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So we're winding down for day seven now. It's been another successful one for Great Britain with the cycling trio of Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy claiming an emphatic gold in the men's time trial at the velodrome. Day eight will certainly see more medals for GB in sailing, while the fastest man on the planet will be decided when the 100m final takes place in the Birds Nest. Joins us again for coverage.
1650 Athletics - That is the end of day one in the athletics, the biggest talking points being Usain Bolt's outrageous stroll in the second round of the men's 100m and a superb display of long distance running from Tirunesh Dibaba. Tomorrow sees the 100m final, the climax to the heptathlon, with Kelly Sotherton sitting in bronze overnight, as well as my personal highlight, the men's 20km walk.
1630 Athletics - Karolina Kluft's decision not to compete in the heptathlon and do the triple jump instead has not paid off. She's failed to qualify for the final, though she's still smiling away and promising to be back again in the event.
1625 Athletics - GB runner Jo Pavey admits she's disappointed despite managing a personal best time in the 10,000m. Team-mate Kate Reed reveals she had to run a time trial the night before the race to prove her fitness.
1615GOLDAthletics - Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba has just recorded the second fastest time in history to win the women's 10,000m. Elvan Abeylegesse, the Ethiopian-born runner representing Turkey, took the silver with American Shalane Flanagan pulling off a surprise by winning the bronze.
1605 Hockey - An update on Pool A in the men's event. Spain are the only side with a perfect record following a 2-1 win over China. New Zealand, who edged out Belgium 4-2, are second a point clear of Germany. They drew 3-3 with South Korea in the final match of the day.
1550 Athletics - Defending 400m hurdles champion Felix Sanchez has failed to make it out of the heats, of which American athletes won three out of four. Markino Buckley of Jamaica crossed the line first in the other.
1530 Hockey - Great Britain's men boosted their hopes of qualifying out of the group stages with a 2-0 win over South Africa. They stay third on six points in Group B with the Netherlands and Australia both above them having won three from three.
1525GOLDBadminton - China's Du Jing and Yu Yang have won yet another gold for the hosts (they must have more than Fort Knox by now) with victory in the final of the women's doubles. South Korea's Lee Hyojung and Lee Kyungwon had to settle for silver.
1520GOLDShot put - The Poles are dancing in the stands as Tomasz Majewski wins gold in the shot put thanks to a throw of 21.51m. That is the first of many athletics golds to be won in the Birds Nest. Christian Cantwell of the US is second while the bronze goes to Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus.
1510 Athletics - The second heat of the 400m hurdles sees another American victory. Complete with shades, despite the fact it's well into the night in Beijing, Angelo Taylor causes something of an upset by finishing in front of Jamaica's Danny McFarlane.
1506 Tennis - Jelena Jankovic will not be celebrating becoming the new world number one with a gold medal in the singles event. She's gone out at the quarter-final stage to Dinara Safina of Russia.
1505 Athletics - Batman, or Bershawn Jackson to use his real name, won the first heat of the 400m hurdles, making up for a slow start with a rapid third 100m before easing down in sight of the line. Sadly Alfred The Butler did not run in the lane alongside to help him out.
1500 Hockey - The second half is underway at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium. Team GB are still the team in front, the only goal of the contest coming from Surbiton striker James Tindall.
1450 Heptathlon - We have the standings after four events. The wonderfully-named American Hyleas Fountain leads the way on 4060 points, with Brit Sotherton in third on 3938.
1435 Athletics - The 200m rounds at day one of the heptathlon. Kelly Sotherton is third in the second heat in 23.39. That result, a lifetime best, means she will go to bed happy, although we're not quite sure whereabouts that leaves her in the overall standings just yet.
1430 Hockey - It's closing in on half time in the hockey and so far the GB men are making a big splash, as you'd expect on a water-based astro turf. They're 1-0 up against South Africa.
1411 Swimming - David Davies goes inthe 1500m, where Ryan Cochrane gets a new Olympic record, it's only the heats! Davies is in third and faces the nervous wait to see if he makes the final.
1408 Hockey - GB's men have started their match against South Africa, its a big game for the Brits, what am I talking about? They're all big games at the Games.
