Dara Torres on Being a Mom With Medals

Scaring the Drug Cheats
Mark Starr 5/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
NASCAR came appallingly late to the drug-testing game. Still, you've got to be impressed by the blunt fashion with which it handled its first major doping scandal. When driver-owner Jeremy Mayfield suggested that his positive drug test must have resulted from an unfortunate mixture of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, the man who runs NASCAR's testing program immediately debunked that excuse as nonsense. Though David Black, head of Aegis Labs, refrained from naming the drug involved, he told USA Today that it was "a clear violation" of policy and that in his experience no such result had ever stemmed from a mixture of meds as Mayfield was suggesting.
CHINA
The Empty-Nest Syndrome
Melinda Liu 3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM
During the 2008 Olympics, international audiences oohed and aahed over Beijing's stunning new structures: the world-renowned Bird's Nest national stadium, the surreal China Central TV headquarters designed by Rem Koolhaas and the futuristic National Center for the Performing Arts. But now the city's architectural icons are plagued with problems.
SPORTS
America’s Unemployed Olympic Hero
Eric Adelson 3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
Less than six months after swimming one of the most electrifying laps in the history of his sport—the greatest 46 seconds of his life, witnessed by billions of people—Jason Lezak is sitting in an anonymous hotel conference room in Phoenix trying to save his career. The four-time Olympic gold medalist is wearing a button-down shirt and black slacks. Across a small table is a smiling, silver-haired gentleman whom Lezak, 32, has just met. The two strangers are being set up. This is a speed date, so to speak. If a connection is made, the older man, a brand-management executive for Mutual of Omaha named John Hildenbiddle, will have a new corporate spokesman. And if the deal is big enough, Lezak, one of many Beijing Olympians who are now effectively unemployed, will be able to get back in the pool. The men shake hands. "I've been looking forward to this," Hildenbiddle tells him. "Me too," says Lezak. He's nervous. He feels awkward, selling himself like this. But he's out of options. Over the din, Hildenbiddle asks Lezak about "that race," which he says he's watched "50 times" and still gives him chills. Lezak has recounted the story more than 50 times, but he's glad to do it again.
Best Sports Stories 2008: The Top 10
Mark Starr 12/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
ENVIRONMENT
Keeping It Green
Melinda Liu 10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM
One of the big questions hanging over this summer's Games was whether the measures China took to clean up its polluted capital would work. After a few hazy days, the sun came out and banished the doubters. Now many are wondering if China will stick to its greener ways.
CHINA
Not Yet On the Medal Stand
Manuela Zoninsein 9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
There are some 83 million disabled people in China, but the country has never been particularly hospitable to them. Why bother building subway ramps and bus lifts, the attitude has long been, for people who aren't expected to leave home? But when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Paralympic Games, an event featuring 4,000 disabled athletes, came along with it. So in the spirit of the 12-day competition, which opened on Saturday, China's government raced to bring Beijing up to international standards, creating 16 special bus lines for the athletes, installing street-crossing signals for the blind and adding wheelchair-friendly subway exits. It even outfitted a section of the Great Wall with a ramp and an elevator.