are hoping to squeeze another race in but if they don't have time - and it's touch and go - then GB will need to beat the Swedes by two places in tomorrow's medal race to win gold. Sailing - That means Britain's Bryony Shaw has won the bronze medal. China's Yia Jian just edges out Sensini for the gold, winnng by a single point overall. Sailing - Italy's Sensini wins the medal race with Briton Shaw in second. China's Yia finishes third. Sailing - Italy, GB, China is the order in this medal race as the windsurfers enter the closing stages. That's China, Italy, GB overall. Sailing - The Spanish sailor complains that she has been touched by Briton Shaw as they turn there. However, the judges' red flag is aimed at the Spaniard - she was responsible they say and so she is forced to do a penalty turn. That not good for Alabau's medal hopes. Shaw remains on course for bronze. Sailing - Italy's Sensini is heading for home now and she's hit the front. That keep her ahead of Briton Shaw overall. The Chinese is hitting back so it's as you were at the start in terms of the medal positons at present. Sailing - The Chinese sailor is further down the field now and that means her hopes of gold could be slipping away. Shaw could yet take gold, but it's all down to these final stages. Sailing - At the third mark, it's Briton Shaw who is now leading from Spain. However, the Italian is right there too. It's bronze at the moment for Shaw. Sailing - At the second mark, it's still Shaw in second place behind Spain. Israel are up to third ahead of Italy which takes Briton Shaw within touching distance of the silver medal. She needs to beat the Italian by three places to overhaul her in the overall standings. Sailing - The windsurfers hit the first mark and it's Spain who take it first with Britain second, Italy third and China fourth. That keeps Shaw in the bronze-medal position overall. Sailing - Overall leader Yia Jun has hit the front in this race. She's on course for the gold as things stand. Sailing - The women's windsurfers get their medal race under way at the second attempt and Briton Bryony Shaw makes a good start. She needs a top-three finish to be sure of a medal. It could yet be gold. We are about to find out. Sailing - As we await the restart, there's more good news for GB on the adjacent Tornado course. The crew's good form has continued with a third place in race nine. That pushes them further up the overall standings to eighth. This penultimate day surge could yet see them medal. One more race is scheduled today in this class. Sailing - First up is the women's windsurfing, or RS:X, class but the officials have called a restart. Shaw currently trails only the Chinese and Italian racers in the overall standings. However, she'll also be wary of the Australian and Spanish vessels as they could yet medal. Sailing - Now British attention is turning to Qingdao where two more golds could bee added today in the two windsurfing classes. Nick Dempsey starts his medal race in second place overall, but the top three are separated by just a single point. To put it simply, if he wins the medal race, Dempsey will win gold. In the women's category, Bryony Shaw starts third overall and gold is still possible, although another colour appears more likely. The action is due to start just after 0600. BMX Cycling - Liam Phillips' Olympic bid comes to an end after being caught up in a big crash in his third and final quarter-final race. He finishes seventh in that race and seventh in the overall standings in that quarter-final series. He won't be progressing to tomorrow's semis. Sailing - Now a win for the Star GB team. That's a boost to their hopes of gold. They've closed to within two points of Sweden in the overall standings, but the Swedes did well to finish second in that race, so they are fighting hard. Two more races to come today. Sailing - In the Tornado class, Britain's Leigh McMillan and Will Howden have secured a second place in the first of three scheduled races today. If they continue that form, they could move into medal contention. They are ninth overall as things stand. BMX Cycling - That leaves Phillips fifth in the standings in this quarter-final with one race to go. He's facing a tough task to overhaul the fourth-placed rider though, which he needs to do to progress. He's five points adrift. BMX Cycling - Briton Liam Phillips can manage only sixth in his second race. Beach Volleyball - In the second men's semi-final, Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz have won to set up a gold-medal match against the Americans. BMX Cycling - Phillips finishes fifth in his opening race of the quarter-finals. The seeding times did suggest he would struggle to progress and that may well be the case. Sailing - Good news from the opening Star race of the day, At the halfway stage, the British pair of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson lead the way from gold-medal rivals Sweden. BMX Cycling - Several crashes and bumps mean only three riders are unaffected and show exactly what can happen. Mike Day - the top seed - wins the first race. BMX Cycling - It's now time for the men's quarter-finals. The 32 competitors have been split into four fields of eight. Each field races three times with a points system for the high placings. The four riders with the least points - it's one for the winner, two for second etc - will progress to the semis tomorrow. This is where the drama begins. Briton Liam Phillips goes in heat two. Taekwondo - British flyweight Michael Harvey has been beaten in his first-round clash by Mexico's Guillermo