1356 Athletics - Helen Clitheroe breaks her own British record in the 3000m steeplechase, but will have to wait to see if she gets through.
1350GOLDWeighting - Lu Yong of China won the men's 85kg weightlifting title - thats officially the umpteeth weightlifting gold for China.
1348GOLDFencing - The French are renowed swordsmen and they've won the men's team epee fencing gold medal.
1334 Cycling - The Great Britain sprint team get there medals and there are tears from the big man Chris Hoy.
1320 Heptathlon - Kelly Sotherton is still in fifth despite a bad shot putt, but Julie Hollman is in 31st after three events.
1317 Athletics - Asafa Powell also looks good, not as good as Bolt, but good nonetheless as he strolls through his heat, with aptly-named American Walter Dix in second with some fancy arm wear.
1313 Athletics - Usain Bolt looks amazingly well in his heat, barely running 50m before easing down to little more than a jog and still clocks 9.92! He could have moonwalked the last 20m and still won...Britain's Craig Pickering was in that tough heat and despite a season's best he's out.
1312 Heptathlon - Kelly Sotherton throws 13.87 in her first round shot put, and that remains her longest after three goes, after an average high jump her gold medal chances look bleak
1305 Athletics - Tyrone Edgar makes it through his heat in third place, which is where I'm led to believe he finished when he raced against our very own Lewis Rutledge here in the office when they were at school, luckily for old Tyrone though Lewis chose the glamour and glitz of sports journalism above track and field. Anyone else out there raced/competed against an Olympian?
1300 Football - Brazil beat Norway 2-1 to go into semi-finals of the women's tournament.
1254 Athletics - Simeon WIlliamson finishes well down the field in his heat and he's out of the competition. Tyson Gay comes second in his heat behind Trinidad's Richard Thompson - not sure how much the double world champion had there but he's through safe enough.
1241 British success - Jon Orchard's been on asking why Britain seem to be ace at cycling and sailing, which he says both you'd do on a sunny day, which we get around 2/3 of per annum. I'm not sure to be honest Jon, to have a quick guess I'd point out that the track cycling is indoors while we are surrounded by water.
1223GOLDJudo - Not as exciting as the cycling but a gold nonetheless, and surprise, surprise it's a CHinese gold! Tong Wen of China has won the women's 78kg judo category.
1220 Tennis - Fernando Gonzalez eventually comes out on top 11-9 in the final set against james Blake to make the Olympic final.
1211GOLD Cycling - GB gold! Was there ever any doubt? Jamie Staff blazed away, Jason Kenny set it up on the second lap for the big man Chris Hoy to power home and leave the French trailing in their wake - Britain are the Olympic champions!
1208 Cycling - Germany edge out Australia for the bronze in the team sprint in a thrilling bronze medal race - Britain are up next to race for the gold!
1205 Cycling - Britain's reigning world champion Rebecca Romero is next up and she sets the second fastest time for a GB one-two in the standings - if they can keep that up they'll be going for gold and silver in a couple of rides' time, what a thought!
1159 Cycling - Wendy Houvenaghel of Great Britain has a storming ride in the women's pursuit, destroying former double world champion Sarah Hammer of the USA and setting the quickest time yet with justone heat to go
1151 Sailing - Especially for Mark Wilding - the British Yngling crew are still a point ahead going into the medal race and are guaranteed a bronze, but will need a big result to win the gold.
1135 Tennis - Fernando Gonzalez gets out of jail big time with some great hussle, as John McEnroe would say, coming from 0-40 down and facing three match pointsa to hold serve for 6-6 i n the decider, no tie-breaks here.
1130 Boxing - Dave MacDonald wants to know why professional boxers aren't allowed in the Olympics yet pro basketballers, footballers, tennis players etc etc are. That's a good question Dave and I'd like an answer myself off the IOC! Boxing does have a world amateur set-up, that is a big difference between other sports I think, but professionals at the Games is one of mine, and a lot of people's concerns - any thoughts?
1120 Cycling - Britain again set the fastest time - and they're into the final in what will be a real grudge match! It's GB v France again, a repeat of the World Championship final that the French won in Manchester.
