Chronological summary of the 2008 Summer Olympics

For the official medal count, see 2008 Summer Olympics medal table.

This page contains notable highlights from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

August 6

Football

• The first competitions of the Games started at 5:00pm CST (UTC+8). The first events were women's football (soccer) matches. The day was devoted to women's football.

August 7

Football

• The first football (soccer) matches for men began on this day. The day was devoted to men's football matches.

August 8

Fireworks during the opening ceremony

Opening Ceremony

Starting at 8:00 PM CST (UTC+8), the four-hour opening ceremony was attended by 91,000 spectators, including U.S. President George W. Bush; Princess Anne, Princess Royal; Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin; French President Nicolas Sarkozy; Constantine II of Greece; Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi; Montengrin president Filip Vujanović; Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; and Gordon Campbell, premier of British Columbia, the Canadian province hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The spectacle was directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou, and the Olympic Cauldron was lit by gymnast Li Ning.

Equestrian

• The first events start in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, with eventing in equestrian sports.

Day 1: August 9

Archery

• South Korea sets an Olympic record in the ranking round of the women's team archery event.

Boxing

• Samoa's Farani Tavui is taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious in the men's light heavyweight event.

Fencing

• The United States sweep the medals in the women's sabre event, the first U.S. podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904, as Mariel Zagunis takes gold.

Judo

• Choi Min-ho of South Korea wins the Men's 60 kg ending all his matches with ippon.
• Ryoko Tani of Japan who had never lost in a major international competition since 1996 was defeated in the Women's 48 kg semifinals by eventual gold medalist Alina Alexandra Dumitru with a controversial penalty point.

Shooting

• Kateřina Emmons of the Czech Republic wins the first gold medal of the games, setting an Olympic record for both the qualifying (with a perfect 400) and final scores, in the women's 10 m air rifle.

Swimming

• Swimmer Michael Phelps of the United States sets an Olympic record in the first round of the men's 400 m individual medley.
• Swimmer Alexander Dale Oen of Norway sets an Olympic record in the first round of the men's 100 m breaststroke.

Weightlifting

• Chen Xiexia of China wins the women's 48 kg event in weightlifting, setting Olympic records in both the clean and jerk, and total weight lifted.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Cycling	Men's road race	Samuel Sánchez	Spain
Fencing	Women's sabre	Mariel Zagunis	United States
Judo	Men's 60 kg	Choi Min-Ho	South Korea
	Women's 48 kg	Alina Alexandra Dumitru	Romania
Shooting	Men's 10 m air pistol	Pang Wei	China
	Women's 10 m air rifle	Kateřina Emmons	Czech Republic	OR
Weightlifting	Women's 48 kg	Chen Xiexia	China	OR

Day 2: August 10

Archery

• South Korea set a world record for a 24-arrow team match, in their victory over Italy in the quarter finals of the women's team archery event.

Basketball

• The USA men's basketball team beat hosts China 101–70 in the first, much-anticipated game in the basketball event. Yao Ming, the Chinese star player, scored the first shot of the tournament, but limped off at the end of the third quarter due to an ankle injury.

Shooting

• Guo Wenjun of China wins gold in women's 10 metre air pistol and sets a new Olympic record for final score with 492.3 points, after Natalia Paderina of Russia had bettered the Olympic qualification record to 391. During the medal ceremony, Pederina and bronze medalist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia shared a symbolic embrace as their two countries continued to war; the two had been friends since they both competed for the Soviet Union.

Swimming

• Michael Phelps wins the men's 400 m individual medley final, with a new world record, winning his seventh Olympic title.
• Park Tae-hwan wins the men's 400 m freestyle final. He is the first South Korean swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal for swimming.
• Swimmer Alexander Dale Oen of Norway set an Olympic record in the semifinals of the men's 100 m breaststroke, his second in the event.
• Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice sets a new world record in women's 400 m individual medley, winning Australia's 400th Summer Olympics medal. Second place Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe also finished below the previous world record.
• The Netherlands team wins women's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay final with a new Olympic record of 3:33.76.
• American men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay breaks the World Record with a time of 3:12.23 in the preliminaries.

