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London 2012 Olympic Countdown
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Whilst we'll all be anxiously awaiting Ireland's first Olympic medal of London 2012, other countries will be desperately hoping that they will get their first ever Olympic medal.
Remember the name Benjamin Boukpeti? This Togolese paddler surprised the world in Beijing 2008 by claiming Togo's first ever Olympic medal, just pipping Ireland's Eoin Rheinisch for the bronze in the K1 Slalom event. The scenes afterwards showing the sheer delight of the occasion were something to savour....his celebrations included breaking his oar in two before raising both parts above his head in complete ecstacy with what he had achieved.
Then there was Rohullah Nikpai, the Afghan fighter who won his country's first ever Olympic medal in Beijing. The taekwondo star became a hero in Afghanistan as a result of his performance in Beijing and the government lavished many gifts upon him on his return, including a brand new home.
Both Boukpeti and Nikpai will be back in London this summer hoping to repeat their wonderful success stories of the last Olympics. Nikpai in particular has a great chance of doing it again as he is the current World bronze medallist in his weight category.
So can we expect to see other countries achieving their first ever Olympic medal in London? Well results from the most recent World Championships across all sports indicates that some countries are on course for claiming their first silverware on the Olympic stage. Here is a run down of some athletes from those countries in with a good shot of producing medal winning performances:
Amantle Montsho (Botswana)
This 400m runner is odds-on to claim what would be a first ever Olympic medal for Botswana. She is the current world champion and whilst she will have stiff opposition in the battle for gold from the likes of Sanya Richards-Ross, a medal at least is certainly within her grasp.
Kirani James (Grenada)
This young superstar from Grenada is already the World Champion and the 19-year-old is tipped for success again this summer over his favoured distance, the 400m.
Interestingly, another 400m runner from Grenada, Rondell Bartholomew is also capable of mixing it with the world's best and he too might not be too far off the medals when they are decided.
William Chetcuti (Malta)
This double trap shooter is the first ever athlete from Malta to qualify a quota place for an Olympic Games (Malta usually rely on wildcard entries and invitations).
Hopes are high in Malta that William will give the tiny Mediterranean island their first ever Olympic medal after he claimed gold as well as other medals at World Cup events recently.
Alessandra Perilli (San Marino)
This young trap shooter has been putting San Marino on the sporting map and has provided San Marino with an unprecedented optimism that they can get onto the Olympic medals table for the first time in history. She has been performing at the top end of her sport and has claimed medals at World Cup events, including gold.
Kim Collins (St.Kitts & Nevis)
Kim might be in the twilight of his sprinting career but this didn't stop the 2003 World Champion from claiming bronze over 100m at last year's World Championships in Daegu. He was also part of the St.Kitts & Nevis 4x100m relay squad that took home the bronze medal from last year's Worlds and it is in this event that the tiny Caribbean island nation probably has its best chance of breaking their Olympic medal duck.
Georgios Achilleos (Cyprus)
Cyprus has a number of genuine medal chances for London 2012 but perhaps skeet-shooter Georgios Achilleos is their strongest hope having claimed gold at a recent World Cup event in Italy. Cyprus have 2 other strong chances in shooting as well as chances for success in sailing and an outside chance in the men's high jump with Kyriakos Ioannou, two-time World Championship medallist.
Daba Mobido Keita (Mali)
This taekwondo star is giving Mali hope for a first ever Olympic medal having twice won World Championship gold in his weight category (2007 and 2009). However for London 2012 his task will be made harder due to the fact that in his weight division in London 2 World Championship weight categories have been combined into one.
Montenegro Water Polo team
Having narrowly missed out on the bronze medal at their debut Olympics as a separate entity, Montenegro's water polo men will be back in London with strong hopes of success. They are current European silver medallists and were 7th at the most recent World Championships but you can be assured that they will be right up there in the fight for the medals in London.
If the water polo team don't deliver success then Nick Delpopolo, current world silver medallist in his weight category has a good chance of bringing home silverware in the sport of judo.
Gabon Football team
The Gabonese men's football team surprised many by winning the African Olympic qualification tournament. They have a decent shot of progressing from the group stage at the Olympics and you never know how far they could go...maybe they could even emulate the terrific success stories of the Nigerian men's team who claimed gold in Atlanta 1996 or the victorious Cameroonians from Sydney 2000.
Honduran Football team
Honduras will be hoping their men's football team can deliver their first Olympic medal and they will have an outside chance of doing so.
