・2008.8.24
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・After 17 days of heated competitions, the Beijing Olympic Games are finally closed. Japan won totally 9 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze.
・In men’s marathon, Samuel Kamau Wansiru won the gold with a new Olympic record. Ogata finished in 13th and Satou the last.

・2008.8.23

・Hoshino Japan lost the game to team USA and could not get the medal.
・Synchronized swimming team finished 5th in Beijing Olympics. It is the first time that Team Japan couldn’t get a medal to home.
・In mountain bike event, Rie Katayama finished 20th.
・Argentina won the men’s soccer champion and Brazil took the women’s volleyball gold.

・2008.8.22

・Japan's 400m relay (Track) team won the first bronze in 80 years.
・Japan’s canoe-kayak got a better result than Athens Games, the 6th.
・Hoshino Japan was beaten 2-6 by Korea, and couldn’t make the team into a final match.
・Men’s 1600m relay finished 5th in qualifying round and was eliminated.
・Japan’s rhythmic gymnastics was out of finals

・2008.8.21

・Japanese women defeated old enemy USA and won the “Last Olympic Baseball Gold”.
・Nadeshiko Japan (women’s soccer team) lost the game to Germany and was out of the medalist.
・Ai Fukuhara was defeated by the famous Chinese table tennis player Zhang Yining, who is the No.1 in the world ranking.
・In canoe-kayak women’s 500m doubles, Kitamoto-Takaya pair went into the final successfully with the fastest time in qualifying round.
・In women's 20km Walk, the Japanese national record holder Mayumi Kawasaki finished 14th, and Shouko Konishi finished 26th.
・Men’s 400m relay team, which had got the 4th place in Athens, entered final with the second fastest time in its round.

・2008.8.20

・Bolt won 100m and 200m gold with world records
・Suzuki and Harada won the bronze in synchronized swimming by perfect performance.
・Softball team finally won the game against Australia after 12 round fighting in overtime.
・Hoshino Japan lost the game to USA after the tie break.
・Ai Fukuhara progressed to best 16 in women’s table tennis.
・Terauchi, who had ranked 7th in men’s diving qualifying section, finished the final in 11th.
・Pole vaulter Sawano couldn’t make himself to the final.

・2008.8.19

・In men's wrestling, Tomohiro Matsunaga won silver and Kenichi Yumoto won bronze.
・Men's gymnastics couldn't make further medals, Yanagimoto Japan won the 5 th place.
・Hoshino Japan won the game against China.
・Japan's synchronized swimming (duet event) advanced to the final after placing the third in the free routine preliminary. China, who was in the fourth place, got the very close score to Japan's.
・ Kumiko Ikeda couldn't advance to the final after failing in women's long jump qualifying round.
・In men's triathlon final, Ryousuke Yamamoto finished 30 th and Hirokatsu Tayama finished 48 th

・2008.8.18

・Women's soccer couldn't make the team into finals after being beaten by USA. It will compete for the bronze medal.
・The Chinese popular hurdler Liu Xiang withdrew the game. Isinbayeva won the gold medal and set up a new word record.
・In women's triathlon, Kiyomi Niwata finished in the 5 th place.
・In synchronized swimming, Suzuki-Harada pair finished the trials in the 3 rd place. Hoshino Japan (baseball) defeated Canada by a narrow margin.
・Men's volley was eliminated after their 5 th consecutive losing.
・The 200m race bronze medalist (2003 Track and Field World Tournament), Shingo Suezoku, was eliminated in the first round of qualify match.

・2008.8.17

・ Defending champion Kaori Ichou retained her title and Kyouko Hamakuchi won the second successive bronze medal.
・ Hammer thrower Kouji Murofushi couldn't set up a new record and finished his game in the 5th place.
・ In women's marathon, Yurika Nakamura finished in the 13th place, Reiko Dosa withdrew the game.
・ Japan won a bronze medal in men's 400m medley relay. USA swimmer Phelps got 8 gold medals and he is the first one in the world who has the record of 8 golds i n a single Games.
・ Uchimura and Tomita couldn't get a medal in floor event of gymnastics. ・ Japan finished In 5th place in men's group event of table tennis after being defeated by Australia

