2012 London Olympic Games

DALIAN, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Workers are busy working in front of sewing machines in a manufacturing workshop in the northeastern coastal city of Dalian as the 2012 London Olympics approaches.

Making uniforms for this year's U.S. Olympic athletes, Dayang Group Co., Ltd. has encountered controversy following complaints from a group of U.S. lawmakers, led by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who chided the U.S. Olympic Committee for not providing U.S. Olympians with domestically produced uniforms last week.

"I think they should take all the outfits, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over," Reid said. Li Guilian, president of the Dayang Group, said the group had actually produced more than 3,000 formal outfits for the U.S. delegation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ralph Lauren, a renowned U.S. fashion designer, spoke highly of the quality of clothes made by the Dayang Group, adding that their quality persuaded him to work with the company again this year.

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BORDER guards at British airports will walk off the job July 26, the day before the London Olympics begin, creating an Olympic-sized logistical headache for British officials. Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union voted for the 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay and job losses.

Even without the strike, London's Heathrow Airport has been beset for months by sporadic long lines at passport control, which the union blames on government spending cuts. The problem had eased in the last week as thousands of Olympic VIPs arrived for the games, but a walkout threatens a return of the endless waits at the worst possible moment for Britain's international image.

Home Secretary Theresa May, Britain's interior minister, called the decision to stage a strike on the eve of the games "shameful." She said the government would "put contingency arrangements in place to ensure we can deal with people coming through the border as smoothly as possible."

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ALGIERS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The first contingent of Algerian athletes for the Olympic Games (July 27-August 12) left here for London on Friday, the local APS news agency reported.

Three athletes departed from the International Airport of Houari Boumedien in Algiers, while female fencer Moutoussami Melissa Lea should have reached London directly from Paris where she lives, the source noted.

The Algerian athletes of the first contingent represent three disciplines, including fencing, rowing and cycling. Two other contingents are due to join London on July 24 and July 31 respectively, while the last group will be there on Aug. 6.

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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iziane Castro Marques, a mainstay of the Brazilian basketball team, was cut from the Olympic squad on Friday for disciplinary reasons just eight days before the tournament.

Marques, a starting small forward on the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA, allegedly broke rules by taking her boyfriend back to the hotel in the French city of Lille, where Brazil is competing in a pre-Games warm-up tournament.

Brazil's delegation chief Hortencia Marcari did not confirm nor deny the allegations but said the decision to cut Marques was final. "I'm not going to say what the reason was. The team has rules and they were broken," Marcari noted.

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LONDON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The hope of the British football team of taking medal from the 2012 London Olympics was given a shock when they were beaten 2-0 at home by Brazil on Friday.

The Brazilians showed why they are among the favorites to win a medal with an assured performance in which they showed their technical superiority to the side coached by Stuart Pearce.

Brazil midfielder, Sandro, who plays for Tottenham Hotspurs, opened the scoring with a far post header after 12 minutes when the GB defense failed to deal with a cross from the right wing.

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NORTHUMBERLAND, Britain, July 20 (Xinhua) -- When dusk falls, the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle became a mere black silhouette, in front of which more than 450 camps turned bright, warming up the bleak seaside with orange light.

The installation artworks, namely Peace Camp, popped up in eight coastal sites across the UK. A total of 2,000 glowing tents appear from dusk until dawn from Thursday to Sunday calling for peace as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad celebrations.

"Primarily this is a celebration of coastal astonishing landscape right around the British isles including Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland," said Deborah Warner, director of the Peace Camp.

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LONDON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Lord Coe, this Friday promised the Games will be 'safe and secure.'

Speaking on BBC radio, Lord Coe responded to questions regarding the failure of private security company G4S to provide the required number of security staff, which had led to a further 3,500 troops being called in last week. Around 17,000 troops are now involved in helping keep the Olympics safe.

Meanwhile a further 1,200 military personnel are on standby should G4S employees fail to provide the expected cover at venues for the Olympics, which begins on July 27.

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Athletics has long provided a stream of success for both the USSR and Russia at the Olympics and there’s every chance for the tradition to be preserved in London 2012, with the women’s team being especially strong.

*With 47 sets of medals on offer in athletics, it’s no wonder Russia is counting heavily on their athletics team for success. They will be heading to London with a 109-strong squad, three more than in Beijing four years ago and they’ll be accompanied by 49 coaches and staff.

“We have chances in 16 athletic events; it’s especially women’s events, 13 women events and 3 men events,” Valentin Balakhnichev, Russian Athletics Federation's president, told RT. Rising starlet Ekaterina Poistogova will be heading to London after some truly surprising results earlier this year.

