2008 Summer Olympics

Stories

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May 2009
- Swimsuits Banned, Records Questioned
  
  New York Times | May 20, 09 7:39 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - After more than 100 records were broken in the past year and a half, the international swimming federation has put 348 high-tech swimsuits under the microscope—banning 10 of them and requiring modifications to another 136, the New York Times reports. The suits can increase buoyancy, squeeze the body into position, and cut drag, said a coach. FINA’s move could lead to the disqualification of some records. More »
April 2009
- Retesting Nails 6 Olympic Drug Cheats
  
  CNN | Apr 29, 09 6:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Six Olympic drug cheats have been exposed long after the end of the 2008 Beijing Games, CNN reports. The IOC—which keeps test samples on file for eight years after events finish—rechecked 948 samples after a new test for a banned blood booster was developed. Silver medal-winning Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin is among those whose tests came back positive, the BBC reports. More »
- Johnson Stalker Hit With 3-Year Restraining Order
  
  E! Online | Apr 14, 09 2:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The restraining order against Shawn Johnson stalker Robert Michael O’Ryan has been extended to 3 years, E! reports today. The Johnson family is “pleased with the decision,” their lawyer said. O’Ryan is being held in a California jail for trespassing on a studio lot—guns, duct tape, and all—in an attempt to meet the gymnast and Dancing With the Stars contestant. He faces 4 years in prison. More »
March 2009
- World Rules Sink New Tech Tricks for Swimming Suits
  
  BBC | Mar 15, 09 8:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - World competitive swimming organization Fina has outlawed certain high-tech swimming suits to keep the playing field even, reports the BBC. Suits cannot cover the neck, nor extend past the ankles and shoulders, and are limited to a certain thickness and buoyancy under the new rules. An astonishing 108 swimming records were broken last year, 79 of them by swimmers wearing the Speedo LZR Racer, including gold-medal blockbuster Michael Phelps. More »
February 2009
- Phelps Penalty Misses Point
  
  New York Times | Feb 6, 09 3:32 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - US swimming authorities flopped in their decision to suspend Michael Phelps from competition, George Vecsey writes in the New York Times . Now Phelps “has more time to wander into parties and hold interesting-looking objects up to his face and say, ‘Hey, dude, what’s this?’” Instead, the Olympic golden boy should be compelled to practice and compete every day of the week. More »
January 2009
- Beijing Rides High Underground
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 6, 09 1:59 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The days of endless traffic jams are over in Beijing, thanks to an ambitious and suddenly popular new subway network, the Wall Street Journal reports. For decades Beijing’s subway has languished, ineffective and, because digging underground violates the mystic rules of feng shui, controversial. “The city’s surface was never breached,” said one sociologist. Then the Olympics changed everything. More »
December 2008
- Best Sports Stories of 2008
  
  USA Today | Dec 26, 08 3:02 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Every fan has favorite storylines from the year in sports, but a few were universally intriguing, Reid Cherner and Tom Weir write in USA Today : Michael Phelps' eight golds in the 08/08/08 Olympics gave America a reason to root. Our favorite hoodied villain, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, finally got his comeuppance in Super Bowl XLII. More »
- China's Great Firewall Back Up
  
  New York Times | Dec 16, 08 3:43 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - China has quietly reinstated the web censorship lifted during its Olympics image cleanup, the New York Times reports today. As in the past, the tightening comes as growing unemployment raises the government’s fears of social unrest. The government defended its right to censor sites that violate Chinese secession laws, which apparently includes BBC, Voice of America, and several Hong Kong publications. More »
- Google Taps Zeitgeist, Finds Palin a Winner
  
  Google | Dec 11, 08 1:34 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Every year, Google releases its analysis of the global zeitgeist based on billions of searches around the world. Newsweek reports the highlights: Sarah Palin: "Obama" was the most searched for term overall, but the Alaska governor grabbed the top spot on the fastest-rising list. Beijing 2008: The world was understandably electrified by the spectacle of the Olympics in China. More »
November 2008
- Phelps' Gal Pal Meets Mom
  
  People | Nov 28, 08 6:30 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Olympic champion Michael Phelps brought his latest prize home: his girlfriend spent Thanksgiving with the family in Baltimore, People reports. The pair met in Vegas, where Phelps is practicing for the World Series of Poker and his gal pal works as a cocktail waitress. The Olympic sensation says the card game gives him an outlet for “some of my competitiveness," but he obviously has more than one focus in Sin City. More »
October 2008
- IOC to Retest 5,000 Samples From Olympics
  
