Michael Phelps sets all-time Olympic record with 19th medal

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  REUTERS - Michael Phelps of the U.S. smiles after winning his 19th Olympic medal in the men's 4x200m …more 

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LONDON – In the final 10 meters of his history-making race, Michael Phelps was alone in the open – a fitting margin for an Olympic icon who is now the most decorated medal-winner of all time.

Swimming the anchor leg of the men’s 200-freestyle relay, Phelps held onto a significant lead and delivered the United States another gold medal – the 15th of his career and the 19th time he has stood on an Olympic podium. He’s now alone in the overall medal count, having broken a tie with Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina as the most-decorated athlete in the history of the Games.

[Photos: Michael Phelps]

Phelps entered the night with 17 medals, wining silver in the 200-meter butterfly and then gold in the 4x200, swimming the two races a little over one hour apart.

Just before the 4x200 began, Phelps pulled his teammates into a huddle and expressed his gratitude for their part in the moment. He delivered one last request.

"I wanted a big lead," Phelps said. "I told the guys, 'Get me a big lead.' And they gave it to me."

The crowd in London’s Aquatics Centre thundered in applause for much of the race as the United States’ Ryan Lochte – one of Phelps chief rivals in the last four years – got the Americans off to a blazing start. It was a change of sorts for Lochte, who anchored the 4x100 silver medal effort – in which the U.S. was overtaken by the French in the closing moments. This time, U.S. men’s coach Gregg Troy put Lochte in the lead-off leg, offering him an opportunity to get Phelps the lead he desired.

[Related: Gymnast Larissa Latynina thinks she's the greatest Olympian ever]

He did just that, swimming the fastest lead-off leg and outpacing the French by 1.55 seconds over the first 200 meters.

"The past two days I wasn’t myself," Lochte said of his sprint struggles in these Games. "After [the 400 freestyle silver medal] my confidence was gone. Everyone kept telling me, 'You’re better than that.' I didn’t swim this morning and I think that helped. I was back to myself. I was that happy-go-lucky guy."

Shortly before Tuesday night's swim meet, Latynina told Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers that the medals she also won as a coach still separate her from Phelps.

"Do I think I am still the greatest Olympian?" she said in an interview translated by a Russian gymnastics federation official. "Why yes, but that is my opinion.

"Why do I think this? Well, I did not only compete in three Olympic Games and won many medals, but the Soviet Union team had very great success when I was the coach."

Latynina won nine golds and 18 total medals in her career that spanned three Olympics from 1956-64. The Soviet Union also claimed another 10 golds when she was coach during the 1970s. She also said Phelps has her respect.

"It is special what he has done," Latynina said.

In a tribute to Phelps and recognizing the speed he showed in the 4x100 relay earlier in the games, U.S. coaches shuffled their 4x200 order, placing Phelps in the closing leg. While some may argue it as grandstanding by the U.S., Phelps’s blazing 47.15-second split in the 4x100 relay actually made him an ideal anchor candidate. This despite Phelps' long-standing history as a leadoff man in U.S. relays. It was also clearly a nod of respect from the U.S. coaches for a career that has rewritten American and Olympic record books while lifting U.S. swimming to unprecedented heights.

The relay unfolded as dramatically as you would expect, with Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens giving Phelps the sizable lead he wanted. Phelps went into the pool and was never challenged, stretching the lead in the first 150 meters and then going into the wall nearly 10 meters ahead of the French.

Phelps moved into position for the history-making moment earlier Tuesday night with his second-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly, giving him 18 Olympic podiums. He looked poised to take gold in the race, charging out early and leading after all three of the turns, before appearing to labor in the final 25 meters. That allowed South Africa’s Chad le Clos to close the gap, with the two going stroke-for-stoke in the last 10 meters. Le Clos stretched at the end, out-touching Phelps for gold, in 1:52.96 against Phelps’s 1:53.01. Phelps looked at the video board and said some words to himself, appearing disappointed with what was ultimately a wrist-length from gold.

Phelps had reason to smile less than an hour later.

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Dana Vollmer’s cap fell off during her gold medal swim

As if Dana Vollmer's 100 butterfly gold medal and world record weren't impressive enough, the 24-year-old American did all of that after one of her swim caps fell off during the race.

Vollmer told NBC after the race that her outer cap popped off during the race. It was later seen floating near the bottom of the pool next to a mobile tracking video.

