Sports

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

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Beijing’s new National Grand Theatre is one of Beijing’s new architectural masterpieces. The controversial building was designed by French architect Paul Andreu.

The exterior is made from titanium and has been described as looking like a UFO. The building has created controversy for not fitting with the style of nearby buildings such as the Great Hall of the People and the Forbidden City. The building is surrounded by a moat of water and the building is entered by going under the water.

Architectural masterpiece or white elephant? What do you think of the new theatre?

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd received praise for his speech expressing his sympathy to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. He delivered the speech in fluent Mandarin.

“It was very much welcomed by the Chinese people because the Prime Minister takes advantage of speaking Chinese,” Ambassador Zhang Junsai said in Canberra.

“It has led to a closer feeling between Australia and the people of China.”

Kevin Rudd will be attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

George Hincapie has made the Olympic team for the fifth time. Hincapie is famous for helping Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France.

“It’s very exciting,” Hincapie told The Associated Press on Tuesday from his home in Spain. “I never would have imagined being in five Olympics. It’s a huge accomplishment, and I feel honored to do another one.”

Read more: Hincapie gets another shot at Olympic gold

United States breast stroker Brendan Hansen has booked his place on the Olympic swimming team and is hoping to beat his rival Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima.

“Now that I am on the team I can relax and do what I do best and use my strengths to my advantage,” Hansen told reporters, after booking his ticket to Beijing with a win in the 100 meters breaststroke final at the U.S. Olympic trails on Monday.

“You don’t want to think about it, but you think about every little thing that can go wrong and that’s the last thing you want to be thinking about as an athlete going into a race.

“The littlest thing in a 100 goes wrong and you don’t make the team. That’s just the way our country works when it comes to this sport.

“For me I wanted to have a solid swim, make sure I solidify that spot and now that I have, I’m going to go into the 200 with guns blazing.

“I honestly believe my best race is in front of me. I’ve always been a better 200 breaststroker than 100.”

Hansen won a silver and bronze at the Athens Olympics, with Kitajima winning two gold medals.

Read more: Brendan Hansen aims to reclaim world record

I can imagine trying to organize the Olympics is not unlike organizing a wedding - whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. China’s latest problem to plague the Olympics is an algae outbreak at the sailing venue in the city of Qingdao.

“There’s football fields of green algae type stuff, and it’s a little difficult to sail around it,” says Stittle of Orangeville, Ont. “We have rudders and centre boards, and stuff gets caught on it, so we have to steer clear of it, or try and sail around it. It’s a little bit challenging.”

A group of 10,000 people have been deployed to try and clean up the algae, which they are doing by hand. Training for the sailing now also includes how to best dodge the algae and remove it from your boat, which is likely to cause unnecessary drag on the boat.

“We can clear the bottom by pulling the centre board and rudders up, but it’s not something that’s very fast to do,” Stittle says. “It’s probably something we’ll practice more and more, just in case the water’s not that clear for the Games.”

Read more: The perils of algae for Olympic sailors

Olympic medalist, Playboy model and Godaddy girl Amanda Beard has made it to the final of the 100 meters breaststroke.

“I wanted to set that example that if you try, you’re not failing,” Beard says of her decision to return to competitive swimming after taking off two years following the 2004 Games. She also is entered in the 200 breast and 200-meter individual medley.

“I’m extremely surprised at where I am right now,” she says.

She thinks her best chance to compete at the Beijing Olympics is in the 200 meter breaststroke, and plans using the 100 meter final as a warm-up.

Read more: After two-year hiatus, Beard steps back into action

Well not quite lunch with Al Gore, but I had lunch the other day at Li Quan Roast Duck Restaurant where Al Gore’s picture hangs in the entrance amongst the other celebrities. Li Quan Roast Duck Restaurant won’t win any awards for the decor, but the place is authentic as they come.

Address: Beixiangfeng, Zhengyi Lu, Dongcheng District (6705 5578).

The co-captain of the United States boxing team Luis Yanez, has been kicked off the team for being late to a training camp.

He said he was late because he was late attending to his sister’s illness.

“Just being late, that’s what they’re talking about,” Yanez told reporters at the Dallas airport in a video posted on the Morning News’ site. “They don’t understand that family is really important. For Latinos, like I said, it’s a Latino thing. If our family is really ill, I’m going to try to help as much as I can.”

I wanted to go and look at the Beijing Underground City yesterday. The lady taxi driver had no idea where the place was. I tried calling the number for the place and there was no answer. I suggested just taking us to Qianmen (south of Tiananmen) where I knew it was nearby. Maybe later the taxi driver remembered the street because she took us straight there.

After getting excited about finding the place, the guide told us it was closed for “renovation” and wouldn’t open again until after the Olympics. He mentioned something about the government wanting to ensure the safety of tourists during the games, which sounded more like the reason why it was closed. It looks like he has a nice job though for the next couple of months!

The 85 square kilometers of underground tunnels were dug by manual labor during the 1960s during the cold war under Mao. Some of the tunnels have been converted to subways and an underground shopping mall at Xidan.

Adress: 62 Xidamochang Hutong, Qianmen, Chongwen District

Katie Hoff won the women’s 400 meters freestyle at the U.S. swimming trials just after setting a world record for the 400 meter individual medley.

Brendan Hansen won the 100 meters breaststroke earning a place in the Olympic team. He holds the world record for the event.

Christine Magnuson won the women’s 100 butterfly also earning her first spot on an Olympic team.

Michael Phelps officially gained his spot on the Olympic team by winning and setting a world record in the 400 meter medley.

Bryan Clay, Trey Hardee and Tom Pappas from the United States have all qualified to compete in the decathlon at the Beijing Olympics.

