A look back at sports
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Sports pictures of the year
From a nail-biting pass at Superbowl XLIII to a bloody WBO World Welterwight fight, here's a look at the best sports photos of 2009. Slideshow
Beijing's "bird's nest" stadium to open in April
BEIJING (Reuters) - The main stadium for next year's Beijing Olympic Games, the $400 million "bird's nest," will open to the public for the first time in April to host a test event, a state newspaper said on Thursday.
The National Stadium, nick-named the bird's nest after the way the steel beams interlace, is expected to be the last Beijing Olympic venue to be completed. The rest will be finished by the end of this year.
The stadium would get its first taste of action at April's International Association of Athletics Federations' Race Walking Challenge, the Beijing Daily said, citing vice-mayor Liu Jingmin.
It would then host the 2008 China Athletics Open in May.
"These two events will be the first and the last times before the Olympics that the bird's nest will be open to the public," the report said.
The stadium is scheduled to open in March.
