Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Table:
Medal

Name

Sport

Event

Date

Gold
Matteo Tagliariol
Fencing
Men's individual épée
August 10

Gold
Giulia Quintavalle
Judo
Women's 57 kg
August 11

Gold
Valentina Vezzali
Fencing
Women's individual foil
August 11

Gold
Federica Pellegrini
Swimming
Women's 200 m freestyle
August 13

Gold
Chiara Cainero
Shooting
Women's skeet
August 14

Gold
Andrea Minguzzi
Wrestling
Men's Greco-Roman 84 kg
August 14

Gold
Alex Schwazer
Athletics
Men's 50 km walk
August 22

Gold
Roberto Cammarelle
Boxing
Super heavyweight
August 24

Silver
Giovanni Pellielo
Shooting
Men's trap
August 10

Silver
Ilario Di Buò
Marco Galiazzo
Mauro Nespoli
Archery
Men's team
August 11

Silver
Francesco D'Aniello
Shooting
Men's double trap
August 12

Silver
Alessia Filippi
Swimming
Women's 800 m freestyle
August 16

Silver
Luca Agamennoni
Simone Venier
Rossano Galtarossa
Simone Raineri
Rowing
Men's quadruple sculls
August 17

Silver
Alessandra Sensini
Sailing
Women's sailboard
August 20

Silver
Mauro Sarmiento
Taekwondo
Men's 80 kg
August 22

Silver
Josefa Idem
Canoeing
Women's K-1 500 m
August 23

Silver
Clemente Russo
Boxing
Heavyweight
August 23

Bronze
Tatiana Guderzo
Cycling
Women's road race
August 10

Bronze
Margherita Granbassi
Fencing
Women's individual foil
August 11

Based on the table and the passages listed.

Answer the following question: When is the date of birth of the man who won a bronze medal ? Return your answer as JSON: {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}.

