g3 － day 12.

Thank God. Women's beach volleyball is finally over.

Maybe it's just me, but it sure seemed like NBC had an intense interest in airing every single second of play － from prelimanaries to semi-finals to this medaling match － by American "golden girls" Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor [above, decently dressed, left & right]. Is it possible there's a demographic out there in TVland who digs watching two buff babes bounce around barely clad, kicking volleyball ass and rolling around hugging in the sand? Seriously, if there were an Olympic event for least amount of cloth you can attach to your body and still call it a "uniform," then the women's beach volleyball bikinis would win the gold, nolo contendre (and three new uniforms could be created from the medal ribbons!).

All of which is not to imply that I'm not happy that May-Treanor, 31, of Costa Mesa, CA, and Walsh, 30, of Santa Clara, CA, whooped up on the Chinese to win a second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball Wednesday night. The pair beat China's Wang Jie and Tian Jia in straight sets － 21-18, 21-18 － extending their winning streak to 108 consecutive matches. They never lost a set in seven Olympic matches (really? only seven?), playing through the beautiful Beijing smog, the sweltering heat and, finally, the drenching rain that dominated their final match (luckily, their white uniforms were reinforced ... otherwise, they might have had a spontaneous post-game wet t-shirt contest up on the medals podium).

A second team from China, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, earned the country's first beach volleyball medal by beating the Brazilians for the bronze earlier on in the day.

I'm proud and pleased these powerful, thirty-something American women won the gold again － I just wish they wouldn't have had to do it with their asses hanging out (regardless of how tight and tan they are).

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The women's 400-meter hurdles race was wide open going in － world record-holder Yulia Pechonkina of Russia wasn't participating due to heart trouble; two-time world champion Jana Rawlinson of Australia was out with an injury; and reigning Olympic champion Fani Halkia of Greece had been expelled from the Games following a positive steroid test.

So it was anyone's race.

It turned out the race belonged to Jamaica's Melaine Walker, as she set a new Olympic record while winning the gold in 52.64 seconds. American Sheena Tosta, 25, of Garfield, VA, earned the silver, coming in at 53.70 sec., and Britain's Tasha Danvers got the bronze with a finish time of 53.84.

g3 － day 11.

OK, the late-night Olympics is officially kicking my ass. With a little less than a week to go, I'm suffering from a severe case of OSES, Olympic Spectator Exhaustion Syndrome. How about you － can I get a witness?

Still, it was with some sleep-deprived sadness that we said "zai jian" (Chinese for goodbye, it's pronounced "zay jee-ahn") to women's gymnastics last night, but what a fine finish for Team USA. The self-described "daredevil with a big smile" and three-time silver medalist Shawn Johnson [above] finally got her gold on with a brilliant balance beam performance, while her American teammate and Olympic roommate, Nastia Liukin, delivered an equally exceptional execution, but with a slightly simpler routine that earned her the silver. China's Cheng Fei got the bronze.

For Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, IA, it was her fourth medal of the Beijing Games, having silvered in the team competition, on floor exercise, and just behind Liukin in the all-around. Liukin, 18, of Parker, TX, will haul home five medals, having also silvered as part of the women's team and on the uneven bars, getting the bronze on floor exercise, and winning the all-around.

The U.S. women's gymnastic team ends their Olympic experience at the top of the medal board, with a total of eight medals; runner-up China earned six.

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Track and field competition continues to deliver some stunning surprises for Team USA women ...

American Lolo Jones, 26, of Des Moines, IA, went into the 100-meter hurdles race a huge favorite. She had a huge lead coming to the close of the race, when she had a huge snafu, slamming her foot into the ninth of ten hurdles. Scrambling to balance herself, Jones slipped to seventh place for the final, leaving the gold to teammate Dawn Harper, 24, of East St. Louis, who had barely qualified to come to the Olympics at all, snatching the last spot by a sliver of 0.007 seconds.

Australian Sally Mclellan earned the silver and Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep got the bronze.

Similarly, American Sanya Richards went into the 400-meter race having been number one in the world for the last three years － but tell it to her right hamstring. Like Jones, Richards, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, FL, started strong and was leading heading into the final 80 meters of the race, when her right hamstring began to tighten up. A grimacing Richards was passed by twice, but still managed to medal, getting the bronze.

Great Britain's Christine Ohuruogo won the gold, and Jamaica's Shericka Williams earned the silver. Ohuruogo was cleared in November to compete in Beijing when she won her appeal against a lifetime Olympic ban for missing three out-of-competition drug tests.