Perez. It was tight - the Mexican won by just three points to two. BMX Cycling - The final seeding ranking for the women's event is now known and Reade remains second. She'll now go in the second semi against seven slower riders tomorrow. Her strong point is racing against a field, as opposed to the clock which she did today. The fastest rider was Anne-Caroline Chausson. BMX Cycling - Reade responds in style. She sets the second best time overall with her second run. That's what was expected from the world champion. BMX Cycling - In the women's second run, Brit Shanaze Reade needs a good run after her earlier crash. She'll be off soon. BMX Cycling - The men's second run is now over and American Mike Day has earned the top seeding for the knockout rounds, which start later today. Briton Liam Phillips finished down in 28th. Sailing - After that drama, it's worth noting that the action at Qingdao is about to get under way with races in the Star and Tornado classes. In the Star, GB lie in second position overall thanks to the efforts of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson. We'll keep you posted with today's race results as they come in. Three races are scheduled in those two classes today after yesterday's postponements. Swimming - Kerri-Anne Payne claims the silver medal for Great Britain with Cassie Patten taking the bronze, holding off Germany's Angela Maurer at the death. Swimming - Victory is Ilchenko's thanks to late move but Team GB have won silver and bronze! Swimming - Ilchenko just moves in front from Payne with Patten slipping back. Swimming - Payne responds to Ilchenko's attack. What a finish! Swimming - All three are in a line now and there's another swimmer just behind. Swimming - Ilchenko, the world champion, is trying to reel the Britons in and is moving up on Payne's right shoulder. Around 250m to go. It's Ilchenko and the two Britons looking good for the medals at the moment. Swimming - Ilchenko looks the biggest threat, as was expected. She's right in behind the two Britons. The Brazilians are slightly further back, a few body lengths down. Swimming - Into the closing stages of the open water now. Still Patten and Payne lead. But now they are being attacked by two Brazilians - Ana Cunha and Okimoto. Ilchenko is there too. They are moving out in a bid to overtake. Swimming - What a gruelling event this is, yet the Britons are relentless in setting the pace. It's been like this since the start - and that was almost two hours ago. Around 1km to go now. Swimming - At the final turn it's still Brits Patten and Payne up front. Poliano Okimoto, of Brazil, is just behind them, alongside the favourite Larisa Ilchenko, who holds an unbeaten record in this event. She's the one to beat, but the Britons are swimming well today. BMX Cycling - American Mike Day has just set the fastest time of the day so far, knocking world champion Strombergs off top spot in the seeding rankings. No medals are decided today remember. Swimming - The British pair are trying to shake off the field here it appears, but the group is still tucked in behind. They are about to make the final turn at the end of the lake and head for home. Could this be two more medals for Team GB? It looks good at the moment. Beach Volleyball - It's men's semi-finals day and the USA pairing of Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers are safely through after a 21-11 21-13 win over Georgia. Swimming - As they head out on the final lap, the Britons appear to have increased the pace. Russia's Larisa Ilchenko, the pre-race favourite, is following them, but a gap is opening to the rest of the field. Swimming - The competitors in the women's 10km open water race return to the feeding station and that's basically three-quarter distance. Briton Kerri-Anne Payne bumps into a buoy as she approaches but it doesn't seem to affect her too much. She remains at the front alongside team-mate Cassie Patten. Payne takes on water; Patten ploughs on. BMX Cycling - Liam Phillips fails to improve his position. A second run of 37.470secs fails to beat his first effort of 37.392. Now he must wait for the other riders to go to see where he finishes. Swimming - Back at Shunyi, little has changed. Britons Patten and Payne are still side by side setting the pace. Tucked in behind are China's Fang Yanqiao and the hot gold-medal favourite, Russia's Larisa Ilchenko. BMX Cycling - The men will go for their second run soon. GB's Liam Phillips will be looking to move up from 25th place in run one. BMX Cycling - France's Anne-Caroline Chausson is the fastest after the first run and is provisionally the top seed for tomorrow's knockout phase. Briton Reade is last of the 16 after that crash. She'll want better luck in the next run. BMX Cycling - A shock for Briton Reade - she crashes to the floor on one of the bends before getting up to finish with a slow time. Luckily for her, the fastest of the two runs counts in terms of seeding - not the two added together. That means Reade's hopes are still alive. She looks a little shaken though with a bad graze down her arm. Swimming - The open-water women are now around the halfway mark and are back at the drinks station. The two Brits are still at the front, but the field is still very much bunched up behind them. The swimmers are all in a group - will the Britons pay for setting the pace, or can they shake off their rivals in the second half of the race? Anthony Bailey emails from Australia. "I have not felt so good about being a Pom since England won the Rugby World Cup," he says. Well, GB are third in the medal table on 16 golds