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?