・2008.8.16

・Saori Yoshida won her second successive Olympic women's wrestling gold medal, and Chiharu Icho won the silver medal.
・Japanese cyclist Kiyofumi Nagai won the first bronze for Japan in cycling events. In baseball, Japan fell to South Korea for 2nd loss.
・Japan's women team beat Chinese Hong Kong and made team bronze medal match in table tennis.
・Usain Bolt won 100-meter gold in world record. Tsukahara was eliminated in semifinals.
・In women's hockey, Japanese team couldn't make bronze medal match.
・Tanno finished the women's 400m qualifications in the fourth in her round. It is the first time for Japan to compete in Olympic women's 400m race in 44 years.
・Narisako was eliminated in 400m hurdle qualifications and the lost time was only 0.02 ' . However, both men and women team broke the Japanese national record in 4x400 relay and were qualified for the finals.

・2008.8.15

・Satoshi Ishii won a gold medal on his Olympic debut. Defending champion Maki Tsukada couldn't retain her title.
・Japanese madminton pair Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda lost in semis.
・Japan beat China 2-0 in women 's soccer and entered the best four.
・The canoe rower Yuriko Takeshita (19 years old) won the fourth place in her Olympic debut.
・Ryousuke Irie took the fifth place in men's 200m back stroke.
・The popular hurdler Tamesue was eliminated in qualify match. Both men's and women's 400m medley relay were succeeded in entering finals with new Japanese national records.

・2008.8.14

・Kitajima won the second straight Olympic title.
"I swam with the most joyful feeling"
・Kohei Uchimura grab the silver medal in the men's all-around competition, giving his country the first medal in the event in 24 years.
・Keiji Suzuki lost his first competition in Judo (100kg level).
・The baseball team won the first competition by defeating Chinese Taipei with the result of 6-1.
・Shingo Matsumoto lost his first Wrestling (84kg-Greco-Roman style) competition.
・Women's table tennis team got two consecutive winning in women's team competitions.

・2008.8.13

・ Ueno grab the second consecutive Olympic medal in Judo.
・Matsuda won the bronze medal in men's 200m butterfly.
・Oota won the first silver medal for Japanese fencing team.
・Women's gymnastics team made a good fight in group competition and got the fifth place.
・Kitajima passed the semifinal with the fastest time and left us a hope of breaking the WR tomorrow.
・The third consecutive loss. Men's soccer team was beaten by the Netherlands (0-1).

・2008.8.12

・Ayumi Tanimoto succeeded in defending her Olympic title. "This is real Japanese Judo.
・Men's gymnastics team took the silver medal in group competition and left the gold medal to China.
・Women's soccer team defeated Norway with an excellent victory of 5-1, and advanced towards the world best eight.
・Softball team won the game by beating Australia with 4-3.
・Mizuki Noguchi withdrew the game in Beijing because of injuries to her left thigh and groin
・Men's volleyball team continued its losing after being beaten by Bulgaria 1-3.

・2008.8.11

・The defending champion Kousuke Kitajima succeeded in retaining the title and broke the world record in men's 100m breast stroke.
・The Judo team kept losing games. Kanamaru and Satou were out of medals.
・Yukie Nakayama won the fourth place in Shooting--Women's Trap Final. This is also the best result in this event that Japanese athletes ever had.
・Ogushio(Ogura and Shiota) were eliminated in the quarterfinals, Sugayama won the 7th place in fencing.
・ In men’s tennis-single, Kei Nishikiori (18) lost his first game.
・Japan’s badminton double Maeda and Suetsuna brought about a complete turnabout in the game with China’s Ace Double (no.1 in the world ranking), and succeeded in entering the semifinals.

・2008.8.10

・Masato Uchishiba got the second consecutive Olympic gold medal men's judo, and   Nakamura got a bronze medal in women's judo in her first Olympic journey.
・Sorimachi Japan was beaten by Nigeria (1-2) in their first soccer game in Beijing.
・Women's badminton pair entered the world best eight, women's hockey got their first winning.
・Women's volleyball was defeated by USA team with the result of 1-3.
・Kitajima stormed into men's 100-meter breaststroke semifinals with the second fastest time.

