August 6, Athletics – Kirani James wins Grenada’s first Olympic medal
At the 2011 World Championships in South Korea, Kirani James became the youngest 400m world champion at the age of 18. On August 6, he became the Olympic champion in the same event with a time of 43.94s. He was the first non-US athlete to break the 44s barrier. More importantly he earned Grenada its first Olympic medal. Kirani’s coach Harvey Glance calls him a ‘freak of nature’. He thinks Kirani can break Michael Johnson’s record – “When Michael broke his record he must have been 26 or 27 years old. Kirani’s only going to get faster and stronger. He really wants to put his country on the map. We want to rewrite history.“
August 7, Cycling (Track) – Sir Chris Hoy wins sixth Olympic gold medal
A few days after leading the Great Britain team in the Olympic opening ceremony, Chris Hoy won the gold medal in the team sprint to win his fifth Olympic gold medal. Then on 7 August the thirty six year old went on to win the gold medal in Men’ Keirin to became the most successful British athlete in Olympic Games ever with six gold medals and a silver.
August 9, Boxing – Women’s Boxing gets its first champions
Women’s boxing was introduced to the programme in the London Olympics and it didn’t disappoint. Crowds cheered as the British girl Nicola Adams (51kg category) beat the world champion Ren Cancan to become the first ever women’s Olympic Boxing champion. Few minutes later Ireland’s golden girl Katie Taylor won in the 60kg category and then Claressa Shields of the United States won in the 75kg category to make August 9 a historic day for women’s boxing.
August 9, Athletics – David Rudisha stunning run in 800m
In what was acclaimed ‘the greatest 800m race ever’ David Rudisha of Kenya became the first man to break the 1:41 barrier for 800m when he broke his own world record by completing the race in 1:40.91. Sebastian Coe, the organizer of London Olympics said after the race, “Instead of just doing enough to win the race he wanted to do something extraordinary and go for the world record as well. Rudisha’s run will go down in history as one of the greatest Olympic victories. I feel privileged to have witnessed it in London.” He also said, “It was the performance of the Games, not just of track and field but of the Games. Bolt was good, Rudisha was magnificent.“
August 11, Rhythmic Gymnastics – Evgeniya Kanaeva defends her Individual title
Evgeniya Kanaeva of Russia was in a class of her own as she became the first-ever rhythmic gymnast to defend her Individual title. She was the only gymnast to score more than 29 points in the ball, hoop and clubs, falling short of that mark only with the ribbon that scored 28.900. Kanaeva is the only rhythmic gymnast to win two Olympic all-around gold medals. After winning her medal she said, “Gymnastics has been part of my life since I was six years old. It was not my target to be a legend, but I do like the sound of it. I love gymnastics and I want the audience to remember me.”
August 11, Athletics – Mo Farah completes the double of 10,000m and 5000m
On August 4 Mo Farah became the first person from Great Britain to win the 10,000m race. Seven days later a crowd of 80,000 people roared as Mo Farah of Great Britain won the 5000m and completed the long distance double. He joined a handful of athletes who have achieved this feat in Olympic Games. Farah has expressed his desire to move up to the marathon after the 2012 Olympics.