  BBC | Oct 8, 08 10:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The International Olympic Committee will retest samples from Olympic athletes for traces of a new drug, the BBC reports. Cera, a new version of a blood-oxygen-boosting drug, was found in a second look at samples from two Tour de France cyclists this week. Olympic policy allows additional testing for 8 years after a sample is given. More »
- Officials Clear Chinese Gymnasts
  
  Associated Press | Oct 1, 08 9:30 AM CDT
  
  (AP) - China's 2008 gold medal gymnasts are in the clear, after international gymnastics officials said today the documentation provided confirms the women were old enough to compete. But the Chinese team that won the bronze medal 8 years ago still faces questions about the age of two competitors. More »
September 2008
- Carl Lewis Hints at Bolt Drug Connection
  
  Sports Illustrated | Sep 12, 08 12:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US Olympic great Carl Lewis says Jamaica needs to toughen its drug policy before he’ll take Usain Bolt’s sprinting feats seriously. “I think there are some issues,” Lewis tells Sports Illustrated . “No one is accusing anyone. But don’t live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect.” Unlike the US, Jamaica does not have a random drug-testing program. More »
- Jamaican Hurdlers Linked to Steroids
  
  Sports Illustrated | Sep 3, 08 4:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two Jamaican Olympic hurdlers received shipments of banned performance-enhancing drugs in 2006 and 2007, according to documents obtained by Sports Illustrated . The drugs were sent to addresses linked to Delloreen Ennis-London and Adrian Findlay, both members of the Jamaican team in Beijing. Findlay denied using steroids, while Ennis-London was unreachable. More »
August 2008
- Swimmer Torres Set for Shoulder Surgery
  
  CNN | Aug 27, 08 4:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Dara Torres will finally get some relief after swimming to three silver medals with a damaged shoulder, CNN reports. The 41-year-old is scheduled today for a surgery she put off before the Olympics. Torres went to Beijing armed with anti-inflammatories, but started having intense pain while there. She plans to be back in the pool within 10 days of the operation. More »
- Sydney Olympics Also Featured Fake Performances
  
  Sydney Morning Herald | Aug 26, 08 2:38 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The world was shocked to learn that Chinese singer Lin Miaoke was really just a pretty lip-syncher, but fakery seems to be par for the Olympic course: the Sydney Symphony has disclosed that its performers mimed to a backing tape during the 2000 opening ceremony. "It's correct that we were basically miming to a pre-recording," an ensemble official told the Morning Herald . More »
- Chinese Athletes Went Through Hell for Gold
  
  Los Angeles Times | Aug 26, 08 5:16 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - China topped the gold medal tally at the Beijing Olympics but the road to glory was a tough one for many athletes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Judo gold medalist Xian Dongmei, the only mother in the squad, did not see her 18-month-old daughter for a year before the Games, while 15-year-old diving champ Chen Ruolin was ordered to skip dinner for a year. More »
- Castro Backs Cuban Athlete Who Kicked Ref
  
  Associated Press | Aug 25, 08 5:41 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An ailing Fidel Castro expressed "total solidarity" today with a Cuban martial artist who kicked an Olympics referee in the face, the AP reports. Castro supported a claim by the taekwondo athlete's coach that the contest was fixed and marred by a bribery attempt. "They had tried to buy his own coach," Castro wrote of Angel Matos, who faces a lifetime ban from the sport. "He could not contain himself." More »
- After Beijing Pageantry, London 2012 Tries ... a Bus
  
  Guardian (UK) | Aug 25, 08 2:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Beijing Olympics' closing ceremony was predictably stupendous, with thousands of acrobats and "more orthodontically screened children," writes Guardian columnist Marina Hyde. It certainly ran over the 8-minute tableau promoting the 2012 Games in London. While China spent years preparing its "deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial," the Brits decided on a low-budget showcase that featured rain-soaked commuters waiting for a bus. More »
- Communist Party Basks in Olympic Afterglow
  
  New York Times | Aug 25, 08 9:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has made the Olympics the nation's first political priority, writes Jim Yardley in the New York Times . Hopes that the international spotlight would lead to democratization and human-rights reforms in China didn't materialize, as the triumph of the Games instead underscored the strength of the party. "They have earned a tremendous amount of face because of the Olympics," said one Beijing media exec. "They are going to ride on that for a while." More »