Fireworks, athletes and pageantry on a scale never before seen in the Olympics opened the Summer Games in Beijing on Friday as the Asian nation kicked off the biggest and most scrutinized Games in history.
The modern Olympic Games have always been a chick-flick moment for women who finally have the camera long enough to turn America's head. They haven't batted their eyes, but performed flips for enough mass adoration to last Mary Lou Retton's lifetime. They haven't vanished as fly-by darlings, but endured as women who have delivered iconic nicknames (Suzy "ChapStick" Chaffee) and haircuts (The Dorothy Hamill 'do) and first-name familiarity (Mia, as in Hamm).
Australia's Olympic chief criticized Beijing organizers on Friday over their "wishy-washy" assurances on Internet access and says bus transportation and pollution remain problem issues.
I'm like anybody else. I watch the Olympics because I want to see who wins. But the 2008 Summer Games are intriguing for reasons that go well beyond the 100-meter final, Michael Phelps' bid to become the greatest Olympian ever or the daily mine-is-bigger exercise of comparing medal counts.
This year's Summer Olympic Games have been seen as China's coming-out party, destined to be as significant for the host country as the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were for Japan.
Fireworks, athletes and pageantry on a scale never before seen in the Olympics opened the Summer Games in Beijing on Friday as the Asian nation kicked off the biggest and most scrutinized Games in history.
The modern Olympic Games have always been a chick-flick moment for women who finally have the camera long enough to turn America's head. They haven't batted their eyes, but performed flips for enough mass adoration to last Mary Lou Retton's lifetime. They haven't vanished as fly-by darlings, but endured as women who have delivered iconic nicknames (Suzy "ChapStick" Chaffee) and haircuts (The Dorothy Hamill 'do) and first-name familiarity (Mia, as in Hamm).
Australia's Olympic chief criticized Beijing organizers on Friday over their "wishy-washy" assurances on Internet access and says bus transportation and pollution remain problem issues.
I'm like anybody else. I watch the Olympics because I want to see who wins. But the 2008 Summer Games are intriguing for reasons that go well beyond the 100-meter final, Michael Phelps' bid to become the greatest Olympian ever or the daily mine-is-bigger exercise of comparing medal counts.
This year's Summer Olympic Games have been seen as China's coming-out party, destined to be as significant for the host country as the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were for Japan.
A forest of blue-green algae is choking the coastal waters near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, causing problems and threatening Olympic events scheduled there
Chicago was among the four cities picked as finalists Wednesday for the 2016 Summer Olympics, setting the stage for a high-profile bidding contest between candidates
Hip-hop performer will.i.am is no stranger to the political arena -- having spearheaded the Internet-favorite "Yes We Can" music video in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Islamic terrorists planned to attack Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese locations with poisonous gas and explosives to sabotage the Summer Olympic Games, China announced Thursday.
The Olympic flame on Monday began its 34-day journey around the world ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games. Here are some facts about the centuries-old traditions behind the relay and its modern development.
The Olympic torch begins a 130-day, 85,000-mile journey Monday that will take it from the site of ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, China, where the 2008 summer games will begin in August.
Tibet's spiritual leader Thursday said he was powerless to stop anti-Chinese violence as authorities in Beijing acknowledged for the first time that unrest had spread into neighboring Chinese provinces.
New video from China suggests that security forces have yet to gain complete control of Tibet and neighboring provinces which have suffered eruptions of anti-Chinese violence since last week.
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's decision to quit the Beijing Olympics over the Darfur crisis is drawing condemnation by China's state-controlled media
The IOC formally stripped Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals Wednesday, wiping her name from the record books following her admission that she was a drug cheat
The IOC (International Olympic Committee) should consider a country's record in human and animal rights, as well as its respect for the environment, before granting the said country the honor of hosting the Olympics. The 2008 Beijing Olympics is a result of polical concession and lobbying by prominent businesses. Oscar Lei, Toronto, Canada
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa on Tuesday broke his silence after Brazil's disappointing performance in the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament.
Defiant London Mayor Ken Livingstone has again refused to apologize for a tirade in which he accused a Jewish reporter of behaving like a Nazi concentration camp guard.
American swimmer Michael Phelps and NBC have something in common: With expectations high, both got off to a shaky start at the Olympics, but both are now showing signs that things have turned around.
NBC Universal, the New York-based General Electric unit that owns Olympics broadcast rights, will flood viewers with live sports and tales of against-the-odds quests for gold medal over the next 19 days.
The 2004 Olympics are only a hop, skip, and long jump away. But just when corporate sponsors should begin cashing in on the Games' historic return to their birthplace, they're instead looking beyon...
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