This article contains a chronological summary of major events from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Calendar
All dates are Beijing Time (UTC+8)
August 6
Football
The first competitions of the Games started at 5:00pm CST (UTC+8). The first events were women's football (soccer) matches. The day was devoted to women's football.
August 7
Football
The first football (soccer) matches for men began on this day. The day was devoted to men's football matches.
August 8
Opening Ceremony Starting at 8:00 pm CST (UTC+8), the four-hour opening ceremony was attended by 91,000 spectators, including more than 100 world leaders. The spectacle was directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou, and the Olympic Cauldron was lit by former Chinese gymnast Li Ning.
Equestrian
The first events started in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, with eventing in equestrian sports.
Day 1: August 9
Archery
South Korea set an Olympic record in the ranking round of the women's team archery event. Boxing Samoa's Farani Tavui was taken to a hospital after being knocked unconscious in the men's light heavyweight event. Fencing The United States took all three medals in the women's sabre event, the first U.S. podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904, as Mariel Zagunis takes gold. Judo Choi Min-ho of South Korea won the men's 60 kg ending all his matches with ippon. Ryoko Tani of Japan, who had never lost in a major international competition since 1996, was defeated in the women's 48 kg semifinals by eventual gold medalist Alina Alexandra Dumitru with a controversial penalty point. Shooting Kateřina Emmons of the Czech Republic won the first gold medal of the games, setting an Olympic record for both the qualifying (with a perfect 400) and final scores, in the women's 10 m air rifle. Swimming Swimmer Michael Phelps of the United States set a world record in the first round of the men's 400 m individual medley. Swimmer Alexander Dale Oen of Norway set an Olympic record in the first round of the men's 100 m breaststroke. Weightlifting Chen Xiexia of China won the women's 48 kg event in weightlifting, setting Olympic records in both the clean and jerk, and total weight lifted.
Day 2: August 10
Archery
South Korea set a world record for a 24-arrow team match, in their victory over Italy in the quarter finals of the women's team archery event. They went on to win the gold medal, stretching the country's winning streak to 20 years over 6 Olympic games. Basketball The USA men's basketball team beat hosts China 101–70 in the first game in the basketball event. Shooting Guo Wenjun of China won gold in women's 10 metre air pistol and set a new Olympic record for final score with 492.3 points, after Natalia Paderina of Russia had bettered the Olympic qualification record to 391. During the medal ceremony, Pederina and bronze medalist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia shared a symbolic embrace as their two countries continued to wage war. Swimming Michael Phelps won the men's 400 m individual medley final, with a new world record, winning his seventh career Olympic gold medal. Park Tae-Hwan won the men's 400 m freestyle final, becoming the first South Korean swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal for swimming. Swimmer Alexander Dale Oen of Norway set an Olympic record in the semifinals of the men's 100 m breaststroke, his second in the event. Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice set a new world record in women's 400 m individual medley, winning Australia's 400th Summer Olympics medal. Second place Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe also finished below the previous world record. The Netherlands team won the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay final with a new Olympic record of 3 minutes 33.76 seconds. Dara Torres of the United States, at 41 years of age, becomes the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal after the US team takes silver. The American men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team broke the world record with a time of 3:12.23 in the preliminaries. Weightlifting Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand won gold in women's 53 kg weightlifting and set a new Olympic record for clean and jerk.