Olympics 2012: Live Report

An up to date summary of the Olympics. TGO

Refer to information below. Source: Associated Press

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1337 GMT: SAILING: GREAT BRITAIN’S BEN AINSLIE WINS RECORD FOURTH GOLD

1333 GMT: AFP’s Tom Williams, watching the gymnastics, says Zou hit nearly every landing perfectly.

His main opponent, Kohei Uchimura of Japan, the world champion, gave a wry smile as he watched Zou’s routine, Tom says. Uchimura had to settle for silver, while Russia’s Denis Ablyazin took the bronze.

1328 GMT: GYMNASTICS: CHINA’S ZOU KAI WINS MEN’S FLOOR FINAL — along with the badminton, that’s two golds for China in a matter of minutes.

1323 GMT: BADMINTON: CHINA’S LIN DAN DEFEATS LEE CHONG WEI TO WIN GOLD. Lin is the first men’s singles player to win the Olympic title twice.

Lin ran charged around the court with his arms wide open in a jubilant celebration, before stripping off his shirt and waving the Chinese flag to cheering crowds. Meanwhile his Malaysian opponent fell to the ground in utter dejection.

1316 GMT: The match — and Murray’s bid for two gold medals in one afternoon — has begun. Win or lose, what must it feel like to be Murrary right now, having played before a home crowd at a Wimbledon final and an Olympic final in the space of a month? He must hear the roar of the crowd in his dreams (nighmares).

As Richard Branson said earlier, no pressure…

1312 GMT: The roof has been opened at Centre Court and Roger Federer, dressed in red, has arrived and is warming up with Andy Murray, clad in blue.

The pair both serve at the same time — and Federer’s ball soars over the net while Murray’s slams into it. That’s probably not a sign of things to come, though.

1255 GMT: The Williams sisters Serena and Venus high-five their smiling opponents, Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Andrew Hlavackova, after beating them 6-4, 6-4 to win the gold medal. Add another one to the US tally!

This is Serena Williams’ second gold medal of the Games following her crushing singles win over Maria Sharapova on Saturday

Not long now until Andy Murray takes on Roger Federer in their Wimbledon rematch!

1251 GMT: TENNIS: US WINS WOMEN’S DOUBLES GOLD

1249 GMT: SAILING: SWEDEN’S SALMINEN AND LOOF WIN SAILING STAR GOLD

1245 GMT: Savelyeva has won the match!

1236 GMT: BOXING: History is being made over a the ExCeL arena as Russian Elena Savelyeva takes on North Korean Hye Song Kim in the first women’s Olympic boxing match in history.

Their bout has just got under way — and neither are holding back, with lots of fast, furious jabs and hooks.

1229 GMT: Gelana can be seen jogging back down the Mall (as if she hasn’t had enough running today!) with Ethiopia’s flag draped around her shoulders, high-fiving cheering fans. She can’t seem to stop smiling.

Gelana set a new Olympic record, finishing the run in a time of two hours, 23 minutes and 7 seconds.

1224 GMT: ETHIOPIA’S TIKI GELANA TAKES MARATHON GOLD. Kenya’s Prischa Jeptooh takes silver, while Russia’s Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova takes bronze. Pre-race favourite Keitany places fourth.

1222 GMT: Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana has been greeted by a roar from the crowd as she circles Buckingham Palace having broken out into the marathon lead — but Kenya’s Jeptooh is still fighting on behind her…

Imagine hitting the end of a marathon and having to sprint…

1218 GMT: ATHLETICS: It’s starting to look like the marathon could come down to a sprint finish, with three runners — including Russia’s Arkhipova — still together in the lead and less than two kilometres to go.

Mary Keitany, the race favourite, has just fallen back from the leaders’ pack, meaning the medals appear to be decided between Arkhipova, Gelana, and Jeptooh, and the race is opening up…

1213 GMT: TENNIS: According to the official Olympics tennis Twitter feed, the Williams sisters have taken the first set 6-4 in 51mins.

1206 GMT: SHOOTING: SOUH KOREA TAKES GOLD IN 50m PISTOL

1154 GMT: ATHLETICS: Russia’s Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova has now caught up to the pack at the front of the marathon, while Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia has fallen away.

1149 GMT: TENNIS: More goodwill towards Britain’s Andy Murray as he gets ready to face Switzerland’s Roger Federer in the tennis final — a rematch of their Wimbledon final from just a few weeks ago. Tennis legend Boris Becker tweets:

“Roger is the favorite but there is something magic about Andy these days …its written in the stars!”

