Sports Audio/Video - NPR

Gene Upshaw, the longtime president of the NFL Players Association, has died. The former all-pro offensive lineman was a member of the Hall of Fame. He led the union into the era of free agency and negotiated one of the most generous contracts in professional sports.

The U.S. women's softball team lost 3-1 to Japan in the gold medal match, which they were widely favored to win. The U.S. women's soccer team won 1-0 against rival Brazil.

Some athletes have been training for a long time to go the Beijing Olympics — only they were never planning to compete. These sparring partners get many of the perks, but must swallow the disappointment of not being on the Olympic team.

Record numbers of Americans are getting out of their cars and hopping onto scooters, spurred by high gas prices and concern for the environment. But with many options and styles to choose from, picking the right ride can be tricky.

The U.S. softball team was denied a fourth straight Olympic gold medal, losing 3-1 to Japan. The upset came on the same day that beach volleyball phenoms Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor outspiked a Chinese team for a second consecutive Olympic championship.

Day 13 brings the U.S. softball team's gold-medal game and important contests for American women in soccer, volleyball and water polo. But it isn't all good news: The softball team, aiming for its fourth straight Olympic gold medal, had to settle for silver after an upset loss to Japan.

Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix took silver and bronze in the 200-meter dash in the Beijing Olympic Games after the second- and third-place finishers were disqualified.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds. He is the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win both the 100- and 200-meter events at an Olympics. He is also the first man to break the world marks in both events.

Afghanistan won its first Olympic medal ever today. Rohullah Nikpai won a bronze in the men's under 58-kilogram tae kwon do event in Beijing. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Nikpai to congratulate him, a presidential spokesman said.

Tom Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University, explains why winning a bronze medal may score higher on the happiness scale than winning silver for an Olympic athlete.

In an effort to curb air pollution for the Olympics, more than 250 factories in Beijing and nearby towns like Tangshan have been shuttered temporarily. Some factory workers are on vacation for the first time in 20 years.

Natalie du Toit lost part of her left leg in a motorcycle accident. Wednesday, she swam in the first-ever Olympic open water marathon, helping to change many people's definition of "disability."

In Beijing, a handful of Chinese are performing odd feats, like Liu Ming, who covered his body head to toe with Olympic tattoos. The zealots say it's a once-in-a lifetime-event that fills them with a burning desire to exhibit themselves.

Like two sprinters leaving the rest of the field behind, the United States and China are neck-and-neck in total medals at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. But China leads the U.S. in gold medals by a wide margin.

Ever since Michael Phelps clinched his eighth gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, analysts have debated the swimmer's place in the sports pantheon. But Frank Deford says it's impossible to compare Phelps to other sports greats, past or present.

Race walking normally doesn't get much attention at the games, but a last-minute course upgrade — costing more than $800,000 — has put a new spring in the step of international competitors who feared injury on the original granite surface.

Reigning gymnastics world champion Shawn Johnson finally won a gold medal at the Olympics after three second-place finishes. She won the balance-beam competition, completing a series of athletic flips and twists that gave her the edge over teammate Nastia Liukin.

This week, an American team will compete in the gold medal match in women's beach volleyball — and they won't be wearing very much. A former Olympian reveals why.

Olympic photographers rely on talent, technology and strategic positioning to capture images that become signature moments of the games. Making those pictures happen in a fast-moving track event is a special challenge.

We are entering the age of the global Olympian. The practice of athletes and coaches representing countries other than their native ones dates back years, but the number of medal-seeking mercenaries is rising rapidly.

The Olympic Games are throwing a spotlight on how elite athletes respond to winning and losing. However, the challenge of good sportsmanship in the face of loss is something that many parents have to confront regularly, whether their children are playing sports, or competing in spelling bees. This week's Mocha Moms discuss teaching kids good sportsmanship, even when they lose.