The ecstasy & the agony continue ... it's increasingly clear why the drama-loving Greeks were so into the Olympic Games, isn't it?

Just had to post this picture of unexpected 100-meter hurdles gold medalist Dawn Harper, who was utterly disbelieving of the scoreboard at the race's finish. For a full two minutes, she just kept staring at the scores and wandering around the track shouting, "WHAT!?!!??!?" over and over. It was a wonderful Olympic underdog moment. :)

g3 － day 10.

Some surprising successes for Team USA women at Monday's Olympic games ...

With track and field events underway, America's Stephanie Brown Trafton threw the discus 212 feet, 5 inches on her very first try － a first impression that ultimately won the gold. It's the first gold for a U.S. woman in the discus since 1932, and only the second medal of any kind since then. Brown Trafton, 28, of Arroyo, CA, had only two throws over 200 feet before this year.

Meanwhile, America's Jennifer Stuczynski (25, of Fredonia, NY) earned the silver in the women's pole vault, clearing 15.75 feet. Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva, who won the gold easily in 2004 in Athens, did so again with a world-record leap of 16.57 feet (5.05 meters) － she's pictured above during her joyful landing. Isinbaeva, 26, had established the existing world record of 5.04 meters just last month. Another Russian, Svetlana Feofanova, got the bronze with a jump of 15.59 feet.

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Out on the water at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, American Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe became the first woman in 20 years to win the gold in the women's one-person dinghy competition. Tunnicliffe, 25, of Perrysburg, OH, also earned the U.S.' first sailing gold of the Beijing Games. Lithuania's Gintare Volungeviciute settled for the silver, while China's Lijia Xu got the bronze.

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Over in Hong Kong, Team USA's equestrian jumping team won the gold in a jump-off with Canada. The Americans also won team jumping in 2004 in Athens, and had two returning combinations － Beezie Madden (Maquon, WI) on Authentic and McLain Ward (Brewster, NY) on Sapphire. New team members were Laura Kraut (Camden, SC) and Will Simpson (Peoria, IL). Canada settled for the silver, while Norway got the bronze.

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Olympic gymnastics all-around champion Nastia Liukin had a difficult day ... the American tied for first on the uneven bars, but a series of computerized tie-breakers forced her into second place by 33/100ths of a point. China's itty bitty He Kexin won the gold, while her teammate Yang Yilin got the bronze.

Liukin's father and coach, Valeri Liukin, tied for an Olympic gold medal on the high bar for the Soviet Union in 1988; then, they simply presented dual golds. But the International Gymnastics Federation initiated the use of tie-breakers in the 2000 Olympics.

For Nastia, 18, of Parker, TX, the silver was her fourth medal for these Olympics － she won the all-around championship gold, got a bronze in floor exercise, and helped the U.S. team earn a silver last week. She goes for a fifth medal in today's balance-beam final.

g3 － day 9.

Sisters, sisters, there were never two such kick-ass sisters ...

Yes, Serena and Venus Williams [left, top and bottom, respectively] kept up a family tradition by serving it up to the Spaniards to win the Olympic gold in the women's doubles tennis tournament.

The Williams sisters, of Lynwood, CA, won the gold eight years ago in Sydney, but were forced to skip the 2004 games in Athens due to an injury for Serena. Though both had withdrawn from tournaments last month with knee injuries, they showed no signs of struggle Sunday, easily overpowering the Spanish team who, despite being the reigning French Open doubles champions, earned the silver. The Chinese, who got the women's doubles gold four years ago, walked away with the bronze this time around.

Venus, 28, is ranked 5th worldwide as a singles player and has won 16 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them doubles. Serena, 26, is ranked 8th worldwide and has won 30 singles titles, 8 of them Grand Slams. The duo also dominated in doubles at Wimbledon this year. The tight twosome climbed the medals podium together, holding hands.

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Team USA won the gold in women's eight rowing, besting the silver they earned in Athens in 2004. The Netherlands crew earned the silver this time, while the crew from Romania, having gotten the gold the last three Olympic Games, had to settle for the bronze.

Americans Erin Cafaro (Modesto, CA), Anna Cummins (Bellevue, WA), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, NY), Susan Francia (Abington, PA), Anna Goodale (Montville, ME), Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, ME), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, NC) and coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, CA) finished the race at 6 minutes, 5.34 seconds. The Netherlands finished at 6:07.22, and the Romanians at 6:07.25.

