Volleyball: Women thrilled with silver after loss to Brazil

The U.S. was able to take a single set from the Brazilians, which was considered something of an accomplishment, because no other team in this tournament can say the same. Despite losing 15-25, 25-18, 13-25, 21-25 to Brazil, the U.S. women matched their best ever Olympic performance, equaling the silver won in 1984. | 08/23/08 19:03:39 By - Israel Gutierrez

Relay teams get measure of redemption for the Americans

The U.S. men's 4x400 relay team scored the U.S. track contingent's first Olympic record of the 2008 Beijing Games on the last full day of competition at the Bird's Nest before the Ganes close Sunday evening. | 08/23/08 19:00:11 By - Luciana Chavez

Basketball: Leslie gets 4th gold as U.S. women beat Aussies

Australia was 19 of 76 (25 percent), and allowed the U.S. to shoot 59 percent and dominate in the paint. Four U.S. players scored in double figures – Kara Lawson (15 points), Lisa Leslie (14), Candace Parker (14), and Sylvia Fowles (14). The final score was 92-65. | 08/23/08 18:57:18 By - Michelle Kaufman

U.S. takes gold in women's basketball, 4 x 400 relays

The U.S. woman shut down the Australians 92-65 and won a fourth consecutive gold medal. In the final full track session, both the U.S. men's and women's teams won gold medals in the 4 x 400-meter relay Saturday evening at National Stadium. | 08/23/08 18:53:21 By -

China has a golden Games, but questions will linger

Seven years ago, when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games, China set out to sow gold, following the old proverb that says, "To believe in one's dreams is to spend all of one's life asleep."When the Olympics conclude Sunday with the celebratory farewell of athletes inside Bird's Nest Stadium, China's Great Leap Forward will be complete. | 08/23/08 18:41:30 By - Linda Robertson

Doping hits 12-year low in Beijing, yet everyone's a suspect

Only six athletes have tested positive for banned substances at the Beijing Olympics, but that hasn't stopped the suspicions. With world records being smashed, everyone from athletes to journalists have been asking the same questions: Were the performances the real thing or the product of state-of-the-art chemistry? Even if athletes passed doping tests, what tricks did they use? The cynicism reflects the shadowy underside of the Games. | 08/23/08 18:36:28 By - Jack Chang

U.S. team picks Georgian to lead them in closing ceremony

In the opening ceremony, the U.S. flagbearer was Sudanese-born runner Lopez Lomong, who fled Sudan as a war refugee. At the closing ceremony, the flagbearer will be Georgia-born Khatuna Lorig, an archer whose parents fled their home in the Georgian city of Gori when Russian troops invaded and are still staying with her brother in the capital of Tbilisi. | 08/23/08 18:26:32 By - Jack Chang

Baseball: U.S. settles for bronze, beating Japan

Fueled by a four-run rally in the fifth inning, the U.S. baseball team charged to an 8-4 victory over Japan to win the bronze medal Saturday at the Wukesong Baseball Field. | 08/23/08 10:36:38 By -

Soccer: Argentina repeats 2004, beats Nigeria for gold

BEIJING – Lionel Messi is only 21 years old, and already he is a global soccer megastar. He plays for Barcelona, makes $35 million a year, is an adidas poster boy, drives a fancy car, and can afford just about anything his heart desires. But the one thing he wanted more than anything this summer he couldn't buy with a credit card: Olympic gold. | 08/23/08 10:30:38 By - Michelle Kaufman

Basketball: U.S. readies for Sunday final (2:30 a.m. EDT)

The United States men's basketball team is looking for a little R & R at the Beijing Olympic. | 08/23/08 10:26:26 By -

South Korea beats Cuba to win baseball gold

BEIJING - South Korea escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge Cuba 3-2 Saturday in the gold-medal game at Wukesong Olympic Baseball Field. | 08/23/08 10:21:36 By - Mark Maloney

Something you might have missed: Mongolia won Olympics

BEIJING - A Mongolian athlete won a gold medal from the 29th Summer Olympic Games. Naidan Tuvshinbayar won the men's 100-kg judo. | 08/23/08 10:33:59 By - John McGrath

Britain's pint-sized 'diver boy' didn't win, but he's just 14

Like most 14-year-old foreign boys who visit Beijing, Tom Daley had a list of sightseeing spots he wanted to visit, among them the mountainous Great Wall of China, which he toured earlier this week. | 08/23/08 10:47:22 By - Tim Johnson

Olympic success bolsters China's sense that it's a world power

The Communist Party, which has ruled China since 1949 and remains communist in name only, has put enormous stock in its ability to carry off a successful, safe Olympic Games. Analysts say the fact they did will be an important shot in the arm for the party's leadership, and particularly Vice President Xi Jinping, the man who took charge of preparations. Ordinary Chinese are already adopting a self-confident attitude and a can-do optimism about their country's capabilities and position in the world. | 08/23/08 10:41:12 By - Tim Johnson

Roundup: U.S. men's basketball team avenges '04 loss to Argentina

The United States men's basketball team is looking for a little R & R at the Beijing Olympic. Revenge and redemption. They got the revenge Friday night (a.m. in the U.S.), whipping Argentina 101-81 at Wukesong Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. The Argentines beat Team USA en route to winning the 2004 Olympic gold at Athens. | 08/22/08 06:20:38 By - McClatchy Newspapers

The U.S. men's basketball team is doing us proud once again

"Does Spain stand a chance?" a reporter asked Argentine forward Luis Scola. He knew the answer. Everyone does. "It's a long shot," he said. "But I don't want to say something, and then Sunday Spain wins, and I look stupid." Scola won't look stupid. That's what the U.S. men's basketball team is doing to its opponents. | 08/22/08 22:22:18 By - Charean Williams

Baseball: Cuba powers past Americans in semifinal, 10-2

This time, there were no accusations coming from the U.S. bench. Only admissions that Cuba was too good, too powerful, too experienced, and too determined to win what could be the final Olympic gold medal in baseball. The Cubans hit four home runs, pounded their archrivals 10-2 in Friday's semifinal and advanced to their fifth straight Olympic final. | 08/22/08 15:31:28 By - Michelle Kaufman

Beijing disappointment: U.S. will be No. 2 in gold-medal race

With just two days left before the end of the Olympic Games, some U.S. sports officials were fretting Friday about a likely U.S. second-place finish in the gold-medal count, far behind China, and wondering what went wrong this month. | 08/22/08 12:28:27 By - Jack Chang

Wade: '04 never should have happened

If Dwyane Wade had his way, the clever play on words wouldn't be necessary. This wouldn't be the Redeem Team. He wouldn't have waited four years for a second chance. He wouldn't be part of an Olympic team that momentarily dishonored the name of USA basketball. "(The) '04 (Olympics) shouldn't have happened," Wade said. "Where USA basketball is now from where it was, it's not even like the same thing. This is the Olympics. I don't know what that was, really." | 08/22/08 12:54:29 By - Israel Gutierrez

Volleyball: U.S. men top Russians to advance to gold medal game

Lloy Ball has a knack for making strong suggestions without saying a word. David Lee was receiving those painfully obvious non-verbal messages throughout the final three sets of the U.S. men's volleyball semifinal against Russia. It wasn't until the match's most crucial points that Lee finally responded. | 08/22/08 12:22:26 By - Israel Gutierrez

Inquiry under way into age of Chinese gymnastic champs

Faced with growing doubts about the ages of medal-winning Chinese women gymnasts, the International Olympic Committee has asked the leading international gymnastics body to look into whether the Chinese athletes were in fact too young to compete this month. Press reports, including one in Friday's Times in the United Kingdom, have accused the Chinese government of hiding documents that would have barred women gymnasts such as He Kexin, who won two gold medals in Beijing, from taking part in the games. | 08/22/08 06:25:14 By - Jack Chang

U.S. Olympic chief says slaying in Beijing was not political

The chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee said Friday that investigators "really went deep" into details of a brutal knife attack of an American couple that rattled the beginning of the Summer Games, and concluded that the Chinese assailant had no political motive against Americans. Peter V. Ueberroth, the USOC chairman, told McClatchy Newspapers that the assailant did not at first target the American coupl | 08/22/08 06:29:30 By - Tim Johnson

Big crowd welcomes Nastia Liukin home to Texas

Shielded by her own entourage of police officers, freshly crowned gymnastics darling Nastia Liukin wore a bright smile as she weaved her way through a gathering of around 250 people at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Thursday afternoon. The all-around Olympic gold medalist and Parker, Texas, native had just landed from a 12-hour flight from Beijing and immediately heard the effects of her newfound stardom. | 08/22/08 06:16:12 By - William Wilkerson

U.S. nets 3 of top 6 medals in BMX cycling

U.S. riders on Friday captured three of the top six medals in BMX cycling, the new wild child sport of the Summer Games, in a day filled with numerous crashes and high-speed sprints. Latvian cyclist Maris Strombergs, a current European champion, captured the gold medal in the men's event, and U.S. riders Mike Day, 23, and Donny Robinson, 25, won the silver and bronze medals. | 08/22/08 06:12:14 By - Tim Johnson

Table tennis has issues with performance enhancement, too

Unlike the rest of us, who call the sport Ping Pong and dig dented balls out from under our water heaters, Olympic table tennis players take their equipment very seriously. They like to strip the rubber padding off their paddles between matches and affix fresh rubber on with "speed glue.'' Therein lies the controversy. | 08/21/08 14:48:39 By - Michelle Kaufman

U.S. sprinters stuck with regret after dropping baton

They dropped the stick. In the process, the men's and women's 400-meter relay teams for the United States watched a long, dominant history of American sprint relay teams slip further from their grasp at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday night at the Bird's Nest. | 08/21/08 12:33:14 By - Luciana Chavez

USA stops Hammon, Russia to advance to final

South Dakota native Becky Hammon wanted to play for an Olympic medal in women's basketball. So there she was at Wukesong Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Thursday, battling for a spot in the gold-medal game of the Beijing Olympics. For Russia. | 08/21/08 12:27:51 By - Mark Maloney

U.S. women's soccer team takes another gold

When the U.S. women's soccer team lost its top scorer on July16 in a match with Brazil, it seemed like the Americans' hopes for an Olympic medal of any kind weren't so good. But the U.S. team - convinced it could be just as strong even without forward Abby Wambach - didn't believe that. The Americans beat Brazil 1-0 in overtime on Thursday night (Thursday morning in the United States) for the gold medal. | 08/21/08 12:23:43 By - Mechelle Voepel

Japan upsets seemingly invincible U.S. women in softball finale

Sometimes proving people wrong doesn't feel very good at all. All tournament long, the U.S. softball team insisted that it was not that far ahead of the rest of the world, despite a 22-game Olympic winning streak and owning the sport's only three gold medals. That there was need to rid the 2012 Olympics of softball because of a lack of competition, which many believe was a driving force for the decision. Any team can win at any time, they insisted. | 08/21/08 12:18:22 By - Israel Gutierrez

U.S. women's water polo suffers heartbreaker in final

A breakout performance by Dutch star Danielle de Bruijn ended the gold medal dreams of the U.S. women's water polo team Thursday as the Americans suffered a heartbreaking 9-8 loss. De Bruijn scored seven of the Dutch team's nine goals and helped her team pull to a 4-0 lead within the match's first four minutes. | 08/21/08 12:16:09 By - Jack Chang

Roundup: U.S. women's soccer team tips Brazil for gold; softball stunned

When the U.S. women's soccer team lost its top scorer on July16 in a match with Brazil, it seemed like the Americans' hopes for an Olympic medal of any kind weren't so good. But the U.S. team - convinced it could be just as strong even without forward Abby Wambach - didn't believe that. The Americans beat Brazil 1-0 in overtime on Thursday night (Thursday morning in the United States) for the gold medal. | 08/21/08 06:17:20 By - McClatchy Newspapers

May-Treanor, Walsh secure gold — now it's time to make other plans

Take a look at Misty May-Treanor as she sprawls in the sand for a critical dig. Watch as Kerri Walsh's lanky arms tower over the net and devour a kill attempt. Soak in all the celebrations and ceremonies in which the queens of the beach take part, because there might not be any more after this year. | 08/21/08 06:13:36 By - Israel Gutierrez

