Giant athletic carnival heads to China

BEIJING, July 18 (UPI) -- The Olympics are about the athletes and the performances. All else -- in theory -- is set aside. But some of the greatest performances in Olympic history were overshadowed. Bob Beamon leaped 29 feet 2 1/2 inches -- almost 2 feet farther than the long jump world record -- in winning the gold medal at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. But the enduring image of those Games is of defiant, black-gloved fists thrust in the air. Four years later, swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals. But the Munich Games are remembered for a masked terrorist on a balcony, a demolished helicopter, the massacred Israeli team members and a heart-broken nation. This sets the stage for Beijing in 2008. The Chinese bid for the Games in the hopes it would show the world their nation's greatness. That could happen. It is very... [read full story]