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(WASHINGTON) — The State Department says terrorists may want to disrupt this summer's Olympics in China and warned of a heightened risk of terrorist attacks there in the coming months. In a travel alert Friday, the department said that despite increased Chinese security measures, Americans who plan to attend the Games or who live in China should use caution at all times, especially in large crowds. "There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within China in the near future," the alert said. "In light of these security concerns, U.S. citizens traveling in China are advised...

Food at Olympics is safe: Officials By Zhu Zhe (China Daily) Updated: 2008-02-22 06:51 Beijing Thursday reaffirmed the safety of food at the Olympic Games after media reports that the US contingent plans to prepare its own meals at the Games due to safety concerns. "We've made great efforts to ensure safe supplies for the Games and we hope athletes dine together," Kang Yi, chief of the food division of the Games services department, told a press conference. "If the US delegation is not at these gatherings, I would personally regret it," she said. Some foreign media including The New...

Last Updated: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 11:21 GMT US to take own food to Olympics By James Reynolds BBC News, Beijing China's Olympic food China has expressed regret that the US has decided not to trust its food during this summer's Olympic Games. The US delegation has said it is planning to bring its own food for American athletes. At a news conference in Beijing, a senior official, Kang Yi, said it was a pity that the US had apparently decided not to trust China's food. Ms Kang insisted that the food served to athletes at the Olympics would exceed...

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues. “We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.” In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the...

HOUSTON — Police are investigating the shooting of two men who were wounded in a parking lot outside Reliant Stadium after a soccer match between the U.S. and Mexico. It was unclear why the shots were fired outside the stadium where about 70,000 fans attended Wednesday night's 2-2 tie, police spokesman John Cannon said. The victims reported seeing someone pull a weapon out of a vehicle and start shooting, and other witnesses told police that someone had thrown a beer at that car just before the shooting. Raul Edgar Belmon, 28, and Manuel Elgua, 36, both of Houston, were shot...

Bob and Mike Bryan beat the Russian doubles team of Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in straight sets to clinch the Davis Cup final for the United States on Saturday in Portland, Ore. It's the 32nd Davis Cup title for the U.S., but its first since 1995. Russia was looking to become the first country to repeat as Davis Cup champions since Sweden in 1997-98.

or the first time since 1974, the U.S. won baseball's World Cup. And to put the whip cream and cherry on top, we also ended Cuba's winning streak of nine straight titles. The U.S. beat Cuba 6-3. This bodes very well for the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team. Congrats to Team USA's Jayson Nix and Jason Jaramillo--who got two runs each--and Pitcher Brian Duensing, who was nearly perfect through the first three innings, yielding just one hit. In the past, Cuba has engaged in dirty tricks to win, but the U.S. was prepared, according to the Team USA website: Knowing Cuba...

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - U.S. goalie Hope Solo, who criticized coach Greg Ryan and veteran teammate Brianna Scurry on Thursday, will not even be on the bench for Sunday's third-place match against Norway in the World Cup. After the United States lost 4-0 to Brazil on Thursday - its worst loss ever - Solo said it was the "wrong decision" to bench her in favor of Scurry for the semifinal match. She went on to criticize Scurry, who led the United States in the last three World Cups but didn't play in the first four games of this year's...

CHENGDU, China - Playing with a sore toe and 11 stitches in her head doesn't seem to bother Abby Wambach. The top U.S. striker scored both goals Friday in a 2-0 victory over Sweden in the women's World Cup. She now has three in two games, and the win puts the No. 1-ranked Americans in good position to make the quarterfinals.

