The Summer Olympics of 2008, held in beautiful Beijing, China, was undoubtedly the year's best sporting event. The summer games, which are held only once every four years,What you need to know about cleaning jewelry, are anticipated with excitement by viewers worldwide who wait to see what medals their country will be taking home. The '08 summer games saw records broken and many countries taking home medals that they had never taken before amid the bold, bright ethnicity of China. Controversy shrouded the Summer Games' venue at the onset, during the carrying of the torch, due to the ongoing issues between China and Tibet. Protesters from all over followed the torch as it was relayed, attempting to put the flame out. One young wheelchair bound Chinese athlete, Jin Jing, who carried the torch in Paris went so far as to shield the flame with her own body, stating, "I just did what any torchbearer would do." upon her hero's welcome home in Shanghai. This was only the start of what would prove to be a very eventful Olympic season. The United States teams excelled in their competitions, showing teams who took home a total of 110 medals, the most out of all eighty-one countries represented at the games. Thirty-six of these were the coveted gold medals, thirty-eight were silver and the remaining thirty-six were bronze. Coming in second place in the medal count was the hosting country of China. The 2008 Olympics were filled with astonishing displays of athleticism, comebacks and excitement from countries excelling from past years. On day sixteen of the games, Michael Phelps took running to a whole new level,Bamboo jewelry- A fashion of style and elegance, breaking the previous Olympic record in Men's Marathon. Team USA's basketball team, having lost in Athens four years prior, pulled off an amazing win, led by the L.A. Lakers star, Kobe Bryant, who was a top-scorer for the "Dream Team". Shawn Johnson, a sixteen year old American prodigy, took her first gold medal in the gymnastics competitions. Spain won their first gold medal ever in tennis and China won their first in boxing. They also swept the table tennis competition. As the games came to a close, pyrotechnics displays were used to count down all twenty-nine total Summer Olympic games that have been held. There were amazing performances and flags upheld from each competing country. At the end of the closing ceremony, the sacred flame, which had made it through yet another year, was extinguished to await the 2012 Summer Games.