Matteo Tagliariol ( born 7 January 1983 in Treviso ) is a male Italian fencer . He won the gold medal in the men 's épée event at the 2008 Summer Olympics . His fencing style has been described as technical , simple , spontaneous , clear-sighted , inspired and efficient .
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports . The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil , the épée , and the sabre ( also saber ) ; winning points are made through the weapon 's contact with an opponent . A fourth discipline , singlestick , appeared in the 1904 Olympics but was dropped after that , and is not a part of modern fencing . Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics . Based on the traditional skills of swordsmanship , the modern sport arose at the end of the 19th century , with the Italian school having modified the historical European martial art of classical fencing , and the French school later refining the Italian system . There are three forms of modern fencing , each of which uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules ; thus the sport itself is divided into three competitive scenes : foil , épée , and sabre . Most competitive fencers choose to specialize in one weapon only . Competitive fencing is one of the five activities which have been featured in every modern Olympic Games , the other four being athletics , cycling , swimming , and gymnastics .
The men 's épée fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 10 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre . The épée competition consisted of a six-round single-elimination bracket with a bronze medal match between the two semifinal losers . Fencing was done to 15 touches or to the completion of three three-minute rounds if neither fencer reached 15 touches by then . At the end of time , the higher-scoring fencer was the winner ; a tie resulted in an additional one-minute sudden-death time period . This sudden-death period was further modified by the selection of a draw-winner beforehand ; if neither fencer scored a touch during the minute , the predetermined draw-winner won the bout .
Giulia Quintavalle ( born March 6 , 1983 in Livorno ) is an Italian judoka . She won the gold medal in the -57 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Judo ( 柔道 , jūdō , Japanese pronunciation : [ dʑɯꜜːdoː ] , lit . gentle way ) is generally categorized as a modern martial art , which has since evolved into a combat and Olympic sport . The sport was originally created in 1882 by Jigoro Kano ( 嘉納治五郎 ) as a physical , mental , and moral pedagogy in Japan . Judo 's most prominent feature is its competitive element , where the objective is to either throw or take down an opponent to the ground , immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin , or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke . Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo , but only in pre-arranged forms ( kata , 形 ) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice ( randori , 乱取り ) . A judo practitioner is called a judoka . The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū ( 古流 , traditional schools ) . Judo also spawned a number of derivative martial arts across the world , such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu , Krav Maga and Sambo .
The women 's 57 kg ( also known as lightweight ) tournament in the judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 11 at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium . A total of 22 women competed in this event , limited to jūdōka with a body weight of less than 57 kilograms . Preliminary rounds started at 12:00 Noon CST . Repechage finals , semifinals , bouts for bronze medals and the final were held at 18:00pm CST . This event was the third-lightest of the women 's judo weight classes , limiting competitors to a maximum of 57 kilograms of body mass . Like all other judo events , bouts lasted five minutes . If the bout was still tied at the end , it was extended for another five-minute , sudden-death period ; if neither judoka scored during that period , the match is decided by the judges . The tournament bracket consisted of a single-elimination contest culminating in a gold medal match . There was also a repechage to determine the winners of the two bronze medals . Each judoka who had lost to a semifinalist competed in the repechage . The two judokas who lost in the semifinals faced the winner of the opposite half of the bracket 's repechage in bronze medal bouts .
Valentina Vezzali ( Italian pronunciation : [ valenˈtiːna vetˈtsaːli ] ; born 14 February 1974 ) is an Italian fencer and politician . As fencer she has won six Olympic gold medals in foil competitions . Together with the German shooter Ralf Schumann , the Slovak slalom canoeist Michal Martikán and the Japanese female judoka Ryoko Tani , Vezzali is one of only four athletes in the history of the Summer Olympic Games to have won five medals in the same individual event . From 1996 to 2010 she also won 11 Fencing World Cups . In 2013 , she became a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies as part of the Scelta Civica party .
The women 's foil fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 11 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre . The foil competition consisted of a six-round single-elimination bracket with a bronze medal match between the two semifinal losers . Fencing was done to 15 touches or to the completion of three three-minute rounds if neither fencer reached 15 touches by then . At the end of time , the higher-scoring fencer was the winner ; a tie resulted in an additional one-minute sudden-death time period . This sudden-death period was further modified by the selection of a draw-winner beforehand ; if neither fencer scored a touch during the minute , the predetermined draw-winner won the bout .