Lee happy with personal best despite finishing fourth in 200

You might have figured Muna Lee to be crushed, having missed a bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second. But she was still smiling after the women's 200-meter final. "I'm really happy with it," she said of her personal-best time of 22.01 seconds, which earned her fourth place. | 08/21/08 12:21:05 By - Mechelle Voepel

Usain Bolt raises the bar yet again as Crawford ekes out a silver medal

Shawn Crawford crossed the finish line fourth, but ended up with a silver medal in the men's 200 meters. And considering the performance Usain Bolt gave to win, finishing second in this race was a bit like a victory itself. | 08/20/08 22:39:15 By - Mechelle Voepel

Jamaica dances as its Olympians run for gold

Cars honked. Crowds cheered and Jamaica stood still. Every time Usain Bolt's image flashed across the giant TV screen in Nelson Mandela Park at Kingston's Half Way Tree Square, the crowd standing at the four-way intersection roared. And when he bolted toward his historic, world record setting gold? | 08/20/08 16:49:56 By - Jacqueline Charles and Conrad McLeod

Amid dispute over silver and bronze, Bolt leaves no doubt with world record

Two protests, two disqualifications and more than two hours after the 200-meter dash was run, the silver medalist and the bronze medalist finally were decided. Officials were forced to postpone the medal ceremony to Thursday. Usain Bolt was the only runner who didn't leave anything to doubt. | 08/20/08 15:31:48 By - Charean Williams

U.S. men's volleyball team rallies into the semifinals

Real-life, tug-at-the-heartstrings drama has been part of the entire Olympics for the U.S. men's volleyball team. Friday's quarterfinal match against Serbia added an on-court element to the dramatics, as the American men came back from a two-sets-to-one deficit to win 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12 to advance to the semifinals against Russia. | 08/20/08 14:41:49 By - Israel Gutierrez

In Beijing, elderly protesters sentenced to labor re-education

Chinese authorities sentenced two elderly women this week to serve one-year terms in this country's labor re-education system for applying for a special protest permit the government had promised to grant during the Olympic Games, a relative told McClatchy Wednesday. | 08/20/08 13:20:54 By - Jack Chang

Basketball: Americans exercise another demon; Argentina up next

At some point in this men's basketball competition at the Beijing Olympics, nearly every player on the U.S. team has seized a moment for his own. If you're Argentina, that has to make you nervous. Not every U.S. player has had his turn. Kobe Bryant's moment came Wednesday night as he scored 25 points with four three-pointers, lifting the U.S. to a 116-85 victory over Australia and a spot in Friday's semifinals against Argentina. | 08/20/08 13:02:55 By - Luciana Chavez

Bolt runs mind-blowing 19.30 in 200 meters

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt left no doubt again as to who is the world's fastest man Wednesday, breaking a 12-year-old world record in the 200-meter dash and winning his second Olympic gold medal. | 08/20/08 12:50:39 By - Scott Fowler

Roundup: Bolt set world record in 200; U.S. men's basketball team routs Aussies

In one of the most memorable Olympic races in recent history, Jamaica's Usain Bolt set a world record in the 200 meters Wednesday and American sprinter Shawn Crawford won a strange silver medal. Bolt blazed through the race in a time of 19.30 seconds, breaking the 12-year-old record of American Michael Johnson. | 08/20/08 06:21:51 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Jun's path ping-pongs from Beijing to America and back

Table tennis player Jun Gao was born in Baoding and schooled in Beijing. In 2002, a decade after she won a silver medal for China in women's doubles, she moved to Singapore. She is as American as duck broth and zhajiang noodles, but if Jun Gao returns to a medals podium, Bob Fox will need three hankerchiefs to to get through the ceremony. | 08/20/08 12:25:04 By - John McGrath

Another record for Beijing Games — most viewed ever

Television viewers aren't the only audience either. To the delight of Olympics organizers, broadcasters are finding that streaming video for the Internet and even mobile phone screens has not eaten into television viewership. As a result, International Olympics officials look forward to an expected sharp jump in revenue from broadcast and sponsorship fees for the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in London. | 08/20/08 07:11:57 By - Tim Johnson

Richards still troubled by 400-meter bronze

Sanya Richards was supposed to have a leg up on the competition in the 400-meter dash, but it was her right leg that betrayed her. A day after coming up short of her goal, taking the bronze instead of winning the gold, she said the only thing she would have done differently was drink more water. Dehydration, she said, is the only explanation for the cramp in her right hamstring that felled her bid for the gold medal. | 08/20/08 06:29:37 By - Charean Williams

Japan stretches 'dominant' Team USA to limit in softball

The U.S. Olympic softball team is in a defensive mood, and getting more defensive with each victory. Not only are players attempting to defend their gold medal from Athens, they are passionately defending their sport in what could be its last Olympic hurrah. | 08/20/08 06:25:26 By - Michelle Kaufman

Wrestling: Askren falls to Cuban in men's freestyle

Ben Askren's face was a miserable contortion of pain, sadness and disbelief. Usually, he has quite a lot to say. But after being eliminated from the Olympic wrestling tournament after two matches, he was left sobbing, despondent and at a loss for words. "My dreams are crushed," he said. "I don't know what you people want to hear from me." | 08/20/08 06:16:45 By - Mechelle Voepel

Olympian shoulders: Seeing the parable of the talents unfold

The Rev. Carey Casey didn't take home any medals as a chaplain at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. But his work at the games did reinforce what he already knew to be true: Be yourself and be available to God. Twenty years ago Casey was standing on an Athletes Village balcony overlooking the Seoul evening sky. | 08/19/08 22:35:11 By - Cory Streeter

Fame can be tough for superstars staying in Athletes Village

The Brazilian soccer team checked into the Olympic Athletes Village on Monday, and chaos ensued. Ronaldinho, AC Milan's $37 million star, tried to stand in line with a tray at the 5,000-seat cafeteria and was mobbed by volunteers and other athletes seeking autographs and photos. Similar scenes have erupted around tennis No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain, Chinese NBA star Yao Ming and German NBA star Dirk Nowitzki. | 08/19/08 15:59:50 By - Michelle Kaufman

Aguero shines as Argentina defeats Brazil 3-0

A sellout crowd of 53,000 — including Diego Maradona and Kobe Bryant — jammed into Workers Stadium on a steamy Tuesday night for an Olympic semifinal soccer match that looked and felt like a final. If you didn't know any better you would have sworn you were at the Bombonera stadium in Argentina or the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. | 08/19/08 15:07:13 By - Michelle Kaufman

When soccer's stars align Chinese fans politely savor show

The flags and banners and multicolored wigs were there. So were the stirring chants of "Argentina!" and "Brazil!" For a second, the scene at the Workers' Stadium Tuesday night could have been mistaken for Rio de Janeiro's Maracana or Buenos Aires' River Plate stadiums as the two South American soccer giants' men's teams clashed in an Olympic semifinals match. | 08/19/08 13:48:06 By - Jack Chang

The faces change in the final 50 meters of track finals

Over the final 50 meters of the National Stadium track Tuesday, it no longer was about the races. It was about the faces. There was the bewildered look of Sanya Richards as her body failed her once again, this time in the most important 10 seconds of her life. | 08/19/08 13:29:13 By - Israel Gutierrez

Roundup: Shawn Johnson's balance beam routine is golden

Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin won gold and silver, respectively, on the balance beam in individual event finals Tuesday evening. Johnson posted a score of 16.225 to take the gold, while Liukin claimed silver with a 16.025. The bronze medal was won by Cheng Fei of China with a 15.950. | 08/19/08 06:08:24 By - McClatchy/Tribune News Service

Cejudo remembers roots, scrambles to wrestling gold

Hours after stunning the wrestling world, Henry Cejudo keeps the Olympic gold medal hanging around his neck, reaching for it constantly. "I always saw myself with the gold medal, I really did," Cejudo said. Soon, the person who will have the medal is Nelly Rico, a 50-year-old Mexican who arrived in the United States illegally some three decades ago. | 08/19/08 12:21:57 By - Tim Johnson

All 3 Americans to challenge splashy Bolt in 200

Usain Bolt did a sneak attack on Wallace Spearmon in the bowels of the Bird's Nest at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday night. After both ran their way into the men's 200-meter dash finals, they ran after each other in the mixed zone and took turns dousing each other with liquid after the race. | 08/19/08 12:20:05 By - Luciana Chavez

Lee uses 100 disappointment for 200 motivation

The 100 meters certainly was disappointing for Muna Lee. But she's trying to look on the good side of it. "I was pretty mad," she said of her fifth-place finish Sunday, "but it added fuel to my fire." She used that to her advantage in the first two rounds of the women's 200 meters here at the Bird's Nest. After winning her first-round heat with the best time in the field Tuesday morning, 22.71 seconds, she easily advanced to the semifinals with a quarterfinal time of 22.83 in the evening. | 08/19/08 12:17:45 By - Mechelle Voepel

May-Treanor, Walsh are set for gold medal match with win over Brazil

Kerri Walsh skipped in her bare feet across hot stone to hug her husband just outside Chaoyang Park's beach volleyball court, then strolled across black asphalt while screaming along with some of her boisterous U.S. fans. Six Feet of Sunshine was at her merry best. Just a few minutes earlier, Misty May-Treanor was on the court spreading some of her mother's ashes onto the sand. | 08/19/08 06:13:25 By - Israel Gutierrez

Germany's Frodeno wins men's triathlon; Kemper places seventh

Germany's Jan Frodeno kicked past Canada's Simon Whitfield in the final 100 meters to capture the gold medal in the Olympic men's triathlon Tuesday morning (Monday night U.S.). Frodeno, a day after his 27th birthday, finished in 1 hour, 48 minutes, 53.28 seconds. "This was the race of my life," said Frodeno, a 6-foot-4, 165-pounder who trains in South Africa. "I had the tunnel vision that I've always wished for." | 08/19/08 06:05:30 By - Mark Maloney

The rematch is on: U.S., Brazil advance to gold-medal game

In a commercial for a Dodge SUV that has aired for several months, members of the U.S. women's soccer team take a fictitious road trip to South America and find the Brazilian national team in the middle of a training session. That's when Abby Wambach yells, in Portuguese, "We want a rematch." | 08/18/08 22:22:47 By - Israel Gutierrez

Why did the gymnastic gold go to He and not Luikin?

It really won't make any difference with the big party (and maybe a parade) they'll throw for Nastia Liukin back home in Texas. Still, winning a gold medal in her signature event, the parallel bars, would have been a nice addition to the big-time gold she already has in the all-around. And a case could be made that Liukin actually did win gold, as she had the same score on the bars, 16.725, as China's He Kexin. But this being the maddeningly arcane world of gymnastics, it didn't work like that. | 08/18/08 16:35:47 By - Mechelle Voepel

Global sports icon Phelps soaks it all in

Six Chinese bodyguards in dark suits surrounded Michael Phelps as he waded through a sea of camera crews for a press conference Monday morning. It was yet another sign that the swimmer's life would not be the same after winning his historic eighth gold medal, solidifying his status as the Most Golden Olympian of All Time. | 08/18/08 15:00:28 By - Michelle Kaufman

U.S., with inspiration from Phelps, routs Germany

USA center Dwight Howard came to the podium, after scoring 22 points with 10 rebounds, in the Americans' 106-57 over Germany at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Monday, wearing swim goggles. Carmelo Anthony joked after the Americans' completed a 5-0 run in men's basketball pool play at the Beijing Olympics that a certain eight-time gold medal winner has inspired Howard to return to the 2012 London Olympics as a swimmer. | 08/18/08 12:34:19 By - Luciana Chavez

Roundup: Brown Trafton wins gold in women's discus; Liukin takes silver in uneven bars

Stephanie Brown Trafton won the gold medal in women's discus Monday. Her 64.74 meters (212 feet, 5 inches) on her first throw easily outdistanced Cuban silver medalist Yarelys Barrios' 63.64 meters (208 feet, 9 inches). The bronze medal was won by Olena Antonova of the Ukraine with a 62.59 meters (205 feet, 4 inches) effort. | 08/18/08 12:28:57 By - McClatchy/Tribune News Service

Ties goes to the Chinese gymnast, as Liukin settles for uneven bars silver

From the minute that she stuck her dismount, Nastia Liukin sensed that her performance may not have been golden. But she didn't really lose the Olympics' uneven bars gold medal on the floor Monday. She lost it in the rule book. | 08/18/08 12:25:52 By - Gil LeBreton

