Now that the Olympics are facing their fourth competition day, the medal count panorama is starting to get its usual shape with China and USA in the first positions.

China’s delegation is still at the top of the medal table with a total of 14 medals, of which eight are gold, four silver and two bronze.

On Sunday, July 29 there were 14 gold medals at stake, of which two were awarded to the Chinese divers Zi and Wu Minxia in synchronized three-meter springboard. Chinese woman Guo Wenjun also climbed to the top of the podium in the shooting category after winning the rounds of the 10-meter air pistol.

With these two new medals, China reached six golden medals -now they have 8 golds after today’s victory in men diving in the 10 meter synchronized, and Sun Yang winning in the 400m swimming freestyle with a new Olympic record- which leads them as the best country, so far, in the London Olympics.

The United States is the closest to the Chinese, with a total of 13 podiums, 3 of them being gold. On Sunday 29th the shooter Kimberly Rhode (Skeet) and swimmer Dana Vollmer (100m butterfly) caused the American anthem to be played, for a country that can already presume to have three gold, five silvers and five bronzes.

Kimberly Rhode has become the first American athlete to win five medals in an individual event in five consecutive Olympic Games. Will she make the record bigger in Rio, Brazil is a question on everyone’s minds.

The other gold, Dana Vollmer, broke the 100m butterfly world record at the Olympics, finishing in a time of 55.98 seconds.

The six first places in the medal count go for Italy that has gone up to the podium 8 times (2 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze), France (2,1,3 respectively), Republic of Korea (2,1,2) and Russia (2,0,3).

It is still early to make any conclusion, but it seems that both China and USA are full of expectations. On the other hand, the UK (one silver and one bronze), Germany (0 medals), and Spain (0 medals and loosing in soccer where they were favorites) are not doing as well as originally expected.

MEDAL COUNT

• China 8 Golds 4 Silver 2 Bronze 14 Total
• USA 3-5-5-13
• France 2-1-3-6
• Italy 2-4-2-8
• Republic of Korea 2-1-2-5
• Russia 2-0-3-4
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2-0-1-3
• Kazakhstan 2-0-0-2
• Japan 1-3-3-7
• Romania 1-2-0-3

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Bets, other coaches, press and soccer experts were wrong in their predictions. They awarded Spain with a medal even before competition started, and now the Spanish have to set aside any hope of bringing home a medal even before the group stage has finished.

Against all odds, Spain lost on July 29th against Honduras by 0-1. This loss, along with the first stumbling block against Japan in the initial game (also 1-0), removes all the possible chances of passing through to the next stage for the “Rojita” -remember that during the Olympics the soccer squads play with their under 21 teams.

The loss against Honduras seems inexplicable, especially taking into account the superiority shown by Spain during the 90 minutes. But everything was against the “Rojita”: They hit the post in three different occasions, and referee Juan Soto did not whistle two penalties that seemed pretty clear. Honduras goalkeeper Jose Mendoza also played an incredible game, and flew from post to post in different occasions to save the Spanish onslaughts.

Spain started losing soon and could not do anything to fix it. Honduras’ goal came at minute 7 when striker Jerry Bengston headed a precise cross from Roger Espinoza. It is Bengston third goal in the Olympics, after the two goals he scored against Morocco, which so far leads him to the top score first position from this Olympic Games.

Once it was hit, Spain had a lot of chances to equalize the game, but whether it was goalkeeper Mendoza or the posts it did not happen. Best chances came from Juan Mata’s boots, who could have changed Spain’s destiny three different times. Munian, Rodrigo and Adrian also had great chances to invert the game situation.

Therefore, after yesterday’s loss against Honduras the Spaniards have to pack before time and will play the last group stage game against Morocco without any chance on passing through to the next stage. On the other hand, if Honduras ties against Japan in next game, they will make history, since it would be the first time that they played on quarter finals.

The Rojita, -Olympic champion in Barcelona-1992, conceded the greatest failure of Spanish football in recent years, especially after the contrast with the historic treble that the Absolute achieved just a month ago in Kiev (Euro – WorldCup).

