Beijing Olympic Games

Doping at the Beijing Olympic Games will result in a life-time ban for Chinese athletes as China is working hard to crack down on drug cheats.

China is making great efforts to send a clean team to the August 8-24 Games with tough punishments, frequent tests and constant anti-doping education for its athletes, especially those headed towards the Games.

"I think it is safe to say that once an Chinese athlete is found doping at the Games, his or her playing career is over," said Jiang Zhixue, deputy secretary general of Chinese Olympic Committee, who is responsible for doping control.

The country’s sport governing body State General Administration of Sport put in force in March a regulation saying that national team athletes will be banned for life for doping rules violation and his or her coach will also face life-time ban.

"Not just the athlete, the coach or even team doctor will be punished too. It doesn’t mean that coaches or doctors are necessarily involved in the athlete’s doping case but they need tobe aware of their responsibility," said Jiang.

In the past six months, China banned two national team athletesand their coaches for life due to doping rules violation after carrying out 6,038 tests, a new high in history, said Jiang.

Chinese men’s top backstroke swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng and wrestler Luo Meng received the most severe punishments of life-time bans after the two national team athletes were respectively tested positive for anabolic steroid clenbuterol and furosemide, a diuretic.

Ouyang’s coach Feng Shangbao and Luo’s coach Zhang Hua were also suspended for life.

Besides, all the Chinese athletes attending the Games will be made to vow before the national flag.

"They will make an oath before the national flag, promising that they will not use banned drugs, nor do anything violating the rules," he said.

"They and their coaches will also sign on a letter of commitment, which is more educational than legal," he added.

Jiang admitted, however, that doping cheats are hard to entirely wipe out despite all the measures.

"It is like policemen and thieves. Thieves don’t disappear justbecause there are policemen around," he said.

"The fight against doping has a long hard way to go," he said.

Jiang said China’s fight against doping would keep scaling up even after the Games.

"We are happy that the government has joined in and given great support," he said.

In the most recent combined effort from eight government departments, a nationwide inspection took place to tighten management of performance-enhancing drug suppliers and manufacturers.

Source:Xinhua

China thinking small to take gold-medal crown

By STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—Yao Ming is China’s best-known and richest athlete, a towering icon of the Beijing Olympics and a symbol of the nation’s rapid rise in the last three decades.

But when it comes to the Chinese Olympic plans, Du Li and Yang Lian matter as much or more than the Houston Rockets center.

Du, competing in the 10-meter air rifle, and Yang, in 48-kilogram (106-pound) women’s weightlifting, each have a chance to capture their nation’s first gold medal of these games. And gold is what the host country is all about.

China won 32 gold medals in 2004, four fewer than the United States. To surpass the United States as the top gold-winning country, China’s fearsome state-run sports schools have been targeting relatively obscure sports such as shooting, women’s weightlifting, rowing, boxing and cycling.

Other nations are doing the same thing, but the Chinese seem better financed and organized.

Du and Yang each compete Aug. 9 and could take the first step for the Chinese.

“The first gold means glory,” Yang said.

Du won the 10-meter air rifle four years ago in Athens, and she’s under pressure to deliver again. “Of course I am under some stress,” Du said. “But I really enjoy it, because few athletes can have the chance to win the first gold medal.”

The five sports China has targeted represent almost one-quarter of the 302 gold-medal events. Many of the rest of the nation’s haul will come in three sports that China always dominates—diving, badminton and table tennis. Gymnastics also is expected to produce.

The low-profile sports must make up for the absence of medals in two marquee events: swimming and track and field. China won only four gold medals in track and field and swimming in the last two Olympics combined. Defending Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang is China’s favorite on the track, although his 110-meter world record was broken in June by Cuban Dayron Robles.

In swimming, Wu Peng will have to defeat American Michael Phelps in the 200-meter butterfly.

By contrast, the United States has won slightly more than half its overall medals in the last two games in swimming and track and field.

Foreigners often have a hard time learning Chinese names, but they might have to with the medal chase so close.

Defending Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing is a favorite again in women’s 3-meter springboard, and Chen Ruolin could win the women’s 10-meter platform. China won six of eight golds in Athens and could do as well again.