Strap yourself in: Here comes daredevil BMX cycling

Enough of the tame stuff at the Olympics. Now comes the adrenaline-pumping, stomach-churning new sport of the Games - BMX cycling. This will be no genteel cycling event. Think Thunderdome. Elbows will fly. Riders will crash. Nerves will fray. | 08/18/08 12:22:42 By - Tim Johnson

China shocked when injured track star Liu quits Games

The accusations started flying as soon as star Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang limped off the track of the National Stadium here Monday and dropped out of the Olympic Games. Many Chinese had considered Liu the photogenic poster boy of what's so far been a stellar Summer Games for Chinese athletes. | 08/18/08 07:19:27 By - Jack Chang

Roundup: Injuries cause Chinese, American hurdlers to drop out of Games

Star Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, who has been battling foot and hamstring injuries, dropped out of the Olympic Games Monday morning just seconds into a qualifying race, depriving the Chinese team of one of its most promising athletes. | 08/18/08 06:19:30 By - McClatchy/Tribune News Service

Bennett finishes 4th in women's triathlon

About 20 minutes into the women's triathlon here Monday, the USA was dominating an event it has yet to achieve a medal in since its 2000 debut. Laura Bennett, a former Southern Methodist swimmer from North Palm Beach, Fla., owned the lead after completing one lap in the Ming Tomb Reservoir. | 08/18/08 06:16:35 By - John McGrath

Macho Man? Beijing Beast? Must be beach volleyball

Between a Macho Man singalong and Beijing's Bikini Babes dancing to Cotton-Eyed Joe in cowboy hats, holsters and string bikinis, crowd participation hardly seems to be beach volleyball's problem in China. Raucous good time apparently translates easily into Mandarin. | 08/18/08 06:12:21 By - Jennifer Floyd Engel

Phelps soaking up icon status, making to-do list for future

Six Chinese bodyguards in dark suits surrounded swimmer Michael Phelps as he waded through a sea of camera crews for a press conference Monday morning, a day after winning his historic eighth gold medal, solidifying his status as the Most Golden Olympian of All Time. The press conference was held at Prince Jun Palace in Chaoyang Park, an ornate historic home from the Qing dynasty, a place befitting of royalty. In other words, the perfect place for a newly crowned global sports icon. | 08/18/08 06:09:37 By - Michelle Kaufman

Roundup: Johnson wins silver, Liukin bronze in women's floor exercise

Oksana Chusovitina, who won the vault silver medal on Sunday, is a 33-year-old mother competing in her fifth Olympics. Sandra Izbasa, a 5-foot-5 Romanian, was the gold medalist in floor exercise, edging U.S. gymnasts Shawn Johnson (silver) and Nastia Liukin (bronze). | 08/17/08 20:32:15 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Move over little girls: 33-year-old German wins vault and 5-5 Romanian wins floor

Just when it seemed the Olympic gymnastics arena was becoming a playground reserved for prepubescent pixies, along come Oksana Chusovitina and Sandra Izbasa. Chusovitina, who won the vault silver medal on Sunday, is a 33-year-old mother competing in her fifth Olympics. She dedicated the medal to her 9-year-old son, Alisher, who has leukemia. Izbasa, a 5-foot-5 Romanian, was the gold medalist in floor exercise, edging U.S. gymnasts Shawn Johnson (silver) and Nastia Liukin (bronze). | 08/17/08 20:34:29 By - Michelle Kaufman

Track and field: Lee's slow start plays big part in fifth-place finish

Muna Lee has worked on her start more than anything in the past several months. Yet that's the element of the 100 meters that cost her dearly in a disputed Olympic final. Lee finished fifth as the Jamaican team had a historic sweep of the medals Sunday night (Sunday morning in the United States). | 08/17/08 20:28:53 By - Mechelle Voepel

What's all the commotion? It's Wade visiting the Great Wall

There's chaos atop the Great Wall of China, and it's all Dwyane Wade's fault. Well, maybe not all his fault. But the Heat's international superstar is among the more impatient in his group as a painfully slow line for the final segment of the tour - a dicey toboggan ride that certainly wouldn't pass Disney safety standards - is threatening to turn a once-in-a-lifetime afternoon into a near-torturous experience. | 08/17/08 20:26:29 By - Israel Gutierrez

China manages expectations in medals chase

China has dominated the first half of the Olympic Games by winning 35 gold medals as of Sunday night, 16 more than the second-place U.S. delegation. But the gold medal race should tighten this week, as Chinese athletes head into sporting events such as track and field that they're less dominant in. Even Chinese sports officials warned Sunday that their fortunes would likely change over the coming week. | 08/17/08 11:39:30 By - Jack Chang

Phelps' success was a team effort

For all the hours Michael Phelps has spent by himself in a pool on his way to becoming the most golden Olympian ever, what he talked about first was how close he felt to his team. | 08/17/08 09:15:33 By - Mechelle Voepel

Top women's marathoner gets only tearful Olympic misery

The Olympics always seem to bring heartbreak to Paula Radcliffe, the British long-distance runner, and Sunday was no different. In the end, there was only disappointment for the fastest female marathoner in the world. A freakish pain in her calf hobbled Radcliffe, forcing her to stop twice during the race to work out the pain and then struggle into the National Stadium in 23rd place. | 08/17/08 09:28:09 By - Tim Johnson

Beijing weather gives Olympic athletes a break

A spell of good weather held Sunday, providing women's marathoners and other endurance athletes at the Olympics with a largely smog-free environment for competition. At the start of the marathon, temperatures were a mild 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Light rain fell during part of the morning, and a breeze picked up. Runners said they were prepared for harsher temperatures. | 08/17/08 09:25:42 By - Tim Johnson

Chinese populace has a crush on Kobe

In China, Kobe Bryant is loved. In China, Kobe Bryant is greeted with cheers. In China, Kobe Bryant is a shut-in. Well, at least for the duration of the USA men's basketball team's run at the Beijing Olympics, he is. "The military won't let me go out," Bryant said, talking about the crowds that congregate wherever he goes. | 08/17/08 09:20:02 By - Luciana Chavez

Phelps gets gold No. 8 in world-record time

The spotlight intensified on the Water Cube with each passing day of these Olympics as the world witnessed Michael Phelps' nine-day battle with history. And the made-for-NBC drama reached a crescendo Sunday morning Beijing time as the U.S. phenom won an unprecedented eighth gold medal in the medley relay in world-record time. | 08/16/08 23:31:00 By - Michelle Kaufman

Torres adds two more silvers to illustrious career

In the ready room before the 50-meter freestyle, Dara Torres was a chatterbox, as usual. Everyone was nervous but she broke the tension by talking about childbirth. Torres, you see, isn't just a five-time Olympian who won her 11th and 12th medals on Sunday at the Water Cube. She is a 41-year-old mother. Torres, the oldest Olympic swimmer in history, proved her agelessness by winning silver medals in the 4x100-meter medley relay and the 50-meter freestyle. | 08/16/08 23:15:37 By - Linda Robertson

Jamaica solidifies, then celebrates claim as a 'sprint factory' of athletes

A few speedy steps that converted sprinter Usain Bolt into the world's fastest man Saturday were also great strides for Jamaica, his homeland. In a stunning performance, Bolt smashed the world record in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 9.69 seconds, and solidifying his Caribbean nation's reputation as a "sprint factory" for extraordinary runners. | 08/16/08 22:25:47 By - Tim Johnson

Roundup: Jamaica's Bolt sets world record in 100; U.S. men rout Spain

Fastest man in the world? Saturday's final of the men's 100-meter dash left no doubt. Usain Bolt captured the gold medal in a world-record 9.69 seconds at National Stadium, aka Bird's Nest. He is Jamaica's first champion in the Olympic 100. Bolt broke his own world record of 9.72, set May 31 at New York. | 08/16/08 11:45:26 By - McClatchy Newspapers

U.S. overwhelms Spain in men's basketball

The U.S. destroyed any illusions Spain might have had about being a close second favorite in the men's basketball competition at the Beijing Olympics with a 119-82 Pool B victory over the defending World Champions at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Saturday. | 08/16/08 12:17:40 By - Luciana Chavez

More Chinese, beset by pollution woes, are going green

While Olympic visitors from around the world get a firsthand glimpse this month at China's pollution problems, a homegrown movement is racing to ward off what many here predict could be epic environmental meltdown. Hundreds of millions of Chinese are taking the first steps to turn the tide, fueled by growing unhappiness with the plunging quality of life caused by out-of-control environmental degradation. | 08/16/08 11:35:14 By - Jack Chang

Gay finishes fifth in semi, is eliminated

Tyson Gay wasn't sure, but he knew he wasn't first; he knew he wasn't second; and he knew he wasn't third. When he looked up at the scoreboard, Gay saw teammate Darvis "Doc" Patton had beaten him for the fourth and final spot into the finals. Gay's 10.05 in the 100-meter dash ended his chance at winning an individual gold medal. He will have to watch later tonight when Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt, teammates Patton and Walter Dix and former TCU star Michael Frater run the finals of the 100. | 08/16/08 09:50:57 By - Charean Williams

Bachman, family return to States; McCutcheon stays to coach team

Barbara Bachman, still in intensive care from a knife attack that critically wounded her and killed her husband Todd the day Olympic Games began, looked up from her bed at her son-in-law. The action alone was a sign of progress and source of comfort for a family that had been through the most emotionally grueling of experiences. | 08/16/08 09:22:36 By - Israel Gutierrez

Baseball: U.S. rallies to defeat Canada, 5-4

Terry Tiffee and Brian Barden drove in two runs each Saturday as Team USA rallied from a 4-0 deficit to edge Canada 5-4 at the Wukesong Olympic Baseball Field. Left-hander Brian Duensing came on in relief, holding the Canadians to a single over the last 3 1/3 innings. Both teams came in with 1-2 records, all four losses coming by one run each. With only four of eight teams advancing past round-robin play, a loss would all but eliminate one team. | 08/16/08 09:19:09 By - Mark Maloney

U.S. women advance to 100-meter second round

Muna Lee's been enjoying China so far, mostly with one of the Olympics' most popular hobbies. "I've been having fun," she said. "Wait till you see my pins. I've been running around like crazy with a million pins." However, pin trading took a back seat to sprinting on Saturday morning (Friday night in the United States) as Lee competed in the first round of the women's 100 meters at National Stadium. | 08/16/08 09:08:24 By - Mechelle Voepel

Phelps ties Spitz's record with seven gold medals

Even Michael Phelps couldn't believe his eyes. He said he had to take off his goggles to make sure it was his name, and not Milorad Cavic, next to the No. 1 after a breathtaking finish in the Olympic 100-meter butterfly. Phelps, who was in seventh place at the turn, surged in the final few strokes and somehow managed to out-touch the Serbian-American Cavic by one one-hundredth of a second. To the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to tell who won. And from some camera angles, it appeared Cavic had the gold. But the Omega electronic clock read: Phelps 50.58. Cavic 50.59. | 08/15/08 23:17:55 By - Michelle Kaufman

'Last throw, best throw': Cantwell pulls out silver medal

Christian Cantwell slapped the chalk on his neck fiercely before his last throw in the shot put. He was in fifth place. So it came down to this: Get his best effort of the night, or go home without an Olympic medal. | 08/15/08 18:00:40 By - Mechelle Voepel

Gay now has tougher competition in the 100

Tyson Gay and his famous left hamstring held up fine through the first two rounds of the 100-meter dash Friday. But he has some ground to make up if he is to reach the Olympic finals at National Stadium ("Bird's Nest") on Saturday. Semifinals are set for 8:05 p.m. (a.m. EDT) Saturday, with finals at 10:30 p.m. (a.m. EDT). | 08/15/08 13:43:53 By - Mark Maloney

Volleyball: Lang Ping returns to her hometown and beats her home country

Jenny Lang Ping, a Chinese volleyball star, had reservations about coaching the U.S. team in the Beijing Olympics. Would her countrymen call her a traitor? Lang, nicknamed the "Iron Hammer," led China to the gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the first Summer Games for the People's Republic of China. | 08/15/08 13:40:39 By - Charean Williams

Roundup: Cuba outlasts U.S. team, 5-4, in hotly contested game

The United States and Cuba are political adversaries and fierce baseball rivals, so the preliminary-round game between the teams had the feel of a gold-medal showdown. Cuba needed nearly four hours, 11 innings, and a new tiebreaker rule to shake off the Americans, 5-4. | 08/15/08 06:33:30 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Judo: McCormick already thinking 2012