to Australia's 11 (they are fourth). And now the bookies think it's likely that Britain can hold on to fourth - one of the layers make them 4/6 to hold on to third come the closing ceremony on Sunday. It's 5/4 Russia. The Aussies are way out at 25/1. Swimming - Back at Shunyi and Patten is back alongside Payne at the head of the field. It's a good sight to see the red, white and blue caps leading the way. BMX Cycling - Now the women will take centre stage and that means British world champion Shanaze Reade will be in action. Reade wil ride 11th of the 16 competitors in the first of two seeding runs. The aim is to qualify for tomorrow's knockout stages when the medals will be decided. Reade also won a world title on the track earlier this year - the team sprint with Victoria Pendleton. Pendleton is already an Olympic champ after yesterday's heroics - can Reade follow suit? BMX Cycling - After the first of the men's seeding runs, it's Maris Strombergs of Latvia who leads, but Liam Phillips has slipped down to 25th. Ian Reeves emails from Australia to say: "It has been a magnificent performance by Team GB in the velodrome, The Aussies had high hopes over here but us Brits have blown them away. The talk over here is why is it Great Britain and not each country? Any ideas?" It's always been that way at the Olympics, Ian. This seems to be a theme the Australians like to bring up. Frankly, I find it a silly argument. The Union may seem a funny thing to those from overseas, but people from England, Scotland etc have British passports - not English or Scottish. Personally I'm used to Britain competing as a team in plenty of sports, so it just doesn't matter to me one iota. Anyone got thoughts? And how about those thoughts on Chris Hoy's achievements? BMX Cycling - Briton Liam Phillips has lost his lead at the BMX track but remains in a strong position as with more than half the 32 riders now gone. Swimming - Patten takes on water at a feeding station and slips back a little. Payne pushes on at the front though. We're nearing the end of the first lap. Swimming - Also taking part in this event is South African Natalie du Toit, who you may already know from the Paralympics. She lost the lower half of her leg in a motorcycle accident but that doesn't stop her competing here - she's right up in the top 10 at present. Du Toit won five golds at the 2004 Paralympics and in this event at the World Championships finished fourth, so she is a real danger to the Brits. Swimming - Patten and Payne remain side by side at the head of the field in this open-water 10km event. It's still early days though - they are still on the first of four laps of the Shunyi lake. The lighter schedule this morning gives us an opportunity for some emails. Paul Roser has already mailed from Australia and has come up a with a similar theme. "Whilst I am desperately trying not to count chickens in the GB v Aus gold medal race, I can tell you that Aussie silver medals are now front page news down here." It's currently 16-11 in GB's favour in the gold race. However, I'd like to hear your views on Chris Hoy, the British cyclist who completed a magnificent treble yesterday at the velodrome. He's the first Briton to win three golds at a single Games for 100 years. That's some achievement and surely makes him one of the country's greatest ever Olympians. How does he compare to Steve Redgrave (statistically the best with five golds and one bronze from five Games)? Matthew Pinsent did pretty well with four golds, but Hoy's four golds and one silver from three Games are something special. Let me know your views by emailing: andy.schooler@bskyb.com In case you were wondering, there is no morning athletics session in the Bird's Nest today - hence we will focus on some of the less traditional events. As well as the BMX and open-water swim, we've got sailing due off at 0400, while Briton Michael Harvey takes part in the flyweight taekwondo at the same time. Swimming - Payne is still at the front and she's been joined by British team-mate Patten. So far, so good! BMX Cycling - One of the other events making its Olympic debut today is the BMX discipline. The men are under way with their seeding run. It's a race against the clock now before the fastest riders go through to compete one on one in the knockout stages. Liam Phillips has already gone for Great Britain and he's currently got the fastest time. Team GB have a big medal hope in the women's event - Shazane Reade is the hot favourite and goes later. The riders tackle a course full of bumps and jumps - it brings back memories of me riding a similar track as a child. I particularly remember falling off while going too fast! Swimming - A good start has seen Kerri-Anne Payne hit the front in the early stages. Good news for GB. Swimming - Off they go for this marathon event. It will take around two hours to complete the course. First things first though and our attention will first focus on the women's 10km open water swim which is taking place at the rowing lake at Shunyi. Britain has a good medal chance with Cassie Patten, a silver medallist at last year's World Championships, going in what is a new Olympic event. Kerri-Anne Payne is also representing Team GB in this one. It's off at 0200 - we'll keep you posted. Welcome to day 12 of the 2008 Olympics, Arguably the highlight today will be the men's 200m final but that's not until 1520. As for Team GB, the man hopes today come in the men's and women's windsurfing where Nick Dempsey and Bryony Shaw both have chances of winning gold.

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