1143 GMT: ATHLETICS: An hour and 45 minutes into the marathon and it’s all still very close — but a definite pack of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners appears to have broken out in the front. They include Mary Keitany, Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptooh of Kenya, and Tiki Gelana, Aselefech Mergia and Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia.

1132 GMT: TENNIS: The action over at Wimbledon is beginning. From the official Olympics Tennis Twitter feed:

“Players on Centre Court warming up for women’s dubs gold medal match… Williams/Williams (USA) vs Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE)”.

1112 GMT: ATHLETICS: On that note, AFP’s Charles Irwin is inside the athletics stadium today. He tells us:

“Grey skies and pouring rain open the day when Usain Bolt will either attain the legend status he desires or end in disappointment. Either way it will have to be something special to outdo the atmosphere of Saturday.

He adds:”Oscar Pistorius the ‘blade runner’ also reappears in 400m semi-finals but will be pushed to reach the final. Still the way these games ars going expect the unexpected!”

1108 GMT: London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe, speaking about yesterday’s triumphs for Great Britain, has just told an IOC media briefing: “I think it was the greatest day of sport that I have ever witnessed”.

1103 GMT: TENNIS: Entrepreneur Richard Branson just tweeted to British tennis player Andy Murray, who is playing Roger Federer for the men’s Olympic gold later:

“silver’s great. Gold would be magnificent! No pressure. Good luck!”

Yikes.

1058 GMT:The US’s Angelo Taylor, who is eyeing a third Olympic gold medal in the 400m , tweets: “Just left chapel service in the Olympic village. I feel so good right now! I just want to give God all the glory!”

Athletes’ spiritual needs at the Olympic Village are being tended to by a team of dozens of multi-faith chaplains.

1042 GMT: ATHLETICS: One of the greatest things about the Olympics is that it brings the little guys as well as the sporting powerhouses to the edge of glory.

To that end, the tiny Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda — with a land area of 21 square miles — saw its entire population of just 65,000 people on the edge of their seats yesterday as 27-year-old local Tyrone Smith became the first Bermudian in decades to reach an Olympic final, competing in the men’s long jump.

Smith finished 12th — but, according to his Twitter feed, his final jump (which he unfortunately fouled) was 8.2m. Had the jump been good he could have won the silver medal, doubling Bermuda’s entire medal tally and officially becoming the island’s most successful Olympic athlete of all time (Bermuda has won just one Olympic medal in its history, with boxer Clarence Hill taking bronze in 1976.)

Smith was hard on himself, apologising to his fans on Twitter, but Bermudians — to a one proud and amazed that an athlete from their tiny island was able to compete on the world’s biggest stage — were having none of it. “Bro you made everyone proud,” Euan Holden tweeted Smith. “Your an olympian keep your head up and your swag on.”

1036 GMT: Britons continute to dominate the cycling, with Justin telling us: “As expected, Olympic sprint champion Pendleton blitzes the field in a new Olympic record of 10.724.

“Along with Australian rival Anna Meares, who timed 10.805, the Briton is the only rider to go under 11 seconds — a strong indicator of her sheer power and speed going into the tournament.”

1027 GMT: More from Justin as the patriotic crowd at the velodrome get geared up for Victoria Pendleton to appear. He says:

“Germany’s Kristina Vogel is the fastest rider so far in 11.027 but let’s see how Vicky Pendleton’s legs react when the largely partisan British crowd erupt in a few moments! Australia’s Ana Meares, who is last to go, is the world record holder in 10.782.”

1009 GMT: CYCLING: Justin Davis has an update for us from the velodrome:

“O’Shea does enough in the 16-lap, 4 km pursuit to take the lead of the omnium standings with two races — the scratch and the 1 km time trial — to go. The biggest cheer of the packed velodrome went out to Ed Clancy after he moved up to second overall just two points shy of O’Shea.

“Now it’s time for the women’s 200m flying lap, the first installement in the long battle for individual sprint glory. After this demonstration of pure speed, in which the last 200m of the flying lap is timed, it’s on to a series of duels between the riders battling for track’s most prestigious gold.”

0957 GMT: ATHLETICS: The women’s marathon has gotten under way in central London, with the crowd — umbrellas up — letting out a huge roar at the start.

0952 GMT CYCLING: The weather doesn’t matter inside the velodrome however, where AFP’s Jusin Davis is watching the action unfold. He tells us: “A massive cheer goes up in the velodrome as Britain’s Ed Clancy starts the pursuit ride of the six-discipline omnium.

“Clancy already won team pursuit gold with Britain on Friday. He is up against Australia’s world champion Glenn O’Shea, a silver winner in the Team pursuit.”

