Nations 204
Athletes 10.903 (6294 Uomini; 4609 Donne)
Italian athletes 345 (213 Uomini; 132 Donne)
A grand opening ceremony welcomed the 29th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. A blaze of fireworks, lights and drums, characterised the event in the striking Bird's Nest. The Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who won three gold medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles in '84, the last torchbearer, lit the Olympic cauldron on an evening dedicated to the number 8, a symbol of "good luck" for the Chinese. The games started on the 8th of August (8th month of the year) in 2008, at 8 pm (local time). The delegation of Chinese athletes would enter the National Stadium at 8.08 hours and the ceremony, with a cast of more than 15,000 people, began with 2,008 Chinese who counted down beating illuminated drums. China, winning 100 total medals (with 51 golds) topped the medal table, ahead of the United States and Russia. The Italian mission ended with 28 medals (8 golds, 10 silvers and 10 bronzes) and ninth place, ahead of France (for the first time after 24 years). The Italian team also had 13 fourth place finishes. In China, with respect to the previous edition in Athens in 2004, the average age of gold medalists decreased: from 28.7 in Athens to 26.5 at the Chinese Games. In addition, four out of the eight gold medalists were making their Olympic debut. Overall the average age of medalists fell from 30.47 to 29.84. 86 countries won medals out of 204 taking part, but above all it was a Games of breakthroughs: in Beijing there was a change of parallels and meridians in sport. In addition to the expected rise of China and Asia, the only real progress from the old continent was made by Great Britain: the country that would host the 2012 Olympics rocketed up the medal table with 17 more medals than in Athens. The shinning stars were the USA's Michael Phelps and the Jamaican Usain Bolt. In the pool, Phelps won eight gold medals, five individual (200 freestyle, 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 medley) and three in the relays (4x100 medley, 4x100 freestyle, 4x200 freestyle) while Bolt dominated the sprints on the track by winning the 100 and 200 metres and the 4x100 relay.
Giovanni Pellielo silver Shotgun trap
Tatiana Guderzo bronze Cicling Road road
Matteo Tagliariol gold Fencing Ep
Ilario Di Buò silver Archery Team
Giulia Quintavalle gold Judo 57 Kg.
Margherita Granbassi bronze Fencing foil
Valentina Vezzali gold Fencing foil
Francesco D'Aniello silver Shotgun double trap
Federica Pellegrini gold Swimming 200 m freestyle
Salvatore Sanzo bronze Fencing foil
Chiara Cainero gold Shotgun skeet
Andrea Minguzzi gold Wrestling wrestling greco-roman 84 Kg.
Alfredo Rota, Matteo Tagliariol, Diego Confalonieri, Stefano Carozzo bronze Fencing Epee team
Alessia Filippi silver Swimming 800 m freestyle
Giovanna Trillini, Valentina Vezzali, Ilaria Salvatori, Margherita Granbassi bronze Fencing Foil team
Rossano Galtarossa, Simone Raineri, Luca Agamennoni, Simone Venier silver Rowing Quadruple sculls
Luigi Tarantino, Aldo Montano, Giampiero Pastore, Diego Occhiuzzi bronze Fencing Sabre team
Diego Romero bronze Sailing Laser
Alessandra Sensini silver Sailing RS:X
Elisa Rigaudo bronze Athletics 20 Km Race walk
Alex Schwazer gold Athletics 50 Km Race walk
Vincenzo Picardi bronze Boxing 51 Kg
Andrea Facchin, Antonio Scaduto bronze Canoeing K2 1000 m
Josefa Idem silver Canoeing K1 500
Clemente Russo silver Boxing 91 kg
Roberto Cammarelle gold Boxing +91 kg
Mauro Sarmiento silver Taekwondo 80 kg
Marco Galiazzo, Mauro Nespoli silver Archery Team