There were a few surprises today at the Olympics.

Nigeria handled Belgium quite easily, advancing to the gold medal match in soccer with a 4-1 win. Brazil, primed to finally break their Olympic gold medal drought, once again ran into Argentina. The defending Olympic champs came out on top, sending Brazil home frustrated once again.

Shawn Johnson was finally able to overcome her Chinese competition and win gold on the balance beam. It was the first gold for the 16-year-old who was the most promising gymnast coming into the Games. Johnson also won silver three times, once in the team competition, once in the all-around, and once on the floor exercise.

The US’s best hope in the women’s 400-meters blamed her third place finish on a cramp that hit her leg in the final 100-meters of the race. Sanya Richards finished third, a disappointment since she was favored to win gold and was leading until the very end of the race.

Lolo Jones faltered in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She tripped over the final hurdle and fell to seventh. Fellow US team member Dawn Harper took advantage of the trip and went on to win gold.

American David Zhuang, the only US player in the men’s table tennis draw, lost his opening round match in 7 sets to Nigeria’s Segun Toriola.

The US beach volleyball dream team of May-Treanor and Walsh is only one match away from defending their gold medal from 4 years ago. They cruised past Brazil and will play hometown favorites Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the final. The Americans will be huge favorites, but China will have the crowd on their side.

The heavyweights took to the weightlifting stage yesterday. Andrei Aramnau, a 20-year-old from Belarus broke the world record with a total sum of 423 kg (932.6 pounds) on his two lifts.

China was once again golden in gymnastics. Yang Wei did what he was expected to do in the men’s individual all around competition. He cruised to victory, performing routines so difficult that it would have taken a truly special performance to beat him. The Americans, Jonathan Horton and Alexander Artimev finished out of the medals. Japan’s up and coming star, nineteen-year-old Kohei Uchimura, took silver. Uchimura will be looking to dominate in London 2012 the way Yang dominated this year.

The women get their turn in the all around today.

The United States basketball team rolled over Greece, the team that beat them in the 2006 men’s basketball world championships.

James Blake and Rodger Federer battled on the courts at the Olympic Green. To many people’s surprise, Blake came out on top, ending Federer’s bid for his first gold medal. It was a major upset, with many fans, and perhaps Federer himself, looking past Blake to a final between Federer and Rafael Nadal. If Nadal advances to the final, he will take over Federer’s number one ranking.

After disappointment in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Frenchman Alain Bernard earned some redemption with a gold medal in the individual 100-meter freestyle. The hulking Frenchman muscled his way to victory while American Jason Lezak, the man who overtook him on the final leg of the relay, was third.

The Australian women are carrying their country’s hopes during the Games. The men from Down Under have struggled in the pool. Stephanie Rice led the women’s 4×200 meter relay team to gold yesterday, smashing to world record in the process. The Chinese team, in the midst of their most impressive meet ever, earned the silver, while Natalie Coughlin and the US earned the bronze.

Kosuke Kitajima of Japan completed a sweep of breaststroke events, winning the 200 breaststroke but falling just short of breaking his own world record.

It was a gold medal day for China at the Olympics.

The host country completed their sweep of the team events in gymnastics by winning the women’s team gold yesterday. The US squad, led by 16-year-old Shawn Johnson, challenged the Chinese women, but the outcome was never really in doubt. To have any chance, the US would have had to perform flawlessly. Lackluster outings on the balance beam and floor exercises kept the gold out of reach. However, the high degree of difficulty in the routines by the Chinese gymnasts put the gold nearly out of reach before the competition even began. A young and inexperienced Romanian squad was able to overcome Russia and claim the bronze medal.

The Chinese men’s gymnastics team completed a dominating performance yesterday, cruising to victory over Japan. The US team, without stars Morgan and Paul Hamm, was able to hold on for the bronze after leading halfway through the competition. As with the women’s event, the outcome was never really in doubt.

Michael Phelps added to his gold medal count in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the 200-meter butterfly. He has won five gold medals thus far and still has three more events to go before he is done. He is on track to claim 8 gold medals, a record at the Olympics.

The top ranked US men’s beach volleyball squad of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers beat an experienced Argentine team to assure an advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. The duo lost their first match against a young Latvian team, but has managed to rebound and return to their dominating form.

The US men’s soccer team didn’t fare as well though. They lost to Nigeria 2-1 and will not be advancing to the knockout stage of the soccer tournament. Favored teams from The Netherlands, Argentina, and Brazil all won their final group match and will be among the 8 teams playing in the single elimination phase.

Just to prove that doping isn’t the only kind of Olympic scandal: the media is inquiring about the age of three Chinese gymnasts. International Gymnastics Federation rules state that athletes must turn 16 during the year in which the Olympics are held in order to compete. Those under that age are considered ineligible.

Three Chinese gymnasts have been accused, mainly by foreign media, of being underage. Chinese officials dispute the evidence, saying that the three registered for the Olympics with their official ID cards, all of which state that they turn 16 this year.

Yang Yilin, He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan will, apparently, compete in Beijing and have already moved into the athlete’s village.

Associated Press reporters found online documents showing the gymnasts ages as younger than they claim. Registration for past competitions has shown different ages for the three. If these ages are correct, then none of them should be eligible to compete.

The head of the International Gymnastic Federation says that there is nothing that they can do for the time being: “If I don’t have written proof of something … we have to take for granted the passports that we’ve seen and have been checked by the IOC are OK.” All three sport valid Chinese passports that state their ages are over the legal limit to compete.

The age restrictions are in place to prevent younger athletes from becoming injured. The minimum age has been raised twice. The most recent was in 1997, when it was upped from 15 to 16.

US coach Bela Karolyi isn’t so sure about the authenticity. He claims that the gymnasts are under-age and that it would be easy for a totalitarian state like China to falsify passports.

Without proof, the IGF and IOC can do nothing. As it seems they are unlikely to investigate themselves, it will be up to independent sources to get things