There is a reason cliches become cliché. Some things people just keep repeating. Such was the case at the Orlando County Thursday night as 600 plus parents and kids packed the atrium to the point of standing room only capacity. All were there to see Olympic Gold Medalist Gabrielle Douglas, as she made her sixth stop on the “Grace, Gold, & Glory” book tour.

The book is a memoir detailing the challenges faced, and sacrifices made by Douglas on her way to becoming the first African-American female to win all around Gold at the Olympics. Reggie Smothers arrived with nine-year old daughter, Zakaria, at two o’clock, four hours before the 6pm start time, to be sure of meeting the Olympian. They were the first in line. Opposite them in a line specifically for non-library members, a mother of two had driven two hours to make sure her daughter would meet their gymnastic idol. It is a testament to both the little-publicized popularity of young gymnasts and Douglas’s own popularity that both lines snaked backward until reaching the opposite end of the library.

Douglas’s mother, Natalie Hawkins, still has not gotten used to the response to her daughter. “Right after she won, people would get out of their cars in the middle of the street to run and take a picture with her. But even at the signing in Virginia (months after her win) we had 700 people show up. 600 at the next stop. And tonight this is the strongest response it seems yet. We feel blessed.”

One can only imagine what it must feel like to see young girls and adults alike crowed into a room, and chanting your name. At one point a chant of “Gabby,” “Gabby,” “Gabby,” reverberated through the library book stacks, followed by the crowd singing Happy Birthday, after the publisher of Grace, Gold, & Glory announced Douglas’s upcoming birthday on December 31.

Douglas took it in stride, commenting more than once in her Q&A session that she felt blessed and appreciated those that she has inspired. One rather poignant question was about how Dominique Dawes had inspired Douglas. “Dominique was my inspiration when I was growing up. And after I won I saw later on television Dominique crying.”

When speaking about being the first African-American female to win the all around Gold, Douglas clearly understands the significance, saying, “I’m glad I can be an inspiration for others because I know there are not a lot of black girls in gymnastics.”

The crowd yelled loudly when city officials mentioned the historic win as Orlando County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and city Commissioner Samuel Ings each presented Douglas with keys to the city. To the credit of the crowd, and the country at large, the response from the crowd was twice as loud simply for Douglas being Douglas. Not one color or ethnic group stood out. At one point the sheer number of people made things get a little chaotic, but the young girls (and some boys) took it all in stride because they loved Douglas for being a great gymnast, and an American gold medal winner. The fact that she happens to be black is more important to the historians than her fans.

The best question of the night came from Brittany who asked: “Were you scared the first time you got on the uneven bars, cause I’m scared.”

With the brilliant smile that has become as much her signature as her tumbling skills, Gabby responded, “Yes there first time I was on them I was scared. But, I knew I could do it. And so can you. You can do it, just go out there and have fun. Don’t let fear stop you.”

That is perhaps the best lesson anyone; young or old can learn from America’s new sweet heart.

Gabby Douglas book signing – free slideshow maker with music

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If Bradley Wiggins is awarded the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award–and it would take a brave man to bet against it–then there is likely to be one name at the top of his list of acknowledgements: Chris Froome. Froome was instrumental in Wiggins’ recent success in the Tour de France and rode selflessly to help his Team Sky teammate become the first Briton to win the prestigious event, taking second place himself.

Just a week after the Tour ended, Wiggins and Froome were again in action, but this time at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The pair were unfortunately unsuccessful in their attempts to help another Team Sky rider, Mark Cavendish, to a gold in the grueling road race, but both picked up medals in the time trial event, Wiggins taking gold and Froome picking up bronze.

While Froome’s talents are anything but unknown, he has often gone under the radar, with compatriots Wiggins and Cavendish often in the limelight. The unprecedented success of the British cycling team at London 2012, including stellar performances from the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, may have created the perfect atmosphere for Froome to make the step up into cycling’s elite.

With both Cavendish and Wiggins taking some time off, the upcoming Vuelta a España, or Spanish Tour, will see Froome lead Team Sky’s charge for continued success. The mountainous tour, which begins on August 18, is highly suited to Froome’s strengths and has lead to many experts suggesting that the tour could be a two horse race, with Froome facing off against former champion Albert Contador.

Although Spaniard Contador will enjoy sizeable support from the home crowd, Froome will be confident of improving on his second place overall position at the 2011 Vuelta a España. Froome enjoys the expert tutelage of Team Sky general manager Dave Brailsford, who is also performance director for British Cycling, and is currently perhaps the most sought after coach in the cycling world. His philosophy of ‘the aggregation of marginal gains’ is the driving force behind the unparalleled success of the British team at both Beijing and London, making them the most successful track cycling team in modern history.

An impressive performance from Froome in this tour could also open the door for further success in the Tour de France. With the route of the 2013 Tour likely to be far more mountainous than the 2012 route, it would not be surprising if Team Sky threw their weight behind Froome, asking Wiggins to ride in more of a support role as Froome did in 2012. This of course is only speculation at this point, but a strong showing at the Vuelta a España will help push Team Sky’s hand.

It is important to remember that Froome is just 27 years of age, relatively young in cycling terms, and to win his first grand tour at this age would be a tremendous accolade for the Kenyan-born rider. While there is quite some time till the Vuelta a España finishes on September 9 in Madrid, things are looking good for Froome. He has all the attributes required to become one of the superstars of British, if not world cycling, and a victory here could be just what’s needed to propel him to the next level.

Image Courtesy of   Yoann MORIN / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. – It’s been quite an exciting summer so far in Britain as the London 2012 Olympic Games have just come to a close. VisitBritain, the national tourism agency for England, Scotland and Wales, takes a look back at some of the most memorable and unforgettable golden moments.

The London 2012 Olympics opened with a bang as Queen Elizabeth became the newest Bond Girl and parachuted her way into Olympic Stadium for an unforgettable entrance. This year is the 50th anniversary of first Bond film, which began with Sean Connery in Dr No. The Barbican Centre is celebrating with an exhibition Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style and Beaulieu is celebrating with Bond In Motion, the largest exhibit of Bond vehicles ever staged. The newest Bond Girl wasn’t the only member of the British Royal Family that took part in and supported the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Fab Five won the hearts of America as they took gold, so what better way for these women to celebrate than with a girlfriend getaway fit for champions. These women may now being carrying their own gold, but they won’t want to miss the special Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration exhibition at Buckingham Palace that showcases diamonds worn by British monarchs over the past 200 years.

No girlfriend getaway is complete without shopping and London is a shopper’s paradise offering a wide variety of choice from East London’s Spitalfields and Sunday Upmarket to trendy stores like Topshop. Every fashion loving girl will want to have quintessential afternoon tea, but with a fashionista twist. Prêt-à-Portea at The Berkley London serves a fashion-inspired afternoon tea that changes every six months to following the latest fashion trends.

Team USA’s women’s soccer team is taking home the gold for the third straight summer Olympic Games and the women’s 4x100m relay team shattered the previous world record winning the first gold medal in 16 years, so these winning women certainly have reason to celebrate. After kicking the ball across Britainfrom Glasgow to Manchester to Newcastle Gateshead, the soccer women finally won the gold in London where the track stars also flew past their competition. Now it’s certainly time to party like champions.