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The first two Olympics have been set before the opening ceremony even began. South Korean Im Dong-hyun, 26, made the new world record in archery early Friday, July 27 and even more amazing is that Im Dong-hyun is legally blind.

On July 27 the Olympic preliminary rounds for archery began, several sports’ preliminary rounds have already started to ensure that all of the sports are gone through in time. During the competition Dong-hyun, who has 10% vision in his left eye and 20% vision in his right, scored 699 points in the 72-arrow mark. He beat his own world record that he had set in Turkey a few months prior by three points.

Dong-hyun’s reaction was more than humble. “This is just the first round, so I will not get too excited by it.”

Not only did Im Dong-hyun set an individual world record but he and his fellow teammates, Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek, set the team world record as well with a total of 2,087 points. The team world record they beat was set by a South Korean team as well at 2,069 points. With these scores the team as well as the individual rounds should go very nicely for all three of the members of the South Korean team.

Im Dong-hyun also won the gold in the team events at the Olympics in Beijing and Athens in 2008 and 2004 respectively. However, his teammates are certainly able to hold their own being in second and third place in the individual competition.

Britain’s Larry Godfrey is in fourth place with his own personal best of 680 points. Godfrey reported that he was “very happy.” “I thought I would be a bit lower than fourth. I’ve shot similar scores and finished much lower.” The British team came eighth out of twelve.

Im does not wear glasses when he competes. Instead he says that he looks at the difference in the bright colors of the target to decide where to shoot.

In South Korea, archery is one of the most popular sports. Most elementary school children are taught archery in school and there is a lot of government funding and training available. The current world champion of archery, a South Korean named Kim Woo-Jin, did not make the Olympic team.

According to the Telegraph the weather was favorable for archery on the morning of July 27 with no cross breeze and cool temperatures. Many people were disappointed, however, when they showed up to watch the preliminary rounds only to be told that no tickets are sold to watch them.

Image Courtesy of   Bill Hails

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Fencing is not a sport that people normally associate with the United States, but two-time Olympic gold medalist in saber fencing, Mariel Zagunis, hopes to change all of that.

Mariel Zagunis, 27, is a left-handed (normally considered a slight advantage in fencing) saberist from Beaverton, Oregon. Zagunis was born to two Olympic athletes who participated as rowers in the 1976 Olympics; she seems to be carrying on the legacy quite nicely.

In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Zagunis was a replacement who lucked out in getting a spot to go to the Olympics and surprised everyone when she won the gold, the first American fencing medal in one hundred years. If that’s not enough she also helped take five other individual and team medals at the Beijing Olympics including the team bronze and individual gold in sabre.

She is also the highest ranking fencer according to the Federation International d’Escrime (FIE) since 2009 and has won the world titles for 2009 and 2010 and several world cup victories. She also won the FIE’s highest honor for sportsmanship and fair play, the Chevelier Feyerick in 2009 and was the first American ever to win it. Overall, she is the most decorated fencer in America.

Zagunis, who has been fencing since she was ten, has received so much corporate sponsorship that she no longer needs to work but can practice fencing all day and still provide for her family, an incredible feat. Zagunis knows she is lucky and commented, “a lot of American fencers who wish to pursue it at the level that I am doing at look at my story as an inspiration. That if they can also achieve success and do what I have done or close to what I have done, that they can also do it full time… Because that’s what I think fencing is lacking the United States…People go to college, and they fence through college and then after that it’s ‘welcome to the real world’.”

Mariel Zagunis not only wants to bring home some medals from the Olympics but also wants to raise awareness of the sport in the United States. She founded the Mariel Zagunis Women’s Saber Fund to support young female sabre fencers as well as the sport in general. Zagunis’ fame seems to have sparked a significant interest in fencing since as of May 2012 the United States Fencing Association reported that it had 20,000 members which is up from the just over 6,000 members in 1982.

The awareness is needed especially since NBC announced that it will only be covering some of the fencing events, only 2.5 hours worth in fact. With a sport that includes three different weapons (foil, sabre, and epee) and then the team events, that’s a lot of fencing that American viewers are missing out on.

