In case you missed it this week, the International Olympic Committee banned Iraq’s Olympic team from next month’s games in Beijing because of the Iraqi government’s “political interference in the Olympic movement.” This “interference” was the naming of a new national Olympic committee that was not recognized by the IOC. According to the Iraqi government, a new committee was necessary because of corruption on the old one along with the fact that four committee members, including its chairman, had been kidnapped and their whereabouts were unknown. Of course, eight years ago, when Saddam Hussein’s brutal son Uday was in charge of the team—raping, torturing, and murdering athletes who fell short of his expectations—the IOC looked the other way.

An editorial from yesterday’s Washington Post describes the hypocrisy of the current situation:

“That [the IOC] has chosen to crack down on the democratically elected government that replaced the Hussein regime—while welcoming to Beijing Zimbabwe, Burma, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan, all of which it must consider innocent of any ‘political interference’ in sport—says a good deal more about the values of the international Olympic bureaucracy than it does about Iraq.”

Negotiations are underway to get the team reinstated. “We still have the hope the Iraqi flag will fly at the opening ceremony in Beijing,” said Jazair al-Sahlani, a spokesman for the disputed Iraqi Olympic committee.

The use of performance-enhancing drugs in track and field has cast a shadow over the sport, and American sprinter Allyson Felix would like to help clean up that image. As Mark Bergin reports in the latest edition of WORLD, this 22-year-old daughter of a seminary professor and a contender to win multiple gold medals in Beijing this summer is “participating in Project Believe, a voluntary blood and urine testing program meant to establish baseline body chemistry figures against which the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency can compare other athletes.” Felix is also featured in an Athletes in Action DVD of Olympic competitors who share how they draw strength from their Christian faith.

Yesterday marked the 100^th day of the countdown to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. A large display in Tiananmen Square reminds Beijing citizens, and the world, that the games are drawing near. But even as the unofficial theme song of the games, “We Are Ready,” rung out through the square, many are asking if they actually are.

Though the jury is still out on Chinese promises to loosen foreign media restrictions and improve human rights, the latest concern is the athletes’ ability to do something vital: breathe. As smog continues to hover, world record-holding marathoner, Haile Gebrselassie, has decided not to compete in the games due to fears that the pollution may risk a health effect. The IOC has said that some distance events may be delayed unless the situation changes. Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee says, “We’re quite confident that by August the air quality will be good and appropriate for competition.”

As the 100-day celebration commenced, the plane carrying the Olympic flame landed in Hong Kong yesterday. A relay of the flame will take place throughout the city on Friday.

Despite controversy, the Olympic flame continues to travel. But the heated international tour may have solidified this event as a “been there, done that” idea. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, has recently said there is a good chance that future Olympic torches may not take international tours.

Hong Kong authorities have banned many activists from entering the city. However, demonstrations are still expected as the death count in Tibet due to Chinese crackdown reaches a reported 200. The Chinese government still insists the number is only 20.

Following Hong Kong, the torch will travel throughout China, including Tibet and the Muslim region of Xinjiang. As China tries to put its best foot forward the last 100 days, the sharpest controversy may be still on the horizon.

According to a Drudge “Exclusive,” Hillary Clinton will call on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics this summer in Beijing. Ben Smith at Politico has more, and USA Today reports that the Clinton campaign soon will issue a statement.

According to reports (here, here, and here), organizers of next year’s Olympics in Beijing have put together a list of items that athletes will not be allowed to bring into the Olympic village, and that list reportedly includes Bibles. Video cameras and cups will also be banned.

What to make of the more than 100 missionaries recently deported by China’s Communist government in the largest expulsion since 1954? One expert granted anonymity by World so that he will not be kicked out said, “One hundred expulsions is relatively small in the scope of all that is happening in China. Everyone here has hunkered down by curtailing more risky activities until the pressure lessens.”

The China Aid Association, based in Midland, Texas, said the removal was a result of “efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in mission activities before the Beijing Olympics next year.” World’s source in China agreed that “the Olympics is a genuine concern,” and said that “starting now to get rid of the possible troublemakers isn’t as obvious as if they did it in the days before the Olympics.” He added, “The gospel can’t be stopped. It must be frustrating to the officials here when they see that no matter what they do the church keeps showing explosive growth.”