Chinese Gymnasts Turn out to be of Age

The Federation of International Gymnasts has ended their investigation into the age of Chinese gymnasts in this year's summer Olympics. As it turns out, they were provided with documentation proving the gymnasts were old enough to compete in the Olympic Games. The gymnasts, who looked no older than 10 years old, will be allowed to keep their medals while the Chinese government says that the age controversy was due to errors in paperwork.

It seems to me as though the real error here was that the Chinese government somehow lost control of the real age documents and were then not able to cover it up quickly enough. In any event, 10-years-old, 12-years-old, or 16-years-old, the Chinese gymnasts will keep their medals as the matter has been deemed officially closed. Conspirators can only speculate from here.

The Olympics Best Athlete?

Meet Bryan Clay. You've probably never heard of him. But he just might be the best athlete at the Olympics. Clay, 28, participates in the decathlon for the men's US track and field team, and recently got the gold in Beijing, raising the question: is Bryan Clay the best athlete at the Olympics?

Before you write Clay off, take a look at what he had to compete in; a 100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, and a 1500m over two days. Alone, these are difficult events to train for, but imagine instead of training just for one event, training for 10 events.

There is no way Clay doesn't deserve a shot at the title of best athlete. He might not be able to dunk, he might not be able to swim well, but can any other Olympic athlete do what Clay did over two days? I say not.

He won't get the same publicity as the redeem team. He won't get the endorsement deals that Michale Phelps will get. But what he does have? A very real chance of being called the worlds greatest athlete.

Jamaica, Jamaica!

Jamaican track star Usain Bolt has set the world record and taken home 2 gold medals in both the 200 meter (19.30 seconds) and 100 meter (9.69 seconds) events. Usain 'Lightning' Bolt broke the world records in the 100 and 200 meter events previously held by Asafa Powell (2007) and Michael Johnson (1996) respectively. Usain Bolt has left his mark in Olympic history this year with two stunning performances that could withstand the test of time. Rooting for the American's, I would have loved to see an American track star take home the gold. However, after witnessing a performance like this any fan, American or otherwise, can't help but stand up and shout Jamaica, Jamaica!

USA Continues To Roll

Don't look now, but the Redeem Team is starting to look an awful lot like the Dream Team.

Led by an Olympic single game high twenty-five point from Kobe Bryant, Team USA Basketball defeated Australia 116-85 on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals. Lebron James added sixteen points and Carmelo Anthony fifteen in the winning effort for the Americans.

The United States will next play Argentina for the right to go play in the gold medal game. Argentina, the defending gold metal champions from the 2004 Olympic games, is led by San Antonio Spurs star guard Manu Ginobili.

This should finally be a tough test for Team USA. Then again, we have said that about two of their last three opponents and they have gone on to run them out of the building. Their margin of victory certainly reminds you of the way the old Dream Team use to beat their opponents. By no means am I saying that this team is as good as the Dream Team was, however they deserve to at least be in the discussion. It will be interesting to see how they handle Argentina.

Phelps Makes History

Michael Phelps received his eighth and final gold medal of this year's Olympic games, going eight for eight and setting yet another world record, this one in the 4x100 medley relay. This officially puts Phelps past Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one year's Olympic games. American Aaron Peirsol led off with the backstroke for the foursome. Brendan Hansen, considered by many to be the "wildcard" of the bunch (no one was really sure how he was going to do), was the second swimmer for the US with the breaststroke. Phelps swam the third leg with the butterfly, and Jason Lezak once again brought up the rear for Team USA with the freestyle.

Lezak deserves a lot of credit, as he was a solid anchor in both relays that Michael Phelps was involved in. Without Lezak, Phelps would probably have six or seven gold medals right now.

The most amazing thing about this is Michael Phelps' age. He is 23 years old. That means he has many more Olympic games that he can potentially compete in. After all, look at Dara Torres, who at 41 just earned two silver medals in this years games. It will surely be interesting to see what the future holds for this young phenom.

