Issues still fouling the air
Beijing isn't breathing easy
Politics and pollution, the two gravest concerns about China even before the International Olympic Committee awarded the Summer Games to Beijing seven years ago, are becoming even bigger issues with the opening ceremonies less than five months off.
The government's harsh crackdown on Tibetan protesters won't provoke a Western boycott, though.
"Put together a ranking of the worst ideas ever conceived, and 'Olympic boycott' would be at the top of that list," said USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel. "Other than unnecessarily and unfairly punishing athletes, Olympic boycotts accomplish absolutely nothing."
The European nations also dismissed the idea, but all of that did nothing to change China's well-documented reputation for smothering dissenting voices.
"The IOC hopes that there can be an appeasement as soon as possible," president Jacques Rogge said.
Worries about unhealthy air were highlighted again when Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, the world marathon record-holder, said he wouldn't run the event at the Games because of his exercise-induced asthma (although he'll try for a third gold medal in the 10,000 meters).
Though the Chinese have promised to create bluer skies in "Greyjing" by shutting down factories and taking a million cars off the road, the athletes in the endurance events - marathon, race walking, road cycling, mountain biking, triathlon, open-water swimming - won't be breathing easy.
"We may not see world records in unfavorable conditions," acknowledged Arne Ljungqvist, the IOC's medical chief.
If the air is truly nasty, the IOC says it will reschedule some events for a more favorable day. For many of the 10,000 athletes, though, pollution won't be a problem. Sixteen of the sports on the program are played indoors.
Foot in the door?
The US men's soccer team, which failed to qualify for the last Olympics for the first time since 1976, will get a Beijing ticket if it beats Canada in Nashville Thursday. The Americans, who were bounced, 4-0, by Mexico in the semis of the 2004 qualifying tournament in Guadalajara, caught a break this time when Guatemala knocked off Los Tricolores and then, already through to the semis, mailed in a 5-0 loss to Canada, which advanced by a differential of one goal. The Mexicans, who drew with Canada, hadn't lost in 23 qualifiers dating to 1992. The US women, fresh off winning their sixth Algarve Cup title by a 12-1 aggregate and still unbeaten under coach Pia Sundhage, get their crack at Olympus next month in Mexico, where they'll meet Jamaica and the hosts in the prelims. If they win their semi, they're in . . . Excellent showing by the US track and field team, which beat the Russians by one medal to top the table with 13 at the biennial World Indoor Championships in Spain. The Yanks, who finished five behind the Motherland at the 2006 meet in Moscow, got golds from Christian Cantwell in the shot put, Angela Williams in the dash, Lolo Jones in the hurdles, Bryan Clay in the heptathlon, and the men's 4x400 relay.Hold your places
Medals won't be the issue for the US figure skaters at the World Championships, which begin today in Sweden. Holding onto three men's and women's entries for next year's pre-Olympic competition in Los Angeles will be. Unless former champ Kimmie Meissner finds herself, the women could be down to two unless global rookies Ashley Wagner and Bebe Liang (a disastrous 11th at the Four Continents) can step up. They haven't had that few since 1995. Admittedly, it's an extraordinary situation because both of the top finishers at the US Championships (Mirai Nagasu and new world junior titlist Rachael Flatt) are too young to compete. That won't be an issue next year, where placement will determine Olympic entries for Vancouver in 2010. With two-time medalist Evan Lysacek out injured, the squeeze will be on Johnny Weir (who never has made the podium) and Wakefield's Stephen Carriere to be no worse than sixth and seventh. If they aren't, the men will be down to two for the first time since 2001, when Todd Eldredge saved the day and earned three spots for Salt Lake City . . . For the first time since 1993 in a non-Olympic year, there could be four new world skating champions. China's pair of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo have retired, as have Bulgarian dancers Albena Denkova and Maxim Daviski in the wake of his drunk-driving vehicular homicide last year. Japan's Miki Ando hasn't won an event all season, and France's Brian Joubert will have his hands full again with Swiss two-time victor Stephane Lambiel and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi . . . The Champions on Ice tour, a postseason fixture since 1969 (and an April tradition at the Garden), is kaput. Diminished interest in skating and an absence of new stars finally took its toll. It has "combined resources" with Stars on Ice, which features the likes of Sasha Cohen and Eldredge. The tour stops at Worcester's DCU Center April 5 and Manchester'sDownhill letdown
Last week's World Cup skiing finals in Italy were a letdown. Both the men's and women's downhills were cancelled because of bad weather and Bode Miller wrapped up the overall title Thursday when Swiss rival Didier Cuche opted out of the slalom. It was the best finish in 25 years for the Americans, though, with Lindsey Vonn winning the women's side plus the downhill crown and Ted Ligety taking the giant slalom. If the downhill hadn't been scrubbed, Miller, who was the combined champ, likely would have taken that title, too, since he trailed by only 5 points and had won three races to Cuche's one . . . The declining US fortunes in freestyle skiing were reflected in the final World Cup standings, where there was no man in the top 15 behind Canadian victor Steve Omischl, and the top woman (Jennifer Hudak) was eighth behind France's Ophelie David . . . Breakthrough season for Bill Demong, who finished third in the World Cup standings in Nordic combined behind Germany's Ronny Ackermann and Norway's Petter Tande. It was the best showing ever by an American.Short and sweet
Huge double for the US males at the world short-track speedskating championships. Apolo Anton Ohno, who had skipped most of the World Cup circuit, won the title on the Koreans' home ice despite being disqualified in the opening race. Then Ohno and his countrymen went to China and won their first team title there. The Chinese women, as expected, claimed the individual (Wang Meng) and team crowns. Katherine Reutter, the most promising American-born women's skater in years, was seventh overall and medaled in the 3,000 . . . As expected, the Germans, Dutch, and Canadians dominated the season-ending world single-distance speedskating championships in Nagano. The only US victory came from Shani Davis, who retained his 1,000-meter crown but finished third in the 1,500 . . . By dethroning German countrywoman Andrea Henkel, Magdalena Neuner became the youngest overall World Cup biathlon champion. "Somehow, I've always been two steps ahead," said Neuner, who turned 21 last month. Winning his fifth men's title at 34 was relative greybeard Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway. Fine finish, meanwhile, by rising US star Tim Burke, who was seventh in the pursuit and eighth in the mass start at last weekend's finale in Oslo, ending the season with five top 15 placements.A dozen divers
Besides winning a pair of bronze medals at the World Cup inside the "Water Cube" in Beijing, the US divers earned the rest of the berths they needed to send the maximum 12-member squad to the Games . . . Imagine the US basketball team not qualifying for the Olympics? That's what happened to the Indian men's field hockey squad, which will miss the Games for the first time in 80 years after being blanked by their former British colonizers in the qualifying tournament. India, which has won eight gold medals, has been on the downslide for a while and hasn't made a global semifinal in decades. Still, sitting home is "a huge national disaster," said former captain Ashok Kumar.Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews and wire services was used in this report