Bryan Clay finished with a silver at the 2004 Athens Games.

“Like I was saying (Saturday), we started out very well in the 100,” Clay said. “It was a decathlon PR for me and then it just went to the crapper after that. Long jump and shot put were actually terrible. I started out in the high jump almost as bad as I did in the long and the shot, but we pulled it together. I have a team of coaches here that are in my face and they just don’t let it go. If I didn’t have my support system here, I think this would have been a very bad decathlon for me.”

“Anything is possible,” Pappas said of the U.S. medal possibilities. “It’s going to be hard [to sweep] because there are a lot of good guys out there. But, Trey is hard to beat, Bryan is the guy to beat, and I feel like I still have a PR in me. If we put it all together, anything is possible.”

Source

New Zealand has named its men’s and women’s hockey teams for the Beijing Olympics.

Ryan Archibald will captain the men’s side and the women’s team by Lizzy Igasan.

New Zealand men: David Kosoof (North Harbour), Blair Hopping (North Harbour), Ben Collier (North Harbour), Steve Edwards (North Harbour), Ryan Archibald (Auckland), Simon Child (Auckland), Dean Couzins (Auckland), Paul Woolford (Auckland), James Nation (Auckland), Gareth Brooks (Auckland ), Casey Henwood (Midlands) , Kyle Pontifex (Wellington) , Phillip Burrows (Wellington) , Shea McAleese (Central) , Bradley Shaw (Canterbury), Hayden Shaw (Canterbury).

New Zealand women: Jaimee Claxton (North Harbour), Lizzy Igasan(North Harbour), Krystal Forgesson (Auckland), Kim Noakes (Auckland), Gemma Flynn (Midlands), Kayla Sharland (Central), EmilyNaylor (Central), Caryn Paewai (Central), Tara Drysdale (Central),Anita Wawatai (Central), Beth Jurgeleit (Wellington), Niniwa Roberts (Wellington), Sheree Horvath (Wellington), Kate Saunders (Canterbury), Stacey Carr (Canterbury), Jo Galletly (Canterbury).

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Bernard Lagat who was born in Kenya and now represents the United States, won the men’s 5000 meters to book his place on the athletics team at the Beijing Olympics.

He has won a bronze and silver medal at previous Olympics when he represented Kenya.

The close distance to China and training facilities, is making Japan a popular destination for athletes preparing for the Beijing Olympics. Twenty-four countries including United States, Canada and Germany are using Japan as a base for a final round of training and acclimatize to Asia.

Western Japan is just an hour flight to Beijing, making it an ideal place for athletes. Tokyo is bidding for the 2016 Olympic games and this could help their argument for hosting the Olympics.

Marshevet Hooker ran an impressive 100 meters in 10.76 seconds, but was assisted with a bit of a breeze.

“I stuttered a little bit (at the start) but I just kept running,” said the 23-year-old Hooker, who trains with the men’s world 100 metres champion Tyson Gay’s co-coach, Jon Drummond.

“Only God knows how fast I can run,” said Hooker, who has a legal best of 10.94 seconds this year.

“It was fast, very fast. I hope she is tired,” said former world champion Torri Edwards, who had the second-best time of the quarter-finals, a wind-assisted 10.85 seconds.

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When asked how many events he will compete in at the U.S. Olympic trials, Michael Phelps had no idea.

He is leaving it up to his coach Bob Bowman “to figure it all out”.

Phelps will swim in nine events over eight days and is hoping to qualify for at least five indvidual events. Combined with three relays he will be able to at least challenge Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals.

There are a total of 52 spots on the Beijing Olympic swimming team up for grabs.

Some other contenders include 19 year old Katie Hoff who is entered in seven events.

Godaddy girl and Playboy model Amanda Beard will also be competing for a spot on the Olympic team.

The United States tennis team for the Beijing Olympics has been announced.

The team includes Venus and Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport in the women’s side and James Blake in the mens.

The men in the team include Sam Querrey and Robby Ginepri.

Ouyang Kunpeng has tested positive for steroids in an out of season test taken on May 1st. He will receive a lifetime ban.

“The China Swimming Association made the decision to give Ouyang Kunpeng a life-time ban in accordance with regulations,” an official notice on the China Sports Daily website said.

“The licence of his head coach Feng Shangbao was also withdrawn for life.”

Ouyang was one of China’s swimming medal hopes for the Beijing Olympics.

There is a beach party tomorrow night at the Great Wall. I didn’t know that Beijing had any beaches, but according to the party’s website, the beach is on the Yellow Sea.

Tickets: RMB 200 (before Jun 25), RMB 250 (after Jun 25), RMB 400 (VIP). Call 136 8126 3981 for further details.

The bus from the Beijing airport dropped me off near the Hard Rock Cafe so I decided to drop in there for lunch. It has been closed for renovations for the past few months, so I thought it would be a good chance to check it out. I never saw how it looked before the renovations so I can’t say if it is better or worse, but I do know that it used to have a bit of a reputation for a place to go for businessmen looking for some company.

The service was attentive and the waitresses spoke good English. The front section has tables looking onto a stage for a band and the rear section, where I had lunch had comfortable chairs and was non-smoking. For tourists visiting Beijing I can’t imagine it will be a problem, but people living in China will see the place as a bit of a ripoff. I had a sandwich and a diet coke and the bill was 145 yuan - about $21. This included the 15 per cent tax/service charge. Beers were about 58 yuan. For that price I would prefer to go to the bar at the Emperor.

TGIs is probably better value and if you really need a fix of American/western style food in Beijing, you can go past Grandma’s Kitchen for a good, inexpensive feed.