Half Way To Gold!

Team USA Basketball made yet another loud statement on Saturday as they defeated Spain, the 2006 World Champions, 119-82. That is the second time that USA has defeated a team who was considered to be on the same playing field by 20+.

Leading the way once again at both ends of the floor was Lebron James who led all Americans in scoring with 18 points. Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony each chipped in with 16 points. Chris Paul recorded 14 points while Kobe Bryant and Deron Williams each had 11. Every USA player who played scored, an impressive stat in itself.

Perhaps the best news for the United States in this game was the final stat line for both 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage. Team USA was 45% from behind the arc and 80% from the line, both major improvements over their previous three games.

The win, team USA's fourth, puts them half way to the gold metal. It also solidifies USA as the #1 ranking in pool A.

Did I Just See That!

This just in, Michael Phelps is not human. Well, one may actually be able to argue that. He just pulled off the win in the 100 meter butterfly. He was down the whole race, and managed to pull even with Milorad Cavic of Serbia. Somehow Michael was able to touch the wall 1/100th of a second quicker than Cavic.

Watching this race was breathtaking. With the victory Mr. Phelps notched his seventh gold medal of this years Olympics, tying the record for the most one in one year's games by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz. This was the first event that Michael Phelps did not set the world record in, he did however set an Olympic record. A protest is being filed on behalf of Milorad Cavic questioning the results of the race. The petition was not accepted, however. Stay tuned to WAY Back Sports to see if Phelps can complete his race for eight.

Phelps Unbelievable

Michael Phelps is now six for six in Olympic competition. He has competed in six races, won six gold medals, and set six world records. Watching Phelps swim is simply amazing, he is already the most awarded Olympian of all time, but now many are asking the question is he the best athlete of all time? I would argue that he is in the top five, right up there with Tiger Woods. Stayed tuned to waybacksports.co.nr to get continued updates on Phelps's quest for 8, as well as other breaking news stories.

Redeem Team Passes First Test

The United States mens basketball team had been looking forward to this one for a while. Two years ago, Greece stunned the US at the basketball world championship, making this the first true test that the team has faced in the Olympics.

Well, it was supposed to be.

Up by only 4 after the first quarter, the red, white, and blue stepped on the throttle to beat the Greeks, 92-69. Kobe Bryant and Chris Bosh led the way with 18 points a piece, with Dwayne Wade just behind the leaders with 17, to go along with 5 assists. LeBron James chipped in with 13, along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. He also had 3 blocked shots.

The only concern with the US team, as in previous games, is their performance from beyond the arc. They went 7-20 from deep, a number that needs to change if the US plans on dominating the field.

Best Olympian of All-Time

Michael Phelps has become the Olympian with the most gold medals (10) in a career. The thing is, the best is yet to come. Phelps still has four events left to hopefully take home gold medals in and break Mark Spitz's record of seven in one Olympics. Phelps earned this feat by securing the gold and a new world record in the 200 meter breast stroke.

Phelps is an incredible athlete, and will now be in the record books for one more thing. It is always fun to watch this man compete, and it should be very interesting to see if he can break Spitz's record.

Redeem Team Tunes Up For Tougher Contests

Team USA defeated Angola 97-76 earlier today in Beijing. Dwayne Wade lead the way for the red white and blue scoring 19 points in 16 minutes.Dwight Howard added another 14, going 6-6 from the floor in 15 minutes of play. All 12 Americans got in the game for at least 11 minutes against an over matched Angola team that never stood a chance. The one red flag that comes up is the 3-point shooting of the US, only going 5 of 21 from beyond the arc. In the Olympic opener against China, the US went only 7 of 24.

The United States needs to step up its long range shooting when they take on Greece, the only team to defeat the current USA team. Greece beat the Americans two years ago, 101-95 in the semifinals of the World Championship in Japan. If Team USA wants to prove that they aren't like Olympic teams from years past, knocking off Greece seems like the most obvious place to start. So far it's been easy for Team USA, now we really get to see what they're made of.

