The Olympics properly got underway this Weekend with the majority of the disciplines starting with their numerous events.
In Archery the action actually started on Tuesday last week, and numerous qualifying and ranking events occurred right up until the Opening Ceremony on Friday. However, on Saturday the first event was completed, the Men's Team. The result of this was a dramatic Final in which Italy triumphed over the USA by just a single point. South Korea will be disappointed after only taking home the Bronze medal in a event they expected to win.
On Sunday, the Women's Team event occurred. This time South Korea did take gold but again the winners beat Silver medalists China by only one point. Japan won Bronze by overcoming an experienced Russian team.
Badminton, Basketball and Beach Volleyball all got the Group Stage part of their events underway this weekend. These events will really start to get interesting when the knockout stages begin, but the passion from the competitors is already present:
In Archery the action actually started on Tuesday last week, and numerous qualifying and ranking events occurred right up until the Opening Ceremony on Friday. However, on Saturday the first event was completed, the Men's Team. The result of this was a dramatic Final in which Italy triumphed over the USA by just a single point. South Korea will be disappointed after only taking home the Bronze medal in a event they expected to win.
On Sunday, the Women's Team event occurred. This time South Korea did take gold but again the winners beat Silver medalists China by only one point. Japan won Bronze by overcoming an experienced Russian team.
| The winning trio in the Men's Team event (Courtesy of CNN) |
| Courtesy of Zimbio |
In Boxing, the first two days have been dominated by male events. The Round of 32 in the Men's Bantam (56kg) and the Men's Middle (76kg). There was good news for Team GB as Men's Middleweight boxer Anthony Ogogo advanced into the Round of 16.
Both the Men and Women's Road Race took place on the weekend to kickoff the Cycling. There was a big medal hope for Britain in the Men's Race in Mark Cavendish and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. Unfortunately Britain was left disappointed. Two relative unknowns took 1st and 2nd place. A 40 year old Kazakh won Gold and the Colombian, Rigoberto Uran Uran claimed Silver. A Dane won the Bronze. Overall, this event threw up the biggest upset of the Games so far.
However, there was joy for Britain in the Women's Race. Vos, from the Netherlands won the race but a young Brit took Silver. A 32 year old Russian claimed 3rd.
One event took place in the Diving discipline on Sunday. The Women's Synchronised 3m Springboard was won by the Chinese pair He/Wu. The runners up were the USA finishing about 25 points short of the winning total. The Canadian pair, Abel/Heymans took the Bronze.
| The winning Chinese pair in action (Courtesy of the BBC) |
The 3rd day of Eventing starts on Monday in the Equestrian. At the end of Day 2, Yoshiaki Oiwa of Japan was in the lead. However, in the current Team standings it is Germany who currently have made the least mistakes in first place. After Day 2, Zara Phillips the British Royal was in 24th.
Two events have already been completed in Fencing. In the Women's Individual Foil, the Italians dominated the podium winning Gold, Silver and Bronze. This was the first time this has occurred during these Olympics. On Sunday, Men's Individual Sabre was won by Aron Szilagyi of Hungary. He beat Diego Occhiuzzi of Italy by seven points in the Final. Russia's Kovalev took the Bronze.
In Hockey, Volleyball, Gymnastics and Water Polo only preliminary matches occurred and there were no great surprises in any of these rounds in these disciplines.