Federica Pellegrini ( Italian pronunciation : [ fedeˈriːka pelleˈɡriːni ] ; born 5 August 1988 ) is an Italian swimmer . A native of Mirano , in the province of Venice , she holds the women 's 200 m freestyle world record ( long course ) , and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics . At the 2009 World Championships in Rome , Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the 4 minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15 . Pellegrini is the only swimmer − male or female − to have won eight medals in a row in the same event ( 200 meters freestyle ) at the World Championships . She is also the first female Olympic champion in the history of Italian swimming and the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event .
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one 's entire body to move through water . The sport takes place in pools or open water ( e.g. , in a sea or lake ) . Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports , with varied distance events in butterfly , backstroke , breaststroke , freestyle , and individual medley . In addition to these individual events , four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay . A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke , ordered as backstroke , breaststroke , butterfly and freestyle . Swimming each stroke requires a set of specific techniques ; in competition , there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke . There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits , caps , jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions . Although it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur several injuries from the sport , such as tendinitis in the shoulders or knees , there are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport .
The women 's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11-13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing , China . Italy 's Federica Pellegrini broke a new world record of 1:54.82 to claim a gold medal in the event . Sara Isakovič , who finished behind Pellegrini by 0.15 of a second , cleared a 1:55 barrier to set a new Slovenian record of 1:54.97 , and ultimately become the nation 's first ever medalist in swimming . China 's Pang Jiaying edged out U.S. swimmer Katie Hoff on the final lap to pick up a bronze in 1:55.05 . Hoff finished in fourth place in an American record of 1:55.78 . Defending champion Camelia Potec finished outside the medals in fifth place , posting a Romanian record of 1:56.87 . Great Britain 's Caitlin McClatchey earned a sixth spot in 1:57.65 , and was followed by a seventh-place tie between Australia 's Bronte Barratt and France 's Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne in a matching time of 1:57.83 . For the first time in Olympic history , all eight swimmers went faster than a winning time of 1:58.03 , previously set by Potec in Athens four years earlier . Earlier in the prelims , Pang broke one of the oldest Olympic records in the book , when she clocked at 1:57.37 to lead the fourth heat , slashing 0.28 seconds off the old mark set by East Germany 's Heike Friedrich from Seoul in 1988 . Two heats later , Pellegrini posted a top-seeded time of 1:55.45 to erase Laure Manaudou 's world record , set in 2007 .
Chiara Cainero ( born 24 March 1978 ) is an Italian sport shooter who won a gold medal in Skeet at the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon ( such as a gun , slingshot , crossbow , or bow ) . Even the acts of launching/discharging artillery , darts , grenades , rockets and guided missiles can be considered acts of shooting . When using a firearm , the act of shooting is often called firing as it involves initiating a combustion process ( deflagration ) . Shooting can take place in a shooting range or in the field , in shooting sports , hunting or in combat . The person involved in the shooting activity is called a shooter . A skilled , accurate shooter is a marksman or sharpshooter , and a person 's level of shooting proficiency is referred to as their marksmanship .
The Women 's skeet event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on August 14 at the Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field . The event consisted of two rounds : a qualifier and a final . In the qualifier , each shooter fired 3 sets of 25 shots in the set order of skeet shooting . The top 6 shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round . There , they fired one additional round of 25 . The total score from all 100 shots was used to determine final ranking . Ties are broken using a shoot-off ; additional shots are fired one at a time until there is no longer a tie .
Andrea Minguzzi ( born 1 February 1982 ) is an Italian Greco-Roman wrestler . He won a gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting , throws and takedowns , joint locks , pins and other grappling holds . The sport can either be theatrical for entertainment ( see professional wrestling ) , or genuinely competitive . A wrestling bout is a physical competition , between two ( occasionally more ) competitors or sparring partners , who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position . There are a wide range of styles with varying rules with both traditional historic and modern styles . Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems . The term wrestling is attested in late Old English , as wræstlunge ( glossing palestram ) .