There’s no better way for Michael Phelps to celebrate becoming the most decorated Olympic medalist than taking his girlfriend on a romantic vacation. The Royal Scotsman offers guests the opportunity to see the beautiful Scottish countryside in a luxurious setting. Trains depart from Edinburgh and make their way around the Scottish Highlands adding a bit of old world travel to a very romantic setting.

Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee have officially been named the greatest athletes in the world having won gold and silver, respectively, in the decathalon, so now there’s no better way to celebrate being the best in a 10-event competition than experiencing the top 10 great British experiences in the UK.

Britain delivered its own golden moments as the host nation from the Olympic Stadium to cities across the UK hosting competitions and celebrations. With the mini remote-controlled MINIs retrieving the discusses and javelins bringing a bit of fun to the track and field competitions, visitors can have their own MINI fun when visiting London. Small Car, Big City offers visitors guided tours in true MINI style covering all the favorite sights including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and more.

Fans from around the world watched as Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh bumped, set and spiked their way to their third gold medal on a beach with a truly unique and iconic British background. The temporary beach is built on Horse Guards Parade, which is right in front of the Prime Minister’s doorstep in London.  This is also the location of the Trooping the Colour event that takes place each year on the Queen’s official birthday.

Visitors from around the world took notice as the iconic Royal Mail red mailboxes started popping up goldas a new one was painted each time a Team GB athlete won a gold medal. Visitors who haven’t seen one in person yet still has a chance as the boxes will continue through the London 2012 Paralympic Games in honor of the Team GB champions. The Royal Mail is also honoring Team GB champions by creating a personalized Royal Mail stamp for each champion.

The Closing Ceremony ended the 17 day event in true British spirit. From British fashion to the best of British music including the reuniting of the Spice Girls the entire night rocked. It’s not too late to check out one of Britain’s many music festivals.

The Olympic Games may have concluded, but that doesn’t mean the 2012 fun and competition is over just yet. There are sure to be plenty more golden moments as the London 2012 Paralympic Games commence with the Opening Ceremony on August 29 and the London 2012 Festival has plenty more opportunities for visitors to take part in through September 9.

For more information and ideas for visiting Britain, please visit www.visitbritain.com.

Image Courtesy of  Diego Barbieri / Shutterstock.com

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. — Luminys Systems Corp. proudly supported the 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska with the company’s proprietary SoftSun lights. Luminys provides the world’s most powerful and controllable single source lights for sporting venues, concert arenas, and film and television production, as well as other commercial and industrial applications.

JustLighting of LasVegas, Nevada, renowned event lighting designers, once again teamed up with Luminys for the Olympic Swimming Team Trials.

“With the use of just four 50K SoftSuns, JustLighting was able to deliver incomparable depth of field and stunningly brilliant color renderings to the NBC Sports HD national broadcast,” said Steve Heller of Attitude Specialty Lighting who worked with JustLighting as the exclusive Luminys agent in the Southeast. “The NBC production team was very impressed with the quality of light provided by the 50K’s for their slow motion replays,” Heller added.

Luminys previously supplied SoftSuns for JustLighting’s lighting design of Dolphin Stadium for Super Bowl XLI, among other events.

JustLighting installed four SoftSun 50,000 Watt models within the CenturyLink Center facility for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials. Viewers saw the amazing difference in the resulting picture quality in broadcast and photography taken during the Olympic Swimming trials.

“The superior color quality of the SoftSun lights delivered an enhanced high definition experience captured on camera,” said David Pringle, Chief Technology Officer of Luminys. “Being able to showcase these talented athletes in a highly anticipated and photographed event leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London was a great opportunity to demonstrate the performance that SoftSun delivers.”

Image Courtesy of  US Olympic Team

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London, England — The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, cautions against complacency when it comes to securing the lasting legacy of the London Games. Following a hugely successful Games for Team GB, it is important that the determination required for sporting success is deployed to ensure that London 2012 is remembered as one of the most ambitious and successful sustainable regeneration projects too.

Shaun McCarthy, Chair, Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, said: “I have always seen London 2012 as a sustainable regeneration project interrupted by a few weeks of sport! There is no doubt that East London has exploded on to the world stage as a place to visit, live and work. However, much is still to be done. It is important that the London Legacy Development Corporation works to ensure the positive momentum gathered from the Games is not lost.”

According to the Commission, the work done to build a community after the Games is a notable achievement. The Olympic Village is set to deliver 2,700 homes; the operations centre will become a school; and the athletes’ polyclinic will become a modern GP clinic. This represents a major contribution to London’s housing shortage.

Jobs are key to legacy. The Commission was impressed by the contribution of the Games during the construction phase as 7,438 jobs came from the five host boroughs. Whilst figures for LOCOG are less clear, it is estimated that 6,000 people have been recruited through their local job brokerage scheme. Nonetheless, the Commission believes that local jobs are important and it encourages the legacy company to actively focus on jobs as much as the ODA and LOCOG have.

The next legacy challenge is promoting healthier lifestyles based on sport. The Commission believes getting more people active takes investment at a community level and a clear plan. Currently no such plan currently exists outside London. Supporting community and school sport will also give a chance for budding young athletes to become the sporting stars of the future.

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012: The aim of the Commission is to provide independent assurance and commentary to enable the sustainability objectives of the London 2012 programme to be achieved and to support a sustainable legacy. The Commission tracks all the recommendations made here: http://www.cslondon.org/recommendations

Image Courtesy of  karnizz / Shutterstock.com

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Iran is forever in the news, whether for its bold statements on the West or its tête-à-tête with Israel. By courtesy of the Iranian Olympians, Iran is in the news for positive reasons right now. One should put aside the pre-Olympics hype over whether Iranian Olympians will face their arch rivals from Israel or not and focus on the contributions their athletes made to the spirit of the 2012 Olympics.

The country current ranks at 12th place in the Olympic table with a total of eight medals: four golds, three silvers, and one bronze. To celebrate their country’s accolades in Olympics, Iranians took to social networking sites to express their joy. One could argue that this Olympics has indeed exposed a rare side of Iran to the global audience.

Iran has participated in the Olympics since the 1948 London Games. This year, 45 men and eight women are participating from Iran in the London 2012 Olympics. However, this is the first time that Iran has won medals in athletic categories and their first-ever gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. Twenty-five-year-old Neda Shahsavari also made a history by becoming the first Iranian woman to qualify for women’s table tennis. Tuesday, August 7, was especially jubilant for Iranians as their Olympians won two gold and two silver medals.

Twenty-two-year-old Behdad Salimikordasiabi was bestowed with the title of strongest man after winning the gold medal on Tuesday in the 105kg weightlifting competition. Salimi said in a statement, “In Iran I know they’re all partying in the street already.” Salimikordasiabi’s final competitor was Russia’s European champion Ruslan Albegov, who lost by 1kg, allowing Salimikordasiabi’s lift of 455kg to become the champion. On his winning Salimikordasiabi told the media, “I’m very happy, I worked very hard for this and had a very hard schedule.”

