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BEIJING — IOC president Jacques Rogge was accused of backtracking on promises of press freedoms yesterday and some Internet sites remained blocked less than a week before the Beijing Games begin.

Under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, Chinese organizers unblocked some sites at the main press center and venues, but others remained censored for journalists covering the Summer Games.

"Let me be very clear on this," said Rogge, speaking publicly for the first time since arriving in Beijing on Thursday. "We require that different media have the fullest access possible to report on the Olympic Games. And I'm adamant in saying there has been no deal whatsoever to accept restrictions. Our requirements are the same from host city to host city and remain unchanged since the IOC entered into a host city contract with Beijing in 2001."

Chinese officials and high-ranking IOC members have repeatedly said there would be no censorship on the Internet for accredited journalists covering the Games — even though Chinese authorities regularly block sites used by its citizens.

"I'm not going to make an apology for something that the IOC is not responsible for," Rogge said "We are not running the Internet in China. The Chinese authorities are running the Internet."

During an IOC news conference earlier yesterday, Rogge was quoted as saying "foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet."

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies suggested that Rogge, who is Belgian, may not have been precise when he spoke of "no censorship" because he was speaking in English, not his native tongue.

"There's been no change in the IOC's position," she said. "Again, I think we are trying to hang on every single word often spoken by people whose mother tongue isn't English. Let me be clear again: The IOC would like to see open access for the media to be able to do their job."

BASEBALL

U.S. BEATS CANADA, 7-2

Matthew Brown drove in four runs and Trevor Cahill threw four dominant innings to lead the United States to a 7-2 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over Canada last night at Durham, N.C.

Nate Schierholtz homered to help the Americans bounce back after losing 4-3 in 10 innings a night earlier in the opener of the friendly four-game series.

Cahill retired 12 of the 14 hitters he faced and allowed only a first-inning single to Stubby Clapp.

SWIMMING

PHELPS SEEKS 8 GOLDS

Michael Phelps is aiming to show the world something its "never seen" at the Beijing Olympics and surpass Mark Spitz's long-standing record of seven golds at a single Games.

Phelps, 23, won six golds at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and is aiming to surpass both that mark and the seven-gold effort of Spitz at the 1972 Munich Games.

"What he did was the greatest Olympic performance of all time," Phelps said yesterday from Singapore, where the U.S. team has been getting in its late training ahead of the Olympics.

"I'm looking to do something different that the sport has never seen."

Phelps will be competing in eight events at Beijing. The five individual events are the 200 meter freestyle, the 200 and 400 individual medleys and the 100 and 200 butterfly. He will also compete in all three relays: the 400 and 800 freestyle and the 400 medley.

He holds the world record in all those individual events, except the 100 butterfly, as well as in both freestyle relays.

TRACK AND FIELD

BOLT TO RUN IN 100, 200

Usain Bolt will enter the 100 and 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics, after all.

The Jamaican sprinter broke the world record in the 100 by finishing in 9.72 seconds May 31. But he had said he would leave it up to his coach, Glen Mills, to decide whether it made sense to compete in that event in addition to the 200, which had been considered Bolt's specialty.

"I can confirm that Usain will run both the 100m + 200m in Beijing," Bolt's agent, Ricky Simms, wrote in a text message to The Associated Press yesterday.