THE OLYMPICS IN TODAY'S IRISH TIMES:
Ian O'Riordanwent on a 10km run through the streets of Beijing to get a taste of the heat, humidity and smog in the city and found it to be a sickening experience.
Keith Dugganreports on how the Chinese and the IOC have been preparing for today's opening ceremony.
Plus: Up-to-the-minute coverage of the ceremony as it proceeds on
irishtimes.comand Irish rower
Gearóid Towey'sfirst dispatch from the Games.
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TOMORROW
Ian O'Riordanlooks ahead to the first day of competition with details of the Irish competitors in action.
Keith Dugganprofiles US swimmer Michael Phelps as he tries to win eight gold medals over the next seven days.
Mary Hanniganembarks on a marathon of her own and watches the entire opening ceremony on the television.
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Readers of
The Irish Timesand irishtimes.com will capture all the excitement of Beijing with comprehensive round-the-clock coverage in print and online throughout the competition.
Tom Humphries , Keith Duggan and Ian O'Riordan will report daily from Beijing. Clifford Coonan , China Correspondent will be reporting from Beijing itself and Mary Hannigan will be casting her beady eye over the wall-to-wall battle for the TV viewers.
irishtimes.com will keep readers up-to-date with the latest news, views and results from China as the 54 Irish athletes bid for Olympic glory on our dedicated Olympics site.
Rower Gearóid Towey , gearing up for his third Olympic experience, is writing exclusively from the Games while Seán Kenny will be burning the midnight oil to give the website his unique take on events.
The action starts today, Friday, August 8th, with the opening ceremony and continues until Sunday, August 24th.