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Chen Xiexia: Chinese gold medallist
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1600 Thats your lot for today, be sure to check out our Olympic section for full news, reports and results from all of the opening day's Olympic action. Ben Linfoot will take you through the early action on day two on Sunday.
1540 As the day winds down, Louis Smith is confirmed in the pommel horse final, while Daniel Keatings is in the all-round final - but only just!
1534 Britain are now in fifth place in the eventing standings after the dressage, with Australia well ahead in front followed by the USA, Germany and Sweden.
1533 Tina Cook grabs some pride back for GB's eventers as her and her mount Miners Frolic score 40.20 penalty points to finish in eighth place.
1530 China, Japan, Russia, Korea, Germany, USA, France and Romania qualify for the team final in th men's gymnastics.
1520 Louis Smith currently tops the pommel horse standings, with Daniel Keatings in third.
1513 15.175 for Keatings, not as good as Smith but still a decent showing.
1502 Louis Smith of Great Britain is doing his thing in the men's qualifying event - scoring 15.325 on the pommel horse - team-mate Daniel Keatings is next.
1445 The second set of women's football matches have finished - and its Brazil 2-1 North Korea, Canada 1-1 China, Norway 1-0 New Zealand
1429 Harking back to this morning's action, it should be pointed out that sailing medal hope Ben Ainslie is currently lying third overall in the Finn class. He made a poor start by his standards to finish a lowly 10th in the first race, but showed his mettle by promptly winning the second.
1404 USA, Holland and France qualify for the final alongside Canada, but Sweden miss out as the GB team sneak in.
1358 China win the women's 4x100m freestyle relay to the delight of the home crowd, Germany and Australia fill the placings and Great Britain break the national record to come fourth - they must wait for the next heat to see if they make the final.
1353 Norwegian Alex Dale Oen sets a second Olympic record as he clocks 59.41 seconds in the men's 100m breaststroke - some real quality action in the pool, all down to these futuristic, NASA-designed swimsuits no doubt...
1344 Some women's basketball scores for you...Australia 83 Belarus 64, New Zealand 76 Mali 72, China 67 Spain 64, South Korea 68, Brazil 62 - USA are taking on the Czech Republic as we speak - and they're 49-31 ahead at half time.
1329 A win for British badminton player Andrew Smith puts him into the second round - he defeats Petr Koukal of the Czech Republic.
1326GOLD! The USA take a clean sweep in the sabre event in the fencing, with Mariel Zagunis beating compatriot Sada Jacobson in the final, while Becca Ward scoops bronze for the 1-2-3 for Team USA.
1317 Great Britain's Hannah Miley led Katie Hoff with 150m to go, but the American powered away with the second half of the breaststroke leg. Hoff takes it looking supremely confident, and Miley just sneaks intot he final.
1315 Rice pulls away and wins comfortably in the end, and Chinese swimmer Li Xuanxu pips Coventry for second place, which could prove crucial with on heat to go.
1312 Coventry leads Rice at the halfway stage and they're two seconds inside world record pace!I said it could be a quick one...
1309 Interesting heat next up with Australia's Stephanie Rice and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry go head-to-head. With both women holding world records it could be a quick one.
1308 American teenager Elizabeth Beisel shows no signs of nerves as the 15-year-old swims well to win her heat - Keri-Anne Payne comes in fifth for GB.
1256 Katie Hoff is the next swimming superstar due in the pool as the women's 400m individual medley heats are underway - the American, who trains with Michael Phelps, is gunning for six golds in Beijing.
1243 It's a tight on but Hackett just wins it - not the fastest time in the world but good enough in a tough heat for the Australian. Britain's David Carry finishes in fifth place in a new British record time.
1239 Grant Hackett is diving in now in the men's 400m freestyle. He's had some time off and suffered a dip in form but he is desperate to prove himself in Beijing. The 1500m is his domain but at 400m he is pretty useful too.
