Olympic Games

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'Bowman the Showman' Found Dead
'Bowman the Showman' Found Dead
Jan 11, 2008 2:50 AM CST

'Bowman the Showman' Found Dead

Figure skating champ's body in LA motel, overdose suspected

(Newser) - Former US figure skating champion Christopher Bowman was found dead yesterday in a Los Angeles motel room, AP reports. Authorities suspect a drug overdose. Bowman, 40, won US figure skating titles in 1988 and 1992 and wowed the crowds at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics. His flamboyant personality and...

Gatlin Gets 4-Year Ban
Gatlin Gets 4-Year Ban
Jan 1, 2008 10:51 PM CST

Gatlin Gets 4-Year Ban

Olympic sprinter thinks vengeful massage therapist may have framed him

(Newser) - Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin won't be competing this year in Beijing—or in any other track and field meet—after receiving a four-year ban for a failed drug test in 2006. The sprinter had been arguing his case, saying, for one thing, that a prior doping charge shouldn't count...

Nazi Architect's Son Has His Own Designs

Father's shadow hasn't kept Albert Speer from worldwide impact

(Newser) - It’s hard to make a name for yourself when you share a name with your father, harder when the father was a famous Nazi architect and friend of Hitler. Urban planner Albert Speer constantly battles the association, keeping a low profile, and, though he has made his mark worldwide,...

Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40
Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40
Dec 16, 2007 3:31 PM CST

Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40

Ex-bodyguard changed name, 'died a long time ago,' brother says

(Newser) - A plotter in the 1994 attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan died this week of natural causes at age 40, the AP reports. Brian Sean Griffith, ex-bodyguard to figure-skating Olympic hopeful Tonya Harding, confessed to helping organize the attack on Kerrigan days after it happened. Griffith served 14 months and...

Marion Jones Falls Further
Marion Jones Falls Further
Nov 24, 2007 2:44 AM CST

Marion Jones Falls Further

Shamed sprinter's records to be taken off books

(Newser) - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones will have her results in races dating back to September 2000 wiped from the record books, reports the AP, under orders from track and field's world governing body. She's also been ordered to give back $700,000 in prize money. The IAAF council decided to retroactively...

Italian Soccer Fans Riot After Shooting

Cops call shooting "tragic error" after mob attacks police barracks

(Newser) - The police shooting of an Italian soccer fan sparked riots and police clashes across the country today, the BBC reports. Hundreds in Rome torched a bus, smashed cop cars, and attacked a police barracks. In Milan, one game was stopped when angry fans tried to storm the field; more violence...

Fading US Sway Leads to Darfur, Burma Inaction

China is ignoring rights abuses for economic interests, Time says

(Newser) - Diminished US influence is allowing human rights violators in Darfur and Burma to get away with murder, Harvard expert Samantha Power writes in Time. America is speaking up louder than ever, but Uncle Sam’s diplomatic nadir makes for “a void in global human rights leadership.” China has...

Chinese Prez Rips Corruption
 Chinese Prez Rips Corruption
Oct 15, 2007 3:50 AM CDT

Chinese Prez Rips Corruption

(Newser) - China's President Hu Jintao blasted the "extravagance and corruption" of some Communist officials at a key party congress today as he warned that the nation's promise has "fallen short" of public expectation. He also cautioned that "independence" forces were growing stronger in Taiwan and that the island...

IOC Will Move Quickly to Strip Jones of Medals

100-meter gold may go to runner in another drug scandal

(Newser) - The International Olympic Committee announced today that it is ready to make a speedy move to strip Marion Jones of the three gold and two bronze medals she took home from the 2000 Sydney Games. Now that Jones has pled guilty, IOC vice-president Thomas Bach intends to "accelerate and...

After World Cup Dismissal, Hope to Fly Solo

Player banished from games; coach under fire for not playing her

(Newser) - The US women’s soccer team just suffered one of its worst World Cup losses, but all eyes are focused on the team’s outspoken player and embattled coach. Goalie Hope Solo was banished today after publicly criticizing the choice of veteran teammate Briana Scurry to replace her in the...

