Today is what some people like to call Dead Wednesday, the lull between preliminaries and medal rounds in many team sports, and a day off for many other disciplines. It's the three-quarter point of the Games, the lightest day in terms of medal events since Day 1. Only 11 golds will be distributed today, three in athletics and others in taekwondo (its first day), diving, sailing and wrestling. It's an opportunity for increasingly cranky foreign journalists to take a rest, breathe deeply, and get ready for the final push towards the last weekend. As for this blog, it's time to take a quick look back to Day 11.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: This blog believes that it's unfairly maligned and no less Olympic-worthy than any other subjectively-judged sport. But just like any ice dancing competition in years past, the standings in the duet event were frozen in the second day of preliminaries -- none of the 24 teams moved up or down, a clear signal that the judges have already figured out who they like. That's good news for Russia, Spain and Japan, who are in the top three positions and a nearly assured trifecta at Ladbroke's. It's bad news for Egypt's Reem Abdalazem and Dalia El Gebaly, who are stuck in last despite the presence of an Egyptian judge on the panel.

At the close of each day of competition, this blog will present the standings and brackets of all active team sports.

Results of the Day 11 competitions.

The men's football semifinals are underway, and the Messi (ARG)-Ronaldinho (BRA) showdown follows the Nigeria-Belgium tilt. Five gold medals are up for grabs at the Bird's Nest, as athletics enters its fifth day. And that's not all.

CYCLING: Track cyclists call it "the American race," and it was created via the great American tradition of exploiting loopholes. A popular pastime in New York City at the turn of the 20th century was the six-day race, in which cyclists pedalled for nearly a week at a time, hallucinating and puking and crashing into each other along the way. It was a great spectator event, especially late in the race when the psychological toll was more evident and violent. Attempting to stop the freakshow, New York lawmakers passed legislation that no racer could ride for more than 12 hours a day.

The Madison was born in New York City's Madison Square Garden, when promoters worked around the restriction by inventing an event in which two riders split time. Racers were still held around the clock, but by using a tag-team system, MSG stayed legal. Fans checking in would be treated to sprints for points every 20 laps. Madison races are settled first by laps behind the winner (rounded down), then by sprint points.

Afternoon continues on Day 11 of the 29th Summer Olympics. Women's basketball and handball quarterfinals are on, water polo semifinals are underway, and the final day of men's field hockey pool play continues. What else is up?

TABLE TENNIS: The Olympics are full of minor classics, those absolutely sparkling early-round competitions that will never be written about in heroic detail, never be known outside the few hundred ticketholders that witnessed them. There was another today at the Peking University Gymnasium as the ping-ponging men continued into the round of 64.

Robert Gardos is a relative rarity these days -- an Austrian who's really good at table tennis. The No. 47-ranked player in the world (only one of nine western Europeans in the top 50) helped his country to the semifinals of the men's team competition last week, winning his singles match against 2004 singles gold medalist Ryu Seung-min, but the South Koreans won the other three matches and denied Austria the bronze.

Another smog-free day in Beijing, with the men's triathlon just wrapping up north of the city. What else is going on?

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: So yeah, anyway, today is the preliminary round of the duet free routine. Yesterday was the technical portion, when a field of 24 pairs vied for standings position. Some of the early casualties were the Australians, who performed a painfully out-of-sync routine to didjeridou music (and finished 22nd). The Israeli pair simultaneously channeled the twin spirits of vaudeville and hobo culture with swimsuits with painted-on polka-dot ties (below, 15th place). The 18th-place Czechs (above) scared children all over the world.

Synchronized swimming celebrated a centennial of sorts last year -- it had its genesis in 1907 with a "water ballet" performance at the New York Hippodrome in 1907. Esther Williams came much later, and later still came Olympic status, thanks to international swimming body FINA slipping it onto the program in time for the Los Angeles Games of 1984. Ever since then, it's been a touchpoint for those who insist that the Olympics can't possibly be taken seriously.