China took three of five golds in badminton in Athens. Lin Dan is favored in men’s singles, and Xie Xingfang in women’s singles. They’re also boyfriend and girlfriend and the top-ranked male and female players in the world.

In table tennis, China could sweep all four gold medals with men’s stars Wang Hao and Ma Lin, and women Zhang Yining and Wang Nan. China owns the world rankings: the top five women are Chinese, and China holds five of the top six men’s places.

A powerful array of about 600 athletes—only the American delegation will be larger—will be boosted by the all important home-field advantage. Add to this dozens of foreign coaches—Lithuanians, Serbs, Japanese, Spaniards, Americans and Russians to name just a few—directing everything from water polo to baseball, basketball to rowing, and synchronized swimming to soccer.

Foreign coaches have been mostly successful, although German Josef Capousek was dismissed a few weeks ago as China’s canoeing coach. The Czech-born Capousek coached Germany to 17 Olympic gold medals, and the state-run Xinhua news agency called his departure “friendly.”

However, Capousek told German reporters he’d been dismissed for “political reasons.”

Capousek said he was ousted for making changes in training and team rules. He was replaced Sun Erjie, a military man and leader of the People’s Liberation Army canoeing team.

“China used to be opposed to outside ideas. We thought we were the center of the world,” said Zhong Bingshu, vice president of the Beijing Sport University. “So from the point of view of globalization and exchanging culture, foreign coaches have been a success. However, communication problems still occur in this process.”

Predicting the final medal total—gold, silver and bronze—is a small industry, and the methodologies of picking the winners are as varied as the forecasts. At least two neutral forecasters are picking China to overtake the United States, and at least one is picking the Americans to hold on.

Of course, the official line from the United States says China is favored, and Chinese officials are picking the Americans.

“We’re always up for a challenge, and I think we really have one here,” said Steve Roush, chief of sport performance for the United States Olympic Committee. “We have a very serious challenge, the most serious since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Some people say we are playing possum, but we’re not really.”

China’s Deputy Sports Minister Cui Dalin is picking the Americans and Russians ahead of the Chinese. But he’ll probably be fired if this happens.

“We’ve got to take a pretty sober, objective view toward this,” he said. “Overall, we’re not a big sporting nation. … The United States and Russia are still well above our level.”

Simon Shibli, a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University in England, is picking China to win the most gold. Shibli’s approach ignores actual performances on the field. Instead, he predicts the medal count by looking at China’s rate of progression since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

If China continues to improve as it has, the country will win 39 gold medals this August. In addition, it should win up to seven more because of the home field factor. That’s 46.

“What you see is a trend line of continuing improvement. This is not achieved by fluke,” Shibli said. “This is designed by the Chinese government on a 15-year planning horizon to show China’s emergence as a sporting nation. But I can tell you for what China is investing, every gold medal will cost tens of millions of dollars.”

This is still a relatively small expense because China—with a population of 1.3 billion—is spending about $40 billion on new venues and infrastructure for the games.

The United States has won the medal tally since 1996, but Shibli suggests they have a less room for improvement than China.

China’s extravagant venues are meant to impress, to show a modern nation and a rising power of the 21st century. Some of the luster has been lost from the games by the promise of protests against China’s policies in Tibet and Darfur, air pollution and an ongoing battle between foreign TV broadcasters and the government over journalists’ freedom to report.

In the last few weeks China also was embarrassed when two athletes received life bans after failing doping tests: backstroke swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng and freestyle wrestler Luo Meng. Neither was expected to win a medal, though drug charges always cast a shadow on a team.

Yet all these problems might be neutralized if China can generate medals and good PR on the field.

“China’s government believes it can get prestige by performing on the field,” Shibli said. “Succeeding in an area in which other big nations do well should do a great deal for the Chinese psyche. They can say they are standing at the same table as the Americans and Russians and can play these people at their own games and be equally successful.”

Former Italian Olympic official Luciano Barra is picking the United States. Barra makes his predictions by looking at results from the most recent world championships or the equivalent event. In his final prediction before the Olympics, he says the United States will win 49 gold, 101 overall. He has China with 38 and 84 overall and Russia with 33 and 90 overall.

The accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers also has picked China. Its model uses economic factors, population and income and projects China will win 88 overall, one more than the United States.

The USOC’s Roush predicts China and the U.S. could win more than 40 gold medals. In shooting, he suggested China might win 12 or 13 of the 15 gold medals available.

“China’s depth is incredible,” Roush said. “I think it’s going to take more than 40 for a country to be the gold medal winner in Beijing.

“When you start to think about China’s home-field bump, that’s when you start to lose sleep.”

US swimmers set to dominate in Beijing

by Rebecca Bryan

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Always formidable in the Olympic pool, the United States will launch a squad of proven performers at Beijing's Water Cube in their bid to maintain their swimming superiority.

Eight of the nine world records set or matched at the US trials June 29-July 6 were produced by swimmers with previous Olympic experience, including two medley world records for multi-event superstar Michael Phelps.

"We always talk about experience," said US men's head coach Eddie Reese. "More important is good experience and good results."

The US has plenty of that to draw on.

Phelps, who won six gold and two bronze in Athens, is again the figurehead of a US men's team that could conceivably approach the record of 12 gold medals captured by the American men in Montreal in 1976.

Phelps himself will tackle five individual events, in four of which he holds the world record - the 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m individual medleys.

His fifth individual event could well turn out to be a tussle with teammate Ian Crocker in the 100m butterfly, in which Crocker holds the world record but trails in his head-to-head rivalry with Phelps.

Peirsol, who owns the 100m back world record outright and shares the 200m mark with teammate Ryan Lochte, will be back to defend the backstroke double he earned in Athens - with Lochte in pursuit.

Newcomer Garrett Weber-Gale leads the US men's charge in the sprint freestyle, winning both the 100m and 50m at the trials, but he'll face stiff competiton from both French and Australian rivals.

In the medal count stakes - for the US men's team as a whole and for Phelps as he chases Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven golds at one Games - the three relays could be the key.

"Hopefully we can come back in a month and show that the US is the best swimming team in the world," Phelps said as the trials concluded in Omaha, Nebraska.

The picture isn't quite as bright for the American women.

Katie Hoff has posted the fastest times of 2008 in the 200 and 800 freestyles and the 400 medley, in which she set a world record at trials.

She also owns the second-fastest times of the year in the 400m free and 200m medley, but she'll face tough medley competition from Australia's Stephanie Rice.

Only two other women's world records belong to Americans - Coughlin's 100m backstroke mark and world champion Margaret Hoelzer in the 200m back.

American women are definite underdogs when it comes to butterfly and as in Athens could well fail to medal in either the 100m or 200m.

Dara Torres, who made a splash with her trials victories in the 100m and 50m free at the age of 41, nevertheless lags behind Australia's freestyle sprint stars.

"We look forward to the challenge," US national team general manager Mark Schubert said of the women's underdog status. "I think it will give our women's team a rallying cry. It is something to think about and work on in the next five weeks."

But America's women will have to have a superb meet to avoid failing to bag the most medals for the first time since 1988.

"I have no idea what to predict," admitted women's head coach Jack Bauerle. "We have to be prepared for fast swimming on all fronts. If you blink, there's going to be a lot of people in front of you."

Beisel, Weber-Gale among new faces on Olympic team

By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Elizabeth Beisel emerged as a rising star at the U.S. trials, earning a trip to her first Olympics at 15. Garrett Weber-Gale assumed the sprint legacy left behind by Gary Hall Jr. Then there’s Megan Jendrick, back in the swim of things eight years after winning gold as a teenager.

They are among the fresh faces joining Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff, Natalie Coughlin and Ryan Lochte in the pool at the Beijing Olympics.

Beisel, for one, still can’t quite believe it.

The teenager from Saunderstown, R.I., earned spots in the 200-meter backstroke and 400 individual medley just two years removed from being on the national `B’ team, a step below the big-time.

“It’s pretty cool being the rookie,” Beisel said. “There are so many veterans here that will help me out with nerves and stuff. I was not expecting this. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little girl and now that it’s true and I’m up here with these guys, it’s pretty sweet.”