Olympic swimmers often wear two caps during races. The first is used to cover their hair. The second conceals the goggles strap and smooths any cranial bumpiness. If the outer cap falls off there is the potential the goggles could slip, and without that second cap there is more drag in the water because the first one could wrinkle up. This all could add up to a loss of valuable split seconds in a world-class race.

"The top cap came off," Vollmer told Andrea Kremer after winning her first individual gold medal. "I have never had that happen before. I thought about it, and maybe it kept my mind off my legs hurting or something. I don't know."

The scene brought back memories of Michael Phelps' goggles filling up with water during his 200-meter butterfly victory at the Beijing Olympics. The goggles slipped during Phelps' start and immediately charged with water. As a result, Phelps couldn't see and was forced to count his strokes on each lap so he'd be able to find the wall.

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Bolt being mobbed; Four teammates acting as bodyguards

LONDON, England — Global sprinting star Usain Bolt is now being protected by four teammates on the Jamaican track and field squad at the Olympic Games here as he is being mobbed by athletes from other countries.

Such is Bolt's popularity that ever since arriving in the Athletes' Village on Thursday, the double world record holder in the 100m and 200m events has had difficulty moving about in public.

LONDON, England — Athletes from other countries crowd around Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt trying to get his autograph and photos with him during the Olympics opening ceremony Friday night in London. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

However, according to team manager Ludlow 'Luddy' Watts, who described Bolt as "the star of the entire Games", there are no immediate plans to move Bolt to a more private area.

"No, he is safe here and he does not mind, so we have no plans to move him," Watts told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The four teammates — discus thrower Jason Morgan, shot putter Dorian Scott, 400m hurdler Leford Green and decathlete Maurice Smith — have had to be performing bodyguard duties for Bolt, and according to Morgan, the de facto security chief, "The (team) management says they are happy to have us here."

Bolt was seen on television monitors taking photographs with fellow Olympians and signing autographs on the infield during the parade of teams at the Opening Ceremony.

The Sunday Observer later learnt that he had to be escorted by his teammates through a throng of athletes to get back to the Athletes' Village at the end of the ceremony on Friday night.

Watts said athletes from the team directly in front and behind the Jamaican delegation in the parade — Italy and Japan, respectively — started asking for photo ops and autographs almost as soon as they got off the track. He added that security personnel and volunteers were also a part of the frenzy.

Bolt was not the only big-name athlete in the ceremony as the American basketball team with superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as well as several high-profile tennis players and swimmers were also there.

Watts told the Sunday Observer that when the Jamaican team was about to leave the village for the main stadium, which is in walking distance, a number of athletes descended on Bolt, "as if they were waiting for him to come out".

Bolt, who trained in seclusion in Birmingham before coming to London on Thursday with his track and field team members, appeared at a Jamaica Olympic Association/Puma press conference later that day and said he has not had the chance to see much of the Athletes' Village — "just the dining room" — but chances are he won't get to see much, given the demand on his time by other athletes.

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MALABAR KRANTI EXPRESS

Last week, I have come across one press release from South Central Railway, HQ in Secunderabad.

 

A train from Tirupati to Mannargudi (tri weekly express) was introduced during July 1st week this week.

Now, Today, I can see the press release stating that it would be named as Pamani express.
Please see the hyperlink given below.
http://scr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&dcd=1394&id=0,4,268

No.110/2012-13	25-07-2012 Secunderabad
Tirupati - Mannargudi Tri-weekly Express Named as PAMANI EXPRESS

Indian Railways has agreed to name Train No. 17407 / 17408 Tirupati-Mannargudi-Tirupati Tri-Weekly Express as PAMANI EXPRESS.

Hence, this train will henceforth be called as Tirupati-Mannargudi-Tirupati Tri-Weekly Pamani Express.

When, it is  'Agreed' by railways after the introduction of a train to get it named, Then Why not We use the opportunity to honour the martyrs of WAGON TRAGEDY, by naming, the Coimbatore - Mangalore, daily intercity express as MALABAR KRANTI EXPRESS ??

We should also make Railways agree for that name.

