Sharapova Pulls Out of Beijing

The Olympics lost a bit of its star power today when Maria Sharapova announced that she won't be able to compete because of a shoulder injury, AFP reports. The 21-year-old Russian, ranked third in the world, also will miss the US Open in late August, the AP reports. “The doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder,” said a despondent Sharapova.

"I knew there was something seriously wrong,” she said. “I'm currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything." (More Maria Sharapova stories.)