Golden Games End With A Bang

AUSTRALIA'S Olympic heroes, led by golden girl Stephanie Rice and lion-hearted pole vaulter Steve Hooker, let their hair down last night as the Beijing Games came to a spectacular conclusion.

Bye Bye Beijing

Olympic visitors may not have see the real Beijing, but they did see more than 40 world records broken in what was the biggest Games ever, writes Greg Baum.

Great Viewing But Let's Get The Tape Out For Good Measure

The Beijing Games could be renamed the Festival of Fast Times after a string of world records in the pool and on the track.

Laidley To Focus On Finals

NORTH Melbourne coach Dean Laidley may be confident he can avoid the protracted contract negotiations to extend his tenure at Arden Street that dogged the end of last year, but he is more focused on winning games and cementing the Kangaroos a spot in September action.

Kersten To Forget Olympics Horror With Ride For Life

OLYMPIAN and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ben Kersten will treat the Ride for Life at Centennial Park as his comeback race on Sunday.

Pitt Loss Adds To Ire Over Judging

UNLUCKY heavyweight Brad Pitt became the seventh Australian boxer eliminated from the Beijing Games, bombing out 11-6 to Morocco's Mohammed Arjaoui last night.

Boomers Coach 'bounced' By Mystery Official

THE Games have begun - and, apparently, so too have the games, after Boomers coach Brian Goorjian revealed how an American official refused him entry to a room where he had left training notes on Friday.

Boomers Coach 'bounced' By Official

THE Games have begun - and, apparently, so too have the games, after Boomers coach Brian Goorjian revealed how an American official refused him entry to a room where he had left training notes on Friday.

Steffensen Drops Bundle On 400m

MEDAL-WINNER John Steffensen is out of the individual 400 metres at the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games champion acknowledging that he has lost a race against time to return to top form for Beijing.

Four Derbies For Melbourne

THE good news: Melbourne will have four National Basketball League derby games between champions Melbourne Tigers and certain big improvers South Dragons this season. The bad: there will be four Saturday night clash games.

Expect Mysterious Twists And Turns In A Night That Could Define The Enigmatic Fraser Identity

After 170 games the giant Magpie is still a puzzle, writes Greg Baum.