US Olympic athletes

(Newser) - US Olympians are getting a new type of training: lessons in how to behave in Beijing, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a required course the USOC calls the "ambassador program," US athletes are receiving instruction on topics ranging from appropriate chopstick use to the correct way to...

(Newser) - Paul Hamm will not be going to the Beijing Olympics to defend his all-around gold medal, the US gymnast announced today, because his broken right hand has not healed sufficiently. He also hurt his rotator cuff in his accelerated recovery effort. "I have put my heart and soul into...

(Newser) - The US Olympic Committee is keeping a tight grip on its athletes headed to Beijing. Ninety percent of Olympians are being "processed" through California's San Jose State University, and the USOC has requested that they not leave campus or talk to outsiders, an experience some athletes are describing as...