Lightning Bolt strikes again

Beijing - Move over Michael Phelps, the Beijing Olympics has another superstar.

Usain Bolt entered the Olympic history books in a big way Wednesday, becoming the first man ever to break world records while winning both 100- and 200-metre races at a single Games.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish - something he hadn't done in the 100 - Bolt finished in 19.30 seconds, eclipsing the old 200 record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

His win ensured that when highlight films of the Beijing Games are rolled in years to come, Bolt and Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals in the pool, will share the top billing.

The Jamaican speedster bettered his own world record in the 100 last Saturday, winning in 9.69 seconds - despite slowing down over the final 20 metres to showboat.

The United States continues to lead the overall medal standings with 82 total medals. China is three back at 79, but has 45 gold medals to 26 for the Americans.

Canada did not improve on its 13 medals and remained tied for 12th.

At the Bird's Nest, Melaine Walker of Jamaica won the gold medal in the women's 400-metre hurdles in an Olympic record. Walker won in 52.64 seconds, with Sheena Tosta of the United States taking silver in 53.70 and Tasha Danvers of Britain third in 53.84.

Aksana Miankova of Belarus won gold in the women's hammer throw, also in an Olympic record. Miankova, who entered the Games with the third-best throw of all time after two Russians who are either banned or under investigation for anti-doping violations, set the record with her next-to-last mark of 76.34 metres.

Off the track, wrestler Ara Abrahamian and his country's Olympic committee asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to investigate a controversial semifinal bout that so incensed the Swede that he dropped his bronze medal in disgust and eventually had it stripped by the IOC.

Abrahamian was upset that a disputed penalty call decided his semifinal match against Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division.

During the medal ceremony, Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck and dropped it on the mat as he walked away.

And Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine is under investigation for a positive doping test and could be stripped of her silver medal in the Olympic heptathlon and banned for life.

An official close to the investigation said Blonska had a positive A test for an anobolic steroid. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still ongoing.

Earlier Wednesday, Larisa Ilchenko took advantage of a British duo's hard work by swimming closely in their wake.

She then sprinted to a gold medal in the final stages of the first women's 10-kilometre marathon swim.

At the Olympic rowing basin, the Russian finished four gruelling laps in one hour 59 minutes 27.7 seconds. She let leaders Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten do the hard work in front, then made her big move for the historic gold medal, reaching up to slam the yellow touchpad first.

Ilchenko's strategy has helped her dominate open water swimming since 2004, winning five consecutive 5k world championships and three consecutive 10k races.

Natalie du Toit of South Africa, an amputee who removed her carbon-fibre prosthetic left leg before diving in, finished 16th - 1:22.2 behind Ilchenko's winning time.

Synchronized swimmers Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova won duet gold medals in two straight Olympics. Performing a perfect free routine to the classic Peer Gynt Suite before a near capacity crowd at the Water Cube, the Russians won with a combined 99.251 points.

The pair received all perfect 10s for technical merit.

"Competition makes you achieve things you never thought possible," Ermakova said though a translator. "We waited four years for this gold and a whole row of 10s was our crowning achievement."

In golds also achieved on the water - at the sailing venue in Qingdao - Yin Jian won China's first-ever sailing gold medal in women's RS:X, a windsurfing class. Tom Ashely of New Zealand won men's gold in the same class.

World champion Ramazan Sahin of Turkey won the 66-kilogram freestyle wrestling gold medal. Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia matched his golds of 1996 and 2004 by defeating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan 0-1, 1-0, 3-1 in the 74-kilogram class.

Chinese world champion Wu Jingyu won the women's under 49-kilogram class on the first day of the taekwondo competition, and Afghanistan got its first Olympic medal, winning a bronze in men's under 58-kg.

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