1116 Violence - Jon Orchard cleverly points out that boxing is a more violent sport than water polo as I said before. I'm not too sure though, with the headguards and two-minute rounds, I might prefer that to being kicked and punched below the belt if you get my meaning, as well as being dunked in the water - it's vicious!
1112 Tennis - Gonzalez is one set all with Blake in the men's semis, with Blake 4-3 up in the third.
1108 Cycling - Bradley Wiggins sets a new Olympic record for the 4km individual pursuit as hepowers into the next round in the fastest time. The Brits are flying on the bikes today, hopefully they're not going too soon!
1002 Football - It's quarter-final day in the women's competition, Brazil face Norway and a Nirth American derby between USA and Canada in the other.
1101 Cycling - Bradley Wiggins is just getting his bike out onto the track for his individual pursuit qualifier.
1100GOLD Archery - No, not a Korean, but Viktor Ruban, the Ukrainian Robin Hood takes the gold medal in the men's archery event.
1054 Water Polo - Results from the pool - Netherlands 9 Australia 10, Hungary 10 Greece 4..apparently water polo is one of the most violent sports in the Games, with all sorts going on under the water - anyone had any experience of this? What sports are the more violent inthe Olympics.
1046 Tennis - Roger Federer could still win a gold medal as he and Swiss team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka beat India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes to get into the men's doubles semis. Venus and Serena Williams are also looking to bounce back and they won their second round match.
1022 Cycling - Britain's Steven Burke catches and flies beyond Colombian Carlos Alzate in the individual pursuit as he smashes his personal best by nine seconds! Hopefully that will be fast enough for him to go through.
1018GOLD Weightlifting - Cao Lei adds yet another gold to China's list and yet another gold in the weightlifting as she takes the women's 75kg title.
1017 Sailing - Master of the seas Ainslie will now apparently tie-up a third consecutive gold medal as long as he finishes now worse than six places behind American Zach Railey in tomorrow's medal race.
1012SILVER Sailing - Ben Ainslie has finished second in race eight of the FInn class and that has ensured that the worst he can now do in Beijing is a silver medal!
1011GOLD Canoeing - Elena Kaliska of Slovakia has taken the gold in the women's kayak K1 competition, with the silver going to Australia's Jacquelin Lawrence and bronze to Violetta Oblinger Peters of Austria.
1008 Tennis - James Blake, who beat Roger Federer yesterday, has taken the first set against Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in the men's semi-finals.
1000 Cycling - Just to confirm, the Japanese team suffered a broken chain, and as a result they'll get another go.
1000 Cycling - The French cannot match GB's effort but set the second quickest time - Jamie Staff's opening lap time in Britain's race was the fastest lap ever recorded - strong stuff.
0959 Cycling - Team GB absolutely fly round the velodrome, and they set a new world record of 42.950 to send out a huge message to the French, who are up next - hopefully the boys can keep up that pace!
0949 Facial Hair - Horse racing does seem to be the consensus - Haylie Budgie (really?) says it's so to avoid getting caught in the chip strap, while Gary King (aptly) says it's because of the royal connection with the sport..nice answers.
0947 Results - A results up date for you in the women's basketball...Latvia 73 Australia 96..Russia 74 Brazil 64 and in the volleyball...Algeria 0 Russia 3...Brazil 3 Kazakhstan 0...Serbia 0 Italy 3
0945 Cycling - China and Japan go head-to-head, but the Japanese get an early puncture and that ruins their chances - good time from the Chinese though.
0939 Cycling - Here we go then! The cycling is underway at the Laoshan Velodrome and GB are in heat six of the team sprint.
0934 Facial Hair - Ok I'll carry on this sparkling debate, Simon Keam-George says jockey's aren't allowed facial hair, surely not!?
0933GOLDCanoeing - Slovakian brothers Pavol and Peter Hochschorner have won the C-2 canoe doubles gold.
0926 Rowing - Great Britain finish in third, but they do make the final. Olympic champions Denmark looked strong and the French came flying home, while the world champs GB stayed steady in third - meaning an outside lane but hard to know how much they had left in the tank.
