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Pooley: SIlver medal
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Time to wind down our live coverage for today - be sure to log on tomorrow though, briught and early at 1am UK time, or wherever you are in the world and we'll keep you right on top of the Olympics!
1542 Boxing - After the drama surrounding Joe Murray's defeat, what a way to bounce back as the skipper takes out the favourite for the super-heavyweights, that was a super-heavyweight performance from David Price.
1537 Boxing - The first count came after a short right hand from Price that really rattled the Russian. Timurziev then stumbled after some more pressure from Price and after the count the referee obviously saw something in his eyes - it looked a strange call but Price will take it!
1536 Boxing - The referee stops the fight! And Price takes out the European champion Timurziev after the Russian took two counts.
1534 Boxing - The giant Liverpool fighter goes 2-0 down after the first round, the second point came from nowhere though.
1532 Boxing - Dynamite David Price, GB's boxing captain is entering the ring for his opening bout - but what a test as he faces world number one and favourite Islam Timurziev of Russia.
1526 Hockey - It finishes 1-0 to Holland, both sides had chances but the Dutch take it - and that's a big victory that could see the GB team fail to progress unless they get a result against the flying Aussies.
1518 Hockey - Holland snatch a 1-0 lead from a penalty corner after James Tindall picked up a yellow card for a clumbsy tackle that resulted in a nasty astro-turf burn on the Dutchman's shoulder, that'll sting in the shower! What's stinging now though is that the Brits are behind with six minutes left.
1513 Tennis - Serena Williams comes thourgh a tough battle to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 against Alize Cornet and move into the quarter-finals.
1511 Hockey - 12 minutes left in the match and GB go close with Rob Moore hitting a superb strike on the dive - the German keeper responds with a good one-handed save though - 0-0.
1459 Swimming - GB performance director Michael Scott says he takes responsibility for the 4x200m women not making the final after resting two top stars, but he insists that the four chosen should have been fast enoguh to go through.
1453GOLD Fencing - A quick double for the Germans as the women's individual epee goes to Britta Heidemann.
1448 Football - Brazil have beaten China 3-0 to knock out the hosts out of the tournament.
1433GOLDFencing - Germany's Benjamin Kleibrink has taken gold in the men's individual foil competition.
1429 Baseball - The American's have lost in the prelims of the baseball, going down 8-7 against Korea.
1429 Tennis - A miserable tournament for Andy Murray is over as he and brother Jamie are dumped out of the doubles by Clement and Llodra, and it's a real hammering with the French duo winning 6-1 6-3.
1428 Hockey - The Dutch are having the best of the play now, hitting the post and forcing GB's keeper into a touch over the net, but it stays 0-0.
Football - Thiago Neves scores a superb free kick for Brazil as they go 2-0 up against China - who look like going out of the tournament now.
1407 Tennis - Even worse for the Murrays now I'm afraid, they've been broken in the second set and are 3-1 down, oh scrap that, make it 3-2.
1403GOLDWeightlifting - Sa Jaeh-Youk of South Korea takes the men's 77kg weightlifting gold to add to the Far East's haul.
1356 Tennis - Bad news for Murray fans - the brothers have lost the opening set, and how! They've be smashed 6-1 by Llodra and Clement.
1339 Fencing - Salvatore Sanzo from crack fencing nation Italy beat China's Zhu Jun 15-14 to claim a bronze medal - the gold medal match will be soon.
1337 Swimming - That result will spark off some debate now, surely the GB squad is not big enough to rest thier best swimmers for the relay races, when anything can happen in the finals. Especially when the two new inclusions obviously struggled at the distance while gold medallist in the event Adlington was sat back in the athletes village.
1334 Swimming - The two regular 200m swimmers kept GB right in touch but the two inexperienced girls at the distance couldn't keep it going and individual medallists Jackson, who swam well on the first leg, and gold medallist Adlington are now robbed of a chance of making it two medals.
1332 Swimming - What a cock-up! That's the only word for it as the GB swimming chiefs drop a massive clanger in the women's 4x200m relay. After resting their two best swimmers they fail to even make the final and throw away a great medal chance.
1329 Hockey - Pakistan have bounced back from their opening defeat against Great Britain by beating Canada 3-1, remember the GB boys are up at 2pm against the well-fancied Dutch.
1323 Tennis - More British interest as the Murrays start thier match against France's Clement and Llodra in the second round, it's 2-1 to the French at the moment.
1321 Swimming - France set a new Olympic record in the first heat of the women's 4x200m relay, the Brits are up next, fielding something of a B team with now gold medallist Rebecca Adlington or Caitlin McLatchey.
