Oi-Oi-Oi watch ■ It's the first dipping in the Water Cube of toes that will resemble prunes by week's end (hopefully golden-tinged prunes), and so the Americans don't miss anything from their armchairs, it's also the first of the night-time heats ahead of morning finals. Libby Trickett and Jess Schipper set sail in the 100 metres butterfly, while Stephanie Rice warms up in the 4x100m individual medley. The 4x100m freestyle relay girls also climb onto the blocks.
■ Before we can come up for air, Grant Hackett and Craig Stevens swim the men's 400m freestyle heats, Travis Nederpelt the 400m IM, and Christian Sprenger and Brenton Rickard the 100m breaststroke.
■ Take the 245km journey of the men's road race without turning a pedal, as Cadel Evans, Michael Rogers, Stuart O'Grady, Simon Gerrans and Matt Lloyd ride from Beijing to Juyongguan, passing a tourist brochure of local sites including Tiananmen Square and the Summer Palace before heading out of town and finishing on a spectacular loop course with the Great Wall as a backdrop.
■ Out to Beijing's Shunyi district where the rowers take to the water, headed by our world champion men's coxless pair of Duncan Free and Drew Ginn, with the men's lightweight four - tipped to become the new Oarsome Foursome - also contesting the heats.
■ Robyn van Nus shoots for Australia's first gold medal of the Games — quite literally, in the women's 10m air rifle, with Melbourne toolmaker Daniel Repacholi taking aim in the men's equivalent. There's also some qualifying, including five-time Olympian Michael Diamond in the men's trap.
■ The Opals lead off the women's basketball, in which they are favoured to meet the United States in the gold-medal match, with Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and co contesting the first game of the tournament, against Belarus.
■ Middleweight Jarrod Fletcher, who represented Queensland at football aged 13, steps into the ring at the Workers' Indoor Arena as the gloves are raised in the boxing.
■ Sydney Olympics beach volleyball gold medallist Natalie Cook feels the sand between her toes again alongside Tamsin Barnett, this time in a makeshift pit in Chaoyang Park rather than on the beach at Bondi. Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack also contest a preliminary round. The wider world ■ Michael Phelps will have shaved off that handlebar 'tache he's been sporting in the athletes village as his campaign for eight gold medals begins. Today it's the heats of the 400m IM, in which he smashed his own world record at last month's US trials.
■ The reaction in Tianjin's new football stadium on Wednesday when China upset Sweden to record the host nation's first victory of the Games was ear-splitting — and that was only a preliminary round. If Athens gold medallist Du Li shoots straight in the 10m air rifle today and wins her country's first gold medal of Beijing 2008, the shooting hall roof could fall in.
■ The home crowd gets its first look at gymnastics superstar Yang Wei, when the favourite for the men's all-around goes to work at the National Indoor Stadium.
■ The US, gold medal fancies in women's football, were rolled by Norway in their opening game on Wednesday, but get a chance at redemption today against Japan. The hosts also turn out, hoping to back-up their opening win against Canada. And finally ■ Canadian-born doctor Kyla Bremner will become the first woman to represent Australia in Olympic wrestling. Bremner, will contest the 48-kilogram division in which the gold medal will be decided today.