0919 Rowing - GB's men's lightweight fours are going in this semi-final - they're in the next lane to resurgent Denmark so maybe they can use them to battle against.
0914 Well, I've taken the chair to find a quite off-putting debate about facial hair raging! I've had an answer that judo is the sport where facial hair is not allowed - is this correct?
0900 I bid you farewell. There's a welcome substitution in the commentary box as Paul Higham takes over. Please direct all comments, on facial hair, Olympics and the rest to paul.higham@bskyb.com. I'm back at 0130 tomorrow. Adios.
0857 Rowing - Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter with a great scull! They become the first GB duo to qualify for the 'A' final in the men's lightweight doubles scull.
0853 What's the answer Tony? - So which sport are men traditionally not allowed to wear facial hair? You're going to have to get in touch Tony! We've had answers from boxing and sumo wrestling to crown green bowling, which is a blatant lie. Back to the rowing!
0848 Rowing - A glorious scull from Canada in the second semi-final. They just hold on in the end from China and Greece who also qualify for the final. World champions Australia are out.
0841 Rowing - Netherlands, Finland and Germany qualify for the 'A' final in the women's lightweight double sculls. GB finish fifth and only qualify for the 'B' final.
0834 Rowing - It was meant to be a rest day today, but after yesterday's action was cancelled due to the weather there's some sport going on at the river. It's the women's lightweight double sculls and GB are racing in third at the moment.
0823 Andy Blank from Thailand (is that your name Andy or don't you want to reveal your surname?) has an opinion on the amateur/professional debate. He writes: "In response to keeping the Olympics amateur - I actually think the opposite. Surely the ethos of the Olympics is to show the fastest, fittest, strongest, most agile human beings on the planet! Having said that I still can't fathom why archery, shooting, dressage, sailing are considered sports! They're 'games' in the true sense of the word ... and involve little effort! You may as well throw in darts, golf and lawn bowls ... perhaps, actually, that'd secure a few more extra gold medals for GB in 2012!"
0822 Quiz time - again - There's a bit of a lull in proceedings in Beijing and Tony Slade has come to the rescue once again with some more sport trivia. His question is: 'Which sport (not Olympic), are the men traditionally not allowed to wear facial hair? He says the sport in question is probably played in most countries. I'm stumped to be honest Tony, and the search engines aren't helping. Does anyone know the answer?
0810 Cycling - Let's talk cycling. The first gold medal is up for grabs in the Laoshan Velodrome today, and Team GB have a live chance in the men's team sprint. Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff represent a strong Great Britain line-up who will be going for gold. I'm right behind the lads. Are you? Email your thoughts to ben.linfoot@bskyb.com. Meanwhile, still no sailing. Watching a fascinating dual between Korea and Singapore in the table tennis. The lady from Singapore has the upper hand.
0756 Handball - Brazil's women edge Korea in a handball thriller - 33-32 to the South Americans.
0745 Now the early action is over, let's have a look at what's to come later today. In the athletics we've got round two of the men's 100m, as well as the men's shot final and women's 10,000m final. In the cycling there is the men's team sprint qualifying and finals and at 1400 South Africa take on GB in the hockey. At 1100 there's more judo finals and in the tennis the men fight it out for the doubles bronze. There's some weightlifting and shooting too. And some sailing, if we get some wind.
0735 Paul Luxton wants to get something off his chest. He writes: "Now the athletics has started, I'm reminded about something which really bugs me (irrationally I know!) Some commentators refer to "lifetime bests" and others refer to "personal bests" as if they're completely different things. Consistency please. Or do i need to get out more? Or are they in fact different!?" Different?! If you believe in reincarnation, maybe lifetime best could refer to your record in your present guise. That's all I've got to offer. I suggest you get out more.
0721 Archery - 'What about the old archery?' I hear you cry. Ok, ok. I've been a bit slack on this one. It happened earlier on but Juan Carlos Stevens of Cuba beat Team GB's Alan Wills 108 pts-104 pts. Never mind, Alan, I'm sure you gave it your best shot. Still no sailing by the way.
