Olympic Games – News Stories About Olympic Games - Page 11

Apr 2, 2008 5:13 AM CDT

China Blasts Dalai Lama 'Suicide Plots'

Monks amassing arms, planning to disrupt Olympics, Chinese charge

(Newser) - Chinese authorities are accusing the Dalai Lama of organizing suicide attacks, building an arsenal of weapons and explosives in Tibetan monasteries, and plotting to disrupt the Beijing Olympics. The fresh allegations come in the wake of last month's raging protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and China's violent response.

Olympic Flame Lit
Amid Brief Protest

Mar 24, 2008 6:44 AM CDT

Olympic Flame Lit Amid Brief Protest

Torch lit in grand style at Olympia

(Newser) - The Olympic flame was lit this morning in Greece, in a ceremony briefly interrupted by human rights protesters. As the Chinese Communist Party secretary—also the head of the Beijing Olympics—spoke, three demonstrators evaded massive security to run onto the field at the stadium in Ancient Olympia. One managed...

Marion Jones Reports to Jail

Mar 8, 2008 6:09 AM CST

Marion Jones Reports to Jail

Former Olympic medalist starts 6-month sentence

(Newser) - Marion Jones has entered a federal prison in Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The disgraced former sprinter is beginning a 6-month sentence for lying to investigators about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and about her role in a check-fraud scam. She has already returned her Olympic gold medals and...

Indian Athletes Aim for Gold on Billionaire's Buck

Mar 7, 2008 8:51 AM CST

Indian Athletes Aim for Gold on Billionaire's Buck

Trust seeks to boost Indian medal count

(Newser) - Young Indians are training for this summer’s Olympics with the backing of a London-based billionaire steel magnate, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lakshmi Mittal was dismayed by India’s poor showing at Athens in 2004—where the burgeoning superpower earned only a single silver, while archrival China won 32...

Brit Olympians Hit With Gag Order on China

Feb 10, 2008 9:04 AM CST

Brit Olympians Hit With Gag Order on China

Can't go unless they sign contract to keep mum on issues

(Newser) - British athletes headed to the Beijing Olympics are being required to sign a controversial document barring them from criticizing the Chinese government, reports Britain's Daily Mail. They must promise "not to comment on any politically sensitive issues," said a spokesman for the British Olympic Association, which wrote the...

Freeze of Century Grips China

Feb 4, 2008 4:56 AM CST

Freeze of Century Grips China

Millions still still stranded in winter chaos

(Newser) - First it was the snow, now it's the cold wreaking continued havoc in China, leaving millions stranded and millions more without power in the coldest winter in a century. President Hu Jintao chaired an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss rescue efforts in the nation where scores have died, as desperate...

China Shines Image for Olympics

Jan 30, 2008 2:29 PM CST

China Shines Image for Olympics

Bureaucracy in full spin mode with Games less than 200 days away

(Newser) - With less than 200 days to go before the Summer Olympics, Der Spiegel takes an in-depth look at China’s feverish preparations and finds a sprawling bureaucracy working overtime to project the perfect image to the world. But while Beijing might clean the smog, and even prevent rain, making communist...

Judge Sends Jones to Slammer

Jan 11, 2008 12:25 PM CST

Judge Sends Jones to Slammer

Disgraced runner draws maximum sentence recommended in plea deal

(Newser) - A federal judge threw the book at Marion Jones today, sentencing the disgraced Olympian to 6 months in prison for lying about steroid use and participating in a check-fraud scam. Jones begged the judge not to separate her from her family, and prosecutors said they were okay with a zero-month...

'Bowman the Showman' Found Dead

Jan 11, 2008 2:50 AM CST

'Bowman the Showman' Found Dead

Figure skating champ's body in LA motel, overdose suspected

(Newser) - Former US figure skating champion Christopher Bowman was found dead yesterday in a Los Angeles motel room, AP reports. Authorities suspect a drug overdose. Bowman, 40, won US figure skating titles in 1988 and 1992 and wowed the crowds at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics. His flamboyant personality and...

Gatlin Gets 4-Year Ban

Jan 1, 2008 10:51 PM CST

Gatlin Gets 4-Year Ban

Olympic sprinter thinks vengeful massage therapist may have framed him

(Newser) - Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin won't be competing this year in Beijing—or in any other track and field meet—after receiving a four-year ban for a failed drug test in 2006. The sprinter had been arguing his case, saying, for one thing, that a prior doping charge shouldn't count...