1232GOLD! South Korea's Choi Minho wins the gold in the men's 60kg judo competition - beating Craig Fallon's second round conqueror Ludwig Paischer of Austria. Uzbekistan's Rishod Sobirov and Ruben Houkes of the Netherlands take bronzes.
1214GOLD! Romania's Alina Dumitru grabs the gold in the 48kg category of the women's judo by beating Cuba's Yanet Bermoy. Ryoko Tani of Japan and Paula Pareto of Argentina took bronzes.
1158 Defending women's football champions America win 1-0 against Japan, and World Cup winners Germany also win 1-0 against Nigeria - the third game is also a 1-0er with Sweden beating Argentina.
1157 Amazing swim from Phelps in only his first of what should be 17 swims - and he only goes and breaks the Olympic record for the 400m individual medley in what is a real marker laid down by the Baltimore Bullet.
1155 Half way in a leisurely swim for Phelps and he's ahead of world record schedule after a flying butterfly and backstroke legs.
1149 Britain's Euan Dale goes in heat three of the 400m individual medley, but he can't get close to the leaders as he comes in sixth. American Ryan Lochte wins in a decent time despite taking it easy...Pehlps is in the next heat.
1141 Fallon's conqeror Ludwig Paischer has made it all the way to the final, and he will battle against Choi Min Ho for the judo gold.
1120 Craig Fallon misses out on a medal, with a repecharge defeat at the hands of Israel's Gal Yekutiel - it's been a nightmare for Fallon with the cut on his eye not helping and he now has another Olympic nightmare to endure.
1114 It's nearly time for the record-chasing Michael Phelps to make a splash in the pool as the swimming is about to get underway at the superb Water Cube venue.
1105 Half time updates fromthe woemn's football tournament, and only the one goal so far - with USA 1-0 up against Japan, while elsewhere Sweden v Argentina and Nigeria v Germany are both scoreless.
1053 With Sanchez's victory in the road race that puts Spain on the board with one gold medal, joining the Czech Republic, while hosts China have pocketed two already - will the hosts end the Olympics at the top of the tree though? email me your thoughts on the opening day and medal prospects.
1039 Britain's Men's coxless fours are given a stern test in their heat by Italy, but the Brits find another gear and stretch out to win by just under a length from the Italians, while the USA were alsways invovled but no closer than third. A worrying spell for the British four there - but that test should stand them in good stead for the business end of the competition.
1028GOLD! in the Cycling road race for Samuael Sanchez. Another Spanish cycling success as after six and a half hours of gruelling cycling Sanchez wins the sprint frinish to claim gold. Italian birthday boy Davide Rebellin takes silver and Swiss world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara takes bronze.
1018 The cycling road race is reaching it's climax, Andy Schlek and Samuel Sanchez are leading the breakaway of three, but Michael Rogers is closing in on the leaders.
1003 China's world champions in the women's double sculls are given a big fright by the Czech Republic but come through to make the final - Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington of Team GB are in third and will need a repecharge win to make the final.
0949 Craig Fallon's Games are still going - with a victory over Korean Jin Kim Kyong keeping him in the hunt for a bronze medal - Israel's Gal Yekutiel is next for Fallon as he moves two wins away from a medal.
0937 The powerful Spanish cyclists have take control of the road race with 40km to go, including Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, but they allow Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara to make a break.
0929 Great Britain's men's coxless pairs will also have to try their hand in the repecharge like their female team-mates after dropping down to fourth in their heat.
0915 More good news for Britain's sailors - as favourite Ben Ainslie bounces back from his sloppy start in the first race, when he came tenth, to win the second Finn race to get right back into it - still early days but a good response from the Athens champion.
0911 Women's rowing pair Louisa Reeve and Olivia Whitlam are out gunned by powerful defending Olympic champions Romania in their heat.