The 11th day of the Olympic Games in Beijing saw Americans take gold medals with individual displays of strength, skill and strategy, while U.S. teams advanced toward their final rounds. U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson captured her first gold on the balance beam.

A few days ago, Jason Turner's hopes for an Olympic medal were dashed by a fourth place finish in the 10-meter air pistol event. But when a North Korean shooter, who finished third, tested positive for a banned substance, Turner moved up to earn the bronze medal.

China's gold medal haul increases by the day at the Beijing Olympics. But some residents say the host country's multimillion-dollar investment on behalf of athletes has come at the expense of sports facilities for the Chinese public.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt and Jermaine Brown took gold in the men's and women's 100 meters at the Beijing Olympics. Jeremaine Brown of Radio Jamaica says track and field is deeply embedded in Jamaica's culture right from kindergarten.

The sport is new to the Olympics and brings a different set of challenges to traditional swimmers. Practically a full-contact sport, swimmers compete in a six-mile course and finish just fractions of seconds apart.

Meet the Tatum brothers, John and Brad, who at 89 and 87, respectively, still compete in swimming events. Washington Post Magazine reporter Lonnae O'Neal Parker, who recently wrote about the story, is joined by John Tatum, who shares his secrets for staying young.

For a moment, it seemed as if the rest of the Beijing Olympics would be an anti-climax, as Michael Phelps celebrated his eighth gold swimming medal, but Day 10 of the competition began with new dramas. The U.S. led China in total medals, but the host country held nearly twice as many golds.

China's single greatest hope for the Olympics is over. The highlight of the games was supposed to be hurdler Liu Xiang defending his gold medal on home soil. But Liu suddenly dropped out of the qualifying heats after an injury. His surprise exit left fans stunned and tearful.

Nine days of swimming competition have ended at the Olympic pool with another gold medal for Michael Phelps and a silver for 41-year-old Dara Torres. Phelps left an indelible mark on the Beijing games, but there were other unforgettable moments, as well.

There are certain terms in the sports world that just inspire awe: the hole in one, the no hitter, the perfect 10. Now you can forget about the perfect 10 — at least when it comes to Olympic gymnastics. The score that propelled Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton to fame is gone — replaced by a new system that scores most gymnasts between a 14 and a 17.

American Michael Phelps fulfills an improbable quest with a gold medal finish in his 8th race in Beijing. Phelps now has more gold medals in a single Olympics than any other athlete ever, and some are calling him history's greatest Olympian.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt might have the name of a sprinter, but not the body. He is tall and lanky, and he's also sort of a clown. Bolt set a world record in the men's 100-meter dash at the Olympics on Saturday.

In the Grease to Greece road rally kicked off in London Saturday. Teams are heading for Athens in vehicles powered by used cooking oil. The object isn't necessarily who can get to Athens first, rather it's who can get there the greenest. Andy Pag speaks with Robert Smith.

The Beijing Olympics feature dazzling displays of agility and stamina. But some of the world's top athletes are watching the games from home. Their sports aren't recognized by the International Olympics Committee.

Media reports have said that Olympic champion Michael Phelps consumes as many as 12,000 calories in a day. Sports dietician Caroline Mandel says that's not unusual for a competitive swimmer. She talks about the eating habits of athletes.

Michael Phelps won his record-tying seventh gold medal by a fraction of a fingernail, just 0.01 second. Even when you study the photos and the video, it's tough to tell who came in first. Christophe Berthaud, the director of Olympic timekeeping for Omega, the official timekeeper at the games, explains the system used to time swimmers.

Michael Phelps won a seventh gold medal at the Beijing Games by the slimmest of margins. He beat Milorad Cavic of Serbia by 0.01 seconds. It was the first race of these games in which Phelps didn't set a world record. The win ties him with Mark Spitz for the most golds won at a single Olympics.

Knowledge-hound A.J. Jacobs has been sifting through the history of the Olympic Games and talks about some of the behind-the-scenes stories and quirky moments at Oympics past.