1310 Swimming - James Goddard swims in the next lane to Michael Phelps and keeps up for two lengths as the American, now a legend, wins it comfortably, both Goddard and Tancock make the semis though.
1306 Swimming - Ryan Lochte is the man to challenge Phelps and his historic bid, the American only just got out of second gear in his heat here as he takes it and he's hardly breathing heavy at all at the finish - Phelps is next.
1303 Football - Diego gives Brazil the lead against China after being sent through by Ronaldinho.
1302 Swimming - Liam Tancock comes fourth in the 200m medley heat behind winner Laszlo Cseh - again it's wait and see time to see if he gets into the semis.
1253 Football - A huge crowd has turned up to watch hosts China take on the superstars from Brazil in the men's competition.
1249 Swimming - Leisel Jones looks like she's swimming a few lengths in the pool on holiday as she wins her heat by a couple of seconds but is still the second fastest qualifier for the semis.
1244 Tennis - Although he hasn't looked his best throughout, Federer has at least made it through against Tomas Berdych, maybe he can salvage his season to date by claiming Olympic gold?
1241GOLDJudo - A double gold for Georgia, not often we say that is it? Irakli Tsirekidze has claimed the title in the 90kg section of the men's judo.
1240 Swimming - Rebecca Soni takes out another Olympic record in her 200m breaststroke heat to put down a marker for the medals - Britain's Kirsty Balfour is sixth and it'll be a close call for the semis.
1239 Tennis - Berdych and Federer need a tie-breaker to settle the argument in the second set.
1235 Swimming - Rie Kaneto of Japan wins her 200m breaststroke heat, but well fancied, in more ways than one, American Amanda Beard is way below par and finishes in sixth and will have to wait if she can make the semis.
1230 Tennis - Berydch is fighting hard in the second set and Federer has to hold serve to stay in it at 4-5 down.
1218 Swimming - Gregor Tait comes second in his 200m backstroke heat behind American joint-world record holder Ryan Lochte, who has one of the best turns in the pool, taking at least a metre out of the Briton on the final length.
1215GOLD Judo - Masae Ueno gets a gold for Japan as she wins the title in the women's 70-kilogram class.
1212 Swimming - Backstroke king and world record holder Aaron Peirsol goes from last to first in the first length of his and qualifies supremely well.
1203 Tennis - Roger Federer is a set-up on Thomas Berdych in his third rounder.
1200 Football - In Group D, Italy and ten-man Cameroon drew 0-0, a result which puts the Africans through against the already-qualified Italians, carve up anyone? South Korea beat Honduras 1-0 but both go out.
1159 Football - And you results...Holland 1 Japan 0 means that the Dutch go through to the quarter-finals, as do Nigeria after they beat the USA 2-1, the Americans only needed a draw but blew it!
1155GOLD Wrestling - More good news for Georgia as Manuchar Kvirkelia takes the 74kg greco-roman grappling contest.
1152 Swimming Fran Hansall is involved though and wins her heat in a time of 53.39.
1145 Swimming - Caitlin McClatchey has pulled out of the women's 100m freestyle heats to concentrate on the 4x200m freestyle relay - which Team GB fancy they could get a medal at, lets see if the plan works.
1144 Swimming - Back to the Water Cube as the almost never-ending swimming continues with more heats, a young lad called Michael Phelps is in action again in the 200m individual medley - watch out for him.
1140 Equestrian - Bad news for the showjumpers as Michael Whitaker can't compete after his horse Portofino 63 pulled up lame. Nick Skelton and his horse Russel comes in.
1115 Canoeing - Fiona Perrie misses out on the semis, that first run rewally cost her but 'American' Heather Corrie, who used to race for Britain, has made it through in tenth.
1105 Tennis - Rafa Nadal breezes through against Andreev with a regulation victory - can anyone stop the Spaniard taking Olympic gold?
1054 Canoeing - Fiona Pennie is off again in her second run and has a lot to make up! It's a lot better time but she is still in trouble of missingo out on the semi-final.
1047GOLDWrestling - France's Steeve Guenot takes a stranglehold on the 66kg greco-roman wrestling title ahead of Kanatbek Begaliev of Kyrgyzstan.
1044 Rowing - Its a blanket finish and.....they're in! Team GB just make it in a thrilling repechage despite a slow start. Canada take it, Holland second and GB just nip in for third ahead of Australia to make the final.
