Liu Yan, considered one of the country’s top classical Chinese dancers, was preparing the performance of a lifetime: the only solo dance in a four-hour spectacular that was expected to be seen by a global audience of more than one billion people.

But on July 27, during an evening rehearsal at Beijing’s National Stadium, the so-called Bird’s Nest, she leaped toward a platform that malfunctioned and plunged about 10 feet into a shaft, landing on her back, according to family members. (more)

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Reminds me of this other classy moment when our President literally rubs shoulders with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G8 Summit.

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Natalie Coughlin

“I was just overwhelmed with emotion,” she said. “The whole team gained a lot of emotion from the men’s relay. It was probably the most amazing swim I’ve seen. I think it got a lot of us pumped up for the rest of the meet.”

It was Coughlin’s third career Olympic gold medal and confirmed her as the foremost backstroker in women’s swimming.

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Tina Thompson scored 13 of her 27 points during a 23-0 run in the first quarter.

Trailing by one midway through the first quarter, Thompson took over, hitting from everywhere. She made two 3-pointers, a jumper from the corner, two layups, and three free throws during the spurt.

Sylvia Fowles added 18 points, Candace Parker 12, and Leslie had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the U.S.

The women’s team took in the electric atmosphere the night before when the men’s team routed China 101-70. They were determined to take the crowd out of the game early. The Americans got off to a much better start than their first game, when they found themselves trailing 13-2 to the Czech Republic before turning the game into a rout.

The U.S. seemed focused to play the host country after losing to them in the gold medal game of the Good Luck Beijing tournament in April. However, that U.S. team only had four players from the current Olympic team on it.

China figured to be the toughest test for the Americans in their pool. Up next will be a matchup with Mali (0-2), which lost star player Hamchetou Maiga to an ankle injury in the third quarter of a 81-47 loss to the Czechs. (NYT)

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The seven women included Yelena Soboleva, the world’s top performer this year at 800 and 1,500 meters, and Tatyana Tomashova, who won a silver medal in the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The Russian women were suspended by track and field’s world governing body and were accused of fraudulently using substitute urine in an attempt to pass doping tests.

Five of the athletes were on the Russian team’s roster for the Beijing Olympics: Soboleva; Tomashova; Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (hammer throw); Darya Pishchalnikova (discus); and Yulia Fomenko (1,500-meters).

The governing body, known by its initials as the I.A.A.F., said it had been investigating the Russian women for more than a year. The athletes were caught when urine samples they had previously given, which had been stored, were compared with other samples, presumably provided at recent meets. [via NYT]

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Friday, this mother of a 2-year-old girl looked like a kid again herself — waving an American flag on the pool deck — in making an unprecedented fifth Olympic team, winning the 100-meter freestyle in 53.78 seconds at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.

“I was shocked when I touched the wall,” Torres said. “I couldn’t see the scoreboard. What does that say? They need to make those numbers bigger for people my age. I’m shocked. I don’t think it’s hit me yet, a fifth Olympic team. . . . I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I’m thrilled.”

With her victory, Torres has become the oldest American swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games. She began her Olympic career at age 17, when she qualified for the 1984 Olympics and won a relay gold at the games. She then went on to qualify again in 1988 and 1992.

Torres has won nine Olympic medals in her career, including the gold in 1984, a bronze and silver in 1988, a gold medal in 1992, and two gold medals and three bronze medals in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 where she was the eldest member on the team at 33 years old.

She was the first American swimmer to attend four Olympics and as of Friday, will become the first to attend five.  We will be watching and cheering. You go girl!

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