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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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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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.

Image Courtesy of  Maxisport / Shutterstock.com

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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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