Skeet shooting world champion Georgios Achilleos will lead the Cyprus team at the Beijing Olympics and is the island nation’s best hope of winning its first ever medal at the games. ...

The Chinese Gymnastics Association gave the US women’s team permission to train at one of its gyms in Tianjian, China, and the alternates are in the process of applying for visas. ...

Questions about salaries are out. Ditto queries about the age of a foreigner visiting Beijing for the Olympics. And an inquiry about someone’s love life? Forget it. ...

Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano told his Liverpool teammates he will return from the Beijing Olympics with a second gold medal, and inspire them to finish with the silver Premier League trophy. ...

With Robinho out of the Brazilian Olympic squad, coach Dunga heads to Beijing counting on the experience of Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva, the only players over 23 years old left on the roster. ...

North Korea is sending about 60 athletes to next month’s Summer Games in Beijing, its second largest Olympic squad ever, state media reported yesterday. ...

Olympic triple jump champion Christian Olsson pulled out of the Summer Games in Beijing because of a hamstring injury he sustained on Tuesday night. ...

Manu Ginobili missed a key free throw and Spain hung on to beat Olympic champion Argentina 90-88 on Tuesday night in a match-up of two sides expected to contend for the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. ...

The Malta Marathon Organising committee has announced that Land Rover will be the official sponsor of the Malta Marathon for the next five years. The event will therefore be known as the Land Rover Malta Marathon....

Despite being the world’s most popular sport, football usually takes a back seat at the Olympics, dwarfed in terms of importance by athletics, swimming and even gymnastics. ...