london-olympics Page 11 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

What The Jingoists Are Saying Today: "Suck it Russia! 'If You Don't Like America, You Can Get Out!'"
I honestly don't even know what that means. Is it directed at...Russia? Is Russia currently in the United States? If so, has it expressed displeasure with being in the United States? Why is it in quotes? Is it an oft-quoted saying? Now directed at Russia? So many questions. But let's move on to wha...

Don't Blame Badminton Players For Throwing Matches. Blame The Sport's Crappy System.
Four teams of women—two from South Korea, one from China, one from Indonesia—were kicked out of the Olympics after they all attempted to lose their matches in the group stage. It was a farce, bringing boos from the crowd and condemnation from the Olympic and badminton communities. Yet the fault lies...

The U.S. Already Had Gold Locked Up After This Disaster From Russia's Floor World Champion, So NBC Didn't Show It To You
Despite NBC's odd penchant for showing crying gymnasts, the rather amazing image you see above (taken by AP staffer Matt Dunham) didn't make it to air last night. It's the Russian team reacting to the shock of world champion Ksenia Afanasyeva inexplicably falling onto her face on the closing tumble...

London Mayor Boris Johnson Got Stuck On A Zipline
Britain won its first gold medal this morning, in rowing, but that's not close to the most iconic moment of these early games. That would be London Mayor Boris Johnson, dangling from a zipline in Victoria Park, two little flags in hand, asking passersby for a rope or a ladder as they all laugh and...

When It Comes To Gymnastics, It's Good To Pick A Winner
We always enjoy catching people knuckle-deep, but it's somewhat disturbing in this context. It's probably because of the come-hither look on his face. (It's actually because of his pencil mustache.)...

Eight Badminton Players Who Tried To Throw Games Disqualified From Olympics
A bizarre scene unfolded yesterday at Wembley Arena as badminton teams from China and South Korea both attempted to throw the match in order to attain a preferable elimination round seed and drew massive boos from the audience for playing roughly in the manner you or I would while drunk at a back...

Your Daily Olympic Schedule: August 1 - Day 6
In effort to save you the time that it takes to both find and decipher the NBC Olympics schedule while trying to figure out which events are even worth watching, we've created our own (better) daily schedule of Olympic events. All events are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (no math) at the time tha...

Here's A First-Hand Account Of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s Olympic Triumph That You'll Never Forget
The third set today between France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Canada's Milos Raonic featured 257 points, 91 winners, and 45 unforced errors. Tsonga won the third set, 25-23 — the longest in Olympic history. The National Post's Bruce Arthur was there, watching the entire match and becoming more incredu...

Relive McKayla Maroney's Phenomenal Vault In Super-Slow Motion
While judges found room for deductions for which it seems nobody else can, McKayla Maroney's vault early in today's women's team gymnastics final was still strong enough to set an unstoppable pace that resulted in the United States taking gold. (It wasn't a surprise she nailed the vault, though, i...

Olympic Field Guide: Missy Franklin, America's Teenage Swimming Sensation
Name: Melissa "Missy" "The Missile" Franklin...

Happy, Healthy, And Hitting Their Spots: How The American Women's Gymnastic Team Won The Gold
Today, the U.S. women's gymnastics team, which entered the Olympics as the heavy favorite for team gold medal, did what every commentator predicted it would—won the title in a commanding fashion, topping the Russians by five points, 183.596 to 178.530....

After The Expected Ass-Kicking, A Tunisian Player Had Kobe Bryant Autograph His Shoe
The U.S. overcame a slow start to thrash an unexpectedly tough-playing Tunisian team 110-63, which meant the usual courtesies extended to the losing side of handshakes, hugs, and the occasional picture. Tunisian forward Mohamed Hdidane—who surprised a lot of us with basketball we didn't expect fro...

The Tunisian Basketball Coach Slapped The Shit Out Of One Of His Players In The Huddle
As we told you earlier, the Tunisian men's basketball team were 54-point underdogs heading into their preliminary game against Team USA. The stress of facing such daunting odds may have gotten to Tunisia's coach (the bald man at the center of the video above), as he unleashed a vicious slap into t...

<em>Denver Post</em> Writer Says He Never Meant To Tweet About How "Horny" He Got While Covering The Olympics
So what prompted John Henderson of the Denver Post to tweet that on Sunday? Denver Westword noted that it appeared in Henderson's timeline not long after he had written separate blog items about a pair of teenage swimmers. Which is ... awkward....

This Is, We <em>Think</em>, The First Olympian To Poop During His Event
Mystery Whisper finished a disappointing 23rd during this morning's show jumping finals. (And I guess the guy on his back did too, but it's sort of screwed up that the horses don't even receive medals, so we're going to start ignoring the riders.) It might have been a case of the nerves, as the 12...

This BBC Interview With Chad Le Clos's Father Is The Media Moment Of The Games So Far
Moments after South African Chad Le Clos denied Michael Phelps gold in the 200 butterfly, BBC sat down with an ecstatic Bert Le Clos to talk about the surprising victory. Funny, bizarre, and often unintelligible due to Bert's Afrikaanglish, it's a must-watch interview and the sort of thing you'd n...

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 Win Demonstrated The Dangers Of Holding Olympic Tennis At Wimbledon
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Canadian Milos Raonic obliterated the Olympic record for longest set played with a 48-game marathon third set finally won by Tsonga on the point you can view above....

Chinese Olympic Doctor Wonders If Michael Phelps Was Doping Too
Everyone had something to say about Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old Chinese girl who blew away a world record and even outpaced Ryan Lochte's time over her final 50 meters. Most people kept the "d" word to themselves, calling Ye's swim "unbelievable" or "beyond belief" or "I don't believe she could swim ...

Michael Phelps Somehow Managed To Blow A Lead This Big
This was Michael Phelps toward the end of the 200 m butterfly final. (You can see exactly how close to the finish he was by contextualizing those staccato red marks* with an overhead photo of the pool.) He wound up finishing second to South Africa's Chad le Clos. Once upon a time, Phelps passed othe...

Olympics Fans Are Fat And Tired: Foreign Olympics News For The 6.7 Billion People Not Watching NBC
Deadspin and Gelf Magazine bring you the best (or at least the most interesting) foreign-produced journalism about the London Olympics. ...