He had successfully defended the gold medal he won in Athens four years ago, and he proved to be measurably better in 2008 than he had been in 2004. In Athens, a time of 54.06 by Peirsol had been good enough to win the gold medal.
This morning it would not have gotten him onto the medals podium. In fact, it wouldn't have placed him in the top eight.
Swimmers, and the high-tech suits they wear, are that much better in 2008.
American Matt Grevers took the silver medal with a time of 53.11 while there was a rare dead heat for the bronze medal. Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia both swam 53.18 and thus each man earned a bronze medal and a stay on the medals podium.
"I looked up and saw Matt Grevers next to me, and I was elated," Peirsol said. "Stuff like that is a dream come true. I'm a little bit excited, a little bit relieved and absolutely elated. I am extremely happy for Matt. It means a lot to me and more to him and his family."
Gold for Aussie: In a predictable final, Australia's Leisel Jones won the gold medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke in an Olympic record time of 1:05.17. Rebecca Soni, replacing the doping-positive Jessica Hardy on the U.S. team, earned the silver medal in 1:06.73. The bronze went to Mirna Jukic of Austria in 1:07.34.
"I don't even know how I feel yet," Soni said. "It's still registering. Who could have asked for more? Maybe it was yesterday's (men's 4x100 freestyle) relay that inspired us all, who knows? It definitely worked for me."
Briefly: American Katie Hoff qualified for the final of the 200 freestyle with a semifinal time of 1:57.01 as she finished second to Slovakia's Sara Isakovic, 1:56.50. World-record holder Federica Pellegrini of Italy won the other 200 free semi in 1:57.23.
This article appeared on page C - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle
August 12, 2008 is the 4th main day of the 2008 Olympic games, the below article lists some of the highlights.

===Events===
====Men's 100m backstroke====
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American Aaron Peirsol set a new world record and won the gold medal in the final of the men's 100m backstroke with a time of 52.54 seconds.

Matt Grevers, who was representing the US with Peirsol, took the silver medal, while Arkady Vyatchanin and Hayden Stoeckel tied for third place with a time of 53.18.

====Men's 200m freestyle====
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American Michael Phelps set a new world record and won the gold medal in the final of the men's 200m freestyle with a time of 1:42.96 minutes.

Taehwan Park, who was representing South Korea, finished in second place and set a new Asian record, while Peter Vanderkaay, who was representing the US with Phelps, finished in third place with a time of 1:45.14.

Phelps beat the old world record by almost one second. The Australian reported that Phelps 'shattered' the previous world record, which was also set by him.

====Women's 100m breaststroke====
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Australian Leisel Jones won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record in the final of the women's 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:05.17 minutes. 

"It has been a long journey. It's been a long eight years," said Jones,  after her victory. "And I think just a lot of relief that the training was definitely worth it."

Rebecca Soni, who was representing United States, won the silver medal, while Mirna Jukic finished in third place with a time of 1:07.34.

====Men's double trap====
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American Walton Eller set a new Olympic record in the qualification round of the men's double trap with a score of 145.

Francesco D Aniello, who was representing Italy, finished in second place, while Jeffrey Hologuin, who represented the US with Eller, finished in third place with a score of 140.

====Men's 200m butterfly====

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American Michael Phelps set a new Olympic record when he finished in first place in heat six of the men's 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.70. This record is one of several set by Phelps during the Olympic games.

Kaio Almeida, who was representing Brazil, finished in second place, while Takeshi Matsuda finished in third place with a time of 1:55.06, 1.36 seconds behind the time set by Phelps.

====Women's 200m individual medley ====
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Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry set a new Olympic Record in semifinal of the women's 200m individual medley with a time of 2:09.53 minutes. Coventry's first fifty second were the quickest, with her first length taking only  29.17 seconds.

Stephanie Rice, who was representing Australia, finished in second place, while Katie Hoff finished in third place with a time of 2:10.90, just over one second behind the time achieved by Coventry.

===Medal Table===
''Medal Count''  update




'''2008 Olympics - Beijing, China     '''



 Flag

 Country

 G

 S

 B

 TOT

 Rank













Other countries






 Flag

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 G

 S

 B

 TOT

 Rank












































40x21px

Total

52

52

63

167

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Source:  Beijing 2008 Official Site