The 2009 numbers are in and Chicago's O'Hare Airport has been bumped down a spot to fourth place on the "busiest airports in the world" list by Beijing, the only one of the top four airports in the world that saw an increase in passengers last year. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson remained first with 88 million passengers (down 2.3 percent) followed by London Heathrow with 66 million (down 1.5 percent). Beijing Capital International Airport had 65.3 million passengers, an increase of 17 percent over 2008, while O'Hare saw 64.4 million passengers, a decline of 8.8 percent. O'Hare's decline was also the largest among the world's top 20 airports. Part of the decline is being blamed on cuts by United and American Airlines, the two biggest carriers out of the airport. more ›

Chicagoist headed to the taping of Oprah's Olympic-themed season premiere this morning, along with thousands of other Oprahphiles. The big O welcomed 153 Olympians from Team USA, which was quite a spectacle, but she only interviewed the usual suspects: Michael Phelps (who was then joined briefly by Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale), Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin (who talked about reading , ugh), the men's basketball team (only Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd said anything—and I don't think Lebron James was there), the men's volleyball team, Dara Torres, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and three members of the women's 4x400 relay (Sanya Richards did most of the talking). And then American Idol winner David Cook sang, which...was weird. more ›

As we're entering the final days of this Olympiad, and focus turns to team finals rather than individual finals (though holy crap this Bolt kid is ridonkulously fast!), we're happy to see many of our area athletes still in the thick of the competition, especially with Gold Medal finals happening. Friday's action was light, but a pair of U.S. squads featuring Chicago-area members were in action, battling on towards more Gold. Full results after the jump. more ›

Unlucky 13. Foreboding as we come down the home-stretch and find ourselves knee-deep in the team medal rounds. While some teams, like the beach volleyball team of May-Treanor/Walsh won gold for the US, some teams, including one with a few Chicagoans, weren't so lucky, including one absolute shocker. Hey, they can't all be Gold and nothing's wrong with Silver. At least in the opinions of those of us who have never made the Olympics. All the day's Chicago-related results after the jump. more ›

We're coming down the homestretch of the competition now, having completed 12 of the 18 days of competition (while the Olympics are "officially" 16 days long, there were two days of preliminary action before the opening ceremonies). And while China has dominated the gold medal count, Team USA continues to maintain a slight overall lead over the host nation. A few Chicago-area athletes were in action today, doing their part to help the US maintain that edge. Results, as always, after the jump. more ›

Michael Phelps is a badass. To do what he did is unfathomable and he did it with grace, dignity, and respect to himself, his fellow swimmers, and Mark Spitz. But thank God swimming is over because if NBC showed Phelps' mother in the stands reacting to a race one more time, I was going to tear my hair out. This is the network's fault in doing what they do best : taking a very sweet thing...and running into the ground until we want to stab out our eyes with sporks. ANYWAY. We had several Chicago-area Olympians of our own competing, including in the pool, so let's get to it! (And GO TOYIN!) more ›

We've hit the half-way point for the Olympics but there's still plenty of excitement, including Michael Phelps heart-stopping gold medal race. At this point, we suspect he may just be toying with our emotions just to keep us interested. But our Chicago-area Olympians, including Christine Loukas and Dwyane Wade, are providing some fireworks of their own and keeping us glued to our televisions. Which is a good thing, right? Screw it. Go Team Chicago! more ›

After watching another thrilling night of gymnastics, we've determined that if there's one thing our life needs, it's running commentary from Bela Karolyi. The man could make watching paint drying sound excruciatingly exciting. Aside from Bela's enthusiasm, Day 7 saw many of our Chicago-area athletes, including diver Christina Loukas, in action as well as the debut of Track & Field on the schedule. Check out Friday's Chicago-related results after the jump. more ›

A few days before the Olympic games in Beijing started, a 25-year old Rockford volunteer died in Beijing and American and Chinese authorities have been mum on the topic, according to a report by ABC 7. Ann DeWaters apparently died on August 4 as the result of a fall, but reports have ranged from a fall from a train to falling through a building's roof. State Department officials refused to comment on the incident as did the Florida-based organization DeWaters' was representing, but the spokesman for Rockford Congressional Representative Don Manzullo, for whom DeWaters interned for in 2006, told ABC 7 DeWaters was, "walking down a Beijing street returning to her hotel...when she fell through an open manhole and hit her head," a report echoed by other media outlets. It's likely the ambiguity surrounding her death was a result of the restrictive Chinese government not wanting any reports of visitor deaths before the Olympics, which also explains why it's taken 10 days for the story to break in the states. more ›

Mayor Daley's back from Beijing, where it was revealed that all his ideas are orchestrated by a somewhat less adorable mayor, and he seems more determined than ever to secure Chicago's Olympic future. more ›

Day 6 of the Summer Olympics in Beijing saw another Chinese gymnastics gold medal and more success for American swimming superstar Michael Phelps. And while Thursday was a light day for our Chicago-area athletes, with Track & Field and Diving still to come, there's still plenty of action left for them in the next 10 days. Apropos of nothing, anyone know what Christian Slater is up to these days? It'd be nice if he could find some work... more ›

Team USA's softball team extended its overall Olympic winning streak to 16 games with the help of Cat Osterman's no-hitter, shutting out Australia 3-0 in a rematch of 2004's gold medal game. more ›