Men 's Greco-Roman 84 kg competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , China , was held on August 14 at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium . Italian wrestler Andrea Minguzzi won the gold medal in this event . This Greco-Roman wrestling competition consists of a single-elimination tournament , with a repechage used to determine the winner of two bronze medals . The two finalists face off for gold and silver medals . Each wrestler who loses to one of the two finalists moves into the repechage , culminating in a pair of bronze medal matches featuring the semifinal losers each facing the remaining repechage opponent from their half of the bracket . Each bout consists of up to three rounds , lasting two minutes apiece . The wrestler who scores more points in each round is the winner of that rounds ; the bout ends when one wrestler has won two rounds ( and thus the match ) .
Alex Schwazer , OMRI ( born December 26 , 1984 ) , is an Italian race walker . He was the Olympic 50k walk champion but retired during the 2012 Olympics after being disqualified for doping offences .
Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running , jumping , and throwing . The name is derived from where the sport takes place , a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events . Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics , which also includes road running , cross country running , and racewalking . The foot racing events , which include sprints , middle- and long-distance events , racewalking and hurdling , are won by the athlete who completes it in the least time . The jumping and throwing events are won by those who achieve the greatest distance or height . Regular jumping events include long jump , triple jump , high jump and pole vault , while the most common throwing events are shot put , javelin , discus and hammer . There are also combined events or multi events , such as the pentathlon consisting of five events , heptathlon consisting of seven events , and decathlon consisting of ten events . In these , athletes participate in a combination of track and field events . Most track and field events are individual sports with a single victor ; the most prominent team events are relay races , which typically feature teams of four . Events are almost exclusively divided by gender , although both the men 's and women 's competitions are usually held at the same venue . If a race has too many people to run all at once , preliminary heats will be run to narrow down the field of participants . Track and field is one of the oldest sports .
The men 's 50 kilometres walk at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 22 at the Beijing National Stadium . The qualifying standards were 4:00:00 ( A standard ) and 4:07:00 ( B standard ) .
Roberto Cammarelle ( born 22 March 1980 ) is an Italian boxer , best known for winning the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2007 ( Chicago ) and 2009 ( Milan ) as a super heavyweight and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing . He won a silver medal in 2012 London Olympic Games , losing to Anthony Joshua .
Boxing is a combat sport in which two people , usually wearing protective gloves , throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring . Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a standard fixture in most international games - it also has its own World Championships . Boxing is overseen by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds . A winner can be resolved before the completion of the rounds when a referee deems an opponent incapable of continuing , disqualification of an opponent , or resignation of an opponent . When the fight reaches the end of its final round with both opponents still standing , the judges ' scorecards determine the victor . In the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges , professional bouts are considered a draw . In Olympic boxing , because a winner must be declared , judges award the contest to one fighter on technical criteria . While humans have fought in hand-to-hand combat since the dawn of human history , the earliest evidence of fist-fighting sporting contests date back to the ancient Near East in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC . The earliest evidence of boxing rules date back to Ancient Greece , where boxing was established as an Olympic game in 688 BC . Boxing evolved from 16th- and 18th-century prizefights , largely in Great Britain , to the forerunner of modern boxing in the mid-19th century with the 1867 introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules .
The super heavyweight class in the boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics competition is the heaviest class . Super heavyweights were limited to those boxers weighing over 91 kilograms ( 200.6 pounds ) . Like all Olympic boxing events , the competition was a straight single-elimination tournament . Both semifinal losers were awarded bronze medals , so no boxers competed again after their first loss . Bouts consisted of four rounds of two minutes each , with one-minute breaks between rounds . Punches scored only if the white area on the front of the glove made full contact with the front of the head or torso of the opponent . Five judges scored each bout ; three of the judges had to signal a scoring punch within one second for the punch to score . The winner of the bout was the boxer who scored the most valid punches by the end of the bout . 16 boxers qualified for this category after the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships and 9 Continental Qualification Tournaments .
