The 2008 Summer Olympic Games offered plenty of track and field thrills, most notably the record-breaking performances of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. In all, 17 Olympic records were set among the 47 track and field events in Beijing, including five world records. Bolt had a hand in three of those world marks, in the 100 (9.69 seconds, into a slight headwind), the 200 (19.30) and the 4 x 100 relay, which Jamaica won in 37.10 seconds. Jamaica also swept the women’s 100 and 200 events, giving the nation five sprint golds.

Kenya dominated the middle distance events, winning three gold medals. The highlight victory was 19-year-old Pamela Jelimo’s triumph in the women’s 800 meters, less than a year after she began competing in the event.

Ethiopia won four distance races, setting three Olympic records in the process. Tirunesh Dibaba won both the women’s 5000- and 10,000-meter races – running an Olympic record 29:54.66 in the 10K – while Kenenisa Bekele swept both events on the men’s side, setting two Olympic marks (12:57.82 in the 5000, 27:01.17 in the 10K). Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru set an Olympic record while winning the marathon (2:06:32).

Russia’s Gulnara Samitova-Galkina made history twice, first by winning the initial Olympic women’s steeplechase, and second by winning it in a world record time (8:58.81). On the men’s side, Brimin Kipruto was the seventh different Kenyan to win the event in the past seven Olympics.

The hurdle events proved interesting, though not always for positive reasons. In the 110, local favorite Liu Xiang and American Terrence Trammell dropped out due to injuries, leaving Cuba’s Dayron Robles to dominate. In the women’s 100, American Dawn Harper was a surprise champion after favored Lolo Jones of the U.S. stumbled over the ninth hurdle. In the 400, Jamaica’s Melaine Walker set an Olympic mark (52.64) while American Angelo Taylor, the gold medalist in 2000, became the comeback king of Beijing by winning the men’s 400 hurdles, then earning a second gold medal as part of the U.S. 4 x 400-meter relay team.

Bryan Clay gave the U.S. a signature victory in the decathlon while Nataliya Dobrynska handed Ukraine its only Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon.

No nation dominated either the jumping or throwing events. Russia won two golds in the jumps, led by Yelena Isinbaeva’s world-record performance in the pole vault (5.05 meters – 16 feet, 6¾ inches). Eight different nations earned gold medals in the eight throwing events. The jumps and throws featured victories by solid favorites (Isinbaeva, Irving Saladino of Panama in the long jump, New Zealand’s Valerie Vili in the shot put, Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic in the javelin) as well as upsets (American Stephanie Brown-Trafton in the discus, Belgium’s Tia Hellebaut in the high jump, Tomasz Majewski of Poland in the shot). In addition to Isinbaeva’s world record, Olympic marks were set by Francoise Etone of Cameroon in the triple jump, Australia’s Steven Hooker in the pole vault, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in the javelin and Aksana Miankova of Belarus in the hammer throw.

Russian won two race walking golds, getting an Olympic-record performance from Olga Kaniskina in the 20-kilometer event (1:26:31). Italy’s Alex Schwazer set an Olympic mark in the 50K walk (3:37:09).

Only four individual gold medalists from 2004 repeated in Beijing: Isinbaeva, Thorkildsen, Bekele (in the 10,000) and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown (in the 200).

The U.S. team suffered several disappointments. In addition to Trammell’s injury, it was clear that sprinter Tyson Gay wasn’t completely healthy in the 100 meters. Dropped batons knocked the U.S. teams out of both 4 x 100 relay events. Additionally, some top U.S. contenders simply fell short of expectations. On the other hand, surprise winners emerged from the U.S. team, including Brown-Trafton, Taylor and Harper. LaShawn Merritt was outstanding while winning the 400 meters. Clay dominated the decathlon and both U.S. 4 x 400 relay teams repeated as gold medal champions, with the men’s squad setting an Olympic record (2:55.39).

At the sub-gold medal level, the U.S. swept the men’s 400 and the 400-meter hurdles. Walter Dix was impressive while earning bronzes in both the 100 and 200 and Shalane Flanagan finished strong to take a bronze in the 10,000.