I request you all to do the needful in addressing and highlighting this matter to the Concerned VIP's in Malabar region and other parts of Kerala so that they can take it to the Higher ups in Indian Railways !! As Independence day, is nearing (Aug 15), We can ask for a halt at Podanur jn ( which along with Tirur were both silent witness to Wagon tragedy) for this train 22609 / 10 Coimbatore - Mangalore express and make the train get the Name Malabar Kranti express !!

thank you & regards,

RAVI.S

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Lochte blows away Phelps to win 400 individual medley

LONDON, England  (AP) — Ryan Lochte turned his much-anticipated duel with Michael Phelps into a blowout, pulling away to win the Olympic 400-meter individual medley by more than 3 seconds Saturday night. Even more stunning: Phelps didn't win any medal at all.

After barely qualifying for the evening final in a performance that hinted at trouble ahead, Phelps struggled to a fourth-place finish and was denied his 17th career Olympic medal. When it was done, he could barely pull himself out of the pool.

Phelps...finished out of medal contention  1/1

"It was just a crappy race," Phelps said. "I felt fine the first 200, then I don't know. They just swam a better race than me, a smarter race than me, and were better prepared than me. That's why they're on the medal stand."

Lochte took the gold with a time of 4 minutes, 5.18 seconds. Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) settled for silver, while Japan's Kosuke Hagino (4:08.94) claimed the bronze — beating Phelps by a fairly comfortable 34-hundredths of a second for the last spot on the podium.

It was the first time since the 2000 Sydney Games, when Phelps was a 15-year-old unknown who qualified in just one event, that he didn't win at least a bronze in an Olympic race. Since then, he was 16-of-16 — 14 golds and two bronzes.

Lochte climbed out of the pool with a big smile, waving to the crowd and looking about a fresh as he did at the start. He had predicted this would be his year and, for the first race of the Olympics at least, he was right on the mark.

"I think I'm kind of in shock right now," he said. As for Phelps, "I know he gave it everything he had. That's all you can ask for."

Phelps was trying to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics. He'll have three more chances at a threepeat before he's done in London, having also won the 200 individual medley, plus the 100 and 200 butterfly, at Athens and Beijing.

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London protesters march against 'capitalist' Games

LONDON, England (AP) - About 500 people critical of the economic impact and corporate flavour of the London Olympics marched Saturday near the Olympic Park, determined to send a message that Britain is not united in backing the games.

The protest march came hours after police arrested more than 130 bicyclists who had defied an order to avoid cycling in groups around the stadium during Friday night's opening ceremony.

Police said they had ordered the protesters to remain south of the River Thames, to keep them from blocking thousands of ticket-holding guests from attending the opening ceremony. The cyclists said they were held in a cordon by police, and later arrested, for trying to cycle in lanes restricted for official Olympic traffic.

Occupy London, part of a global movement that has waged demonstrations against financial institutions and capitalist policies, said some cyclists were members of the movement. They said police cordoned off more than 100 cyclists at one road junction near the stadium as Friday's ceremony was beginning and held them there several hours.

Saturday's protest, the largest so far against the games, drew a mix of left-wing and green activists who decry the Olympics as a corporate juggernaut rolling over residents and their civil rights.

They marched peacefully, chanting against what they called the "Corpolympics," watched by police officers on foot and motorcycle.

The protesters contend that the often-cited Olympic boost to traditionally gritty, working-class east London is an illusion, whereas major corporate sponsors such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola gain from the 9.3 billion pound ($14 billion) games. They said the mass arrests at the cycling demonstration, and limits on corporate branding designed to protect sponsors, show that the games are a threat to civil liberties.

Underscoring that message, the marchers passed one of the apartment buildings that have had British army ground-to-air missiles deployed on its roof. That security measure, designed to stop a hijacked aircraft from being crashed into an Olympics venue, has drawn fierce local opposition.

Olympics organisers and the government say the games will leave a legacy of thousands of new homes and jobs, and a major new park in a long-deprived area.

One protester, Michael Coulston, said the British government chose to spend billions on attracting visitors "to one location for a couple of weeks" rather than to build infrastructure of lasting benefit to all Londoners.

Like many on the march, Coulston said he doesn't object to the games themselves, but feels that recession-hit Britain was sending out a false message: "Let's pretend to the world that we're happy."

Many Britons were initially unenthusiastic about the games, a pessimism bolstered by pre-Olympic headlines about security troubles and feared transit chaos. But the mood has lifted now that the event is happening, especially after director Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony.

