2012 London Olympics

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12 Years After 'Dirtiest' Race, She's Set to Get Her Bronze

Shannon Rowbury originally placed 6th, but 3 runners ahead of her have been disqualified

(Newser) - Shannon Rowbury will soon be an Olympic bronze medalist—for a race she ran 12 years ago. The US runner originally placed sixth in the women's 1,500-meter final at the 2012 London Olympics. But since that day, five of the 13 runners have either been disqualified or are...

US Hurdler Negotiated Deal to Get Long-Denied Gold in Paris

Lashinda Demus lost in the 2012 Games to Russian Natalya Antyukh, who had been doping

(Newser) - There's no making up for what Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus lost on the day she finished .07 seconds behind a Russian opponent who, everyone found out later, was doping. What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will get is a great day under the Eiffel Tower on Aug. 9, where...

American Set to Win Olympic Gold—for 2012 Race

Lashinda Demus recognized as winner after Russian stripped of medal due to doping

(Newser) - More than a decade after the race was run, Lashinda Demus is set to enter the record books as the first American woman to win the 400-meter hurdles at the Olympics. Russian 400-meter hurdler Natalya Antyukh is being stripped of her gold medal from the London 2012 Olympics due to...

Russia Doped Its Athletes on 'Unprecedented Scale': Investigator

1K athletes in 30 sports in recent years

(Newser) - The Russian doping scandal just keeps getting bigger: A new report implicates 1,000 athletes in 30 sports over recent years, along with officials at various levels of government. The upshot is sure to be increased pressure to penalize Russia ahead of the 2018 Winter Games. In the report—which...

'Estados Unidos' Kicks NBC's Ratings When They're (Way) Down

Like, really down from 4 years ago

(Newser) - An estimated 26.5 million people watched NBC's coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony, a sharp 35% drop from the record-setting viewership of the curtain-lifter in London four years ago, reports the AP . The opening ceremony of the London Games was seen by 40.7 million people in the...

US Relay Team Stripped of Medals

Silver medals lost over Tyson Gay's doping case

(Newser) - The entire US men's sprint relay team was stripped of its silver medals from the 2012 London Olympics on Wednesday as a result of Tyson Gay's doping case . The International Olympic Committee notified the US Olympic Committee by letter that the 4x100 relay team has been disqualified and...

'James Bond' Olympics Skydiver Dies in Accident

Mark Sutton hit mountain ridge while wing-diving

(Newser) - Mark Sutton, the stuntman who parachuted into the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony as James Bond, died in a wing-diving accident yesterday. Sutton, 42, jumped from a helicopter at 10,826 feet in Switzerland wearing a "wingsuit," an aerodynamic jumpsuit that increases the body's surface area and...

London's 'WeirWolf' Wins 4th Gold
 London's 
 'WeirWolf' 
 Wins 4th Gold 
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2012 9:55 AM CDT

London's 'WeirWolf' Wins 4th Gold

David Weir is home country's undisputed star of the Paralympics

(Newser) - If you're looking for the star of London's Paralympics, look no further than British wheelchair racer David Weir. The man nicknamed the "Weirwolf of London" completed his clean sweep of golds today, timing his sprint finish to perfection to win the wheelchair marathon in 1 hour, 30...

Gabby Douglas: I Almost Quit Over Racist Digs

Bullied, called 'slave,' Douglas tells Oprah

(Newser) - America's darling gold medalist Gabby Douglas was so distraught by fellow athletes' bullying and racist taunts during early training that she often cried herself to sleep, she confides to Oprah Winfrey . Gabby, 16, nearly gave up her dream to be an Olympic gymnast because she was tormented at a...

Somali Olympian Drowns Trying to Emigrate to Italy

Mogadishu Islamists threatened her life

(Newser) - A Somali Olympic female runner drowned as she tried to emigrate to Italy on a boat from Libya, Italian media revealed yesterday. The boat sank as Samia Yusuf Omar, 21, made her desperate bid to escape her African home in April, reports the BBC . Samia faced death threats from the...

College Student Trademarks Gabby Douglas Nickname

He locks up 'Flying Squirrel' ... for now

(Newser) - While most Olympic fans were oohing and aahing over Gabby Douglas' gold-medal performance in gymnastics, a Fordham business student oohed, aahed, and then filed to trademark her "Flying Squirrel" nickname on August 6, reports TMZ . AJ Rotonde hopes to make a bundle selling T-shirts and the like—or selling...