Fellow Iranian 28-year-old Sajjad Anoushiravani took the bronze medal, with the silver going to Albegov. Anoushiravani said, “I’d have liked to be first but I’m happy with what I’ve got. God forbid if one day he is not able to compete, I will carry Iran’s flag for him. But the most important thing is that we both competed and both won a medal.”

In men’s athletics, Ehsan Hadadi won Iran’s first ever silver medal with a 68.18m discus throw on Tuesday with Kianoush Rostami winning Iran a bronze medal on August 3 in the men’s 85kg weightlifting.

Hamid Soryan, a 26-year-old wrestler from Tehran, won Iran’s first gold medal in 40 years in  the 55kg Greco-Roman wrestling on August 5 after defeating Azerbaijan’s Rovshan Bayramov 2-0 in the final. Another celebrated winner is defending world champion Omid Noroozi in men’s 60kg Greco-Roman wrestling, who defeated Georgia’s Revaz Lashkhi 1-0, 1-0 to give Iran its second gold medal.

Ghasem Rezai in men’s 96kg Greco-Roman wrestling gave Iran its third gold medal in many days by beating Russia’s Rustam Totrov 2-0, 1-0 on Tuesday. Rezai said in a statement, “I am very happy because I have made my people very proud. To see all the Iranians inside the stadium and back home, to bring smiles to their faces is the happiest moment of my life.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated the Iranian Olympians on Sunday, “I hereby congratulate the Iranian wrestlers, athletes and nation on Iran’s first gold medal at the London Olympics won by young and brave Greco-Roman wrestler Hamid Sourian. I pray to God for more victories by Iranian athletes in the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

Image Courtesy of  Boris Pamikov / Shutterstock.com

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Seattle, U.S.A. — After qualifying Wednesday for this weekend’s final in the men’s 5,000 meters, former Sudan Lost Boy Lopez Lomong is ready to use his Olympic fame to help kids back home in Africa. After Saturday’s final, Lopez will focus on a partnership with international Christian charity World Vision, including a trip, tentatively planned for early next year to Kenya and South Sudan to help children living in poverty.

The trip is part of long-term partnership between Lomong’s non-profit, 4 South Sudan and Team World Vision, a program sponsored by World Vision. Lomong hopes to help raise $500,000 to provide access to clean water, health care, education and nutrition.

According to the latest United Nations (UNHCR) estimates, there are more than 660,000 displaced South Sudanese as fighting rages between Sudan and its neighbor, South Sudan. Malaria and diarrhea run rampant in the overcrowded refugee camps. Nearly three children die of preventable illnesses in the camps every day.

At the age of six, Lopez was kidnapped from his Southern Sudan village and held captive as he was being prepped as a child soldier. Too small to undergo training, his fate would most likely have been starvation. But after three weeks, he managed to escape with the help of three other captives. After running three days and nights, they were captured by Kenyan troops and brought to a refugee camp where Lopez lived for 10 years.

He was supported by a U.S. family and brought to this country where he soon discovered he was the fastest kid in school. At track meets he then discovered he was the fastest in the state. Soon he would become one of the fastest in the nation. In 2008, Lomong qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the men’s 1,500 meters. He was voted by his teammates as the flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies.

Lomong has a new book entitled “Running For My Life” (Thomas Nelson Publisher) http://www.thomasnelson.com/running-for-my-life.html

For more info: 4South Sudan : http://lopezlomong.com/foundation/

Team World Vision: http://support.worldvision.org/site/TR?px=1209501&fr_id=1790&pg=personal

Image Courtesy of   Maxisport / Shutterstock.com

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London, England — A massive audience of 6.2 million Canadians watched the world’s fastest runner win gold in the men’s 100m final Sunday, powering Day 9 (August 5) to be the most-watched day yet for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium at London 2012.

With an average of nearly 5 million viewers watching from 4:52 – 5:03 p.m. ET on CTV alone, Usain Bolt’s winning race is in line with the record-setting Top 10 (non-hockey) events from Vancouver 2010. Day 9 (Sunday, August 5) becomes the most-watched yet at London 2012 with 2.5 million viewers watching on average over 22 hours of coverage.

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium confirms that audiences for London 2012 continue to out-run Beijing 2008, with viewing increasing by an impressive 87% during Days 7-9. An average of 2.3 millionviewers tuned in throughout the consortium’s 22 hours of daily coverage from Aug. 3-5, including an average audience of 2.9 million viewers in prime time.

Additionally, a whopping 3.6 million viewers tuned into OLYMPIC DAYTIME during Days 7-9, with 4.3 million viewers tuning in to Sunday’s daytime broadcast alone. On CTV, the tape-delayed prime time coverage averaged 2 million viewers, up 43% over CBC’s prime time live/tape-delayed coverage of Beijing 2008 (1.4 million) for the same time period.

From the start of the 2012 Games to date, an incredible 30.5 million Canadians – or 90.7% of the population – has watched some coverage on Consortium channels. Additionally, London 2012 continues to be a wide-reaching event with 92% of all women, 91% of all men and 87% of all children experiencing some part of the 2012 Games on television.

In addition to the men’s athletics 100m final, the top events of London 2012 on the Consortium networks all took place over the weekend. On Canada’s golden Saturday, an average of 2.1 million viewers tuned in as Rosie MacLennan won Canada’s first gold medal of the 2012 Games during the women’s trampoline final.

The men’s 1500m freestyle swimming final averaged 2.8 million viewers as Canada’s Ryan Cochranewon a silver medal, while the women’s team pursuit cycling averaged 2.2 million as Canada won bronze. Additionally, Michael Phelps’ last Olympic race, the men’s 4x100m medley relay, garnered an average audience of more than 2.9 million on Saturday.

Meanwhile, despite only two days of coverage, athletics (16.3 million) is now a close second to swimming (18.6 million) in terms of most-watched sports by unique viewers.

Additional Highlights for Days 7-9:

• Sunday’s men’s athletics 100m final is the top event on both CTV (4.9 million) and V (854,000) of the 2012 Games to date
• TSN achieved its highest audience of the 2012 Games to date on Friday with the Canada/Great Britain women’s soccer quarter-final averaging 841,000 viewers and reaching 2.7 million viewers
• Sportsnet achieved three of its Top 5 most-watched events of the 2012 Games on Days 7-9, led by the women’s athletics 100m semifinal on Saturday with 417,000 viewers
• RDS had four of its Top 5 events of the 2012 Games on Sunday including the women’s 3m springboard final (446,000) and men’s athletics 100m final (426,000)

As Canadians left work for the long weekend, they stayed with Consortium digital coverage of London2012 as Days 7-9 brought 4.3 million video views, 20% higher than the same three days during Vancouver2010. By the end of Day 9, total page views to CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca, and the CTV Olympics London 2012 and RDS olympiques pour Londres 2012 Apps reached 129 million views, pacing 17% higher than Vancouver 2010.

The mobile story continues, as Saturday and Sunday saw the highest days of mobile traffic to digital platforms with almost 70% of digital traffic coming through mobile devices.

