Wagnike2's blog

London 2012 Medal Designs

2011-07-29T18:19:30Z

Every Olympian spends their days dreaming of winning an Olympic medal - whether it be a bronze, silver, or gold (of course they would prefer the gold medals, obviously). It should come as no surprise that every Olympics takes great pride in the crafting and design of creating their medals. London has finally revealed the medals that they will be giving out during the London 2012 games.

Highlights of the medals include -

They weigh in at 14 ounces, which makes them the heaviest in history
Intersecting lines which convey togetherness and outreach
The River Thames behind the logo
2,100 of these will be given out during the London 2012 Games.

Image GalleryEdit

SourceEdit

Yahoo

London Games Most Prepared

2011-07-25T19:15:32Z

With the 2012 Olympics gaining closer and closer, it's no surprise that London has been preparing for the games feverishly. All of these preparations seem to be paying off though, as London is starting to get rave reviews for their preparedness. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, has stated that London seems the most prepared for the games out of any of the recent hosts. However, he still is concerned with the threats of illegal betting and match fixing especially in the sports of cricket and football. He told the following to The Guardian earlier in the week, "That is the reality we have to live with. We are going to monitor the London Games very closely. Whenever there is an abnormal betting profile, the betting company can stop the bets and refuse to hand out the money."

Roggue has also ordered athletes to be aware that the doping testing will be more sophisticated than ever. He states "We are going to sample your urine and your blood. We might not find the illegal drugs at first testing, but we will freeze your samples and they will be retested later on. There is a permanent check and you will be found."

With all this security, preparation, and crack down on athletes, the London 2012 Games are looking to be extremely competitive and fair. I'm glad that London is taking these games so seriously. What are your opinions on London's extreme preparations?

SourceEdit

The Guardian

Tokyo Bidding for the 2020 Games

2011-07-18T20:08:14Z

After the horrible destruction that was caused by the tsunami and earthquakes of March 11, Tokyo is attempting to recover from this accident. Perhaps, in many ways, they were boosted by the inspired playing of the Japanese Women's National Team who defeated the United States in penalty kicks over the weekend to win the Women's World Cup. But now, Japan is looking to take it one step further.

Japan has confirmed that they are making a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games to take place in the capital city of Tokyo. The Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said, "Today, Japan is recovering from the tsunami and earthquake and we want to have the 2020 Olympics as a symbol of the recovery."

Tokyo was defeated by Rio de Janiero as hosts for the 2016 Games. They weren't discouraged by the awarding of the 2018 Olympic Games to Pyeongchang, unlike France. So far other bidders for the 2020 Games include Rome and Madrid. Istanbul is also expected to throw their name into the competition very soon.

The belief is that many of these earthquake damaged areas could host events such as soccer. Japan has experience hosting the Olympic Games as they were the host of the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1998.

Japan will have to wait until the official decision is announced in 2013 to find out if they will win the bid. Do you think that Japan is desiring of having another Olympic bid?

SourceEdit

The Seattle Times

How The NBA Lockout Could Affect The London Games

2011-07-15T21:23:45Z

With the NBA currently in a lock out, many people are beginning to question how this will affect the London 2012 games. Many of the NBA's foreign players are now faced with unexpected high insurance costs. Many of the international federations are looking to find a way that would allow them to get around paying this high insurance cost. However, if they can't find a way around this issue then many of the game's top athletes may be forced to sit out of the upcoming FIBA games this summer.

Several big names have already been left off their team's upcoming national teams. Andrew Bogut will not be playing for Australia. Spain has announced that it would cost them up to $5,670,000 to insure the contracts of players including Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon, and Ricky Rubio.

Normally, the NBA works alongside FIBA to help insure that the costs of insuring these players stays low. However, in this situation it seems that FIBA has been left on the deep end. Agent David Bauman was quoted by ESPN by saying ""There is no good reason why FIBA was left to fend on its own," "In this case the NBA is punishing all the countries they are using to build their worldwide influence and their global brand by making it so that these players are not able to partake in Olympic qualifying tournaments."

The United States is the only team who has currently qualified because they received a bid automatically for winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. Britain also received a bid for being the host nation.

