(BEIJING, August 15) -- Okay we've had the warm up events, but Day 7 is where Beijing 2008 gets really serious. The centre stage at any Olympic Games is always athletics and August 15 is the day these athletes enter Beijing's marvelous new arena – the National Stadium – known as the Birds' Nest to you and me.
Two finals will be contested, the Men's Shot Put and Women's 10000 meters, and then there's the opening day of the Heptathlon and the speedsters in the Men's 100m heats.
The USA could start to claw China back in the medals table and will be confident of claiming all three medals in the first field event on the athletics roster – the Men's Shot Put.
Reese Hoffa is the 2007 world champion, Adam Nelson took silver at Athens 2004, and World 2003 champion Christian Cantwell completes the trio. Defending title holder Yuriy Bbilonog of Ukraine could also contend the medals.
The Women's 10000m Final is a traditionally difficult race to predict but could be fought out between Ethiopian sisters Ejegayehu and Tirunesh Dibaba.
The elder, Ejegayehu, won silver at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, while Tirunesh is the 2005 and 2007 world champion, and set a world record of 14:11.15 in the 5000m in June. A first gold medal for the 2008 African champion over 10,000m would add to the bronze she won in the same event in 2004.
It could even be an Ethopian one, two, three as Mestawet Tufa ran 2008's fastest time, 30:38.33 in May. However, Shalane Flanagan of the United States has gone quicker since, running 30.34.49. Kimberly Smith of New Zealand, 2007 World Championship silver medalist Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey, and half-marathon world record holder Lornah Kiplagat of The Netherlands could also feature.
The absence of Athens 2004 gold medalist, Carolina Kluft of Sweden, who has opted to compete solely in the Long Jump, leaves the Heptathlon wide open.
Britain's Kelly Sotherton has the best pedigree in the field. The 30-year-old won bronze in Athens and at the 2007 World Championships and started 2008 well with silver in the Pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships.
Hyleas Fountain of the United States has the best score for 2008 with 6,667 points gained at the World Combined Events Challenge in Eugene, Oregon, but she failed to finish at last year's World Championships. Russia's Tatiana Chernova will be hoping for double Beijing success having won the 2006 World Junior Championships gold medal here.
All eyes will also be on the opening two rounds of the Men's 100m (the first in the morning, the second round is in the evening) which will feature the fastest men in the world - Jamaican duo, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, and United States sprinter, Tyson Gay.
Twenty-one-year-old Bolt is the fastest man ever over the distance, slicing 0.02 seconds off Powell's previous record in May this year and has defeated both Gay and Powell this summer.
Powell, 25, is the only sprinter in history to have five legal sub 9.80 second runs, but has struggled with injury this year. Gay is the reigning world champion and recorded a wind-assisted 9.68 at the USA Olympic Trials in June - the fastest time ever. However the 26-year-old's Olympic preparations have been disrupted by a hamstring injury. All three sprinters have been kept apart in the first round heats.
Other challengers could include 2007 World Championship sliver medalist Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas, Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, silver medalist from Athens 2004, and American Darvis Patton, who clocked 9.89 seconds at the USA Olympic Trials.
Other track heats tomorrow include the Women's 800m, Men's 1500m, Women's 3000 Steeplechase, and Men's 400m Hurdles, while the field qualification rounds include Men's Hamme, Women's Discuss and Women's Triple Jump.
Another day, another four more swimming medals at stake in the Water Cube, and yep, that Michael Phelps fellah after dusting down those five new glistening gold medals of his, and a finals day off yesterday, will look to add number six in the final of the Men's 200m Individual Medley, although teammate Ryan Lochte might have something to say about that and could end Phelps' quest to be the first athlete to win eight gold medals at a single Games.
Lochte, fellow American, Aaron Peirsol, and Austrian Markus Rogan are also the main favorites for the Men's 200m Backstroke final scheduled ahead of the Lochte-Phelps showdown, which could be to Phelps' advantage.
The Women's 100m Freestyle final should also be a fascinating battle. Natalie Coughlin of the United States qualified fastest, but Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands and China's Zhu Yingwen are also in the hunt.
In the Women's 200m Breaststroke final, world champion and world record holder Leisel Jones of Australia will go for her second Olympic title, after winning the 100m Breaststroke. Rebecca Soni of the United States was the fastest qualifier.
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