Giovanni Pellielo ( born 11 January 1970 ) is an Italian sport shooter . He won the silver medal in Men 's trap at the 2008 Summer Olympics , and also earned a bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and a silver medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and 2016 Rio Olympics . He also won the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final .
The Men 's trap event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on August 9 and 10 at the Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field . The Czech Republic won its second shooting gold in two days through David Kostelecký , shooting a perfect 25 in the final round and establishing an Olympic record of 146 hits total after the 2005 rule change . The event consisted of two rounds : a qualifier and a final . In the qualifier , each shooter fired 5 sets of 25 targets in trap shooting , with 10 targets being thrown to the left , 10 to the right , and 5 straight-away in each set . The shooters could take two shots at each target . The top 6 shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round . There , they fired one additional round of 25 targets , where only one shot could be taken at each target . The total score from all 150 targets was used to determine final ranking . Ties are broken using a shoot-off ; additional shots are fired one at a time until there is no longer a tied .
Ilario Di Buò ( born 13 December 1965 in Trieste ) is an archer from Italy , who was formerly ranked number one in the world . Di Buò won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the team archery competition . He placed 20th in the individual competition .
Marco Galiazzo ( born 7 May 1983 in Padova ) is an athlete from Italy . He competes in archery for C.S . Aeronautica Militare , and is a former world number one . He was the first Olympic champion in the Italian archery history , winner of the gold medal in men 's individual competition at Olympic Games - Athens 2004 and gold medal in team competition at the Olympic Games - London 2012 ( in the same event he won silver at the Olympic Games - Beijing 2008 ) .
Mauro Nespoli ( born 22 November 1987 ) is an Italian archer who was a member of the Italian teams that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Archery is the art , sport , practice , or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows . The word comes from the Latin arcus . Historically , archery has been used for hunting and combat . In modern times , it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity . A person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman , and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite .
The men 's team archery event at the 2008 Summer Olympics was part of the archery programme and took place at the Olympic Green Archery Field . Ranking Round was scheduled for August 9 and elimination rounds and Finals took place on August 11 . All archery is done at a range of 70 metres , with targets 1.22 metres in diameter . As the defending Olympic champions , South Korea defended the title with two archers from the past Games , Im Dong-Hyun and Park Kyung-Mo . Chinese Taipei , silver at the last Games , participated at the event with only one Athens medalist , Wang Cheng Pang . Ukraine , bronze in Athens , brought Viktor Ruban and Oleksandr Serdyuk back at the Games . 12 teams qualified for the event at the Beijing Olympics : host China , plus the top 8 teams at the 44th Outdoor Archery World championship , held in Leipzig , Germany , and 3 other NOCs that qualified three athletes for the Games . The competition begins with the same ranking round used to determine the individual event seeding . Each archer fires 72 arrows , with the scores of the team 's three members summed to give the team score . The elimination rounds use a single-elimination tournament , with fixed brackets based on the ranking round seeding . Highly ranked teams get byes through to the quarterfinals . In each round of elimination , the two teams each fire 24 arrows ( with each individual archer accounting for 8 of them ) .
Francesco D'Aniello ( born 21 March 1969 in Nettuno ) is an Italian trap shooter . At the 2008 Summer Olympics he won the silver medal in the men 's double trap event . After realizing he had won silver , D'Aniello was overcome with emotion and collapsed to his knees weeping . He was less successful in the 2012 Summer Olympics , finishing 8th in the qualifying round and not qualifying for the final .
The men 's double trap event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 12 at the Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field . Walton Eller , the gold medal winner in this event , broke two Olympic records for both the qualification and final rounds . The event consisted of two rounds : a qualifier and a final . In the qualifier , each shooter fired 3 sets of 50 shots in trap shooting . Shots were paired , with two targets being launched at a time . The top 6 shooters in the qualifying round moved on to the final round . There , they fired one additional round of 50 . The total score from all 200 shots was used to determine final ranking . Ties are broken using a shoot-off ; additional shots are fired one pair at a time until there is no longer a tie .
Alessia Filippi ( born 23 June 1987 in Rome ) is a retired Italian swimmer . Filippi won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2009 World Championships in Rome .
