Beijing list was hardly worth the trouble

The fact that the Chinese not only kept a list of potential troublemaking Olympians but also showed it to US Olympic Committee officials a month before the Games is yet another sign of the government's profound paranoia that a protest would rain on its Beijing parade.

Nearly all of the nine American athletes - most notably soccer player Abby Wambach and softball players Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza - were members of Team Darfur, the group formed by Olympic speedskating champion Joey Cheek (who was denied a Beijing visa) to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, whose government is subsidized by China.

The Chinese were so worried that the athletes might stage a demonstration at the Games that an embassy official tried to enlist the USOC to warn them off. The committee, which had declared months earlier that team members would be free to speak their minds (or not) at the Games, refused to even mention the Chinese concerns to the athletes.

If anything, the list backfired badly.

"This may be the biggest compliment of my life," Wambach told USA Today. "If they're worried about us, maybe we do have more strength as athletes and as people to speak out. This just gives me more empowerment."

Nice gymnastic move

The new license that will be required next year of all junior and senior gymnasts competing internationally should go a long way toward solving the underage issue that has tainted the Olympic women's event for decades. Whatever information is included initially - most importantly the birth date - remains permanent, thus preventing countries from backdating ages to make them eligible for the Games, as the Chinese have been accused of doing. It's a sensible move that should have been made long ago . . . After the five race directors had to vote to decide the World Marathon Majors women's winner Sunday, there will be a more extensive tiebreaking system in place for the next full cycle. When Irina Mikitenko and Gete Wami both ended up with 65 points, the only available tiebreaker was head-to-head, in which the runners also were tied. So the directors awarded the title and the $500,000 prize to Mikitenko because she'd run one less race and had a lower average time. While they can't change the rules in the middle of the overlapping two-year cycle, the directors will use similar criteria if there's a deadlock next year. "We're looking for ways to make it completely objective," said Boston Athletic Association executive director Guy Morse.

They gave it a good run

The two Olympic gold medalists in Sunday's New York City Marathon - gymnast Kerri Strug and soccer player Brandi Chastain - both performed creditably. Strug, running in her fifth marathon, broke four hours and Chastain, making her debut, came reasonably close. "I had no idea what the hell was going to happen to me," confessed Chastain, whose only goal was to finish standing up . . . Though Paula Radcliffe says she'd love to run the Boston Marathon, it likely never will happen barring a date change. "I guess my problem is that it's always so close to London and London has such a special place in my heart," said Radcliffe, who has won there three times. Luring her to Boston would be expensive, since she reportedly gets a massive appearance fee in London . . . With 18 members aboard from last year's world champion team skating on home ice in Lake Placid, the US women's ice hockey team is favored to end its silver streak at this week's Four Nations Tournament. The Americans, who've lost to the Canadians four straight times, open today with the Swedes, then face their archrival neighbors Thursday and the Finns on Friday.

Back up to speed

Two years off seem to have worked wonders for speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez, who made the World Cup team in three events in her re-entry. "I was totally burned out and overtrained," said J-Rod, who came up empty in Turin after winning two medals in Salt Lake. "The thought of skating made me sick to my stomach." Shani Davis, the golden workhorse, made the men's squad in all five events, while Belmont sprinter Chris Needham qualified in the 500 . . . Apolo Anton Ohno has a couple of wingmen on the US short-track team. Anthony Lobello won a silver medal at the recent World Cup stop in Vancouver while Jeff Simon won his second bronze and both of them joined Ohno and J.R. Celski on the winning men's relay. The Chinese and Koreans, as expected, are dominating the standings as the circuit moves on to Asia for the next two events in Beijing and Nagano . . . With the midway point in the Grand Prix figure skating circuit coming at this weekend's Cup of China, US skaters are leading two of the four disciplines: Evan Lysacek in the men's and Keauna McLaughlin-Rockne Brubaker in pairs. It's been a rough start for teenagers Rachael Flatt, Mirai Nagasu, and Caroline Zhang, none of whom has medaled.

They will be your pilots

Out of retirement and back on the track is Olympic bobsled medalist Todd Hays, who will be piloting USA II in the World Cup circuit, which begins in Germany at the end of the month. Steve Holcomb, looking to rebound from an off year after winning the Cup crown in 2007, will pilot USA I, with John Napier driving USA III. Shauna Rohbock and Erin Pac again will be the two women's pilots . . . Back from maternity leave, new daughter in tow, is former world champion Noelle Pikus-Pace, who made the US skeleton team along with two-time World Cup champion Katie Uhlaender and Courtney Yamada. Zach Lund and Eric Bernotas return to the men's team, along with Caleb Smith . . . Westborough's Ashley (Hayden) Walden and husband Bengt both made the US luge team, which begins the World Cup season in Austria at month's end. Walden, who swept the recent raceoffs, will be joined by Erin Hamlin, Julia Clukey of Augusta, Maine, and teenager Kate Hansen. The men's squad also includes Tony Benshoof, Robbie Huerbin, and Chris Mazdzer. The men's doubles teams will be Chris Niccum-Dan Joye, Mark Grimmette-Brian Martin, and Mazdzer-Jayson Terdiman.

Trigger men (and women)

The US biathlon team will be both big (thanks to expanded starting positions) and experienced: Tim Burke, Jay Hakkinen, Jeremy Teela, Lowell Bailey, and Russell Currier of Stockholm, Maine, all return on the men's side, plus Lanny and Tracy Barnes, Haley Johnson, and Laura Spector of Lenox on the women's. The World Cup season begins next month in Sweden . . . Just to make sure that no more befuddled International Olympic Committee members confuse their sport with baseball, the softball federation is seeking de-linkage. With more than a quarter of the 131 national softball federations aligned with other sports, the ISF wants them to have a clear identity. Oklahoma City, by the way, will host the 2010 women's world championships. It'll be the first time since 1996 that a global tournament is held in the US, which invented the sport.

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