Image Courtesy of  José Goulão

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Oxford, England — With the Games well under way this summer, businesses have been given a unique opportunity to evaluate the way they communicate internally and externally in the face of challenging outside influences. It has been reported that some of the busiest commercial districts in London have been unrecognisable during the last week – not because of increased footfall but because they are so much quieter than usual.

This is down to an improvement in the way companies in the capital have dealt with important communications in adverse conditions – such as the hosting of a major international sporting event. A large number of businesses trading in the capital have made full use of the technology supplied by telecommunications experts like MeetingZone Ltd.

In the run-up to the Games inquiries came flooding in to meetingzone.com from companies eager to assess how their in-house communications systems could be enhanced using cutting edge technology in preparation for a testing time in the capital. The solutions supplied have enabled many businesses to keep operating at the optimum level in spite of the forecast difficulties many have had to face in terms of travel and logistics.

Improved communications in the form of web conferences and telephone conference calls make it possible to gather a team in order to solve problems, meet with partners, clients and suppliers and discuss strategies, even when external conditions make it very difficult for businesses to succeed in this capacity, especially when they are limited to less up-to-date modes of communication.

How well businesses have dealt with the unique conditions supplied by London’s hosting of the Games is likely to determine how they move forward with their own communications strategies in the future.

In order to deliver solutions to more businesses in need of advice in the field of communications, Meeting Zone has teamed up with Cheshire SEO agency Just Search – the aim being to enhance the online presence of the company so that more enterprises can make use of their individually-tailored packages and services.

Image Courtesy of   Bikeworldtravel / Shutterstock.com

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Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov won a gold medal on August 7, but had to struggle with an untimely issue. The 26-year-old lost his uniform t-shirt between his third and fourth jumps, and had to use the one of his compatriot and 2008 Olympic champion, Andre Silnov. He then pinned his number to the shirt and successfully cleared the 2.33 meter.

“I had put it in my bag as I always do after each attempt but it disappeared. Someone might have stolen it,” he told the Russian media on Wednesday.

Although he was afraid of being disqualified, pressure was not an impediment for Ukhov to win. He accomplished the gold medal with a leap of 2.38 meters. “I was afraid I could be disqualified for not wearing a proper uniform but in the end it turned out just fine. It was symbolic that I won gold in Silnov’s shirt. I guess Andrei being the 2008 champion just passed me the good luck,” Ukhov said.

The Russian is very grateful to his compatriot, who could not get a medal, and also to judges, who waited for him to find a replacement uniform.

America’s Erik Kynard took silver with a 2.33 jump, and Britain’s Robbie Grabarz won the bronze. He later tweeted: “I don’t have Ukhov’s shirt, but I do have an Olympic bronze!”

It’s not the first time Ukhov has drawn attention to himself with his misadventures. In 2008, he was drunk when competing at a Laussane event.

The gold has now given Ukhov the redemption that he was looking for, after he was called out with a strong warning from the IAAF for the incident.

This has not been the first time an athlete has found clothes to have disappeared during the London Olympics. British cyclist Bradley Wiggins had his shorts stolen while he was using the shower, following his gold-medal performance in the men’s time trial race last week.

Image Courtesy of Erik van Leeuwen, attribution: Erik van Leeuwen (bron: Wikipedia). (http://www.erki.nl/pics/main.php?g2_itemId=33703) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Seven athletes from the Cameroon delegation at the 2012 London Olympics have left the Olympic village without official permission, confirmed the Ministry of Sport and Physical Education in the African country. Five boxers, a swimmer and a soccer player are the athletes who have disappeared from the concentration, presumably for economic reasons.

“What began as rumour has finally turned out to be true. Seven Cameroonian athletes who participated at the 2012 London Olympic Games have disappeared from the Olympic village,” wrote David Ojong, the manager of the Cameroon delegation, in a message for the Ministry of Sport and Physical Education in Cameroon.

He said the Cameroon delegation consisted originally of 59 people, but 28 already have returned home, 24 remain in London and seven are missing.

Ojong explained that Drusille Ngako, a reserve goalkeeper from the Olympic football woman team, was the first to disappear. Ngako did not finally make it for the group of selected 18 players to compete in the Olympic competition. While her teammates moved from Scotland to Coventry to continue the preparation, Ngako did not accompany the group and no one ever heard from her.

A few days later it was swimmer, Paul Ekane Edingue’s turn. Also, five boxers, Thomas Essomba, Christian Donfack Adjoufack, Abdon Mewoli, and Serge Blaise Mendouo Yepmou Ambomo, were absent from the village on Sunday.

Representatives of the International Olympic Committee said today that they knew nothing about it. “We are not aware of it,” said spokesman Mark Adams.

It is not the first time Cameroonian athletes have disappeared during international sports competitions. At past Francophonie and Commonwealth games as well as junior soccer competitions, several Cameroonians have quit their delegation without official consent.

Image Courtesy of   Denis Kuvaev / Shutterstock.com

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The U.S. women’s soccer team has done it again and fulfilled all the predictions: they beat Canada in the semifinals in the “Theater of Dreams” from Manchester and will fight for the gold medal in the final game against Japan.

The finalist was not decided until the last minute of extra time. During the 90 minutes, Canada went ahead on the scoreboard three different times, but the Americans managed to tie the game every time Canada scored.

The first Canadian advantage came with Christine Sinclair, who made the first goal of the night. In the second half, the Americans managed a draw thanks to Megan Rapinoe.

However, Sinclair again put his team ahead three minutes before Rapinoe drilled on goal again. In their particular duel to become the best player in the game, Sinclair scored a hat-trick, but when the game seemed already over, Abby Wambach tied it in the 80th minute with a penalty kick.

With the score at 3-3, the semi-final went to over time and it was not until the second part of the extension in the third minute of injury time, when Alex Morgan put the U.S. into the final, avoiding penalties with an agonizing goal.

Canadians have complained that the fourth goal came when the game should have been over. They have also showed their disagreement with the American’s third goal, which came after a penalty preceded by an indirect free kick that was indicated when Canadian goalkeeper, Erin McLeod, was called for time wasting, something that is rarely whistled.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed and upset. We felt that the referee took it away from us, so, yes, we are disappointed,” Canada captain Sinclair said. “We feel like we didn’t lose, we feel like it was taken from us. It’s a shame in a game like that, which is so important, that the ref decided the result before the game started.”

Canadian coach John Herdman also showed his anger: “It felt like it was America and the referee against us.”

On the other hand, American players refused to talk about the polemic, as they were celebrating going into the final. “I’m still in shock,” Morgan told NBC following the game. “I was saying the whole time, ‘I don’t care who scores as long as we freaking score, as long as we win. I just got my head on it in the end and I didn’t see it go on.”

“Even when they scored their third goal, there was something in me that knew that we had more, that we could give more,” Wambach said. “I don’t know what that means, quite honestly. I don’t know if it’s just confidence until the end, but this team has a belief in itself, even when the going gets rough.”

Now the final against Japan is on the horizon, and will take place on Thursday at London’s Wembley Stadium. Americans will have the chance to seek revenge against the Japanese, who defeated them in last year’s World Cup final. American Morgan has not forgotten about this game: “We wanted the rematch with Japan, and we got it.”