The women 's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing , China . Great Britain 's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold , following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle . She touched the wall first in 8:14.10 , slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans ' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years . Sitting in the stands of the Water Cube , Evans found a kindred spirit in Adlington as she looked down on the British teenager breaking a long-lasting world record , and then congratulated her . Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap , Italy 's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal . Lotte Friis ended Denmark 's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03 , edging out Romania 's Camelia Potec ( 8:23.03 ) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second . China 's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34 , and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia 's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39 . Russia 's Yelena Sokolova ( 8:29.79 ) and another Brit Cassandra Patten ( 8:32.35 ) rounded out the finale . Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler , both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race . Earlier in the prelims , Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett 's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit .
Luca Agamennoni ( born 8 August 1980 , in Livorno ) is an Italian silver medal and bronze medal winner for rowing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens .
Simone Venier ( born 26 August 1984 in Latina ) is an Italian rower . He won a silver medal in the men 's quadruple sculls at the 2008 Summer Olympics . The Olympic rower Annibale Venier is his father .
Rossano Galtarossa ( born 6 July 1972 in Padua ) is an Italian competition rower and Olympic champion . He received a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , together with Agostino Abbagnale , Simone Raineri , and Alessio Sartori . He received a silver medal in quadruple sculls at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . He received a bronze medal in quadruple sculls at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and in double sculls at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens , with Alessio Sartori .
Simone Raineri ( born 7 February 1977 in Bozzolo , Mantua ) is an Italian competition rower and Olympic champion . He received a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , together with Agostino Abbagnale , Rossano Galtarossa , and Alessio Sartori .
Rowing , sometimes referred to as crew in the United States , is a sport whose origins reach back to Ancient Egyptian times . It involves propelling a boat ( racing shell ) on water using oars . By pushing against the water with an oar , a force is generated to move the boat . The sport can be either recreational for enjoyment or fitness , or competitive , when athletes race against each other in boats . There are a number of different boat classes in which athletes compete , ranging from an individual shell ( called a single scull ) to an eight-person shell with a coxswain ( called a coxed eight ) . Modern rowing as a competitive sport can be traced to the early 17th century when races ( regattas ) were held between professional watermen on the River Thames in London , United Kingdom . Often prizes were offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies . Amateur competition began towards the end of the 18th century with the arrival of boat clubs at the British public schools of Eton College , Shrewsbury School , Durham School , and Westminster School . Similarly , clubs were formed at the University of Oxford , with a race held between Brasenose College and Jesus College in 1815 . At the University of Cambridge the first recorded races were in 1827 . Public rowing clubs were beginning at the same time ; in England Leander Club was founded in 1818 , in Germany Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club was founded in 1836 and in the United States Narragansett Boat Club was founded in 1838 and Detroit Boat Club was founded in 1839 . In 1843 , the first American college rowing club was formed at Yale University .
Men 's quadruple sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 10 to 17 , at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park . This rowing event is a quadruple scull event , meaning that each boat is propelled by four rowers . The scull portion means that each rower uses two oars , one on each side of the boat ; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side . The competition consisted of multiple rounds . Finals were held to determine the placing of each boat ; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking . Semifinals were named based on which finals they fed , with each semifinal having two possible finals . During the first round three heats were held . The top three boats in each heat advanced to the A/B semifinals , with all others going to the repechage . In the repechage , four boats raced for three spots in the A/B semifinals , with the top three advancing and the fourth place boat getting an overall rank of 13th of 13 boats competing in the event . Only A/B semifinals were held . For each of the two semifinal races , the top three boats moved on to the better of the two finals ( the A final ) , while the bottom three boats went to the lesser of the two finals ( the B final ) . The third and final round was the Finals .
Alessandra Sensini ( born 26 January 1970 in Grosseto ) is an Italian windsurfer . She is a 4-time Olympian , winning a gold medal and three additional medals . She also won 3 gold , 2 silver medals and 1 bronze at World Championships , as well as 3 gold , 2 silver and 2 bronze medals at European Championships . She has sailed in three different windsurfing classes : Lechner A-390 , Mistral and RS : X .