0949 GMT: ATHLETICS: The women’s marathon — set to start in about ten minutes — will pass by some of London’s most historic landmarks.

It starts and finishes on The Mall, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace. The route also takes in the Houses of Parliament, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, the River Thames and St James’s Park. All of which would be very scenic if it was not so gloomy and damp out there…

0933 GMT: Meanwhile British legend and double Olympic decathlon medallist Daley Thompson seems to be having a good time getting through security at Olympic Park this morning, tweeting: “Hands up who’s idea it was to use the army to do bag search. Inspired they are brilliant. They r trying to get us all to dance!”

In summary, Britons queuing up to go through security in the rain has become an occasion for dancing. Will the country ever recover from Olympic fever?

0931 GMT: While AFP photographer Leon Neal, who has been covering many of the sporting events, tweets: “*looks at torrential rain* ‘Bagsy Centre Court!'”

0929 GMT: ATHLETICS: The rain coming down in London can’t dampen enthusiasm for the women’s marathon this morning, however. AFP’s Nilay Silam tells us he saw “thousands” of people lining the route — many clad in Union Jacks or waving them.

0917 GMT: After Britain’s greatest day of sporting glory, it is perhaps fitting that typical British weather seems ready to assert itself today. Ominous clouds are piling up around various sporting venues, and the Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for the London and Souh East England areas, with rain already showering the Olympic Park.

0912 GMT: US singer Josh Groban has also been tweeting about the Olympics this morning: “I really love how London is presenting these games. Totally making it their own…it has heart.”

0905 GMT: The velodrome is heating up again already this morning. Britain’s track sprint cycling coach Iain Dyer tweets: “Walked in to the velodrome just now; Happy Mondays playing over PA. It’s not Monday, but we’re Happy nonetheless. W & M sprint today..”

0853 GMT: Pistorius has also this morning retweeted a message he got from none other than Hollywood’s finest Samuel L Jackson:

“Thank you! :)RT @SamuelLJackson: I don’t care WHO you are, that’s MOVING! SA RUNNER is a true example of Human Determination! Rock On Dude!”

Jackson has been one of the most prolific and entertaining celebrity tweeters of the London 2012 Games — though, sadly, many of his finest quotes are simply not repeatable here.

0849 GMT:South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, first double amputee to compete in Olympic track athletics, has been on Twitter this morning discussing his preparations for the 400m semi-final later: “12and a half hours till the 400m Semi-Final! Off to smash some breakfast, alittle physio and video session to plan my race. Ahh YEAH!”

0833 GMT: Today is also the first day of the rest of Michael Phelps’ life. The most decorated Olympian of all time swam his last race last night, bringing home his 18th gold medal as the US won the men’s 4x100m individual medley relay.

The last thing Phelps tweeted yesterday was a retweeted quote from @GreatestQuotes: “‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’ – Dr. Seuss”.

0813 GMT: A total of 23 medals will be decided today, day nine of the London 2012 Games. Other medals to be decided will include the men’s badminton singles — when China’s world number one Lin Dan faces Malaysian rival Lee Chong Wei in the latest instalment of their long rivalry — and, in gymnastics, the apparatus finals for men’s floor and pommel horse take place either side of the women’s vault.

0810 GMT: Some highlights to look forward to today:

+ Usain Bolt defends his 100m title in one of the most eagerly-awaited sprint finals of all time — potentially the quickest race in history (Final 2050GMT).

+ Roger Federer and Andy Murray clash in the men’s singles tennis final at Wimbledon (not before 1300GMT). Murray insists he will be fully fit after he battled through two hard-fought matches on Saturday to reach the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson.

+ Women’s boxing makes its Olympics bow (1230GMT) with the opening bouts in the women’s flyweight and lightweight categories.

WELCOME TO AFP’S LIVE REPORT as the host nation gets ready to follow up on its most successful Games day in 104 years, with a rush of medals yesterday that boosted Great Britain to third on the medals table — though Team GB is still behind China and the US by a considerable distance.

Britons up and down the country are near bursting with pride. As Daily Telegraph features writer Harry Wallop tweets this morning: “The Olympics needs a rest day — for the spectators. I am drained”.

No rest for the athletes, however, with yet another full day of jaw-dropping achievement ahead of us — not the least of which includes the men’s 100m final, billed as the fastest race in history. Can Jamaica’s Usain Bolt retain his title?

Stand by for a fuller rundown of what to expect today…

About The Great One

Am interested in science and philosophy as well as sports; cycling and tennis. Enjoy reading, writing, playing chess, collecting Spyderco knives and fountain pens.
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