1044 Rowing - GB's women's eight are trying to qualify for the next round in the repechage.
1035 Gymnastics - More drama as US team coordinator Martha Karolyi blames Chinese officials for keeping Alicia Sacramone waiting too long before she went onto, and the fell off of the balance beam...sour grapes anyone?
1017 Football - The last group games are underway in the men's section, big guns Argentina, Brazil and Italy are already through, but there are plenty of places to play for - regular updates coming at you throughout the day.
1015 A slightly despressed Jon Orchard is down in the dumps after a few Great Britain near misses medal-wise. Cheer up Jon, we should, i say SHOULD, bag a few medals at the weekend in rowing and the sailing I reckon. Not to mention the cycling!
1012 Rowing - Just a further note - Team GB now have seven boats in rowing finals, three more than the last two Olympics, what do we think is the reason for an up-turn? Must be a good sign for London but how many can get in the merdals in Beijing I wonder...
1010 Diving - More rumblings going on about the judging during the Olympics. The gymnastics and shooting has already come under fire - now GB's diving performance director Steve Foley has hit out at judging of 3m synchronised springboard pair of Nick Robinson-Baker and Ben Swain. "We are getting crucified and I don't know why, I can't tell you that," he said.
1006GOLDWeightlifting - Lui Chunhong throws another gold medal onto China's pile - they are so strong, literally, in this event! She has set a new total lift world record in the 69kg category of 277kg just for good measure.
1000 Thanks to Colin Fletcher for his thoughts on Michael Phelps - he says he deserves to be named best Olympian ever, and we would be more glowing in our praise if he was British. Actually Colin I reckon he's be Sir Michael Phelps by now if he was a Brit, I'm sure the BOA are digging away at his family tree to see any links! What do you think out there?
0957 Rowing - The British men's fours power away in front and hold off the Australians' late charge to win their semi-final - the quartet are now just one race from carrying on GB's tradition in their flagship boat, following Redgrave and Pinsent etc - they are some big oars to fill for these guys!
0952GOLDCycling - Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, the powerful world champion, adds Olympic gold to his CV with a superb display in the time trial.
Elsewhere, we have Fiona Pennie struggling in the canoeing after the first run, and super heavyweight David Price fights later on today, 3pm-ish UK time, although he's up against a tough opponent. Also stay tuned for news of the Murrays in the tennis and the men's hockey team who play the fancied Dutch at 2pm..That enough action for you?
Bradley Coffman has emailed in from sunny Spain asking about British hopefuls today. Well, I'm afraid Bradley that there's not much medal hope today, our rowers are bagging places in the finals though.
0946 Rowing - Wells and Rowbotham finish in third in the end behind France and Estonia - they're in the final at least but it means an outside lane for the boys which is not ideal. Maybe they were containing themselves for the final, or maybe the scorching heat and humidity played a part, we'll see!
0943 Baseball - At last! We've found something that hosts China don't seem to be too hot on, as Canada crush the Chinese 10-0.
0941 Rowing - GB's double scullers are fouth at 500m but they have a better second half of the race and a good finish, hopefully!
0939 Basketball - It's a thriller in the women's competition as Latvia just edge out Brazil 79-78!
0936 Tennis - Rafa Nadal has started his third round match against Russian Igor Andreev, so far its 2-2 with serve..the matches come thick and fast for the tennis stars this week.
0933 Rowing - Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham are up in a minute in the semi-finals of the double sculls - hoping to follow Alan Campbell into the final.
0924 Plenty going on today - don't forget to email in any questions, thoughts or comments on the day's action to me here at paul.higham@bskyb.com, or click on my name above.
0921 Weightlifting - A new World Record for you! Liu Chunhong of China has bettered her own mark in the women's 69kg class as she lifted a massive 128kg in the snatch - some effort that, nearly twice her own body weight above her head in one quick move...impressive.
0910 There is some mixed news at the sailing regatta, from a British point of view. Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield have moved into medal contention in the 470 event as they lie third overall behind Australia and France. However in the women's 470, Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark are struggling in eighth while the 49er crew of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes are down in ninth.
0907 What a finish! Like a man possessed Campbell roars home over the final 100m to finish just behind Synek but ahead of the world record holder Drysdale of New Zealand, who just about manages to qualify for the final. Brilliant stuff from Campbell!
0905 World record holder Mahe Drysdale is in this same race and he's setting the pace alongside Czech Ondrej Synek with Campbell trailing by quite some distance. However if the Brit finishes third he will make the final and that's the position he's in now.
0900 In rowing Great Britain's Alan Campbell is on the water right now in his single sculls semi-final - keep your fingers crossed because this will be so so close.
