2012 London Olympics

[GeneChing]

...its gonna be reggae.

Condoms breaking Olympic rules
FOX Sports
Updated Aug 9, 2012 10:06 AM ET

Don’t mess with the official condom of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

That’s essentially the message being sent by LOCOG, the organizing committee of these games, after a bucket of unauthorized condoms was discovered in the Olympic Village.

Condom-gate came to light when Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan posted a photo of the bucket on her Twitter account, according to The Guardian newspaper.

The bucket was adorned with a sign bearing the message, “Kangaroos condoms, for the gland downunder," and a photo of a boxing kangaroo.

Organizers of the London Games, following a tradition started in Barcelona in 1992 and backed by the IOC, placed 150,000 free Durex condoms in dispensers for the more than 10,000 athletes competing this summer. Durex paid for the right to supply the condoms.

LOCOG officials are trying to determine how the Kangaroo condoms got into the athletes village, a spokeswoman told The Guardian. The condoms apparently came from Durex rivals Ansell Ltd., an Australian company, and Pasante, a private British firm.

Though athletes and officials were permitted to bring personal items into the village, the spokeswoman told The Guardian that LOCOG "will look into this and ask that they are not handed out to other athletes because Durex are our supplier."

The promotion of products is strictly controlled by Olympic organizers, who make sponsorship deals with a limited number of companies and, thus, want to limit any free publicity by competitors.

A company spokeswoman told The Guardian that Durex was "proud to be supplying free condoms for the Olympics Games" but declined further comment. An Ansell spokeswoman told The Guardian her company was unaware of the situation and suggested it might be a prank. "We have had no official participation or association with the Olympics at all," she said.

Pasante managing director Lawrence Boon denied any involvement by his company and also suggested it was a prank.

"We have no association with the Olympics, but we did launch a gold condom this year for champions," Boon told The Guardian. "With such high teenage pregnancy and STD rates, we try to make people carry condoms by making them fun and interesting."

The number of condoms supplied at London broke the record of 100,000 offered in Beijing four years ago. Organizers of the 2000 Sydney Games had to pull out an additional 20,000 condoms after the athletes worked their way through the initial allocation of 70,000.

Olympic gold also brings athletes green
Victoria Black
Updated 8:32 p.m., Wednesday, August 8, 2012

When Kellogg stamped Gabby Douglas' hard-to-forget smile on a box of corn flakes, the company kicked off a string of endorsement deals that will likely make her millions. But even without sponsors, the 16-year-old gymnast will leave London with $50,000, which is what two gold medals is worth in her home country.

Mostly made of silver with at least 6 grams of gold, a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics is worth about $700. Taking the hard work, dedication and sheer talent of its athletes into account, the United States has upped its assessment, at least with regard to what it will pay.

Relatively modest compared with most of the world's incentives, America pays $25,000 to gold winners, $15,000 to those who earn silver, and $10,000 for bronze.

Singapore, the world leader in Olympic payouts, gives far more, promising its champions a whopping $800,000. Kazakhstan is also a leader in the pecking order of cash prizes. Olga Rypakova, who won the women's triple jump for Kazakhstan, will see $250,000 for her gold. Italy is nearly as generous, giving gold winners up to $182,000.

Awarded at a national level, these bonuses pale in comparison to the prizes local governments are giving. In addition to the $135,000 Russia promises its gold winners, media reports say the regional government of Chelyabinsk Oblast is offering $1 million.

In China, rewards do not stop at cash. Local governments give everything from apartments to luxury cars - and in the case of 2008 weightlifting champion Chen Xiexia, houses for her and for her parents.

Xiexia, who according to media reports won a national award of over $55,000, received double that from Guangdong province, in addition to an Audi Q7.

For the 51 gold medals China took home in 2008, it's estimated that the country paid roughly $55,000 apiece, although the Chinese Olympic Committee has denied this number. The last bonuses China announced go back to 2004, when the country paid roughly $30,000, $18,800 and $12,500 for gold, silver and bronze, respectively. China has not announced its award program for 2012, but Chinese-language Sports Weekly says athletes will probably receive about $51,000.

This year's host country is a bit less generous. Great Britain is awarding no prize money to its medalists, but it will put their faces on Royal Mail stamps. Royalties from postage stamps can reach into the five figures, but unfortunately for tennis star Andy Murray or cyclist Chris Hoy, no Bentleys lie in store for Her Majesty's best.

Britain is the only major medal winner that does not offer cash incentives. The French pay gold medalists $65,000, while South Africa just announced a prize of nearly $55,000. Mexico pays $37,000 for a gold medal - almost twice what Canada offers, which at $20,000 is among the lowest of international payouts.

Victoria Black is an intern for Bloomberg Businessweek. E-mail: business@sfchronicle.com

[MightyB]

NBC pulls ‘creepy’ Olympic video ‘Bodies in Motion’ after backlash

Watch the Video

[Frost]

the greatest male freestyle wrestler of the modern age Artur Taymazov does it again
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18912848

[Hebrew Hammer]

I thought this was a great Olympics, the coverage and access to all the sports was outstanding...I got to see virtually every event or venue I wanted to watch. It is an incredible production that the IOC and the host country put on, as much as there are examples of poor judging or referrying there are many times as many of solid judiciary.

Highlights for me:

US Women's soccer, indoor and outdoor volleyball, archery, judo, tiny Grenada winning the mens 400m, the entire Dutch Field Hockey team...ladies ladies ladies. I also loved the mens and womens decathlon/pentathlon, the mens 4x100 meter race was absolutely electric. I admire so many of these athletes who don't come from well funded national programs and spend all their lives competing here.

