Olympics Olympics 1

The above photo comes from the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Summer Olympics at Tokyo's national stadium. Among the athletes marching that day were Bob Hayes, who would win the gold medal in the 100 meters, and Joe Frazier, who would win the gold in heavyweight boxing.

Also marching that day: Japanese equestrian rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, who at the time was 23 years old. Next month, at the age of 67, he'll be back in the Summer Olympics, riding equestrian again in Beijing, for his second Olympics in 44 years. But he doesn't think it's a big deal:

"I don't feel comfortable being fussed about just because of my age," said Hoketsu. ... I think it is a sport which you can do at a fairly advanced age if you have a chance and an agreeable horse."

Obviously, no one is going to compete in the 100-meter dash or boxing into their 60s. But what Hoketsu is doing is still awfully impressive. And Hoketsu says he's not going to retire from his sport after the Olympics: "It's up to fate and fortune. But for now I will keep on riding as long as me and my horse remain fit and fine."

In March we introduced you to Mehbooba Ahadyar, a 19-year-old runner who was expected to be the only female on Afghanistan's Olympic team. She has qualified in the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters, and she was a source of great pride to many Afghan women, who were not permitted to participate in sports under the Taliban.

But now Ahadyar is missing. Time Magazine reports that Ahadyar was training in Italy with other Olympic athletes when she disappeared, apparently voluntarily, taking her bags and her passport with her.

"It was quite a surprise to us," a spokesman for the worldwide governing body of track and field told Time. "We don't know where she is. All we know is that she and her bags are gone."

Olympic athletes often don't get paid to do anything other than look good. In that vein, Attractive Olympians handicaps which athletes may rake in endorsement deals after the Olympics.

Rhythmic gymnastics is relatively straightforward: competitors perform a routine with a ball, hoop, rope, set of clubs (not flaming, sadly), or ribbon, and the winner is rewarded with fresh smelt at the far end of the pool.

One rhythmic gymnast favored for a gold smelt at the Beijing Olympics is Anna Bessonova, a bronze medalist (smeldalist?) at the 2004 Games in Athens. More recently, Bessonova -- the daughter of a pro soccer player father and rhythmic gymnast mother -- won gold at the World Championships in 2007, positioning herself to take the place of retired rhythmic queen (and Vladimir Putin trophy wife) Alina Kabaeva.

More importantly, though: is Bessonova attractive? Some people's heartbeats quicken at the mere mention of the phrase "rhythmic gymnast;" others harbor lifelong grudges against Ukrainians for their traditional role as villains in Hollywood films. After the jump, weigh photographic and YouTubic evidence, then cast your vote.

Paula Radcliffe, the brilliant British distance runner whose impressive career has been plagued with injuries, could miss the Beijing Games with a stress fracture in her femur.

Radcliffe says that although she's not ready to give up on Beijing just yet, specialists have told her it would be impossible for her to compete in three months.

She adds, "It's been a nightmare last three weeks but I'm trying to stay calm about it. I'm thinking positive. I am looking at it as 90-100 percent that I will be in Beijing. Other people will put it a lot lower."

Radcliffe has been the best female distance runner in the world for years, having been a major international competitor since 1993 and having won major events at every distance from the 5,000 meters to the marathon. But she's had horrible luck around the Olympics and has yet to win an Olympic medal.

If Radcliffe can't run in Beijing, she'll start setting her sights on one last chance on her home turf in London in 2012, when she'll be 38 years old.

Before the recent Earthquake in China, it was very easy to take what ever pot shot you wanted to at China. But it becomes a very different subject when you are talking about individuals that have no say in world politics. And people that live so far away from you that they have absolutely no effect on you other than the story of their plight.

In these cases, you hope for some good news. And I'm very proud of the blogging community for making an effort to make a difference. Whether it be for Myanmar, China, or here in the United States. But when faced with the possibility of a dirty bomb being released at the Beijing Olympics you just have to wonder how possible it would be.

From a strategic point of view, what group would want to draw the ire of China, The United States, and all the countries that would surely join in? I really can't think of a worse place to be than the working end of those countries rage. I always thought the idea behind fourth generation warfare was to create a political divide. Not to unite countries that otherwise plan on a daily basis for war with the other.

Sure there is the possibility of someone would do it in the name of independence for Tibet. But the time it would take for most everyone that supports a free Tibet to distance themselves from that fight wouldn't require an egg timer.

I guess my point is that while someone could walk up behind me and set off a dirty bomb. The chances of it happening are far less than me slipping on a wet surface and breaking my neck. But still, the IAEA wants you be afraid. Very afraid! Even if they have no basis for wanting you to be afraid.

The IAEA said there is no specific information of an imminent attack on the Beijing games, but intelligence shows terrorists are trying to obtain nuclear materials."

To steal a line from a friend of mine, fear based thinking is never the answer. It just makes you worry about things that are not really relevant to your life. But it makes great headlines. So what is the terror alert level at because of this?