・2008.8.9

・Ryouko Tani won the first medal (bronze medal) for Japan
・In women’s volleyball, Team Japan was defeated by Team USA with 1-3 in the first round.
・In men’s 100m breast stroke preliminary competition, Kitajima got the qualification with the second-fastest time..
・Japan advanced Saturday to the final of the men's gymnastics team competition at the Beijing Olympics with the second-highest total score behind China in the qualification round.
・Miyake and Oshiro couldn’t get the medals in women’s weight-lifting competitions.

・2008.8.8

The Beijing Olympic Games open.

・2008.8.6

n the women's soccer opener at the Beijing Olympics ， Japan and New Zealand (group G) draw 2-2 .

・2008.8.5

A rehearsal for the Olympic opening ceremony was held in the Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest).

・2008.8.3

The Olympic torch relay began in Sichuan Province where an 8.0-magnitude earthquake attacked and killed 87,000 people this May. The heroes who have helped in the disaster held the flame high and showed their strong will of rebuilding the disaster area.

・2008.8.1

The Beijing Olympic Games are to open in one week.

・2008.7.27

Beijing Olympic village opens. In all 16,000 delegates will stay there during the games. Japanese swimmer   Kitajima has taken the lead in checking in.

・2008.7.23

Japan will send 339 delegates to Beijing, the number of delegates are more than last Olympics in Athens (312 delegates).

・2008.7.22

The Japan baseball team, who has already gotten the berth to Beijing defeats Australia in the Grand Final of the Canada Cup. It was a good warm-up match for the Olympics.

・2008.7.21

The Japanese tennis player Sugiyama increased her world ranking to 33th.

・2008.7.18

Men's beach volleyball pair Asahi and Shiradori get the berth to Beijing. It is the first time for Japanese Men's team to enter the Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

・2008.7.17

Japan names Olympic baseball roster. Continue after the Athens Olympics, the Dream Team reorganizes with the players start with pitcher Davish (Nippon Ham), Uehara (Giants), Tanaka (Rakuten), fielder Miyamoto (the Captain).

・2008.7.16

Kohei Yamamoto (Mountain Bike) and Shouji Sakamoto (Bicycle Motocross) are elected to the Olympic delegates.

・2008.7.14

Japan announces its 18-member soccer squad. Although the game permits max 3 over-24-year old players in one team, Japan didn't take advantage of this, and all the members are under 23 years old.

・2008.7.12

Yelena Isinbayeva beat her own world record which was set up 3 years ago in women's pole vault. The new record is 5.03m, 2cm higher than the previous record.

・2008.7.11

Japan decides to send delegates for women's 1600m relay in the Beijing Olympics. They are 400m race national record holder Asami Tanno, Mayu Kida, 400m hurdle national record holder Satomi Kubokura, and Sayaka Aoki. It will be their the first time to compete in the Olympics.

・2008.7.8

The Beijing Olympics is coming in one month. After the Tibet Riots in March 14, China was criticized by western countries; furthermore, a destructive earthquake hit Sichuan , China in May 12, which made China get into hot water . However, after the whole nation had made joint endeavor in fighting the disaster and overcoming the difficulties brought about by internal strife, the Chinese society is brought under control. Now, China is ready for the Beijing Olympics.

・2008.7.7

　Kumiko Ikeda (27), who belongs to Suzuki Track and Field Club, won women's long jump with 6.70m, and Naoyuki Daigo (27), who belongs to Fujitsu Track and Field Club won men's high jump with 2.21m. Both of them were elected for the first time to compete in the Olympics.

・2008.7.6

　Women's 100m(track and field) delegate Chisato Fukushima, she brings Japan back to the Olympics in this event after a hiatus of 56 years. 

・2008.7.4

　 In the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials − Swimming in OMAHA, Brendan Hansen , who is the bronze medalist of 200m breaststroke in 2004 Athens, fell this event to fourth (2 '11''37 ) and couldn't earn the Olympic berth on 200m breaststroke . 　However, he had already made the Olympic team by winning the 100m breaststroke event.

・2008.6.30

　The Japan Association of Athletics Federation (JAFF) announced formally for having chosen 32 members to be its delegates for the upcoming Beijing Games. Those 　members include 11 winners who won the qualifier the day before, such as 400m-hurdler Tamesue, and 14 men's short-distance runners, such as Nobuharu Aasahara, Shingo Suezoku. 

