ATHLETICS: Last week's last-minute reinstatement deal for Iraq's athletes, after the IOC declared a ban for government interference in the country's Olympic committee, allows some remarkable stories to breathe. Take Dana Hussein, for example. The female sprinter was recently shot at by a sniper while training, and will become just the third Iraqi woman to compete at the Olympics.

On the completely opposite side of the story spectrum, Australian indoor 800m champion Tamsyn Lewis launched into a rant on the topic of drug testing. The country's Olympic officials are kindly and gently advising her to tone things down.

"I have got to the point where this is just farcical and simply unfair on the athletes who are clean and get there on their own merit," she told Sydney's Daily Telegraph from her training camp in Darwin. "I have no doubts that when I line up next week, I will look left and right and know the other girls aren't all clean. That is such a disgrace and I've lost all faith in the system because there are so many athletes who are slipping under the radar."

WEIGHTLIFTING: Some athletes aren't slipping under the radar. The lone women's weightlifter from India headed to Beijing, Monica Devi, has failed a dope test and will not compete. To make matters worse, alternate Shailaja Pujari has also had past drug test issues. The Indian weightlifting federation was banned back in 2006 for widespread doping.

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The Olympics information system had a rough start. As far as results distribution went, scores from Wednesday's women's football action were often delayed, and match reports only seemed to be distributed worldwide at halftime or when someone scored. The Argentina-Canada match (won by CAN 2-1) was listed as protested, and there was a key Canadian foul in the 90th minute, but no news report confirmed a protest was submitted. And a New Zealand-Japan match report showed an incorrect score for several hours afterward. All that'll hopefully be worked out in the next few days.

Also still waiting to be worked out is whether or not North and South Korea will march together at the Opening Ceremony. They've done so in 2000 and 2004, but it's likely to be settled at the last minute. Tensions between the two sides have increased this year due to various diplomatic incidents.

South Korean broadcaster SBS, which leaked footage of the Opening Ceremony rehearsal last week, has been banned from having their cameras inside stadiums. One may wonder what actions BOCOG might take against gigantic U.S. broadcaster NBC, which made reference to a "Free Tibet" protest four minutes into its first Olympics telecast this morning.

This blog does not support circumvention of nation-based web restrictions to view Olympics coverage, but if you must, buy a Coca-Cola product of your choice to ease your guilty conscience.

Beijing's smog levels are creeping back upwards, but the U.S. cyclists who arrived at Beijing's airport with black masks felt the need to apologize yesterday in a statement.

"The wearing of protective masks upon our arrival into Beijing was strictly a precautionary measure we as athletes chose to take, and was in no way meant to serve as an environmental or political statement. We deeply regret the nature of our choices. Our decision was not intended to insult BOCOG or countless others who have put forth a tremendous amount of effort to improve the air quality in Beijing."

Reuters takes a look at how other steamy Olympic cities have combatted their air-quality issues. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Athens also took measures like closing factories and enforcing traffic bans. The piece is also a reminder of a sad and lost moment in Olympic history, when Bomber the bald eagle, who was slated to be a main attraction at the L.A. Opening Ceremony (flying into the stadium to the tune of the theme from Fame), died of smog inhalation before the 1984 Games. Never forget.

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