Phelps was also 15 when he made his Olympic debut at the Sydney Games in 2000, going all but unnoticed except for his status as the youngest male since 1932. He finished fifth in the 200 butterfly.

He’s not worried about Beisel handling the pressure.

“She’s been on a few national team trips already, which is a few steps ahead of where I was in 2000,” Phelps said. “The biggest thing is just to have fun.”

The bubbly Jendrick is back, this time with a different name after marrying three years ago. She won two gold medals in Sydney under her maiden name of Quann, becoming the youngest medalist on the 2000 U.S. swim team at 16.

Jendrick narrowly missed making the team for Athens and then retired. She’ll swim the 100 breaststroke in Beijing.

“It just feels amazing to be back on top,” she said. “My goal is to definitely break the world record and win the gold again.”

Like Jendrick, Weber-Gale missed out on making the 2004 team. The 22-year-old sprinter from Milwaukee is a veteran of two world championships, but as a relay swimmer.

Now he’ll try to extend the gold-medal legacy of Hall, the two-time defending Olympic 50 free champion who failed to qualify at the trials.

Weber-Gale, whose name is a combination of his mother’s maiden name (Weber) and his father’s name (Gale), will compete in the 50 and 100 freestyles—his first individual events in an international meet—and the 400 free relay.

“If you don’t expect to do well, you’re not going to swim fast,” he said. “I trained hard all year. I was really confident in my swimming and wanted the best times. I want to keep my confidence high going to Beijing and set some goals and expectations of swimming fast and winning some medals.”

Jessica Hardy has been around for a few years, but never in an Olympics. The 21-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., earned spots in the 50 free, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay.

“I don’t think if you had told me a month ago that I would make it in all three of these events that I would have believed you,” she said. “I’m expecting good things for sure.”

Another newcomer is Elaine Breeden, an 18-year-old from Lexington, Ky., who will swim the 100 and 200 butterflys. Her relatives include cousin Diane Sawyer, co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and actor Johnny Depp, which should make her very popular with her teammates.

Cullen Jones made his first Olympic team, two years after coming to attention as the world’s top-ranked swimmer in the 50 free. He didn’t qualify in any individual events, but he’ll swim the 400 free relay.

Jones helped the U.S. win gold in that event at last year’s world championships. He became the first black swimmer to break a long-course world record in 2006, again on the 400 free relay at the Pan Pacific Championships.

Towering above them all is 6-foot-8 Matt Grevers, the son of Dutch immigrants from suburban Chicago. He will swim the 100 backstroke and the 400 free relay.

Another first-time, Lacey Nymeyer, caught a break Monday when 41-year-old Dara Torres dropped out of the 100 free in Beijing.

Nymeyer was only set to swim the 400 free relay, but now she’ll compete in the 100 free while Torres focuses on the 50 free as her best chance for an individual gold.

Torres will be the oldest American ever to swim at the Olympics—her record fifth—and she could potentially swim two relays.

Lochte is back in his second Olympics, having qualified in three individual events as the runner-up each time, but Phelps is in two of them.

He’ll challenge Phelps in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys, while teammate and defending Olympic champion Aaron Peirsol awaits in the 200 backstroke.

Lochte isn’t fazed by either of them.

“I think that I can win every time,” he said. “I still have another month to correct things. Beijing is going to be a lot different.”

Updated: 2008-07-04

(BEIJING, July 4) — Twenty-year-old Scott Spann won first-place in the finals of the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:09.97. Semifinal second seed Eric Shanteau (2:10.36) took second with 2004 Olympic qualifier Scott Usher coming in third at 2:11.00. Top semifinals qualifier and former event record holder, Brendan Hansen fell to fourth-place with a time of 2:11.37. The world record for men’s 200m breast was set last month by Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima at the Japan Open.

Elaine Breeden secured her spot on the U.S. Olympic team clocking 2:06.75 for a first-place finish in the women’s 200m butterfly. Breeden’s win comes a day after breaking the 24-year-old meet record in the semifinals with a time of 2:07.33. Second seed Kathleen Hersey (2:07.33) finished as expected in second-place with Kim Vandenberg (2:08.48) in third.