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London, England — Simon Fuller managed Andy Murray wins epic victory against Roger Federer in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Andy Murray joined the ranks of the Olympic gold medal winners after securing an emphatic victory over Roger Federer in the Olympic Men’s Singles final at Wimbledon. He became the first British man to win Olympic gold in the tennis since Josiah Ritchie in 1908.

Murray’s victory was secured after one hour and 56 minutes in front of a packed Centre Court and a global TV audience of many millions:

“It’s number one for me. The biggest win of my life,” Andy Murray said after the game. “I have had a lot of tough losses in my career and this is the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final.”

After beating Djokovic in the semi-final, Murray was full of confidence going into Sunday’s final. He saved two break points in the opening game and then went on to dominate the first set before breaking serve in the sixth game, and taking the set 6-2. This comprehensive display set the tone for the rest of the match, with Murray racing into a 3-0 lead in the second set despite saving six break points in the third game, going on to a 6-1 second set victory. Although the final set was closer, finishing at 6-4, Murray always looked likely to win Team GB’s 16th gold medal at the summer games.

Simon Fuller Andy Murray’s manager, said after the game, “What an incredible day for Andy, not only for winning an Olympic Gold, but for winning here at Wimbledon during London 2012 in front of his home fans. This is a justified reward for all his hard work and devotion. Andy is an exemplary sportsman and an inspiration for a young British sporting generation. I am proud to be associated with him at this special moment and certain that this will be the first of many more great victories.”

Shortly after the game Andy Murray competed in the Final of the Mixed Doubles with his partner Laura Robson, winning a silver medal.

Image Courtesy of  Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

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During the past days we have heard of athletes being expelled for unruly behavior. Up until now, there were no Americans involved in the controversies surrounding this year’s Olympics, but unfortunately the time has come for an American athlete to join the unflattering ranks. Judoka Nick Delpopolo has been expelled from the Olympics for failing a drug test where he tested positive for marijuana.

Test results showed that Delpopolo had cannabis metabolites within his body the day he competed (July 30).

Delpopolo has defended himself saying that he unintentionally ate something before the Games that had marijuana baked into it: “My positive test was caused by my inadvertent consumption of food that I did not realize had been baked with marijuana, before I left for the Olympic Games.”

The American Judoka competed in the 73-kilogram class where he ended up in the seventh position, which gave him an Olympic diploma. However, according to information on the official International Olympics website, Delpopolo’s diploma from the event has been withdrawn.

The athlete has shown remorse for his behavior, despite assuring that he did not know that he was eating a banned substance: “I apologize to U.S. Olympic Committee, to my teammates, and to my fans, and I am embarrassed by this mistake,” he said in a statement released by the USOC. “I look forward to representing my country in the future, and will rededicate myself to being the best judo athlete that I can be.”

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky made clear that athletes have to face the consequences of with their actions: “The IOC is absolutely committed to clean competition and stringent anti-doping penalties. Any positive test, for any banned substance, comes with the appropriate consequences and we absolutely support the disqualification.”

Delpopolo’s doping positive is the fifth case of use of an illegal substance since the International Olympic committee started making the tests. However, the other four athletes were caught before competition started.

Therefore, Delpopolo is the first athlete to be expelled during competition for using drugs. He joins the list of athletes who have been forced to leave London for their behavior: Greek Voula Papachristou and Swiss Morganella were sent home for inappropriate social media use, Australian rower Josh Booth was expelled for damaging a storefront while drunk, and 8 badminton players were kicked out for trying to lose their game on purpose.

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London Olympics will be remembered for the great 100-meter race that paralyzed the entire world for less than ten seconds. Seven athletes achieved the finish line within less that ten second, on a wonderful night of athletics at the Stratford stadium.

Usain Bolt is since last night, August 5, on every front page throughout the world. The reason is that the Jamaican has won his second consecutive Olympic title in 100 meters with the second best record in the history (9.63), just five hundredths of his world record.

Bolt has become the second athlete (after Carl Lewis in 1984 and 88) who doubles the title win at 100 meters, something that Jesse Owens was unable to undertake.

Only Asafa Powell injured mid-career, reached over the goal of 11 seconds. Yohan Blake (9.75), Justin Gatlin (9.79) and Ryan Bailey (9.88) achieved personal bests and Tyson Gay (9.80), his best mark of the season. Therefore, silver went to Bolt’s countryman Yohan Blake, and the bronze went to Gatlin, who saved the honor for american fans.

Churandy Martina (9.94) and Richard Thompson (9.98) also completed a dream career by doing the 100 meters in less than 10 seconds.

The 9.63 record man, Usain Bolt was specially happy for this victory after having to listen to a lot of criticism in the past two years: “Means a lot, because a lot of people were doubting me. A lot of people were saying I wasn’t going to win, I didn’t look good. There was a lot of talk,” Bolt said. “It’s an even greater feeling to come out here and defend my title and show the world I’m still No. 1.”

Next challenge for Bolt will be the 200 meters race, where he will have another chance at making history.

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Questions about the ethical behavior of some Olympians have arisen since the admittance of a apparent deliberate crash by British track cycling gold medalist Philip Hindes, whose case is now becoming a controversy though no formal investigation is being done.

Hindes said his crash obeyed a team strategy. He explained “if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart.” The incident took place during the sprint team final. The controversy rose when Hindes added “I just crashed; I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.”

But after the heat of the race at the official conference, he modified his comments saying he lost control of his bike. The competition was a three-lap race against the French team; after Hindes crashed, the race was restarted and at the end the British team won the race.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams explained that the International Cycling Union said the win was not in question and that he agreed with their decision.

French officials have not formally complained about the British tactics. Mark Adams added that the International Cycling Union knows about the situation, but do not see any reason to question the results.

This is merely one of the controversies to hit the London Olympics and unfortunately not the worse of its kind. When Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean badminton teams were expelled from the Olympics, they were deliberately trying to lose their game in order to avoid a strong opponent in the knockout stages. The scandalous scenes brought on the issue of speculation in playing strategy. Mark Adams claims the British situation was different because the fans “were not deprived of a competition.”

The French team’s technical director, Isabelle Gautheron, told the Associated Press that “you have to make the most of the rules. You have to play with them in a competition and no one should complain about that,” but Gatheron said she doubted her riders would have done the same thing. She criticized Hindes, saying that he was already prepared for the crash possibility and executed it after his poor start in the race to have a chance to restart it.

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Andy Murray stunned Roger Federer to win the Olympic gold medal at Wimbledon yesterday just 28 days after a gut-wrenching defeat saw the Brit in tears on centre court.

Murray did not drop a set, beating the world number one 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, in a one-sided encounter which showed the world Murray is capable of beating the big guns on the big occasions.

It was revenge for the Scot who lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss just a month earlier on the same court.

“It’s number one for me – the biggest win of my life,” said Murray., who took inspiration from team GB’s performance on the athletics field on Saturday night.

“I have had a lot of tough losses in my career and this is the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final.”

Murray had  beaten world number two Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the semi-final and looks to be in imperious form entering the American hard-court season.

Many believe this could be the boost the Brit needs to win his first grand slam.

