Cheat sheet: Olympic glory and defeats
Four days into the London 2012 Olympic Games and the record-breaking, history-making, scandal-rocking moments are coming on fast and furious.
South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh, 24, celebrates after setting a new world record to win the men's 100m breaststroke final on 29th July, defeating Australia's Christian Sprenger and Brendan Hansen of the US. He won gold in 58.46 seconds and afterwards paid tribute to late Norwegian world champion Alexander Dale Oen, who died of heart failure aged just 26 at the end of April.
Ryan Lochte, 27, of the US smiles after winning gold in the men's 400m individual medley final on 28th July, beating Thiago Pereira of Brazil, Japan's Kosuke Hagino, and his teammate Michael Phelps who came in fourth. Lochte himself finished fourth in the men's 200m freestyle final two days later.
France's 4x100m men's freestyle relay team—Clement Lefert, 24; Fabien Gilot, 28; Amaury Leveaux, 26—cheer as their anchor Yannick Agnel, 20, swims to win the event final on 29th July. France snatched gold and avenged their defeat to the US in Beijing four years ago. The next day, Agnel beat Lochte again for the men's 200m freestyle title.
Phelps, 27, and Nathan Adrian, 23, watch their teammate Lochte as he anchors the US men's 4x100m freestyle relay final on 29th July. Adrian and Phelps went first and second, with Phelps opening up a huge lead in the pool. But France's Agnel came from behind in the last leg and overtook Lochte for gold.
US first lady Michelle Obama smiles during the medal presentation ceremony for Lochte, who won the men's 400m individual medley on 28th July. She's been a fashionable figure throughout the games, appearing at events where Team USA is a likely contender for gold, like swimming and basketball.
China's Cao Yuan, 17, and Zhang Yanquan, 18, perform a dive in the men's synchronised 10m platform final on 30th July. They won gold with 486.78 points, leading their closest rivals by almost 18 points.
Mexico's Ivan Garcia Navarro, 18, and German Sanchez, 20, took silver at the men's synchronised 10m platform final on 30th July. They denied the Americans who won bronze, and relegated Team GB to fourth place despite Prime Minister David Cameron cheering for them.
Britain's Peter Waterfield, 31, and media darling Tom Daley, 18, perform their fifth dive in the men's synchronised 10m platform final on 30th July, but it was too late to salvage their medal chances after a disastrous fourth dive. Meanwhile, police have arrested a 17-year-old boy for sending Daley malicious Twitter messages following his defeat.
China's gymnasts celebrate after winning the men's artistic gymnastics team final on 30th July. China scored just short of 276 points, and a little over four points ahead of Japan who took silver. During the men's qualification, China came in sixth place, five points behind their US rivals at the top. But China turned it on for the final and sent the US tumbling to fifth place with a six point gap.
Team GB—Max Whitlock, 19; Daniel Purvis, 21; Kristian Thomas, 23; Louis Smith, 23—became national heroes after winning Britain's first artistic gymnastics team medal in a century when they claimed bronze on 30th July. Britain had initially been awarded silver, but an inquiry into the score of Kohei Uchimura's pommel horse routine saw Japan leapfrog to silver.
There was a royal audience at the men's artistic gymnastic team final on 30th July, as Prince Harry—and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge—sat with their subjects to lead the support for Team GB.
Hungary's Aron Szilagyi, 22, celebrates after defeating Italy's Diego Occhiuzzi during their men's sabre individual gold medal fencing match on 29th July. Continuing Hungary's incredible Olympic record in the event, it was the 13th time a Hungarian has triumphed in men's sabre fencing. Szilagyi is the only Hungarian fencer in the world's top 50—he's ranked sixth.
South Korea's Yun Suk-young fights for the ball with Switzerland's Michel Morganella during their men's football match on 29th July. Morganella, 23, became the second athlete expelled from the Olympics for sending a racist message on Twitter. After his team's 2–1 defeat, he posted a message saying the Koreans "can go burn" and referred to them as a "bunch of mongoloids".
Lee Chong Wei, 29, celebrates after winning against Finland's Ville Lang during their men's singles badminton match on 30th July. The world number one survived a huge scare before booking his place in the last 16. The top seed was taken to three games by Lang but produced a strong finish to prevail 21–8 14–21 21–11. Chong Wei had been troubled in the build-up to London 2012 by an ankle injury and showed signs of rustiness as Lang fought back in the second game. Chong Wei plans to retire after the Olympics.
Malaysia's Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi, 29, prepares before the women's 10m air rifle qualification competition on 28th July. She finished 34th out of 56 shooters but still made international news for being the most pregnant athlete to ever compete in the Olympics. She was almost eight months pregnant and her baby girl is expected to be born in the next couple of weeks.
Team Malaysia's controversial costumes for the Olympics opening ceremony athletes parade were designed and produced by the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation on instructions from the National Sports Council. "We're not here to win a fashion contest," said NSC PR officer Fahmi Omar.
Source: Reuters
Published: 31st July 2012
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