US Relay Teams Drop Batons

(AP) - The US men's and women's teams swept the 1600-meter relays today, ending a string of frustrations for the Americans that included dropped batons in two earlier races. For the women, Sanya Richards anchored her team in a come-from-behind victory over Russia in 3:18.54, the world's fastest time since 1993. On the men's side, Jeremy Wariner crossed the line 12 strides ahead of Christopher Brown of the Bahamas, finishing in 2:55.39 to break the Olympic record by 0.35 second. More»

Injury a jolting reminder that talent isn't always enough

(NEWSER) - America's best-known hopeful for the Olympic track team is still going to Beijing—but won't be defending his world championship title in the 200-meter sprint. In a stunning twist, super runner Tyson Gay suffered a leg cramp that felled him during his key event in the quarterfinals of the Olympic trials. Fellow athletes, sobered but thankful that the injury was nothing more serious, expressed both sympathy and stoicism, reports the Los Angeles Times. More»

*Except that track, unlike any other sport, factors in the weather, columnist writes

(NEWSER) - Tyson Gay might have used the Olympic trials yesterday to cover 100 meters faster than any human in history, but he is not the world record-holder because track, unlike any other sport, attaches asterisks to records, Jim Caple writes on ESPN.com. Strong tailwinds propelled Gay to victory, but his breathtaking time of 9.68 seconds would have been 9.86 without the wind. More»

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 as his first offense, reports the Washington Post. More»

He's been studying Mandarin, but may not be heading to Beijing

(NEWSER) - In Beijing next year, basketball's Team USA may be missing one of the sport's most familiar faces. For flaky-sounding reasons, LeBron James has let it be known that he is "50-50" for the upcoming Tournament of the Americas, an Olympic qualifier, and Jerry Colangelo, the man putting the team together, is not thrilled. More»