Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings (left) and Misty May-Treanor yell after winning a record third-straight gold medal in women's beach volleyball, at the Horse Guard's Parade in London.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings have won an unprecedented Olympic three-peat in women's beach volleyball, as they defeated their fellow Americans, the team of Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, in the gold medal match.
The match lasted just 36 minutes, as May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the first and second sets by the same score: 21-16. On the final point, Ross' serve floated long, and the celebration was on. May-Treanor started dancing on the sand, and the players ran to the stands to hug their loved ones.
The Olympic Games give us the opportunity to view some sports we might not normally watch, and also hear some nations' national anthems we've never heard before. Musician David Was has been musing on some of those tunes.
Great Britain has been raking in the medals at this summer's Olympics. Researcher Nigel Balmer of University College London says that's no coincidence. Balmer and his colleagues tracked Olympic medal counts going back to World War II and found that the host country routinely experiences a spike in the number of gold, silver and bronze medals its athletes take home. Audie Cornish talks to him about why that is.
A video pays homage to the Olympic Games — and to the video games of the 1980s. It's one of many inventive videos around the web, inspired by the London Games.
It's not easy to find video of the London 2012 Olympics on the Internet — even on YouTube. And that's inspiring people to "interpret" the Summer Games for themselves. For instance, you can see puppet shows, 8-bit video, and Taiwanese animation, all related to the Olympics... or, at least sort of related.
Here are some of my favorites — feel free to put yours into the comment section below:
Weightlifter Kazuomi Ota of Japan takes a moment after failing to lift the required weight in the men's +105kg final in London. At 6 feet and 324 pounds, Ota is one of the largest Olympians.
Sure, you might spend a lot of time on your couch, as you watch the Summer Olympics. And hey, maybe you've drifted a couple pounds above your fighting weight. But there's all kinds of athletes competing in London — one of them has to be around the same size as you, right?
Now you can find that out, thanks to the BBC, whose site has an interactive chart that lets you enter your height and weight — and then tells you which two Olympic athletes you most resemble.
Originally published on Mon August 13, 2012 10:29 am
Allyson Felix has won the women's 200 meter race in London's Olympic Stadium, running a time of 21.88. Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took the silver medal at 22.09, as she wasn't able to track Felix down in the closing stretch.
The four center lanes were stacked with speed, with Jamaica's Fraser-Pryce and defending gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown in lanes 4 and 5, respectively. Just outside of them were Americans Sanya Richards-Ross and Felix, in lanes 6 and 7. And on the outside, in lane 9, was Carmelita Jeter.
Fans make some noise as they watch Olympic women's beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade in London. There seems to be little consistency in which sports require quiet from spectators.
Originally published on Wed August 8, 2012 2:25 pm
There seems to be a vague logic that dictates which Olympic sports are conducted against a backdrop of noise, and which operate in a cone of silence.
For the most part, the more a sport depends on a fine motor skill, the quieter the spectators are meant to be. Shooters squeeze triggers before mostly hushed crowds. But in many shooting disciplines, the competitors line up in a group and can shoot at any point during their time allotment. So not only is gunfire ringing in their ears, crowds often become noisy, depending on the results.
London Mayor Boris Johnson picks up a packet of Olympic branded condoms during a visit to the Olympic Village last month. Durex, the official Olympic supplier, has sent 150,000 condoms to the village. A bucket of rogue condoms has created a small controversy.
It should come as no surprise that Olympics organizers take brand endorsements and official suppliers very seriously. That extends beyond logos on shorts and shoes — up to, and including, condoms. That's right, the Olympics has an "official" condom — and organizers want to get to the bottom of how a bucket of rogue condoms reached the Olympic Village.
Russia's Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina compete in the duets free routine final during the synchronized swimming competition. The pair won the event.
Credit Olivier Morin / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. hurdler Dawn Harper competes in the women's 100m hurdles semifinals. Harper placed second in the finals.
