Dayron Robles (Photo credit: Getty)

    (BEIJING, August 21) -- A much busier day of action at Beijing 2008 is in the cards with some sports starting, others waving goodbye, and a glut of semifinals and finals in many team sports and others ...well, just keep rolling on. Some 23 medals in total will be up for grabs, so it promises to be a hectic day.

    After last night's (Usain) Bolt of lightning, where else can we start our preview than the National Stadium, where some six Athletics finals take place and the grueling Men's Decathlon begins.

    This was, of course, to be the night that Liu Xiang thrilled his home crowd in the 110 Meters Hurdles. Alas, not so, after his withdrawal through injury. That appears to leave the path clear for world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, who finished first in his semifinal. David Oliver of the United States will be aiming for a medal after running the second fastest time of 2008, with another US runner, David Payne, bronze medalist from the 2007 World Championships, also in the hunt.

    Athens gold medalist Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece will be looking to defend her Women's 20km Walk title, although the Russians have walked nine out of the 10 all-time best performances, so all eyes will be on world champion Olga Kaniskina and her teammates Tatiana Sibileva and Tatyana Kalmykova.

    In the Women's Javelin Throw Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and Christina Obergfoll of Germany both topped 67m to lead the qualifiers into the final.

    In other sprint finals, the Women's 200m final looks to a battle between Jamaica and the United States. The Jamaican trio of Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown and 100m silver and bronze medalists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart are through to the final, but world champion Allyson Felix of the United States will also be in contention.

    World indoor champion Phillips Idowu of Great Britain qualified in first place for the Men's Triple Jump final and will take on the surprise winner of the 2007 World Championships, Nelson Evora of Portugal, who qualified behind Idowu.

Triple jumper Phillips Idowu (Photo credit: Getty)

    Unites States 400 Meters runner Jeremy Wariner is the third-fastest runner of the distance in history and will look to add an Olympic gold medal to his extensive list of titles. His biggest threat looks to be fellow US runner LaShawn Merritt, although both Christopher Brown of the Bahamas and Martyn Rooney of Great Britain could be in with a chance after running impressive semifinals.

    It is also the opening day of the Men's Decathlon, when five disciplines will be completed -- the 100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump and 400m. Athens 2004 gold medalist and world and Olympic record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic will be looking to continue his dominance of the event. Bryan Clay of the United States won silver in Athens and Jamaican Maurice Smith, who finished second at the 2007 World Championships, could also challenge.

    From the Birds Nest to the Water Cube, where China goes in search of its seventh Diving gold medal of the Games, with hopes resting on Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin, who will attempt to reclaim China's Olympic title in the Women's 10m Platform -- the one event which eluded them in Athens four years ago.

    Also in the water, though out in the choppy open waters, the Men's 10km Marathon Swimming final makes its debut after yesterday's Women's race was contested for the first time. Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia and Thomas Lurz of Germany, the two men who have dominated Open Water Swimming for the past five years, are expected to continue their rivalry.

    The first-ever BMX Cycling gold medals will be won at the Laoshan BMX Field with Great Britain's Shanaze Reade, a two-time defending BMX world champion and a favorite to take the Women's final, while American Kyle Bennett will compete in the inaugural Men's final, despite dislocating his left shoulder in a crash in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Shanaze Reade (Photo credit: Getty)

    The Men's Modern Pentathlon is another event beginning on August 21, with Andrei Moiseev of Russia looking to successfully defend the title he won at Athens 2004. It is also the first day of four in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

    Some sports are wrapping up on August 21. It is the last day of the Equestrian competition, with the Individual Jumping final drawing the tournament to conclusion. Tony Hansen of Norway led after the three qualifying rounds, but world champion Jos Lansink of Belgium should stay in contention.

    The Beijing 2008 Sailing regatta also concludes with two finals: the Multihull - Tornado - Race 11 (medal race) and Men's Keelboat - Star - Race 11 (medal race). Six teams in the Keelboat race have won the Star World Championship: Sweden, Great Britain, Brazil, France, Poland and New Zealand, and the British, Brazilians and French are within striking distance of gold, while Marazzi and De Maria Switzerland are in the mix for silver.

    The Tornado (Multihull Mixed) has been removed from the London 2012 event schedule so is bidding the Olympic Games goodbye. Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz from Spain, the 2005 and 2007 world champions, sit three points ahead of Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby of Australia, the 2008 world champions.

    It is also the final day of Wrestling, with three Freestyle finals at Men's 84kg, 96kg and 120kg level.

    Several team sports medals will be decided on August 21 with the United States contesting three women's finals and two semifinals.

    The Women's Beach Volleyball final takes place in the morning at 11:00 a.m. local time (UCT/GMT + 8) between the top two teams in the competition, world champions Misty May-Treanor and Keri Walsh of the United States and No. 1 seeds Tian Jia and Wang Jie, who will look to win China's first ever Beach Volleyball gold medal.

Beach Volleyball players Tian Jia and Wang Jie (Photo credit: Getty)

    The Women's Football tournament final is a repeat of the Athens 2004 final between defending champion USA and Brazil, which has yet to win an Olympic gold medal in either Men's or Women's Football, but has the competition's top goal-scorer in striker Cristiane. The US team has steadily improved since an opening game defeat against Norway and is highly-fancied to retain its title.

    The day's third final involving the Unites States is the Women's Softball grand final, with the US taking on Japan – a reprise of their gold medal face-off at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

    Women's Basketball semifinals day sees matches between Russia and the United States, which is unbeaten in its last 31 Olympic outings, while the other semifinal should attract a noisy crowd cheering on host China against Australia, who will be without their star forward, Penny Taylor, who damaged ankle ligaments during the Opals' quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic.

    It should be an equally enthusiastic atmosphere at the Women's Volleyball semifinals as defending Olympic champions China play Brazil, while Cuba plays the United States in the other clash.

    In the Men's Hockey semifinals the world's top four teams clash: the Netherlands, seeking their fourth consecutive Olympic final, meet world champions Germany in the first semifinal, while Spain face Australia in a repeat of the semifinal from Athens 2004 when Australia thrashed Spain 6-3.

    That all adds up to busy old day 13 at Beijing 2008.