Michelle Obama, arrived in Denmark today to state the case to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago.

Mrs. Obama, along with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and several other U.S. dignitaries, are meeting with officials from the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen, Denmark to convince the body to bring the Olympics to America. Brazil and Japan are also in contention.

The President will arrive in Denmark later in the week.

While some support the Olympics coming to Chicago, others feel differently.

LaShawn Merritt won a second gold medal at the world championships in Berlin Sunday when the United States demolished the competition in the 4×400-meter relay. Merritt, the 400 champion, ran the anchor leg and took the baton home in 2 minutes, 57.86 seconds. Britain took silver in 3:00.53, and Australia picked up the bronze in 3:00.90. The American team was a two-time defending champion and reigning Olympic champion.

Marion Jones speaks out about her jail time.

Saying she will focus on efforts to help children learn from her mistakes, recently released Olympian Marion Jones gave her first interview to Oprah Winfrey since being stripped of five Olympic medals and serving several months of jail time for lying in court about using steroids. Once the world’s most famous woman sprinter, Jones still insists she didn’t knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs, believing they were a diet supplement. “I’m trying to move on,” she told Winfrey. “I hope that everybody else can move on, too.” Asked about her lowest moment while jailed, Jones said “so many things to count.” She concluded that missing the birthdays of both her 5- and 1-year-old sons topped the list. Jones wept as she read a letter she’d written to the boys while incarcerated. But she expressed a new pleasure at having people deal with her as a non-sports heroine. “I appreciate, so much, the little things,” Jones added. “I am energized by this next chapter.”

USA men’s and women’s basketball teams come out on top
Both USA basketball teams are gold medal winners following the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lisa Leslie became the first basketball player to earn four golds as the women beat Australia this past weekend. Meanwhile, LeBron James backed up his promise of a gold for the men – and likely shed his embarrassing nickname from past Olympics competition, “LeBronze.” The men defeated defending champion Spain. The 2012 Olympics are set to take place in London.

Men’s basketball team could take top spot in Beijing Sunday. The “Redeem Team” could finally live up to its nickname on Sunday. But first, the men’s basketball players representing the United States at the Beijing Olympics will have to take down defending champion Argentina tonight. Argentina beat the USA in the 2004 Olympics semi-finals. If the men win against the South American ballers tonight, they’ll move on to Sunday’s gold-medal match-up. It would be the team’s first gold in international competition since 2000.

Two of Dallas’ pro athletes try their hand at beach volleyball.
Brandon Bass, Adam “Pacman” Jones compete for charity. Dallas Mavericks forward Brandon Bass will team up with recent Dallas Cowboys recruit Adam “Pacman” Jones next month for a celebrity charity event. Bass and Jones will host the First Annual Celebrity Volleyball Beach Battle Sept. 13. Several other Mavericks will also compete in the tournament, which pairs a celebrity with four fans on each team. The cost of all that fun in the sun? A meager $2,500 per team, with proceeds going to the Brandon Bass Reach Back Foundation.

World Lens – Storm batters the Dominican Republic; Usain Bolt sprints to gold; Cubans celebrate Castro’s birthday. See the pics at World Lens.
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Usain Bolt wins 200-meter semi-final in Beijing Olympics.
Sprinter could take first double since Carl Lewis. World-record-setting 100-meter runner Usain Bolt can become the first to win a double in the 100 and 200 sprints since 1984. Bolt beat out the USA’s Shawn Crawford in Tuesday’s 200-meter semi-final with some observers saying he actually slowed down toward the end. It was enough to beat Crawford, the defending 200 champ, by .03 seconds. Legendary USA Olympian Carl Lewis was the last sprinter to win both the 100 and 200 over 20 years ago. Bolt is favored to repeat Lewis’ feat.

U.S. favorites fall in 400-meter and 100-meter hurdles. United States track and field stars Sanya Richards and Lolo Jones struggled in their respective events and failed to capture medals. Which American athlete benefited from Jones’ mishap? Find out more at BET.com’s Olympics ‘08.

Cleveland’s Edwards still sidelined after sock sprint. NFL wide receiver Braylon Edwards could miss a second pre-season game as he continues recovering from a gash in his foot that he suffered while running in his socks. Edwards hasn’t returned to the Browns line-up since he took stitches for the injury he suffered while racing teammate Donté Stallworth after a recent practice. Stallworth accidentally stepped on Edwards’ foot with his cleats, causing Edwards to spend a night in the hospital. He’ll likely be fully recovered in time for the regular season, says Cleveland’s management.

Sisters snatch gold medal for tennis doubles.

Venus and Serena Williams have proved they’re twice as nice after being eliminated from Olympics singles competition last week. The sisters captured a gold medal in the doubles tournament on Sunday after beating Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0. “I’m so excited, I can’t even speak,” Venus says. “To share this kind of moment with your sister, it never grows old.”

Shaq cancels plans for divorce

Weeks after a Memorial Day weekend photo showed Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal and his wife Shaunie lounging together on vacation, the couple confirms that they’ll remain together. Shaq filed for divorce last September, calling the marriage “irretrievably broken.” And this spring, he famously rapped about his ex-Laker teammate, saying, “Kobe ratted me out, that’s why I’m gettin’ divorced.” But rumors of Shaq’s infidelity or of Shaunie’s abuse of his paychecks are no longer a factor, Mrs. O’Neal says. “Neither one of us could probably answer why we were getting (divorced) in the first place,” she observes. “Things have been going so great that someone actually had to remind us that ‘Hey, you do remember those papers are still there.’ Literally, it was days ago. So, we’ve agreed that before we leave Florida in a few days we’ll make sure that that’s gone away.”

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Michael Vick’s estate suffers as he serves time

A bankruptcy judge may appoint a trustee to oversee ex-NFL star Michael Vick’s estate while the suspended player serves prison time for financing an illegal dog-fighting ring. A Sept. 5 hearing could determine how the former Falcon’s property will be handled. “It has become clear, since the filing of this case, that Mr. Vick has very limited knowledge of the state of his finances,” wrote bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro. “…It appears that Mr. Vick has routinely relied upon others to make financial decisions for him, giving them discretionary control over large sums of money.” Vick filed for bankruptcy protection July 7. A former advisor to Vick was recently accused of hustling a church out of $500,000.

U.S. Olympians have a tough weekend in Beijing. The U.S. men’s track and field team had a less than stellar weekend on the track, capped off by Tyson Gay failing to qualify for the 100-meters final. Did the U.S. women fare any better? See more of our coverage at BET.com’s Olympics ‘08.

Sisters are knocked out of Olympics singles, Blake advances.

Not only won’t Venus and Serena Williams have a one-on-one title rematch in the Olympics, neither will compete for a medal. After saying earlier this week that a tennis singles showdown to follow their Wimbledon face-off would be “fantastic,” Venus and her sister both lost quarter-finals match-ups Thursday in Beijing. Venus, who won Wimbledon, fell to China’s Li Na, while Serena lost to Russia’s Elena Dementieva. The sisters can still capture a gold in doubles competition as they did at the 2000 Games in Sydney. While the siblings were upset, James Blake did some upsetting when he beat Roger Federer in straight sets. Blake moves on, leaving Federer two titles shy of Pete Sampras’ record of 12.