Australia

Australia's Olympic chief today criticised transport at the Sydney Games as unacceptable after buses failed to pick up athletes and the city's rail system collapsed.

China has declared that the dramatic axing of 27 athletes from its Olympic squad amid suspicions of doping has produced a leaner but meaner team that should hold its own at the Sydney Games.

Australians have been queuing in their thousands at the main SOCOG Sydney box office for the release of 7,500 Olympic swimming tickets.

Internet search engine Galaxy.com has announced the sports category results of a competition to find the best web site on the net.

Satellite firm PanAmSat will be kept busy during this month?s Olympic Games after signing a number of major deals with key broadcasters and rights holders.

An Australian broadcaster withdrew on Wednesday as host of a major Olympic function at Sydney Opera House because she did not want to speak in French before English.

For many Asian athletes, winning gold at the Sydney Olympics will also mean a small fortune.

UK newspapers the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph have teamed up with commercial radio station talkSPORT 1089/1053 for coverage of the Olympics in Sydney.

The International Olympic Committee have chosen two companies to support its ban of almost all video of sporting events at the Sydney Games from appearing on the internet - backing the wishes of the majority of its broadcasting customers.

Nike is set to feel the wrath of consumer groups during the Sydney Olympics, with a series of protests planned.

A below-standard Olympic soccer pitch is being returfed and will be ready in time, removing concerns a new venue would have to found, organisers have said.

Australia's oldest living Olympic athlete, who competed in the 1928 Amsterdam Games, opened the village for the Sydney Olympics as the first of an eventual 10,000 competitors moved in on Saturday.

Beijing is eyeing the 2008 Olympics as a cure for problems ranging from choking smog to taxi-clogged streets, and as an image boost for the Communist capital.

?The X Games'' is fulfilling the two mandates that prompted ESPN to create them five years ago, according to Variety magazine.

With the Olympics just two weeks away, Sydney switched to full Games mode on Friday as security forces took control in preparation for the hectic month ahead. For full details see the `FEATURES? section of SportBusiness.com.

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa plan to turn their season upside down in 2002 by having domestic championships at the start of the season and the Tri-Nations at the end.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed on Thursday that all 28 International Olympic Summer Sports Federations (IFs) had joined its random-testing programme.

Internet Pictures Corporation (iPIX), Hyro.com, and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) have signed a deal to allow the use of iPIX Virtual Tours on the official Olympics web site.