After Chinese officials canceled Saturday and Sunday's daily press conferences with foreign media, people began to wonder why. Could the country be dodging questions about media rights and the occasional cameraman beatdown?

Not according to Beijing Olympics spokesperson Sun Weide, who said that since the Games were running smoothly (especially for NBC), there was no need for daily briefings. "We are always ready to take questions and we are always available at the news desk (in the Olympic media centre) or by telephone," he told the AFP.

The International Olympic Committee repeated the company line. Giselle Davies, the organization's spokeswoman, didn't think difficult questions from the foreign media had anything to do with the cancellations, saying, "That's part of the job and the questions are tough at all Games, just their content is different."