http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/London_s_top_ten-165941256.htmlLondon's top ten
Story Created: Aug 13, 2012 at 12:42 AM ECT
l LONDON The top 10 memorable moments from the London Olympics:
1. CROWNING THE GREATEST OLYMPIC ATHLETE OF ALL TIME Michael Phelps ended his remarkable swimming career by winning four gold and two silver medals in London. He is now the most decorated Olympian ever, with a career total of 22 medals, 18 of them gold. In his final swim, he helped the US reclaim the lead in the 4x100-metre relay, and afterward he got a special trophy from swimming officials that said: "To Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympic athlete of all time."
2. BOLT ADDS TO THE LEGEND The speed. The medals. The poses. It could only be Usain Bolt, who electrified the London Games by becoming the first man to win the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay golds in back-to-back Olympics. Even IOC President Jacques Rogge, who initially balked at giving him "living legend" status, conceded that the six-time gold medallist "is the best sprinter of all time."
3. GABBY LEADS THE FIERCE FIVE Gabby Douglas rocked the O2 Arena with her electric floor routine, her vaults, her leaps high above the balance beam. The 16-year-old won two gold medals, including the all-around, and the rest of the Fierce Five — Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross and Aly Raisman — gave the United States its first Olympic team title in women's gymnastics since 1996.
4. BRITAIN'S GOLDEN NIGHT Three British athletes won gold medals in Olympic Stadium in 44 minutes on Saturday, Aug. 4, to produce the signature night of the London Games: Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon, Greg Rutherford won the long jump, and Mo Farah won the 10,000 metres. (The Somali-born Farah also won the 5,000 metres on the final Saturday.) Counting two golds from the rowers and another from women's track cycling, Britain's total for the day was six.
5. PUTTING THE BAD IN BADMINTON They played to lose. The top-seeded women's badminton pair from China, two pairs from South Korea and one from Indonesia were disqualified from the Olympics after they intentionally lost their matches in order to secure a more favorable draw in the quarterfinals. Olympic officials wanted team coaches, trainers or officials of the four doubles pairs to be punished if they encouraged or ordered the eight players to lose intentionally.
6. THE "BLADE RUNNER" MADE THEM ROAR Oscar Pistorius described his journey from South Africa to the London Olympics as "amazing," and it was. The double-amputee known as the "Blade Runner" because he runs on carbon-fibre blades had the 80,000-strong crowd roaring as he anchored the South African team in the 4x400-metre relay final. It didn't matter that he finished eighth. He can add "Olympic finalist" to his long list of unprecedented achievements.
7. WOMEN'S BOXING A HIT Women's boxing was a big hit in its first Olympics, and it produced three memorable champions: Claressa Shields, the 17-year-old middleweight with the vicious right hand who established herself as the future of the sport; lightweight Katie Taylor of Ireland, the Bray Brawler whose bouts had thousands cheering with Irish pride; and Nicola Adams, the British flyweight who won the first gold medal.
8. RUNNING ON A BROKEN LEG American Manteo Mitchell heard a pop in his left leg with 200 metres to go in his segment of the 4x400 relay preliminaries, and the sprinter knew it was not good. If he stopped, he would lose the race, so he finished the lap, then limped to the side to watch his teammates complete the relay. The United States eventually made it into the finals and won the silver behind the Bahamas.
9. HISTORIC OLYMPICS FOR WOMEN It lasted only 82 seconds, but it will be long remembered: Young judo fighter Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani became the first Saudi woman to compete at an Olympics. Wearing a modified hijab, Shahrkhani drew roars from the crowd as she stepped on the mat against Puerto Rico's Melissa Mojica, who quickly defeated her. Saudi resident Alaa Al-Mizyen said afterward: "Wojdan remains a winner to me and millions of men AND women around the world." Qatar and Brunei also sent female Olympians for the first time.
10. HER MAJESTY'S A PRETTY NICE ACTRESS The Olympics kicked off with a royal command performance. At the opening ceremony, a short film on the stadium's big screen showed actor Daniel Craig as James Bond driving to Buckingham Palace and meeting Queen Elizabeth II, who played herself. "Good evening, Mr. Bond," she said. Next they were shown flying in a helicopter over Olympic Stadium, where stunt doubles parachuted in.
WORLD RECORDS BROKEN
ARCHERY Men 72 Arrows Ranking Round - Individiual — Im Dong Hyun, South Korea, 699, July 27 (Previous Record: Im Dong Hyun, South Korea, 696, May 2, 2012).
216 Arrows Ranking Round - Team — South Korea (Im Dong Hyun, Kim Bub-min, Oh Jin-hyek), 2,087, July 27 (Previous record: South Korea - Im Dong Hyun, Kim Woojin, Oh Jin-hyek, 2,069, May 2, 2012).
ATHLETICS Men 800m — David Lekuta Rudisha, Kenya, 1:40.91, Aug. 9 (Previous Record: David Lekuta Rudisha, Kenya, 1:41.01, Aug. 29, 2010).
4x100m Relay — Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt), 36.84, Aug. 11 (Previous Record: Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt), 37.04, Sept. 4, 2011).