In general, Olympic athletes testing positive for banned substances is not a new story. Olympic field hockey players testing positive for banned substances, though, is a new twist. Two members of the Spanish women's team tested positive during an Olympic qualifying tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan last month.

Under the rules of FIH, field hockey's governing body, that would mean Spain, which beat the hosts in the final and qualified, would be barred from competing at the Olympics this summer. The Spanish team, however, claims that the tests were the final act in a series of actions designed to sabotage their chances at making it to Beijing.

"My players haven't taken anything," secretary Jose Antonio Gil told The Associated Press. Our players are totally innocent. We are looking into whether the players were intoxicated or if there was a manipulation of the samples."

The Spanish team complained to FIH about conditions in Baku upon their return. They felt the food and water they were given may have been tampered with and that something entered hotel rooms via the air conditioner and caused four players to collapse.

If Spain is expelled, the Azeri team would replace them in the draw which, at the very least, provides some motive for their alleged actions. Also providing a bit of credence is the fact that no field hockey player has ever tested positive for anything other than sturdy calves before last month.

Olympic athletes often don't get paid to do anything other than look good. In that vein, Attractive Olympians handicaps which athletes may rake in endorsement deals after the Olympics.

Major League Baseball scouts have salivated over infielder Yulieski Gourriel ever since he joined the Cuban national team in 2003. All he's done since then is lead Cuba to Baseball World Cup championships in 2003 and 2005 (hitting 8 home runs in 11 games in the latter), a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, and a second-place finish at the World Baseball Classic.

Despite all the international travel and the millions of dollars he could make with MLB, Gourriel has so far refused to defect, even refuting an ESPN report that he had done so in 2006.

But can the man with more talent than Derek Jeter pull more talent than Derek Jeter? Let's turn it over to the populace. After the jump, weigh more evidence and vote in the FanHouse Attractive Olympian poll.

Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be allowed to represent South Africa in the Beijing Olympics while using his Cheetah prosthetic legs, the Court of Arbitration in Sport ruled last week.

But just because he's allowed to run doesn't mean he will. In fact, as the Times of South Africa reports, he's got a very, very difficult road to qualify for the Olympics. There is almost no chance that Pistorius will run a qualifying time in the 400 meters, as Pistorius himself seems to have accepted:

"At least the door is open for the future - I can run in able-bodied meets. There will be world champs next year, the 2012 Olympics. In all honesty, it will be extremely difficult to qualify for Beijing."

If the South African 4x400-meter relay team qualifies for Beijing (probably about a 50-50 proposition), Pistorius might be chosen as an alternate on that team. So he might get to Beijing. But he probably wouldn't actually run there.

The bottom line is that the ruling allowing Pistorius to run set an important precedent for the future, but it will probably have no impact on the 2008 Summer Olympics.

This is Tanni Grey-Thompson, a Welsh woman who was born with spina bifida and has become one of the greatest wheelchair athletes in history, with 11 gold medals in the Paralympics.

Her status as a great Paralympian makes Grey-Thompson a person whose opinion is often sought on issues related to athletes with disabilities. And her opinion about Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who will be allowed to run on his prosthetic limbs in the Olympics, might surprise some people.

Although she begins by saying she's personally happy for Pistorius that he'll be able to pursue his dreams, she also makes clear that she doesn't think what's good for Pistorius is good for other athletes, able-bodied and not:

"It worries me that the Paralympics may become a b-final. If no one else makes it through to the able-bodied event, then the Paralympics becomes something for those people who don't make it.

"I have concerns about whether his prosthetic limbs would give him an unfair advantage or possibly a disadvantage."

Pistorius is an admirable person whom everyone wants to cheer for, but that doesn't mean he's right in this case. Grey-Thompson makes some important points.

Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius, whose prosthetic legs have been decried by some as an unfair advantage, won an appeal today and will be permitted to run at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

That doesn't necessarily mean he will run, however. He would still need to run a qualifying time in his best event, the 400 meters, or be chosen by South Africa for a relay team.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled today that Pistorius is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban by the IAAF, track and field's governing body, which said carbon fiber prosthetic blades are more efficient than human legs and therefore give him an unfair mechanical advantage. In a classy move, IAAF President Lamine Diack did not criticize the arbitration board's ruling and instead released a statement praising Pistorius today:

"The IAAF accepts the decision of CAS and Oscar will be welcomed wherever he competes this summer. He is an inspirational man and we look forward to admiring his achievements in the future."

The arbitration board's ruling, which was unanimous, is effective immediately.

UPDATE: Wheelchair Athlete Thinks Oscar Pistorius Should Stick With Paralympics

Previously on FanHouse:
Oscar Pistorius Takes Second in 400 Meters, Runs Behind World-Class Sprinters
'Would I Want My Legs Back? I'd Have to Sit Down and Think About It'
400 Meters: Oscar Pistorius Can't Keep Up, Jeremy Wariner Stumbles and Stops