2008 Beijing Olympics

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Swimmer Torres Set for Shoulder Surgery

41-year-old won three silvers in pain during Beijing Olympics

(Newser) - Dara Torres will finally get some relief after swimming to three silver medals with a damaged shoulder, CNN reports. The 41-year-old is scheduled today for a surgery she put off before the Olympics. Torres went to Beijing armed with anti-inflammatories, but started having intense pain while there. She plans to...

Sydney Olympics Also Featured Fake Performances

In 2000, city's orchestra mimed to backing tape—by ensemble from Melbourne

(Newser) - The world was shocked to learn that Chinese singer Lin Miaoke was really just a pretty lip-syncher, but fakery seems to be par for the Olympic course: the Sydney Symphony has disclosed that its performers mimed to a backing tape during the 2000 opening ceremony. "It's correct that we...

Castro Backs Cuban Athlete Who Kicked Ref

Accuses Matos' opponent of trying to fix fight

(Newser) - An ailing Fidel Castro expressed "total solidarity" today with a Cuban martial artist who kicked an Olympics referee in the face, the AP reports. Castro supported a claim by the taekwondo athlete's coach that the contest was fixed and marred by a bribery attempt. "They had tried to...

After Beijing Pageantry, London 2012 Tries ... a Bus

Brits less than thrilling in Olympic preview

(Newser) - The Beijing Olympics' closing ceremony was predictably stupendous, with thousands of acrobats and "more orthodontically screened children," writes Guardian columnist Marina Hyde. It certainly ran over the 8-minute tableau promoting the 2012 Games in London. While China spent years preparing its "deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial,...

China Faces Rocky Road in Keeping Up Growth

The gains of the past 30 years will be hard to maintain as workers age

(Newser) - The opulence of the Beijing Olympics highlighted just how far China has come since opening its economy 30 years ago—it soon will be the world’s third largest. But with the success comes a plethora of challenges, reports the Wall Street Journal. And chief among them is how to...

Communist Party Basks in Olympic Afterglow

Olympics strengthen ruling party after decade of planning

(Newser) - For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has made the Olympics the nation's first political priority, writes Jim Yardley in the New York Times. Hopes that the international spotlight would lead to democratization and human-rights reforms in China didn't materialize, as the triumph of the Games instead underscored the...

Online Olympics Viewing Shatters Records

But TV's still tops, NBC says

(Newser) - The Internet played an unprecedented role in Olympics viewing this year, with NBCOlympics.com and Yahoo leading the online-coverage pack, the New York Times reports. With 1.2 billion page hits and 72 million video streams, NBC more than doubled its Web traffic from the past two Olympics combined. The...

China Releases, Deports US Tibet Protesters

American officials 'disappointed' by China's 'intolerance'

(Newser) - Eight Americans arrested in China last week after staging a pro-Tibet protests have been freed from jail and deported following US pressure for their release, reports the BBC. The protesters faced up to 10 days in detention for unfurling a “Free Tibet” banner near an Olympic site and staging...

US Urges China to Free 8 Yanks
 US Urges China to Free 8 Yanks
Aug 24, 2008 2:33 PM CDT

US Urges China to Free 8 Yanks

Pro-Tibetan demonstrators to be released next weekend

(Newser) - Washington is seeking the release of eight US protesters held by China during the Olympics, Reuters reports. Two were collared Thursday for posting a "Free Tibet" banner near an Olympic event; six others were members of Free Tibet Reporters detained the day before. Beijing vows to release all eight...

China Wraps Up Olympic Idyll
 China Wraps Up Olympic Idyll
Aug 24, 2008 11:54 AM CDT

China Wraps Up Olympic Idyll

A look back at a successful 2 weeks

(Newser) - The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games wrapped up today with a star-studded fireworks-filled extravaganza worthy of its opening, Reuters reports. With 51 golds, China easily topped the medal rankings, capping a near-flawlessly-executed couple of weeks that saw smog lifting, transport worries evaporating, and Tibet protests dwindling. Still, arrests and suppression of...