Bahrain will also have a chance of securing their first Olympic medal but their's would be less romantic in that it would be essentially Ethiopians or Kenyans running for Bahrain who would be their likely medalists in London.
All in all, the signs are there that at least one or two nations will get their first Olympic medals this summer and I'm looking forward to seeing the celebrations that might follow....hopefully they can take a leaf out of Mr.Boukpeti's book on how to celebrate Olympic success!!0 -
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he will attend the London Olympics and is looking forward to spectating at the judo competition, a sport in which he holds a black belt! Heads of state from at least 124 countries will descend upon London for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. This is still short of the total number from Beijing where 131 heads of state were in attendance for the spectacle.
The heads of state will meet at Buckingham Palace for what will be the largest ever gathering of political leaders to have met with the British monarchy.
Elsewhere, the Samoan Olympic team are about to embark on their journey to the London Games and formally received a send-off from the Samoan Prime-Minister yesterday.
Samoa will be represented by a squad of 8 athletes across 6 different sports: athletics, archery, judo, taekwondo, weightlifting and kayaking.
Samoa made their Olympic debut back in Los Angeles 1984 and are still awaiting their first Olympic medal. Their best chance for success in London could be Ele Opeloge, a weightlifter who came 4th in her weight category at the Beijing Olympics, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal. She is also Commonwealth gold medallist and is said to be a celebrity in Samoa.
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The beach volleyball arena is now being built for the upcoming Olympics. The event will take place at the Horse Guards Parade and could not be prepared until now owing to the fact that the location was required for the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
There will be one centre court constructed alongside 2 warm-up courts and 6 training courts.
Despite the tight time-frame in terms of getting the venue ready in time for the Games, London organisers are confident they are prepared since they held test-events for beach volleyball at the location last August.
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Some more pics of the Olympic park and surrounding area for you today:
Showjumping Venue
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The London Olympics are set to be a family occasion not only for spectators but for many of the competing athletes also. Numerous pairs of siblings and family relatives have qualified to compete alongside each other in London this summer. Here is a glimpse at some of the family links among the 2012 Olympians:
Venus and Serena Williams (Tennis)
This awesome sister duo have swept home to two Olympic doubles golds in their illustrious careers (Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008) and they will be back in London this summer to defend their doubles title. Venus already has 3 Olympic golds to her name having also won singles gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Andy and Jamie Murray (Tennis)
Scotland's answer to the Williams sisters, Andy and Jamie Murray will compete alongside each other in men's doubles at the London Olympics. It is the second time that the Glasgow-born brothers will represent Britain at the Olympic tennis competition having competed in the men's doubles in Beijing four years ago where they went out in the second round.
Colin and Sinead Russell (Swimming)
This brother and sister have qualified for the Canadian Olympic swim team, Sinead in the 100m and 200m backstroke and Colin as part of the 4x100m Freestyle relay squad.
Kevin and Jonathan Borlee.....and don't forget Olivia too!!
The Belgian Borlee twins will be gunning for glory in the men's 400m this summer and the talented brothers will also compete as part of the very strong Belgian 4x400m relay team. They could both be bringing home medals from London this summer. Older sister Olivia Borlee won Olympic silver in Beijing as part of the Belgian 4x100m relay team and she is likely to return to the Olympics in London as part of the sprint relay team. She also holds the B-standard over 200m.
This fast family are sure to be the toast of Belgium this summer if they can bring home some silverware.
Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee (Triathlon)
These super-talented brothers will be vying for triathlon honours this summer with Alistair, the older of the two, favourite for the gold medal. However, there is a strong chance we will see both Brownlee's step onto the podium in London and as recently as yesterday, the duo claimed gold and silver at the World Series race in Kitzbuehel, Austria. They'll take some stopping come August that's for sure.
James and Heather Steacy (Hammer)
This powerful brother and sister combo are on course to compete for Canada in the hammer throw at the London Olympics. Heather has already bagged the required A-standard while her Canadian-record-holder brother Jim has the B-standard.
Ejegayehu, Genzebe and Tirunesh Dibaba (Athletics)
There are no shortage of major championships medals in the Dibaba household. These Ethiopian sisters have between them won stacks of medals over the last number of years, indoors, outdoors and in cross-country. It's hard to know where to start when describing their successes.....well Tirunesh is by far the most successful of the three and is reigning Olympic champion over both the 5,000m and 10,000m and is world record holder over the shorter distance.
