The swimming competition ended over the weekend. Michael Phelps earned a majority of the media’s attention by winning his 8th gold medal as part of the 4×100-meter medley relay. However, others were also successful. Natalie Coughlin won a medal in each of her six races, making for a career total of 11 Olympic medals. Cesar Cielo Filho won the first swimming gold medal for Brazil, touching the wall first in the 50-meter freestyle. Australian star Grant Hackett was trying for his third consecutive gold in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle. A surprising Tunisian swimmer, Ous Melloui, stole the gold with a dominating performance in the race.

Things kicked off with a bang on the track. Usain Bolt won the men’s 100-meter dash. The race was anticlimactic, with Tyson Gay not qualifying for the final and Asafa Powell finishing 5th. American Walter Dix claimed the bronze. The Jamaicans had a good women’s 100-meter race as well, finishing 1,2,3. 21-year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser crossed the line first. Though three Americans made it to the final, none made it to the podium.

The US fared better in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Angelo Taylor led a sweep of the medals for the red-white-and-blue.

Russian Yelena Isinbayeva won the women’s pole vaulting gold, setting a world record of 5.05 meters in the process. Jenn Stuczynski of the US settled for silver, jumping 4.75 meters.

Gymnastics stars Shawn Johnson and Natsia Luikin both scored medals in the women’s events finals, but none were gold. Johnson finished second in the floor exercise. Luikin finished third and then barely missed gold on the parallel bars. Alicia Sacramone tried for a bit of redemption on the vault, but finished 4th, despite two strong jumps.

On the men’s pommel horse, Alexander Artemev, the hero from the men’s team competition, fell off near the end of what would have been a medal winning routine.