Phelps Two for Two!

The foursome of Michael Phelps, Garret Webber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak brought home the gold medal for the USA in the 4x100. It will go down as one of the most exciting swimming relays in Olympic history, as an arrogant French team (who had bashed the USA prior to the games) saw their lead diminish in front of their eyes on the final length of the pool. Jason Lezak brought up the rear for team USA and not only caught up with the French but gave the Americans the 8/100ths of a second victory.

This means that Michael Phelps is well on his way to beating American Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Many regarded the first two events that Phelps would compete in as his most difficult challenges to breaking Spitz's record, and with these now under his belt it should be clear sailing the rest of the way. It is the Olympics, however, and surprises are almost guaranteed to happen, so stay tuned to see if Phelps will be victorious.

USA Routs China

The "Redeem Team" as they call themselves, otherwise known as USA Basketball, made a huge statement today as they defeated host China 101-70. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade led the way way offensively with eighteen and nineteen points respectively.

In with all the hype and expected record viewers it was never really that close. China came out with a lot of emotion and adrenaline feeding off the home fans, but USA weathered the first quarter storm then stepped on the gas in the second half to blow open the game. All but two players on the USA roster (Kidd, Prince) had points.

Yao Ming led the way for China with thirteen points in a losing effort.

Hopefully this win is a sign of things to come for Team USA. Lebron James, who guaranteed gold coming into the Olympics, held up his end of the bargain in game one making big plays on both ends of the floor. If Lebron and company can bring it every game as they did tonight there is no reason why this team should not head back to the States with gold.

Phelps Sets Olympic Record

It took Michael Phelps a mere one race to set his first new Olympic record at this year's 2008 Olympics in Beijing. With a time of 4:07.82 Phelps set a new Olympic record in the 400-meter individual medley. The race was just the preliminaries for Sunday's final.

This is the first of many records expected to fall to Phelps at these Olympics. There is no question as to if Phelps will win a gold medal at this year's Olympics. The question is how many? He is competing in eight events. I'll set the over-under for golds at 7.

USA Gets First W In Beijing

Stuart Holden's goal in the 47th minute gave team USA men's soccer a 1-0 victory over Japan in the first game of the group B men's division Thursday. So far so good for Team USA who will take on Netherlands on Sunday.

On the lady's side, Team USA suffered a 2-0 loss on Wednesday to Norway. Team USA next plays against Japan on Saturday.

King James Foresees Gold.

Joe Namath did it. Muhammad Ali did it. Now its Lebron's turn.

What, you may ask, might these three have in common besides all being tremendous athletes? Well the first two made guarantees that their team would win on the big stage; Namath in the Superbowl, Ali did it for the World Heavy-weight Championship. This time its Lebron James at the Olympics.

The Associated Press is reporting that in a Time Magazine issue that hits newsstands on Friday, when asked if his team would win gold his response was "absolutely!"

Lebron will be chasing something that USA basketball has failed to do at the Olympics Since 2000. He will be doing so against teams like Argentina, Greece, Lithuania, and Spain, all teams who are possibly better than they have ever been in the past...they have all been very good in the past. The NBA has changed. It is no longer the NBA of the 1980's or 90's when every good player, and I mean everyone, was from the United States. Now, like many other sports (baseball and hockey come to mind), many of the best players in the game are not from the United States. You have players like Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and even Tim Duncan, all outstanding players and perennial all-stars, who are all born on foreign soil.

Team USA will have their hands full at this year's Olympic games. On paper you would have to say they are the favorites to win it all, but not by as wide a margin as Lebron and company may think. We are going to need to see the Lebron James from game 7 the this year's Eastern Conference Finals in every game for team USA to win gold. I'm not talking about the numbers. He will not get the touches to score 40+ points in a game, not with Kobe Bryant on the same team. What I am talking about is the drive, the Jordan-esk glare in his eye that tells you he wants it. That glare does not come out every game. It will need to for him to "absolutely" make good on his declaration.