LONDON (AFP) - The Queen and Indian President Pratibha Patil started the countdown to the New Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games as they launched the global baton relay Thursday at Buckingham Palace.

OLYMPIA, Greece (AFP) - The flame was lit here Thursday for the 2010 Winter Olympics and carried off by the first relay runner on a journey of more than 47,000 kilometres (nearly 30,000 miles) to Vancouver.

LONDON (AFP) - China ended the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships with six gold medals as Deng Linlin, Wang Guanyin and Zou Kai won individual titles at London's O2 Arena.

LONDON (AFP) - China's Deng Linlin produced an excellent beam routine packed with difficulty to claim gold at the World Gymnastics Championships at London's O2 Arena on Sunday.

LONDON (AFP) - China's dominance of international gymnastics continued when they won three individual gold medals and a silver at the World Championships at London's O2 Arena.

LONDON (AFP) - Australia's Prashanth Sellathurai believed he achieved the impossible by claiming bronze in the men's individual pommel horse at the World Gymnastic Championships.

LONDON (AFP) - North Korea's Olympic champion Hong Un-Jong disappointed in the women's individual vault final at the World Gymnastic Championship on Saturday as Kayla Williams of the United States claimed gold.

LONDON (AFP) - Japan's Koko Tsurumi admitted she confounded her own expectations by grabbing bronze in the women's all-around final at the World Gymnastics Championships.

LONDON (AFP) - Japan's Olympic silver medallist Kohei Uchimura produced a performance of ruthless consistency to win the men's all-around title at the world gymnastics championships on Thursday.

LONDON (AFP) - Olympic champions He Kexin of China and North Korea's Hong Un-Jong made their push for gold at the world gymnastics championships here on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A Florida man who drove
cross-country to meet Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson
was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial on accusations of
stalking her, but a judge dropped a charge of attempted
kidnapping against the man.

BEIJING (AFP) - Novak Djokovic captured his third ATP title of the year at the China Open on Sunday, outlasting giant killer Marin Cilic of Croatia, while Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed to the women's title.

BEIJING (AFP) - Croatia's Marin Cilic dealt Rafael Nadal his heaviest defeat in nearly two years on Saturday, earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the China Open to set up a final with Novak Djokovic.

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Jacques Rogge was re-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday as golf and rugby union sevens were included as sports at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

BEIJING (AFP) - Rafael Nadal fended off a tough challenge from James Blake to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open on Thursday, as Serena Williams stumbled out of the WTA/ATP event in a third set tiebreak.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Twenty years ago, a Chinese tank pummeled into student athlete Fang Zheng as he fled Tiananmen Square. He lost his legs and his livelihood as he was reduced to selling cigarettes at a street stall.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand Olympic Committee has threatened to sue a local taekwondo athlete who plans to finance his 2012 London Games bid with the proceeds from a brothel.

BEIJING (AFP) - Russia's Maria Sharapova became the latest upset victim at the China Open on Wednesday, while four of her compatriots including Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the quarterfinals in Beijing.