In men’s 100m freestyle, Garrett Weber-Gale (47:92) bested two-time Olympian Jason Lezak (48:05) for first-place, earning his first Olympic berth. Jason Lezak set a new American record in the semifinals with a time of 47.58. He first set the record in prelims with a time of 48:15, only to have it further lowered by Weber-Gale to 47:78 in the next heat. Cullen Jones placed third at 48:35.

Tomorrow’s events include preliminaries and semifinals in men’s 50m freestyle, women’s 800m freestyle, men’s 100m butterfly, and women’s 200m backstroke. Finals will be held for women’s 200m backstroke, men’s 200m backstroke, men’s 200m individual medley, and women’s 100m freestyle.

FINALS RESULTS - Thursday, July 3

Men’s 200m Breaststroke- Final1. Scott Spann (2:09.97) 2.Eric Shanteau (2:10.36) 3.Scott Usher (2:11:00) Women’s 200m Butterfly- Final1.Elaine Breeden (2:06.75) 2.Kathleen Hersey (2:07.33) 3.Kim Vandenberg (2:08.48) Men’s 100m Freestyle- Final1.Garrett Weber-Gale (47:92) 2.Jason Lezak (48:05)3.Cullen Jones (48:35)

Updated: 2008-07-03

(BEIJING, July 3) — Back-to-back records were set last night in the preliminary round of the men’s 100 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. Jason Lezak (48.15) first broke the previous American record of 48.17 in the third-to-last heat, only to be bested minutes later by Garrett Weber-Gale with a new low of 47.78. Lezak went on to take first seed in the semi-finals later that evening with a time of 47.58; Weber-Gale came in third at 48.35. While taking second-place in the morning prelims, Michael Phelps decided to withdraw from the event in order to concentrate on the 200m butterfly final.

Phelps took first place in the men’s 200m butterfly final with a time of 1:52.20 after setting the meet record in last night’s semifinals. Phelps was just eleven-tenths of a second behind his world record time of 1:52.09 set at the 2007 world championships. Gil Stoval (1:53.86) and Davis Tarwater (1:54.46) took second and third-place.

Taking first-place in the women’s 200m individual medley final with a time of 2:09.71, 19-year-old Katie Hoff adds her third win to a growing list of accomplishments at the U.S. trials. Hoff replaced the American record of 2:09.77 set by Natalie Coughlin just last month. Coughlin (2:10.32) came in second-place with Ariana Kukors in third at 2:10.40.

Tomorrow’s events include preliminaries and semifinals in women’s 100m freestyle, men’s 200m backstroke, women’s 200m breaststroke and men’s 200m individual medley. Finals will be held for the men’s 200m breaststroke, women’s 200m butterfly and men’s 100m freestyle.

FINALS RESULTS - Wednesday, July 2

Women’s 200m Freestyle- Final1. Katie Hoff (1:55.88) 2. Allison Schmitt (1:55.92)3. Julia Smit (1:56.73)Men’s 200m Butterfly- Final1. Michael Phelps (1:52.20)2. Gil Stovall (1:53.86)3. Davis Tarwater (1:54.46)Women’s 200m Individual Medley - Final1. Katie Hoff (2:09.71) 2. Natalie Coughlin (2:10.32)3. Ariana Kukors (2:10.40)

Expect 1-2 finish for Hoff, Zeigler in Beijing

By Janet Evans, Yahoo! Sports

Women’s 200 backstroke: I must admit that 2004 Olympic veteran Margaret Hoelzer’s performances in both the preliminaries and semifinals of the women’s 200-meter backstroke had me both puzzled and concerned. After qualifying for the 2008 Olympic team in the 100 backstroke, I figured that the 200 backstroke – considered to be her best event – would be hers to lose. But Hoelzer was less than impressive in the two 200-meter swims leading up to this evening, and prior to this race, it seemed that Hoelzer could lose her position as our country’s best 200 backstroker to either Elizabeth Beisel or Hayley McGregory, the top two finishers going into Saturday’s final. But Hoelzer retained her spot in spectacular fashion and put an exclamation point on it with a new world record time of 2:06.09. Beisel, the 15-year-old who is having an incredible meet, finished second in a blazing 2:06.92, a time that was under Hoelzer’s old American mark of 2:07.16 and is a full four seconds under her best time prior to this competition. Finishing a heartbreaking third was McGregory. This is the fourth third-place finish in her Olympic trials career.