0715 Ian Ashenden's in China and he's sent us an e-mail with some of his thoughts. He writes: "I'm working here in Beijing and although only one day off a week, managed to get down and watch my first Olympic event last night, the boxing. Shame to see Brad Saunders lose but it was a great sight to see him, Billy Joe Saunders and the Irish boxer Ken Egan all having a beer in true amateur spirit down at The Den with their families and travelling supporters afterwards - it struck me as a real Olympic moment, keep the games amateur I say!" Thanks for your thoughts Ian. Keep all your Olympic anecdotes and the like coming in by sending an email to ben.linfoot@bskyb.com.
0655 Sailing - Just when we thought it was windy enough, the gusts disappear at Qingdao. Where is the wind?! A familar story I'm afraid, the sailing is delayed.
0636 Athletics - Sotherton fails on her third attempt at 1.86m in the high jump and she might lose a bit of ground here. She throws her bag down in disgust.
0632 Athletics - Sotherton clatters the bar on her second attempt. It's down to the third again - she did it last time. Can she do it again?
0629 Athletics - Sotherton fails her first attempt at 1.86m in the high jump.
0616 Athletics - Kelly Sotherton clears 1.83m in the high jump with a huge leap. Sam Rowe has emailed back to see if Carolina Kluft is in the heptathlon. The answer is no Sam, and that gives Sotherton a major chance of grabbing the gold. I believe Kluft is concentrating on the long jump.
0559GOLD Gymnastics - Nastia Liukin wins the women's all around final in the gymnastics. Team GB's Becky Downie finished 12th.
0557 Athletics - Kelly Sotherton clears 1.80m in the high jump.
0551 Sailing - Brian Chapman is back suggesting GB should have a good chance of claiming gold in the sailing. He isn't sure if any medals are given out in the sport today though. Well, Ben Ainslie has a huge chance of winning gold for Team GB, but your suspicions were right Brian, there are no medals to be won in the sailing today.
0538 Golden Brits? Alan Hay-Parker from Veracruz, Mexico, asks if I think Britain will strike gold anytime soon. Do you know what Alan, I don't know why but I've got a sneaky feeling that Jo Pavey is going to run a huge race in the 10,000m. Bear in mind I also had a sneaky feeling that France would win Euro 2008. What does everyone else think, can Team GB win a gold today?
0535 Answer Time - Tony, I believe it was Jim Hines at the AAU Championships in Sacremento in 1968. Thanks to Matt from Perth and Dave Spencer for the answer. And I did have to google* the place. *Other excellent search engines are available.
0533 Athletics - While the rest of the athletics finishes, the heptathlon goes on. Sotherton has just cleared 1.77m in the high jump.
0525 Question Time - Tony Slade has layed down a challenge. Without using a search engine, who was the first man to break 10 seconds for 100m, and where and when? I'll give you five minutes. I'll have to think about it!
0523 Boon Teck has emailed in from Hong Kong. Hi Boon. He suggests that Kim Jong-Su may have been on drugs to calm his nerves. Hadn't thought of that.
0518 Richard Ashcroft was way ahead of his time. It was back in '97 when he warbled 'The Drugs Don't Work' to an ear-pleasing acoustic melody. Thi Ngan Thuong Do take note. She has reportedly failed a doping test after trailing in last in the women's floor exercises in the gymnastics. Maybe love really is noise after all.
0515 Beach Volleyball - There's a break in the athletics as the morning session ends. Not a bad day so far for the Brits. Sotherton's started well and so have the sprinters. Let's have a scan around the rest of the Olympics. Apparantly the wind is getting up - good news for the sailing, while Australia are taking on Greece in the beach volleyball. It's a tense first set - the Aussies are 17-15 in front.
0503 Drugs - Reports coming from Beijing suggest Korea's Kim Jong-Su, who won a silver medal, has failed a drugs test. His sport? Shooting. How can that be beneficial?!
0455 Athletics - Jemma Simpson has failed to qualify in the 800m.
0449 Athletics - Marilyn Okoro of Team GB finishes second in her 800m heat in a decent time of 1:59:01. She seems happy with her performance. "I hope to produce something special," she says.