MSNBC will cover the women’s events on July 28 – August 1 but will not feature any of the men’s events. In comparison beach volleyball will have four hours of coverage on opening day alone.

Something that should help bring more awareness to the sport is that Mariel Zagunis has been chosen to lead the American team in the parade at the Opening Ceremonies on July 27. This means that Zagunis will lead the 530 members of the American team – 269 women and 261 men – while she carries the American flag. Zagunis claimed, “I’m just going to focus on not tripping, not letting the flag touch the ground and doing everything right.” In order to become the flag-bearer Zagunis was chosen as a finalist and went through five rounds of voting by team captains, finally coming out on top.

Zagunis also knows that she is the athlete to conquer this year. “Everyone else really has nothing to lose.” Her worst threats are Russian Sofia Velikaya who won gold against her in October of last year in Italy and the Ukrainian Olga Kharlan who won the Korfanty Cup against Zagunis in Chicago last month. Hopefully for the sake of American fencing, Zagunis will continue to bring home the gold.

Image Courtesy of   Mariel Zagunis

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The night of July 27 will be a night to remember with the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics kicking off several weeks of incredible competitions. With the economic crisis and uncertainty, the Olympic games are a refreshing distraction for all people of the world.

Originally the tone in London leading up to the games was one of gloom and dislike, but now that the games are actually here they seem to be just as excited as the rest of the world. One London street sweeper, Augustine Adejoh said, “I’m not really into the Olympics and all that. But I’ve got to say, it’s good for London. People are quite thrilled about it.”

Not everything has been perfect in the lead up to this Olympics. London cab drivers have protested not being allowed into lanes reserved for Olympic athletes and coaches. Additionally, a security debacle by the company hired for the Olympics, G4, meant that not enough guards had been hired; now police and armed forces will be involved in the security measures. The Olympics will be the largest security operation in peacetime for England ever.

Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney commented on the security mix up saying, “It’s hard to know just how well it will turn out.” London Mayor Boris Johnson quickly responded via a speech to a crowd of 60,000 in Hyde Park stating, “There’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready. We are ready… We’re going to win more gold, silver, and bronze medals than you’d need to bail out Greece.”

The Olympic torch made its way through London on July 26 passing Parliament and Buckingham Palace. So far the torch has traveled 8,000 miles in the last seventy days. The torch will sail down the Thames on its way to the stadium in East London on the royal barge called the Gloriana.

The Olympics have not been seen in London since 1948 when the entire country was devastated after the destruction wrought by World War II. That Olympics was called the “Austerity Olympics” because of the understandable financial trouble England had.

This Olympics has already cost the United Kingdom 9 billion pounds ($14 billion), triple the original estimate. Most of the officials are justifying the use of the money because much of it was used to renovate a run-down area of London.

The former polluted industrial park is now a beautiful stadium that will be the location for the Opening Ceremonies at 9 PM tonight. The Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics always include a performance arranged by the host nation that demonstrates the best aspects of the nation. The United Kingdom’s Opening Ceremonies will be called the ‘Isles of Wonder’ and have been designed by Danny Boyle, director of ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’

The ceremony will begin with the tolling of the largest harmonically tuned bell that was created at Whitechapel Foundry. The Queen will be met at the entrance to the stadium by the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge. The parade of nations will then begin with the countries entering in alphabetical order according to the language of the host nation. The only exceptions will be that the Greek team will lead and the team from Great Britain will be last.

The Queen will then declare that the games have begun and the Olympic flag, anthem, and oath will occur. Finally the torch will enter and light the cauldron and the performance, the “Isles of Wonder,” will begin.

It is already known that the stadium will be set up to look like a rural English countryside with real farm animals for the opening sequence called “Green and Pleasant.” The rest of the ceremony will include references to William Shakespeare, pop culture like Mary Poppins, Paul McCartney and James Bond, and darker parts of English history like the industrial revolution.

Danny Boyle stated, “our ‘Isles of Wonder’ salutes and celebrates the exuberant creativity of the British genius in an Opening Ceremony that we hope will be as unpredictable and inventive as the British people.”

