Beijing hopes to dodge rain

Showers could dampen opening

American star Michael Phelps loosens up during practice at the National Aquatics Center. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

BEIJING - Usually, the 17 million residents of this smog-coated capital are delighted when rain washes away the brutal summer pollution. But they're hoping that the lucky number 8 prevails for Friday's opening ceremonies (8/08/08 at 8:08:08 p.m.) and that the skies stay dry.

After early forecasts predicted showers, it appears that the moisture may come Thursday and Saturday instead. In any case, the ceremonies inside the Bird's Nest Stadium, said to be the most lavish in history, will go on rain or shine, fireworks included.

A drenching storm sometime this week would be more than welcome, now that the city has turned back into a sweatbox after a few days of blue skies.

The temperature topped a shirt-sticking 90 degrees yesterday amid a ceiling-to-floor gray curtain, and the same is predicted for today.

Gang's all here
Despite the boycott buzz in the spring, all 205 member countries will be competing in the Games, and 158 of them had checked into the Olympic village by Sunday. "No one is missing," reported International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. Counting both athletes and officials, the tally is a record 16,000 . . . Why hasn't the IOC reallocated the gold medals it stripped from the US men's 4 x 400 track relay that won in 2000? Because the committee is waiting for the BALCO case to be concluded. "We want to render justice with all the facts being known, and there are still issues that could come out, and that's the reason why we want to wait," said Rogge. "I know it's a long time, but you know ultimately on the mid-term, a couple of months, I'm sure that everything will be finalized and that the athletes who are clean will be rewarded." Though the Olympic statute of limitations on doping cases is eight years, it's lengthened if a disciplinary commission initiates a case. "So we are not hindered by that whatsoever," Rogge said. If the BALCO case implicates nobody else and the medals are revised, Nigeria would win its first gold medal in the event, with Jamaica moving up to silver and Bahamas to bronze.

Pool parties
With Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte already guaranteed relay spots based on previous times, either the third- or fourth-place finishers in the 100- and 200-meter freestyles at last month's US trials won't be swimming in the Olympic finals, as they normally would. "They know that unless you swim a miracle time, there's only one spot open," says men's coach Eddie Reese. As usual, the 3-4-5-6 guys will swim in the prelims, with Phelps plus Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak guaranteed places in the finals of the 400 relay and Lochte plus Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay in the 800. The prelim swimmers still would get medals, which means that North Easton native Erik Vendt, who'll be in the 800, likely will pick up his first gold in his third Games in his least likely event . . . US soccer player Natasha Kai, who could win the Olympic gold for body art, recently compared tattoos with English star David Beckham. "We ran into each other a couple of months ago in California," said the Hawaiian striker, whose 19 tattoos were done freehand by a Polynesian artist back home. "He stopped me and asked to see my tattoos and I saw his." If she wins gold here, Kai said, she may increase her tally to 20.

US women rout Russia
Diana Taurasi scored 21 points and the United States pulled away in the second half, beating the Russians, 93-58, in the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament in Haining, China. In a much-hyped matchup against her native country, Becky Hammon scored 10 points, but her adopted team was no match for the Americans. Hammon wasn't in the 29-player pool used to select the US Olympic team. So she chose another option, playing for Russia. "I think the pregame was worse than anything," Hammon said. "Once the ball went up, it was just another basketball game." . . . American sprinter Tyson Gay says his hamstring is feeling better and he'll be healthy and ready to go when the 100-meter races start next week. "When I step on the line in Beijing, don't worry. I'll be ready to go," Gay said before departing for China from Munich, where he had been training . . . Mike Hessman hit two of the United States' four home runs and Matt LaPorta homered for the third time in the four-game series, and the Americans scored nine runs in the fifth inning of a 17-5 exhibition rout of Canada in their final Olympic tuneup . . . Britain marathoner Paula Radcliffe arrived in Macau planning to run in the games even as she tries to overcome a stress fracture in her left thigh . . . The approaching storm expected to pass near Hong Kong tomorrow could affect the start of the equestrian competition Saturday. All six equestrian events are being held in Hong Kong.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.