With the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to begin in less than 24 hours, Live Search decides to join the game by providing the following Olympics-related features, all set to go live by Friday 08/08/08:

• The Live Search homepage, with the recent addition of rotating background images with hotspots, will feature Olympics images for the duration of the games
• Live Search News will feature the Olympics 2008 news vertical which gives readers up-to-date coverage with additional elements such as Olympics 2008 news images
• Live Search xRank will have a new Olympian section for fans to track the popularity of their favourite athletes
• Live Search Video will feature Olympics videos when users type in the query "Olympics"
• Athlete Instant Answer will feature profiles of Olympians as searchers type in the first and last names of the athlete in search queries. For example, users can search for “Shawn Johnson” or “LeBron James”
• Medal Count Instant Answer will provide an all up medal count by country, sport, or by country and sport when searchers type in Olympics-related keywords in search queries. For example, users can search for terms like "Olympics swimming" or "Olympics China"

Also note that all of the features mentioned above will be available in the United States, while Athlete Instant Answer and Medal Count Instant Answer will only be available in selected countries and regions.

Thanks to Neowin for the heads up.