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President, Vladimir Putin, will say some inspiring words to the Russian Olympians before their departure for London 2012. The athletes are awaited the in Kremlin for the official send-off ceremony on Saturday, July 21.

In addition to meeting with the head of the state, the Olympians, coaches and sporting officials will lay flowers on the grave of the Unknown Soldier and hold a photo-shoot on the Red Square.

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Beijing 2008 silver medalist Nikita Lobintsev has given up on all of his girlfriends in order to help the Russian swimming team battle for relay gold in London 2012.

*Nikita Lobintsev made a name for himself when he was part of the 4x200 meter relay team that won silver at the Beijing Olympics.


Since then, he’s racked up a bunch of medals at both the European and World Championships, making him one of Russia’s bright stars in swimming.
But Nikita admits the upcoming games in London are a far different prospect than those in Beijing in 2008.

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Despite Chinese total domination in the sport, Russian divers still hope for medals at the upcoming London Olympics. The last decade in diving saw Chinese athletes go from strength to strength, both in the men's and women's competition.

At their home Olympic Games in Beijing four years ago, they clinched gold in seven categories out of the possible eight. The rest of the world, led by Russian divers, was left to wonder just how they could break the monopoly.

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Total dominance in any given sport is a rare thing today, but Russia has done just that in synchronized swimming. Since 2000, Russians have had a stranglehold on the Olympic gold. RT caught up with the hopefuls on the eve of the London Games.

Russia’s synchronized swimming team and duet have won all six possible gold medals in the last three Olympic Games. In addition, they have also contributed heavily to Russia’s overall gold medal tally in both the World and European Aquatics Championships.


But whether or not their challengers have dropped their standards in recent times, it’s clear the current batch of Russian athletes are training hard.

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Russia is aiming for a plethora of medals in shooting at the upcoming Olympics, as the country has a worthy set of competitors in all 15 events in London.

*Shooting is one of the oldest modern Olympic disciplines. And while there were just three shooting events at the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, there will be 15 disciplines in London 2012, with 390 athletes taking part.

The USSR quickly established themselves as one of the heavyweights in the sport alongside the US and China.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic Stadium where the London Olympic Games will be opened on July 27 has been shortlisted for the Britain's top architecture award, the Royal Institute of British Architects announced Sunday.

The bowl shaped Olympic Stadium, located in east London, will be competing with five other new buildings for the 20,000 pound (some 31,240 US dollars) Stirling Prize.

The 80,000-seater stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games as well as the athletics competitions.

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LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson insisted yesterday the city was ready to host the 2012 Olympic Games despite a national plunge into nervous self-depression before the excitement begins.

Johnson said Britain was feeling the necessary tension before a big performance, as the clock ticks down to Friday's opening ceremony at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.

He said the venues were safe and the transport system was bearing up despite a week dominated in Britain by fears over travel chaos and gaps in security.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- When Beijing handed the Olympic baton over to London in 2008, Mayor Boris Johnson proudly told the world that "Ping pong is coming home." With less than a week to go, the hometown of "whiff whaff" is making last-minute efforts to create a competition venue up to the Olympic standards.

The London 2012 table tennis competition will be played at the ExCeL Center, the largest competition venue at the London 2012 Games. The gigantic exhibition mall-turned venue will also host fencing, weightlifting, taekwondo and judo competitions during the Games.

Getting lost is possible for first-time visitors, as the center is made up of five different arenas, each of which will be hosting different sports during the Games and will have its own unique spectators zone.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Celebrated Chinese pianist Lang Lang carried the torch in London Sunday afternoon, five days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Temperature rose on Sunday when the sky of London was cleared up. But it seemed even warmer in Hornchurch, Havering in northeast London, where people cheered with joy as Lang took over the dazzling golden torch and started his 300-meter leg at about 14:30.

While he passed the Queen's Theater, he mounted an al-fresco stage and waved to the fanatic crowd. "Thank you everyone, Olympic London," shouted the excited music prodigy.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Mexican diver Ivan Garcia believes he and dive partner German Sanchez can beat the challenge of the Chinese to take the gold medal in the 10-meter platform synchronized dive in the London Olympics.

Garcia and Sanchez will be up against home pair of Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield as well as the powerful Chinese duo of Huo Liang and Qu Bo, who are favorites to take the gold medal.