<p>In a celebration of women's sports on the 35th anniversary of Title IX, U.S. Soccer and Nike unveiled the new U.S. Women's National Team uniforms...</p> <p>The uniform features a solid gold torso, marking the first time the U.S. Women have worn a color other than red, white or blue as their primary color. The new kit has a gold-outlined U.S. Soccer crest over the left chest and a gold collar, and features white and blue trim on the right sleeve and red and blue trim on the left sleeve.</p>

Nastia Liukin couldn't watch, for she knew she might be the one who had let another world title slip away. Meanwhile, Alicia Sacramone couldn't wait. She wanted to get out on the floor, show 'em what she had, and see if it was good enough to save the day. Sacramone did it, coming through with a floor routine full of attitude and glitz, one good enough to rally the Americans to a world championship Wednesday and prove that winning gold medals in gymnastics is more about determination than perfection

Olympic games are scheduled for September 8-24 in Beijing, China and that has one New Jersey lawmaker worried about the safety of U-S athletes who will be competing. Assemblyman Neil Cohen says, "60-80% of Chinese products or products that we make here that have Chinese components are subject to recall." The recall of popular children's toys is making big news, but that is not what concerns Cohen. He points out that beef, chicken, fish, unfiltrated water, vegetables and toothpaste have been recalled. He is sending a letter to U.S. Olympic officials telling them that when our competitors head to China,...

BEIJING (AP) -- Despite food safety problems, China says athletes, coaches and officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics can be assured of healthy meals. "All the procedures involving Olympic food, including production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting will be closely monitored," Sun Wenxu, an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said Tuesday. China has come under international pressure to boost food safety and monitoring mechanisms following repeated scandals over contaminated Chinese food exports. That has underscored chronic problems with adulterated ingredients and fake products in the domestic food supply, raising questions of how well China can guarantee...

Over the years, every time the United States has beaten Mexico, the score has been accompanied by Mexican claims that the result was undeserved. "We're still better than you," was the underlying message. To be fair, there was an element of truth in this. On many of those occasions, Mexico owned the ball while the U.S. rode its luck, bunkering in for long stretches. But in the aftermath of the Americans' 2-1 triumph over Mexico in the Gold Cup final, there can be no such caveats. On this day, the U.S. was thoroughly deserving of its triumph. Tom Fluegge/US Presswire/Other...

Anyone who thinks soccer is boring, missed a great match today. It's always great to beat Mexico at their game.

The United States Olympic Committee learned earlier today of the passing of Olympic champion Bob Mathias. He was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, competing in the sport of decathlon at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games. Mathias passed away today at his home in Fresno, Calif., at the age of 75. Mathias’ positive impact on the Olympic Movement started at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, England, where at the age of 17 he became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in a track and field event. Mathias’ feat was even more remarkable and legendary considering that it was only his...

The blend of youth, athleticism, excellence and Turin fuelled the remarkable life Pier Giorgio Frassati. He died in 1925, but would have been right at home with today's Olympians in the streets of his hometown and in the mountains which he loved. St. Pier Giorgio Frassati(1901-1925) A staple of Olympic television coverage is the oftmaligned personal profile, the saccharine pieces that tell the dramatic tales behind the athletes. True enough, the drama often descends to melodrama, and the search for tragedy is rather forced. But on balance they are endearing to watch. Usually, the striking thing is not whatever calamity...

NUREMBERG, Germany - They fell behind. They complained about the referees. They scored only one goal. That's what the U.S. men's soccer team did here in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Ghana, and that's what the Americans accomplished in a winless World Cup. The team that reached the quarterfinals four years ago and entered this tournament ranked fifth showed it isn't one of the world's top five or eight teams. "We've got a long way to go to be consistently competitive with the best teams in the world. We know that," said Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer. "We can play...

Spain will open the games, playing against Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern at 9:55 a.m. ET on ESPN and Ukraine will face Tunisia at the same time in Berlin (ESPN2). Ukraine goes into the game against Tunisia knowing that it determines its own destiny. A victory will guarantee passage, but a draw could set up the possibility of another tie-breaking situation on goal difference. Tunisia, meanwhile, which hasn't won a World Cup game since its debut in 1978, has to defeat Ukraine and hope that Saudi Arabia does not defeat Spain by a large margin. France will play against Togo in...

The U.S. national team goes into Thursday's Group E finale against Ghana (9:55 a.m. ET, ESPN) knowing that it must come up with a win to have any chance of moving to the Round of 16. All four teams in Group E, including the USA, still have a chance to advance. The U.S. must beat a tough Ghana side to have any chance of moving to the knockout phase. Should Bruce Arena's team be able to secure three points against the Africans, whom they meet at 9:55 a.m. ET on ESPN, they will need Italy to beat the Czech Republic...

