Torch relay caught in political crosswinds

Beijing's globe-spanning torch relay -- five continents, 137,000 kilometers, 130 days -- has hit a couple of major road bumps next door. Taiwan refused to be part of the proposed route (which includes San Francisco and its famous Chinatown) and pro-Tibet protesters are up in arms over the plan to bring the flame to Mount Everest.

The Taiwanese, who have their own Olympic team (Chinese Taipei), object to being part of the domestic portion of the relay because it implies that Taiwan (as the Chinese insist) is part of China.

"It is something that the government and people cannot accept," said Olympic committee chief Tsai Chen-wei.

What the Taiwanese wanted was to be part of the international portion, with the relay coming from and going to somewhere other than the mainland. What the Chinese are offering is to have the torch arrive from Vietnam and proceed to Hong Kong and Macau, which they control. No go, says premier Su Tseng-chang. "Taiwan's sovereignty must not be downgraded," he said, threatening to boycott the Games if the Chinese insist upon calling it a "China-Taiwan team."

The Tibet situation is also ticklish, since a trip to Everest would reinforce China's claim to a country it has ruled for more than half a century. When five Americans recently protested the relay at the mountain's base camp, the Chinese government expelled them.

The Chinese also have been catching hell from Amnesty International, whose recent report charges that the government has been cracking down on human rights activists and domestic journalists and detaining without trial petty criminals, vagrants, drug addicts, and others to "clean up" Beijing before the Games.

"The IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses," said Catherine Baber, the organization's deputy Asia Pacific director.

But the Lords of the Rings, who awarded the Games to China with eyes wide open, aren't pushing for reforms.

"We are not in a position that we can give instructions to governments as to how they ought to behave," said Hein Verbruggen, who chairs the IOC's coordination commission overseeing the Beijing Games.

The IOC is concerned, though, about two nagging issues that aren't getting much better: Beijing's polluted air and monstrous traffic. The smog is more worrisome, because it would affect performances and health, especially in endurance events.

"This is of the utmost importance to the athletes," said Verbruggen, "who are the most important part of the Games."

If Chicago lands the 2016 Olympics -- and its odds likely will be better than New York's were for 2012 -- it will be the second time the Windy City has received the nod. Chicago was the IOC's original choice to host in 1904, but since St. Louis didn't want to share the spotlight with another major international event at the same time, the Games were switched there as part of the World's Fair with President Theodore Roosevelt's support. The result was a fiasco. The Games, which were treated as a sideshow, were spread out over more than four months, with most of the athletes being from the US, which won 214 of the 252 medals. Chicago already has landed one international plum: this autumn's World Boxing Championships, which also serve as an Olympic qualifier, and were switched from Moscow because of organizational issues . . . It'll never win any gender-equity awards, but the IOC gradually is increasing the number of its female members. Two of this year's four nominees are women: Jordan's Princess Haya and Indonesia's Rita Subowo. That will bring the tally to 14 of 115 . . . What was most significant about the IOC's lifetime doping ban on four Austrian cross-country skiers and two biathletes was that none of them were caught by the Turin lab last year. All were "non-analytical positives" based on evidence found by Italian police during a raid on the skiers' quarters during the Games. When the athletes and officials were invited to Switzerland recently for their hearing, nobody turned up.

The US men's ice hockey team was never in the game in yesterday's 6-3 loss to neighbor/nemesis Canada in their group finale at the World Championships in Russia. With ex-Bruin John Grahame in net, the Yanks fell behind after just eight seconds and trailed, 4-0, less than 14 minutes in. Though the US already had qualified for the quarterfinals, the loss means a tougher opponent -- Finland instead of Switzerland. The unbeaten Russians, who knocked off defending champion Sweden, will meet the Czechs, while the Swedes play the Slovaks . . . Emily Hughes, who'll enroll as a freshman in September, joins a list of more than a dozen Olympic figure skaters with Harvard connections, most notably gold medalists Dick Button, Tenley Albright, and Hayes A. Jenkins. Hughes, who'll train out of the Skating Club of Boston with coaches Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson, was accepted everywhere she applied, including five Ivies . . . If the US ever hosts the world outdoor track and field championships, it won't be until at least 2015. As far as the international federation is concerned, the planet includes only Europe and Asia, which have staged all but one (Edmonton 2001) of the biennial meets and which will host the event this summer (Osaka) as well as in 2009 (Berlin), 2011 (Daegu, South Korea), and 2013 (Moscow). USA Track & Field, which says the biggest barriers have been an appropriate stadium and a TV contract, didn't bid for 2011 and 2013.

Rabbit, run? Not at the New York City Marathon, where the organizers are dropping the paid pacesetters who lead the way to the Queensboro Bridge. "In the end, it is all about the thrill of racing and the pursuit of victory," said race director Mary Wittenberg. "Who cares what the clock says?" Though rabbits are useful on pancake courses like London, Chicago, and Berlin, which produce world records, they're pointless on undulating layouts like New York and Boston, which has been hare-free for 111 years. When the rabbits run away from cautious leaders, as Luminita Talpos did last year, it's confusing to spectators and television viewers. And if a contender wants to bust an early move, having a pacesetter can be a hindrance. "Whether you like it or not, you are sitting there waiting," said former New York champion Hendrick Ramaala, who'll run there again in November. "You can't feel like you can run at will or you feel like you're spoiling the race. I think it's going to allow the athletes to express themselves." . . . Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe, the defending champion and women's marathon world record-holder, might skip the global championships because of a back injury she suffered while giving birth in January. Radcliffe, who needed 27 hours of labor to deliver her daughter, has a stress fracture at the base of her spine. She's taking a few weeks off from training, then will decide about Osaka . . . The first members of the US team for this summer's World Rowing Championships in Munich produced a startling upset to get there. Jana Heere and Wendy Campanella knocked off incumbents Julie Nichols and Renee Hykel at the selection regatta in New Jersey to grab the spot in the women's lightweight double.

Except for Andrea Nott, who was an alternate in Athens, the US synchronized swimming team is all Olympic novices. The Americans, who finished third last time, still have to qualify for Beijing, which they can do by winning this summer's Pan American Games . . . Once again, the Olympic judo trials will be doubled up with another sport next year. Last time it was with taekwondo in San Jose, Calif., this time it's with wrestling in Las Vegas. If calendars can be coordinated, this could become a trend, with several similar sports (e.g. combatives, aquatics) going same place-same time, as in the former Titan Games. Besides saving money on venue rental, it would increase media coverage for the less popular sports . . . Since the US sent virtually an All-Ivy team to the first modern Games in 1896, it's fitting that Boston College sophomore Jay Bavishi has written a detailed yet readable history of the Ancient Eight and the Olympics covering the intervening 11 decades. "Ivies In Athens," which includes an all-time list of competitors, was published by the Markus Wiener firm in Princeton, where the league is headquartered.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com; material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews, and wire services were used in this report.