For many of these athletes, the Beijing Olympics will mark the peak of their track and field careers. But many others are, no doubt, already looking forward to further achievements in the London Games of 2012.

In the marathon, mature runners generally have the advantage over younger, less-experienced competitors. But youth was served in the men’s Olympic marathon final Sunday as 21-year-olds Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia won gold and bronze, respectively in the final track and field event of the Beijing Games. Wanjiru won in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32, easily outdistancing 26-year-old Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (2:07:16). Deriba Merga, the 37-year-old Ethiopian, entered the stadium in third place but Kebede passed him on the track to earn the bronze (2:10:00). American finishers included Dathan Ritzenhein (ninth, 2:11:59), Ryan Hall (tenth, 2:12:33) and Brian Sell (22nd, 2:16:07). The 2004 gold medalist, Stefano Baldini of Italy, finished 12th (2:13:25), while 2007 World Outdoor champion Luke Kibet of Kenya dropped out with an apparent injury.

The race began in Tiananmen Square and the lead runners set a fast early pace, particularly considering the hot and humid conditions. It was 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) at the start, rising to 30 degrees (86 F.) later in the race. By the 20-kilometer mark there were only five runners in the leading pack: Wanjiru, Merga, Gharib, Yonas Kifle of Eritrea and Kenya’s Martin Lel. Kifle and then Lel eventually fell back and finished 36th and fifth, respectively. The remaining three constituted the leading pack all the way to the stadium, with Wanjiru pulling away during the final kilometers, and Kebede charging from behind to overtake the fading Merga near the end.

Wanjiru, who already held the half marathon world record, topped the former Olympic marathon mark of 2:09:21 set by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes in 1984. Lopes’ record had been the second-oldest on the Olympic track and field books (Bob Beamon’s long jump mark from 1968 remains the oldest record).

The U.S. finished the Olympics with 23 track and field medals (seven gold, nine silver, seven bronze). Russia was second with 18 medals (six gold, five silver, seven bronze), followed by Kenya with 14 (five gold, five silver, four bronze) and Jamaica with 11 (six gold, three silver, two bronze). The only other country to win more than one gold medal was Ethiopia, with four.

After a pair of baton-dropping disappointments in the 4 x 100-meter relays, the U.S. struck double-gold in the 4 x 400-meter relays Saturday.

The women’s race was highly competitive as the U.S. and Russia battled to the tape before the

Americans won in 3:18.54 with the Russians second in 3:18.82. Jamaica earned the bronze medal in 3:20.40. The U.S. trailed during the first lap but the race changed when Mary Wineberg handed the baton to Allyson Felix. Felix, the 200-meter silver medalist, flashed into the lead quickly and maintained her margin. Monique Henderson led for most of the third leg before being passed by Russia’s Tatyana Firova. The final lap was a two-woman race between Anastasiya Kapachinskaya of Russia and American Sanya Richards, the 400-meter bronze medalist. The Russian led most of the way, with Richards gaining a bit of ground around the last turn. Richards then surged in the final 100 meters to cross the line first.

On the men’s side, the only question at the end was whether or not the dominant Americans would break any records. They did, winning in an Olympic-record 2:55.39. Bahamas finished second (2:58.03) with Russia third (a national record 2:58.06). Belgium entered the final lap in second but faded to fifth in a national record 2:59.37. The U.S. led off the relay with 400-meter gold medalist LaShawn Merritt, who gave the Americans a solid lead that they never lost. Angelo Taylor, the 400-meter hurdles gold medalist, and 400-meter bronze medalist David Neville maintained the U.S. margin. Jeremy Wariner, the 2004 gold medalist and 2008 silver medalist in the 400, ran his traditional anchor leg and completed the U.S. triumph.

In the women’s high jump final Blanka Vlasic’s 34-meet winning streak ended as Belgium’s Tia Hellebaut scored an upset victory over the Croatian. Hellebaut cleared a national-record 2.05 meters on her first attempt to gain the gold, while Vlasic, who was perfect through 2.03, needed two tries to clear 2.05. Vlasic, the reigning world outdoor and indoor champion, missed three times at 2.07 to settle for silver. Russia’s Anna Chicherova was third at 2.03, equaling her personal best. American Chaunte Howard was sixth in a season best 1.99. Hellebaut, a former heptathlete who entered the Olympics with a season best of 1.96, had misses at 1.99, 2.01 and 2.03 before clearing those heights. By clearing 2.05 on her first attempt, however, she took lead when Vlasic missed her first try at that height.

