London Olympics 2012

"The Queen has declared the London 2012 Paralympics officially open, during a spectacular opening ceremony watched by some 80,000 spectators. Britain's first Paralympic Games gold medallist, Margaret Maughan, 84, had the honour of lighting the cauldron. Games chief Lord Coe told the crowd: "Prepare to be inspired, prepare to be dazzled, prepare to be moved." Earlier, athletes paraded around the Olympic Stadium, with ParalympicsGB entering last to huge cheers. The opening ceremony signalled the start of 11 days of competition by 4,200 athletes from 164 countries, including more than 300 athletes from the home nation. Lord Coe told the crowd at the east London stadium: "It is my great honour to say welcome home to the Paralympic Games." He said Britain was ready and the crowds in attendance would be "unprecedented", adding: "These will be a Games to remember."" - Soup in a TARDIS from Bookmarklet

"Paralympics in numbers 4,280 athletes from 166 countries are to compete throughout the 11 days of sport Almost 300 athletes will represent ParalympicsGB Over 2.4 million tickets have been sold so far - including half a million to visitors from abroad There are 503 gold medals to be won in 21 sports" - Soup in a TARDIS

"Professor Stephen Hawking was the unlikely MC for a Paralympics opening spectacle filled with pride at scientific breakthroughs – and defiance against lingering prejudice. The world-renowned scientist, who embodies disabled people’s ability to achieve the greatest feats, told spectators: ‘The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance – it’s the illusion of knowledge.’ A huge glowing sphere descended into the middle of arena before exploding in a ‘big bang’ of fireworks and pixel illuminations, signifying the origins of the universe Prof Hawking has attempted to explain." - Soup in a TARDIS

"Later, the parade of athletes, some in brightly coloured and playful outfits, lit up a grey and damp London evening. The Iraqi delegation entered the stadium looking like they had been to a children’s birthday party – with the athletes’ hats made of balloons in their national colours. Sports presenter Clare Balding said on Twitter: ‘When you think of Iraq do you think “balloon hats”??... more... - Soup in a TARDIS

"She realized she was different when singing the "head and shoulders" song in which children point to each body part along with the words. "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes ..." "We'd sing and I'd be like, `Crap, `I don't have those"' Sullivan said with a laugh. "That's not right. My siblings had all their fingers and toes. My physical situation wasn't something to be ashamed of. It's part of who I was. It's not who I am." - Anika from Bookmarklet

From the blog post: "Now that the London 2012 games have concluded, we can look back on this Olympics as arguable the best one ever in the long Cal Olympic history. Cal sent 38 athletes to London (not counting coaches and other support staff who do not get medals), 12 of them (9 alumni, 2 current Bears, and 1 incoming) gets to go home (11 for USA and 1 for Serbia) with at least one special souvenir of a lifetime, an Olympic medal." - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo from Bookmarklet

:( - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo from iPhone

"Athletes who reside in Los Angeles brought home a total of 45 medals, according to Adler. By comparison, San Francisco athletes brought home 11; Miami athletes brought home 10; New York and Austin athletes each brought home nine; San Diego athletes brought home eight. And Adler says that Los Angeles also holds the record for most medals per hometown: 35 winners were born in and/or grew up in L.A., while only 10 native New Yorkers received a medal. Adler notes that "Los Angeles is pretty much the only big city where there isn't this sort of 'draining' going on." So how, exactly, did we get so awesome? UCLA's urban-planning expert says that "it does seem like weather has something to do with it, because you can train year-round here." He also cites the city's athlete-friendliness, from our "culture around fitness and nutrition" to our "critical mass of athletes, training facilities and a lot of coaches."" - Anika from Bookmarklet

Heh, no I don't! Looking at the original, it looks like they used a "metro population", then if they included actual cities-population, then Gainsville, FL actually wins with a total of 3.9 medals per 100K people. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-an... - Anika

"BEST: Mexico Women's Synchronized Swimming Why It Works: Isabel Delgado Plancarte and Nuria Diosdado Garcia were a two-woman wolf pack when they hit the water. These bedazzled bathing suits are so wrong, they're right. But ladies, spitting out mouthfuls of pool water? Let's hope Ryan Lochte didn't spend any time in there before you." - Katy S from Bookmarklet

SPARKLE WOLVES! - Jessie

Aren't they awesome! Photo #10 is rather special, as well. - Katy S

"How do beach volleyball players manage to avoid the billions of granules of sand that cover their sport's playing surface? Because it's not the same sand that gets between your toes when you go on vacation. The sand used in competition is heavily regulated by the International Volleyball Federation. There are no pebbles or bits of shells. The shape ensures a smoother grain. The size is Goldilocks style: not too small or too big. Why doesn't it stick? Because it's designed not to. Nothing is perfect, of course, so sand is bound to find its way in between articles of clothing and on the skin. That's why some athletes use a special towel to clean themselves during changeovers. Sand that doesn't stick. It sounds glorious. Next vacation, I'm going to a beach volleyball court." - Anika from Bookmarklet

Yesterday, my kids were asking me why the sand doesn't stick and I had no idea. I've seen beach volleyball competitions here and have seen sand stick. I've also seen them bring in sand to put in the box they play. - Anika