However, far from being intimidated, 18-year-old Garcia is relishing the challenge. "We are in good form: German (Suarez) and I are at best form we have ever been in," he told Xinhua.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- London is as well prepared to host the Olympic Games as any city has ever been, according to the city's mayor Boris Johnson.

Speaking to the BBC the day after International Olympic Committee President Jaques Rogge had delivered a positive appraisal of the city's state of preparation less than a week before next Friday's opening ceremony, Johnson continued the upbeat message.

"If you look at what Jacques Rogge had to say last night, he's been in London for a few days, he thinks that our city is as well-prepared as any city in the history of the Games," said Johnson, who brushed off recent predictions of transport chaos and security problems during the event.

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LONDON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- World number one Roger Federer on Sunday said he is expecting "something special" at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Olympic tennis tournament will take place at Wimbledon, where Federer won his record-equalling seventh Championships earlier this month. He is competing in the men's singles and doubles evnets at the Games.

London 2012 will be the Swiss player's fourth Games, and he has twice carried his nation's flag at the Opening Ceremony -- at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Federer won the men's doubles title in Beijing with Stanislas Wawrinka and the two will team up again for the defending campaign.

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SEOUL: A South Korean official will visit North Korea this week to discuss the possible broadcast of the London Olympics there, Seoul's unification ministry said on Monday.

Kim In-Kyu, president of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), will visit Pyongyang from Tuesday to Thursday for talks with the North's radio and television broadcasting committee, said an official. The ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, authorised Kim's visit after Pyongyang invited him to discuss such broadcasts, said spokeswoman Park Soo-Jin.

Kim, who also runs the South's state Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), will be the first South Korean civilian to pay an authorised visit to the communist state since the funeral of leader Kim Jong-Il in December.

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The 2012 London Olympic Games to open on July 27 contains certain Chongqing elements.

In addition to the participation of Li Xuerui, a Chongqing badminton athlete and Wang Tao, a Chongqing shooting athlete in the competition fields in London, Rao Lang, a female Chongqing diving judge will also be present at the judge seating during diving competitions.

Besides, Zhao Yongsheng, the heel-to-toe walking coach and also a Chongqing native will lead the heel-to-toe team to London Olympic Games.

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CANDACE Parker can't wait to get to London. It's not just because she'll be playing in her second Olympics or that she'll get to see the city for the first time. She's just really excited to be reunited with her 3-year-old daughter Lailaa.

"This Olympics is really for her. It will be a great experience for her to look back at this when she's old enough," Parker said. "This time four years ago she wasn't even a thought and now she'll be at the Olympics with me. It means a lot for her to be here with me."

Parker hasn't seen her daughter since the U.S. women's basketball team left Washington, D.C., on July 16. It's the longest the two have been apart since Lailaa was born on May 13, 2009. The two have traveled around the world as Lailaa is always by her side. When Parker plays in Russia in the winter, Lailaa is there. When she goes on the road during the WNBA season, her daughter is around.

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THE London Olympics opening ceremony will be a grand spectacle - but will it be a surprise? In a word, no.

Director Danny Boyle wants the details to stay secret and games chief Sebastian Coe has pleaded for insiders to stop leaking details of the extravaganza. But in the age of camera phones and social media, with 10,000 performers in the ceremony, thousands of Olympic security and staff and more than 10,000 journalists already at the Olympic Park, not much can be kept out of the public domain.

"Part of the modern world means you can't really do that," Boyle acknowledged about keeping secrets as he showed journalists a mock-up of the set for the opening scene of the ceremony, weeks before the event.

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LONDON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Australian jumpers Mitchell Watt and Henry Frayne both are tuned up to charge for a medal at the upcoming London Olympic Games.

"I definitely think I can win the gold but, being on the podium, I wouldn't be disappointed with a silver or a bronze. I want to be on the podium, and the higher the better," said Watt, 2011 world long jump silver medallist, during a press conference at the Australia athletics training camp in Tonbridge on Monday.

The 24-year-old Watt, who won in both the New York leg and London leg of 2012 IAAF Diamond League in the build-up for the Games, expected a close competition in London.

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SINISTER. Disturbing. Creepy. Frightening.

The official mascots of London's Olympic and Paralympic Games - Wenlock and Mandeville - have been called all of those things. The futuristic-looking pair have popped up all over London, casting their one-eyed gaze at tourists and locals alike from posters, statues and a slew of Olympic merchandise ranging from key chains to cutlery.

Commentators, however, have been skewering the duo for scaring children and projecting a creepy surveillance-state image of the Olympic Games.

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