Ethiopia completed its sweep of the 5000- and 10,000-meter events as Kenenisa Bekele won the men’s 5000 meters Saturday. Bekele previously won the 10,000 meters while Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won both events on the women’s side. The name of Bekele was prominent from start to finish Saturday, as Tariku Bekele led for much of the race’s first half before older brother Kenenisa took charge for most of the second half. Kenenisa raced from the front in the final laps and remained there to win in an Olympic-record time of 12:57.82. He’s the sixth man to win the 5000-10,000 Olympic double (with Finland’s Lasse Viren accomplishing the feat twice). Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran near the front all the way and earned the silver (13:02.80) with countryman Edwin Soi taking the bronze (season best 13:06.22). Bernard Lagat, the 2007 World Outdoor champion, ran with the leading half-dozen runners until the final three laps but dropped back to finish ninth (13:26.89), while fellow American Matthew Tegenkamp was 13th (13:33.13).

Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei took the early lead and never let go to claim the men’s 800-meter gold medal in a season best 1:44.65. Ismail Ahmed Ismail of Sudan closed the gap down the final straight but couldn’t overtake Bungei, taking second in 1:44.70 with 2007 World Outdoor champion Alfred Yego of Kenya rallying to finish third (1:44.82).

Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen boasted the two longest throws to repeat as the men’s javelin champion. Thorkildsen never trailed as he increased his distances from 84.72 meters in the first round to 85.91 in the second and 87.93 in the third. For good measure, Thorkildsen unleashed an Olympic record 90.57-meter throw in the fifth round. Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki, the 2007 World Outdoor champion, spent most of the day in second place until Latvia’s Ainars Kovals, who entered the final round in sixth position, posted an 86.64-meter throw on his final attempt to move into second. Pitkamaki’s last throw was his best, but only traveled 86.16 meters, so he settled for bronze.

Kenya’s Nancy Lagat passed Maryam Jamal of Bahrain early in the final lap and sprinted to victory in the women’s 1500 meters, winning with a personal best time of 4:00.23. Jamal faded to fifth. Ukraine took the silver and bronze medals with Iryna Lishchynska second (4:01.63) and Nataliya Tobias third (personal best 4:01.78). American Shannon Rowbury finished seventh (4:03.58).

Olympic track and field competition concludes with the men’s marathon, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Sunday in Beijing (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Eastern Daylight Savings Time). The favorites, based on 2008 season-best times, include Martin Lel (2:05:15) and Samuel Wanjiru (2:05:25), both of Kenya, plus Morocco’s Abderrahim Goumri (2:05:30) and American Ryan Hall (2:06:17). Also running are the 2007 World Outdoor Championship medalists, Kenya’s Luke Kibet (gold), Qatar’s Mubarak Shami (silver) and Switzerland’s Viktor Rothlin (bronze), 2004 Olympic gold medalist Stefano Baldini of Italy, plus Americans Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenhein.

The U.S. is assured of leading the track and field medal standings, with 23 medals (seven gold, nine silver, seven bronze) entering the final event. Russia has 18 medals. Russia and Jamaica both own six track and field golds.

Before the final full day of Olympic track and field begins, I'd like to invite all the new visitors to this site to return when the Olympics are over for a variety of track and field coverage. I'll have exclusive interviews with elite athletes, including Mike Powell, who talks about his world record-setting long jump performance, and Brian Diemer, who discusses his surprise bronze medal success in the 1984 Olympic steeplechase. I'll also have new tutorials and advice for track and field competitors, including a timely article on baton-passing technique.

I began this site earlier this year and have focused mainly on pre-Olympics and Olympic Games material. In the future, this site will feature stories on track and field technique, coaching strategies and advice for competitors of all ages, along with plenty of track and field history and continuing coverage of today's elite athletes. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll keep coming back to About.com's track and field site.