Seven golds in the final night of Bird's Nest Olympic action. Championships in baseball, women's basketball and handball, and men's field hockey and football. It's all part of one the busiest podium days, with a grand total of 31 medal ceremonies on the second-to-last day of the Games of the 29th Olympiad. First, though, a peek back at some of the things that happened last night on Day 13.

ATHLETICS: American Bryan Clay is the World's Greatest Athlete, by virtue of winning the Olympic decathlon title last night. He was the silver medalist in Athens 2004, won the world championship the next year, and holds the world record among decathletes in the discus. All this, and he has a fraction of the name recognition of U.S. decathletes "Dan and Dave," Bruce Jenner, Rafer Johnson... or more in proper 2008 context, Michael Phelps.

He carried on a grand U.S. decathlon tradition -- Americans have won 11 golds in the 10-event event, and hadn't won the event since Dan O'Brien blew away the field at Atlanta 1996. Clay's Olympic victory margin, 240 points, was the largest since 1972. He's also the third to turn silver into gold, upgrading his medal at the following games just like Johnson and Milt Campbell did in the 1950's.

Clay didn't overcome any debilitating diseases, isn't doing it for a dead person, doesn't trash talk at his opponents or say interesting things to the media. He's just a softspoken guy with a wife and two kids who just so happens to be, you know, the World's Greatest Athlete. Made for one the most boring NBC-TV profiles ever, and the American television rightsholder wrapped up his last five events in a tidy 15-minute package as he locked up the championship after nine events. Physically spent and unable to challenge for the world record, he crossed the line last in the 1500 meter run and collapsed to the track. While it may not have made for great television, it's pleasing to know that the WGA is 100 percent hype-proof.

Usain Bolt certainly isn't. The loquacious Jamaican star made a claim to the title of best sprinter ever (forever debatable, of course) by helping his country's 4x100 relay team smash the world record in 37.10. And this blog means smash... the old mark was 37.40 and had stood for 16 years, ever since Carl Lewis (another big talker) and the Americans smashed their own mark. In the past two decades, this record has been ratcheted down by three-quarters of a second. What did the Lightning Man, the only sprinter to pull a 100-200-4x100 triple with three world records, have to say afterwards?

"You can't explain the feeling you feel after the greatest Olympics ever," Bolt said. "It's won-der-ful."

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: From the sublime to the... something else. The Olympic sport that wears its entertainment aspirations on its sequined sleeves began its team competition yesterday. Russia leads, but in second place is the Spanish team that previously wanted to wear suits with embedded lights. When that request was denied, the Spaniards tried something else.

Gangsta.

With the menacing suits and a soundtrack of Spanish techno, the ESP nine finished the technical routine with 48.917 points. In eighth are the poor Egyptians, who were stuck in last place in the duet competition as well. The team event wraps up today, and if the two-woman standings are any indication, nobody will move up or down.

BOXING: Along with breathtaking performances on the track and pretty, shiny sights at the Watercube, one of the ugliest moments at these Games or any other at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium.

In one semifinal of the light welterweight class, Alexis Vastine of France was fighting Dominican Felix Diaz. For the entire first half of the bout, Diaz held his gloves behind Vastine's head, attempting to steady him and pull back for uppercuts. Despite this dangerous situation, one you might find in a street fight, Philippine referee Rogelio Fortaleza stood idly by until 24 seconds remaining in the round. Fortaleza stepped in and gave a caution... to Vastine.

The Frenchman fought the rest of the round with his arms extended wide in an attempt to show the referee the extend of Diaz's clutching. Fortaleza stepped in again, and issued a caution to a shocked French blue corner, claiming that they were talking too much.

Vastine landed enough punches to gain a 5-2 lead, as three of the five judges pressed the touchpad buttons to register hits. Halfway into the second round, Diaz caught Vastine in a headlock, which resulted in a Vastine caution and a dismissal of the French coach from the ringside area. When the French fighter broke free for more clear punches in the third, leading comfortably 7-2, Fortaleza broke up a mutual hold and issued Vastine a full "W" warning, awarding Diaz two points.

With 20 seconds to go in the fight, with the punch count tied at 10 and Vastine attempting to push his way out of another Diaz chokehold, Fortaleza fully took the match into his own ungloved hands. A second two-point "W" was given to Vastine, and Diaz won the fight 12-10.

This fight was fixed, plain and simple.

Also yesterday, the International Amateur Boxing Association's Romanian technical delegate Rudel Obreja attempted to hold a news conference to claim that AIBA secretary-general Ho Kim had personally overseen the changing of referees for certain matches, a process that was supposedly randomized via computer during recent reforms.

"Under AIBA rules the names of referees and judges come out of a computer but here in Beijing that rule was broken. Ho Kim, who calls himself secretary-general of this tournament, has changed 60-70% of those names ... I expect to be expelled from AIBA for what I'm telling you."

With that, his microphone was turned off, the lights turned down, and it was later revealed that Oberja was suspended by the AIBA. NBC-TV analyst Teddy Atlas, one of the sport's most passionate defenders, sounded off on a wrapup broadcast.

"I trace this all back 20 years ago to 1988. This was all brought about by that controversial situation with Roy Jones Jr.... he had that horrible decision that was taken from him. Everybody was up in arms about it. They were talking about removing boxing from the Olympics. So they had to do something to save the sport. So they came up with this so-called computer system. When you look back now, and remember how earth-shattering that controversy was over Roy Jones Jr., that seems like a papercut compared to the hemorrhaging that's going on here. And now this situation here is so much bigger, the scope is so much larger. You wonder where this sport is going to wind up."

Boxing has had a problem long before Seoul. Other Olympic combat sports such as taekwondo, wrestling and judo award points and victories for performing certain physical tasks, which are outlined in rulebooks, their successful completion obvious to the spectator without subjectivity. In boxing, a punch is a punch, and that's the heart of the issue. What is a punch? Why and how can five different people not agree on what and what isn't one?

Cheating is one thing, whether it's via false documents or drugs or blood-switching. People will always cheat, and it's because they feel the competition is worthy of winning. To sacrifice body, soul and reputation for momentary excellence is a decision that, in a twisted way, is a gesture of respect towards the event and its importance. Nobody dopes for a friendly chess match or a backyard football game. For an organization to fix its own event, however, is the worst and ugliest form of betrayal. It turns competitors into objects, puts an artificial ceiling on achievement, and renders the results irrelevant. Cheating to win and organizational match-fixing are two completely opposite things.

Can't end on that. Here's a tribute to the man who led the U.S. to the 4x100 relay record four Olympiads ago. May Mr. Bolt make better career and wardrobe decisions when his running days are done.

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