Design of the Medal for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

The 2008 Beijing Olympic medals Have two key elements, Gold and jade - signify honor and virtue in Chinese culture.
The adopted design for the gold medal contains three components in the center circle: the Beijing Olympic logo, the five Olympic rings and "Beijing 2008." This inner circle is surrounded by a ring of jade with a gold-plated rim on the outside.
The gold, silver and bronze medals carry the same design, with a finer white jade in the gold medal, a slightly darker shade in the silver medal, and a green jade in the bronze medal

Chinese Guo wenjun smashes Olympic record to crown in women's 10-meter air pistol

Gold medalist Guo Wenjun (C) of China, siver medalist Natalia Paderina (L) of Russia, and bronze medalist Nino Salukvadze (R) of Gerogia wave to spectators at the awarding ceremony of the women's 10m air pistol final of shooting at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 10, 2008. (Xinhua/Bao Feifei)
　　Chinese markswoman Guo Wenjun smashed Olympic record in women's 10-meter air pistol with 492.3 points, winning China the second shooting gold medal at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall on Sunday morning.
　　Guo, a 24-year-old from the northwestern Shaanxi Province, went into the finals ranked second among eight finalists with 390 points. In front of her was Russian shooter Natalia Paderina, who bettered the Olympic record in preliminary of the event with 391 points.
　　In the first shot, both shooters scored 10.0 points.
　　But Paderina, 33, seemed to be out of gear in the second shot and just collected 8.5 points, two points lower than her Chinese rival.
　　The following shots saw Guo keeping her momentum to maintain theleading position, whereas Paderina lost her sharpness and scored her final four shots below 10.
　　The smiling Chinese girl waved to spectators after the final, while excited people cheered and cried out her name.
　　Paderina, with 489.1 points, settled for a silver.
　　The bronze medal was won by Nino Salukvadze from Georgia with 487.4 points.

China's Xian Dongmei wins women's 52kg judo gold

Xian Dongmei of China celebrates after defeating An Kum Ae of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during the women -52 kg final of judo at the Beijing Olympics in Beijing, China, Aug. 10, 2008.
Xian Dongmei of China displays her gold medal on the podium after defeating An Kum Ae of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during the women-52 kg final of judo at the Beijing Olympics in Beijing
　　BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Xian Dongmei won China's first judo gold medal at the Beijing Olympics Sunday, stunning Kum Ae An from the Domecratic People's Republic of Korea in the final of the 52-kilogram class.
　　Xian, the gold medalist at the Athens Games, beat three opponents consecutively by ippon en route to the final, where she defeated Kum with a yuko and a penalty koka.
　　The 33-year-old veteran gave birth to a girl 18 months ago, three ippon games in the women's light-weight competition which added the fifth medal to China's gold haul at the Games.
　　"I really want to thank my husband who has given a lot of support to me for coming back to judo after marriage and giving birth to our daughter," said the 33-year-old veteran who gave birth to a girl 18 months ago.
　　"I am very happy to win an Olympic gold again, especially this time in Beijing."
　　After a bye in her first bout, Xian had a perfect start in which she ipponed Spanish Ana Carrascosa by directly pushing the opponent to the mat with just one minute and 19 seconds, sharing her symbolic smile with 5,000-strong cheering spectators in the gymnasium.
　　"One of the reason for my return is that the Olympic Games will be held in my own country for the first time, that really motivated me," said Xian who has taken on her judokgi once again since May 2007 when summoned by the national team.
　　"I have experienced very tough time after coming back for restore my ability," said Xian, who has been the first Chinese judoka who managed to win gold medals in two consecutive Olympic Games and also the first ever mama Olympic champion in China.
　　Xian, who had received two-year training for Chinese wrestling before she turned to judo at 15, told that she had used a special technique learned from wrestling to defeat her opponents in the competition, saying that the most thing she want to do after the match is to have a good rest.
　　Meeting world champion silver medalist Telma Monteiro of Portugal in the next, Xian surrendered an early yuko but rallied to tie by active attacks composedly. Leading another koka advantage with 45 seconds left in the five-minute bout, she shoulder throwed the Portuguese to the mat with a decision of waza-ari by the referee who soon rectified to gesture an ippon victory.
　　At the semifinal, Xian jumped on Soraya Haddad from Algeria, world broze medalist in 2005, and again shoulder throwed the opponent to win another ippon.
　　Soraya Haddad from Algeria oustered Sholpan Kaliyeva from Kazakhstan with a waza-ari to grab a bronze medal.
　　"I am so happy today because my bronze medal will encourage the judokas in my country," said Haddad who has won the first ever judo medal for Algeria and all of Africa at Olympic Games.
　　Japan's 19-year-old Nakamura, gave a koka loss to Kum Ae An at semifinal, struggled in the competition after a gold-score game and later ipponed South Korean Kyung Ok Kim for another bronze medal of Japanese judo squad.
　　"I feel disappointed because I could not win the gold medal, It's all the same if it's not a gold medal but I feel disappointed more than I feel happy." the new star in the 52kg of Japan said.
　　The silver medalist Kum Ae An has not been reachable for a comment since she did not finish the doping test till the press conference's end.

Chinese Guo jinjin/Wu mingxia win women's 3m synchronized springboard gold with 343.50 points

Guo Jingjing(above) and Wu Minxia of China dive during women’s sync. 3m springboard final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China, August 10, 2008. Guo Jingjin

Chinese world and Olympic champion Guo Jingjing took the limelight of the Water Cube, together with her partner Wu Minxia, as they retained the women's three-meter springboard synchronized gold at the Beijing Olympics here on Sunday.
　　The defending champion Guo/Wu, winner of the event in the 2004 Athens Olympics and three World Championships, took the lead all the way to collect 343.50 points, beating their closest rivals Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova of Russia, who posted 323.61, by almost 20 points.
　　Heike Fischer and Ditte Kotzian of Germany, silver medallist of the event in 2007 Melbourne Worlds, finished third with 318.90.
　　The Germany pair had trailed the American pair Kelci Bryant and Ariel Rittenhouse in the first three rounds, but they tied the points after the fourth dive, and finally managed to surpass them in the last round.
　　The American duo, runners-up of the event in 2006 Changshu World Cup and bronze medallist of the event in 2008 "Good Luck Beijing" World Cup, took the fourth in 314.40.
　　The Chinese always has advantages in the women's 3m springboard, both individual and synchronized.
　　The "diving queen" Guo, 26, is the four-time world champion in both of the events, while Wu, 22, won three golds in the 3m springboard synchronized in three world championships with Guo, as she missed the 2005 Montreal Worlds.
　　Wu, runner-up of the women's 3m springboard at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, always trailed Guo in international competitions.
　　It's Pakhalina's third Olympic Games, who's the winner of the event in 2000 Sydney Olympics and silver medallsit in 2004 Athens Olympics with her former partner Vera Ilyna.
　　She has paired up with Pozdnyakova since Ilyna's retirement, and the new pair took silver in all legs of the 2008 World Series, in Nanjing, Sheffied and Tijuana station.
　　Australian Sharleen Stratton and Briony, bronze medallist of the event in 2007 Melbourne Worlds, finished fifth in 311.34.