Sailing employs the wind - acting on sails , wingsails or kites - to propel a craft on the surface of the water ( sailing ship , sailboat , windsurfer , or kitesurfer ) , on ice ( iceboat ) or on land ( land yacht ) over a chosen course , which is often part of a larger plan of navigation . A course defined with respect to the true wind direction is called a point of sail . Conventional sailing craft can not derive power from sails on a point of sail that is too close into the wind . On a given point of sail , the sailor adjusts the alignment of each sail with respect to the apparent wind direction ( as perceived on the craft ) to mobilize the power of the wind . The forces transmitted via the sails are resisted by forces from the hull , keel , and rudder of a sailing craft , by forces from skate runners of an iceboat , or by forces from wheels of a land sailing craft to allow steering the course . In the 21st century , most sailing represents a form of recreation or sport . Recreational sailing or yachting can be divided into racing and cruising . Cruising can include extended offshore and ocean-crossing trips , coastal sailing within sight of land , and daysailing . Until the mid of the 19th century , sailing ships were the primary means for marine commerce , this period is known as Age of Sail .
The Women 's RS : X was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics program in Qingdao International Sailing Centre . Eleven races ( last one a medal race ) were scheduled and completed . 27 sailors , on 27 boards , from 27 nations competed . Ten boards qualified for the medal race .
Mauro Sarmiento ( born August 10 , 1983 in Casoria ) is an Italian martial artist . He represented Italy in Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men 's 80 kg , and won the silver medal , upsetting two-time Olympic champion Steven López of the United States in the quarterfinals . In the gold medal round he lost to Hadi Saei . At the 2012 Summer Olympics , he won the bronze medal in the men 's -80 kg taekwondo event , losing to Nicolas Garcia in the semi-finals , and then beating Nesar Ahmad Bahawi in his bronze medal match .
Taekwondo , Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do ( Korean 태권도/跆拳道 [ tʰɛ.k͈wʌn.do ] ( listen ) , English pronunciation /ˌtaɪkwɒnˈdoʊ/ , or /ˌtaɪˈkwɒndoʊ/ ) is a Korean martial art , characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks , jumping and spinning kicks , and fast kicking techniques . Taekwondo is a combative sport and was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate , Chinese martial arts , and indigenous Korean martial arts traditions such as Taekkyon , Subak , and Gwonbeop . The oldest governing body for Taekwondo is the Korea Taekwondo Association ( KTA ) , formed in 1959 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the nine original kwans , or martial arts schools , in Korea . The main international organisational bodies for Taekwondo today are the International Taekwon-Do Federation ( ITF ) , founded by Choi Hong Hi in 1966 , and the partnership of the Kukkiwon and World Taekwondo ( WT , formerly WTF ) , founded in 1972 and 1973 respectively by the Korea Taekwondo Association . Gyeorugi ( [ kjʌɾuɡi ] ) , a type of full-contact sparring , has been an Olympic event since 2000 . The governing body for Taekwondo in the Olympics and Paralympics is World Taekwondo .
The men 's 80 kg competition in taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 22 at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium .
Josefa Idem ( born 23 September 1964 in Goch , West Germany ) is an Italian sprint canoer turned politician . Competing in eight Summer Olympics , she has five medals . Winning 35 international medals during her career , Idem was the first Italian woman to win World Championships ( 22 total , five gold ) and Olympic medals in canoe sprint . At the 2009 world championships , she became the oldest medalist in the history of the world championships . After her retirement , she was elected in 2013 as member of the Italian Parliament for the Democratic Party , and successively named Minister for Equal Opportunities , Sport and Youth Policies as part of the cabinet of Enrico Letta . On 24 June 2013 , she resigned from the charge because of judicial investigation on allegedly unpaid taxes .
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle . Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity . Broader meanings include when it is combined with other activities such as canoe camping , or where canoeing is merely a transportation method used to accomplish other activities . Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity . In some parts of Europe canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking , with a canoe being called an open canoe . A few of the recreational forms of canoeing are canoe camping and canoe racing . Other forms include a wide range of canoeing on lakes , rivers , oceans , ponds and streams .
The women 's K-1 500 metres competition in canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing . Competition consisted of three rounds : the heats , the semifinals , and the final . Top finishers in each of the three heats advanced directly to the final , while the next six finishers ( placed 2 through 7 ) in each heat moved on to the semifinals . Top three finishers in each of the two semifinals joined the heat winners in the final . Heats took place on August 19 , semifinals on August 21 , and the final on August 23 .
Clemente Russo ( born 27 July 1982 ) is an Italian amateur boxer best known for winning Gold at the 2007 and 2013 World Amateur Boxing Championships at heavyweight ( 201 lbs limit ) . He currently boxes for the Italia Thunder team in the World Series of Boxing league . He also signed up for the AIBA professional league , the APB , which launched in autumn 2013 .