Women’s 800 freestyle: Katie Hoff dominated this race from the 400-meter mark on. Pulling away from the field at the beginning of the fifth 100, Hoff opened up a substantial lead that saw her touch the wall in 8:20.81, nearly five seconds ahead of Kate Ziegler’s second-place time of 8:25.38. It was the fifth victory for Hoff in Omaha and was her 14th race of the competition! Hoff has now qualified for the Olympic team in three freestyle races: the 200, 400 and 800. Along with the 200 and 400 IM and 4×200 freestyle relay, Hoff will have the chance to win six medals in Beijing. As for Ziegler, her second-place time came as a surprise to me. After her outstanding 4:03.92 in the 400 freestyle, I had expected her to give Hoff a run for her money, especially considering that Ziegler’s best event is considered to be the 800. However, Ziegler placed second and earned a spot in this race in Beijing, where it really counts.

WHAT WE LEARNED SATURDAY

Women’s 200 backstroke: It seems that our American backstrokers could save the best for last come Beijing. Hoelzer’s effort Saturday broke the world record of Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe, the woman who has recently dominated this race on the world stage and was considered a favorite to win the gold in Beijing. Coventry needs to watch out. With the American duo of Hoelzer and Beisel, Coventry will find herself in quite a race in a few short weeks. With Hoelzer’s new world record and fast times from Olympic trials, her confidence and vast international experience give her the edge to beat Coventry in Beijing. And don’t forget Beisel: With such an incredible drop in time in this event in Omaha, the sky is the limit for her. Although I predict Hoelzer and Coventry to swim a hard-fought battle for the gold, Beisel is my dark horse in this race.

Women’s 800 freestyle: I must admit that I was surprised with the 800 meter results from Saturday. Between the new Speedo LZR racer and the fast times posted by Ziegler and Hoff in the 400 freestyle, I was expecting a world-record time from these amazing freestylers. But from my experience, the Olympic trials is a much more emotionally draining competition than the Olympic Games themselves. As mentioned before, Hoff has stepped onto the starting blocks here in Omaha fourteen times. Regardless of her incredible fitness level, she is bound to be a little bit tired. Beijing could be a different story. As odd as it may sound, I predict less pressure on Hoff come the Olympics. She can only build on the excitement and motivation of standing on that Olympic medal podium as the Games progress, and will most likely come into the 800 meter race renewed, refreshed and ready for victory. As for Ziegler, I expect her to have a better competition in Beijing. She will certainly post faster times in just a few weeks and will most likely go head-to-head with Hoff in a fierce battle for the gold. Regardless of who wins in Beijing, I predict a one-two finish for the American women in this race.

WHAT WE CAN EXPECT SUNDAY

Women’s 50-meter freestyle: We can expect another stellar performance from Dara Torres in Sunday’s only race. In Saturday’s semifinal, Torres reclaimed her American record with a speedy 24.38. It had been a wild few hours for the U.S. standard in this event: Before Saturday morning, Torres owned the record with a 24.53. In the preliminaries, Lara Jackson eclipsed the mark with a 24.50. It stood for a few hours, only to be broken by Jessica Hardy in the first semifinal. Hardy clocked a 24.48. Not to be outdone, Torres sailed through the second semifinal heat and touched the wall one-tenth of a second ahead of Hardy’s time – enough to put her name back on the record books. Jackson’s 24.94 in the semis pushes her back to a fourth-place ranking for the final, just behind second-place qualifier Hardy and third-place qualifier Kara Lynn Joyce. Like any sprint event, this race is tough to predict and could come down to hundredths of a second differentiating first place from last. But based on her fast swimming in the 100m and her incredible will to win, my money is on Torres.