The Olympic motto is "citius, altius, fortius." Faster, higher, stronger. Daniel McCormick would settle for just one of those before the 2012 Olympics in London. "I've got to get a lot stronger," said McCormick, who weighed in at 307 pounds. "I'm definitely giving up a lot of strength to these guys. I know I'm younger, and a lot of that comes with age. Most of those guys are late 20s, early 30s." | 08/15/08 12:48:58 By - Charean Williams

Archery: Wunderle doesn't medal, but still scores upset

USA archer Vic Wunderle had a request after time had expired on his Olympics. "Please say hi to all my Aggie friends back home (in Texas)," he said. He seemed to be soaking everything in as he talked after his match on Friday, like this may be his last Olympics. Beijing had been No. 3 for Wunderle, a Top-8 finisher in Sydney and Athens as well. He has a silver and a bronze for his travels. | 08/15/08 12:45:59 By - Jennifer Floyd Engel

China sees Games as success, thanks to rain and fakery

A week into the Summer Games, athletes brim with praise for the Olympics venues, rain has mercifully cleared the skies of smog and China beams at its success even as it deflects charges of "phony spectators" and other fakery at the games. Athletes at marquee Olympic events like swimming, basketball and track and field have played to arenas full of enthusiastic fans, but rows of forlorn empty seats look down at a surprising number of venues, including tennis and field hockey. | 08/15/08 06:39:51 By - Tim Johnson

Baseball: Cuba outlasts U.S. team, 5-4, in hotly contested game

There are certain givens at every Olympics. The Opening Ceremonies will be lavish and long. Athletes will cry on the medal podium. And the USA vs. Cuba baseball games will be as spicy as a heaping helping of Szechuan chicken. Friday was no exception. | 08/15/08 06:28:50 By - Michelle Kaufman

American women win gold and silver in all-around gymnastics

Maybe nothing represents the globalization of society more than our country's newest Olympic gymnastics champion. She's Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin, born in Russia but as much a red-white-and-blue all-American as any other kid who grew up in suburban Dallas. | 08/15/08 02:22:58 By - Mechelle Voepel

Phelps makes it 6 golds, 6 world records

Proving once again that his only rival is history, Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal in a sixth world record time. In his second individual medley race of the Games, Phelps pulled away from both Hungarian Laszlo Cseh and teammate Ryan Lochte to touch the wall in 1:54.23 in the 200 IM, improving the world record he set in the U.S. trials in Omaha in July by 0.57 seconds. | 08/14/08 23:38:05 By - Israel Gutierrez

Tyson Gay qualifies for 100-meter dash quarterfinals

Tyson Gay passed his first-round qualifying test Friday morning in the men's 100-meter dash at Olympic Stadium, familiarly known as The Bird's Nest. Gay, testing his left hamstring for the first time in competition since straining it at last month's U.S. Trials, won his heat in 10.22 seconds. Co-favorite Jamaican standouts Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell easily won their heats, as did countryman Michael Frater. | 08/14/08 22:57:15 By - Mark Maloney

Americans overpower Greece, Spain is next up

USA forward Chris Bosh ran out and blocked Greek guard Vasileios Spanoulis at the 3-point line as the buzzer sounded to end the first half of the USA-Greece men's basketball game on Thursday. That was about the size of it for Greece at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. The Americans were too quick, too athletic, too determined to avenge a 2006 loss in the World Championships to let the Greeks get away with much in a 92-69 victory at the Beijing Olympics. | 08/14/08 15:04:16 By - Luciana Chavez

Olympics are a big hit on air, and online

Liz Baidoo isn't just watching the Olympics, she's Facebooking, Twittering and TiVoing so she won't miss a nanosecond of the competition and drama. "It kind of overtakes me a little bit," said Baidoo, 31, a Sacramento, Calif., resident who says her current title at Vision Service Plan is "public relations specialist, slash Olympics diehard fan." | 08/14/08 17:23:01 By - Gina Kim

Big upsets: Federer, Venus and Serena ousted

It was strange enough to see Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Venus Williams all lose their Olympic quarterfinal matches Thursday night. It was downright bizarre that the three Grand Slam champions were still at the Olympic Green Tennis Center at 1:30 a.m. Friday Beijing time waiting out a rain delay to complete their doubles matches. | 08/14/08 15:00:21 By - Michelle Kaufman

Roundup: Blake upsets Federer; Serena Williams out

The U.S. basketball team avenged a 2006 world championship loss to Greece with a 92-69 trouncing of the Greeks in the third game of pool play at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Thursday. This was the Greek team that scored 101 points on 63 percent shooting with eight three-pointers against the Americans in the semifinals of the FIBA world championships in Japan. | 08/14/08 07:47:23 By - McClatchy Newspapers

U.S. team shows a mean streak in victory over Greece

Chris Bosh responded with a gentle laugh that would indicate he is as mild-mannered as they come, even at 6-foot-10. The question: "You looked mean out there. Where did that come from?" Mean is kind of the look the U.S. men's basketball team is going for. Particularly on defense. And particularly against Thursday's opponent. | 08/14/08 12:50:22 By - Israel Gutierrez

Fencing: U.S. women settle for bronze in team sabre competition

Just the setup of fencing suggests you're watching among the most exquisite theater in all of sports. Its brightly lit "stage" - called the strip, or piste in French - in a darkened arena exudes a sense of drama. And it was very much that in the women's team sabre gold-medal competition Thursday, in which chanting, flag-waving, stomping, cheering Chinese fans watched their team battle Ukraine in a gold-medal match that came down to the very last touch. | 08/14/08 12:11:17 By - Mechelle Voepel

U.S. price hikes likely result of Beijing's efforts to curb smog

In what turned out to be a futile effort to rid Beijing of air pollution, officials blocked heavy truck traffic from entering Beijing and closed nearby factories. Those steps will create shortages felt around the world long after the Olympics have ended. U.S. consumers will likely see higher prices if not outright shortages for products such as mobile telephones, auto parts, semiconductors, Vitamin C, and steel. The true impact won't be known till September. | 08/14/08 06:37:00 By - Jack Chang

China's Yang takes men's gymnastics all-around gold

American gymnast Jonathan Horton left the mat at National Indoor Stadium on Thursday thinking he'd just executed the six best routines of his life. So he walked away from a solid ninth-place finish in the men's gymnastics all-around competition at the Beijing Olympics with two thoughts: to add a fourth release move to his high bar routine for the individual event finals and train for the 2012 London Games. | 08/14/08 06:23:14 By - Luciana Chavez

Lezak wins his own medal in 100-meter freestyle

Maybe it didn't match his astonishing relay leg earlier this week for sheer drama. But the race that Jason Lezak swam this morning was very important to him, too. He ended up with a bronze in the men's 100-meter freestyle, with Frenchman Alain Bernard winning the gold. Lezak has been "Mr. Relay" for Team USA, but this was his first individual medal at the Olympics. | 08/14/08 06:17:50 By - Mechelle Voepel

Phelps takes a day off from medal collecting

And on the sixth day, he rested. It had to be a little strange for him not to be standing on the podium, but Michael Phelps was grateful he didn't have to swim a medal race Thursday. "It gives me more time to rest," he said after winning his semifinal heat in the 200-meter IM, setting up a showdown against teammate Ryan Lochte on Friday. "I think the biggest thing over the next two days is trying to get as much rest and recovery in my system as possible." | 08/14/08 06:14:53 By - Charean Williams

Roundup: U.S. women take bronze in freestyle relay

Handling the third leg of the 4-by-200 freestyle relay, swimmer Caroline Burckle rallied the U.S. women's team from fourth place to third, and anchor Katie Hoff held on to secure the bronze medal Thursday morning (Wednesday night EDT). Burckle combined with Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin and Hoff to break the world record in the relay. But that still wasn't enough to beat Australia or China. | 08/14/08 06:11:17 By - McClatchy Newspapers

France's Bernard finds salvation in 100-meter freestyle

The loser always has a story. Vladislav Tretiak, the Soviet goalie on the flip side of the Miracle on Ice in 1980, used to talk about how wherever he went for years afterward people would ask him how the invincible Soviet Red Army hockey team could possibly lose to a bunch of American students. | 08/14/08 00:40:57 By - Joe Posnanski

Track and field competition begins Friday

Christian Cantwell has been waiting four years for this - well, longer than that, really. Since his days at Missouri, he's known he was good enough to win the Olympic shot put gold medal. He was good in enough in 2004, but missed the Athens Games. But now, the big competition is finally upon him. He will go through qualifying, which should be a formality, on Friday morning (Thursday night in the United States) and then the final begins at 9 Friday evening at National Stadium. | 08/13/08 22:35:33 By - Mechelle Voepel

NBA talent to Europe: Trend, or just a trickle?

On July 23, NBA player Josh Childress looked at an offer to play in Greece for three years and $20 million guaranteed, glanced back at the his bosses with the Atlanta Hawks to see how they'd respond, then plunged ahead. Childress said yes and signed the deal to play for Greek professional team Olympiacos. In the process he reversed the pipeline of NBA-level talent that had flowed from Europe to the NBA the past two decades. | 08/13/08 19:03:26 By - Luciana Chavez

Roundup: U.S. women top Mali, softball stays perfect

The USA women's basketball team simply handled Pool B business night by beating Mali, 97-41, at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. USA veteran Lisa Leslie, a three-time gold medalist before the Games, scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half. In softball, two games into the 2008 Olympic softball tournament, the United States has yet to allow a run. | 08/13/08 06:40:55 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Soccer: U.S. men go down fighting in loss to Nigeria

They wanted a win. A tie would have been sufficient. The one thing the U.S. Olympic soccer team could not afford was a loss against Nigeria in the final group match on Wednesday. But a crippling red card in the third minute was too much to overcome, and the U.S. is heading home after a 2-1 loss at Workers Stadium. The U.S. finished with a 1-1-1 record. Nigeria and the Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals. | 08/13/08 12:36:35 By - Michelle Kaufman

Women's Basketball: U.S. beats Mali, 97-41

The real competition is on the other side of the bracket in the women's basketball event at the Beijing Olympic Games. So the USA women's team simply handled Pool B business late Wednesday night by beating Mali, 97-41, at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. | 08/13/08 12:44:44 By - Luciana Chavez

Venus Williams favored to win Thursday

It was so quiet on Court 2 Wednesday you could have heard Victoria Azarenka's racket drop. Venus Williams couldn't recall the last time she played in front of such a small crowd — a hundred or so of her closest American friends and family — or addressed such a small media contingent — five reporters. | 08/13/08 12:32:16 By - Charean Williams

Georgian-Russian hostilities spill over to beach volleyball

Georgia beat Russia in women's beach volleyball Wednesday, to the delight of the Chinese crowd. But animosity boiled over after the match, when the Russian competitors refused to acknowledge that their side actually lost to Georgia.Alexandra Shiryaeva, one of the two Russian players, sneered that both Georgian players are native-born Brazilians. | 08/13/08 09:18:26 By - Tim Johnson

Chinese police rough up British journalist at Tibet protest

John Ray of Britain's Independent Television News was wrestled to the ground and shoved into a police van as he was covering a demonstration by Students for a Free Tibet who chained themselves together at the entrance to a park for China's ethnic minority groups. Security forces also arrested the students. | 08/13/08 08:35:36 By - Tim Johnson

U.S. softball team perfect again, blank Aussies, 3-0

Two games into the 2008 Olympic softball tournament, the United States has yet to allow a run. Which would be impressive, were it not for the fact the USA hasn't given up a hit, either. Left-handed starter Cat Osterman held Australia hitless over seven innings Wednesday at Fengtai Softball Field, a day after fellow pitchers Monica Abbott and Jennie Finch didn't allow a hit during a five-inning thumping of Venezuela. | 08/13/08 06:09:33 By - John McGrath

If Gay's healthy, men's 100 could be a classic

Tyson Gay showed everyone he could F-L-Y last year, when he won the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the World Championships in Osaka. But has his injured wing (left leg) recovered sufficiently to let him F-L-Y in the Bird's Nest? The answer comes Friday morning (Thursday night in the U.S.) with the first round of the 100 in the Beijing Olympics. | 08/13/08 06:50:12 By - Mark Maloney

