United States, China prepare to slug it out in medals war

In a few weeks, American basketball player Dwight Howard, by way of Atlanta and the NBA's Orlando Magic, will step into the center circle at the Beijing Olympics and extend a hand toward China's Yao Ming, who was born in Shanghai and plays for the Houston Rockets, but hardly needs an introduction.

It just might be the most loaded handshake since Richard Nixon went to China in 1972 and met Mao.

And rather than usher in an era of cooperation between uneven rivals, the way the Nixon-Mao clasp did, this one will launch a 17-day competition between athletic superpowers for domination of the world's playing...