・2008.6.29

　Tyson Gay won the men's 100m quarterfinals with the third fastest record of 9.77 seconds in the second day of 2008 US track and Field Trials for the Beijing Olympics. In the third day, he won the finals by a wonderful record of 9.68 seconds, assisted by winds of 4.1 meters per second.

・2008.6.28

　Nishikori won the ticket to compete Tennis in Beijing. Since Shuzou Matuoka was qualified for the Atlanta 　Games in 1996, no one expect Nishikori has experienced the Olympics. It will be the chance for him to challenge his previous result that was marked in the 1988 Seoul games.   

・2008.6.27

　Takayuki Matumiya was elected an Olympic delegate for the first time after winning the men's 10000m (Track and Field) trials with the time of 27'51''27, which has already reached the A qualifying standard of 27'50''00.

・2008.6.26

　Men's freestyle wrestler Kenichi Yumoto was qualified in the 60-kilogram category for the Beijing Olympics for the first time after beating Noriyuki Takatsuka with 2-0 in a playoff, although he lost his first game.

・2008.6.22

　Heading for the large Olympic stage, “Ogushio”―the women's doubles pair (badminton) Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota spoke their dreams.

・2008.6.15
　

　In the final world qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympic women's basketball, 4 teams fought for one ticket, and Japan lost its chance to compete in Olympics two consecutive times after a 66-58 loss to Cuba.

・2008.6.14

　In triathlon, Ryousuke Yamamoto, Ai Ueda, Hirokatsu Tayama, and Kiyomi Niwata were elected to the national team.

・2008.6.10

　Aiming at solving problem of wearing Speedo’s controversial LZR swimsuits, Japan Swimming Federation (JSF) held a directorate meeting. After the meeting, JSF decided to remove the limitation of using the products of three domestic Japanese makers (Mizuno, Descente and Asics). As a result, athletes were given the right to choose what swimwear they use, including the products of Speedo, at this year’s Beijing Games.

・2008.6.8

　Kitajima broke the men’s 200 meters breaststroke national record. A total of 15 new national records were created by swimmers wearing the Speedo’s LZR suits. It comes to light that three domestic sports makers, Mizuno, Descente and Asics, who were contracted to supply swimwear to Japanese Olympic swimmers, agree with JSF’s decision of allowing swimmers using other products besides theirs.

・2008.6.7

　In men's volleyball, Japanese team finished as the top Asian side in the final round of qualifiers for the 　Beijing Games. It was the first time for the men's team to secure an Olympic berth since the Barcelona games in 1992.

・2008.6.6

　Five Olympic swimmers, starting with Kousuke Kitajima, broke national records one after another by wearing the Speedo’s LZR suits, which were attracted as their function of helping creating “high speed”. 　Japan Swimming Federation will decide on June 10 whether or not to allow swimmers using those suits in the Olympics.

・2008.6.5

　Captain and Flag Bearer for Japan’s delegation for the Beijing Olympic Games are decided. The men’s Judo athlete (100kg class) Keiji Suzuki will be the captain, and the19-year- old table tennis world bronze medalist (team competition) Ai Fukuhara, will be the flag bearer.

・2008.6.4

　Tokyo passed the first selection with the top score for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

　In Trampoline, Hirota, who won the seventh place in the Athens Games, was elected to compete in Beijing for Japan.

　On the last day of volleyball Olympic final qualifying tournaments , Japan was beaten by Serbia with the result 2-3. Although it was Japan's first defeat in the tournaments and it made Japan finish in the third place , Japan clinched the ticket to Beijing.

　China announced the Olympic torch relay would be suspended from May 19 to 21 in remembrance of the victims of Sichuan earthquake.

　Zenkoji Temple pulled out the plan of hosting the starting ceremony for the Olympic torch relay in Nagano City .

　The Torch Relay of the Beijing Olympic Games started
The relay will run until August 8, 2008. It is expected to last 130 days, and carry the torch 137,000 km (the longest distance in any Olympic torch relay). The 8848m high Mt. 　Qomolangma (Mt. Everest ) is included in the relay route.
Using etegami to send supporting messages to participant countries, report the situation about the preliminary contests, the torch relay, and other information related to the Beijing Olympics.

Delivery from June 1, 2008