0441 There seems to be a fair few of you following the action in Australia! A warm g'day to Mick Leeming and Brian Chapman. Brian's also looking forward to the cycling. Brad Wiggins, Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff are just some of the Team GB stars in action later.
0439 Athletics - Jenny Meadows qualifies in third in her 800m heat. That was a good run from the Brit, in a time of 2:00:33.
0433 Athletics - Jemma Simpson finishes fourth for Team GB in the first heat for the women's 800m. She faces an anxious wait now to see if she's qualified. It's touch and go.
0428 Swimming - Simon Hill offers his thoughts on the aquatic world records. He says: "New technologies started to be factored into pool design a little over a decade ago. This was exemplified by the 'fast' pool at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The main criteria are a wet-deck gutter system around the edges to absorb waves, lane dividers that prevent waves, and sufficient depth to prevent 'bounce back' waves from the pool bottom. On top of this they have also improved the design and materials of the starting blocks. Of course, none of this makes any difference to the times I set!"
0425 Athletics - Simeon Williamson gets through his heat in the men's 100m - just. Go on my son! I'm right behind you!
0424 Paul Kane has emailed in questioning my enthusiasm for the role! I thought I was in pretty high spirits. I'll try and up the ante Paul.
0413GOLD Swimming - Britta Steffan with a fantastic swim to claim the gold for Germany in the women's 100m freestyle.
0400 Swimming - Si's forgiven me for my earlier faux pas and offers his insight into the Water Cube world records debate. He writes: "There are two additional EMPTY outside lanes to reduce drag...never before has Olympics seen that... The pool is indeed deeper than any other and the hi-tech suits worn also contribute to fast times. Evolution is the main factor...we just get faster..." He daren't even mention the 'D' word. Neither will I.
0356 I earlier claimed Simon Arsenal from Texas was supporting Chris Hoy in the cycling - his actual name is Simon Waterman. What can I say Simon, apologies, it's nearly 4am and I am a clown!
0353 Swimming - A time of 1:54:23 for Phelps, the machine. Stephen claims the aquadynamic swimsuits are the reason for the records tumbling! James Goddard finished sixth for Team GB.
0352GOLD Swimming - Another world record, the 21st of the games, and guess who got it? Of course it was, that man Phelps, and he's got his sixth gold medal of this year's Olympics. Brilliant stuff from the American.
0348 Swimming - Michael Phelps is hunting for another medal. It's the men's 200m Individual Medley next!
0343 Athletics - Derrick Atkins wins heat eight in the men's 100m in 10.28secs.
0340 Swimming - Like me, Chris Flint is working nights, and like me, the Olympics is keeping him going. Chris writes in his email: "I heard someone talking about the amount of world records in the swimming at this Olympics being due to the depth of the pool?? Would that be right or was I hearing things?" Can anyone help Chris out? Email ben.linfoot@bskyb.com with any answers.
0338 Cycling - A reminder the track cycling starts today. We'll bring you news from 0930 BST. Simon Arsenal from Wylie, Texas, is keeping an eye out for Team GB medal hope Chris Hoy.
0337 Athletics - Francis Obikwelu of Portugal wins heat seven of the men's 100m in 10.25secs.
0330 Athletics - That was a very good performance from Edgar who eased down in the closing stages.
0328 Athletics - Here's an update from the men's 100m heats. Michael Fraiter won heat four, Tyson Gay looked good when easing to victory in heat five, while Tyrone Edgar of GB won heat six in 10.13secs.
0322 Swimming - Tait was actually eighth. Lochte's world record - the 19th so far, was achieved in 1:53:94.
0321GOLD Swimming - Ryan Lochte wins for the USA, and again another world record tumbles. Tait was well held in about seventh.
0318 Swimming - Gregor Tait's up for Britain next in the men's 200m backstroke.
0315GOLD Swimming - Rebecca Soni wins for the USA in world record time.
0310 Swimming - Over to the Water Cube now for more swimming finals. First up it's the women's 200m breaststroke.
0305 Athletics - Richard Thompson wins heat three in the 100m. Some breaking news concerning Asafa Powell - it appears all is not well with the Jamaican as he is complaining of a stomach problem. That's all I have at this stage though I'll bring you more if it proves serious.
