Monday Olympic Photo Gallery: Usain Bolt, Blade Runner, hammer throw, water polo, diving and more
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt reacts to his win in the men’s 100-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012.(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Usain Bolt kept running. Can you believe he kept running? He was already officially the fastest man in the world, the race was over, his competitors were kneeling and gasping, yet he kept running.
Skipping down the track in joy. Spreading his arms as if he were flying. Putting his finger to his mouth to shush his doubters. Breaking into a sudden somersault. Shaking his shoulder, bobbing his head, rolling his eyes.
And, yeah man, doing The Bolt.
You just knew the most dazzling star of these giant Olympics would be doing his trademark lightning-bolt gesture Sunday night after winning a second consecutive Olympic 100-meter dash in a Games record 9.63 seconds. Yet the most amazing part of the wonder he showered all over Olympic Stadium was what happened afterward, because he never really stopped bolting.
Usain Bolt kept running. Our finish line was his starting blocks. The end of these Olympics’ most flash-popping moment was the beginning of his show. Only this 6-foot-5 Jamaican with the starry smile and lovable laugh, it seems, can knock seven other runners silly with possibly the greatest closing jab in track history … and that’s the prelims.
“This is what I do,” he said with a grin. “A lot of people come out to see what I’m gonna do today, tomorrow, it’s fun for them, and I enjoy showing them.”
Yeah, he certainly showed us. After blowing his opponents away in the final strides — I swear, he won a 100-meter race by what looked like 100 meters — he left most of the defeated field in a heap and took off down the track. The more he kept running, the more 80,000 fans kept roaring. Wrapped in a Jamaican flag, he jogged and celebrated for more than a lap, so long that an Olympic mascot eventually grabbed him as if to usher him off.
He shrugged off the mascot and grabbed a toy mascot instead, which he then shaped into a mini-lightning bolt.
Reported by BILL PLASCHKE of the Los Angeles Times from LONDON.
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From right, Trinidad’s Richard Thompson, Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, United States’ Tyson Gay, Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, United States’ Justin Gatlin, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, United State’s Ryan Bailey, and Netherlands’ Churandy Martina start in the men’s 100-meters final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
About to run in the 100 meters? Doesn’t matter — get in line.
Usain Bolt was left baffled by London’s rigid security rules on Sunday night as he made his way to the stadium for his race.
“I was in the line, we were waiting to run and the guy was telling me to line up straight,” Bolt said. “I was like, ‘Really? We’re about to run and they are going to make me stand in a straight line?’ There are just some weird rules here.”
Such as not being allowed to get skipping ropes past security.
“They said I can’t bring it in, and I asked, ‘Why?’” Bolt recalled. “They just said it is the rules. So if I have a rubber band that I need to stretch, I can’t take it in. And when I asked why, they say, ‘It’s just the rules.’
“It’s just some weird small rules that don’t make any sense to me, personally.”
Games organizer Sebastian Coe says there will be an investigation, but joked Monday that the delay “didn’t seem to slow him up too much.”
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Monday is the second day of synchronized swimming at London 2012.
- Synchronized swimming was introduced to the Olympics at the Los Angeles games in 1984
- In the 2012 competition there are two events — teams and duets
- The competition comprises of 104 competitors across both events
- It is one of only two Olympic sports at London 2012 that is only contested by women (the other being rhythmic gymnastics)
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South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius starts in the men’s 400-meter semifinal during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
The Blade Runner didn’t advance to the 400-meter finals on Sunday night. That isn’t stopping him from inspiring the rest of the field.
South African Oscar Pistorius finished last in his semifinal heat of the 400 meters on Sunday night. Unless South Africa chooses him for the 4×400 relay, his run at the London Games is over.
That he’s even running at all is amazing enough. Pistorius runs on carbon fiber blades after being born without fibulas.
Grenada’s Kirani James won the heat, then took his name plate off and exchanged it with Pistorius.
“He’s an inspiration for all of us,” James says. “He’s very special to our sport.”
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It’s been 11 years since Canada beat the United States in women’s soccer, and the Canadians know it. They’re 0-22-4 in the last 26 matches, and will get another crack at the mighty Americans on Monday in Manchester.
The Canadians have only three victories in their history against the United States, and coach John Herdman thinks the one-sided rivalry is in his players’ heads.
“They know there’s something there. There’s a little fear there that we’ve not done it for a while,” Herdman says.
A win over the U.S. would guarantee Canada its first top-three finish at an Olympics or World Cup. It would also be the country’s first Summer Games team medal since 1936.
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Kyrgyzstan’s Arsen Eraliev competes with Hungary’s Peter Modos, left, in the 55-kg Greco-Roman wrestling competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Think two weeks is enough Olympics? Spare a thought for the organizers of the 1908 Olympics in London, the first games to be held in the city.
They took place between 27 April and 31 October 2008.
There were 110 events and 2,008 athletes representing 22 National Olympic Committees.
Rome was initially chosen as the host city but the games were moved to London, one of the reasons being the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
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And now on to the rest of our Olympic photos for Monday:
Wu Minxia of China dives during women’s 3-meter springboard diving finals at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. Wu won the gold medal in the event. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Kerri Walsh Jennings, left, and Misty May-Treanor, right, react during their quarterfinal women’s beach volleyball match against Italy at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Spain’s Marc Salles, left, and Argentina’s Juan Lopez vie for the ball in the men’s hockey preliminary match against Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates winning gold in the men’s 100-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, front, sprints towards the finish line to win the men’s 100-meter final race ahead of Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, half hidden, Tyson Gay from the U.S., second in red, Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, center in yellow, Ryan Bailey from the U.S.. third from right rear, Trinidad’s Richard Thompson. second right, and Churandy Martina from the Netherlands, right, during the athletics competition in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Germany’s Max Hoff paddles in a men’s kayak single 1000m heat in Eton Dorney, near Windsor, England, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Japan’s Koji Murofushi competes in the men’s hammer throw final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Hungary’s Krisztian Pars competes in the men’s hammer throw final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Fabrizio Bensch, Pool)
Athletes compete in a women’s 100-meter hurdles heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova competes to win gold in the women’s triple jump final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster-Hylton reacts after competing in a women’s 100-meter hurdles heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa returns a shot to Singapore’s Yuegu Wang during the women’s team semifinal table tennis match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Bulgaria’s Detelin Dalakliev, left, and Great Britain’s Luke Campbell, fight during the men’s quarterfinal bantamweight 56-kg boxing competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Wu Minxia of China dives during women’s 3-meter springboard diving finals at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. Wu won the gold medal in the event. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Suguru Awaji of Japan, left, competes against Andrea Cassara of Italy during the men’s foil team fencing competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Betsey Armstrong of the United States puts both hands up as she attempts to save a penalty taken by Tania di Mario of Italy, left, during their women’s water polo quarterfinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Norway’s Heidi Loke reacts after scoring during their women’s handball preliminary match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tennis fan Kate Martin wears Union Flag face paint as she watches the men’s singles bronze medal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon, in London, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Medalists in the women’s 400-meter final from left, Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu, silver, United States’ Sanya Richards-Ross, gold, and compatriot Deedee Trotter, bronze, pose for photographers in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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