Roundup: Phelps scores two more golds; U.S. women's gymnastics wins silver

It was supposed to be his easiest day of the meet, really. Michael Phelps owns the 200-meter butterfly, an event in which he has held the world record for more than seven years. And the men's 800 freestyle relay was a cinch as well, with the men having regularly trained the event in world-record times. | 08/13/08 00:12:03 By - McClatchy Newspapers

China wins in women's gymnastics as U.S. makes costly mistakes

The biggest, fiercest rivalry between the U.S. and Chinese Olympic teams involves the tiniest athletes on both teams, the pony-tailed pixies with rock-hard muscles and nerves of steel. Women's gymnastics is one sport in which the U.S. and China both dominate, and this city prides itself on its spectacular acrobatics shows, so Wednesday's women's team final was the hottest ticket in town. | 08/13/08 01:43:24 By - Michelle Kaufman

Phelps wins fourth gold in 200-meter butterfly

As Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in one Games came closer to falling, world records continued to tumble. Michael Phelps began his day by resetting his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly, the race he has dominated more thoroughly than any other in his career, with a time of 1:52.03. It not only put Phelps halfway to the eight gold-medal mark that the world so eagerly anticipates him reaching, but it made him the most golden Olympic athlete of all time. | 08/12/08 23:31:16 By - Israel Gutierrez

Men's basketball: Greece already circled on Team USA calendar

Carmelo Anthony said he has had a certain game circled on his calendar for two years. He means playing Greece at the Olympics, which the U.S. men's basketball team will do Thursday at 8 a.m. EDT. Greece is the only team that has beaten the U.S. national team since it changed its approach to international basketball and enticed NBA stars to commit to for three years at a time. | 08/12/08 22:02:07 By - Luciana Chavez

Roundup: U.S. men beat Angola; Phelps chasing two more golds

The U.S. beat Angola 97-76 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Tuesday in a game that could only be described as a comedown from Sunday's electric opener against China. It wasn't until a random group of fans op on the third level started chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" with the Americans up by 25 at the end of the third quarter that the building showed any life. | 08/12/08 12:31:45 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Chinese Christian in hiding after seeking to pray with Bush

Christian underground activist Hua Huiqi dearly wanted to attend the same church service as President Bush last Sunday so he got up in the middle of the night to pedal his bicycle there. After all, the Kuanjie Protestant Church is where Hua was baptized when he became a Christian in 1992, and President Bush selected it for his high-profile church visit. But shortly after dawn, as Hua and his elder brother pedaled about a mile from the church, plainclothes policemen intercepted them and hauled them away. | 08/12/08 13:44:03 By - Tim Johnson

California woman wins silver in equestrian eventing

Gina Ostini Miles, a Davis High School graduate, won a silver medal in equestrian eventing today in Hong Kong. Miles, 34, and her 1,410-pound horse McKinlaigh moved from fourth place to second after the jumping competition in individual eventing, which also includes dressage and cross country. Miles' 56.10 penalty points trailed only gold medalist Hinrich Romeike of Germany, who finished with 54.20 penalty points aboard Marius. | 08/12/08 16:22:35 By - Sacramento Bee sports staff

Teen enjoys his chance, settles for 6th in whitewater final

Now that Benn Fraker has made his way down the Olympic whitewater slalom course four times, he figures he'll try to do something REALLY hard. Get in to see one of the most popular sports in China. "I had my heart set on watching table tennis," he said, "but it sounds like we won't be able to get tickets to that." | 08/12/08 12:28:25 By - Mechelle Voepel

Team USA loses some of it electricity in 97-76 win over Angola

Someone forgot to flip the switch. The U.S. beat Angola 97-76 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Tuesday in a game that could only be described as a comedown from Sunday's electric opener against China. | 08/12/08 12:23:01 By - Luciana Chavez

Swimming: A golden day for Phelps, Coughlin and Peirsol

Michael Phelps took another step to becoming the most "golden" Olympian ever, and his teammate helped him display that the Americans' longtime prowess in the pool is continuing. U.S. swimmers Phelps, Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol won three of the four finals Tuesday (Monday night in the U.S.) at the Water Cube. The team also picked up two silver medals and two bronzes on a big-haul day for the USA. | 08/12/08 06:35:44 By - Mechelle Voepel

U.S. men's volleyball team wins again, even without coach

The U.S. men's volleyball team was again without its head coach, Hugh McCutcheon, who was with his wife and family after his father-in-law was killed and his mother-in-law critically injured three days ago at a popular Chinese tourist attraction. But it won against Italy, giving it a 2-0 start. The seemingly seamless transition to assistant coach Ron Larsen speaks to McCutcheon's strengths as a coach, his players said. | 08/12/08 06:41:54 By - Israel Gutierrez

Beach volleyball: first gold medal, then … baby bottles?

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor have a couple of goals for the rest of this year. First, they want to win another gold medal at these Summer Olympics. Next, they'd both like to get pregnant. In 2009, if all goes as they'd like, the champion American beach volleyball duo would again be playing in the sand. This time, though, they would be playing with their babies. | 08/12/08 06:40:12 By - Scott Fowler

Parker succeeds with support from future husband, a former Devil

Despite maintaining a professional demeanor and cool exterior, USA women's basketball team forward Candace Parker did cut loose Monday night. At halftime of the Americans' 101-70 win over host China at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, Parker delighted the crowd by throwing down a one-handed dunk. | 08/12/08 06:37:45 By - Luciana Chavez

Roundup: Phelps wins third gold; Gay says he's ready to go

Michael Phelps made it three-for-three for gold medals, and three-for-three for world records, with a jaw-dropping victory in the 200-meter freestyle. Phelps, swimming in Lane 6 rather than his familiar Lane 4, exploded off the blocks and jumped out to a huge lead. | 08/11/08 14:40:37 By -

Phelps takes another gold medal and breaks another world record

Michael Phelps made it three-for-three for gold medals, and three-for-three for world records, with a jaw-dropping victory in the 200-meter freestyle. Phelps, swimming in Lane 6 rather than his familiar Lane 4, exploded off the blocks and jumped out to a huge lead. | 08/11/08 23:22:32 By - Michelle Kaufman

Fowles and her mother making the most of their trip to China

Sylvia Fowles never imagined as she practiced silky post moves on Liberty City's asphalt courts that she'd one day find herself halfway around the world at the Olympics, making headlines for the U.S. women's basketball team. The rookie 6-foot-6 center had another breakout performance in a 108-63 rout of China Monday night, coming off the bench to score 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. | 08/11/08 14:34:13 By - Michelle Kaufman

Lezak's phenomenal anchor leg is now the stuff of legend

The pictures, the time difference (.08 seconds) and the French, they will all tell you that the difference between a spine-tingling gold and a buzz-kill silver in the men's 400 freestyle relay was a fingertip. Jason Lezak would insist it's nowhere near that simple. | 08/11/08 14:29:29 By - Israel Gutierrez

USA assistant coach key to team victory over China

USA guard Katie Smith walked off the court after the U.S. women's basketball team beat China on Monday, pointed at Gail Goestenkors as she passed by and said, "It was all her." Smith was giving Goestenkors, the current Texas head coach and USA assistant, credit for scouting and preparing the United States to thrash China 101-63 in Pool B play at the Beijing Olympics. | 08/11/08 13:11:45 By - Luciana Chavez

Thanks to Jazon Lezak, Michael Phelps scores another gold

If Michael Phelps goes on to win a record eight golds in these Olympic Games, he will owe Jason Lezak a world of gratitude. | 08/11/08 07:03:25 By - Israel Gutierrez

China's 'protest pens' unused amid arrests, permit denials

Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Olympic Games, announced July 23 that protests could occur at three public parks in Beijing. But a tour of the so-called "protest pens" found no protests. No surprise. Relatives of people who applied to use the protest venues report that applicants were arrested. | 08/11/08 07:27:38 By - Tim Johnson

U.S. national pastime on its way out as Olympic sport

The Summer Games that began here Friday are the last scheduled to feature both baseball and softball, and players from around the world who've seen the sports spread in popularity are crying foul. | 08/11/08 07:17:52 By - Jack Chang

China’s Catch-22: Protests allowed, but permits unavailable

China late last month announced that individuals or groups wanting to demonstrate during the Olympics could go to "protest pens" in three public parks around Beijing. What China didn’t announce was the Catch-22: Protests are allowed but permits are unavailable. | 08/11/08 07:11:07 By - Tim Johnson

At 32, Lezak keeps Phelps' dream alive

Michael Phelps' eight-gold quest came down to relying on the oldest man on the U.S. swimming team beating the boldest on the French squad. And in a race for the ages, Jason Lezak did just that. | 08/11/08 06:57:12 By - Mechelle Voepel

Hansen struggles, fails to medal in 100 breaststroke

BEIJING - What was especially frustrating for Brendan Hansen about his fourth-place finish in the 100 meter breaststroke Monday was how not surprising it was. | 08/11/08 06:55:06 By - Jennifer Floyd Engel

Angola next opponent for U.S. men basketball

BEIJING - Most Americans may only remember the Charles Barkley elbow incident from the 1992 Barcelona Games when they think of the Angolan national basketball team in the context of Olympic basketball history. | 08/11/08 06:53:15 By - Luciana Chavez

U.S. women's volleyball struggles with tragedy

BEIJING - Even on their best day, the U.S. women's volleyball team would have a tough time with Cuba. Monday wasn't one of the Americans' better days. | 08/11/08 06:51:07 By - Charean Williams

Rally in relay saves Phelps' quest for 8

It looked like Michael Phelps' chance for eight gold medals here was going to slip away to a French relay team that had done a little bragging before the event. But thanks to an astonishing anchor swim from Jason Lezak, Phelps' quest remains alive. | 08/11/08 00:32:35 By - Mechelle Voepel

Sunday's Roundup: U.S. men's basketball team opens with win over China

It was presumed that all of China, and portions of the rest of the world, were watching. That would have meant Sunday's USA-China basketball game was watched by more than a billion - more than any basketball game in history. With that kind of audience, the Redeem Team had ideas of putting on a proper show. | 08/11/08 00:25:57 By -

Dreaming of gold, Brendan Hansen finished fourth behind Japanese rival

After the semifinals of the 100-meter breaststroke, American Brendan Hansen said he dreamt he'd won a gold medal racing from lane two, which was his lane assignment in the final after a disappointing qualifying. In reality, Hansen only continued a nightmare run in the final, finishing fourth in a time of 59.57 seconds. Touching the wall first was Hansen's rival for the past several years, Tokyo's Kosuke Kitajima, who defended his Athens gold in the event in a world-record 58.91 seconds, the first man to swim the race in less than 59 seconds. | 08/10/08 23:27:22 By - Israel Gutierrez

Roach's Olympic experience has her rethinking future

So Melanie Roach wasn't the strongest lifter in her 53-kg weight class. She will have to settle, at the age of 33, for being the oldest in years and the youngest at heart, not to mention the busiest, the savviest, the chattiest, the liveliest, the most informed on where to go to buy durable children's shoes and the least informed on where to go when you want to get away. | 08/10/08 20:48:37 By - John McGrath

'Redeem Team' puts on a show as U.S. routs China 101-70

Four years ago in Athens, Carmelo Anthony and his youthful USA teammates were the anti-Olympians. They lived on a cruise ship, carried a sense of entitlement and failed to win the admiration of the Greeks, or much of the world at all, for that matter. "In Athens, we got booed early on," Anthony said. | 08/10/08 12:16:13 By - Israel Gutierrez

Chinese root for Yao Ming, but love NBA pizzaz

The rain came down in sheets Sunday night but Zheng Hongzhe wouldn't leave his spot in front of the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. Zheng hoped to score one of the hottest tickets in the Olympic Games, the U.S.-China basketball match-up, and the match was about to begin. Zheng, soaked under a thin plastic poncho, implored all passersby to sell or give him a ticket. | 08/10/08 14:03:17 By - Tim Johnson

'Diving queen' does her part to maintain China's dominance

Soon Chinese diver Guo Jingjing will retire to a life of endorsing products, dancing at nightclubs and dodging paparazzi without the burden of training eight hours a day. But first, she will do her part for China, the country that made her a star. She began Sunday by winning the three-meter synchronized final with partner Wu Minxia, starting what she and her fans hope will be a sweep of eight gold medals for Chinese divers. | 08/10/08 12:05:51 By - Linda Robertson