Weightlifting

• Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand wins gold in women's 53 kg weightlifting and sets a new Olympic record for clean and jerk. This is Thailand's first medal in the 2008 games.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Archery	Women's team	Park Sung Hyun, Yun Ok-Hee, Joo Hyun-Jung	South Korea
Cycling	Women's road race	Nicole Cooke	Great Britain
Diving	Women's synchronised 3 m springboard	Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia	China
Fencing	Men's épée	Matteo Tagliariol	Italy
Judo	Men's 66 kg	Masato Uchishiba	Japan
	Women's 52 kg	Xian Dongmei	China
Shooting	Men's trap	David Kostelecký	Czech Republic	OR
	Women's 10 m air pistol	Guo Wenjun	China	OR
Swimming	Men's 400 m freestyle	Park Tae-Hwan	South Korea
	Men's 400 m individual medley	Michael Phelps	United States	WR
	Women's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay	Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Femke Heemskerk, Marleen Veldhuis Heats: Hinkelien Schreuder, Manon van Rooijen	Netherlands	OR
	Women's 400 m individual medley	Stephanie Rice	Australia	WR
Weightlifting	Men's 56 kg	Long Qingquan	China
	Women's 53 kg	Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon	Thailand	OR

Day 3: August 11

Swimming

• Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe sets a new world record in the women's 100 m backstroke semifinal with a time of 58.77.
• Kosuke Kitajima of Japan wins the Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 m breaststroke, and sets a world record of 58.91.
• Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia sets a new Olympic record in the men's 100 m backstroke semifinal with a time of 53.06, only for the record to be set again in heat 2 of the semifinal by Hayden Stoeckel of Australia, with a time of 52.97.
• The United States team breaks the world record they had set in the semifinals by nearly four seconds, winning the gold medal in the men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay with a time of 3:08:24, beating France by 0.08 seconds. At the start of the last leg, France's Alain Bernard, who had seen his world record in the 100 m freestyle broken less than two minutes earlier, was ahead by nearly a body length. However, in the final seconds Jason Lezak was able to chase him down with a time of 46.06, the fastest relay leg in history. Five of the eight teams in the final finished under the previous world record, and a sixth team was only 0.03 seconds over the previous record. Australia's Eamon Sullivan also broke the individual 100 m freestyle world record by swimming the leadoff leg in 47.24.

Shooting

• Entering into the finals in fourth place, Abhinav Bindra became the first Olympian from India to win an individual Olympic gold medal. This was India's first gold medal in an Olympic event since 1980.

Judo

• Tajikistan win their first ever Olympic medal after Rasul Boqiev secures bronze in the Men's 73 kg.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Archery	Men's team	Im Dong-Hyun, Lee Chang-Hwan, Park Kyung-Mo	South Korea	OR
Diving	Men's synchronised 10 m platform	Lin Yue and Huo Liang	China
Fencing	Women's foil	Valentina Vezzali	Italy
Judo	Men's 73 kg	Elnur Mammadli	Azerbaijan
	Women's 57 kg	Giulia Quintavalle	Italy
Shooting	Men's 10 m air rifle	Abhinav Bindra	India
	Women's trap	Satu Mäkelä-Nummela	Finland
Swimming	Men's 100 m breaststroke	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan	WR
	Men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay	Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak Heats: Nathan Adrian, Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner, Matt Grevers	United States	WR
	Women's 100 m butterfly	Libby Trickett	Australia
	Women's 400 m freestyle	Rebecca Adlington	Great Britain
Weightlifting	Men's 62 kg	Zhang Xiangxiang	China
	Women's 58 kg	Chen Yanqing	China	OR

Day 4: August 12

Swimming

• Michael Phelps of the U.S. sets the world record while winning the 200 m Men's freestyle, tying the record for most gold medals for an athlete.
• Natalie Coughlin of the U.S. becomes the first athlete to successfully defend a gold medal in the Women's 100 m backstroke event.

Shooting

• Walton Eller of the U.S. sets two Olympic records in the men's double trap event, with a qualifying score of 145 and a final score of 190.

Canoeing

• Benjamin Boukpeti becomes the first ever competitor from Togo to win an Olympic medal, taking bronze in the Men's slalom K-1.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Canoeing	Men's slalom C-1	Michal Martikán	Slovakia
	Men's slalom K-1	Alexander Grimm	Germany
Diving	Women's synchronized 10 m platform	Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin	China
Equestrian	Individual eventing	Hinrich Romeike	Germany
	Team eventing	Peter Thomsen, Frank Ostholt, Hinrich Romeike, Ingrid Klimke, Andreas Dibowski	Germany
Fencing	Men's sabre	Zhong Man	China
Gymnastics	Men's artistic team all-around	Huang Xu, Chen Yibing, Li Xiaopeng, Xiao Qin, Yang Wei, Zou Kai	China
Judo	Men's 81 kg	Ole Bischof	Germany
	Women's 63kg	Ayumi Tanimoto	Japan
Shooting	Men's 50 m pistol	Jin Jong-oh	South Korea
	Men's double trap	Walton Eller	United States	OR
Swimming	Men's 100 m backstroke	Aaron Peirsol	United States	WR
	Men's 200 m freestyle	Michael Phelps	United States	WR
	Women's 100 m backstroke	Natalie Coughlin	United States
	Women's 100 m breaststroke	Leisel Jones	Australia	OR
Weightlifting	Men's 69 kg	Liao Hui	China
	Women's 63 kg	Pak Hyon Suk	North Korea
Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 55 kg	Nazyr Mankiev	Russia
	Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg	Islam-Beka Albiev	Russia