This situation puts players in a bind with the upcoming Eurobasket tournament. If a solution isn't reached, many players might have to sit out which would jeoparadize their nations' chance of making the Olympics. Alternatively - the players could choose to play, but at the risk of jeopardizing their future earnings.

Either way the situation is not good. Let's hope that an agreement can be worked out so that we will get to see the best players and teams at the London Games.

SourceEdit

ESPN

France Not To Compete for 2020 Games

2011-07-12T20:19:38Z

After the South Korean city of Pyeongchang was announced as the host city for the 2018 Olympics, France has become partially bitter about the Olympic bidding process. France originally believed that the city of Annecy had a strong bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, since they were passed over in favor of Pyeongchang, they seem to be throwing themselves a pity party of sorts.

France, after receiving a disappointing 7 votes in this bid, announced that they won't be making a bid for the 2020 Summer and Paralympic Games. It is believed in the future that they might make a bid for the 2024 Games to be held in Paris. But still, it makes one question why anybody should support a France bid after this immature behavior that they are displaying.

What do you think of the French's attitude towards the Olympic bidding process?

SourceEdit

ESPN

Tragic Event Brings New Life To Former Olympian

2011-07-11T18:28:13Z

Former United States Olympian Gregg Tafralis is a man who has always been faced with difficulities and struggles. Tafralis is perhaps best known for his controversies in the sport of track and field. He participated as a member of the 1988 Olympics track and field team. He sadly placed a disappointing ninth place in the event of Shotput.

However, a bigger tragedy occured to Tafralis on September 9, 2010 in San Bruno. Shortly after settling down for a nice relaxing evening of Thursday Night Football, a gas line 400 feet away from Tafralis' house exploded. Tafralis was the only member of his family home at the time - fortunately. However, his escape was extremely difficult. At first he described his emotions as "I pretty much thought I was going to die. I kind of wanted to at that point. You really don't want to go through that pain. Just die." Eventually he was able to get out of the house by bursting through a burning door. In the process, he managed to tear his knee and fracture his hip.

Recovery needed to happen and it happened big in the case of Tafralis. Tafralis received the proper surgeries that he needed and he eventually began to work out again. As his son Adam said, "This is a great opportunity for him to flourish and regain the confidence he was known for." Tafralis finally has a renewed sense of himself and his priorities after the tragedy. He is now working hard to revive his physical training business. He is also working together with the other families who suffered from this tragedy on a civil lawsuit against the company responsible for the gas explosion. Tafralis admits that he had his troubles in sports, but he hopes that he can serve as a lesson of what not to do. Cheating and using things like steroids is never the way to go.

It's nice to see that a former troubled athlete seems to be re-evaluting his priorities and trying to do the right thing now. What do you think about the story of Tafralis?

SourceEdit

The Mercury News

Special Train Tickets On Sale

2011-07-08T20:20:34Z

Londoners get out your conductor's hat and place it next to to your Olympic flags and clothing. Special rail tickets for the London 2012 games have already gone on sale - not only that, they have a special dedicated website just for this service- [www.www.nationalrailgamestravel.co.uk here]. The tickets are designed to be flexible throughout the games in case an event runs long or is unexpectedly rescheduled. Ticketed spectators will also receive a special travel card that will allow them to travel throughout the venues. On top of that, the stations have dedicated themselves to staying open later to help serve the additional traffic. Theresa Villers, the rail manager, was quoted as saying

"For millions of people London 2012 will be the event of their year and our rail network will be on the frontline, carrying the public to where they need to be at the right time. "I'm pleased the industry has come together to offer some great value fares with added flexibility and the ability to book a full year in advance. This will help spectators to make the very most of their trip to the Games." So if you are a Londoner or just someone who will be experiencing the London 2012 games, be sure to get your rail tickets as soon as possible.

What do you think about these changes to the rail system/the availability to get tickets? Do you think these is a good maneuveur?

Don't forget to check out the Olympics Ticket Giveaway for a chance to see the basketball preliminaries.

