Jamaica's Usain Bolt (R) wins the men's 100m final at the National Stadium as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 16, 2008. [Agencies]

But China lost its chance for a gold sweep in badminton when mixed doubles pair Yu Yang and He Hanbin faltered at the hands of top seeds from Indonesia Nova Widianto and Liliyana. The Chinese pair lost 21-15, 11-21 and 21-23.

Second seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng failed to realize a 16-year dream of winning the men's doubles gold at the Games, losing to top seeds Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia 21-12, 11-21, 16-21 last night.

China's No 1 women's tennis player Li Na lost to Russia's No 6 seed Dinara Safina in the semifinal. However, reaching the final four still made history for China's tennis as Li was the first Chinese to reach the Olympic singles semifinals.

The loss made today's women's singles final an all-Russian affair as Elena Dementieva thrashed teammate Vera Zvonareva.

On basketball court, Yao Ming scored 25 points to lead China to a dramatic 59-55 win over Germany last night, keeping China's hopes alive in the men's basketball competition.

Wrestler stripped of bronze

Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal Saturday for dropping the prize in protest after a disputed loss.

He was punished by the International Olympic Committee for violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony.

Abrahamian got incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold in the Greco-Roman 84-kg division on Thursday.

During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck and angrily dropped it on the mat as he walked away. He did not take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.

China Daily - Agencies