China captured tennis team gold CHINA claimed the first two table tennis team gold medals in the history of the Olympics. The first was in the women's competition. The second was seized when the Chinese trio Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin beat the German team with an overwhelming 3-0 win. World champion Wang Hao scored an easy win over Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov in three games straight. Ovtcharov tried to take the second game by leading out but was ultimately overcome by the powerful Wang. The odds were then in China's favour, heading into the doubles match with a 2-0 lead. However, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin faced strong resistance from the German pair of Boll and Christian Suss who beat them in the first game. Wang wouldn't stand to lose another game and finally won 3-1. Britain sets global mark GREAT Britain's team of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins took the gold medal in cycling track men's team pursuit with a final time of 3:53.314. The win brings Britain's first gold medal in the discipline since the London 1908 Olympic Games. Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins was the key motor, and scores his second gold medal in Beijing, after winning the men's individual pursuit. Denmark took the silver medal at 4:00.040. New Zealand beat Australia for the bronze. Compete for gold IN ARTISTIC Gymnastics, Chinese gymnast He Kexin executed the most difficult moves in the uneven bars, but so did Nastia Liukin of the United States. Both scored 16.725, with both gymnasts' Score A (measure of difficulty) at an identical 7.7. British gymnast Beth Tweddle finished fourth with 16.625. Liukin has now won four medals at Beijing, with her other three medals being the gold medal in the all-round, the silver medal in the team final and the bronze medal in the floor exercise event. Yang Yilin won the bronze medal with a score of 16.650. Yang has won a team gold and the all-round bronze medal at Beijing. Despite the disadvantage of competing first -- as the first competitor tends to score less due to the conservative attitude of the judges -- he dished out a nearly flawless performance and scored 16.725. Liukin was the second to compete and performed a routine with the same level of difficulty as He's routine. However, six Score B judges found more flaws with her performance and she was ranked behind He despite having the same overall score. Long jumper IRVING Saladino became Panama's national hero in the athletics performance by winning the tiny country's first Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Saladino made 8.34 metres in the men's long jump. Panama had previously earned only two Olympic medals -- both bronze, won by Lloyd La Beach in the Men's 100m and 200m sprints in 1948. Dominance of Russia RUSSIAN Elena Isinbaeva successfully defended her Olympic title in the women's pole vault. Two-time world champion Isinbaeva set a world record, her third of the year, when she cleared 5.05m on her third and final attempt. Jennifer Stuczynski of the United States took silver with 4.80m, while Athens 2004 silver medalist Svetlana Feofanova of Russia took the bronze at 4.75m. Isinbaeva entered the competition at 4.70m, a height she cleared with ease. Her rivals could not keep up after the bar was raised to 4.80m. Feofanova failed at 4.80m, while Stuczynski cleared 4.80m on her first attempt, passed at 4.85m and then was unable to clear 4.90m, giving Isinbaeva the victory at 4.85m. US keeps gold THE UNITED States retained its Olympic title after a jump-off with Canada in the jumping team competition. It is the first time an Olympic Gold medal has been decided in a jump-off. Norway finished on 27 points, giving them bronze, their first Olympic medal in equestrian. The jump-off was called after the US and Canada ended on 20 penalties in the second round of the competition. For the US team, McLain Ward, Laura Kraut and Will Simpson all went clear well within the 45 seconds allowed. Vice world champion Beezie Madden did not need to go out for the jump-off. Canada had only three riders in the competition after Ole for Mac Cone could not compete because of an injury. Olympic veteran Ian Millar, 61, competing for his ninth Olympic Games, did not proceed into the jump-off after Jill Henselwood had a pole down and the cause was lost for Canada. Millar is the oldest medalist in equestrian, and seventh-oldest in Olympic history across all sports. Eric Lamaze and Hickstead, ranked world number three, stayed clear in the jump-off. It is Canada's first Olympic equestrian medal since winning gold in Mexico City in 1968. Tony Andre Hansen, 29, was the leading rider for Norway after a clear round with only one time penalty. First- round joint leaders Switzerland dropped out of the medals into fourth position on 30 penalties after European champion Christina Liebherr played a disappointing round on 23 points. Germany and the Netherlands finished equal fifth. There were no eliminations. Peter McMahon from Australia had a fall in the practice ring, which resulted in a damaged shoulder and an Australian team with only three riders. After a promising start they dropped back when Matt Williams finished with only 17 points. Liu injury DEFENDING 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang is out of the Beijing Olympics after pulling up in the opening round. Liu, considered China's best athletics gold medal hope, was clearly in pain with an Achilles injury in the warm-up. "Liu Xiang has two injuries, one in his foot and one in his leg," his coaches told a news conference. Liu's withdrawal was met with disbelief from the capacity crowd. Head of the Chinese team Feng Shouyong said: "Since Athens, his main goal was to achieve gold in Beijing. Today's result was not perfect for all of us and especially Liu Xiang. He has been under great pressure and expectations from all of us." Liu, who won China's first ever track and field gold when he took the 110m hurdles in Athens, had been struggling with a hamstring injury earlier in the year which had led him to withdraw from a Grand Prix in New York. But he had recovered from that, said Liu's coach Sun Haiping, only for a long-standing injury to his Achilles tendon on his right foot (his take-off foot) to flare up. "It's not clear exactly when it began but it is six or seven years old. It was there before the 2004 Athens Games and it has been coming and going," said Sun. Gold rings CHEN Yibing won China's first gold medal in the men's rings since the legendary Li Ning shared gold with Japan's Gushiken Koji at Los Angeles 1984. Chen scored 16.600 to win the gold medal. The silver medal was won by China's Yang Wei, who scored 16.425. The bronze medal was won by Ukraine's Oleksandr Vorobiov, who scored 16.325. Chen, 23, was the favorite going into the event and did not disappoint his home crowd. Seventh out of eight gymnasts to perform, Chen thrilled the crowd with his near-perfect execution. The gold medal is Chen's second gold of the Games, along with his gold medal in the team event. Yang performed the most difficult routine, which was enough for him to snare the silver medal. The silver medal is Yang's third medal of the Games, along with his gold medals in the Team and All-Around events. Bronze medalist Vorobiov combined a fairly difficult routine with excellent execution, which allowed him to receive a slightly better score than Italy's Andrea Coppolino and France's Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues, who both received a score of 16.225.
