Is this the world’s greatest athlete?

Six golds in Athens may prove to be just a warm-up act as Michael Phelps bids to rewrite the record books in Beijing

Smog in Beijing five times over safety limit

Pollution around the Olympic stadium could be five times worse than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation

Team GB attired and emotional

No expense spared to ensure that Olympic athletes look the part

Chambers mounts legal challenge to ban

The sprinter has lodged an appeal against the British Olympic Association's bylaw banning him from competing in Beijing

Dwain Chambers’s legal sprint for a place in Team GB

What are the arguments likely to be used by the athlete’s legal team? Alex Wade reports

Chinese medicine could mean Olympic failure

Top athletes endorse ancient cures despite officials' advice to use caution over herbs that could contain banned substances

Should Chambers be banned from the Olympics?

Some see him as a pariah and a cheat who should be ostracised by sport, while others see him as a victim and a scapegoat

Taxpayer bailout looms for £250m Games venue

The UK taxpayer may now have to fund two major projects as backers of the Games' media centre struggle to raise finance

Bolt beats Powell in Jamaican trial

The world record holder saw off close rival in a time of 9.85secs but may shun Olympic event in favour of the 200m

China's guns are out for Olympic rainclouds

Anti-aircraft guns placed around capital ready to 'seed' clouds

New doping case hits China's bid to keep clean

Ouyang Kunpeng and his coach are banned for life after the Chinese swimmer tests positive for anabolic steroid

Olympic sailing venue hit by mutant seaweed

Bright green algae, believed to have drifted in from the Yellow Sea, stops dinghies from navigating Olympic course

Bolt in race with Powell for Olympic spot

The world's fastest man faces a showdown against his predecessor in the all-Jamaica trials in Kingston

Q&A: Jonathan Edwards - Phillips Idowu can win gold

One of Britain's finest Olympians remains cautiously optimistic about Team GB's chances in Beijing

Team GB name bumper rowing squad

Great Britain will be taking their largest rowing squad to the Olympics in August since Barcelona in 1992

China uses missiles to protect games

Venues in Beijing to be protected by one of the biggest – and most expensive – security operations in country's history

Linford Christie scratched

British Olympic Association influenced a poll to ensure Christie was not one of Britain's six favourite Olympians

Ministers search for £100m for 2012 athletes

Credit crunch leaves another big shortfall in funding as private sector fails to come up with its share for athletes

After Olympics there will be settling of accounts

For many, the question is whether the authorities will begin to relax their grip once the Olympics are out of the way

Flame in Lhasa but Tibetans kept in dark

Only a hand-picked few allowed to watch torch as it was carried from Dalai Lama's palace in the heart of the capital