0907 British judo star Craig Fallon is still in with a shout of a bronze medal after winning his repecharge. Fallon's got a nasty cut above his eye to add to his troubles, but he's battling on bravely in search of a medal.
0842 A fantastic start for Campbell who moves away from the Australian Peter Hardcastle in the closing stages to win heat five. That's a massive boost for his confidence ahead of the quarter-finals.
0837 Halfway for Campbell and he's doing well. He's just regained the lead and he'd love to finish first in this heat.
0836 Campbell needs to make the top four to qualify. He's disputing second at the moment.
0834 Alan Campbell is off in the men's singles sculls heat.
0831 Are things on the upturn for Team GB? The British crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson made a brilliant comeback to finish second in the opening race of the Yngling event in the sailing.
0815 What do Team GB need in this darkest of hours? The rowing. It's coming up soon. Alan Campbell leads the hopes.
0754 It's been a bleak last half hour for Team GB, but boxer James Degale is the glimmer of light in the pool of darkness. He impressed in his middleweight first round victory over Egypt's Mohamed Hikal at the Workers' Gymnasium.
0741 Fallon loses 2-1 to Paischer, and the best the Brit can hope for now is a bronze. He was on the back foot for most of the fight there and can have few complaints.
0740 2-0 to the Austrian. Fallon needs a Yuko. So do I.
0739 1-0 to Paischer going into the final two minutes against Fallon. Everything's going wrong for the Brits. I can't remember being any lower. I need an energy drink.
0738 From sailing to judo in a flash. It must be the Olympics. Emilios has taken the Finn class for the Greeks. Where's Ainslie? Nowhere to be seen! Let's concentrate on the judo.
0737 Craig Fallon's back on the judo mat. He's up against Austria's Ludwig Paischer - this could be a tough one.
0734 There's a Greek chap in the lead in the sailing. Emilios Papathanasiou. Apparantly he was a leading hope in Athens four years ago but failed to deliver. Ainslie needs the winds to change again here.
0732 The wind has dropped and Ainslie leads no more.
0717 Ainslie has a lead of about 120 metres in the Finn class.
0708 Ainslie looks to have gained somewhat on the upward leg. He rounds mark 3 leading and puts a significant gap between himself and the rest of the fleet.
0655 More progress in the sailing. Ainslie is creeping forward. He's gaining. He's in the leading pack. Go on Ainslie. This could be a golden period of the day for GB after Fallon's win.
0640 The lack of wind is, understandably, causing all sorts of problems in the sailing.
0637 In the cycling, young Bellis is in the group that has raced away from the main peloton. I told you he had a will to win.
0636 Cracking start for Fallon in the Judo then, but there is still a lack of wind in the sailing. We'll have news there as and when we get it.
0625 Fallon gets the Ippon! The Wolverhampton competitor is into the second round. The quest for gold - does it start here?
0624 Fallon edges 10-0 ahead. He's relaxing out there now apparantly. Looks pretty intense to me.
0622 Fallon is up against Yann Siccardi of Monaco. Still no score after two minutes.
0620 Here he comes - Craig Fallon is on the judo mat for Team GB.
0605 Ben Ainslie's bid for a third Olympic gold in the sailing has been delayed - due to lack of wind! There's no such problems at this end, thanks to the 4am scotch egg and Red Bull pick-me-up.
0555 The judo's under way in Beijing - but it's a while before Craig Fallon launches his bid for gold. In the cycling, Gallardo and Almonacid lead the way, but there's a fair way to go yet.
0545 The official result for the women's 48 Kg weightlifting: Gold: Chen Xiexia (Chn) Silver: Sibel Ozkan (Tur) Bronze: Wei-Ling Chen (Tpe).
0523 The first gold medal of the games for hosts China! Chen Xiexia does the honours in the women's 48kg weightlifting final.
0515 Talking of good starts, Team GB's Daniel Keatings has made one in the gymnastics. The 18-year-old looked accomplished in the arena and scored 15.625 on his first attempt.
