Raymond reports that several Chinese Web sites are saying that Yao Ming will be the flag bearer for the Chinese delegation during the Opening Ceremonies. However, Yao says he hasn’t received notice yet.

If he does carry the Chinese flag on Friday, it will be the second Olympics in a row where he’s done that, having carried it in 2004 in the Athens Olympic Games.

On Wednesday in Beijing, Yao Ming surprisingly carried the torch in a segment of its journey to the Opening Ceremonies that starts Friday night.

As Raymond reports, Yao Ming took the torch out from the Forbidden City, across the Golden Water Bridge, and into Tiananmen Square. There were so many people surrounding him, like the media and press, he basically had to walk parts of his journey

I’m very surprised Yao ran a leg of the relay with still two days remaining before the Opening Cermonies. I thought for sure he would at least run a lap around the Olympic track on Friday night during the ceremonies before handing it off to a historical Chinese Olympian from the past, whoever that may be. I guess Yao Ming could still run part of the relay Friday night, but its less likely now.

If it doesn’t happen, I don’t know what the Chinese were thinking. He’s too important to be carrying it on Wednesday when the rest of the world isn’t watching yet. I know for sure Yao would have loved to run a segment of the relay in the stadium Friday night. Who knows, maybe this was just a “warm-up” for him so he can get a better feel for the weight of the torch before the really ‘big’ moment on Friday night.

Click here and here for more photos from Yao’s torch run. One thing I noticed that others may not have caught. You can tell this was a big deal to Yao because he is completely shaven — no hair underneath his chin!

To watch the video of Yao carrying the torch, click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below…

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The torch is getting closer to Beijing. Less than 3 days to go!

Check it out here:

Raymond reports that Yao Ming will not be the one who lights the Olympic flame on Friday. That’s because it was announced on Monday that he is one of the 841 torch bearers selected for the Olympic torch relay from August 6th thru August 8th.

In this post, Raymond provides an excellent summary of all the different steps of the torch relay’s path from Wednesday through Friday, with photos of all the starting and ending points for each day.

My bet is that Yao will be one of the torch relay runners IN the stadium, and he’ll run a lap around the track. It would be a waste of Yao’s prominence for him to be a torch relay runner outside of the stadium where the spotlight is diminished.

China Premier Wen Jiabao came to inspect Wukesong indoor stadium on Sunday, August 3rd, and Yao Ming and the Chinese national team happened to be training.

At the end of his visit, Yao Ming gave the premier with an autographed basketball with all the players’signatures on it.

Click here for more photos from the visit, including the Premier attempting a layup!

Raymond has translated in the forum an interview of Yao Ming that appeared in China’s Titan Sports publication, with the interview conducted by Houston Chronicle writer Fran Blinebury. That’s an interesting convergence: An American writer interviewing Yao Ming in English for a Chinese publication, with Raymond translating back to Chinese.

Click here for the translated article. It’s quite good.

Similary, here’s a sepearte interview of Yao that Blinebury conducted for the Chronicle.

I know this is day-old news, but I finally have a little bit of time here to mention Luis Scola‘s epic performance in the FIBA Diamond Cup tournament in Nanjing, China yesterday. Scola went off for a game-high 32 points to help Argentina beat Australia 95-91.

Argentina was down by 19 points in the first half, but Scola scored 28 points in the second half alone to key the comback victory!

Everyone has been so excited lately about Ron Artest joining the Rockets, as they should be, and they talk about how Yao, Artest and McGrady will be incredible together. But it’s so easy to forget about Scola, who can be a huge force as seen by this performance. Then add in Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Carl Landry (hopefully), Aaron Brooks, and it just sends chills down your spine!

Click here for more photos of Scola from his game against Australia, as well as Yao and his teammates watching the game from the stands.

After the game, the tournament’s award ceremony was held where China received recognition for finishing in third place. Click here for photos from the award ceremony.

In the video below, Yao talks about his once in a lifetime chance to play in the Olympics on his home soil and the pressure he feels. He also talks about the value of his Olympic opponents, and how difficult it will be for China to secure a place in the finals.

He also explains the design and inspiration behind his newest basketball shoe from Reebok, the Pump Omni Hexride. The shoe was created in celebration of the Olympics and includes some personal touches, such as his own signature logo.

Only 2,008 individually numbered pairs of the exclusive Pump Omni Hexride will be available starting today for all of China. In addition, coming soon, select retailers in the US and in Europe will carry the Pump Omni Hexride, however the collection will not be numbered in these markets.

Five of these Reebok shoes will be auctioned off to raise funds for Yao’s newly established Yao Ming Foundation, which Reebok has committed to support. In this footage, Yao’s welcome back to China and his new foundation is featured as he prepares for the upcoming Olympic games.

Pictures of the shoe are available on this Flickr page. For more information visit Reebok’s site.

China beat Iran 75-46 on Friday in the FIBA Diamond Cup tournament in Nanjing, finishing third overall and the top team in Asia. Because it was such a blowout, Yao Ming only played 19 minutes and scored 12 points (4-of-8 FGs), grabbed 4 rebounds, but missed 3-of-7 free throws.

Yao contained the top scorer in the tournament, center Hadem Ehadadi, drawing 2 quick fouls from him within first 5 minutes of the game.

Liu Wei returned from his rib injury the other day, controlling the tempo and and setting up Yao nicely on offensive sets, allowing China to take a 19-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.

China played much better defense than they did against Australia, as did the power forwards. Wang Zhizhi finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds assist in 25 minutes. Yi Jianlian also played 25 minutes, scoring 8 points (4-of-7 FGs) and grabbing 9 boards. Du Feng only played for 10 minutes, but scored 9 points (3-of-4 from 3-point land).

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