Romney Passed Trial By Torch
Romney Passed
Trial By Torch
Sep 19, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

Romney Passed Trial By Torch

Candidate learned from running 2002 Games, but also drew flip-flop rap

(Newser) - Mitt Romney built his persona and political team as chief executive of the 2002 Winter Olympics, but also grew a reputation for playing to his audience. In turning around the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Games, the GOP presidential hopeful gained poise unseen in his failed 1994 Senate run, the New ...

Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)
Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)
Sep 14, 2007 12:41 PM CDT

Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)

Windy City officially joins race for 2016 Olympic Games

(Newser) - Chicago and six other cities kicked off the competition for the 2016 Olympics yesterday by filing official applications to play host to the Games. The other candidates are 1964 Summer Olympics host Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro; Prague; Madrid; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Chicago is likely to be among the...

A Few Words of Mandarin Go Far in Sydney

Opposition leader upstages hosts, score huge points with Chinese at summit

(Newser) - The man tipped to be Australia's next prime minister has scored a major diplomatic coup at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, upstaging PM John Howard. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd spoke to delegates in fluent Mandarin and so impressed Hu Jintao that the Chinese president issued a personal invitation to...

US, China Grow Closer Despite Touchy Issues

Bush accepts Olympics invitation; talks recalls, environment with Hu

(Newser) - President Bush accepted an invitation today from China’s president to attend next summer’s Olympics, a gesture that will likely anger human rights activists but may increase pressure on Beijing, the Times reports. In a 90-minute meeting in the eve of the APEC summit, Hu Jintao and Bush also...

Winners of the Iraq War: The Scots
Winners of
the Iraq War:
The Scots
Sep 4, 2007 4:31 PM CDT

Winners of the Iraq War: The Scots

Independence party finally scored by opposing war

(Newser) - When Scotland’s separatists became the first party to wrest control of the Scottish Parliament from Labour last May, it was due to a surge of anti-Iraq-war sentiment as much as pro-independence fervor. But the  Scottish National Party has proved adept at governing, the New Republic notes, making small popular...

James Revives Dream Team
James Revives Dream Team
Sep 3, 2007 1:34 PM CDT

James Revives Dream Team

James Leads US to Victory at FIBA; Raises Hopes for Beijing

(Newser) - Basketball phenom LeBron James made a team-record 31 points during the 118-81 victory against Argentina in the FIBA Americas championship last night. Argentina, the defending Olympic champion, was missing key players including Manu Ginobili, but still secured a place in Beijing. The American team won 10 games in 12 days,...

In This Corner, a Boxer Jabbing at a Dream

Having won citizenship, champ aims for spot on US Olympic team

(Newser) - As a Dominican native, Fernando Guerrero had to fight for US citizenship. This week, the middleweight boxer is saving his jabs for the ring, where he hopes to earn a spot on the US Olympic squad headed for Beijing. The 20-year-old champ, whose career detoured because he wasn’t a...

Rookie Gymnast Vaults Her Rep
Rookie Gymnast Vaults Her Rep
Aug 18, 2007 12:53 PM CDT

Rookie Gymnast Vaults Her Rep

Shawn Johnson steals the spotlight

(Newser) - The USA Gymnastics team is rolling out a new megastar for Beijiing 2008: Shawn Johnson, a 4'10" 15-year-old who's been racking up gold medals at national and international championships even while finishing high school. But Johnson has only been on the national team for 10 months, and she's still getting...

Beijing Smog May Postpone Olympic Events

With exactly 1 year to go, China scrambles to reduce pollution

(Newser) - The air pollution in Beijing is so bad that some 2008 Olympic events may have to be postponed. IOC president Jacques Rogge is worried about participants in endurance events like cycling because air quality remains dismal despite government efforts, such as shutting down factories, to improve it. Construction for the...

In Countdown to 2008 Olympics, Beijing Besieged

Pollution, human rights, food safety issues all draw fire

(Newser) - As the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics begins tomorrow, activists and Olympic organizers alike have been vocal in their concerns about the host city. The government is under fire for press harassment: journalists were detained for several hours yesterday after a Reporters Without Borders conference, and six Free Tibet...

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