(BEIJING, August 19) -- It's hard to tell if the Beijing Games are picking up or winding down on Wednesday, August 20. While Sailing, Wrestling and Swimming are all on their second-to-last day of competition, Softball, Synchronized Swimming and Taekwondo are just giving out their first medals. In addition, the 10 kilometer Marathon Swimming event and BMX Biking are both making their Olympic debuts.

　　Athletics is the one medal event neither winding down nor just beginning on Day 12, but an iconic Olympic record could be broken in the Men's 200 meter final.

　　No athlete has won both the Men's 100m and 200m in Athletics in the same Olympic Games since Carl Lewis of the United States did it in 1984, but Jamaican Usain Bolt will be attempting this very feat during the Men's 200m race on Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8) in the National Stadium. At an Olympics where US swimmer Mark Spitz's legendary record of seven golds in a single Games was also broken, who knows what could happen in Beijing.

　　In the Women's 400m Hurdles final, Sheena Tosta of the United States enters the race with the fastest semifinal time of 54.07 seconds, followed by Melaine Walker of Jamaica, who won her semifinal in 54.20 seconds.

　　Seven women will compete in the Women's Hammer Throw final, including Athens 2004 Olympic Games silver medalist Yipsi Moreno of Cuba, who has the best throw of the competition so far at 73.92m. Reigning world champion Betty Heidler of Germany and World Championships bronze winner Zhang Wenxiu of China will also be strong competitors.

　　Among other Athletics events tomorrow, the Men's 110m Hurdle and Women's 200m will hold semifinal races. With reigning world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang out of the picture, expect world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba to be the star of the show, although it feels like Beijing will still be talking about Liu's exit long after the event's medals are awarded.

　　On to the events awarding their first gold medals of the Beijing Games. Taekwondo begins tomorrow, with the Women's under-49 kilogram weight class and Men's under-58 kilogram weight class competitions.

　　In both categories, Chinese Taipei athletes are favored. Defending Olympic champion Chu Mu-yen of Chinese Taipei is back in the Men's -58kg competition, and in the Women's -49kg weight class, Yang Shu-chun of Chinese Taipei and Wu Jingyu of China are considered the biggest favorites. These two have a seesaw record. Wu defeated Yang 3-0 in the Beijing World Championships in 2007 before claiming a gold medal in the final, but in 2008, Yang took the Asian champion title by beating Wu in the final.

　　Twelve countries will compete for the first Synchronized Swimming medal in the Duet Free Routine final at the National Aquatics Center at 3:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT+8). Their final performance scores will be added to their August 18 Technical Routine scores to determine the winner.

　　The Russian duo of Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova delivered a near-perfect Technical Routine on August 18, scoring 49.334. Check out the Free Routine of the fourth-placed Chinese twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen. They perform a move that usually takes four swimmers, in which they create a square with their legs above the water.

　　Women's Softball is the third event that is giving out its first medal, but with only a bronze final game to play tomorrow, the podium will not be climbed until the following day after the Grand Final. With Softball exiting the Olympic lineup after Beijing, it will be worth catching every minute.

　　In Softball, the Page system currently prevails, whereby the top two seeds (here the United States and Japan) play each other in the semifinal, essentially guaranteeing the loser a best-chance finish of bronze. The United States is seeking its fourth consecutive gold in this event, and in the preliminary competition the U.S. team disposed of Japan 7-0 in five innings. The No. 3 and 4 seeds, Australia and Canada, will also meet, and the losers of both these games will play in the bronze final at 5:00 p.m. local time (UTC/GMT +8) on Fengtai Softball Field.

　　The other three medal events are on their second-to-last day of competition. In Sailing, Men's and Women's RS:X (Windsurfing) medal races will commence. On the Men's side, French sailor Julien Bontemps made it to the top of the board on Tuesday, but Nick Dempsey of Great Britain, Tom Ashley of New Zealand and Israel's Shahar Zubari are hot on his heels. Zubari led the regatta from day one until just a couple of days ago. And the winds are light again, just as he likes it.

　　Like their male counterparts, five Women's sailors are within striking distance of each other. Yin Jian of China reclaimed her lead of the series on Tuesday, and forecasters say conditions will be the same tomorrow, so China could win its first Olympic Sailing medal ever.

　　Wrestlers in the Men's Freestyle Wrestling 66kg and 74kg weight classes will compete for medals tomorrow as their event also winds down. This is Russian wrestler Buvaysa Saytiev's fourth Olympic appearance. The 33-year-old won his first Olympic gold medal in the 74kg category in Atlanta and won his second in Athens.

　　The 25-year-old current European champion Ramazan Shahin is one of the possible 66kg weight class winners, after taking a bronze medal in the 2007 European Championship and a gold medal in the World Championship the same year. Geandry Garzón of Cuba won the silver to Shahin's 2007 World Championship gold, and may pose a challenge in this weight class.

　　While Swimming as a whole is in its last days, the 10km Marathon Swimming event is making an Olympic debut at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park with the Women's race. Russia's open water superstar Larisa Ilchenko is favored to take gold, after winning five consecutive 5km world championships and three consecutive 10km races.

　　Besides the debut of this event, 10km Marathon Swimming is notable because of competitor Natalie du Toit of South Africa. She is the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games and could find herself going home with hardware too.

　　Cycling BMX will also write its first chapter in the Olympic history books tomorrow. Thirty-two male and 16 female BMX riders will zoom down the eight-meter high start ramp for the Men's and Women's seeding phase at the Laoshan BMX Field.

　　In other non-medal events, Women's 10m Platform Diving has preliminaries, while Beach Volleyball and Hockey will see semifinal action. Boxing, Men's Volleyball, Men's Water Polo, Men's Handball and Men's Basketball will hold quarterfinals.

　　All these team sports are getting one step closer to their final rounds as the Games picks up…or winds down…on Day 12.