Day 5: August 13

• Michael Phelps of the U.S. takes the record for most gold medals for an athlete with 11 for wins in the 200 m butterfly and the 800 m relay.
• The Chinese Women's Gymnastic Team wins their first ever team gold medal.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Cycling	Men's road time trial	Fabian Cancellara	Switzerland
	Women's road time trial	Kristin Armstrong	United States
Diving	Men's synchronized 3 m springboard	Wang Feng and Qin Kai	China
Fencing	Men's foil	Benjamin Kleibrink	Germany
	Women's épée	Britta Heidemann	Germany
Gymnastics	Women's artistic team all-around	Yang Yilin, Cheng Fei, Jiang Yuyan, Deng Linlin, He Kexin, Li Shanshan	China
Judo	Men's 90 kg	Irakli Tsirekidze	Georgia
	Women's 70 kg	Masae Ueno	Japan
Shooting	Women's 25 m pistol	Chen Ying	China
Swimming	Men's 200 m butterfly	Michael Phelps	United States	WR
	Men's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay	Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay Heats: Klete Keller, Erik Vendt, David Walters	United States	WR
	Women's 200 m freestyle	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	WR
	Women's 200 m individual medley	Stephanie Rice	Australia	WR
Weightlifting	Men's 77 kg	Sa Jae-Hyouk	South Korea
	Women's 69 kg	Liu Chunhong	China	WR
Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg	Steeve Guenot	France
	Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg	Manuchar Kvirkelia	Georgia

Day 6: August 14

Archery

• Zhang Juanjuan of China wins the women's individual archery competition by taking down the top three ranked players (all from South Korea and including the 2004 Games defending champion) in the event.

Judo

• Tuvshinbayar Naidan wins Mongolia's first ever olympic gold medal in the Men's 100 kg.

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Archery	Women's individual	Zhang Juanjuan	China
Equestrian	Team dressage	Isabell Werth, Nadine Capellmann, Heike Kemmer	Germany
Fencing	Women's team sabre	Olga Kharlan, Olena Khomrova Halyna Pundyk, Olha Zhovnir	Ukraine
Gymnastics	Men's artistic individual all-around	Yang Wei	China
Judo	Men's 100 kg	Tuvshinbayar Naidan	Mongolia
	Women's 78 kg	Yang Xiuli	China
Shooting	Women's 50 m rifle 3 positions	Du Li	China
	Women's skeet	Chiara Cainero	Italy	OR
Swimming	Men's 100 m freestyle	Alain Bernard	France
	Men's 200 m breaststroke	Kosuke Kitajima	Japan	OR
	Women's 200 m butterfly	Liu Zige	China	WR
	Women's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay	Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer, Linda Mackenzie Heats: Felicity Galvez, Angie Bainbridge, Melanie Schlanger, Lara Davenport	Australia	WR
Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 84 kg	Andrea Minguzzi	Italy
	Men's Greco-Roman 96 kg	Aslanbek Khushtov	Russia
	Men's Greco-Roman 120 kg	Mijail López	Cuba

Day 7: August 15

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Archery	Men's individual
Athletics	Men's shot put
	Women's 10000 m
Badminton	Women's doubles
Canoeing	Men's slalom C-2
	Women's slalom K-1
Cycling	Men's team sprint
Fencing	Men's team épée
Gymnastics	Women's artistic individual all-around
Judo	Men's +100 kg
	Women's +78 kg
Shooting	Men's 50 m rifle prone
Swimming	Men's 200 m backstroke
	Men's 200 m individual medley
	Women's 100 m freestyle
	Women's 200 m breaststroke
Weightlifting	Men's 85 kg
	Women's 75 kg

See also

• 2008 Summer Olympics medal table
• 2006 Winter Olympics highlights

External links

• Official Website of the 2008 Summer Olympics
• IOC Official 2008 Summer Olympics Website