Less than 24 hours before the first women's football action, as all 12 teams will play their first matches in the evening of August 6, China Standard Time (UTC +8). We're heading into the home stretch, and there are no more pre-Olympic events from here on out. Now all that's left to do is to jump in your electric shuttle and get to where you need to be, on time.
CYCLING: The United States team caused a stir when they showed up at the Beijing airport wearing large pollution-averting face masks. It's been a sore subject in China, where air quality levels have deteriorated in recent days and such masks are seen as somewhat impolite. The team members did take the masks off to give interviews.
Ten Russian athletes have been suspended from their national team for drug violations, the latest of which is time trial expert Vladimir Gusev. He did not test positive for anything but his blood registered odd indicators. The Russian Cycling Federation insists that training at altitude was the reason for the test results.
BASKETBALL: The second quadrennial women's Diamond Ball tournament has wrapped up, and the United States edged Australia in the final, 71-67. The Aussies won this event in 2004 and settled for silver at Athens. Russia took fifth place in a classification match with African champions Mali, winning 79-52.
Meanwhile, the U.S. men's team survived its toughest challenge yet, an 87-76 win over Australia. American guard Dwayne Wade said simply, "We came out lazy."
SWIMMING: The U.S.-Australia rivalry surfaces again: the Aussies are criticizing the IOC for scheduling swimming finals in the mornings. The sole reason for this is so that they can be shown live in America, where folks might not adequately appreciate the extent to which the international sports community bends over backwards for them.
Somehow, U.S. octuple-gold threat Michael Phelps slipped unnoticed into the Watercube for his first workout there, even though thousands of journalists were waiting for him. They were treated to a scrap of news though: he will shave that thing off his face.
BASEBALL: The United States, attempting to recapture its golden touch from Sydney 2000, routed Canada 17-5 in Durham, N.C. yesterday. The mercy rule was applied, and the game was cut off at seven innings.
HANDBALL: A member of Brazil's men's team, Jaqson Kojoroski, tested positive for an unknown substance. He'd been removed from the roster in late July but the team only announced the ban yesterday. This will likely be the biggest news out of Brazilian handball for the next three weeks; the team finished 10th out of 12 at the Athens 2004 tournament.
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The full NBC television schedule, for those in the United States. Once again, some don't know how lucky they have it.
YouTube will be streaming live video of the Games to the 75 countries with no television rightsholder, like South Korea, Nigeria and India. Everybody else will be shut out, at least those who don't know how to use a web proxy.
Canadian Dick Pound, traditionally one of the more outspoken members of the IOC, took an opportunity yesterday to make known his opposition to the global torch relay, which he called "very close to becoming a disaster." He said that earthquakes in May kept it from being one.
"In my country and in many other countries in my part of the world, we were in full boycott mode," he said. "Public opinion and political opinion was moving toward an actual boycott of the games, and it was only the earthquake tragedy that diverted attention from what could otherwise have been something very, very serious."
Two Japanese journalists attempting to cover the Xinjiang attacks that left 16 policemen dead were detained and beaten, according to their employers.
Important considerations for those bringing the Games to the world, and a question a lot of TV viewers don't ask: how will on-air talent keep from sweating through their makeup in sweltering Beijing?
The best Olympic journalism comes from the short profiles in miniature that the blog format allows for quick dissemination of. Here's a study of Chinese security guards and Japanese journalists at the weightlifting venue.
A Chinese volunteer approached the group and announced that according to Olympic rules, journalists were not allowed to enter the gym.The Japanese reporters nodded, smiled, and stayed put.
The volunteer took a deep breath and said: "So please, cooperate."
The reporters nodded, smiled, and stayed put.
Volunteer: "See, the rules…"
And so on.
Eventually, one Japanese reporter broke the silence and said: "Can you please stop. This is annoying me."
And lastly, the Reuters picture of the day: sprint star Usain Bolt of Jamaica, his venue, his tools, and a clear indication of his Olympic intentions.
(Photo © Icon SMI)
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