Summer Olympian

Last Tuesday the United States Olympic Committee brought in Chinese cultural experts to speak to about 35 athletes. Their message: “Be good ambassadors. Don’t do anything that would offend.” Our first thought was what did they really learn? We love learning what’s…

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Zara Phillips’ recent confirmation as a member of the five-person British equestrian team took no fan of the sport by surprise. She is the reigning world eventing - a rugged combination of equestrian’s three disciplines…

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Not every Chinese-born Olympian will be competing for their birth country in Beijing. Dozens of competitors now living throughout the world will be making a homecoming during this years’ Olympics. In fact eight will…

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Okay, Athetics Kenya, let’s select that Dream Team for the Olympic Marathon this summer in Beijing, China, the team that can finally break that gold-medal goose-egg statistic and divert the world’s attention away from our horrible political situation back home. With Haile Gebrselassie…

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The April 13 Sunday New York Times was a veritable indictment of Beijing 2008 and the Olympics movement. How bad could it have been? The front page upper left hand corner article’s title was ”

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Today UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon said he would not attend opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in Beijing. His position adds to the list of world leaders publicly committed to skipping the ceremonies. British Prime Minster Gordon Brown announced yesterday his…

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A woman in London commented to the BBC that she felt, “bashed about a bit” as protesters attempted to disrupt the torch relay this weekend. The demonstrations in London also included several fire extinguisher wielding protestors. That’s a new tactic…

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Road cycling is a sport, like many, where the weather or outdoor conditions can dramatically change the competitive landscape. Rain, wind, humidity, snow and blazing heat are all weather events cycling fans have seen play out while watching races. Beijing may actually present a new external factor…

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Excerpts from China foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu’s press conference on matters including the recent problems in Tibet and the Beijing Olympic Games

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Passport information for 437 British Broadcasting Corporation journalists, presenters, translators, and other staff was stolen from the BBC offices in early March, the Guardian reports. What trait did those dispossessed share (other than being BBC…

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Crop circles, six amnesiacs, lost goggles, Esperanto tattoos, a brooding historian, complicated plots, and an ancient codex. Is it an X-Files episode, a disturbing dream of self analysis, a Thanksgiving in Iowa City, the plot for the next Bourne…

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For my introductory work as SummerOlympian.com in-house basketball writer, this week sees a brief look at the field for the XXIX Olympiad. Nine teams have qualified for the Games thus far, with continental tournament placers from Argentina, the…

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It didn’t take long for the unconventional “action sports” like half-pipe snowboarding and snowboard-cross to become winter Olympics favorites outshining their more staid downhill skiing cousins. This year the first X-Games-worthy discipline will make its debut in the summer Olympics: BMX racing. What’s…

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The Olympic torch was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece site of the Temple of Hera and the legendary birth of the Olympic Games. A bombastic ceremony of Greek actors in ancient costume lit the torch and passed it along while Jacques…

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Ever wonder what Harvard University thinks about the Beijing Olympics? You mean that angle never even crossed your mind? Well we wondered and thankfully last Saturday the Harvard Graduate School of Public Design held a day-long symposium…

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