By Peter Auf der Heyde, dpa Hamburg (dpa) - The Russian and American gymnastics teams are expected to dominate the sport's disciplines at the Beijing Olympics although host country China remains confident of a breakthrough.
The sport has been a part of every Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympics in 1896, with only men being allowed to compete for the first 30 years.
ing Olympic all-round champion Paul Hamm, who has recovered from a broken bone in his right hand suffered in May, and brother Morgan, despite testing positive for a prescribed substance without first getting the proper clearance.

One possible answer is the Beijing Olympics and I won’t be surprised if controversial headlines blare during this XXIX Olympiad. The first headline could be

RUSSIA has tripled the - money for medal winners at the Beijing Olympics, offering R1.2 million (⬠100000) for athletes who bring home gold.
Bonuses for silver and bronze from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) will jump to R715260 60000 and R476840 40000 respectively compared to R150538 (20000) and R75293 paid out at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
’s oil rich authorities see as adequate validation of what Olympic meals mean for the heart of the nation.

PARIS (AFP) - The powerful Chinese diving team will be targetting nothing less than a sweep of all titles at their home Olympics after confirming their supremacy throughout the season.
China have not only dominated but increased their invincibility over the past five Olympics, winning five golds in 2000 before landing a record six in 2004.
at they are capable of at the diving World Cup at the Olympic venue earlier this year by winning seven out of eight events.

KIEREN Perkins believes Australia will punch above its weight in the pool at the Beijing Olympics but fall short of the stunning success achieved in Athens.
Australia's seven Olympic swimming gold medals in Athens represented its best haul of the modern era, and the second best of all time, behind the 1956 Melbourne Games when the likes of Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser and Lorraine Crapp propelled the home nation to eight.
ed and created a really strong team.

Having already hosted the event in 1908 and 1948, London is set to become the first city in the world to host the modern Olympics Games three times.
The 1908 Olympics were only the fourth of modern times. The first was held in Athens, before it went to Paris and then St Louis. In 1906, the Intercalated Games took place in Athens but these are not officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
he distance that is run today.

By Patrick Vignal PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - Cuban boxers will be under scrutiny in and outside the Beijing ring after a string of defections but this exodus should not stop the communist-ruled island extending its boxing domination.
Boxing has given Cuba 32 of their 65 Olympic gold medals and produced such great names as Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, both of whom resisted lucrative offers from American promoters.
ght-heavyweight title. Continued...

By sportswriter Li Li BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) - For Chinese Olympic gymnasts who are determined to erase painful memories of Athens failure, to compete on home soil this summer is for sure an honor but adding extra pressure as well.
Chinese head coach Huang Yubin admitted the home advantage but said the whole team was struggling with home expectation and Olympic mania over media and everywhere.
mnastics competition, which will start on August 9th, the next day after the opening ceremony.

TENNIS has the Williams sisters, born a year apart, and athletics boasts the Jenner brothers, born a minute apart.
A month ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Mt Pritchard 15-year-old twins got a taste for international competition at the USA Down Under Tour on the Gold Coast on July 3.
a leap of 6.64m, still falling shy of his attempt to record 7m.

by Louisa Lim “The more events and gold medals there are, the more we want to compete and fight.” China's National Rowing Team Coach, Zhou Qinian Cao

And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the two thousand eight summer Olympic games. They open August eighth in China's capital, Beijing.
VOICE ONE:
s are equal. Athletic training costs a lot of money. So athletes from industrial countries usually win more medals than those from developing countries. How a country pays for its Olympic program shows that nation's social and political values.

The Beijing Olympics represent a vision of the kind of future for which the Communist Party USA strives: a world where people from hundreds of countries come together peacefully to enjoy a common cause.
205 states will participate in the Olympic games, many of whom are in conflict with each other. Iraq and the United States, Israel and Palestine, Russia and Georgia, the D.R. Congo and Rwanda, Sudan and Chad: All of these nations and dozens more will be part of a single, peaceful event.
mous Region. We are resolutely opposed to all forms of terror, and can never support violence against innocent civilians.

By MECHELLE VOEPEL The Beatles sang that even "Eight Days a Week" were not enough to show you care. But how about eight days over two weeks?

China lobbied long and hard to host this summer’s Olympics, and thousands of Chinese literally danced in the streets when the decision was made to award Beijing the Games. This was to be a chance for the Chinese to show the world just how far they and their country had come.
I do not know if there is a Mandarin equivalent for “Be careful what you wish for,” but if there is, it surely applies. China is getting a great deal of international attention, but not the sort it bargained for.
the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.

By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Former West Virginia University pitcher Jeremy Cummings has been named to the 2008 United States Olympic Team.
Cummings, who played at WVU from 1996-99, makes his debut with the team on Aug. 1-4 when the U.S. squad plays four exhibition games against Canada. The team enters Olympic competition in Beijing, China, on Aug. 13-23.
st Villanova?

Beijing's hosting of the Olympics helped China better integrate into the world, France's Ambassador to China Herve Ladsous said Tuesday.
Ladsous said the changes had an impact on the Chinese capital and the country at large.
a 450-member team to the Olympics, including 310 athletes.

Swimmer Britta Steffen and gymnast Fabian Hambuechen feel the burden of the whole country as both look to give Germany Olympic gold in glamour sports at the Beijing Games.
"I am torn, everybody has expectations of me which I may not be able to meet," the 100m freestyle European record holder Steffen told DPA news agency.
lver at the 2006 European championships although she had to settle for a bronze and a silver at the 2007 worlds.