Credit Martin Bureau / AFP/Getty Images
Russia's Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina compete in the duets free routine final during the synchronized swimming competition during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The pair won the event.
Credit Martin Bureau / AFP/Getty Images
Malaysia's Yeoh Ken Nee competes in the men's 3m springboard diving semifinals. He finished 10th in the final.
Credit Michael Regan / Getty Images
U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman competes during the artistic gymnastics women's beam final. She won bronze for the event and won gold for her performance in the floor exercise.
Credit David Eulitt / MCT/Landov
U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas falls off the balance beam during the finals. Douglas finished in seventh place.
Credit David J. Phillip / AP
Erik Kynard of the U.S. clears the bar in the men's high jump final. He finished second in the event.
Credit Christophe Simon / AFP/Getty Images
Misty May-Treanor of the U.S. celebrates at the end of the women's beach volleyball semifinal with Kerri Walsh Jennings (in the background) against China's Xue Chen and Zhang Xi.
Credit Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Ruslan Albegov of Russia reacts after completing one of his lifts during the men's 105kg weightlifting final. He finished third in the event.
Credit Marwan Naamani / AFP/Getty Images
South Korea's Kim Hyeonwoo, winner of the gold medal in the 66-kilogram Greco-Roman Wrestling event, bites his medal as he poses on the podium. He won the final despite a badly swollen eye.
Credit Olivier Morin / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. hurdler Dawn Harper competes in the women's 100-meter hurdles semifinals. She won a silver medal in the finals.
Credit Martin Bureau / AFP/Getty Images
Russia's Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina compete in the duets free routine final during the synchronized swimming competition. The pair won the event.
Credit Martin Bureau / AFP/Getty Images
Malaysia's Yeoh Ken Nee competes in the men's 3-meter springboard diving semifinals. He finished 10th in the final.
Credit Michael Regan / Getty Images
U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman took bronze during the artistic gymnastics women's beam final. She also won a gold medal for her performance in the floor exercise.
Credit David Eulitt / MCT/Landov
U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas falls off the balance beam during the individual event finals, finishing in seventh place.
Credit David J. Phillip / AP
Erik Kynard of the U.S. clears the bar in the men's high jump final. He finished second in the event.
Credit Christophe Simon / AFP/Getty Images
Misty May-Treanor of the U.S. celebrates at the end of the women's beach volleyball semifinal with Kerri Walsh Jennings (in the background) against China's Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. The U.S. team won 2-0.
Credit Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Ruslan Albegov of Russia reacts after completing one of his lifts during the men's 105-kilogram weightlifting final. He finished third in the event.
Credit Marwan Naamani / AFP/Getty Images
South Korea's Kim Hyeonwoo, winner of the gold medal in the 66kg Greco Roman Wrestling event, bites his medal as he poses on the podium. He won the final despite a badly swollen eye.
Originally published on Wed August 8, 2012 5:54 pm
Photo highlights from today's Olympic action feature women's synchronized swimming, women's gymnastics, several track and field events, and men's weightlifting.
Tom Goldman shares the latest Olympics news with Audie Cornish. In gymnastics, American Aly Raisman won two medals on Tuesday. Two British brothers also won the triathlon.
U.S. water polo players on the bench react during their semifinal match between Australia and the United States at the Water Polo Arena in London. The Americans will play for gold on Thursday.
The American women's water polo team will again chase an elusive gold medal, this time at the London Olympics. The team qualified for the gold medal match by defeating longtime Olympic rival Australia.
Tied after regular time expired, the Americans scored two goals in overtime to beat the Australian water polo women, 11-9. Now the U.S. team moves on to the gold medal match Thursday.
A cloned foal named "ET Cryozootech Stallion" stands with Hugo Simon, Austrian former Olympic rider of "princeps" (initial donor) ET. The main equestrian organization has ended its ban on clones in the Olympics
Will the London 2012 Games be remembered as the last Olympics of the pre-clone era? The answer is maybe — because the group that oversees equestrian events has given its OK to allowing cloned horses to compete in the Summer Olympics.
