Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games

As always at the Olympics, the track & field athletics competition was featured during the second week of the competition. It got off with a bang. On the second day of athletics, Usain Bolt (JAM) won the men’s 100 metres in a shocking world record of 9.69, despite showboating over the last 20 metres of the race, his victory assured. Bolt was the star in the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, winning the 100, 200, and helping Jamaica to the 4x100 relay victory, all in world record times. The other stars on the track were Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele who defended his 10K gold medal and doubled in the 5 and 10K; and his countrywoman, Tirunesh Dibaba, who also doubled in the distaff 5/10K. The field events featured one world record, set in the women’s pole vault by Yelena Isinbayeva, her 12th consecutive world mark in the event. A leading story of the competition was the remarkable performances of the Jamaican sprinters. On the female side they swept the medals in the 100 metres, won gold and bronze in the 200, and a silver medal in the 400. The United States, usually the dominant nation in track & field, had a disappointing Olympics. They led the medal tables with seven gold and 23 medals, but on the men’s side won only four gold medals. Several of their favorites were upset, and in the field events, save for the shot put, only one American man made the finals, and they won no medals. One new event was added to the program for women, the steeplechase.