"It should come as no surprise that Olympics organizers take brand endorsements and official suppliers very seriously. That extends beyond logos on shorts and shoes — up to, and including, condoms. That's right, the Olympics has an "official" condom — and organizers want to get to the bottom of how a bucket of rogue condoms reached the Olympic Village." - Soup in a TARDIS from Bookmarklet

"Sam Alipour wrote about the issue for ESPN, in an article called "Will you still medal in the morning?" Talking to Alipour, U.S. target shooter Josh Lakatos recalled his experience at the 2000 Sydney Olympics thusly: "I've never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life." The kangaroo condoms in London's Olympic Village are the latest intrigue involving Australia's trademark... more... - Soup in a TARDIS

Pretty spiffy video graphic comparing winning (gold, silver, and bronze) times over 100+ years. - Soup in a TARDIS

"Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of one of Great Britain's biggest gold medal hopefuls on Friday as London officials urgently tried to track down "missing" triple jumper Phillips Idowu. Team chiefs have been unable to contact Idowu since last week, and even his own agent and personal trainer claimed to have no idea of where he might be. Idowu has been locked in a feud with British athletics officials for several years, sparking the extraordinary situation where he has not spoken to Charles van Commenee, Great Britain's track and field head coach, in more than 18 months. Despite his often erratic behavior, Idowu has stunned many with his no-show, which Van Commenee described as "bizarre." Idowu has not yet checked into the Athlete's Village and will not be allowed to do so unless he reports by Sunday." - Anika from Bookmarklet

Wow. - John (bird whisperer)

"In a strange and funny moment, London Mayor Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip line during a celebration for the city's 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The cause of the mid-air snafu was not immediately clear. ITV, the British partner of NBC, which is broadcasting the Olympics (or at least trying to), reported that Johnson had to be pulled the rest of the way down by some folks on the ground. Happens to the best of us, Boris ... According to The Telegraph newspaper, Johnson was set to debut as the first person to use the brand new zip line, in Victoria Park, East London. Hopefully he won't be the last after this. "Get me a rope, get a ladder," he was quoted as saying. "I think the brakes got stuck.” Whatever it was, he spent about five minutes up there." - Soup in a TARDIS from Bookmarklet

I also think that one on the right looks like Stephen Mack. - Anika from Bookmarklet

*struts like royalty* One day I will be king. - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

Wait, what? - Jennifer Dittrich

I get she's not the most feminine woman, but she's CLEARLY NOT THE ASIAN MAN NEXT TO HER. They don't bother to give a position note on the following photo of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (despite there being two women in the photo, and only one is identified). - Soup in a TARDIS

LeBron's headband. x.x - Anika from Bookmarklet

You can still watch the streams of stuff they probably won't show on tv. - Anika from FFHound!

True! - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

True! Wait. - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

Doh! - Katy S from Bookmarklet

i saw something about this earlier and thought it was an onion headline! - Marie

"Competing in the B group, DPR Korea's Om - only the fifth man in history to lift triple his own body weight - is now firmly in contention for a medal. He raised 168kg - one kg more than triple gold medallist Halil Mutlu did to win the 2000 Games in Sydney and equalled the Turkish lifter's attempt at the European Championships of 2001." - Anika from Bookmarklet

"The father of a female Saudi Arabian judo competitor says his daughter will pull out of the Olympics if she is not allowed to wear her hijab during bouts. Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, 16, is due to compete in the +78kg category on Friday. A Saudi official said earlier this month that its female athletes would have to obey Islamic dress codes. But International Judo Federation president Marius Vizer said she would have to fight without the headscarf. The sport has banned the headscarf for safety reasons and Vizer said last week: "The athlete from Saudi Arabia will fight in the spirit of judo and according to the principles of judo without a hijab". Her father Ali told Saudi Arabia's al-Watan newspaper that his daughter "will not compete in the Judo Games on 3 August if the committee insists that she removes her hijab"." - Soup in a TARDIS from Bookmarklet

Ha! Sorry to lecture on stuff you know more about than I do. - Steele Lawman

"Now they're just some countries that I used to own..." - LB: #TeamMonique

"Actually, "coverage" might not be the best term to describe NBC's prime-time Olympic broadcast. NBC is trying to sell the Games that cost $1.18 billion in U.S. TV rights fees — and hundreds of millions more to promote and produce. So when it came time in the opening ceremony for something that has been widely interpreted as a tribute to the 52 victims of terrorist attacks in London in 2005, it's not shocking NBC didn't see lingering on that as helping its overall marketing effort. When asked why NBC didn't show the memorial, NBC spokesman Greg Hughes on Saturday said only that "our programming is tailored for the U.S. audience. It's a tribute to (opening ceremony producer) Danny Boyle that it required so little editing."" - Soup in a TARDIS from Bookmarklet

That beam, btw, is 10cm wide. - Soup in a TARDIS

"Rows of vacant spots were seen at swimming heats, volleyball, gymnastics and dressage events on the opening day of the Games - with “no shows” by Olympic officials, athletes and members of the media blamed. The London 2012 organising committee (Locog) said most of the empty seats were not those sold to members of the public, but had been reserved for members of the “Olympic family.” Sports fans complained in the wake of the great difficulty members of the public had in obtaining tickets for events after they originally went on sale. Many of the estimated one million-plus spectators lining the route of the men’s cycling road race yesterday said they had been unsuccessful in attempts to buy tickets for other events." - Anika from Bookmarklet