Gold
Usain Bolt
No male sprinter had won the 100 and 200 meters in the same Olympics since 1984, but Usain Bolt did that and more when he broke Michael Johnson's 200-meter world record. The long-limbed Jamaican (who has become a poster boy for Puma) put on a spectacular show that lent some pizzazz to an otherwise ho-hum week at the track.

Silver
NBC ad sales
Riding a tide of impressive ratings, NBC's ad sales division has sold $25 million in advertising since the Olympics began and $15 million in the past seven days. The network expects more to be sold between now and the closing ceremony on Sunday, a great sign for the network.

Bronze
The weather
The rain in Beijing put a damper on two of NBC's live programs last night, delaying the start of the women's beach volleyball game and forcing BMX racing to be rescheduled to Friday. What happened to China's ability to control the weather?

Tin
Protest zones
What's the point of creating a protest zone if you have to apply to get permission to protest there? It came to light that two Chinese women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, made five visits to the police this month to get permission to protest inadequate compensation for their home's demolition. Now news arrives that they've been sentenced to "re-education through labor." Did China forget that the world's watching?

United Airlines has agreed to renew its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Team, signing an agreement to be the official airline of the USOC for the 2009-12 quadrennial. Sources valued the supplier-level deal in the $10 million range over the period of the contract. An announcement is expected later today.    Read More  >

All cities that play host to sporting events trot out economic impact studies. It’s a way to justify huge infrastructure and facilities costs.

But these Beijing Games have had a vast and deep economic impact on Beijing and China, even if a post-Olympic “adjustment” is likely, according to a report issued today by the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association.    Read More  >

Brazil’s Marta is considered to be the world’s most dazzling women’s soccer player, but does the new U.S. women’s league stand a chance of signing her for its inaugural season? Women’s Professional Soccer Commissioner Tonya Antonucci thinks so.

“She’s indicated interest in coming to WPS, which is fantastic,” Antonucci said.    Read More  >

The Olympics couldn’t come at a better time for the AVP. The professional beach volleyball company recently reported revenue of $8.8 million, compared to $11 million reported for the same period in 2007. But AVP CEO Leonard Armato is optimistic that the Beijing Games will be a catalyst, spurring the kind of growth the tour experienced after the Athens Olympics in 2004 when revenue increased 38 percent. He shared that and more with SportsBusiness Journal writer Tripp Mickle outside the beach volleyball venue in Beijing.    Read More  >

Gold
Kellogg Co.
The company is taking a cue from rival General Mills' Wheaties and putting the star of the Beijing Games, Michael Phelps, on the cover of its cereal boxes. It will put Phelps on the front of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes in the coming weeks in a move best described as scooping the competition.

Shawn Johnson

Silver
Shawn Johnson
After being bested for gold in the all-around competition by teammate Nastia Liukin, the Iowan looked like she might return home without a gold of her own. But Johnson dug one out in her last event, giving her a chance to extend her endorsement window beyond the Games.

Bronze
Beijing's buzz
Is it because the Olympic Green is closed, or because the city is so large and sprawling? It's hard to say, but Helios Partners CEO Chris Welton, whose firm has worked with past Olympic host cities, returned from Beijing saying that the city lacked the buzz of other Olympic cities.

Tin
USOC
How many unflattering situations will the USOC find itself in during the 17 days of the Games? First came the cyclists wearing USOC-issued masks. Then came the organization staying silent when Joey Cheek's visa to China was denied. Now, it has had to apologize to other national organizing committees for offering U.S. Olympians a $50 voucher if they voted in this Thursday's IOC Athletes Commission election, a violation of IOC rules.

For more than 20 years, Michael Payne played a key role in the global marketing strategy of the Olympic movement. He served as its marketing director for more than a decade before stepping down after the Athens Games in 2004 to join Formula One. He now runs his own consulting firm.

While he was in Beijing, the author of “Olympic Turnaround” sat down with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle.    Read More  >

An opening ceremony to die for. A swimmer making a splash for the ages. A nation of 1.3 billion passionate, or at least potential, fans. TV ratings that “Seinfeld” could take to the bank. Political tension as a backdrop.

Can the Olympics get any better than this?

Ever again?    Read More  >

It used to be the centerpiece. It wants to be again.

So, as the Beijing Olympics track and field competition got under way last Friday, the stewards of the sport in the U.S. are seeking ways to rebuild its tarnished, drug-linked reputation, to repackage itself to garner TV rights fees and to broaden a fan base that reaches beyond the “track geek” aficionados.    Read More  >

In the rush to anoint BMX racing as the next great Olympic “action” sport, the media, the IOC and NBC are overlooking just one thing — pedal clips.

Bicycle clips, like the ones BMX racers will wear during NBC’s prime-time broadcast tonight, aren’t cool, according to a panel of action sports experts who gathered at SportsBusiness Journal’s offices in New York last month.    Read More  >