US Men Back on Top With Basketball Gold
 US Men Back
 on Top With
 Basketball Gold
OLYMPICS
Aug 24, 2008 5:51 AM CDT

US Men Back on Top With Basketball Gold

We're 'back on top,' boasts ecstatic LeBron James

(Newser) - The US Men's Basketball Olympic team pulled off a hard-fought victory to beat Spain 118-107 today to grab the gold medal. The US team has won gold every Olympics but three, including embarrassing defeats in 2004. "Much respect to Spain, but the US is back on top again,"...

Wanjiru 1st Kenyan to Win Olympic Men's Marathon

(Newser) - Samuel Wanjiru pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the storied running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon. The 21-year-old negotiated the 26.2-mile course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6...

Cuban May Face Ban for Kicking Ref
 Cuban May Face Ban
 for Kicking Ref
Olympics
Aug 23, 2008 5:19 PM CDT

Cuban May Face Ban for Kicking Ref

Taekwondo association apologizes for kick

(Newser) - Cuban martial artist Angel Matos may be banned from taekwondo for life after deliberately kicking a referee in the face, the AP reports. Matos was winning his bronze-medal match in Beijing when he was disqualified for taking too long a break after a hit. He angrily questioned the call, pushed...

US Women Win Basketball Gold
 US Women Win Basketball Gold
olympics
Aug 23, 2008 12:21 PM CDT

US Women Win Basketball Gold

Victory over Australia marks 4th straight championship

(Newser) - Lisa Leslie and the US women's basketball team were once again too good for Australia at the Olympics. Leslie capped off her illustrious Olympic career with a fourth straight gold medal, scoring 14 points in a 92-65 victory against Australia today. She joined former teammate Teresa Edwards as the only...

China's Gold Rush Pays Off Nicely for Athletes
China's Gold Rush
Pays Off Nicely for Athletes
Olympics
Aug 23, 2008 11:04 AM CDT

China's Gold Rush Pays Off Nicely for Athletes

Government, corporations give athletes big bucks on top of Olympic glory

(Newser) - Decades ago, bringing glory to the motherland would have been the sole reward for victorious Chinese Olympians. The glory is still there—plenty of it, as China leads the gold medal table—but champions can now expect an average reward of $300,000 in cash and bonuses, even before corporate...

US Finishes Strong, Sweeps 1600 Relays

(Newser) - The US men's and women's teams swept the 1600-meter relays today, ending a string of frustrations for the Americans that included dropped batons in two earlier races. For the women, Sanya Richards anchored her team in a come-from-behind victory over Russia in 3:18.54, the world's fastest time since...

Olympics Fervor Prompts Beijing Tattoo Craze

Taboos fall as China's new generation gets into body art

(Newser) - Beijing tattoo artists have had a steady stream of customers seeking permanent Olympic souvenirs in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. Tattoo parlors were rare in China a decade ago, but hundreds have sprouted as taboos have begun to fall. American influence is strong, but artists are seeking to...

In Age Flap, IOC Lacks Spine
 In Age Flap, 
 IOC Lacks Spine 
OPINION
Aug 22, 2008 4:58 PM CDT

In Age Flap, IOC Lacks Spine

Committee kowtows to organizers, sponsors on China's gymnasts

(Newser) - After weeks of speculation about underage Chinese gymnasts and reports that at least two of them are not yet 16, the International Olympic Committee is investigating yet still sitting on its hands, Sally Jenkins writes in the Washington Post. The question “is whether the IOC is genuinely trying to...

Athletes' Village Is a 'Sex-Fest'
 Athletes' Village Is a 'Sex-Fest'
olympics
Aug 22, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Athletes' Village Is a 'Sex-Fest'

(Newser) - The Olympic village overflows with world-class athletes, and they're doing about what you'd expect thousands of buff, healthy young people voluntarily crammed into a confined space to do: have sex, and plenty of it. "I am not implying, for one moment, that every athlete in Beijing is at it,...

2 Chinese 'Songbirds' May Close Games Together

Dual-billing with counterpart Lin Maioke expected

(Newser) - Yang Peiyi, the 7-year-old songstress whom Chinese officials deemed better heard than seen during the Olympic opening ceremonies, may appear alongside her lip-syncing counterpart during Sunday’s closing ceremonies, the Hong Kong Standard reports. Organizers who claimed that the decision to replace Yang with a cuter girl was “in...

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