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What IS That Building?

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A Tribune wire report

Published: August 20, 2008

Boxer DQ'd For Biting Opponent

BEIJING - A light heavyweight boxer from Tajikistan was disqualified for biting his opponent on the shoulder during their Olympic quarterfinal bout Tuesday night.

Dzhakhon Kurbanov's bout with Kazakhstan's Yerkebulan Shynaliyev was stopped with 17 seconds left in the third round when Kurbanov apparently bit Shynaliyev during a clinch.

Shynaliyev, who angrily showed the blood on his shoulder to the referee, led 12-6 at the time. Kurbanov had been warned multiple times for shoving and holding his opponent.

BEIJING - Visitors to the Olympics have been drawn to the city's iconic Olympic stadiums, such as the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest. But there is also intrigue about a mysterious building that sits adjacent to the Olympic Green, something called the Pangu Plaza.

Shaped like a dragon - and stretching the length of seven football fields - is a colossal row of stone buildings that boasts a high-rise office tower, shopping mall, seven-star hotel and what the developer insists is the world's first traditional Chinese "courtyard in the sky."

In recent weeks, Chinese newspapers have been abuzz with rumors that Bill Gates paid $17 million to rent one of the high-rise courtyard apartments for a year; that Warren Buffett and Henry Kissinger have been lounging there; and that the building complex is somehow part of the Olympic Games, since it has five jumbo television screens recycling patriotic images and Olympic highlights to passers-by 24 hours a day.

The building's developers deny the project has any relationship to the Olympics or that Gates resides there. And a spokesperson for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation declined to comment. But the owners of Pangu Plaza acknowledge that "someone very, very important" resides in the building; that Buffett considered renting a courtyard space (all of which are on the top floor of the lower-rise buildings) and that Kissinger was a guest during the Olympics.

"We have had a lot of very important guests," said Cai Xiaomin, a spokeswoman for Beijing Pangu Investment, the Chinese developer.

Because the buildings face the National Aquatics Center (the Water Cube) and the National Stadium (the Bird's Nest), offering a spectacular backdrop for Olympic-related programs, CNN, the BBC and other television outlets are renting space there during the Olympics.

And the seven-star hotel has hand-carved wooden sculptures hanging from the ceilings, prints of traditional Chinese paintings, a Japanese restaurant that charges about $600 per person, and a presidential suite that goes for about $30,000 a night.

Much of the building is still under construction. Neither the shopping mall nor the seven-star hotel opened in time for the Games. The hotel is expected to open within weeks. And much of the building is cordoned off by white tape and guarded by men who appear to be wearing paramilitary uniforms.

After Dives, Rinsing Off And Raising Eyebrows

BEIJING - Forget human rights, air pollution and Liu Zhang's stunning injury. One of the most heated water-cooler debates of this Olympic Games has been about showers and why divers seem obsessed with them.

With few exceptions, a diver's routine goes something like this: Climb to the platform. Dry off. Dive. Get out of the pool. Then, just as their scores are being announced over the public address system, the divers head to a bank of showers a few feet away. The cameras capture every detail as they dunk their heads in the hot water and appear to lather up, even though they do not use soap.

The answer is actually quite simple. The pool is 79 degrees, and when the divers come out, they are cold. Since there is often a long wait between dives, they shower to keep their muscles warm.

"It becomes a habit," said Kristin Wingfield, a former competitive diver from Canada who is now a sports-medicine doctor in San Francisco. "You run into the shower to keep your muscles warm."

That rationale received approval from Bengt Saltin, a professor of human physiology at Copenhagen University who is a leading expert on how muscles work. Muscles should be around 104 degrees to perform at their peak, he said. "Passive heating is one way of having warm muscles when you start your performance," he said.

Several divers acknowledged, however, that the showers serve a secondary purpose. "It's really just a mental thing," said diver Chris Colwill of Brandon . "I think I would dive just the same if I didn't take a shower. It just comforts me to be warm and relaxed."

German Basketball Coach: American Team Is Unbeatable

BEIJING - The reality of this edition of the U.S. men's basketball team became public record Monday night.

The German coach, Dirk Bauermann, handed the gold medal to the Americans (5-0), whose 106-57 victory pushed their average margin to 32.2 points.

"I think they're unbeatable," he said. "I don't even think it's going to be close. I would be surprised if anyone can even give them a game."

The Americans play Australia in the quarterfinals of the Olympic basketball tournament today.

Bauermann said the growth the American program had shown since 2004 would probably make any game a one-sided affair.

"This team now, I think it's difficult to comprehend how much better they are," Bauermann said. "They're doing all the intangibles, they're doing everything that it takes to win. They really don't have a weakness like they did four years ago."

Hackers Target Brazilian Olympic Committee Web Site

BRASILIA, Brazil - Disgruntled hackers have targeted the Brazilian Olympic Committee's Web site to complain about the country's poor performance at the Beijing Games.

The hackers replaced regular content with criticism of Brazilian athletes, the committee said Tuesday.

"Brazil stinks in these Olympics" was one of the messages posted, according to the Universo On Line news service of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

Brazil was in 39th place with one gold and five bronze medals late Tuesday.

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