0855 We've had plenty of feedback on Phelps throughout the early hours regarding how much credit he actually deserves. Kevin Pears sticks up for the American, saying: "I can't believe some of the comments about Phelps. He is a supreme athlete, it's just a case of swimming appearing a bit boring to some people. He has shown that he can rise to the top in many different types of race using different techniques in each. Where is the runner who can win the 100m, 10,000m and hurdles, it's only running after all!"
0850 In the men's time trial, Great Britain's Steve Cummings is still holding on to that precious bronze medal position but he faces an anxious wait to see if he ends up on the podium once all the competitiors have finished.
0845 We're heading to the rowing lake shortly where there's several important races for Team GB. The men's coxless four continue their quest for gold in their semi-finals while Alan Campbell is in single sculls action and the pairing of Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham also return in the men's double sculls. The women's eight also race off in the in the lottery of the repechage.
0835GOLDAnd as you might have expected, the gold rush continues for the hosts in the 3m synchronised springboard with Feng Wang and Kai Qin winning comfortably with a score of 469.08 - a fourth for China at these Games in diving. Dmitry Sautin and Yuriy Kunakov of Russia take silver with the bronze going to Ukraine pair Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov. Just for the record, Britain's Robinson-Baker and Swain finished up seventh.
0830GOLDYing Chen has continued China's momentum in the 25m pistol competition, clinching gold ahead of Gundegmaa Otryad of Mongolia and Germany's Munkhbayar Dorjsuren.
0826 I think it's safe to say their chances have gone after quite a big splash on entry into the water. Robinson-Baker and Swain give each other a consolation embrace because they know it won't be good enough to get a medal.
0825 Heading into the final round of dives in the 3m synchronised springboard event, China have all but won gold but Great Britain are still in touch of a bronze medal despite being down in seventh - it is very close.
0820 Let's have some more reaction from cyclist Emma Pooley, who won silver for Great Britain in the time trial. She said: "It helps being positive-nervous, because you've been waiting four years for this. I was enjoying going fast. It was pretty fun, I just kept saying, 'faster faster.' I raced as well as I could. I cannot affect what others do. There's no secret, you just have to make it hurt. Imagine a friend sitting on your wheel, shouting at you."
0816 Wow, a very complicated looking dive from Robinson-Baker and Swain has seemingly paid off and they've been awarded 81.90 for it. Let's hope that sees them challenging for a medal by the end of this round.
0813 In the men's diving final we're following closely, the Chinese pair of Feng Wang and Kai Qin are showing all their rivals how it's done. They are like machines - they just don't make mistakes and they are sky high at the top of the leaderboard on 286.86 points. It would take a disaster to deny them a gold now and the home crowd are lapping this up. Aren't the Chinese bored of all these golds yet? Meanwhile our British lads have dropped down a to seventh with two rounds to go. Remember if you want your say on any Olympic issues send me an email at christopher.hammer@bskyb.com.
0810 Back to the men's cycling time trial and Great Britain's Steve Cummings is clinging to a bronze medal but there is such a long way to go and plenty of strong riders to come.
0805 The pasty duo of Robinson-Baker and Swain have made a slight error in their latest attempt and it's proved costly, only scoring 67.50. You can measure that against the fact that 70 is regarded as average. Oh dear.
0800 This diving competition is now hotting up and the Chinese are in control having nailed a dive of 83.70 to give them an overall score of 197.10. The Australian duo have badly messed up their latest attempt and they are now clear in last place. At the end of the third round, Great Britain are fifth, so still an outside chance of a medal.
0748 In the men's 3m synchronised springboard diving our British duo of Nicholas Robinson-Baker and Benjamin Swain have just produced a decent third attempt in the final and have a points total of 177.66. There are three dives to go.
0739 As expected Cummings appears to be out of gold medal contention as the stronger riders begin to finish their time trials. The current leader is Svein Tuft of Canada.
0732 We haven't had any medal winners for a while so what can you expect for the rest of the morning. Well, shortly we'll be crowning champions in the men's time trial, men's 3m synchronised springboard diving, men's Greco-Roman wrestling at 66kg and 74kg while for women we have the final of the 25m pistol and the 69kg weightlifting event. In the British afternoon there will be gold medals decided in fencing, judo and men's weightlifting.
0725 In Judo, the Olympic dream is over for Winston Gordon. It's a bit complicated but the man who beat him earlier, Khurshid Nabiev, has lost to Elkhan Mammadov and that means Gordon can't continue in the competition any further.