SourceEdit

The Guardian

Security Won't Be Affected by Budget Restraints

2011-07-05T19:44:15Z

The security for the upcoming London 2012 games will not be affected by austerity concerns in Great Britain. In fact Home Secretary Teresa May told reporters that

" the 500 million pounds ($804 million) Olympics security budget is being protected from cuts and won’t be affected by the tough measures aimed at reducing Britain’s burgeoning budget deficit."

May was also questioned about whether or not Osama bin Laden was planning on attacking the Olympic Games. May refused to comment on this issue. This is always a prevalent issue as shortly after London was announced as the host of the games, the transit system was bombed by terrorists and 52 people were killed. Security is a tremendous importance for these games, and it is glad that the British are so willing to make sure that their security budget isn't getting affected by the government's pressures to reduce their national budget.

Are you glad that safety seems to be ranked as one of the top concerns of the British government?

SourceEdit

Yahoo

Transportation in Britain to be a Lasting Improvement

2011-06-20T17:49:24Z

One of the major benefits of hosting an Olympic Games is that it's an unique opportunity to improve your cities' existing infrastructure - including roads, venues, and transportation. It should be no surprise that perhaps one of the best three things to come out of the London 2012 games according to Rail.co, is the improved transportation center.

In a list of what Britains thought would be the best benefits of the Olympic Games, transportation came in at number three with 12% of the votes (23% in London). One of the key elements in improving the transportation issues is the newly remodeled Stratford Station which is set to serve over half the traffic of the games. The renovations to this station have come at the healthy price of £125 million. These new enhancements will allow up to 120,000 people to pass through the station during morning peak hours.

Sharon Glancy, the director of the 1st Training Company, believes that "Developing the infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is critical but the lasting impression for the millions of visitors that will arrive for the Games will be if they have had a positive experience of Britain."

It's good to know that the Olympic spirit carries over to things beyond sports. Improving cities and making life easier for people is something that can be appreciated even if you aren't a sports fan.

What do you think about these types of initiatives? Do you think they are good maneuvers?

SourcesEdit

Rail.co

Mario and Sonic at the London Olympics Impresses

2011-06-16T21:35:06Z

Can an overweight plumber and blue hedgehog win Olympic medals? If you are talking about Mario and Sonic, then of course they can. And they have already proved it in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games. It's no surprise that the duo would once again come back for the London 2012 games.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games has made some changes to it's gameplay. First of all there are two versions - Olympic and Dream Versions. The Olympic versions try their best to mimic the actual gameplay and event. The dream version on the other hand is infinitely more interesting. In the dream version, the Olympic event is combined with a level from a Mario or Sonic game.

Another new addition to the game is the London Party Mode. Similar to the gameplay of Mario Party, up to four players stroll around a giant map of London. Big Ben will chime which will throw players into an Olympic event, where the winner receives stickers. The first player to get 48 stickers will win the game.

What do you think of the new changes to this series? Is this game something you would consider picking up? Personally, I like the addition of the London Party Mode, so it's definitely something I'd be interested in.

Christopher Lemaitre Aims For 200m Gold

2011-05-25T20:16:42Z

Christopher Lemaitre, a European sprint, has decided that he is going to focus on the 200m event in the upcoming London 2012 games. He was quoted by BBC Sport as saying "I think it's more reasonable to run one distance. For the Olympics, my aim is to try and win the gold in the 200m."

Lemaitre is currently in Rome for a showdown against star sprinter Usain Bolt. Bolt was quoted as saying the following about Lemaitre, "I think in years to come he could be up there in the top three or four sprinters in the world."

Lemaitre then went on to say that for the rest of 2011 he will be focused on trying to reach the finals in both the 100m and 200m events when the world championship comes around in September.

SourceEdit

BBC Sport

Child's Play Giveway

2011-05-24T22:01:58Z

Event logo.

Added by Wagnike2

Hola fellow sports fans. Wikia is currently sponsoring a giveaway for the charity Child's Play. You may be asking yourself, what does a gaming charity have to do with sports? Good question. But Child's Play is putting on their first ever golf tournament.

So if you dream of being the next Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie, Fred Couples, or any other golfer this may be the giveaway for you. Perhaps you just want to put on some wacky clothes and go golfing? That's perfectly alright also. Or maybe you just want to play some golf with some gamers and help out this charity.

If curious please check out: the giveway here!