The heavyweight competition was the second-highest weight class featured in amateur boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics , and was held at the Workers Indoor Arena . Heavyweights were limited to a maximum of 91 kilograms in body mass . Like all Olympic boxing events , the competition was a straight single-elimination tournament . Both semifinal losers were awarded bronze medals , so no boxers competed again after their first loss . Bouts consisted of four rounds of two minutes each , with one-minute breaks between rounds . Punches scored only if the white area on the front of the glove made full contact with the front of the head or torso of the opponent . Five judges scored each bout ; three of the judges had to signal a scoring punch within one second for the punch to score . The winner of the bout was the boxer who scored the most valid punches by the end of the bout .
Tatiana Guderzo ( born 22 August 1984 ) is an Italian professional cyclist , who currently rides for UCI Women 's WorldTeam Alé BTC Ljubljana . She won the world road race championship on 26 September 2009 at Mendrisio , Switzerland and a bronze medal in the road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Cycling , also called biking or bicycling , is the use of bicycles for transport , recreation , exercise or sport . People engaged in cycling are referred to as cyclists , bikers , or less commonly , as bicyclists . Apart from two-wheeled bicycles , cycling also includes the riding of unicycles , tricycles , quadracycles , recumbent and similar human-powered vehicles ( HPVs ) . Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century and now number approximately one billion worldwide . They are the principal means of transportation in many parts of the world . Cycling is widely regarded as a very effective and efficient mode of transportation optimal for short to moderate distances . Bicycles provide numerous benefits in comparison with motor vehicles , including the sustained physical exercise involved in cycling , easier parking , increased maneuverability , and access to roads , bike paths and rural trails . Cycling also offers a reduced consumption of fossil fuels , less air or noise pollution , and much reduced traffic congestion . These lead to less financial cost to the user as well as to society at large ( negligible damage to roads , less road area required ) . By fitting bicycle racks on the front of buses , transit agencies can significantly increase the areas they can serve . In addition , cycling provides a variety of health benefits . The World Health Organization ( WHO ) states that cycling can reduce the risk of cancers , heart disease , and diabetes that are prevalent in sedentary lifestyles .
The women 's road race was one of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , China . It took place on 10 August 2008 , featuring 66 women from 33 countries . It was the seventh appearance of an Olympic women 's road race event and featured a longer course than any of the previous six races . The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course ( one of Beijing 's nine temporary venues ) , which is 102.6 kilometres ( 63.8 mi ) total . Including a second lap around the 23.8 km ( 14.8 mi ) final circuit , the total distance of the women 's race was 126.4 km ( 78.5 mi ) , less than half the length of the men 's race . Heavy rain during most of the race made conditions difficult for the competitors . A group of five broke away during the final lap and worked together until the final sprint , where Nicole Cooke won the race . Cooke earned Great Britain 's first medal at these Games and 200th Olympic gold medal overall . Emma Johansson of Sweden and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy , finishing second and third place with the same time as Cooke , received silver and bronze medals respectively . The race marked the first positive drug test of the 2008 Olympic Games , by María Isabel Moreno of Spain . She was scheduled to compete in this event and the time trial to follow , but left Beijing on 31 July , before the race . The International Olympic Committee said on 11 August that she had tested positive for EPO .
Margherita Granbassi ( Italian pronunciation : [ marɡeˈrita ɡramˈbassi ] ; born 1 September 1979 in Trieste ) is an Italian foil fencer . Granbassi won the gold medal at the foil 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating Valentina Vezzali 7-6 in the final . Later in the tournament she also won a silver in the team 's foil event together with her team mates Elisa Di Francisca , Giovanna Trillini and Valentina Vezzali . She took the bronze medal on August 11 , 2008 at the Beijing Olympics defeating teammate Giovanna Trillini 15-12 .
Salvatore Sanzo ( born 26 November 1975 ) is an Italian fencer and Olympian . He won a team gold and individual silver medal in Athens and an individual bronze medal in Beijing in foil .
The men 's foil fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 13 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre . The foil competition consisted of a five-round single-elimination bracket with a bronze medal match between the two semifinal losers . Fencing was done to 15 touches or to the completion of three three-minute rounds if neither fencer reached 15 touches by then . At the end of time , the higher-scoring fencer was the winner ; a tie resulted in an additional one-minute sudden-death time period . This sudden-death period was further modified by the selection of a draw-winner beforehand ; if neither fencer scored a touch during the minute , the predetermined draw-winner won the bout .