0720 British sailors continue their quest for medals today and the Team GB manager for the sport, Stephen Park, says he's confident of success. We're getting to the halfway stage in some classes and Park says: "If we have another consistent day today and tomorrow then I think we'll be set up to have some good medal races and ultimately get ourselves into a position in those medal races where we're in the running to go for a medal." How many times can you mention the word 'medal' in one sentance! The point is Britain are putting themselves in with a real chance of ruling the waves once again. Ahead of today's racing all nine of the British crews that have been in action were in the top 10 of their categories and on course to qualify for their medal races.
0715 It's so far so good for Cummings who leads the way in the time trial but there's so much more time for that to change - don't get too carried away with excitement.
0700 Phil Hubbard wants to get involved in our hot debate of the day - should Phelps be regarded as the greatest Olympian ever. He says: "I am an ex-international rower who has competed all over the world, and also I have competed in Triathlon. What Phelps is doing is extraordinary by any standard. Simon your comment that suggested swimming is one-dimensional is rather questionable, Phelps is winning gold medals in various disciplines which require a completely different set of swimming skills to achieve. If you have ever swam, then you would know that the back stroke is the complete opposite to the freestyle, the Butterfly requires a completely different body movement through the water as does the breaststroke. The fact that Michael Phelps has achieved such a complete all round perfection of the various strokes is in itself demonstrating what an outstanding athlete he is. The fact that he is doing it winning gold medals and breaking world records is to me just WOW. I can only sit here in complete admiration to the discipline he has shown to achieve such heights. Just to highlight my point slightly more, if Carl Lewis can win gold in 100m/200m/4x100m and a long jump does that not mean athletics is one dimensional as well, as it is just all running in the end of the day! Or is it he was just an exceptional athlete who outclassed his peers?" This is debate is very thought provoking and I don't think we'll ever agree!
0655 It's now the turn of the men for the cycling time trial in which Steve Cummings goes for Great Britain. I'll keep you posted on that event as it unfolds.
0650 I'm just watching a re-run of the women's team gymnastics because it was hard to focus on it earlier. I have to say the Chinese, who won the event, are absolutely incredible - some of the moves they pull off are almost uncomprehendable. The USA were close behind but their best efforts had a muted crowd response, predictably.
0640 Dave Sergeant is determined to have the final say on the Phelps issue. He says: "Judging by medals alone is biased towards multi discipline events such as swimming and gymnastics (8 of the top 10 medal winners are either gymnasts or swimmers), so calling Phelps the "greatest" may be unfair to people in single disciple events." I must mention that Dave says he has no problems with Phelps being called the most "successful" as that is factually undeniable.
0630 Right, as we get our breath back from a frantic morning in the swimming pool and another cycling medal for Team GB, let's just bring you a few other results from elsewhere. In women's basketball Spain have beaten Czech Republic 74-55 while in softball the China have thrashed Venezuela 7-1. However in the men's hockey the hosts have lost 5-2 to Korea. In the women's beach volleyball competition there's been triumphs for the Georgia pairing of Saka and Rtvelo, Chinese duo Tian Jia and Wang and Aussie pair Barnett and Cook. I'm not sure how interested you are in all that but there's no point forgetting it exists! Handball does have a cult following when it comes to the Olympics and today the Russian women have beaten Brazil 28-19 while France have lost to Romania 34-26. In regular volleyball Italy and Russia have claimed 3-0 wins over Algeria and Kazakhstan respectively.
0624 Earlier we told you British fencer Richard Kruse was preparing for his next match with the world champion from Germany Peter Joppich. Well unfortunately he's lost 10-9 in a tight encounter.
0618 Now let's run another debate alongside Phelps. Why are Britain relying on most of the women to get the medals! A quote from Pooley when asked if she had a plan, "No, you just have to ride like you never have to breathe again."
0612 Stephen Oliver is back looking to settle the argument over Michael Phelps being the most successful Olympian of all time. He says: "If you're a good swimmer you have much more opportunity to win medals in the pool. We have biathlons, pentathlons, and decathlons. How about dodecathletes (yes, 20 disciplines)! Let's see the swimmers enter the boxing ring, the relay runners perform on the parallel bars, the three-day eventers shoots clay pigeons and the tennis players (all pro) play doubles badmington! When will rugby league be an Olympic sport so they can play full contact beach volley ball! The Olympics is a celebration of certain sports. The competion is great and exciting; a boxer can only win one medal, but a swimmer can win 10 if his team mates are competent." I have to say my major problem is that Sir Steve Redgrave battles over 20 years winning five golds, and Phelps has already got five in one Games!