0255 Athletics - Kim Collins was second in Powell's heat. Pickering said afterwards: "Hopefully I can run a personal best in the quarter-finals - I missed the start there so I've something to work on."
0254 Athletics - Asafa Powell wins, as expected, in 10.15secs. He looked to be putting in a little more effort than Bolt, though. Pickering grabs third place and qualifies for Team GB.
0251 Athletics - Craig Pickering runs for Team GB in the next 100m heat. He takes on Asafa Powell here. The first three qualify automatically.
0247 Athletics - How can you jog 100m in 10.20secs? Usain Bolt just did. He's going to take some stopping this year isn't he?
0245 Athletics - Usain Bolt lines up in the first heat of the men's 100m.
0242 Athletics - the men's 100m heats are about to get under way in the Bird's Nest. This is where the Olympics start for many. Not for me. I was up watching the equestrian a week ago. Some call me hardcore. Hi to Paul Brackett in Atlanta. He gets a mention because he said nice things in his email.
0236 Athletics - Sam Rowe's a British expat living in Sydney and these are the first games he's missed since 1992! He's right behind Kelly Sotherton in the heptathlon and she's made a good start. She's fourth place in the table after the hurdles with 1097 points.
0233 Athletics - A decent run from Sotherton in a very fast heat. She finished well to grab fourth - 13.18secs for the Brit and that's a lifetime best.
0232 Athletics - Kelly Sotherton's up next in the final 100m hurdles heat in the heptathlon. She's wearing shades, looking relaxed.
0231 Athletics - I wouldn't mess with Reese Hoffa. He's one of the favourites for the men's shot and he looks to be already through after a first throw of 20.41m.
0230 Athletics - Lyudmila Blonska wins her heat in a fast time and she leads overall. Very smooth hurdling from the Ukranian.
0222 Athletics - Hollman was actually fifth in her heat. Not for the first time at 2am my eyes deceive me.
0212 Kelly sounds pretty confident ahead of her bid for another Olympic medal - what colour - if any, can she win this time? Wherever you are in the world, let me know your thoughts by sending an email to ben.linfoot@bskyb.com. Where are you, and why are you reading?! Drop me a line to keep me going in between heats.
0209 Athletics - Natalia Dobrynska of Ukraine romps home in heat two. That was easy. Hollman limps in about seventh.
0205 Athletics - 31-year-old Julie Hollman represents Team GB in the next heat of the heptathlon 100m hurdles. She's in lane three.
0200 Athletics - Dutch number one Laurien Hoos wins the first heat of the day - the 100m hurdles in the women's heptathlon. She gets 1047 points for that effort.
0155 If you want to discuss the discus, hammer the hammer or shoot down the shot, feel free to drop me a line at ben.linfoot@bskyb.com. Tell me where you are, what you are up to and we'll talk Olympics - keep it clean it goes on the screen. What athletics event are you looking forward to the most? What world records are likely to tumble? Which Brit can strike gold? I need answers people!
0145 So what's going on inside the Bird's Nest today? Well, there's a couple of medals up for grabs for starters. The men's shot, and the women's 10,000m, where we'll be cheering on Jo Pavey. Apart from this the women's 800m heats get under way, as do the men's 100m, men's hammer, men's 1500m, women's discus, women's 3000m steeplechase, women's triple jump and men's 400m hurdles. Oh, and the heptathlon. While the athletics will retain the focus of our attention, we'll keep you up-to-date on all other things Olympic too, such as the swimming, cycling, and the ever-popular beach volleyball.
0120 And on the seventh day, the track and field extravaganza began! Welcome, to another Olympic clockwatch, and what a day we have in store. Amongst the highlights are three of the world's fastest men - Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, who will be competing in the heats of the 100 metres. For Team GB, Kelly Sotherton kicks off her bid for a heptathlon medal, while Jo Pavey will go for gold in the 10,000m. And over at the Water Cube, that Phelps fellow is after gold medal number six in the 200m Individual Medley at 0345. It promises to be a day to remember - stay tuned here for all the latest news as it happens!