He will now prepare for the final major of the year – the US Open – and will enter with renewed confidence.

“I hope this will give me the confidence to go there and believe in myself a bit more than I have in the past,” said Murray, whose straight sets victory on Sunday was his first in five sets over Federer.

“Hopefully I can have a good run and give myself a shot at winning.

“I’ve had a lot of questions asked about me many times. I’m just glad I managed to put on a performance I’ve been waiting for.

“It was a huge match for me. It was a big match for Roger as well. I’m sure he would have wanted to win the gold – it’s one of the few things he hasn’t done in his singles career.

“To win today, in the way I did, makes those losses a little bit easier to take. It will help with the way I go into the [Grand Slam] matches and I hope it will make me a better player.”

Murray went on to claim a silver medal in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson. They lost in the championship tiebreak to number one seeds Victoria Azerenka and Max Mirnyi.

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Serena Williams demolished Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 en route to winning the Olympic gold medal and securing a career golden slam.

Williams stamped her authority on the competition from the outset and lost just 17 games through the course of the competition. The impressive gold medal match victory leaves her on a 17 match-winning streak since her shocking first round exit at the French Open.

The 63 minute final saw the American drop just one game against Sharapova, and was the most comprehensive Olympic women’s single win.

She joins Germany’s Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi of the United States and Spain’s Rafael Nadal as the only players to have won all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold in singles.

“Oh my gosh, I got the gold. I’ve never played better. Playing against someone like Maria you have to be at your best. I knew that, so it was like I had nothing to lose,” said Williams.

“I never expected gold in singles. I was so happy with my doubles golds [in Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008].

“I thought, ‘If my career’s over I have my gold medal and now I have everything.’

“I have singles, doubles, actually everything there is to win in tennis. Where do I go from here?”

Silver medal winner, Sharapova said: ”Serena played some incredible tennis, with the form she was in during Wimbledon and afterwards.

“With every match she has played she has played great, she has improved and become better, and that showed today.”

Williams teamed up with sister Venus to win the doubles gold medal in a similar fashion, with the pair not dropping a set in the concurrent competition.

She hopes to continue her form into the final part of the season as she attempts to win her 15^th grand slam singles title at the US Open in a few weeks time.

In the bronze medal match, Victoria Azerenka beat Maria Kirilenko to secure her first Olympic medal.

Azerenka went on to win the mixed gold with partner Max Mirnyi leaving her and Williams with two medals each.

Image Courtesy of   Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

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A historic moment has happened in the London Olympics. For the first time in history, Saudi Arabia has sent a women to the games. Wojdan Shaherkani, one of the two women sent, has already made her debut in Judo wearing a modified hijab.

Wojdan Shaherkani is only 16 years old; she competed against Melissa Mojica, a 28-year-old Puerto Rican ranked 13^th in the world, so the fight only lasted one minute 22 seconds. Mojica quickly did a technique called a side-drop, in which she made Shaherkani hit the mat, so a knockout was determined by the judges. But the result of the fight was the less important thing; Shaherkani had already made history.

Wojdan Shaherkani in Judo and Sarah Attar, an 800-meter runner, are the only women the Saudi Arabian delegation has sent to the Olympics. This was not an easy decision for some of the country leaders. Along with Brunei and Qatar, Saudi Arabia had never sent a women to the Olympics. But now in London things are different, Brunei and Qatar have also sent women in their delegations; Qatar has sent four female athletes and Brunei has also sent their first female Olympian.

The decision to send women to the Olympics was taken at the last moment; the different leaders had a very intense internal debate. External pressure also contributed to the final decision.

One of the latest controversies was if Wojdan Shaherkani would be able to fight wearing a hijab. This was not an easy topic because Judo has a very strict dressing code. But in the end Saudi Arabia and international Judo federations agreed to let her compete with a modified hijab, so her debut was possible even with much negative pressure from her country. Hard-liners said she was dishonoring herself fighting in front of men.

Shaherkani, after the fight, said “I’m excited and proud to be representing my country,” although she was disappointed for her loss she is sure she will do it better in the future. We must consider that Shaherkani is only a blue belt in Judo that has been trained by her father for two years and she faced one of the most experienced Judo fighters in the Olympics.

The president of the Saudi Arabia Judo and Taekwondo Federation, Hani Kamal Najm, is very proud of her participation in the Olympics and said that “certainly it’s a good start, and hopefully it will progress from here onward.”

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If we talked in past days about athletes being careless with social media use, the irresponsibility news of the day would be related to alcohol abuse. The rower Josh Booth from Australia was detained by police for causing damage to a storefront. Apparently he smashed two windows, severely damaging them.

Josh Booth, age-21, was debuting in London in the Olympic Games, and was apparently under the influence of alcohol during the incident. The incident took place a few hours after he disputed the men’s eight on rowing, where his team ended up in the last position.

Nick Green, head of the Australian delegation and former Olympic rowing champion, said to the press that police contacted him by telephone at 3.30 AM to notify him of the arrest of one of their athletes.

According to Green, the rower, collapsed in the police station where he was interrogated, hitting his head, and had to be taken to a hospital. The Australian athlete was subsequently released without charge. However, Booth will have to go back to the police station: “No charges have been laid but he has to go back to the police station tomorrow (Friday) where the police will investigate the matter,” said Nick Green.

Australian team leader added that they will make a decision on possible disciplinary action to punish Booth for his actions.

This has not been the first incident related to alcohol in this Olympics. South Korean sailing coach Lee Jae-cheol was sent home last week from the London Games after being caught by police drunk driving on his way back to the athletes’ village.

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Keyla Harrison has made history by becoming the first American judo woman athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. The Ohio athlete got the gold on Thursday, August 2 in the 172-pound women final by blocking Brit Gemma Gibbons. The bronze was won by French Audrey Tcheumeo and Brazilian Marya Aguiar.

The final match lasted five minutes, and Harrison dominated from the start. The U.S. judoka age-22 won by throwing Gibbons twice with two separate yuko scores. The first point came when the clock was pointing minute one, while the second point took place when only one minute was remaining.

Journey to gold has not been easy for Harrison. In the first game she beat Vera Moskalyuk from Russia in just 56 seconds. On quarterfinals she had to play Abigel Joo of Hungary who was beat in 3:10. In the semifinals Harrison had to play world number 1 Mary Aguiar, who was defeated with an arm lock when 14 seconds were remaining for the end.

This has been the second American medal in the judo category during this Olympics. The first one came with Marti Malloy, who won a bronze in the women 57-kilogram category. Judo is a sport that has recently started producing results for the United States in women’s category, since the first medal was achieved in 2008 (Ronda Rousey, bronze.)

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Hod Hasharon, Israel — Allot Communications, a leading provider of service optimization and revenue generation solutions for fixed and mobile data networks worldwide, have announced a new Allot Olympics Report tracking broadband traffic volumes and usage patterns during the 2012 Olympics in London.

Traffic statistics were collected from mobile and fixed networks around the globe, starting with the opening ceremony on Friday evening, July 27th, and continue throughout the games. Allot began monitoring global traffic weeks before the event to establish a usage baseline.