U.S. counting on lesser-known swimmers

When Michael Phelps is setting up for Olympic history, Dara Torres is making 41 the new 21 and fancy swimsuits are helping reset world records almost daily, it is easy to see how a handful of notable U.S. swimming feats might slip by unnoticed these days. | 08/10/08 11:05:17 By - Israel Gutierrez

The bad boy of badminton? In Asia, this is serious stuff

When most people think badminton, they think backyard picnic, plastic birdie, a couple of beers. But then, most people have never seen Olympic badminton players smash the shuttlecock at speeds of up to 200 mph. They have never mingled amongst sellout crowds in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark. | 08/10/08 11:02:54 By - Michelle Kaufman

Reporter's notebook: best of Beijing

Beach volleyball stars Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, gold medalists in Athens four years ago and three-time reigning world champions, play a live second-round match against a team from Cuba NBC's evening broadcast. The pair have won 63 straight matches after Sunday's first-round win over a team from Japan. They are the tournament's top seed. | 08/10/08 10:58:30 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Bush to China leaders: Widen religious, political freedoms

President Bush continued to urge Chinese leaders Sunday to allow their citizens more political and religious freedoms as he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese officials on the opening weekend of the Olympic Games. | 08/10/08 10:00:00 By - Jack Chang

Phelps turns in spine-tingling performance in Water Cube

BEIJING-The Water Cube is the perfect habitat for Michael Phelps, who truly must be some sort of amphibious creature. | 08/10/08 07:54:21 By - Linda Robertson

The hard part of these Olympics — making sense of it all

BEIJING - The sky had been gray every day for a week in Beijing, gray from smog and haze, so there was something comforting about the rain on Sunday morning. Those scorching and cloudless gray days felt eerie and wrong. The rain made sense. | 08/10/08 07:51:31 By - Joe Posnanski

U.S. men's volleyball continues in wake of tragedy

BEIJING - In many ways, the U.S. men's volleyball match against Venezuela on Sunday afternoon was nothing special. | 08/10/08 07:49:08 By - Charean Williams

Murder-suicide blackens mood, but Games go on

They played without their head coach Sunday. They huddled in a moment of silence before the game began. They talked about their anger and their helplessness after the game was over. | 08/10/08 07:46:28 By - Scott Fowler

A day after tragedy, U.S. volleyball team posts opening victory

Playing without its head coach and embroiled in emotion, the U.S. men's volleyball team edged Venezuela in its Olympic opener Sunday. But as the players huddled together on the court before the match — something they had never done previously — their linked arms signified how close the murder of their coach's father-in-law has brought them. Through the noise of 11,000 fans at Capital Gymnasium, all the 12 players heard was silence. | 08/10/08 07:34:53 By -

Saturday's Roundup: Attack on American tourist takes focus off competition

The death of an American tourist took the focus off the field of competition at the Beijing Summer Olympics on Saturday. A man pulled out a knife Saturday at a landmark tourist site and killed Todd Bachman, father-in-law of U.S. Olympic men's indoor volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon and father of McCutcheon's wife, 2004 U.S. Olympic women's indoor volleyball player Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon. | 08/10/08 00:24:56 By - McClatchy Newspapers

American Phelps wins first gold in world-record time

The first swimming final of these Olympic Games, the 400-meter individual medley, didn't turn out to be the Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte duel most anticipated. Phelps, the American swimmer with hopes of breaking Mark Spitz's Olympic record of seven gold medals in one Games, distanced himself from the field in the final 200 meters of Sunday's 400 IM final at the National Aquatics Center. And by the time he touched the wall, America's aqua man had obliterated his previous world record to win his first gold of the Games. | 08/09/08 23:48:35 By - Israel Gutierrez

Breeden ties for sixth, Phelps gets first gold

Elaine Breeden had hoped to gain a spot in the Olympic finals of the women's 100-meter butterfly. Then again, it's the 200 'fly that is her specialty. So when she tied for sixth in her semifinal heat Sunday morning, there were no tears in the building known as The Water Cube. Now, she has another day to rest for the 200 'fly. | 08/09/08 23:46:05 By - Mark Maloney

Volleyball: U.S. victory more than just another win for fourth-seeded women's team

Stacy Sykora has played in hundreds of international volleyball matches, including 12 in two previous Olympics. None was more meaningful than Saturday's. Sykora roomed with Elisabeth Bachman in Athens in 2004. The two had been teammates on the national team for more than three years. | 08/09/08 16:02:23 By - Charean Williams

Reporter's notebook: Best of Beijing

Athlete of the day

Yao Ming and the Chinese men's basketball team takes its shot at Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the "Redeem Team" from the United States at 10:15 a.m.(EDT) and scheduled to be shown live as part of eight hours of daytime coverage that starts at 10 a.m. on NBC. | 08/09/08 20:40:03 By - McClatchy Newspapers

U.S. women's basketball squad plays like the Dream Queen Team

The Dream Teamers were there - J Kidd, King James, Kobe and the others. So, too, was President Bush. The Beijing Dream Dancers provided the halftime entertainment. But the stars were Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Cappie Pondexter and the rest of the Dream Queen Team. They (still) are as good as it gets in the Olympics. | 08/09/08 15:58:59 By - Charean Williams

Phelps sets Olympic record in 400 I.M., breaking (his) old one

Michael Phelps stole the show, while American Elaine Breeden simply took care of business. In the first swimming competition of the Beijing Olympics, the men's 400-meter individual medley, Phelps broke the Olympic record he'd set four years ago at Athens. Breeden didn't win her 100-meter butterfly heat, but she was fast enough to move to the next round. | 08/09/08 11:00:09 By - Mark Maloney

U.S. women start slow but get to speed against Czech Republic

The U.S. women looked a little sluggish at the beginning of their Olympic opener against the Czech Republic, but that didn't last long. They ended up with a 97-57 victory in which they shot 52.1 percent from the field and everybody scored. | 08/09/08 12:49:00 By - Mechelle Voepel

Outdoor conditions stress cyclists during race

Heavy smog continued to shroud the Olympic host city as competition got underway Saturday, and there was concern road cyclists would struggle mightily in the oppressive conditions as they raced 152.2 miles through a picturesque course that began near Tiananmen Square, wound past several famous landmarks, climbed into the foothills, and finished at the Great Wall. | 08/09/08 12:34:03 By - Michelle Kaufman

Heat, humidity taking their toll on athletes at Beijing games

The thick gray cap of haze over the Chinese capital abated slightly Saturday, but temperatures soared into the mid-90s, and some Olympic athletes wilted. Several cyclists pulled out of the road race, unable to cope with the sticky heat, and a Swiss men's beach volleyball team resorted to a medical break to catch a brief respite from the sizzling sun and the high humidity that just wouldn’t allow sweat to evaporate. | 08/09/08 10:22:37 By - Tim Johnson

Basketball: U.S. men look to avoid another slow start

There is no second place for the USA Basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Still, as much as they don't want to harp on it, a slow start in a 21-point win over Russia on Sunday and poor shooting and lackluster ball movement in an 11-point win over Australia on Tuesday were no way to come into the one tournament, the Olympics, the Americans know and say they must win. | 08/09/08 09:04:07 By - Luciana Chavez

American killed, another wounded in Beijing knife attack

The dead victim was the father-in-law of the coach for U.S. Olympic men's indoor volleyball team, the wounded American, the coach's mother-in-law. U.S. officials said they don't believe the attack was related to the Olympic Games or to their being Americans. The perpetrator jumped to his death. The Chinese news agency Xinhua described him as a worker who'd recently quit his job, divorced his wife and moved out of his house. | 08/09/08 08:44:45 By - Tim Johnson

Jones knows he'll have to be fast to make relay final

Cullen Jones, the former N.C. State star and current Charlotte resident, makes his Olympic debut today. | 08/09/08 06:56:37 By - Scott Fowler

If you like blowouts Redeem Team's for you

BEIJING - To understand why the U.S. men's basketball team is going to blast through the Olympic competition in China, it is instructive to listen to Chris Paul. | 08/09/08 06:54:33 By - Scott Fowler

At beach volleyball, the Olympic party begins again

Amidst exhaustive research, a young journalist covering his first Olympic Games, some 32 years ago, earnestly interviewed an athlete named Bob Nieman about the sport of modern pentathlon. The story was a yawner, it must be confessed. The big news nugget was that, as a 26-year-old lieutenant, Gen. George S. Patton had competed in the five-sport modern pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics. | 08/08/08 23:49:28 By - Gil LeBreton

Swimmer Shanteau keeps testicular cancer on hold to chase his Olympic dream

When America's best breaststroker, Brendan Hansen, finished third in his final race at the U.S. swim trials in Omaha, Neb., last month, naturally it was Hansen's failure that drew all the attention. Hansen, a three-time medalist in the 2004 Games and already a winner in the 100 breast earlier in the trials, doesn't fade down the stretch. | 08/08/08 15:21:16 By - Israel Gutierrez

Lopez Lomong's story touches Dream Team members

A little grumbling ensued when Dream Team 4.0 was a little late to Friday's press conference. Typical prima donnas was the thought. What had actually delayed them was they ran into 1500-meter runner and U.S. flag bearer Lopez Lomong. | 08/08/08 15:23:08 By - Jennifer Floyd Engel

Opening Ceremony dazzles 91,000 in hazy Bird's Nest

They failed to turn their smoggy skies blue. Their authoritarian government remains under fire for human rights violations. But Beijing Olympic organizers dazzled an audience of 91,000 at the whimsical Bird's Nest stadium and another estimated 4 billion watching on television Friday with a colorful, imaginative opening ceremony that bridged ancient and modern Chinese history and befitted the Games' $40 billion price tag. | 08/08/08 14:20:20 By - Michelle Kaufman

Beijing Olympics open with epic spectacle

Using a cast of thousands, China set out to impress the world Friday night with a high-tech, fireworks-filled opening ceremony to an Olympic Summer Games heightened by China's patriotic ambitions and controversy over the country's environmental problems and human rights record. | 08/08/08 14:18:53 By - Jack Chang

World sees China open Olympic Games (except in the U.S.)

Using a cast of thousands, China set out to impress the world Friday night with a high-tech, fireworks-filled opening ceremony to an Olympic Summer Games heightened by China's patriotic ambitions and controversy over the country's environmental problems and human rights record. | 08/08/08 09:18:26 By - Jack Chang

Bush, in China for Olympics, offers praise, criticism

President Bush started a four-day visit to China Friday with a mixed message of praise for Chinese economic policies but criticism of the Chinese approach toward religious and political freedoms, a strategy that has so far marked his three-nation Asian tour. On Friday, he dedicated the new U.S. Embassy, greeted U.S. athletes and was to attend the opening ceremonies. | 08/08/08 07:54:29 By - Jack Chang

Tayshaun Prince is a team player for Team USA

From the NBA season to a youth camp in Lexington, Ky., then on to training camp in Las Vegas and five exhibitions in China, Tayshaun Prince has been keeping a rapid pace. | 08/08/08 06:52:01 By - Mark Mahoney

By the looks of it, China is losing its battle against smog

In the era of China's great dynasties, it was believed that emperors could command the heavens at will. They could summon rain when it was needed or clear the skies. China's ruling Communist Party would love to have similar powers. Clearly, it doesn't. A defiant gray pall hangs over Beijing as the Summer Olympic Games get underway. | 08/07/08 14:47:29 By - Tim Johnson and Jack Chang

Politics, pollution, pomp mark Games' beginning

All it takes is one step into this city's brand-new, massive, futuristic airport to realize the world is about to witness the most grandiose Olympics ever staged, a $40 billion coming-out party for a nation desperate to establish itself as an economic and athletic superpower. | 08/07/08 15:56:52 By - Michelle Kaufman

New Zealand Olympic goalie hails from Illinois

Her personal credo of seizing the opportunities that life hands you has taken Jenny Bindon from Belleville, Ill., to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Bindon is the goalkeeper for the New Zealand women's soccer team -- the Football Ferns as they are called -- that will be playing in the same pool with Japan, Norway and the United States. | 08/07/08 11:51:24 By - Steve Korte

Lost in translation

The Great Wall of China, as it turns out, isn't all bricks and stone. It's the language. Invaded by the Mongols, occupied by the conquering British, and socialized by Chairman Mao, China didn't exactly unfurl the welcome mat for, oh, about six hundred years. | 08/07/08 14:57:17 By - Gil LeBreton

