Voted the most powerful woman in the world for the second time by Forbes magazine last month, Angela Merkel wishes she could be a gymnast and conquer the art of turning and leaping on the beam.

A talented, 26-year-old Chinese dancer was seriously injured during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games just 12 days before the show, and is now facing the prospect of being paralyzed for the rest of her life.

The teen demographic. Only 46 percent of teens surveyed by Harris Interactive showed any interest in watching the Olympics. And if teens are indeed abstaining, it's not because they think that the Olympics are a crass, greedy commercial enterprise -- in fact, 71 percent of those polled "were likely to agree that the games are about more than merely medals and marketing,"

With the opening ceremony today, Anita L. DeFrantz, an Olympic bronze medalist and a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1986, discusses her role in the Olympics over the years and her push to increase the number of women's events on the Olympic program.

Don't ask a tourist's age or wage, steer clear of sex and avoid religion: what many Chinese consider idle chit-chat has now become the latest area of censure in Beijing as it prepares for an influx of Olympic visitors.

Some amazing women athletes such as Natalie Coughlin are laying it all out in the most competitive swim meet in the world. Only the top 2 make the Olympic team. In this event the heart break belongs to Hayley McGregory, who briefly held the world record in prelims until Natalie Coughlin broke it in the next heat.