Results and analysis of broadband usage are posted in an Olympic Online Edition of Allot MobileTrends Report at http://www.allotmobiletrends.com. To mark the event, Allot released a special edition of protocol signatures with unique support for identifying traffic directly related to popular sources of online sports coverage such as ESPN, CNTV (China) and BBC Sports.

Key findings in the Online Report include:

• Instant Messaging increased 182% on average during the opening ceremony; WhatsApp was out front with a massive 430% increase
• Online video increased and peaked at 217% during the first official day of competition, with dedicated sites such as ESPN, BBC Sports and CNTV leading the pack
• Facebook traffic posted an 87% increase during the first two days of the games
• YouTube traffic hit 40% during the first official day of competition

This is the first time the Olympics are being streamed live over the Internet. As a result, people can watch and discuss the games anywhere, anytime via mobile access devices.

“Mobile access to the Internet has become part of the online lifestyle for billions of people, and they are taking full advantage of the online content available,” said Jonathon Gordon, Director of Marketing, Allot Communications. “Allot enables fixed and mobile broadband service providers to gain a competitive edge by monitoring and managing the real-time impact of the Olympic Games on their networks.”

Visit http://www.allotmobiletrends.com to view more statistics and sign up for updates sent directly via email

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Once again the Olympics are fraught with controversy. In this case, eight badminton players from four double teams have been expelled from the Games for “not doing everything possible to win their matches.” The International Federation of Badminton announced on Wednesday its decision after investigating two South Korean couples, a Chinese couple and an Indonesian couple.

The ones involved are world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang from China and their South Korean opponents Jung Kyun Eun and Kim Ha Na, along with South Korea’s Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung and Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.

The International Badminton Federation found the players guilty of “not using one’s best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport” in Tuesday night matches.

Both China and South Korea had two teams in the tournament, so their idea was to lose on their games so they could avoid playing against their other national teams in the next rounds. By doing this, they would just play their national opponents in the final, so a medal would have gone to their country for sure.

On the other hand, Indonesia did not put all the effort in the match because their opponents were not trying either, which is now why they are also being kicked out from the badminton competition.

When it was announced that the athletes were being expelled, both South Korea and Indonesia appealed the decision, while China accepted the federation’s decision.

The latest news says that the Badminton Federation has announced it had rejected the Korean appeals and that Indonesia had withdrawn its appeal.

London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe, also condemned the players attitude: “It’s depressing,” Coe said. “Who wants to sit through something like that. It is unacceptable.”

The International Olympic committee spokesman Mark Adams told the Associated Press that he is happy with the decision taken by the Badminton Federation: “We applaud the federation for having taken swift and decisive action. Such behavior is incompatible with the Olympic values,” he said.

Image Courtsey of  Dan Thomas

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Serbian Novak Djokovic has really shown his aspirations for the Olympic gold medal after beating American Andy Roddick by a clear 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the tennis discipline at Wimbledon on Tuesday, July 31.

The world’s second-ranked, Djokovic had little trouble against the American and finished with a clear score to the three-time Wimbledon finalist, Andy Roddick.

After a steady start on Centre Court at Wimbledon, Djokovic broke the Nebraskan player’s serve two times (on the sixth and eighth game), to take the first set in 30 minutes by a 6-2 score.

In the second set, the Serbian managed to break his serve in the second game to Roddick, who usually performs well on the grass. Djokovic destroyed Roddick’s chances with a convincing 6-1 after just 54 minutes on the court.

“It was a perfect match in every sense,” Djokovic said after the game ended.

Novak Djokovic is playing at the All England Club, which has the same settings as the Wimbledon. He is aiming for the gold medal and winning back his place as the world’s number one, which Swiss player Roger Federer took from him just twenty days ago.

Murray also won on Tuesday after beating Finish player Jarkko Nieminen (6-2 y 6-4). Therefore it seems that number two on the ATP ranking Djokovic and number four Andy Murray, will play each other if they both keep winning, since they are in the same side of the pairing chart. However, before this can happen Djokovic will have to play against the winning racquet of the game between Croatian Marin Cilic and Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

With the loss against Djokovic, Roddick says goodbye to the Olympics 2012. Rumor has it that he might be thinking about retirement, but the tennis player has yet to confirm speculations, saying: “That’s not something that I’m going to talk about.”

Image Courtesy of  Yuya Chiu / Shutterstock.com

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The Williams sisters had mixed fortunes during the tennis third round games played on the 1st of August. Serena won the game against Russian Vera Zvonareva, and reached the Olympic quarterfinals. A round that will not be played by her sister Venus, who was defeated by German Angelique Kerber.

Serena Williams beat number 13 seeded Vera Zvonareva in a 51 minute game. In that short time the American destroyed Russian player by both clear 6-1 and 6-0 scores. Williams hit 32 winners to three for the Russian.

Williams has become the biggest nightmare for Vera Zvonareva, who was also defeated by the American in the 2010 Wimbledon final.

In the three matches played so far, Serena has only lost 10 games. She made declarations in the aftermath in which said that her older sister Venus is her inspiration: “I was inspired by her. I watched her and I said, ‘Serena, you need to play better or she’s getting the gold’.”

But Serena will not have to worry about her sister anymore, since Venus got eliminated by number 7 seeded German Angelique Kerber. The scores were 7-6 for the first set and again 7-6 for the second one.

However, Venus does not say goodbye to the Olympics, since she will still have to play with her sister Serena in doubles, where they are in the quarterfinals.

Now the hopes for U.S. women tennis are deposited in the third-time Olympian Serena, the winner of two gold medals in doubles and 14 major titles, but who still has not won a singles medal in any Olympic competition.

Image Courtesy of  Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

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President Obama has congratulated the latest American athletic heroes that have won a gold medal. He personally called to the “Fab Five,” the five members of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, and tweeted and called swimmer Michael Phelps. He felicitated them while he was on Air Force One traveling from Washington to Ohio for campaign events.

The president did not just congratulate the gymnastics but also asked them how they manage to achieve what they do: “I told these young ladies as I was congratulating them, ‘how do you not bust your head every time you’re on that little balance beam?’” Obama said. “I couldn’t walk across that balance beam,” he joked.

According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, this is what Obama said to the gymnastics:

To Aly Reisman: “Michelle and I have watched and decided of all the Olympians, you guys amaze us the most.”

To Jordan Wieber: “I’m so impressed by how you bounced back and led the team. Tell your parents I’m proud of them too. I don’t think I could watch if I were them.”

To McKayla Maroney: “Way to nail that vault. It was unbelievable.”

To Kyla Ross: He remarked how she was “really steady.” “I was impressed by how cool you were. I don’t know how you do what you do especially the balance beam.”

To Gabby Douglas: “You just tore it up. I know how hard you worked to get there.” And: “Keep at it. Stay cool.”

Obama has also congratulated the American swimmer Michael Phelps for winning a new gold and becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete of all history. He first tweeted on his personal account the following: “Congrats to Michael Phelps for breaking the all-time Olympic medal record. You’ve made your country proud.”

Later he called Phelps by phone. According to the White House the president told Phelps he was “the greatest Olympian ever” and that the country “couldn’t be prouder.”