When it comes to making a statement, Olympians exit the stage

Solomon Bayoh, a sprinter from Sierra Leone, is not a dumb jock. Neither is Germany's Frank Dehne. Nor South Africa's Katherine Meaklim. Nor Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands. All of these Olympians lodging at the Athletes' Village had thoughtful things to say about Tibet, Darfur and China's lack of human rights. But they will let their muscles do the talking during the Olympics | 08/07/08 14:42:56 By - Linda Robertson

Basketball: Wade stronger than ever - just ask Prince

Tayshaun Prince has never held back in his assessment of Dwyane Wade. During the 2006 Eastern Conference finals, it was Prince who openly admitted he couldn't defend the Heat's explosive shooting guard, pleading publicly with his team to devise a new defensive plan. Given how many battles Wade and Prince have had before and since those conference finals, Prince might be better qualified than anyone else on Team USA to assess the 2008 Wade. | 08/07/08 14:38:07 By - Israel Gutierrez

Phelps, Xiang carrying a lot of weight on their shoulders

The American star of these Olympics, Michael Phelps, has two clear goals at the Games. The first is to not say a single interesting thing while he's here. The second goal he is keeping to himself. "I haven't said anything about breaking any record," Phelps says when asked about his alleged quest to become the first athlete to win eight gold medals in a single Olympics. You need that "alleged" in there. | 08/07/08 14:36:11 By - Joe Posnanski

U.S. women's gymnastics team upbeat, but men dealing with loss of Morgan Hamm

The mood went from merry to morose in the switch from talking to the U.S. women's gymnastics team to the American men on Thursday. The women are expected to contend with China for the team gold, and they met with reporters in an upbeat session in which the gymnasts couldn't stop smiling. Then the men came in, and couldn't have looked much more downcast. | 08/07/08 14:30:35 By - Mechelle Voepel

Wrestler says brother, rival prepared her for gold

If not for the love-hate relationship most siblings experience growing up, Marcie Van Dusen might not be in China. But she is, scheduled to wrestle at 55 kilograms (121 pounds) at the Beijing Olympic Games, which open Friday | 08/07/08 12:40:23 By - Mark Maloney

China sees Olympic gold in coverage

NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol has to tread carefully on issues of human rights and international politics, though he told critics during the news conference he "clearly sees change" that he believes would not have happened without the Olympics. | 08/07/08 12:14:40 By - Rick Kushman

Olympic soccer: U.S. men open with 1-0 victory over Japan

The U.S. men managed just a single goal Thursday in its opening match against Japan. But ithat's pretty good, for a team that hasn't shown goal scoring as one of its strengths. Since qualifying for the Summer Games back in March, the team has scored in exactly one of six games. | 08/07/08 12:01:22 By - Israel Gutierrez

China pulling out all stops in opening 2008 Olympic Games

China is expected to set a new standard for spectacle Friday night when it kicks off the 2008 Summer Games with an opening ceremony meant to wow the world and proclaim the arrival of a new global power to be reckoned with. Correction attached. | 08/07/08 11:31:46 By - Jack Chang

Here're 10 athletes to watch at the Olympics

The 2008 Beijing Olympics open on Friday, and by now, even the most casual sports fan is probably familiar with the swimming pool dramas of Michael Phelps, aiming to win a record-eight gold medals, and Dara Torres, the 41-year-old Parkland Supermom and five-time Olympian whose goggles are older than the women she beats. But there are 10,500 athletes from 202 countries in these Olympics, athletes from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Here are 10 worth noting. | 08/07/08 07:14:57 By - Michelle Kaufman and Linda Robertson

And these are the 8 days to be sure you're watching

Here is a list of what could be the best eight days of the 2008 Summer Olympics listed on the day they occur in China (Beijing in 12 hours ahead of Eastern time, 15 hours ahead of Pacific time.) | 08/07/08 07:43:40 By - Mechelle Voepel

Olympics bring back the awe and wonder despite cynical attitudes

On Friday, the Olympics begin and more than 200 countries will compete in a nation that for decades was shut off to the world. Israel and Palestine will compete, Iraq and Iran, the United States and Russia, enemies and friends, a world gathering in China without war. It’s an amazing thing, really. And here in China, there’s an enthusiasm buzzing, an excitement that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. | 08/07/08 07:10:31 By - Joe Posnanski

Christian activist detained, released after protest in Beijing

Boise Christian activist Brandi Swindell was detained with two others Wednesday in Beijing's Tiananmen Square after protesting religious repression. The protesters went to the infamous square and unfurled a banner that read in English and Chinese, "Jesus Christ is King," according to Rev. Rob Schenck, who helped organize the protest. With the Olympics set to begin Friday in Beijing there is intense media attention focused on China. | 08/06/08 19:12:08 By - Heath Druzin

U.S. contingent pleased with China's arrangements for games

The warmth that Peter Ueberroth feels for China of course goes back to the decision the Chinese made in 1984 that he feels helped "save'' the Olympics at a crucial point in the event's history. Wednesday, Ueberroth and other United States Olympic Committee officials spoke about the enormous undertaking the Summer Games have become and how well China has prepared. | 08/06/08 17:24:15 By - Mechelle Voepel

Boxer goes from boat refugee to Olympics contender

Dressed in black trunks, Azea Augustama danced across the boxing ring, bobbing and weaving, striving for perfection with every hard-hitting punch. His goal: consistency. A few days later, Augustama would be thousands of miles from his Miami Beach training ring, preparing for his Olympics debut. The National Golden Gloves boxing champion has come a long way from the 7-year-old who landed in Miami in 1990 aboard a rickety boat from Haiti. | 08/06/08 15:11:37 By - Dezma Gainer

U.S.-China Olympic rivalry goes beyond counting medals

While China has billed the 2008 Summer Games starting Friday as the coming-out party of a new world power, the United States enters the 18-day competition struggling to stay on top both in athletics and on the world stage. Many observers are predicting a second-place U.S. finish in the total medals count, a result that would be seen by many as symbolic of a shift in the global balance of power. | 08/06/08 14:23:19 By - Jack Chang

Science of sports: Making it rain for the Olympics

The Olympic Games in Beijing start Friday, and the Chinese have been practicing hard. At modifying the weather. | 08/06/08 07:22:04 By - Pete Grathoff

Athletes without borders: Is it trend or whim?

It's an iconic Olympic image: Athletes wiping away a tear on the medal stand while singing along to their national anthem. But what if they don't quite know the words? That might be the case at the Beijing Olympics if, for instance, the Russian women win gold in basketball. One of the "Russians" is South Dakota native Becky Hammon. | 08/05/08 18:10:09 By - Mechelle Voepel

China using Olympics to showcase its new generation

The capital of the world's most populous country and the host of the 2008 Olympics is really two cities in one, and you'd better run at 100-meter-dash speed to catch a glimpse of old Beijing before it is lost beneath the glass towers and soupy haze of new Beijing. Wander the few remaining walled and winding streets of historic Beijing and you can still chat with the proud owner of two crickets about his mellifluous and plump pets. | 08/05/08 20:29:10 By - Linda Robertson

New mega-embassies underscore close U.S., China ties

The new U.S. Embassy in the Chinese capital is a sprawling maze of glass and concrete that's the second biggest construction project in the history of the State Department. The just-inaugurated Chinese embassy in Washington is the largest foreign legation in the U.S. capital. When President Bush himself inaugurates the new U.S. embassy in Beijing on Friday, it will send a visual signal that the most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century is the one between China and the United States. | 08/05/08 16:12:00 By - Jack Chang

Experience sets 44-year-old on Olympic path

There are millions of athletes around the world with far superior athleticism to Dominic Grazioli, but only a small percentage of them share the same designation he does: 2008 Olympian. The 1982 Socastee High School graduate and resident of San Antonio will compete for the U.S. in Beijing in shotgun trap shooting. | 08/05/08 16:13:56 By - Josh Hoke

Dawn Staley takes a behind-the-scenes role at Olympics

As the flag-bearer for the U.S. team at the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens Olympics four years ago, Dawn Staley was front and center at the 2004 Summer Games. Staley will play more of a behind-the-scenes role for the women's basketball team in Beijing this month. | 08/05/08 15:42:43 By - Joe Person

Kansas City woman was pioneer for U.S. in team handball

To grasp how much the Olympics - and women’s sports in particular - has changed, let’s take a fun trip down memory lane with Dwight, a Raytown South (Kansas) graduate who competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Games in team handball. | 08/05/08 15:26:06 By - Mechelle Voepel

Some Olympians tout a new training technique

Dara Torres, at 41 the oldest woman to qualify for an Olympic team, has made it to her fifth Olympics where she hopes to earn her 10th Olympic medal. She's focused on winning swimming's shortest and fastest event, the 50-meter freestyle. Her time today is faster than the world record she set in 1983. She has attributed much of her success to her two personal stretchers and the method they employ: Meridian Flexibility System, A K A resistance flexibility and strength training. | 08/05/08 14:46:14 By - Howard Cohen

Former 'train wreck waiting to happen' leads U.S. gymnasts

Shawn Johnson's mother enrolled her in gymnastics class out of fear more than anything else. At least at the gym there were mats, foam pads and coaches to catch the little daredevil. Back home, Johnson had climbed out of her crib before she could walk. As a toddler, she liked to stack toys or furniture and jump off. At the park, Johnson's favorite thing was running pell-mell down a steep set of concrete steps. | 08/05/08 13:42:35 By - Linda Robertson

Staley takes behind-the-scenes role at Olympics

As the flag-bearer for the U.S. team at the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens Olympics four years ago, Dawn Staley was front and center at the 2004 Summer Games. Staley will play more of a behind-the-scenes role for the women's basketball team in Beijing this month - unfamiliar territory for the former point guard who helped lead Team USA to the gold medal in each of the previous three Olympics. | 08/05/08 13:40:03 By - Joseph Person

Asthma adds to the Olympic challenge for some contenders

As thousands of athletes prepare to breathe deeply in one of the world's most polluted cities, one group of Olympic competitors is contemplating a special challenge. | 08/05/08 07:23:17 By - Carrie Peyton Dahlberg

Making a splash (outside of the pool)

Charlotte resident Jeremy Knowles will swim three events in the Beijing Olympics, then return home Aug.24. On the morning of Aug. 25, he starts his new career as a fourth-grade teacher. | 08/05/08 06:54:03 By - Scott Fowler

China fails to keep promises it made to win Olympic Games

With four days left before the start of the 2008 Summer Games, Chinese officials have not lived up to key promises they made to win the right to host the Olympics, including widening press freedoms, cleaning up their capital city's polluted air and respecting human rights. Thick smog covers Beijing, human rights violations continue and the Internet is still restricted. | 08/04/08 16:45:00 By - Jack Chang and Tim Johnson

China says attack in Muslim west kills 16 policemen

Two assailants in a dump truck mowed down a group of policemen jogging in Kashgar, China's westernmost city, then tossed grenades and used knives to slash gasping survivors. The attack left 16 police officers dead and 16 others wounded and sent trepidation through China just four days before the opening of the Summer Olympic Games. | 08/04/08 14:00:00 By - Tim Johnson

Shooting for Gold

Alaska will boast three athletes when the Olympics come to China for the first time this week, and all three have stories worth telling. | 08/04/08 06:45:31 By - Beth Bragg

Olympics are a moment of pride, tension for China

This coming Friday evening, as princes, kings and presidents look on, China will fill the sky over its capital with an awesome display of fireworks and make its case to the world that it was no mistake to award Beijing the 2008 Summer Olympics. As the games unfold, there will be many subplots, some related to the control that China exerts over its people, others to the powerful sense of grievance that still lingers here over foreign domination. | 08/03/08 06:00:00 By - Tim Johnson

China's athletes march toward one goal — gold

Lithe and swift, 16-year-old Lu Mingjia has become an elite women's long jumper for China, but not because of her deep love for the track and field event. Rather, trainers looked at her body a few years ago, took out a tape measure and a stopwatch, and decided how she could be groomed to lift her nation through sport. China's system of sports schools is getting close examination as the country strives to surpass the United States in gold medals. | 08/03/08 13:31:00 By - Tim Johnson

China drops heavy Internet censorship — at least for now

China loosened its Internet restrictions after several days of intense foreign criticism that it had reneged on a pledge to relax censorship around the period of the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympic Games. President Hu Jintao said China would stand by its pledge of openness in a highly unusual meeting with a group of foreign journalists early Friday. | 08/01/08 00:38:00 By - Tim Johnson

Sprinter Muna Lee hopes to be double trouble

It might just be the best-kept secret in College Station, Texas. Just a couple of blocks from Kyle Field, where more than 80,000 Aggies will soon enthusiastically welcome the start of the Mike Sherman era at Texas A&M, one of world’s top sprinters has been training for the Beijing Olympics in relative anonymity. | 08/01/08 14:50:09 By - Lori Dann

Volleyball player gets third try for medal

Stacy Sykora told herself, and everyone else, that she was finished with volleyball. The Burleson High School product was disappointed, burned out and moving on. But even after Sykora moved to Las Vegas and started working as a paralegal, her mother, Sherian Richards, knew better. | 07/31/08 18:51:04 By - Charean Williams

Olympics just another day on the job for shot putter

Christian Cantwell is a big man — 6 feet 5 and 300 pounds — who does not apply needless decoration to himself or what he does. The former Missouri All-America shot put champion is heading to China on Saturday for the Summer Olympics that begin Aug. 8. But let others wrap themselves in the flag, the perceived glory. For Cantwell, the Beijing Games are not so much an opportunity to establish himself as the Lord of the Ring as they will be another day on the job as a professional athlete doing what he always does. | 07/31/08 17:36:05 By - Mike DeArmond

Aiming for Olympic gold

Raleigh's Leigh Smith is one of the best javelin throwers in the world when he gets everything in sync. But getting the footwork, the body turn, the release and all the other 100 technical things just right is difficult. "I haven't been as consistent as I would like," Smith said. "But I wouldn't be going to the Olympics if I didn't think I could win a medal." | 07/30/08 17:43:42 By - Tim Stevens

Heat's Wade predicts gold for U.S.

