Without doubt the most entertaining politician ever. I love him
-
-
President Obama congratulates Phelps for his Olympic medal record
See Mr Coe, this is how to do it, via the Los Angeles Times:
Congrats to Michael Phelps for breaking the all-time Olympic medal record. You’ve made your country proud. -bo
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 1, 2012
-
Lord Sebastian Coe says Phelps ‘up there’ but not the greatest Olympian of all
Ahh, I remember the days when Seb Coe and Steve Cram fought for glory, Coe the born runner while Cram was more a hard working kind of guy (and therefore, naturally, my kind of guy). My childhood memories say Coe always won, but today he’s just totally WTF. Read The Washington Post
-
Visa congratulates Michael Phelps in style
Wow, via Scaq Blog
-
London 2012 day 5 finals: Gyurta and Soni set 200 breast world records
Another exciting day at the London Aquatics Centre, with both men and women setting records, the supersuits beginning to seem irrelevant now. Hungary’s Dani Gyurta set a new world record in the men’s 200 breaststroke, clocking 2:07.28 with Michael Jamieson (GBR) 2nd in 2:07.43 and Ryo Tateishi (JPN) 3rd in 2:08.29. Rebecca Soni set a new world record in the women’s 200 breaststroke semifinal, posting 2:20.00 with Rikke Møller Pedersen 2nd in 2:22.23 and Satomi Suzuki 3rd in 2:22.40. China’s Liuyang Jiao set a new Olympic Record in the women’s 200 butterfly, clocking 2:04.06 with Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 2nd in 2:05.25 and Natsumi Hoshi (JPN) 3rd in 2:05.48. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) set a new Olympic Record in the women’s 100 freestyle semifinal, clocking 53.05 with Melanie Schlanger (AUS) 2nd in 53.38 and Missy Franklin (USA) 3rd in 53.59. The Americans set a new Olympic Record in the women’s 4×200 freestyle, clocking 7:42.92 with Australia second in 7:44.41 and France 3rd in 7:47.49. USA’s Nathan Adrian outgunned Australia’s James “the Missile” Magnussen 47.52 to 47.53 in the men’s 100 freestyle, Canada’s Brent Hayden 3rd in 47.80. And Ryan Lochte cruised further towards his 200 backstroke/IM double tomorrow, posting best time of 1:56.13 in the men’s 200 IM and second-best 1:55.40 in the men’s 200 backstroke behind only fellow countryman Tyler Clary in 1:54.71.
-
Behold, WSJ recreate Franklin’s 100 backstroke win with paper puppets
With NBC having paid more than 1 billion dollars for the exclusive rights to broadcast the London 2012 Olympics in the United States, the pundits at the Wall Street Journal were stuck with having to make this low-budget recreation. Still, apparently they managed to broadcast the swim before NBC. Wow. See “>the Wall Street Journal via Mashable and Neatorama.
-
CC photo #214: MankoÄ and Konovalov at Debrecen 2012
Slovenia’s Peter MankoÄ and Russia’s Nikita Konovalov ready for the men’s 100 butterfly prelims at the Debrecen 2012 European Swimming Championships. Konovalov’s tribal tattoos are pretty awesome. They ended up 6th and 7th in the final, the day after.
-
FINA officially rejects Ye doping ‘insinuations’
Press release from FINA:
Following recent comments reported in the media, FINA would like to clearly state that there is no factual basis to support this kind of insinuations related to the performances of the Chinese swimmer, Shiwen Ye.
This athlete has fulfilled all of the FINA Doping Control obligations, having been tested on four occasions in the last twelve months, including twice before the Chinese Olympic Trials in 2012.
FINA is a leading International Federation in the fight against doping and its policy aims at ensuring a drug-free sport in all of its aquatic disciplines.
-
London 2012 day 5 prelims: Lochte safely through towards his 200 back/IM epic double
At the London 2012 Olympic prelims this morning, China’s Yi Tang posted best time in the women’s 100 freestyle, 53.28 ahead of Melanie Schlanger (AUS) in 53.50 and Jeanette Ottesen Gray (DEN) in 53.51, notable omission Russia’s single participant Veronika Popova and non-starting Cate Campbell (AUS) and Therese Alshammar (SWE). Rebecca Soni (AUS) posted the quickest time in the women’s 200 breaststroke, 2:21:40 ahead of Rikke Møller Pedersen (DEN) in 2:22.69 and Satomi Suzuki (JPN) in 2:23.22. Ryan Lochte cruised to semifinals in the 200 backstroke and 200 IM, 2nd both times with Tyler Clary faster in the 200 backstroke and Laszlo Cseh faster in the 200 IM. And in the women’s 200 freestyle, Australia was fastest in 7:49.44, Hungary 2/100 outside the final in 7:54.58 and Spain 3/100 in 7:54.59.