0455 It's been a good start to the Olympics for the Australians. Complimenting Lucinda Fredericks' good start to the equestrian is the Australian women's basketball team - they beat Belarus in the preliminaries.
0433 Of the British quartet in the cycling, Ben Swift is expected to hit the front at some stage. Can't see him yet, though, or young man Bellis.
0424 Cadel Evans rides his bike with no hands to tuck into an energy bar. I can do that.
0421 The official result of the Women's 10m Air Rifle (40 Shots): Gold: Katerina Emmons (Cze) Silver: Lioubov Galkina (Rus) Bronze: Snjezana Pejcic (Cro).
0412 The cyclists are making their way passed Tiananmen Square.
0408 Jonny Bellis represents Team GB in the men's road race. He's the youngest in the field at 19 years of age. Go on my son. I can't spot him, but he started cycling because of 'the drive and will to win', so my guess is he's up there.
0403 And they're off! It's a pretty slow start in the cycling. Mind you, they have got a whopping 154 miles to go.
0400 With the first gold medal won, it feels like we're really starting now. It's the Czech Republic 1, rest of the world 0! The men's road race (cycling) is about to start on the streets of Beijing.
0355 A lovely shot. Emmons takes the first gold medal of the Olympic Games in the women's 10m air rifle 3 positions final.
0343 Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic qualifies in first as the 10m air rifle for women gets going.
0325 The water cube looks an amazing place from the inside and out. We'll be with the action there when the swimming gets under way. The weightlifting involves tiny women trying to pick up huge weights. Not too many are managing it at the moment, although Hiromi Miyoke of Japan gave a valiant effort at lifting 82kg before almost bursting into tears.
0300 Disappointment for Britain's William Fox-Pitt in the equestrian. Poor old Fox-Pitt, Parkmore Ed looked a difficult ride to say the least. Lucinda leads Clayton in a Fredericks-dominated individual dressage table. Over at the beach volleyball arena Norway's women beat the Belgians in straight sets. The men are coming out now. Probably won't watch it. Only because I've got to turn over for the weightlifting, though.
0240 Mediocre start for Britain's Daisy Dick in the equestrian. "It could've been better, it could've been worse," reasons Dick. 10-9 to Norway in the beach volleyball - Belgium won't lie down. A tense encounter.
0230 In a thriller on the beach, brave Norway fight back to take the first set 24-22. Meanwhile, Clayton Fredericks of Australia leads in the dressage over at the equestrian. It's a slow start to proceedings, but the shooting starts soon, as does the men's road race in the cycling. They should liven things up.
0215 If you feel the need, by all means email me at ben.linfoot@bskyb.com. Send me your thoughts on all things Olympics - what event are you most looking forward to? Which Brit do you fancy for gold? Who are you and where are you? Keep it clean - and it goes on the machine.
0210 There's also plenty of other events going on - the swimming heats start, the equestrian is already under way, as is the badminton. And fear not, I'll be sure to keep a keen eye on the beach volleyball. The women are currently in action on the sand and it's 10-5 to Belgium who are taking on Norway. Come on the Norweigens! I'm always one to cheer on an underdog.
0200 So what's going on today? Well, there are seven gold medals up for grabs, with Team GB having a live chance in the men's 60kg judo final - all eyes then will be on Craig Fallon. There's also the women's 48kg final in the same sport, and finals in cycling (men's road race), fencing (women's individual sabre final), and weightlifting (another women's 48kg final). Oh, and there's the shooting (women's 10m air rifle 3 positions final, men's 10m air pistol final). We've got to have a chance in the shooting, haven't we? We're pretty good at that I reckon.
0130 The eyes of the world are on Beijing. The eyes of Britain are on Team GB. My eyes are on all the action through the night. And your eyes must be reading this clockwatch! Welcome to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We'll bring you all the news from the important events in China as they happen, so keep checking back here so you don't miss a trick.
