Olympics News Today

The 2007 Special Olympics ends on a high note - The 10-day 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games ended here on Thursday after leaving behind a string of superlatives - grandest opening, most delegations, widest media coverage and greatest impact. The games, which feature in 21 medal sports and four demonstrating events, attracted 7,450 athletes from 164 countries and regions, a record in the 39-year history of the games. Some 20,000 delegation officials, coaches, celebrities and family members of the Special Olympics athletes also came to Shanghai while more than 40,000 volunteers, most of them students from China and overseas as well, served the games and the intellectual disabled athletes with passion and love. Read More...

China Table tennis players top favorites - A Chinese trio led by current world number one Wang Hao are poised for honors at the men's World Cup table tennis tournament which starts in Barcelona on Friday. Wang Hao, the winner of the men's singles title at the Pro Tour Grand Finals in December 2006, was listed as the top seed while his compatriots Wang Liqin and Ma Lin followed to fill in the top three spots in seedings. Drawn to separate groups, they avoided battling with each other in early stage, which almost guaranteed their places in quarterfinals. Wang Hao's clash with arch-rival and Olympic champion Ryu SeungMin, however, will highlight group A which also includes Chuan Chih-Yuan from Chinese Taipei. Read More...

Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng cruise into quarters of Int'l Badminton Tournament - China's top-seeded Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng began the defense of their men's doubles crown with a comfortable first-round victory at the 2007 Beijing International Badminton Tournament here on Thursday. The world No. 2 pair asserted its authority over compatriots Luo Mingjian and Luo Jiening with an easy victory 21-8 in the first set thanks to Cai's drop-and-kill combination. They extended the dominance to the second set and wowed the crowd with 47-second long rally of jump smashes to seal the final win 21-12 in 20 minutes. "We will adjust our tactics when the rivals are not that powerful, but for the upcoming Denmark open and 2008 Beijing Olympics, we will definitely stick to our traditional tactics," said Cai Yun. Read More...

Vancouver Winter Olympics ticket program unveiled - The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) Thursday said that approximately 1.6 million tickets for the games will be available on Oct. 11, 2008.Tickets to the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will cost 175 to 1,100 Canadian dollars (about 179 to1, 126 US dollars), a VANOC news release said on Thursday. Closing ceremony ticket prices will range from 175 to 775 Canadian dollars (about 179 to 793 US dollars). Read More...


2008 Olympics