first appearance

Usain Bolt eases through his 200m heat at the World Championships in his first appearance since disqualification from the 100m final.

Skiing makes its first appearance at the U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix and moves one step closer to Olympic acceptance.

Queen Elizabeth II made her first appearance at Wimbledon in 33 years Thursday - much to the joy of a giddy Serena Williams, who showed off her curtsy.

The Philadelphia Phillies finally feel Pedro Martinez is ready to return to the majors. The 37-year-old right-hander makes his Phillies debut and his first appearance in almost a year Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The last time Martinez took the mound in the majors, he allowed five runs and struck out nine in six innings, but didn't receive a decision in a 7-6 win...

Five-time champion Venus Williams recovered from an early stumble in her opening match at Wimbledon on Tuesday to beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2.

It was Williams' first appearance on Centre Court since the 2008 final, when she beat sister Serena for her second Wimbledon title in a row.

The story, as told by Shawn Johnson, goes like this: She was headed to David Letterman's show Monday from Chicago when the airline reported a problem.

Apparently, the pilot had an incident when he heard Johnson was on his plane.

"I guess he just like freaked out and hit his head," Johnson said Tuesday to a crowd of thousands in her first appearance back to her hometown.

"They had to take him to the hospital for stitches."