Beijing bids farewell to Olympics
China brings the curtain down on the 2008 Olympics and hands over to 2012 hosts London at a spectacular closing ceremony inside the Bird's Nest Stadium.

London takes over as host
Mayor Boris Johnson receives the Olympic flag to signal the start of London's reign as Olympic host city and spark wild celebrations in the capital.

China targets more golds in 2012
China will target sports including cycling, athletics and swimming to increase its gold medal haul at the 2012 Games, China's sports chief says.

Australia consider British route
The Australian government is looking at using lottery money to boost their medal count at the 2012 Olympics.

Organisers hail 'glorious' Games
The 2008 Beijing Games are praised as "truly exceptional" by Olympics chief Jacques Rogge.

Pendleton wants equality in 2012
Beijing gold medallist Victoria Pendleton urges the organisers of London 2012 to introduce more cycling events for women.

Taekwondo to adopt new technology
Taekwondo will use an electronic protector system and video replays at London 2012 in a bid to avoid the Beijing judging controversies.

GB chiefs target misfiring sports
British Olympic chiefs say that sports which underperformed in Beijing will need to pull their weight at the 2012 Games.

GB Olympic heroes welcomed home
Team GB return from Beijing following their best Olympic medal performance for 100 years.

China wins first ever boxing title
Zou Shiming helps China to its first ever Olympic boxing gold, after his opponent, Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj is forced to retire with an injury.

Marathon gold for Kenya's Wanjiru
Sammy Wanjiru wins Kenya's first ever gold in the men's marathon, breaking the Olympic record despite the soaring heat in Beijing.

Hungary retain water polo title
Hungary beat USA 14-10 in the men's final while Serbia take the bronze defeating Montenegro 6-4.

Cycling boss targeted by rivals
British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford says other countries have asked him to work for them at London 2012

US stars regain basketball gold
The US men's basketball team regain the Olympic title, but are made to work for a 118-107 victory by a valiant Spain side.

Cammarelle eases to Olympic title
Italian Roberto Cammarelle is in a league of his own, stopping China's Zhang Zhilei in the fourth round to win the super heavyweight title.

FROM BBC NEWS >>
Zimbabwe swimmer gets cash prize
Zimbabwe's top Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry is given a $100,000 dollar reward by the country's president, Robert Mugabe.

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Medallist attacks India officials
India's Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra says the nation's sports coaches and officials "know nothing" about sport.

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Afghan joy as medallist returns
Thousands of jubilant Afghans pack Kabul's national stadium to welcome home Rohullah Nikpai, the nation's first Olympic medallist.

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China delighted with Olympics
The Beijing Olympics come to a close, with China keen to emphasise that the IOC made the right choice, reports Michael Bristow.

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China deports US Tibet protesters
China deports eight Americans detained in Beijing last week for demonstrating about Tibet during the Olympic Games.

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2012 Hindley image use condemned
Downing Street and London Mayor Boris Johnson criticise of the use of a portrait of murderer Myra Hindley in a video shown at a London 2012 event in Beijing.

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US urges China to free activists
US officials urge China to free eight activists detained after mounting pro-Tibet protests in Beijing last week.

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Against the Odds: How did they do?
They overcame great odds to reach the Games, so how did our six athletes get on?

FROM BBC NEWS >>
New direction
With the Games over, where does China go next?

Russian boss of the 2014 Winter Games signs off in his final Beijing diary for the BBC
Impressions of Beijing from the Russian organising the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

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Collins leaves UK Athletics post
UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins stands down from his post with immediate effect.

Archery boss keen to hear critics
Manager Hilda Gibson says criticism from within Britain's archery team can help them rebound after failing to win an Olympic medal.

Lin cruises to badminton success
China's Lin Dan of China wins badminton men's singles gold in Beijing, beating Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 21-12 21-8.

Superb DeGale lands gold
James DeGale wins Great Britain's 19th Beijing gold with victory over Cuba's Emilio Correa.

South Korea unseat champions Cuba
South Korea defeat defending Olympic champions Cuba to win the gold while the US defeats Japan to take the bronze medal.

Fourth straight gold for US women
The women's US basketball team beat Australia 92-65 to win another Olympic gold.

Brabants wins GB's 18th gold
Canoeist Tim Brabants powers to gold in the final of the men's K1 1000m.

Hoy clinches historic third gold
British cyclist Chris Hoy claims a superb hat-trick of gold medals after beating team-mate Jason Kenny in the sprint.

China pick up seventh diving gold
Chinese teenager Chen Ruolin wins the Olympic women's 10m platform diving gold, giving the host nation its seventh gold from seven events.

US win team show jumping
The United States win gold in the team show jumping in a jump off with Canada, while Britain finish seventh.

France secure gold in men's sabre
France take the men's team fencing sabre gold medal beating the United States 45-37 in the final.

Argentina brave heat to take gold
Argentina retain their men's Olympic football title as Angel di Maria's goal secures a 1-0 win over Nigeria.

China take women's team gold
China overcome an injury-ravaged United States team to clinch their first gymnastics women's team Olympic title.

French crowned handball champions
France win the men's handball final to deny Iceland their first ever Olympic gold.

Germany crowned hockey champions
Germany beat Spain 1-0 to win Olympic men's hockey gold, while Australia take bronze.

British judo split over 2012 plan
Leading members of GB's judo team tell BBC Sport they remain unconvinced over the governing body's plans for the sport ahead of London 2012.

Schoneborn pips GB's Fell to gold
Britain's Heather Fell wins silver in the women's modern pentathlon behind Germany's Lena Schoneborn.

British four win thrilling gold
Great Britain win the Olympic title in coxless fours for the third successive Games, while the men's and women's double take bronze.

Phelps wins historic eighth gold
American swimmer Michael Phelps wins his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics to beat Mark Spitz's record of seven.

Ainslie claims third Olympic gold
Britain's Ben Ainslie holds off US rival Zach Railey in the Finn class medal race to seal the third Olympic gold medal of his career.

Bindra claims India's first gold
Abhinav Bindra becomes India's first individual Olympic gold medallist, winning the men's 10m air rifle shooting title.

Japan stun US in softball final
Japan deny the US Olympic softball team a fourth straight gold medal with a 3-1 win in Beijing's grand final.

Ma gold leads China clean sweep
China's Ma Lin claims gold in the men's table tennis as the host country wins all three medals to underline their domination.

Matos rage overshadows Cha gold
South Korea's Cha Dong-min wins gold in the men's +80kg taekwondo, but former champion Angel Valodia Matos is banned for life for attacking the referee.

Nadal beats Gonzalez to take gold
Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal beats Fernando Gonzalez in three sets to win the Olympic men's tennis tournament.

Frodeno claims gold as Brits fade
Germany's Jan Frodeno wins triathlon gold ahead of Canada's Simon Whitfield and New Zealand's Bevan Doherty.

United States win volleyball gold
The United States upset defending champions Brazil to win volleyball gold in a thrilling men's final in Beijing.

Steiner wins weightlifting gold
Germany's Matthias Steiner clinches gold in the men's +105kg weightlifting category with a total lift of 461kg.

Mindorashvili wins wrestling gold
Georgia's Revazi Mindorashvili wins the men's 84kg freestyle wrestling gold medal after beating Yusup Abdusalomov of Tajikistan.