Take one name off the list of Olympic athletes with ties to the D.C. area. The Associated Press via ESPN.com is reporting that 20-year-old boxer Gary Russell Jr., who was born right here in D.C. and lives in Capitol Heights, Md., collapsed in Beijing while trying to make weight, and will no longer be competing in the Olympic games. Russell, who was not hospitalized, collapsed while running. He had been trying to drop from 125…

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing are less than two weeks away, and we’re definitely starting to feel some Olympic fever. We know we’re just supposed to blindly support anyone representing Team USA No Matter What, but are there any local athletes to whom we can throw a little extra love? (Baltimore doesn’t count). A quick perusal of of the USOC athlete roster says, why yes! Keep in mind, a lot of Team USA still…

Activists gathered at the White House yesterday alongside more than 1,500 Tibetan refugees to protest the Chinese government’s crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators, according to the Washington Post. Buddhist monks were joined by a few American sympathizers in their efforts to persuade President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Tibetan sympathizers have a powerful ally in U.S. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who yesterday urged President Bush to consider a…