Beijing a tough ticket

Despite the horror stories about heat, humidity, and pollution, the whole world still wants to go to Beijing for the Olympics. With the Games more than seven months off, tickets are difficult to find. There's so much demand that the organizers, who had planned to sell three-quarters of their supply to Chinese residents, will offer half to foreigners.

Even so, there aren't nearly enough to go around. The only way for Americans to get tickets now is to buy an accommodations package from CoSport, the official US Olympic Committee agency, which begin around $3,200 for a three-night stay and can go up into five figures for six nights. (Check out the options at www.cosport.com or call 1-877-457-4647 for a brochure.)

Why is the interest so much greater than it was for Athens in 2004? Because it's a rare chance to visit China, which is treating the Games as a festive coming-out party, and because concerns about terrorism and operational readiness that discouraged spectators last time won't be an issue. All but one of the 37 venues - the 91,000-seat "Bird's Nest" main stadium - has been finished, and the stadium will be ready in March.

Territorial rights

Why do Taiwan (a.k.a. Chinese Taipei) and Hong Kong get to compete as separate entities in the Games and not Tibet? Because they qualify for the special exemption granted to territories that generally were recognized as countries before 1996. Tibet, which has been controlled by China since 1951, was turned down recently by the IOC in its bid to compete in Beijing. While individual Tibetan athletes would be welcome at the Games, they'd have to compete for China, and none are expected to . . . Though the US figure skaters won two medals (silver by dancers Tanith Belbin-Ben Agosto, bronze by Evan Lysacek) at the Grand Prix final in Turin after being blanked for the last two years, their woes on the women's side continued, with Caroline Zhang (second after the short program) finishing fourth and former world champ Kimmie Meissner sixth after falling three times in the free skate. No US female has won a medal in the event since Sasha Cohen took silver four seasons ago. The Americans, though, monopolized the junior Grand Prix final in Poland, winning half the medals. Adam Rippon led a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the men's event, while Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt went 1-2 in the women's . . . Only the French: Didier Gailhaguet, allegedly the man behind Skategate at Salt Lake City, has regained the presidency of the domestic federation that controls ice sports. Gailhaguet, whom judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said pressured her to put the Russians ahead of the Canadians in the pairs competition as part of a backroom deal, was suspended for three years by the International Skating Union and banned from the Turin Games while insisting he'd done nothing wrong. Among his defeated rivals for the post was Le Gougne.

Mountain climbers

It's been a strong season for the US Alpine ski team, with Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso sitting 2-4 in the women's World Cup standings and Bode Miller and Ted Ligety 3-5 in the men's, with Vonn leading the downhill table and Ligety the giant slalom. It'll be a challenge though, for Vonn to become the first American woman since 1983 (Tamara McKinney) to win the overall title. Austrian slalom ace Nicole Hosp, who leads Vonn by 34 points, has been piling up more than Vonn outside her specialty . . . Kikkan Randall's World Cup cross-country skiing victory in Russia, the first by a US woman, was also the first by any American since Bill Koch in 1983. It was the fourth podium finish in three years for the Yanks, who'd gone 23 years without one. Randall, an Anchorage native who turned 25 yesterday, is third in the sprint standings . . . Bill Demong, who missed winning last weekend's World Cup Nordic combined stop in Germany in a photo finish, is having a career year. Demong, who made his third podium of the season, is third behind Germany's Bjoern Kircheisen and Ronny Ackermann.

Short and long of it

Back on his game is Olympic short-track speedskating champ Apolo Anton Ohno, who easily won the US championships despite taking the fall season off. He'll be joined by Jordan Malone, J.P. Kepka, Ryan Leveille, and Jeff Simon on the team for the world championships in South Korea in March. Rookie Katherine Reutter, who won the women's crown, will make the trip along with Allison Baver, Kimberly Derrick, Lana Gehring, and Carly Wilson . . . Olympic long-track teammates/rivals Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick plus Louisiana newbie Justin Stelly will be the US men's team for next month's world all-around championships in Berlin, with Catherine Raney leading the women's team. Tucker Fredricks, Nick Pearson, Kip Carpenter, and Belmont's Chris Needham make up the men's roster for this month's world sprint championships in the Netherlands, with Elli Ochowicz, Heather Richardson, and Gehring on the women's side . . . The German lugers have turned the World Cup circuit into an intramural party. Their women, who've won all 12 medals, own the top four places in the standings, and Tatjana Huefner, with three straight victories, is closing in on leader Silke Kraushaar-Pielach. David Moeller leads four countrymen in the top 10.

Ahead on his sled

Despite losing the most recent four-man race at Lake Placid by five-hundredths of a second in a blizzard, US bobsled driver (and defending champ) Steve Holcomb led the World Cup rankings at the holiday break. Mike Kohn, recovered from his hamstring injury, should be piloting USA II at Cortina next week, with Melrose's Steve Langton back as his brakeman. Germany's Sandra Kiriasis still leads the women's side, with Shauna Rohbock, the top American, fifth . . . Honolulu's out and Tuscaloosa's in as host of the Olympic triathlon trials in April. After the Hawaiian state government didn't come through with funding, the Alabama town (and home of the Crimson Tide) stepped up. The trials victors will join Laura Bennett and Sudbury's Jarrod Shoemaker, who qualified by winning the World Cup stop in Beijing in September.

Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, and wire services was used in this report.