We’re just a few days away from the official one-year-till-the-Olympics mark of August 8, 2007 - that means that the international press will be filing stories like crazy over the next few days and weeks.

In today’s news, the USOC is increasing doping tests among U.S. Olympians in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, according to Reuters.

U.S. to increase drug testing before Games (Reuters.com)

The AP story linked to below presents a decent overview of the status of the Beijing Olympics - nothing that hasn’t been reported previously, but a good Beijing Olympics 101 primer for newcomers:

Beijing 2008 Olympics poised to be the grandest Games of all (Associated Press, via SportingNews.com)

The Beijing Olympics primer below, via the Malaysia Sun, presents the overview of 2008 from the point of view of the Chinese team:

2008 Olympics: China set to challenge U.S. supremacy (Indo-Asian News Service, via the Malaysia Sun)

The IHT reports (via the AP) about the progress of the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, the two most architecturally distinct venues being constructed for the 2008 Olympics. From everything I’ve heard from people who have seen them in person, they are stunning structures. The Bird’s Nest is National Stadium, host to the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track and field competition. The Water Cube will host swimming, diving and water polo.

Beijing Olympic venues already iconic (Associated Press, via the International Herald Tribune)

Want a sneak peek at all of the Olympic venues and their locations in Beijing? The official Beijing 2008 website has it all:

2008 Olympic competition venues (Beijing 2008 official website)

Finally, from longtime Olympic writer Philip Hersh, some observations on the recent pontificating by U.S. and Chinese officials about who’s going to win the medal count next year…along with some wise observations about the reality of doping in the Olympic movement, no matter how many drug tests the various national committees perform:

Gold could hit an all-time high for China (Los Angeles Times)