United States Athletic Teams

BOSTON -- Magdalena Lewy Boulet was the only one of the three new Olympic marathon team members dressed in something that reflected what they had done Sunday, earning the right to wear a jacket with a patch that said, "USA Beijing." It was a fashion statement in more than one sense. It said Lewy Boulet had finished second in the 2008 U.S.

The Beijing Olympics will begin in 100 days, on 8-8-08 -- a date picked because the number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture. It may not be so auspicious if political leaders boycott the opening ceremony to protest China's human-rights record, as has been discussed by members of the European Union. Some athletes plan to voice their objections to Chinese policy in Tibet and Darfur. As a reminder that speech isn't free everywhere, U.S.

In 1968 I was a 20-year-old college junior whose basketball success had made me famous. I'd been honored as most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament, named the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. player of the year, and played the "game of the century" against the Houston Cougars at the Astrodome. So it wasn't surprising that I was invited to try out for the Olympic basketball team to represent the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

PALO ALTO -- Tanya Gandy scored twice and UCLA's top-ranked water polo team finished another undefeated season with a 6-3 victory over USC in the championship game of the NCAA tournament Sunday. Courtney Mathewson, Anne Belden, Priscilla Orozco and Gabrielle Domanic each added a goal. "It's an unbelievable feeling," UCLA Coach Adam Krikorian said. "We played with so much heart. We weren't great offensively, but we were in the first period.

The battle between high-tech swimsuit manufacturers TYR and Speedo has escalated in a significant way, moving from the pool deck to the legal arena. Huntington Beach's TYR Sport Inc. upped the stakes by filing suit on Monday in federal court against Warnaco Swimwear Inc., parent company of Speedo and producer of the news-making LZR Racer swimsuit. TYR did not specify the damages it was seeking but did estimate that the long-term loss to the value of its brand could reach $500,000.

HOUSTON -- Jonathan Horton, an Olympic medal contender himself, says he is eagerly awaiting one matchup more than any other at the 2008 Beijing Games. "If they're both at their best it will be really cool to see Yang Wei and Paul Hamm go against each other," Horton said at the Visa National Championships men's gymnastics competition, which continues today. But there will be no Paul Hamm here today.

WASHINGTON -- Candace Parker was 10 years old when she watched Lisa Leslie win her first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. Twelve years later, Parker gets a chance to help her Sparks teammate win an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold in the Beijing Olympics. "I was sitting on my couch watching the 1996 Olympics with tears in my eyes saying I'm going to be there one day," Parker said. They were two of the nine players placed on the U.S. women's basketball team Saturday.

OMAHA -- What happens when advocacy intersects with the legal system? "You know, if I was to respond to that question I would be responding in a way that would give away some of our strategy and I'm just not prepared to do that yet," USA Swimming's Mark Schubert said. The question, in fact, was a bit more complicated on Friday after at a luncheon here at the Mutual of Omaha Plaza Building during the four-day Swimvitational, a test event for the U.S. Olympic swim trials.

U.S. Olympic Trials for three major sports will be held over the next few weeks. Some of the athletes are already stars, their names well known: gymnasts Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin and Paul Hamm, track stars Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner and swimmers Amanda Beard, Katie Hoff and Michael Phelps. There are other athletes, however, who aren't yet so well known but that could soon change, given recent performances.

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Saturday was shaping up as the biggest day in Mike Day's BMX racing career, and he wasn't about to spend it alone. "I went through my phone book in my cellphone and pretty much called everyone in there," said Day, who had to recharge his phone battery twice to get through the list. "Just to kind of even it out a little bit and know that I had some friends here." About 100 people responded, coming by caravan down to the U.S.