Nazi Architect's Son Has His Own Designs

Dec 22, 2007 6:14 AM CST

Nazi Architect's Son Has His Own Designs

Father's shadow hasn't kept Albert Speer from worldwide impact

(Newser) - It’s hard to make a name for yourself when you share a name with your father, harder when the father was a famous Nazi architect and friend of Hitler. Urban planner Albert Speer constantly battles the association, keeping a low profile, and, though he has made his mark worldwide,...

Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40

Dec 16, 2007 3:31 PM CST

Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40

Ex-bodyguard changed name, 'died a long time ago,' brother says

(Newser) - A plotter in the 1994 attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan died this week of natural causes at age 40, the AP reports. Brian Sean Griffith, ex-bodyguard to figure-skating Olympic hopeful Tonya Harding, confessed to helping organize the attack on Kerrigan days after it happened. Griffith served 14 months and...

Marion Jones Falls Further

Nov 24, 2007 2:44 AM CST

Marion Jones Falls Further

Shamed sprinter's records to be taken off books

(Newser) - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones will have her results in races dating back to September 2000 wiped from the record books, reports the AP, under orders from track and field's world governing body. She's also been ordered to give back $700,000 in prize money. The IAAF council decided to retroactively...

Italian Soccer Fans Riot After Shooting

Nov 11, 2007 7:11 PM CST

Italian Soccer Fans Riot After Shooting

Cops call shooting "tragic error" after mob attacks police barracks

(Newser) - The police shooting of an Italian soccer fan sparked riots and police clashes across the country today, the BBC reports. Hundreds in Rome torched a bus, smashed cop cars, and attacked a police barracks. In Milan, one game was stopped when angry fans tried to storm the field; more violence...

Fading US Sway Leads to Darfur, Burma Inaction

Oct 15, 2007 3:25 PM CDT

Fading US Sway Leads to Darfur, Burma Inaction

China is ignoring rights abuses for economic interests, Time says

(Newser) - Diminished US influence is allowing human rights violators in Darfur and Burma to get away with murder, Harvard expert Samantha Power writes in Time. America is speaking up louder than ever, but Uncle Sam’s diplomatic nadir makes for “a void in global human rights leadership.” China has...

Chinese Prez Rips Corruption

Oct 15, 2007 3:50 AM CDT

Chinese Prez Rips Corruption

(Newser) - China's President Hu Jintao blasted the "extravagance and corruption" of some Communist officials at a key party congress today as he warned that the nation's promise has "fallen short" of public expectation. He also cautioned that "independence" forces were growing stronger in Taiwan and that the island...

IOC Will Move Quickly to Strip Jones of Medals

Oct 5, 2007 2:24 PM CDT

IOC Will Move Quickly to Strip Jones of Medals

100-meter gold may go to runner in another drug scandal

(Newser) - The International Olympic Committee announced today that it is ready to make a speedy move to strip Marion Jones of the three gold and two bronze medals she took home from the 2000 Sydney Games. Now that Jones has pled guilty, IOC vice-president Thomas Bach intends to "accelerate and...

After World Cup Dismissal, Hope to Fly Solo

Sep 29, 2007 6:48 PM CDT

After World Cup Dismissal, Hope to Fly Solo

Player banished from games; coach under fire for not playing her

(Newser) - The US women’s soccer team just suffered one of its worst World Cup losses, but all eyes are focused on the team’s outspoken player and embattled coach. Goalie Hope Solo was banished today after publicly criticizing the choice of veteran teammate Briana Scurry to replace her in the...

Romney Passed
Trial By Torch

Sep 19, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

Romney Passed Trial By Torch

Candidate learned from running 2002 Games, but also drew flip-flop rap

(Newser) - Mitt Romney built his persona and political team as chief executive of the 2002 Winter Olympics, but also grew a reputation for playing to his audience. In turning around the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Games, the GOP presidential hopeful gained poise unseen in his failed 1994 Senate run, the New ...

Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)

Sep 14, 2007 12:41 PM CDT

Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)

Windy City officially joins race for 2016 Olympic Games

(Newser) - Chicago and six other cities kicked off the competition for the 2016 Olympics yesterday by filing official applications to play host to the Games. The other candidates are 1964 Summer Olympics host Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro; Prague; Madrid; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Chicago is likely to be among the...