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On the vault, on the floor － gymnast drama, more and more ... American Shawn Johnson is seeing the silver lining once again as the gold slipped through her fingers － and into Romanian Sandra Izbasa's hands － in floor exercise. Just two days earlier, Johnson earned the silver to her teammate Nastia Liukin's gold-worthy performance in the all-around.

Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, IA, had to perform first － the worst position － but earned a respectable 15.50 score. It held up through six other finalists' performances － including Liukin's, which got her the bronze － but fell to Izbasa's soaring somersaults and solid landings, which earned her a 15.65.

Still, Johnson has earned three silver medals in Beijing; Liukin, 18, of Parker, TX, has won one of each.

Neither American competed on the vault, where North Korea's Hong Un Jong, 19, won the gold － the first gymnastics medal for her nation. China's highly favored Cheng Fei, 20, the gold medalist at the last three world championships, landed on her knees during her second run, letting Oksana Chusovitina of Germany take the silver while Cheng got the bronze.

Chusovitina is a 33-year-old native of Uzebekistan who is now a German citizen. Competing in her fifth Olympics, but her first for Germany, Chusovitina said medaling made her feel 18 again.

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Finally, Japan's Kaori Icho defended her title in women's 63-kilogram wrestling, winning the gold over Alena Kartashova, 26, of Russia in two overtime matches. Icho, 24, has won every world championship in her weight class since 2002.

Dual bronzes went to Kazakhstan's Yelena Shalygina, 19, and American Randi Miller. For Miller, 24, of Arlington, TX, it was her first senior-level international tournament for the U.S.

g3 － about a boy ... & his mama.

Here's how you know you've raised your son right: Every time he steps off the podium after having been awarded an Olympic gold medal － even if it's the eighth time in as many days － he walks over to you and presents you with his winning bouquet.

Debbie Phelps is the principal at Baltimore's Windsor Mill Middle School, and active leader within her community, an occasional motivational speaker (a role I suspect she'll be playing with growing frequency), an avid reader, an aspiring writer, a world traveler and sports fan, and a proud single mother of three － one of whom happens to be Olympic God of Swimming Michael Phelps.

Here's to a mom who － while her son showed the world an extraordinary example of what an ultimate champion looks like － showed the world what an essential role an exceptionally loving and supportive family plays in creating such a champion.

g3 － day 8.

Madonna might have hit the golden anniversary of her birth yesterday (Madonna 50? Geez, I'm old.), but it was a silvery Saturday for Team USA women at the Beijing Olympics.

Of course, if swimmer spectacular Dara Torres is the example, then age really is only a number. The 41-year-old mom, a five-time Olympian and the oldest American swimmer ever, got the silver in the women's 50-meter freestyle, as Germany's Britta Steffen, 24, touched the wall 1/100ths of a second faster than the Los Angeles native.

Steffen finished at 24.06 seconds; Torres [above, congratulating Steffen] at 24.07. To complete the race's age spectrum, the bronze went to 16-year-old Australian Cate Campbell, who finished at 24.17.

Steffen's sprint (and Torres', for that matter) bested the Olympic record of 24.13 set in 2000 in Sydney. Torres' silver marked her 11th Olympic medal overall.

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Literally minutes later (she had to leave the medals podium early to prepare), Torres helped make her medal count an even dozen as Team USA earned the silver in the women's Olympic 4x100-meter medley.

Americans Torres, Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, CA), Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, IL) and Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, NJ) finished second to the favored Australian team, which defended its Olympic title by not only winning the event, but also doing it in world-record time. China's team got the bronze.

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Team USA's women's foil fencing team fought for a silver, too, getting solidly beat by the Russian team, 28-11.

Americans Emily Cross (New York, NY), Hanna Thompson (Rochester, NY) and Erinn Smart (Brooklyn, NY) were the opposite of disappointed, though. The team was considered an underdog at best, having been seeded seventh in the quarterfinals. They beat the world champion Polish team and third-seeded Hungary's team to reach the finals.

The Italian team got the bronze.

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Finally, American Michelle Guerette, 27, of Bristol, CT, earned her silver Saturday in the women's single sculls rowing competition. Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova won the gold, finishing at 7 minutes, 22.34 seconds. Guerette, America's top women's single sculler, finished at 7:22.78. Belarus' Yekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch got the bronze at 7:23.98.