Ejegayehu the oldest of the three won the Olympic silver over 10,000m in Athens 2004 and probably could have won gold had she not miscalculated the number of laps left in that race. Dibaba's cousin, Deratu Tulu won the bronze medal in that race and is a notable Olympian herself and is famous for being the first black African women to claim a gold medal at the Olympics (10,000m champion in Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000).
Genzebe Dibaba is the youngest of the three siblings and she won 1,500m indoor gold earlier this season.
It looks as though Tirunesh and Genzebe are on their way to London this summer, but Ejegayehu will probably not be competing as she failed to make the Ethiopian marathon team.
Zach and Paige Railey (Sailing)
Zach and Paige are due to be named as part of the U.S. sailing team for London 2012 as both qualified their country quota places in their respective events, the men's Finn and women's Laser Radial. Both are also serious medal contenders.
Annette and Alexander Edmondson (Cycling)
This pair will be Australia's first ever brother and sister to compete in track cycling. They will be taking part in the men's and women's team pursuit competition and both have a great opportunity of medal success.
Cate and Bronte Campbell (Swimming)
This Canadian sister act will be competing alongside one another in the women's 50m freestyle in London.
Steve and Diana Lopez (Taekwondo)
Siblings Steve and Diana have qualified as part of the U.S. taekwondo team. Diana won bronze in Beijing and is returning to London hoping to repeat her success. Unfortunately, their brother Mark, who won silver in Beijing was beaten in his fight to get onto the Olympic team and has only been named on the call-up list.
Kenenisa and Tariku Bekele (Athletics)
Kenenisa Bekele is an Olympic legend not only in Ethiopia but throughout the world and he is slowly coming back to form in an attempt to add to his impressive collection of Olympic titles. Kenenisa won double gold over 5,000m and 10,000m in Beijing to add to the gold and silver he won at those distances four years earlier in Athens 2004.
His brother Tariku also has high hopes of making the Ethiopian team after finishing third amongst the Ethiopians at the UK trials over the weekend, which were being used by the Ethiopian selectors as a trial for their 10,000m squad for London.
Ireland too it seems could be getting into the family representation act this summer......
Athletics - Joanne (left) and Catriona Cuddihy (not pictured)
With Joanne already assured of her Olympic representation tahnks to her A-standard over 400m, younger sister Catriona is battling hard to join her as part of the women's 4x400m relay squad alongside Joanne. The team are well on course for qualification and Catriona is on the fringes of booking her place in that squad. It is an encouraging sign that she has been selected as part of the relay team for the European Championships in Helsinki but her Olympic place is still on the borderline.
Nicholas Roche and Dan Martin (Cycling)
These talented cousins will be riding for Ireland in the Olympic road race.
And although not genetically related, there has been another nice story developing over the last couple of years of a pair of athletes who are aiming to become the first husband and wife duo to compete on the same Irish Olympic team.
Robert and Marian Heffernan(Athletics)
Rob has qualified to compete in both 20km and 50km walks and wife Marian is expected to compete as part of the Irish 4x400m relay squad that are on the verge of Olympic qualification. Rob will be making his fourth appearance at the Games while Marian will be making her Olympic debut.
The London Olympics are in every sense a family affair for those athletes, some will be united in their quests for Olympic glory while others will be going into competition as rivals, each striving for what the other desires. Should be interesting to see how they all prosper in their respective events this summer.0 -
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Olympic preparations continued today with the installation of a giant set of Olympic rings on Tower Bridge in London:
A light show of changing colours and intensity will make the rings visible at night. Things are really taking shape now with qualification dates passing and countries holding their national trials to select their final squad of athletes.
Even the largest McDonald's in the world is ready to open up at the Olympic Park in London in time for the Olympics (July 28th). It boasts a seating capacity to cater for over 1,500 people and there will be 500 staff working at the store!
Outside view of McDonald's with Olympic stadium in background
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The official song of the 2012 London Olympics has been announced..... Rock band Muse's newest single entitled "Survival" has been made the official "tune" of the Games and the band are due to play at the Closing Ceremony on August 12th.
There are 5 official tunes in total for London 2012, but Muse's song is the main official song so to speak.
Here you can listen to the official track of London 2012....doesn't do anything for me but maybe some of the rest of you will appreciate it more:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYMMnHW85mcThis discussion has been closed.
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