olympic sports

BEIJING -- No, Carmelo Anthony has not technically given a guarantee. Anthony got out of the guaranteeing business four years ago when he promised a gold medal for the Americans and they ended up with a fold medal.Nevertheless, Anthony can sense redemption is at hand. Four years after Team USA's Greek tragedy, he's counting on standing on the top of the podium Sunday.

David Robinson is the only U.S. player to have won three Olympic men's basketball medals while 12 have won two. Current players Jason Kidd, who won gold in 2000, and Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, who all got bronze in 2004, can join the list of multiple medal winners: Player Olympics Medals

BEIJING -- "The best man won today. It wasn't me."That's the way Walter Dix of the United States described the amazing Olympic moment that took place Wednesday night in the Bird's Nest.And the other six sprinters who followed Usain Bolt to the finish line can echo Dix's words.

BEIJING -- Usain Bolt sits at the podium and starts to answer a question and then stops, suddenly, transfixed.The television on the wall is showing a replay of his race.Bolt wants to watch.

BEIJING -- Left to their own devices, pitchers Monica Abbott and Yukiko Ueno might have battled all day.But the Olympic softball tournament has a rule to help prevent that -- and the United States softball team has Crystl Bustos.

BEIJING -- It happened about two years ago, but Terry Schroeder remembers it like it was yesterday.Shortly after he became an assistant coach with the United States men's water polo team, the head coach of this year's U.S. Olympic team was in the stands at a game when he overheard a conversation.

This is a test for Scripps Howard News Service(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)

BEIJING -- The basketball-crazy Chinese crowd is fond of doing the wave. The only waves Korea was feeling Tuesday night at the Summer Olympics were coming off the United States bench.The U.S. team's depth has made things miserable for any of the six opponents who have tried to deal with it. None has succeeded.

BEIJING -- She walked to the border in high heels.She was young, and she was Mexican, and she had heard about life in the United States.The land of opportunity. The land of big cars and bountiful malls."She thought it would be easy," said Henry Cejudo. "She thought it would be like Disneyland. She wore high heels, got all dressed up."

BEIJING -- It was a day to try to save face.At the Olympics, the host nation automatically qualifies for every team sport. So China got berths in all 14 such men's and women's sports, even those in which it looked to be hopelessly overmatched.