Men’s gymnastics: Yang Wei, China

Yang, 28, entered the Beijing Games as the favorite to win all-around gold, having become the first man in 81 years to win back-to-back all-around world championships at the 2007 world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, last September.

So far, he’s living up to that billing.

For example, rings is all about brute strength, an event so physically demanding spectators wince just watching. But he moved effortlessly from one strength pose to another Monday night, the bulging veins in his arm and forehead the only sign of his exertion. He took a small hop forward on his landing, but he grinned as he exchanged a high-five with a teammate.

But Wang is not without his faults. The silver medalist in the all-around at the Sydney Games in 2000, Yang took a commanding lead in the all-around competition at the 2004 Athens Games but failed to medal after falling from the high bar. He fell again from the same apparatus with the world title at stake in Stuttgart, but won gold anyway because he had built up such a hefty lead.

Washington Post, Associated Press