A cheerleader performs during the Australia v Belarus preliminary women's basketball game at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium




Alexandra Lacrabere of France (top) tussles with Angola's Maria Teresa Neto Joaquim Eduardo in the women's handball competition



Wei Pang adds a second gold medal for China on the opening day, winning the men's 10m air pistol



British judo ace Craig Fallon loses to Austria's Ludwig Paischer thanks to a controversial judging decision, and heads into the repechage



South Korean archer Park Sung-Hyun assesses her score during the women's ranking round at the Olympic Green



GB's Ben Ainslie had a disappointing start in the Finn class but soon moved up to third overall












South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (centre) watches his country's handball team fight out a 29-29 draw with Russia











Alina Alexandra Dumitru throws her arms aloft as she earns Romania's first gold medal of the Games in the women's judo















Hong Kong man Leung Kwok-hung, known locally as 'Long Hair', is led away having attempted a protest at the three-day eventing



German handball star Anja Althaus somehow squeezes through a packed Brazilian defence, despite incredibly close attention



Olympics photos day two




Sharon Hunt and Tankers Town put in a strong performance for Great Britain on day two of the dressage competition in Hong Kong





US president George Bush flies the flag at Beijing's Water Cube aquatics centre ahead of Michael Phelps' 400m individual medley fina



Phelps does not disappoint the president as he storms to victory in a new world record time of four minutes 03.84 seconds





Phelps is aiming to win an unprecedented eight gold medals - one better than compatriot Mark Spitz's record haul of seven in 1972




South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan takes his nation's first Olympic swimming gold in the men's 400m freestyle final





Aussie swimmer Stephanie Rice sees off favourite Katie Hoff to take gold in the women's 400m individual medley with a new world record




Spectators at the shooting whip out their waterproofs as rain engulfs the men's trap qualification in western Beijing




United States star James Blake opens the Olympic tennis with a win, beating Australia's Chris Guccione 6-3 7-6





Chinese duo Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia hurtle down towards the Water Cube pool on the way to women's 3m springboard gold





US gymnast Nastia Liukin glides through the air as the American team put in a strong qualifying round performance




British welterweight Billy Joe Saunders (top, in red) dodges a blow on the way to victory over Turkey's Adem Kilicci




South Korea's Yoon Kyungshin finds his way somewhat blocked by a German quartet in the men's handball preliminaries




The women's road race passes the Tiananmen Gate on its way out of Beijing, with competitors enduring heavy rain further down the course




Czech Republic shooter David Kostelecky ignores the downpours in Beijing as he celebrates an Olympic gold medal




Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon sets an Olympic record in the women's 53kg weightlifting, on the way to gold for Thailand




Nicole Cooke wins Britain's first gold medal of the Games, hauling herself through driving rain to win the women's road race




Ronaldinho celebrates in front of an unimpressed official as Brazil romp past New Zealand in their Olympic football opener




Cypriot Haris Papadopoulos and GB's Ben Ainslie are back-to-back on the water, but not in the rankings - the former is 17th, the latter 2nd




US swimmer Natalie Coughlin bursts into her 100m backstroke heat as activities resume inside the Water Cube




Australia's Angela Lambert waits to defend a penalty corner as the Hockeyroos come back from 4-1 down to beat South Korea 5-4




Japanese judoka Masato Uchishiba, in white, throws Frenchman Benjamin Darbelet to win gold in the men's -66kg event




US small forward LeBron James attempts to eclipse 7ft 6in Yao Ming of China as the two basketball superpowers meet


Olympics photos day three



China's Liu Yingzi prepares to shoot in the women's trap qualification round on day three at the Beijing Olympics




Hanae Ito of Japan springs off the blocks in the women's 100m backstroke semis at the Water Cube aquatics centre




Kosuke Kitajima celebrates after setting a new world record as he wins gold in the men's 100m breaststroke




Team GB take their second gold, as Rebecca Adlington (left) wins the 400m freestyle final, with team-mate Jo Jackson claiming bronze




US president George W Bush is in Beijing to cheer on the American swimmers and is keen to fly the flag




Michael Phelps (right) is ecstatic as the US men's 4x100m relay team's victory keeps his eight-golds dream alive




Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry breaks the world record for the women's 100m backstroke in her semi-final with a time of 58.77 sec




Australian swimmer Libby Trickett wins 100m butterfly gold in a time of 56.73 seconds - just 0.12 off the world record




Phelps is back in action in the men's 200m butterfly and smashes the Olympic record with a time of 1:53.70 in his heat




Britain's double Commonwealth champion Charlotte Kerwood fails to make the final of the women's trap shooting event




Finland's Satu Makela-Nummela scores 91 hits - including an Olympic record of 21 targets - in the women's trap shooting final to take gold




Abhinav Bindra becomes India's first individual Olympic gold medallist when he claims the men's 10m air rifle shooting title




Chen Yanqing wins the women's 58kg weightlifting to collect China's eighth gold medal of these Olympics




Chen's compatriot Zhang Xiangxiang kisses the weights after securing gold in the men's 63kg weightlifting





South Korea's men match the feat of their women archers by clinching team gold - their third successive Olympic success




Giovanna Trillini of Italy and Nam Hyunhee of South Korea compete in the sem-ifinals of the women's individual foil fencing




World number one and top seed Roger Federer meets his fans after his first round win over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov




Spain's Rafael Nadal, who will soon replace Federer at the top of the rankings, is also into round two after beating Potito Starace of Italy




Men's badminton top seed Lin Dan of China wins his second round match against Hong Kong's Wei Ng 21-16, 21-13




Slovakia's Michal Martikan is the quickest man through into the semi-finals of the canoe event at the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park





It takes Azerbaijan's Elnur Mammadli just 13 seconds - and an ippon score - against Wang Kichun to seal gold in the men's 73kg judo




China's Lin Yue and Huo Liang take off on their way to the gold medal in the 10m synchronised diving [/centre]

Olympics photos day four



There are 19 golds to be won on day four in Beijing, including in the men's team gymnastics competition, where China come out on top




America's Olympic beach volleyball champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor see off Cuba in straight sets




Spain score first in their hockey match against Australia but end up on the wrong end of a 6-1 drubbing by the Hockeyroos




Natalie Coughlin is part of a big American medal haul at the Water Cube, winning gold in the women's 100m backstroke




The real star in the pool once again is Coughlin's compatriot Michael Phelps, chasing an unprecedented eight swimming golds in Beijng




Phelps duly delivers his third gold of the Games so far by winning the 200m freestyle title in another new world record time




Aaron Peirsol wins the 100m backstroke as the United States grab three golds in the Water Cube during a successful morning in the pool




Australia claim a gold in the water as Leisel Jones wins the women's 100m breaststroke - bettering her old Olympic record




Great Britain's Richard Faulds misses out on a medal in the men's double trap final - the Sydney gold medallist finishes sixth




Britain's Bryony Shaw slips from third to fifth overall after finishing 11th in her third race of the women's RSX races




Joe Murray loses 17-7 to China's Gu Yu in the first round of the bantamweight competition to inflic Britain's first defeat in the ring




David Florence claims silver for Great Britain in the C1 canoeing event with a perfect run at Shunyi white water park




Florence celebrates on the podium after picking up only the fourth medal ever by a British paddler behind the superb Michal Martikan





Naomi Folkard ends the hopes of fellow Briton Charlotte Burgess in the women's archery and advances to the quarter-finals




Benjamin Boukpeti makes history as he takes Togo's first ever Olympic medal with bronze in the men's kayak single




Russia's Nazyr Mankiev wins gold in the 55kg greco-roman wrestling ahead of Azerbaijan's Rovshan Bayramov




Britain's Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms win a thrilling badminton match 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 against China's Ling Gao and Bo Zheng




Mary King secures the bronze for Great Britain in the eventing alongside Sharon Hunt, Daisy Dick, William Fox-Pitt and Tina Cook




Rafael Nadal is in impressive form as he beats Australia's Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-2 to progress to the third round




Cook and Minors Frolic add individual bronze in the eventing with a terrific clear round in the show jumping in Hong Kong




Great Britain's eventing team receive their bronze medals on a balmy Hong Kong evening with Cook also picking up her individual bronze