It’s not enough for Olympians to do their best on the field (or arena, or pool, or wherever it is they do their sports thing).
 

The U.S. would also like its athletes to be on their best behavior elsewhere in Beijing. However, in case the Olympians aren’t sure of the meaning of “best behavior,” the U.S. Olympic Committee spelled it out by requiring all 596 participants to attend a course before heading to China.
 

Dubbed the “ambassador program,” the etiquette school was a crash course on Chinese culture, including vocab, social customs and drinking habits. Many believe it was created as a response to previous bad-boy Olympians, notably Bode Miller. During the 2006 Winter Games in Italy, the skier generally acted more interested in getting wasted than racing.
 

Based on how the Olympics are shaping up this year, we have a few suggestions that should be added to the next installment of the Miss Manners program:
 

• Don’t lie about your age, particularly when you look like you could still be wearing Osh Kosh
• Do look cute enough so that a more attractive replacement does not have to be found
• But don’t look too cute in your skimpy outfits, because you may make the horny president look bad
• Don’t crack under the pressure (also known as the “don’t fall off the balance beam” rule)
• Do have an interesting backstory so commentators have something to talk about in between events