0600SILVERWell, Team GB have another medal and it goes to Pooley, who did indeed pick up the silver in the time trial as Armstrong of the USA takes gold. In bronze medal position is Karin Thurig of Switzerland.
0549 Bad news for British judo hope Winston Gordon who lost to Khurshid Nabiev of Uzbekistan in a 90kg preliminary round match.
0544 Heartbreak for Great Britain and Emma Pooley because America's Kristin Armstrong has produced a rousing second half of her time trial to lead the way overall with a time of 34:51.72 and surely nobody can better that.
0540 Nicole Cooke, the gold medallist in the road race, looks a bit jaded and doesn't look like she'll match team-mate Pooley's time. The general feeling is that Pooley is on course for gold - nobody can get close to her time!
0535 The reaction to Phelps continues to flood in and Simon Hill, who earlier claimed he shouldn't be allowed to win so many golds, wants to make his point even clearer. He says: "I don't wish other readers to misunderstand - of course I recognise and respect Phelps' achievements in the pool. It just doesn't seem right to proclaim him 'Greatest Olympian' in a very one-dimensional discipline. If pole vaulting had three diffferent run-up distances and two types of pole material then undoubtedly Sergei Bubka would've earned about 18 golds in his career. Unfortunately he could win but one at each Games. As for greatest Olympian what about Fanny Blankers-Coen. A mother of two and aged 30 she won four golds on the track in 1948 and was prevented from entering long jump and high jump for which she held the world records. Maybe it's the awful sycophantic commentary I have to endure here in Hong Kong that deters me from being more enthusiastic about Phelps and his medal haul." Meanwhile Tony Bell says: "Phelps is an awesome athlete, but swimming has far too many events attached to it with all the different strokes, relays and medleys. In track and field you do not have a gold medal for hopping, side skipping and running backwards. In high jump there are not three gold medals - one for the flop, one for the splits and one for the forward roll. It's a simple case of fastest/highest end of story. Medal tables and individual medal tallies are artificially inflated and bias towards events in the pool, and probably Gymnastics too." Strong views indeed. I hope Phelps isn't reading this!
0525 It's been a bad morning for Britain's male archers. Earlier Simon Terry lost 105-104 to Finland's Matti Hatava and now Laurence Godfrey has been defeated by Bair Badenov of Russia.
0518GOLDThe Chinese women's gymnastic team have sent the home crowd delirious having captured gold ahead of the Americans and Romania. It's their first ever in this event.
0513 Emma Pooley has finished her time trial and is easily the leader at the moment with a lightning time of 35:16.01. There are plenty of cyclists to come but that's a great benchmark for the rest to chase.
0508 John Sergeant says: "Why are we making a big deal about people winning golds in world record time? Haven't they all been won in either an Olympic or World Record? Maybe the new thing should be SR - Speedo records!" It's funny you say that because John H has got back in touch to question the size of the pool! Keep all your thoughts coming in to christopher.hammer@bskyb.com
0500 Emma Pooley is so far the quickest at the top of the climb in the women's time trial and she's looking in great shape for a medal. She's flying at the moment but can she keep it up?
0457 A thrilling women's team competition in gymnastics is hotting up with China just leading the USA and the crowd are on the edge of their seat.
0450 In the fencing competition, Great Britain's Richard Kruse won his opening round and he'll next meet the world champion Peter Joppich of Germany.
0445 Keep your comments coming in about Michael Phelps but now I'll divert my attention to other sports now the swimming has finished for a few hours at least. The women's time trial in the cycling has just started where Nicole Cooke will be going for another gold.
0440 John H from the West Indies says: "I think anyone who dedicates years of their life to just achieve the title an Olympian deserves all the plaudits they get. To mount that podium must be awesome and to do it 10 times is unbelievable. I just wish I had a portion of the talent of these athletes." Don't we all! Meanwhile Gordon Cumming says: "I have to disagree strongly about limiting an athlete to only one individual event. It is the difference between the World Championships and the Olympics. For the former event, I agree that a limit could/should be set but for the Olympics, it is precisely in the spirit of its history to find the world's greatest Olympian - and that obviously cannot involve limiting an athlete to one single event."
0430GOLDAnother gold for Phelps as America romp home with a stunning world record time of 6:58.56 to take a dominant victory ahead of Russia and Australia. We're running out of words to describe him and he's just three golds away from creating more history. Great Britain finished back in sixth but it was a new national record for the quartet.