Stones, Bowie, Kate Bush Snubbed Olympic Show

Aging stars turned down offer to perform

(Newser) - The star-studded Olympic closing bash seemed to include all of Britain's pop royalty, but in fact major figures snubbed the event—including David Bowie, Kate Bush, and the Rolling Stones, the Guardian reports. Bowie, 65, was considered a long-shot because he hasn't toured since 2006. Rumor had it...

Olympics Close With Rollicking Ceremony
 Olympics Close 
 With Rollicking 
 Ceremony 
olympics finale
Aug 12, 2012 11:43 PM CDT

Olympics Close With Rollicking Ceremony

The Who, Spice Girls, Kate Middleton wow; US leaves with 46 golds

(Newser) - The Olympics wrapped up tonight with a light-blazing, rocking ceremony featuring the reunited Spice Girls , The Who, Annie Lennox (among many other headliners), an exploding car, and a mosh pit filled with thousands of athletes, AP reports. The show kicked off in London with a surprise appearance by actor Timothy...

Ahead of Olympiad's Close, Vast London Fire Breaks Out

Biggest blaze the city has seen in years

(Newser) - Just ahead of this evening's Closing Ceremonies, London firefighters have controlled a massive blaze they say is the biggest the British capital has faced in years, reports the BBC . The fire broke out at an east London recycling center 7 miles from the Olympic Park, reports the AP , but...

Dream Team Holds Off Spain, 107-100
 Dream Team 
 Holds Off Spain, 
 107-100 
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2012 11:17 AM CDT

Dream Team Holds Off Spain, 107-100

US men's basketball outlasts dogged underdogs

(Newser) - Kevin Durant scored 30 points, LeBron James added 19, and the US men's basketball team defended its Olympic title, holding off stubborn Spain 107-100 today for the gold medal—just as the Americans did in 2008. Kobe Bryant added 17 for the US, which only led by one point...

With 66% of US Gold, Women Romped in London
With 66% of US Gold, 
Women Romped in London
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2012 9:14 AM CDT

With 66% of US Gold, Women Romped in London

Great results from 40 years of gender-equality laws, say experts

(Newser) - With women accounting for nearly 66% of America's gold medals this Olympics—not to mention 56% of US medals overall—London 2012 represents something of a golden age in women's athletics, reports the Los Angeles Times . Their best previous showing was 43% of golds, back in 2000, a...

Gold Again for US Women's Basketball
 Gold Again for 
 US Women's 
 Basketball 
olympics
Aug 11, 2012 5:13 PM CDT

Gold Again for US Women's Basketball

Candace Parker scores 21 in blowout vs France

(Newser) - The fifth straight gold was never in doubt for the US women's basketball team. Candace Parker scored 21 points and the Americans rolled to a 86-50 victory over France today, cementing their status as Team USA's other Dream Team. With a cavalcade of stars, the American women have...

US Women Win 4x400 Relay
US Women Win 4x400 Relay; Felix Snags Third Gold
olympics
Aug 11, 2012 2:55 PM CDT

US Women Win 4x400 Relay; Felix Snags Third Gold

Jamaica sets world record in 4x100 relay

(Newser) - Allyson Felix won her third gold medal of the London Olympics, giving the United States a 20-meter lead after the second leg of the 4x400-meter relay and then watching teammate Sanya Richards-Ross bring home the victory today. The US runners finished in 3 minutes, 16.87 seconds for the country'...

Waving Two Nations' Flags? Bad Idea
 Waving Two Nations' 
 Flags? Bad Idea 
OPINION
Aug 11, 2012 12:14 PM CDT

Waving Two Nations' Flags? Bad Idea

US medalist Leo Manzano represented USA, not Mexico: Ruben Navarrette Jr

(Newser) - After Team USA runner Leo Manzano scored a silver medal in the 1,500-meters, he celebrated by waving two national flags. He wanted to honor both the nation in which he was born—Mexico—and the nation in which he grew up to become a world-class runner—the US. Ruben...

NBC's Ratings Defy Expectations
 NBC's Ratings 
 Defy Expectations 
olympics
Aug 11, 2012 9:26 AM CDT

NBC's Ratings Defy Expectations

These Olympics will be among top 5 TV events

(Newser) - NBC seems to be taking all kinds of grief over its Olympics coverage because of tape delays in the age of live-streaming, so its ratings must surely be suffering, right? Not so much. In fact, these Games "have blown away the most optimistic projections" and will rank among the...

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