Australia

MSNBCSports.com, the internet home of NBC Sports and official news source for NBCOlympics.com, has unveiled its online coverage of the games in Sydney at olympics.msnbc.com.

The head of Sydney's Olympic Village has said a lone attacker rather than an organised terrorist group posed the biggest security threat to next month's Games.

Olympic organisers were more confident on Wednesday of being able to prepare a soccer pitch playing surface at Canberra in time for next month's Games, averting the need to move matches away from the federal capital.

Olympic organisers could be forced to switch soccer games away from Canberra because of worries that its new playing surface would not be ready.

Huge time-zone differences and an explosion in computer use will make Sydney's Olympics the biggest event yet on the Internet with officials predicting a staggering 6.5 billion hits for the official Games site alone.

A test for detecting EPO, one of the most prevalent performance-enhancing drugs, has been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), clearing the way for its use at the Sydney Games.

The performance of every athlete who competes in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games will be logged on the internet at www.olympics.com.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has staunchly defended politicians accepting free tickets and corporate hospitality at next month's Sydney Olympics.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch remains confident about the safety of next month's Olympics despite the security scare over a possible plot to blow up a nuclear research reactor in Sydney.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that Greece must run a marathon at sprinting speed to make up for delays in organising the 2004 Games in Athens.

Athletes taking part in this summer?s Olympic Games in Sydney are all to have access to a free legal service.

North and South Korea may march together under the Olympic flag at the Sydney Olympics, and that could lead to powerful joint teams in international sporting arenas.

Organisers of the Summer Olympics have played down concerns the playing surfaces for the soccer tournament would not be ready in time for the Games next month.

Quokka Sports is expanding its strategic and financial relationship with NBC.

Australia's first interactive TV software has been launched in Sydney via Open TV.

More than 70,000 premium Olympic Games tickets will be offered to the Australian public rather than being reserved for the wealthy, according to Sydney's Olympic chief Michael Knight.