A heroic defensive display by nine-man USA held Italy to a 1-1 draw in Kaiserslauten in their Group E clash on Saturday.

After nine days of sport that convinced some of us the beautiful game had a chance to breathe again at this World Cup, the Italians and the Americans bludgeoned the theory by fighting out, too often literally, a drawn contest. There were 34 fouls, some of them disgraceful. There were three red cards, all of them justified, and three more yellow cards that might have turned the deeper colour. There were two goals, two memorable saves from either goalkeeper, and a match of shame petered out. This turned into the first brutal and calculatedly ugly affair of the tournament. The...

The U.S. national team faces a must-win situation Saturday against Italy (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The U.S. lineup could see some changes, including adding Eddie Johnson. Czech Republic and Ghana play earlier in the day (11:30 a.m., ABC), while Portugal advanced by beating Iran 2-0.

German police confirmed yesterday what World Cup observers have suspected: The U.S. team has been given an unusually heavy security detail for soccer's showcase event. Scores of officers in the team's home base of Hamburg have been assigned to protect the team against terrorism, including SWAT teams whose vehicles accompany the U.S. bus everywhere it goes, Hamburg Police director Ralf Meyer said in an interview. A fleet of motorcycle officers clears traffic for the bus, which never stops or slows down as it takes one of dozens of routes between the team's downtown hotel and the practice field on the...

HAMBURG, Germany – American soccer players finally are larger than life. A 70 1/2 -foot billboard in New York this spring showed Eddie Johnson, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, proclaiming in huge yellow letters: “THE WORLD NO LONGER WANTS TO PLAY US.” In May, a new sign was put up with American players and the inscription: “BEWARE,” an ad that also overlooked San Francisco’s Union Square. Faster, fearless and filled with desire to earn respect, the U.S. team is confident it will advance from a difficult first-round World Cup group that includes the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. “Beas and...

The Americans arrive to much fanfareBY FILIP BONDY New York Daily News HAMBURG - Bugenhagenstrasse, the narrow, cobbled road behind the Park Hyatt, was blockaded at both ends on Friday afternoon, with 20 policemen standing guard to protect the precious cargo inside the hotel. That would be the U.S. national soccer team, with its special security needs and its modest World Cup expectations. "Second round or bust," is the unspoken motivational motto around here, at least until further notice. The players landed Friday morning at 6:03 a.m., were mobbed by German media, and soon discovered this isn't Korea anymore. In...

U.S. closes out World Cup warmups with win McBride scores lone goal vs. Latvia; leaves for Germany on Thursday EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Brian McBride scored, DaMarcus Beasley shifted across the field to the right side and Eddie Johnson looked a lot better. With a 1-0 victory over Latvia on Sunday night behind McBride’s 43rd-minute goal, the United States completed a grueling series of three World Cup warmup games in six days. “All the talking is done. We’ll have to step on the field June 12 and show what we’re about,” U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. Following a 1-0 loss...

Subtitle: Andre Pitts Finds Success With An Iranian Basketball Team TEHRAN, (CBS) Sitting on a black leather sofa in his sparsely furnished North Tehran apartment, Andre Pitts speaks with a yearning for home. "I'm from America and I love my country." he says. "I miss my friends." Most of all, Pitts misses his wife and young daughter. "I'm scared of one thing: That I go home and she doesn’t recognize me," he says. "That would kill me. I am doing all this basically for her — to help better her life." Pitts is the American star of a champion Iranian...

The U.S. will continue their final preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on Friday, May 26, when they take on Venezuela at Cleveland Browns Stadium at 7 p.m. ET, live on ESPN2. CHAVEZ is watching! C'mon boys!Let's go USA!!!!!!!!!!!!

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2006 – Visiting athletes encouraged Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients yesterday to challenge every limitation that comes their way. Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients joined Olympic and Paralympic athletes in playing three Paralympic sports during the athletes' visit there May 16. Sitting volleyball was a hit, drawing cheers and groans, depending on which side of the net the ball dropped. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "There's no such thing as a limitation, whether that's a physical limitation, a mental limitation (or) an economic limitation," soccer U.S. Paralympian Jon...