Tonight will be a night to remember.

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The General Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Volodymyr Gerashchenko, resigned Friday May 28, 2012 after he tried to sell Olympic tickets on the black market. Gerashchenko has been the General Secretary, the top position of the committee, since 1997 according to the BBC.

Gerashchenko’s black market deal was revealed by a BBC journalist who went undercover as an unauthorized ticket dealer. Gerashchenko was in London at the time fulfilling his duties as General Secretary, by accrediting Ukrainian athletes and officials. The journalist had heard that Gerashchenko was illegally selling tickets and secretly taped the meeting between Gerashchenko and himself. Gerashchenko stated, “I understand you’re a dealer – that’s why for me, you are priority number one, the top, the person, in case we have extra ticket to contact you, we contact you”.

Reportedly, Gerashchenko was selling about 100 tickets for several thousand pounds. He planned to give 2,900 tickets allotted to his committee for distribution to Ukrainian fans, coaches, and officials but then sell the rest of the tickets.

Since 2005 it has been illegal to sell Olympic tickets on the black market. Every offense incurs a fine of £20,000. It is unknown yet whether or not Gerashchenko will have to pay these fines since he did not actually sell the tickets.

The Ukrainian National Olympic Committee President Sergey Bubka claimed that he was surprised about the allegations. He said, “We have a special committee responsible for the requests for the Olympic tickets within our quota. The list of the requested tickets is validated by the Executive Committee. This list is a strictly accountable document. There is no possibility for any individual to distribute the tickets beyond the list.”

The allegations were taken very seriously by all and investigations have already begun. Gerashchenko was suspended immediately after the video and story were released and he tendered his resignation shortly thereafter. Bubka claimed “[The committee] takes accusations very seriously and that is why we have acted so swiftly to address the recent BBC reports.”

Shortly after the release of the story and news video the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine held an emergency meeting. Directly after the meeting Gerashchenko tendered his resignation as General Secretary. However, he also promised to cooperate in the criminal and Olympic committee investigation. Sergey Bubka told the BBC, “It will not be appropriate for me in light of the investigation to comment any further.”

Geraschenko was the top official of the 149-member National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The scandal has cast a shadow on Ukraine’s international image and may affect the European Soccer Championship that the Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland this June.

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Ronaldinho, the former face of international soccer and the prime representation of Brazilian soccer throughout the world is back and wants to play in the 2012 Olympics.

The Brazilian mid fielder who dazzled fans during the peak of his career is now 31 years old and is looking for one final run at glory in the tournament, which is an under-23 event. Ronaldinho would be the lone player over that required age, as the rules allow for one player to play over that age limit.

Ronaldinho previously appeared in the 2008 summer Olympics after being traded from his club team to Milan. He scored one goal in the under-23 tournament in which Brazil left with the Bronze medal. Many thought that would be final stroke of the gifted Brazilian on the international stage as a competitor.

However, he has regained his form, or what’s left of it, and is now looking to lead the next generation of Brazilian footballers at the next Olympic season. As we have seen with young Brazilian Neymar, soccer in this carefree, creative style will continue even after Ronaldinho decides to leave the game for good.

It is important to note that his ‘ultimate goal’, if all goes well through the London Olympics, is to make the team for the 2014 World Cup — at which point, he will be 34 years old. Ronaldinho is quoted for saying, “I want to go step by step,” eventually landing him a home-hosted, last world cup.

The soccer star did not make the team for the 2010 World Cup. In fact, the last time we saw Ronaldinho on the world stage taking part in a big tournament was all the way back in the 2006 World Cup. The tournament did not end well for the Brazilians and he did not play as well as he would have liked.  Brazil was sent packing after the unexpected loss in the quarter finals to France.

The former two-time FIFA Player of the Year in 2004 and 05 and one-time European Footballer of the Year in 05 is now playing in a Brazilian club called Flamingo; a contract that will expire in 2014. After having won every tournament he has competed in throughout his career, this is his final test, his final challenge as footballer.
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