Olimpiade

Olimpiade adalah ajang olahraga internasional empat tahunan yang mempertandingkan cabang-cabang olahraga musim panasdan musim dingin serta diikuti oleh ribuan atlet dari sekitar 200 negara yang berkompetisi dalam berbagai pertandingan olahraga. Awalnya, Olimpiade hanya berlangsung di Yunani kuno sampai pada tahun 393 M. Olimpiade kemudian dihidupkan kembali oleh Pierre Frèdy Baron de Coubertin pada tahun 1896. Dalam kongres pada tahun 1894 yang diselenggarakan di Paris, didirikanlah Komite Olimpiade Internasional (IOC) dan ibu kota Yunani, Athena dipilih sebagai tuan rumah Olimpiade modern pertama tahun 1896. Selanjutnya, sejak tahun 1896 sampai sekarang, setiap empat tahun sekali Olimpiade Musim Panas senantiasa diadakan kecuali tahun-tahun pada masa Perang Dunia II.

Britain's Bellamy gamble pays off

CARDIFF, Wales (AP) -- Craig Bellamy is certainly no David Beckham. For Britain's Olympic football team, perhaps that's a good thing.

Britain coach Stuart Pearce caused an uproar when he left Beckham off the team for the London Olympics, opting to go with fellow midfielder Bellamy as one of his three overage players instead - alongside Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs and defenderMicah Richards.

Chinese badminton player blogs 'farewell' to sport

LONDON (AP) -- A Chinese badminton star is apparently quitting the sport after she was one of eight players disqualified from the doubles tournament at the London Olympics for trying to lose.

A comment on a verified account for Yu Yang on the Tencent microblogging service late Wednesday read: "This is my last game. Farewell Badminton World Federation. Farewell my dear badminton."

Yu's retirement could not be immediately confirmed with Chinese badminton officials. In China, the lives of top athletes are closely controlled by sports officials, including decisions on retirement.

Yu and Wang Xiaoli were one of four doubles teams which appeared to play poorly on purpose to secure a more favorable position in the next phase of the event.

Two teams from South Korea and another from Indonesia were disqualified from competition but allowed to stay at the games - a step lighter than expulsion, the penalty for positive drug tests.

It appeared to be the first mass disqualification in Olympic history.

The feeble play was obvious to fans who attended the matches Tuesday night at Wembley Arena - they chanted, "Off! Off! Off!" - and to incredulous television broadcasters and viewers watching around the world.

"They're serving fault and fault! They are just hitting the ball into the net!" the BBC's David Mercer said in disbelief. "They are both trying to lose, and that is unforgivable. This is the Olympic Games."

The Chinese players set off a domino effect when they tried to rig the draw after China's second-seeded pair unexpectedly lost to a Danish team in the morning. The South Koreans and Indonesians, wanting to avoid a tough opponent as well, followed suit in later matchups.

Teams blamed the introduction of a round-robin stage rather than a straight knockout tournament as the cause of the problem. The round-robin format can allow results to be manipulated to earn an easier matchup in the knockout round.

None of the players was made available for interviews.

Yu went on state television in China to apologize "to all the badminton fans and friends over yesterday's game, because we did not comply with the Olympic spirit, and did not deliver a match with our true level to the audience, the fans and the friends."

In a statement released to Xinhua, the Chinese Olympic delegation criticized its players' actions.

"The behavior by Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli on court violated the Olympics ideal and the spirit of fair play. The Chinese delegation feels distressed over this matter," the delegation said.

Xinhua also reported Chinese badminton coach Li Yongbo apologized and accepted blame for the scandal.

"As the head coach, I owe the fans and the Chinese an apology," Li said. "Chinese players failed to demonstrate their fighting spirit of the national team. It's me to blame."

Associated Press writer Scott McDonald in Beijing, China, contributed to this report.

Olympic Swiss Soccer Player Michel Morganella Sent Packing After Idiotic Tweet

Peppered among the grand tales of glory from the Olympics are some awful life lessons for athletes who couldn't resist taking Twitter to racist depths.

Swiss football player Michel Morganella has been sent home after taking to Twitter to voice his disgust with losing to South Korea. Instead of losing with class, he lobbed an idiotic tweet that will now mark him with shame well through the Games. 

Olympics 2012: Team GB athletes at London Games Day Three

A sport-by-sport round-up of how every Team GB athlete performs on Day Three of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

ATHLETICS
Freya Murray  chosen to replace Paula Radcliffe for Great Britain in the marathon. 

Phelps scrapes into 400m medley final

Michael Phelps got his hand on the wall just in the nick of time to scrape into the final of the men's 400 metres individual medley.

The American, who won the gruelling event at the last two Olympics, won his morning heat but only snuck into the finals in eighth place after a desperate lunge on his final stroke.

London 2012 Olympic - Day 1

London 2012 Olympic - Day 1 

RANK	COUNTRY	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
1	China	2	0	1	3
2	Brazil	1	1	1	3
2	Italy	1	1	1	3
4	United States	1	1	0	2
5	South Korea	1	0	1	2
6	Kazakhstan	1	0	0	1
6	Russia	1	0	0	1
18	Great Britain	0	0	0	0

LEGALLY BLIND ARCHER SETS WORLD MARKS

Legally blind archer Im Dong-hyun set the first world records of the London Olympics, breaking his own record in the 72-arrow mark and helping South Korea set a team record in the ranking round on Friday.

Im broke the record he had set in Turkey in May by three points with a score of 699, hours before the 2012 Games official opening ceremony.

Wrong flag accompanies North Korean names; delays match

Day one of competition brought some controversy when the North Korean women's soccer team refused to come out of their locker room for more than an hour before their match in Glasgow Wednesday.

Apparently someone on the stadium staff attached a graphic of the South Korean flag to the North Korean team's player photos during introductions prior to their game against Colombia.

Beach volleyballers might cover up for Olympics

They call soccer the "beautiful game," but an argument could be made that beach volleyball is the most beautiful game. Wives might object to their husbands sitting in front of the TV and watching tall bikini-clad women jumping and diving in the sand if it weren't for the fact that volleyball is a legitimate Olympic sport.