[Archive 2008-08-12] Olympic highlights: August 12, 2008

Historical archive — originally published 2008-08-12. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

August 12, 2008 is the 4th main day of the 2008 Olympic games, the below article lists some of the highlights.

American Aaron Peirsol set a new world record and won the gold medal in the final of the men's 100m backstroke with a time of 52.54 seconds.

Matt Grevers, who was representing the US with Peirsol, took the silver medal, while Arkady Vyatchanin and Hayden Stoeckel tied for third place with a time of 53.18.

American Michael Phelps set a new world record and won the gold medal in the final of the men's 200m freestyle with a time of 1:42.96 minutes.

Taehwan Park, who was representing South Korea, finished in second place and set a new Asian record, while Peter Vanderkaay, who was representing the US with Phelps, finished in third place with a time of 1:45.14.

Phelps beat the old world record by almost one second. The Australian reported that Phelps 'shattered' the previous world record, which was also set by him.

Australian Leisel Jones won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record in the final of the women's 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:05.17 minutes.

Rebecca Soni, who was representing United States, won the silver medal, while Mirna Jukic finished in third place with a time of 1:07.34.

American Walton Eller set a new Olympic record in the qualification round of the men's double trap with a score of 145.

Francesco D Aniello, who was representing Italy, finished in second place, while Jeffrey Hologuin, who represented the US with Eller, finished in third place with a score of 140.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Olympic highlights: August 12, 2008 by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.