The olympic flame made a special stop in its around-the-world relay Thursday: the peak of Mount Everest.

A (crazy) Chinese mountaineering team used a specially designed torch to carry a bit of the Olympic flame up the world’s tallest mountain. Once at the peak they handed the torch around, then displayed Chinese and Olympic flags. Then they got out their toboggan for one hell of a ride.

Somewhat ironically given all the protests along the torch’s route this year, it was a Tibetan woman, Cering Wangmo, who held the flag last atop the mountain.

The Olympics are scheduled to begin in Beijing August 8. That’s assuming all the athletes in all the countries haven’t dropped out.

(picture: ESPN/AP)

Two-time Olympic gold medal-winning ice dancer Pasha Grishuk was allegedly drugged with GHB or Date Rape Drug during a recent stay in Orange County.

Grishuk was attending a business meeting at St. Regis when the incident occurred. According to authorities, Grishuk left a beverage she was enjoying at a bar, then returned to continue drinking, and noticed too late a suspicious pilly residue at the bottom of her glass.

Police and paramedics were called, and by the time they got there, Grishuk was already feeling sick. A second glass of Grishuk’s was identified, and found to also have drug residue in it.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

Grishuk won her first gold medal with partner Evgeny Platov at Lillehammer in 1994, then a second at Nagano in ‘98. She and Platov also won four world championships. She later became embroiled in a sex scandal when it was revealed that she had carried on an affair with married fellow ice dancer Alexander Zhulin.

Protesters angry over China’s treatment of Tibet disrupted the olympic torch relay as it tried to pass through London. Officials were concerned enough about the runners’ safety to put them and the torch on a bus.

China gets a lot of flak over the Tibet stuff, but let’s be honest…Tibet was asking for it.

China’s invasion of the NBA has run into some snags this season. First Yao Ming went down with a foot injury, and now his comrade Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks has sprained his MCL and will miss the rest of the season.

The loss of Yi means a lot less to the Bucks than the loss of Yao meant to the Rockets. Houston has been good without Yao, but probably won’t make much of a playoff run without his presence in the middle. The Bucks, meanwhile, stunk with Yi, and will continue to do so without him.

In his rookie season, Yi, who initially resisted the idea of signing with the Bucks, has averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds. He missed time earlier in the season with a sprained wrist.

The Chinese may have a thriving economy, but they obviously haven’t conquered the whole sprain thing. Also, I’m guessing the Bucks might’ve been pressured a bit to let Yi rest with his injury, what with the Olympics coming up this summer and all.

Breaking: Disgraced former track star Marion Jones has turned herself in to a federal prison in Texas to begin serving her six-month sentence for lying to investigators and committing check fraud.

Jones, who admitting using steroids obtained from BALCO labs, has already returned the five medals she won dishonestly at the 2000 Olympics.

(picture: mediaoutrage.com)

Kobe Bryant’s torn pinky ligament will not keep him out of Sunday’s NBA All Star Game. Per league rules, any All-Star who’s well enough to play the last game before the break and the first game after must participate in the All-Star game as well.

That’s a fantastic rule by the way - the NFL should implement it for the Pro Bowl. Then malingerers like Ladanian Tomlinson and Tom Brady wouldn’t have an excuse to duck out.

Back to Kobe…the Lakers star expects to start in the game, but doesn’t figure to play much. No doubt, the Lakers have asked that Bryant’s action be limited. He has a torn ligament in the pinky on his shooting hand, one that should actually be operated on. But Kobe has elected not to have the surgery, possibly until after the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Kobe’s a gamer. You know a bad finger on his shooting hand won’t stop him from firing it up 30 times a night if that’s the mood he’s in. Asking Kobe not to gun it would be like asking Vladimir Guerrero not to slash at balls over his head. That’s just the way those guys are built.

Very tragic news from New York as elite runner Ryan Shay passed away during the US Olympic Marathon Trials. This was supposed to be a day of national attention for a growing sport - instead, it will be remembered as something far different. This is a very real reminder that even the most athletic and fit individuals are vulnerable to such tragedies. As noted on SportsWrap before, I have participated in swim meets and events where such occurrences have happened - and the individuals have also been in excellent shape. Just awful news and our thoughts go out to Ryan’s teammates, family and friends.

From ESPN: Top distance runner Ryan Shay died during the U.S. men’s Olympic marathon trials Saturday, overshadowing what was supposed to be a showcase day for the sport.

Shay collapsed about 5½ miles into the race and was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m., New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg said. He was 28.

“It cuts a knife through everybody’s hearts,” said Wittenberg, whose group organized the race….

Shay was a favorite going into the 2004 trials but was hampered by a hamstring strain and finished 23rd. He was a five-time national road racing champion, winning the 2003 U.S. marathon, 2003 and 2004 half-marathon, 2004 20k and 2005 15k.

“If you probably asked him if there was any way he wanted to go, it was out on the race course,” said Terrence Mahon, who coached Shay at Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

The best news out of this is that Justin Gatlin no longer has a tie to the world record!

Asafa Powell’s record-setting run in the 100 meters took the title of world’s fastest man away from his co-record holder Justin Gatlin. Here’s a look at the evolution of the world’s fastest man title in recent years.

Runner Time Date
Asafa Powell 9.74 9/9/07
Asafa Powell 9.77 8/18/06
Asafa Powell 9.77 6/11/06
Justin Gatlin 9.77 5/12/06 *
Asafa Powell 9.77 6/14/06
Tim Montgomery 9.78 9/14/02 **
Maurice Greene 9.79 6/16/99

more on ESPN.

Led by the hot hand of Carmelo Anthony, the U.S. Men’s Basketball team scored 78 points in the second half to defeat Puerto Rico, 135-91 on Saturday, clinching a spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The game was their third-highest scoring game since the team started using professional players in 1992.

Team USA finished 23-of-36 from behind 3-point range. Anthony was 6-for-7, Michael Redd was 7-for-8 and Mike Miller was 4-for-6. Anthony led the team in scoring with 27 points, Redd had 23 and LeBron James had 19.

The United States will take on Argentina on Sunday in the finals of the Tournament of the Americas, though each team has already qualified for the Olympics.

Interview with LeBron after the game:

Picture Courtesy of Landodger.com.

The United States Men’s basketball team is starting to look like the dominating force of old, with blowout victories of 40, 50, and 64 points, but can they consider themselves the New Dream Team? Michael, Magic, Larry, Scottie, Stockton, and Malone are names that will forever be linked to arguably the greatest basketball team ever assembled, beating opponents by an average of 44 points en route to a gold medal. The new Team USA consists of names like Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Amare, Chauncey, and Kidd that are the new generation superstars trying to bring the best basketball players in the world status back to the States. Now remember the FIBA basketball tournament is just an Olympic qualifying tournament, but Team USA has earned some praise. LeBron, Kobe, and Carmelo have shown flashes of MJ, Magic, and Bird, but have yet to be tested by any credible teams. The U.S. beat Canada by 50 points, but Canada was without two time MVP Steve Nash. They beat the Virgin Islands by 64 points, but Tim Duncan didn’t play for his native country. The Dream Team of old won their gold medal game against Croatia by 32 points, while Team USA has been beating teams with guys who should be Team USA’s ball boys for pre-game warm-ups. Team USA has the potential to win a gold medal and warrant some talk about maybe some day being the New Dream Team, but let’s hold all that talk until they beat a team who has more than two NBA players that warrant mentioning.