Once in Ohio, where he is attending some campaign events, he said the following: “The wonderful thing about the Olympics is it reminds us that for all our differences, when it comes down to our country, we’re Americans first. And we could not be prouder of them and everything they’re doing on our behalf.”

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No one could ever doubt that Michael Phelps is a legend. But with his new gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, he has became the most decorated Olympian of all times. It is the 19th time that he has been awarded with a medal and the 15th that it is gold.

With this new medal he has broken Soviet Larisa Layynina’s record, who won 18 medals between the 1956 and 1964 Olympics under the gymnastics category.

This has been the first gold for Phelps on the London Olympics, but he still could win three more (the 200 individual medley, the 100 butterfly and the 4×100 medley relay,) and make the record even bigger.

He started to become a legend in Athens 2004 after having debuted when he was only 15 in Sydney. The Baltimore swimmer won six gold medals (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley, 4×200 free, and 4×100 medley) and two bronze (200 free and 4×100 free) in Greece before facing the greatest challenge of swimming history: overcoming the seven gold medals record from Mark Spitz.

In the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps became the greatest swimmer in the world to win eight gold medals in an Olympic game. (400 styles, 4×100 free, 200 free, 200 butterfly, 4×200 free, 200m medley, 100 butterfly and 4×100 styles.)

Having achieved the feat, Phelps faced the London Games with less demand but with a final record to beat: that of the 18 Olympic medals from the gymnast Larissa Latynina. He failed in the 400 individual medley and placed fourth in the final, had to settle for silver in the 4×100 free after France and could not overcome South Africa’s Le Clos in the 200 butterfly.

But it was just a matter of time before Phelps won his nineteenth medal. This one came in the 4×200 free category; making Phelps the best swimmer of all time in the history of the Olympics.

Phelps’ ambition seems to not have an end, as he is already thinking about making the record even bigger: “It has been a pretty amazing career but we still have a couple races to go,” he said.

Larisa Layynina, who held the record before Phelp’s achievement was happy for the swimmer’s victory: “I saw his swim, and I saw my record swim away,” Latynina told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He’s very talented — no doubt about that.”

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The U.S. basketball team had fun playing on Tuesdays night against Tunisia, who was destroyed by the Americans mightiness. The U.S. tried to have fun with this game and did not give it their all. If this happened we would probably be talking about the biggest win difference in the Olympics Games.

Things did not start well for Krzyzewski’s men though. They started in a sleepy mood, so the coach decided to change the 5 initial players when the first quarter was about to end. Until that moment the Africans dreamed during the first eight minutes of the game, when they were winning 15-12. But with the five new players on the pitch (Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala and Kevin Love,) the score moved to 15-26 in just three minutes. Tunisians were back to reality. Especially in the second half.

The second half started with a still close 33-46, and with the U.S. alternates at the pitch. They were the ones that killed Tunisia. Westbrook, Harden and Iguodala opened the scoring gap, ending any chance for Tunisia by the end of the third quarter (47-85).

Last quarter (63-110) was a mere formality for the enjoyment of the viewer and the United States, which keeps on making its way to gold.

It was a game to give the most important men of the team some rest and relaxation. Kobe Bryant just played 8 minutes, while Lebron James and Kevin Durant played 18 and 22 respectively.

Carmelo Anthony led the American scorers with 16 points, while Kevin Durant had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. However, the man of the match was Tunisian Makram Ben Romdhane who scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds.

Nineteen year old Davis, who will debut in the NBA during next season after he was picked in the draft by the New Orleans Hornets, scored 12 points in 12 minutes, and showed his happiness in the after match declarations: “It was real fun just playing with these guys.”

Coach Krzyzewski was also appreciative with his men’s performances: “It’s not going to be a perfect thing, you know?” he said. “But, overall, tonight was good. I mean, come on, it was 110-63.”

Image Courtesy of  Oleksiy Naumov / Shutterstock.com

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The U.S. has won another gold medal thanks to the performance of the so called “Fab Five” in the women’s gymnastics team finals, especially due to the high score obtained by Gabby Douglas and World Champion Jordyn Wieber.

The gold has come after beating Russia by more than 5 points (183.596-178.530). The bronze went for Romania (176.414 points.) Former gold winner, China, was a disappointment as they ended up in fourth position.

The American team was made up of Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber.

Gabby Douglas, the “Flying Squirrel,” scored a 15.966 on the vault, a 15.200 on the uneven bars, a 15.233 on the balance beam and a 15.066 on the floor exercise. She was the only one that did all four events and performed brilliantly in all of them.

The highest score was achieved by McKayla Maroney, who got 16,233 points on the vault.

It is the first time that the US has won the gold for the women’s gymnastics team since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Back then the Magnificent Seven made history, and now the day has come for the Fab Five to write their names in gold letters in the U.S. sports history book.

From the outset it became clear that the Americans were superior to the other countries and that the battle was really only for second place. The difference was so great that the last competition, the floor exercise, was almost a formality.

Bela Karolyi, who was the coach of the 1996 squad, made a declaration to The Detroit Free Press, comparing this year’s team to the Atlanta one: “I think this is a more even team with their performances.” “The 1996 team had ups and downs,” he added.

Image Courtesy of   US Olympic Team

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The US basketball team will play on Tuesday, July 31 against Tunisia in a game that is considered purely procedural. The NBA starts showed their authority and superiority against France (98-71) and now they will play against weak Tunisia that lost in the first game against Nigeria (60-56).

US is the favorite to win the gold and in this game they can ratify the image showed in the first Olympic games. Today’s game will be a good opportunity to correct some of the mistakes made against France, such as the series of triples that were missed at the beginning of the game (first six were failed). LeBron James was one the players that showed his nonconformist face and showed his wanting to improve: “It wasn’t perfect. We’ve still got room for improvement. We had too many turnovers, too many fouls and we had a couple of defensive rebounds we could have come up with.”

This game will also bring the opportunity to adapt to the meticulous referees. US players complained about how the ref whistled during the meeting with France. “There were calls being called that didn’t seem right,” said the NBA star Carmelo Anthony.

On the other side of the field will be Tunisia, which will aim to lose the less amount of points. They might make the surprise of the Olympics, but it will be tight, especially taking into account that from the 12 teams in the Olympic basketball tournament, they are the only country that that does not have at least one current NBA player.

Although winning it is important, the US also has the obligation to play like any team could ever do. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that playing well creates good habits: “It’s about our performance,” he said. “We should beat Tunisia, but we want to play well against Tunisia. When you play games in your pool and you’re a significant favorite, you don’t want to just win, you want to maintain and build good habits. We don’t want to overlook anybody because then we overlook ourselves. And in short period of time you can fall into a bad habit that will have its impact on a game where you’re not a significant favorite.”

The US and Tunisia have only played each other once in their histories. It was in the 2010 World Championships in Turkey and the US won by a clear 92-57.

Kobe Bryant said that this US team could beat the Dream Team from 1992. Today’s game could be a great chance to play like angels and show that this team has nothing to envy from the team from ’92.

Image Courtesy of  Oleksiy Naumov / Shutterstock.com

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