Lowlights:

Most of the scoring in the Martial Arts events. The Tae Kwon Do, no use of hands is rediculous they look like two baby Trex's fighting it out., It was also terribly scored I thought. In boxing some comlpletely wrong decisions were handed down, the wrestling/fencing even with replay I couldn't figure out how some of the judges were reaching points.

I am still waiting to see how many medals will eventually be stripped for athletes using performance enhancing drugs.

Bloody good show England...long live the Queen!!!

[David Jamieson]

Games were good.
I think they did a good job at putting them on.

[Vajramusti]

Originally Posted by Frost

the greatest male freestyle wrestler of the modern age Artur Taymazov does it again
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18912848

------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing sense of balance.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Vajramusti

------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing sense of balance.

The mere act he was one of only 2 or 3 people to win the par tar when defending the double leg and not attacking with it says everything you need to know about his skill level, I would have entitled the thread the greatest wrestler of modern times but I think this lady takes that title

[Vajramusti]

Originally Posted by Frost

The mere act he was one of only 2 or 3 people to win the par tar when defending the double leg and not attacking with it says everything you need to know about his skill level, I would have entitled the thread the greatest wrestler of modern times but I think this lady takes that title

--------------------------------------------------
I understand about his skill...buy who is she? A link...??
Thx.

[CFT]

Originally Posted by Vajramusti

--------------------------------------------------
I understand about his skill...buy who is she? A link...??
Thx.

Kaori Icho?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/...e-4c1e1ccbb547

[Vajramusti]

Originally Posted by CFT

Kaori Icho?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/...e-4c1e1ccbb547

------------------------------------
Thanks Chee---she is amazing. What a string of victories.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Vajramusti

------------------------------------
Thanks Chee---she is amazing. What a string of victories.

i was actually going with Saori Yoshida the 54kg champ but either one will do lol

About Yoshida

Since her debut in 2002, she has won practically every world- and international-level tournament she has entered. In September 2006, she surpassed a 100-match winning streak. Her streak of 12 consecutive world titles is matched only by Aleksandr Karelin.
Until January 20th, 2008, Yoshida had never lost an international match at the Senior level and held a streak of 119 consecutive victories,

thats 5 more world titles than her team mate lol

[Vajramusti]

Originally Posted by Frost

i was actually going with Saori Yoshida the 54kg champ but either one will do lol

About Yoshida

thats 5 more world titles than her team mate lol

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow!!
A question for Frost----
Karelin was Taymazov's hero.. but now Taymazov has accumulated quite a few medals himself.

Karelin was greco Roman while Taymazov is in free style-a different rule set

All things considered- who do you think was the more accomplished athlete?

FWIW in a previous Olympics Karelin lost to an American- because of the rule regarding loosening a whole.

Karelin's suppl-exes were fearsome.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Vajramusti

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow!!
A question for Frost----
Karelin was Taymazov's hero.. but now Taymazov has accumulated quite a few medals himself.

Karelin was greco Roman while Taymazov is in free style-a different rule set

All things considered- who do you think was the more accomplished athlete?

FWIW in a previous Olympics Karelin lost to an American- because of the rule regarding loosening a whole.

Karelin's suppl-exes were fearsome.

That’s a good question joy and a hard one lol
Karelin was the most dominant male wrestler in history in my view, they had to change the rules in order for him to lose for lords sake.
He went 13 years undefeated in international competition and six years without giving up a point, heck one competitor from Sweden in the worlds grabbed the mat edge illegally to avoid being gut wrenched and suplexed (how any one can lift a 300 pound man laying face down on the mat and throw them over his head is beyond me)
As an aside when the above happened and the Swedish athlete was kicked out of the competition for grabbing tha mat an American competitor turned to his coach and said that guys a coward and stupid for doing that…. his coach replied he might just be the smartest man in the room because he had finally figured out a way to stop being thrown by Karelin
BUT as you say it was in Greco and the superheavyweight category which was then 130kg, so the pool of talent he faced was less, Taymazov competed in a more competitive field so his accomplishments I feel in the OL games are more impressive BUT he has nowhere near the same number of world titles as Karelin
So on reflection id say Karelin simply because he dominated every competition he entered not just the OL games
Who do you pick?

[Vajramusti]

[QUOTE=Frost;1183427]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks- me too;
Karelin- without diminishing Taymazov's own great achievements in free style.
In addittion to Karelin's pick ups, turns, throws-specially the awesome supplexes,

I am also factoring in some well known stories:

carrying his own fridge up the stairs to yje top floor of one of those multi story Russian apartment buildings (strength) and spontaneously kicking a chandelier (flexibility)in an hotel lobby (in Rome?).

His runs in rough landscapes hurdling over fallen trees in the snow(wind and stamina)

Gardner "won" because of a rule on maintaining finger locking on a hold!

[Frost]

[QUOTE=Vajramusti;1183436]

Originally Posted by Frost

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks- me too;
Karelin- without diminishing Taymazov's own great achievements in free style.
In addittion to Karelin's pick ups, turns, throws-specially the awesome supplexes,

I am also factoring in some well known stories:

carrying his own fridge up the stairs to yje top floor of one of those multi story Russian apartment buildings (strength) and spontaneously kicking a chandelier (flexibility)in an hotel lobby (in Rome?).

His runs in rough landscapes hurdling over fallen trees in the snow(wind and stamina)

Gardner "won" because of a rule on maintaining finger locking on a hold!

yep as an athlete he was simply on another level, he scared international level competitors into getting themselves disqualified rather than thrown, that probably says all you need to know about him lol