The time difference between Chicago and Beijing shouldn't confuse us so much, but we still feel a little bit like Marty McFly sometimes. On Monday we watched events taped on Monday in Beijing that we originally saw Sunday night and then saw live events from Tuesday morning. Or was it taped events from Sunday and live events from Monday? We really have no idea. All we know is that it was another good day for our area athletes as they earned a few more medals. Holla! more ›

Tribune reporter Kevin Pang continues his culinary tour of Beijing by cleansing his palate of any residual penis with some Peking duck straight from the source. more ›

Was anyone else pumped when, during the Men's Basketball game against China yesterday (Dwyane Wade = 19 pts, 2 stl, 2 ast), NBC decided to forgo their usual Olympic-themed background music and instead brought back their old John Tesh-penned "NBA on NBC" theme music? It was worth getting up early for that alone. That wasn't the only excitement from our day of Olympic-watching: later Sunday night (Monday morning, Beijing time) we saw one of our Chicago-related athletes take home a medal. more ›

The Trib's Kevin Pang and LA Times's Bill Plaschke decide the best way to bridge cultural divides between America and China is to eat some penis. more ›

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing are getting ready to start have already kicked off and, well, it seems that not many folks are as enthusiastic about it as some of us are (one of us has even participated in an Olympic Torch relay). So forgive us if we seemed a bit excited this morning because we dig that time every four two years when the world comes together to celebrate the pageantry and athleticism of sports we otherwise never care about. Handball? Field hockey? The modern pentathlon? It can't all be swimming and track. And don't forget about trampoline! And as Chicago tries to lure the 2016 Summer Olympics, it seems only right that we focus on our own area athletes who are competing in this year's games. We've compiled a list of area athletes and their events and throughout the Olympics, we'll do our best to keep you posted on how our Chicagoans are faring. more ›

As Hizzonner continues his whirlwind tour of Beijing, the Trib* took us along for his little train-ride the other day. As it turns out, if you spend $7.7 billion on a transit system, it A) looks nice, B) operates well, and C) would be lovely to have in case an Olympic games somehow ends up in our neck of the woods. Oh, and if we want one, we're gonna have to pony up. Who knew. more ›

This fall, Chicago will be the host city of the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships. The event, which will feature nearly 700 competitors from more than 120 countries, will be the biggest international sporting event in Chicago since the 1959 Pan American Games. more ›

Chicago continues to bring in events that they hope will help showcase that Chicago is a perfect host city for the 2016 Olympics. Last month we shared with you the U.S. World League Volleyball matches that are coming to Chicago in mid-June. Chicago will also be hosting the 2007 World Boxing Championships a multi-week event that will begin in Chicago on October 17. The event also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics... more ›

Well, whether you love the idea of the possibility of the games being in Chicago or hate it, we are the United States candidate to hold the 2016 games. Although the International Olympic Committee has no requirements to switch up continents for the games, the 2008 games are in Beijing, and the 2012 games are in London, so it seems likely North America will host the 2016 Summer Games.... more ›

As the US Olympic Committee packs their bags this morning and Daley and his cronies assert that an Olympic bid by Chicago is "eminently doable," the rest of us are left wondering what bringing the event to Chicago really means. more ›

With its brand new capitalist outlook — don't tell them that's what it is — China is gobbling up shares of American investments at a "torrid pace" (the Trib's $5 word for the day). Where in the past businesses would have run at a steady pace away from the behemoth country, most are now scrambling to make sure Chinese investors are watching them, and Chicago's are no exception. World Business Chicago and the Chicago Council... more ›

Our colleagues over at SFist are saying arrivederci to the 2016 Olympics. This afternoon, the San Francisco Olympic Committee formally withdrew its bid for the 2016 Summer Games. Last week, the surprise announcement that the San Francisco 49ers were looking outside of San Francisco for a new stadium brought up concerns about the bid. A major concern for the Bay Area's bid has always been the lack of an Olympic Stadium. With this announcement,... more ›

As you may have already heard, Mayor Daley has been going crazy with the globe-trotting the last few days. In the manner of Carmen Sandiego and her gumshoes, Daley has been popping up all over, chiefly in Chicago’s sister city Amman, Jordan. more ›

For those who are all about the "This is Grand" moment on the Red or Blue Lines, don't worry: Peter Cusack is coming. more ›

Start hording those ImprovOlympic mugs, shirts, and ticket stubs, ‘cause “ImprovOlympic” is no more. The 24-year old company that gave us large blocks of the Saturday Night Live cast, much of the talent behind Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and “that dopey guy” from Scrubs has changed its name to I.O. Theater. In a story you’d expect to find in The Onion, I.O. Owner and Director Charna Halpern received a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee ordering her to drop “Olympic” from the company name lest someone actually think the Wrigleyville club was qualifying people for Beijing ’08. Back in its formative years, the club was embroiled in a dispute with a stand-up comedy club owner claiming to have copyrighted “improv.” And since the club's been competition-free for decades, they've merely lost a bit of marketing cache. more ›

The Chicago-based Female Health Company struck a deal with Beijing Zizhu Pharmaceutical Co to distribute female condoms in China. Who knew that the "first and only female-initiated barrier method" called Chicago home? We sure didn't. The "letter of understanding" between the two companies contained provisions to make the condoms available commercially and through aid organizations. They also agreed to "determine the various aspects of market needs, acceptability and education outreach programs" needed to launch the female condom effectively. more ›