President Bush signed a $70 billion tax-cut package, and honored the 2006 United States Winter Olympic and Paralympics Teams, both events being held on the South Lawn at the White House. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Some details here; note bias in article title. There are some late photos from last evening's dinner that the president and first lady hosted for Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, and his wife, Janette. Tony Snow's press briefing today (transcript and video). Welcome to Sanity Island!

U.S. Army Spc. Shauna Rohbock Olympic Medalist Re-enlists in National Guard DRAPER, Utah, May 8, 2006 —Winter Olympic silver medalist Spc. Shauna Rohbock, Joint Forces Headquarters, re-enlisted in the Utah National Guard in a formal ceremony at the Draper headquarters building April 24. Brig. Gen. Bruce Frandsen, assistant adjutant general—Army, Utah National Guard, administered the oath of enlistment as Guard officials, reporters and Rohbock’s Olympic teammate and fellow silver medalist Valerie Fleming looked on. With Rohbock as driver and Fleming as brakeman, the two won silver in the women’s bobsled event at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games in...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The official team bus to be used by the United States during the World Cup will not bear a flag for security reasons. The 32 official buses were presented Thursday in Frankfurt and the other 31 buses have large national flags of the their teams painted on rear sides. German and U.S. security officials came to the conclusion to leave the flag off the U.S. team bus, an official of the German organizing committee said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the topic. The bus is predominantly blue in color. National...

A few weeks ago, U.S. champion skier Bode Miller turned in a stunningly poor performance at the Olympics, with two non-medal finishes, a disqualification and two incomplete races. Unabashed, he told the Associated Press: "I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here." Mr. Miller's exuberant self-assessment makes him "a poster child" for "Generation Me," says San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge. Americans born after 1970 -- including the so-called Generation X and Millennial Generation -- have become "an...

ANAHEIM - A shattered bat produced a never-a-doubt, double-play grounder, the "U-S-A!" chants gave way to the "Me-xi-co!" chants, and the longest off-season in baseball history began Thursday night. It's three years before the World Baseball Classic is scheduled to be held again, a thousand off-days before the United States gets another chance to prove what it failed miserably to demonstrate this time, which is that the country that developed the sport is still the best at playing it. Beaten 2-1 by Mexico at Angel Stadium in front of 38,284 raucous fans of both sides, Team USA will not be...

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Roger Clemens was a loser in what might have been the final start of his outstanding career, and Mexico eliminated Team USA from the World Baseball Classic. Oliver Perez and seven relievers combined to pitch a three-hitter Thursday night as Mexico beat the Rocket and the United States 2-1, giving Japan another shot at Korea in the WBC semifinals. The outcome was a stunner, considering Team USA fielded a lineup loaded with All-Stars even without Derrek Lee and Johnny Damon, sidelined with sore left shoulders. South Korea had a 3-0 second-round record in Group One, with Team...

DISGRACEFUL....The U.S.A. goes down 2-1 to Mexico who were the heavy underdog....team U.S.A. with all of its heroes manages to lose to Canada...Korea...and Mexico...and is eliminated. The country that created baseball goes home.We lose with the greatest players available against day laborer baseball players.What is it with american super teams...the U.S. olympic hockey and basketball teams....and now this disgrace.

South Korea humbles US in Baseball Classic By Steve Keating Tue Mar 14, 2:06 AM ET South Korea beat the United States 7-3 on Monday to maintain their unbeaten run at the World Baseball Classic and leave America's title hopes in jeopardy. Lee Seung-yeop and Choi Hee-seop both homered as the Koreans moved to the top of the group standings with a mark of 2-0. Dazzling defense, solid pitching and timely hitting have moved South Korea to 5-0 for the tournament. The U.S. slipped to 1-1, leaving the tournament favorites facing a possible must-win game against Mexico in their final...

