Women's football kicks-off Beijing Games

It may be two days until the official opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics but Wednesday saw the first action of this year's Games, with the women's football tournament kicking-off the action.Far away from the Chinese capital in Shenyang, northeast China, Germany and Brazil played out a goalless draw in the opening match of the competition.The honour of scoring the first goal fell to Canada's Candace Chapman whose 27th minute effort sent her side on the way to a 2-1 win over Argentina in Tianjin, just east of Beijing.In the day's other early kick-off match Japan and New Zealand played out a 2-2 draw.However, a shadow was cast over the men's football tournament, which starts on Thursday.Argentina superstar Lionel Messi is set to be barred from competing in Beijing for the reigning Olympic champions after the Court of Arbitrattion for Sport ruled that clubs were not obliged to release their players as the tournament was not listed in world football governing body FIFA's calendar.Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke had all been fighting to keep their young stars-Messi and Brazil's Diego and Rafinha-out of the Games, which clash with their own seasons, after appealing an earlier FIFA ruling.Someone who will be competing at the Olympics is Dirk Nowitzki, one of the stars of America's professional NBA basketball league, who was named Wednesday as the flag-bearer for his native Germany.Nowitzki, the first basketball player to carry the German flag at a Games, said: "Competing at an Olympic Games is something that has motivated me since the age of 10 and 11."On Friday, I will experience something astonishing."Elsewhere, US competitors found themselves caught up in controversy on the day an advance copy of a speech to be given by President George W. Bush talked of America's "deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights" in China.Four United States cyclists-Mike Friedman, Bobby Lee, Sarah Hammer and Jennie Reed-who wore masks because of pollution fears when arriving in Beijing, a touchy subject for the Chinese authorities, apologised Wednesday.Officials once more insisted air quality was safe for athletes as Beijing remained shrouded in smog."The conditions are not unfavourable at the moment," said Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG) spokesman Sun Weide.Meanwhile American swimmer Amanda Beard staged the first protest by an athlete at the Games, unveiling a nude photograph of herself.However, this for an advert in a campaign against animal cruelty run by pressure group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "The Olympics are a great forum for me to use to get my message out," Beard said. "I've done Playboy. I'm comfortable with my body."Another woman in the headlines was Greek sprinter Ekaterina Thanou.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is examining her right to run in Beijing after she failed to show for a dope test four years ago in Athens However, her lawyer said she would not attend an IOC hearing here Thursday.Nikos Kollias accused the IOC of appearing to have a "personal vendetta" against Thanou as several other athletes who actually tested positive and served bans will be competing in Beijing.There was more welcome news for the IOC on the female front as Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg became the first woman to preside over an IOC session when the Games governing body's Belgian president, Jacques Rogge, left early for his country's flag-raising ceremony."It has been 114 years that a woman has had to wait to chair an IOC session and it's about time," Rogge said.
Federer to celebrate 27th birthday carrying Switzerland flagAFP, BeijingRoger Federer will celebrate his 27th birthday by carrying Switzerland's flag at the Olympic opening ceremony. He has little else to cheer about right now.Win or lose in Beijing, Federer's record 235 weeks as number one will end the day after the tennis final, with arch-rival Rafael Nadal set to top the rankings on Monday, August 18.And there are signs that after Nadal ended Federer's five-year Wimbledon reign, and humiliated him in the French Open final, it is all getting a bit much for a man often billed as the greatest player in the history of tennis.The usually suave ace glowered at reporters and refused questions after a strenuous two-hour practice session here Tuesday at a sweltering Olympic Green Tennis Centre.Perhaps the Centre Court scoreboard carrying his name alongside Tomas Berdych, his second-round nemesis at the 2004 Games, did not help his mood. Whatever the reason, the smooth-talking Swiss has maintained a deafening silence on Nadal's coronation as the new number one."I don't care," he pouted last week, when asked if he would follow the Spaniard's all-important progress at the Cincinnati Masters.The contrast between the two camps could not be more striking as Nadal joked with Ana Ivanovic and Tommy Robredo at Olympic Green while Federer stalked off to the showers.World number 10 Stanislas Wawrinka said he did not discuss Federer's demotion during their hit-out here, but revealed his compatriot was determined to get back on top."He wants to improve and to get back to number one," Wawrinka said. "He's going to do what he needs to to come back to number one."He's going to be ready. It's one of his favourite tournaments for the year so he's going to do the best he can."Federer also preferred to look ahead after a year that has gone from rough patch, to slump, to full-blown crisis."For me it is really important over the next couple of weeks, starting here at the Olympics, going on to the US Open," he said separately."I still have plenty of tournaments to do well in, and I hope I can start here at the Olympics and fulfil my dream to win gold."However, doubts are beginning to crowd around Federer, whose aura of invincibility has been blown away by 11 defeats this year.With Nadal, 22, and 21-year-old Novak Djokovic among seven top-10 players younger than the Swiss, the stage could be set for a new generation.And while Federer remains just two away from Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles, only three players older than him-Sampras, Andre Agassi and Goran Ivanisevic-have won majors this century.It could be that Federer just needs a successful Olympics and US Open. Some say he could use a new coach after 16 months with Spain's Jose Higueras.Bjorn Borg, who never recovered from seeing his own five-year Wimbledon streak ended by John McEnroe, and retired at 26, did though back Federer to bounce back."Right now he's going to have a tough time but I think he's going to come back," Borg, the last man before Nadal to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, said."For me he's going to win many, many more Grand Slam titles. It's just a matter of keeping playing. He's not injured, he's healthy and he's motivated."Meanwhile, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, a winner of two Grand Slam titles, praised Nadal's elevation to the world's top spot but warned against writing off Federer."Rafa has taken over the mantle. No other player on earth could have done what he did to Federer in the French Open final. He destroyed him. It was amazing and then to take his Wimbledon title, too," said Hewitt on Wednesday."He deserves to be number one. Roger hasn't been playing as well as he can. But the French Open and the Olympics are about the only highlights missing so there's no doubt he'll be trying his best here."