COUNTDOWN TO OLYMPICS

* Days until opening ceremony: 2.

* Olympic update: After acknowledging that nearly all of the 27 athletes bounced from their team had failed drug tests, Chinese Olympic officials charged that the problem is not limited to their team.

* March to the medals: The Olympic soccer tournament was set to begin with eight men’s and women’s matches in four cities today, including the U.S. men’s match against the Czech Republic.

* Carrying the torch: Continued its tour through huge crowds around Sydney, with golfer Ian Baker-Finch among the torchbearers. A day earlier, 1980 and 1984 decathlon champion Daley Thompson of Great Britain was among the carriers.

* Olympic footnote: President Clinton gave his daughter, Chelsea, a lift to the airport in his limousine and sent her off with a hug as she headed for Sydney as a member of the official U.S. Olympic delegation.