The country where hockey is king stole America's pastime on a chilly Arizona afternoon. Adam Stern, a young backup outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, hit an inside-the-park homer, drove in four runs and made two sensational catches in center to lead Canada over the United States 8-6 Wednesday in the World Baseball Classic. Jason Varitek's 448-foot grand slam helped bring the United States back from an 8-0 deficit, but a Canadian team made up largely of minor leaguers held on. A crowd of 16,993 at Chase Field alternated between booing America's futility and supportive chants of "U-S-A!" The United...

Taem USA just finished off Mexico 2-0.

Finally, some baseball to watch! So far the Asian round of the WBC has been great. Japan looked unbeatable... Until today! I can't wait for the US to start playing. However, I think you have to make the Dominicans the favorites.

TURIN, Italy | Bode Miller was a bust. Mike Modano proved to be a big-time whiner. Chad Hedrick was too full of himself and Shani Davis came off as a guy who thought only of himself. Then there was snowboarder Jeret Peterson, who was enough of a screw-up that the U.S. Olympic Committee packed him on a plane and sent him straight back home to Idaho. As the Olympics wind down today, you can't overlook the American athletes who didn't comport themselves well at these Winter Games. But if you watch tonight's closing ceremony, you can rid yourself of any...

NBC OLYMPICS HOME PAGE Complete Olympic Schedule TV SCHEDULES usolympicteam.com Canada's CTV Olympics website CBC.CA - Torino 2006

SESTRIERE, Italy – Unbent, unbowed and ultimately unsuccessful, Bode Miller said in an interview yesterday he is skiing away from these Olympics on his own terms — content without any medals and impressed by the local nightlife. “I just did it my way. I’m not a martyr, and I’m not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here,” Miller said in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press soon after he skidded off the slalom course in his fifth and final race, completing an 0-for-the-Olympics.

TORINO (AP) — Germany and the United States again won the most medals at a share-the-wealth Torino Olympics that featured more countries winning medals and more in double figures than ever before. Canada and Austria, among others, had their best all-time showing. Twenty-six countries — including first-time winners Slovakia and Latvia — earned at least one medal, up from a high of 24 in 1998 and 2002. And 11 countries won at least 10 medals — the previous mark was 10 countries at Nagano in 1998. (Related item: Medal count by country) The Germans and Americans repeated their one-two finish...

TURIN, Italy -- Know this: Apolo Anton Ohno would like to go out and party now, and then soak up the admiration from fans at the Olympics and -- hey, who knows? -- maybe even get his photo taken with a Playmate. You know why he doesn't? He wants to win. He wants to represent this country with pride. He makes sacrifices so he can stand alone with that gold medal around his neck and hear "The Star-Spangled Banner" play. "I'm 23 years old," Ohno said. "I'd like to have a social life, but that's pretty much out the window...

NEW YORK - Halfpipe star Shaun White showed up for an interview with NBC's Bob Costas as an Olympic champion, the pressure lifted from his shoulders and clearly juiced by his new jewelry. So "The Flying Tomato" decided to test the power of a gold medal by trolling for a date with skater Sasha Cohen. Hey, what's the worst that could happen? Chicks dig a little bling, right? White's interview shortly after his gyrating ride to gold was a memorable television moment precisely because it was everything that NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage mostly wasn't — fun, spontaneous and infused with...

TORINO, Italy -- The annual spring meetings of the U.S. Ski Team are going to be pretty ugly in April. You're going to see a lot of administration and coaching changes, particularly on the men's side. Picabo Street retired from competitive Alpine skiing racing in 2002. The two-time Olympic medalist will file reports for NBCOlympics.com throughout the Torino Games. Coming out of these Olympics, the federation is going to struggle for support, and it's not because they didn't win enough medals. It's because of the behavior of the athletes. On The Today Show earlier this week, I addressed the problems...

1. Drinking and partying and competing don't mix.2.

Feb. 23, 2006 - Four months ago, Bode Miller sat across from me in the bar of a New York City hotel and shared his idea of what a perfect two weeks in Torino would look like. “For me,” he said, “the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they’re embarrassed at how emotional they’re getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives—and come away with no medals. I think...