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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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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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.

Image Courtesy of   jo.sau

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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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The quarterfinals for the soccer Olympics are already here, as the group stage games ended on August 1. This has been so far an Olympics full of surprises, as favorite Spain and Luis Suarez’s Uruguay have not made it to the next round. It is especially startling in the Spanish case. The winners of the last World Cup and Euro Cup have not even scored a goal on the three games played in the group stage, and could just tie one of their games (0-0 against Morocco)

The group stage was composed of 16 teams divided within 4 different groups. Teams that have made it into quarterfinals are Great Britain and Senegal in group A, Mexico and South Korea in group B, Brazil and Egypt in group C and Japan and Honduras in group D.

With Spain out, the favorite is the ever-feared Brazil and host Great Britain. Giovani dos Santos’ Mexico is the third front-runner to lift the title. However, the other countries must also need to be taken into account as they have already struggled, and triumphed, through different battles.

A draw has already been made for the quarterfinal round, which will be played on August 4th. Host Great Britain will play against South Korea. Favorite Brazil will have to beat Honduras, who already won to mighty Spain. Mexico will play against Senegal, and Japan and Egypt will face off in the last quarterfinal game.

The most attractive game from the last day of the group stage was Brazil’s victory against New Zealand by 3-0. The Brazilians won the game with even a greater superiority than what the final result reflected. The first two goals were scored before the first half an hour by Leandro Damiao and Danilo. The third one was Sandro’s work at the beginning of second half.

The other big game of the day was the one played between Great Britain and Uruguay in Cardiff, Wales. The Brits won by 1-0 with Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge’s goal in a game that started shrouded in controversy since it was feared that Welsh were going to boo on the God Save the Queen British anthem. At the end fans respected the anthem.

Image Courtesy of  Cyril Hou / Shutterstock.com

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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

Image Courtesy of  RachelC

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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.”

Image Courtesy of   jdlasica

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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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