0420 Michael Phelps is now going for a fifth gold as he lines up with the rest of the USA team for the men's 4x200m freestyle final. I can hardly keep up! Phelps has changed his goggles having complained about the pair he used earlier on and I wonder if he has enough in the tank to help his team secure gold? Cath Blake has just emailed in to reveal the problem of Phelps' goggles in the butterfly and it is indeed true!
0417GOLDIn one of the closest finishes you'll ever likely to see, Stephanie Rice has edged out Kirsty Coventry to claim gold with a new world record time of of 2:08.45. Natalie Coughlin got the bronze ahead of Katie Hoff. Coventry now has three silvers and she looks pretty gutted with that. I actually watched her in the world short-course championships in Manchester earlier this year and thought she would go on to win loads of gold in Beijing, but so far that's not happened.
0415 Back in the Water Cube it's the final of the women's 200m individual medley final.
0410 The swimming has absorbed all of my attention over the past hour but I can inform you that Russia's women have beaten Belarus in that basketball match 71-65 while their handball team have overcome Brazil 28-19.
0402 The semi-finals of the men's 200m breaststoke have taken place but Kristopher Gilchrist has failed to progress despite setting a British record time of 2:10.27 - you can't ask more from him than that.
0358 Allan Gobey has got back in touch to hit back at those who have complained about Phelps being able to win so many medals. He says: "So what you are saying is that we should penalise the best athletes in the world because they are better than everybody else. That makes absolutely no sense. If Phelps was British we would be right behind him. Michael Phelps is going to go down as one of the greatest athletes and greatest Olympians of all time and we should be applauding what he is doing, not criticising him for it."
0355 You will all notice from the pictures of Michael Phelps in the immediate aftermath of his latest victory that he doesn't look too happy. Does anyone have any explanation for this?
0348 Trevor Moores says: "I can't disagree more with the previous poster that said it's not fair one person can go for so many golds. I don't think anyone is fooled that in some disciplines there's more medals on offer, but we have the opportunity for someone to do something quite special in this Olympics. If he gets it, no-one will fail to see what a remarkable champion Phelps is." What do other people think about this issue? Get in touch by emailing me at christopher.hammer@bskyb.com.
0342 Paul Roser from Australia says: "I am ex-pat in Melbourne and the tv coverage is predictably tedious. Endless commercials with some Aussie medal hope squeezed in, therefore relying on you for live updates of GB's chances. I have a bet with an Aussie colleague that GB will bag more golds so I am relying on you to deliver the booty!" Meanwhile we have a reader in Kazakhstan called Dave McBain. He says: "Keep up the excellent coverage. We don't get to see very much of the Olympics over here in Kazakhstan, as we receive South African TV. All they are interested in is Rugby and the recent series defeat of England at cricket! Good to see they got beat by Australia at the hockey!"
0340 While we take literally a one minute break here's what some of you have to say. Adam Hendy says: "I am an expat watching live in the States - keep the coverage coming and some of us are alive, well & watching. By the way - I am a happy Ipswich fan after the Carling Cup win tonight! Also watching The Red Sox try to blow a ten run lead and they are doing a good job! Keep the faith."
0335 Oh dear, Jemma Lowe hasn't reached the final of the 200m butterfly. Unfortunately the second semi was very fast and on overall times, she's ranked ninth and just misses out. Incidentally the fastest qualifier was China's Liu Zige.
0325 Phil Bryant says: "I am a Brit currently working out in Canada so the time difference is even worse. I reckon on 11 hours from here to Beijing. My girlfriend and I are thouroughly enjoying all the coverage, but it's very annoying when we spot a Team GB contestant and they move swiftly on..." Allan Gobey has a similar problem from the same country. He says: "I'm a Brit watcing the Olympics from Canada so thanks for keeping me up to date with the Brits that are competing and aren't getting to swimming finals and that are maybe finishing 17th in an archery tournament." Well we can tell you Jemma Lowe just finished third in her semi final in the women's 200m butterfly but we'll have to wait and see if that's good enough to progress.
0322GOLDPhelps has won his fourth gold of the Games and the 10th of his career to make Olympic history. This man's achievements are astonishing but he did look very tired after that, but he did break another world record with a time of 1:52.03. He is officially the greatest Olympian ever. In second place was Hungary's Laszlo Cseh with Japan's Takeshi Matsuda in third. Your thoughts?