Dwyane Wade enters the Beijing Olympics with a chip on his shoulder and the confidence that he'll exit with a gold medal around his neck. Heading into Team USA's exhibition game Thursday morning against Turkey, Wade said he is equipped with all of the intangibles he needs to make his second Olympic experience far more successful than his first. | 07/30/08 16:08:19 By - Michael Wallace

Olympic swimmer has lots of support

Set to represent Team USA in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events, as well as the medley relay, at the Beijing Olympics, Elaine Breeden is no doubt expanding 370-student Trinity Christian’s reputation | 07/30/08 07:21:33 By - Mark Maloney

Penn State sending trio of fencers to Olympic games

Doris Willette, Adam Wiercioch and Nontapat Panchan will all be chasing their Olympic dreams. Panchan, a national champion for Penn State in 2002 and 2003, will compete in foil for Thailand and Wiercioch, a four-time All-American from 2001- 04, is a member of the Polish team and will compete in epee. Willette, a rising sophomore and an NCAA champion last spring, also competes in foil and is an alternate on the U.S. team. | 07/30/08 07:06:19 By - Gordon Brunskill

Some Iraq athletes will go to Olympics

After a seven-hour meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee and Iraq's interim National Olympic Committee agreed to a truce in their dispute over the legitimacy of Iraq's committee that will allow two Iraqi track and field athletes to compete in next month's Summer Games in Beijing. But five other athletes have missed the deadline for signing up for their events. | 07/29/08 19:09:00 By - Nicholas Spangler and Laith Hammoudi

Hasay quickly becoming future face of U. S. track

Even on vacation, Jordan Hasay can't escape her growing celebrity. Hasay was waiting with her family to board a plane to Maui at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport in California on Wednesday when she noticed something unusual. Elsewhere in the airport, someone was reading the USA Today sports section when Hasay saw a photo of herself staring back at her. | 07/29/08 15:14:13 By - Tristan Aird

Gymnast Paul Hamm withdraws from Olympics

It was set up to be one of the Summer Olympics' best comeback-against-adversity stories. But battling pain and soreness in his gym last week, Paul Hamm said he basically tossed up his hands, frustrated and disappointed, knowing he had run out of time. | 07/28/08 22:15:24 By - Mechelle Voepel

China, protesters may play cat-and-mouse during Olympics

Activists savor the chance to steal the spotlight during the Olympic Games and air their grievances. They'd like to unfurl banners, streak across playing fields and hack into stadium screens. China is even more determined to stop them. | 07/28/08 16:44:00 By - Tim Johnson

Wrestler confident about Beijing Olympics

Ben Askren was on his way to see "Step Brothers" the other night, the Will Ferrell comedy. "Mat Brothers" would be more the movie of Askren's life. Although it would no doubt have its comic elements, the movie would also make you smile about how real brothers can work together. Even if that's partly by beating the crud out of each other. Ben, a two-time NCAA champion in wrestling while at Missouri, won the 163-pound class at the U.S. Olympic trials in June in Las Vegas. | 07/28/08 14:17:45 By - Mechelle Voepel

Pitching leads baseball player to Beijing

Casey Weathers loved to hit. So when Sacramento City College baseball coach Andy McKay suggested a move from outfielder to pitcher, the response was tepid. Weathers kept hitting every day, did no extra pitching work and admits to getting by on the mound solely on a decent arm. "Hitting was my life," he said. "It was kind of hard to let go." | 07/28/08 13:18:01 By - John Schumacher

Beijing's haze thickens even with pollution controls in place

A daily air pollution index in China's capital has actually gotten worse in the week since city officials ordered more than one million cars off the streets and staggered office hours as part of an unprecedented anti-pollution campaign to clear the air for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. The haze looks worse than it really is, two senior officials asserted Saturday. | 07/26/08 06:50:00 By - Tim Johnson

Discus thrower's Olympic dreams are crushed

Haider Nasir knew the news was coming but it still landed like a punch to the gut. The Olympic delegation has been barred from competing, said Dr. Talib Faisal, the head of the interim Iraqi Track and Field Federation. He is the same man who'd told Nasir in February that Nasir was going to throw the discus in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. | 07/25/08 18:26:00 By - Nicholas Spangler and Sahar Issa

Olympic swimmer's coach seriously ill

This should have been a glorious week for Michael Lohberg. The six-time Olympic swim coach was scheduled to leave Fort Lauderdale on Friday for Singapore and a training camp with his best-known swimmer, 41-year-old Dara Torres. Instead, Lohberg, 58, was suddenly fighting for his life after being diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder that could be fatal. | 07/25/08 07:23:05 By - Michelle Kaufman

Day hits new heights by reaching Olympics

More than 20,000 people were rooting against Sharon Day. Or at least, they were adamantly cheering on a woman who happened to be the final, painstaking roadblock between Day and the Olympic Games. The women's high jump final was the only event in progress the night of July 4 at the U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials when Deirdre Mullen prepared to take one last stab at clearing 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches. | 07/25/08 16:43:16 By - Tristan Aird

Iraqi athletes banned from the Summer Games

Five Iraqi athletes invited to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games have been barred from competing in August, the International Olympic Committee said Thursday. "We suspended (the Iraqi National Olympic Committee) back in June because of the clear interference of the government," spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said. "When we did that we also invited the Iraqi government to discuss possible solutions, but we haven't received any positive response from them." | 07/24/08 17:28:48 By - Nicholas Spangler and Sahar Issa

Rider will have second chance at Olympic dream

Gina Miles had her lifelong Olympic dreams squarely in front of she and her horse, McKinlaigh. But shortly before selection the U.S. equestrian eventing team for the 2004 Athens Games, the Creston, Calif., rider's horse developed respiratory problems that prevented it from competing. | 07/24/08 16:00:04 By - Tristan Aird

N.C. swimmer will honor his father while competing

When Dan Velez dives in the pool at the Olympics next month, he'll be wearing more than a stylish swim suit. The former N.C. State standout also will be wearing the tattooed title of a prayer, "Afterglow," on his left arm in memory of his father, Jose. Since Jose Velez was a native of Puerto Rico, it made his son eligible to try out for that country's Olympic team — and now he is Beijing bound. | 07/24/08 14:27:57 By - A.J. Carr

Petite lifter disproves stereotypes

At first sight of Melanie Roach, there's no way to guess what makes her different. At 33, she is well groomed and dressed, somewhat on the small side (5-foot-1, 117 pounds). She is a mother of three, one of whom is autistic. From Bonney Lake, Wash., she is married to Dan, a Washington state representative. Dan and Melanie operate their own business, Roach Gymnastics Inc. | 07/24/08 14:36:55 By - Mark Maloney

Mark Spitz says Michael Phelps has what it takes

In just a few weeks, swimmers will show up at the Beijing Olympics adorned head to toe in the Speedo LZR swimsuits. The latest advance in swimming technology lasts only about six races and requires assistance to put on, yet few athletes will go without it. By contrast, Mark Spitz won a record seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics without shaving his trademark Ron Burgundy-style mustache. | 07/24/08 15:34:55 By - Brad Gray

Federer sets sights on Olympic gold

Roger Federer, on the rebound after his dramatic Wimbledon loss to Spain's Rafael Nadal, is in Toronto this week for the Rogers Masters tournament (no, it is not named after him), but his sights already are firmly set on Beijing. The top-ranked Swiss is eager to add an Olympic gold medal to his loaded resume. | 07/24/08 15:43:17 By - Michelle Kaufman

Olympic memories still fresh for swimmer Bruner

It's been 12 years since Carlton Bruner competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, but the Beaufort resident still hasn't found words to illustrate what he felt the night he qualified for the Games | 07/24/08 07:08:37 By - Buddy Hughes

Mind games matter for U.S. field hockey team

In the age of high-tech equipment and nutritional supplements, many feel the greatest advantages in sports can still be found in something athletes have known about all along — the mental part of the game. It was Yogi Berra who once said, "Baseball is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical." | 07/23/08 14:30:54 By - Stephen Chen

Olympians will take South Florida flavor to Beijing

In China, coach Jesse Holt plans to cheer not only for his two former protégés, Bershawn Jackson and Tiffany Ross-Williams in the 400-meter hurdles, at Bird's Nest Stadium -- but for all of Team South Florida. | 07/23/08 07:38:23 By - Linda Robertson

Open-water swimmer Chloe Sutton heads to Beijing

Open-water swimming isn't as glamorous as the 50 freestyle, but the new Olympic event's uniqueness has her teammates intrigued. So they have been asking her questions — which Chloe Sutton thinks is pretty cool. | 07/23/08 07:19:49 By - John Schumacher

Despite the 'luck of the eights,' pollution worries mar excitement generated around Games' debut

Eight is considered a lucky number in China, so the curtain will rise on the Beijing Olympics on 08/08/08, at precisely 8:08 p.m., inviting the world to peek in and witness three decades of economic progress and the $40 billion transformation of the nation's capital. | 07/22/08 20:35:10 By - Michelle Kaufman

Golden expectations: The eight leading U.S. storylines heading into the Games

The United States has won a thousand more medals in Olympic history than any other country. It has twice as many gold medals. In the past three Olympics, the United States has won the medal count, including 102 in Athens four years ago, which was 38 more than second-place Russia and 39 more than third-place China. Yet, the superpower is casting itself as the underdog to China this year when the Summer Olympics begin Aug. 8 in Beijing. | 07/22/08 20:24:32 By - Charean Williams

Chinese revel in nation's growth, direction, survey finds

As they prepare to host the Summer Olympics, Chinese are extraordinarily satisfied with their nation's economic growth and the way things are going for their country, chalking up much higher levels of contentment than earlier in the decade, a survey released Tuesday showed. | 07/22/08 16:15:38 By - Tim Johnson

Judoka setting new limits

The scars on Adler Volmar's knees are more than just targets for his opponents on the judo mat. They have become symbols of the adversities he has overcome. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic judo team in June, just five months after reconstructive surgery on his left knee for what he called a "horrendous injury.'' But compared to a tumultuous upbringing in Haiti, an odyssey through the ranks of the United States military, raising a family and the death of his mother, torn knee ligaments are a relative snap. | 07/20/08 14:55:32 By - David Quinones

Hard work pays off for young fencer

He'd just become a teenager, the world unfolding in front of him, when James Williams decided to get serious about his four-year relationship with fencing. "It occurred to me around age 13, the more work I put into it, the better I would become," he said. "It was quite the discovery at that age. I just decided fencing was something I really, really loved and wanted to dedicate myself to it." | 07/20/08 15:19:07 By - John Schumacher