Women 4x100 Relay — United States (Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Carmelita Jeter), 40.82, Aug. 10 (Previous Record: East Germany Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Gohr, Oct. 6, 1985, 41.37).
20km Race Walk — Elena Lashmanova, Russia, 1:25:02, Aug. 11 (Previous Record: Vera Sokolova, Russia, 1:25:08, Feb. 26, 2011).
CYCLING TRACK Men Team Pursuit (qualifying) — Britain (Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh), 3:52.499, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Britain (Edward Clancy, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh, Geraint Thomas), 3:53.295, April 4, 2012).
Team Sprint (qualifying) — Britain (Philip Hindes, Chris Hoy, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny), 42.747, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Germany (Rene Enders, Maximilian Levy, Stefan Nimke), 42.914, Dec. 1, 2011).
Team Sprint (Final) — Britain (Philip Hindes, Chris Hoy, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny), 42.600, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Britain (Philip Hindes, Chris Hoy, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny), 42.747, Aug. 2, 2012).
Team Pursuit (Final) — Britain (Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh), 3:51.659, Aug. 3 (Previous Record: Britain (Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh), 3:52.499, Aug. 2, 2012).
Women Team Sprint (qualifying) — Britain (Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish), 32.526, Aug. 2, (Miriam Welte, Kristina Vogel), 32.549, April 4, 2012).
Team Sprint (qualifying) — China (Gong Jinjie, Guo Shuang), 32.447, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Britain (Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish), 32.526, Aug. 2, 2012).
Team Sprint (First Round) — China (Gong Jinjie, Guo Shuang), 32.422, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Britain (Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish), 32.526, Aug. 2, 2012). Team Pursuit — Britain (Dani King, Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell), 3:15.669, Aug. 3 (Previous Record: Britain (Dani King, Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell), 3:15.720, April 5, 2012).
SHOOTING Men 25m Rapid Fire Pistol — Alexei Klimov, Russia, 592, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Alexei Klimov, Russia, 591, Oct. 6, 2006).
SWIMMING Men 100m Breaststroke (Final) — Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa, 58.46, July 29 (Previous Record: Brenton Rickard, Australia, 58.58, July 27, 2009).
200m Breaststroke (Final) — Daniel Gyurta, Hungary, 2:07.28, Aug. 1 (Previous Record: Christian Sprenger, Australia, 2:07.31, July 30, 2009).
1500m Freestyle — Sun Yang, China, 14:31.02, Aug. 4 (Previous Record: Sun Yang, China, 14:34.14, July 31, 2011).
Women 400m Individual Medley (Final) — Ye Shiwen, China, 4:28.43, July 28 (Previous Record: Stephanie Rice, Australia, 4:29.45, Aug. 10, 2008).
100m Butterfly (Final) — Dana Vollmer, United States, 55.98, July 29 (Previous Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 56.06, July 27, 2009).
200m Breaststroke (Semi) — Rebecca Soni, United States, 2:20.00, Aug. 1 (Previous Record: Annamay Pierse, Canada, 2:20.12, July 30, 2009).
200m Breaststroke (Final) — Rebecca Soni, United States, 2:19.59, Aug. 2 (Previous Record: Rebecca Soni, United States, 2:20.00, Aug. 1, 2012).
200m Backstroke (Final) — Missy Franklin, United States, 2:04.06, Aug. 3 (Previous Record: Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe, 2:04.81, Aug. 1, 2009).
4 x 100m Medley Relay (Final) — United States (Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Allison Schmitt), 3:52.05, Aug. 4 (Previous Record: China (Zhao Jing, Chen Huijia, Jiao Liuyang, Li Zhesi), 3:52.19, Aug. 1, 2009).
WEIGHTLIFTING Men 62kg (Total) — Un Guk Kim, North Korea, 327, July 30 (Previous Record: Zhang Jie, China, 326, April 27, 2008).
77kg Lu Xiaojun, China, 175, Aug. 1 (Previous Record: Lu Xiaojun, China, 174, Nov. 24, 2009).
77kg (Total) — Lu Xiaojun, China, 379, Aug. 1 (Previous Record: Lu Xiaojun, China, 378, Nov. 24, 2009).
94kg (Clean & Jerk) — Ilya Ilyin, Kazakhstan, 233, Aug. 4 (Previous Record: Szymon Kolecki, Poland, 232, April 29, 2000).
94kg (Total) — Ilya Ilyin, Kazakhstan, 418, Aug. 4 (Previous Record: Akakios Kakhiashvili, Greece, 412, Nov. 27, 1999).
Women 53kg (Clean & Jerk) — Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Kazakhstan, 131, July 29 (Previous Record: Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Kazakhstan, 130, Nov. 6, 2011).
+75kg (Snatch) — Tatiana Kashirina, Russia, 151, Aug. 5 (Previous Record: Tatiana Kashirina, Russia, 149, Aug. 5, 2012).
+75kg (Total) — Tatiana Kashirina, Russia, 332, Aug. 5 (Previous Record: Zhou Lulu, China, 328, Nov. 12, 2011).
+75kg (Total) — Zhou Lulu, China, 333, Aug. 5 (Previous Record: Tatiana Kashirina, Russia, 332, Aug. 5, 2012).