0320 Michael Phelps is about to go for his fourth gold in the 200m butterfly final, which he should find quite easy compared with the rest of his races. Simon Hill says: "I was gutted to see the French lose out by a fingertip in the relay the other day, giving Phelps another gold. I'm fed-up with all the hype surrounding this and in my opinion it highlights the ludicrous situation whereby one competitor can win so many medals. Competitors should be restricted to one individual event and as many team events as they choose - then we would see a broader spectrum of swimmers, more representative of that countries pool of talent (pun intended)." Does anyone argue with that?
0317GOLDFederica Pellegrini has done it! She's won Italy's first female Olympic swimming gold with a time of 1:54.82, to break her own world record in the process. Slovenia's Sara Isakovic claimed the silver ahead of home favourite Jiaying Pang with McClatchey back in sixth.
0313 Before the swimmers dive in I'm going to squeeze in an email from Mark Devison. He says: "I am English but live and work in the Philippines. I just started work for the day, (7 hours ahead of UK here), and I have the live website up and running. A great service I have to say. There is little or no interest in the Olympics here with the Filipino nationals, so not much TV coverage. I am so pleased to have found your excellent website.Keep up the good work." Thank you very much, I really do appreciate that and it makes what we do so worthwhile at this time of night/morning!
0312 There's not a moment to catch your breath because it's now the final of the women's 200m freestyle and Caitlin McClatchey goes for Great Britain.
0310 Unbelievable! Australia's Eamon Sullivan, who had watched his world record taken away by Bernard a few moments earlier, has just got it back by clocking 47.05 to win the second semi final.
0305 What an incredible start to the swimming! A new world record has been broken already in the first semi-final of the men's 100m freestyle. France's Alain Bernard stormed home to win it in a sensational time of 47.20 seconds. He doesn't look too surprised but considering he hasn't won a medal yet he knows there's more work to do.
0259 Just before we concentrate on the swimming for a while, Australia have thrashed South Africa 10-0 in the hockey. Rather one-sided there!
0255 Stephen Oliver, an ex-pat in America, is disgruntled with the coverage he gets of the Olympics over in the States - "We only get to see events in which an American has a medal chance and that is squeezed in between endless commercials. Oh how I would love to see some handball, hockey or cycling!" You probably didn't enjoy my updates on America's beach volleyball team then! Continue to keep your emails coming in to christopher.hammer@bskyb.com . With the action in the Water Cube almost set to start, who amongst you wants Michael Phelps to fail in his bid for eight gold medals?
0245 In the women's basketball, Russia are in control against Belarus in a group game while the Aussie men are absolutely destroying South Africa in the hockey - it was 5-0 at half-time and the goals continue to fly in there. Great Britain will be hoping to continue their good start to the competition when they take on the dangerous Dutch at around 1400BST. That's a long way off yet though!
0240 The USA pair of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser have moved to the top of Pool B after clinching a straight-sets victory over Argentina.
0230 Thanks to Steve Smith who is the first reader to email in! He says: "I take it not a lot is happening or are you still drinking your morning coffee to keep you awake?" Well I must say there isn't a great deal happening to get the pulses racing at this exact moment in time but in about 30 minutes when the swimming gets going, we'll be in for some real excitement. As for coffee, I might make a cup very soon!
0225 Anyone from Britain reading this will either be staying up as late as possible or have set their alarm clocks ridiculously early to start the new day from now! Whatever the case I hope you will be rewarded with a Team GB medal of any colour throughout the morning/night. Thanks to those all over the world for tuning in, even if the hour of day isn't quite as challenging for you to stay awake! Wherever you are send in your Olympic thoughts to christopher.hammer@bskyb.com .
0222 America's Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, who are highly-fancied to end up winning gold in this competition, have indeed taken the first set comfortably enough against Martin Alejo Conde and Mariano Joaquin Baracetti.
0210 There's quite an entertaining game brewing in the men's beach volleyball competition as the USA take on Argentina in a Pool B clash. So far it's the Americans on top in the opening set.
0150 Remember if you would like to send me your views, predictions and reactions, please email christopher.hammer@bskyb.com - I will publish the best ones!
0130 Welcome to our coverage of day five of the Olympic Games in Beijing. It's another hectic - and hopefully thrilling - day ahead with more swimming finals to come in the early hours as Michael Phelps continues his quest for eight gold medals while Britain's Caitlin McClatchey contests the final of the women's 200m freestyle. Away from the Water Cube cycling sensation Nicole Cooke, who won Britain's first gold of the Games in the road race, is bidding for more glory in the individual time trial at around 0430 BST - but can teammate Emma Pooley still the limelight? Stay right here through the night and we'll keep you up to date with all the news as it happens.