East End resident Leonard Grieves, who came out of his house to wave an Olympic flag at the passing protesters, said the games had brought real benefits to the district.

"We've seen the area go from almost a wreck to a really nice place," he said.

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Squats: The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat

It may surprise many people – maybe even you – but the best exercise to lose body fat isn’t even an abdominal exercise at all! See, stomach exercises (such as crunches) only work your mid section, which is fine for strength and condition the abs, but in terms of dropping unwanted body fat, it has a long, LONG way to go to beat this classic:

Squats: The Best Exercise For Losing Body Fat

I can hear the moaning already, and some of you might already be saying: “What? Squats don’t even work the abs, how in the heck can they help drop unwanted stomach flab?”

Technically, this isn’t true at all, as squats do work the mid section, albeit mostly as a stabilizing function throughout the movement. But for the sake of the bigger picture, let’s remember that our muscles burn calories at a tremendously faster rate than body fat, and furthermore, the larger the muscles you use, the more hungry muscle tissue you’ll have begging for some of those stored calories (i.e. belly fat). Add in the fact that the Squat actively uses muscles in the lower body, midsection and even the upper body, and not only are you recruiting big muscles, but you’re recruiting them in mass.

I should mention that any workout or exercise routine should include exercises from every major muscle group, but since you probably ended up here looking for the one BEST exercise – the movement you should perform if you could only do one – you won’t find anything better than this one.

How To Perform The Squat

Ready to kick your unwanted belly fat to the curb for good? Get ready because you’re probably going to sweat.

Why? Because all of those big, fat-breathing muscles also demand oxygen as they fire, which means you’ll quickly find yourself in “Oxygen Debt” (a fancy way for saying “out of breath”). But more importantly, it means your big muscle fibers are devouring calories and stored fat like an NFL lineman sizing up an all-you-can-eat buffet.

You can perform squats with or without weights. The two most common ways of using weight are to place a barbell across the top of your back (called a “Back Squat”) or to hold dumbbells in each hand. As an unweighted, or “body weight” exercise, most people either interlace their fingers behind their head (called a “Prisoner Squat”) or hold them straight out in front of them, parallel to the floor. Experiment and find out what works best for you.

Step 1: Stand facing forward with your feet a little less than shoulder width apart. Also make sure your toes are lined up facing forward.

Step 2: Keeping your back straight, bend at the knee and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Don’t let your knees go any farther forward than your toes; it often helps to envision sitting down in a chair, with the back of your legs already brushing up against the front edge.

Step 3: Drive through your heels (not toes!) and return to the starting position.

See, not so bad, eh? And if you incorporate these into your exercise routine, you’ll get much better results than those silly folks flailing on the ab equipment thinking crunches are the best exercise to lose body fat.

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GAME ON! Olympics opens with royalty and rock

LONDON, England (AP) — The Queen and James Bond gave the London Olympics a royal entrance like no other yesterday in an opening ceremony that rolled to the rock of the Beatles, the Stones and The Who.

And the creative genius of Danny Boyle spliced it all together.

Fireworks explode above the Tower Bridge over the river Thames during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics yesterday.

Brilliant. Cheeky, too.

The highlight of the Oscar-winning director's $42-million show was pure movie magic, using trickery to make it seem that Britain's beloved 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II had parachuted into the stadium with the nation's most famous spy.

A short film showed 007 driving up to Buckingham Palace in a black London cab and, pursued by her majesty's royal dogs — Monty, Willow and Holly, playing themselves — meeting The Queen, who played herself.

"Good evening, Mr Bond," she said.

They were shown flying in a helicopter over London landmarks and a waving statue of Winston Churchill — the queen in a salmon-coloured gown, Bond dashing as ever in a black tuxedo — to the stadium and then leaping out into the inky night.

At the same moment, real skydivers appeared in the skies over the stadium throbbing to the James Bond soundtrack. And moments after that, the monarch appeared in person, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip.

Organisers said it was thought to be the first time the monarch has acted on film.

"The Queen made herself more accessible than ever before," Boyle said.

In the stadium, Elizabeth stood solemnly while a children's choir serenaded her with God Save the Queen, and members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.

Much of the opening ceremony was an encyclopedic review of British music history, from a 1918 Broadway standard adopted by the West Ham football team to the Rolling Stones' I Can't Get No Satisfaction to Bohemian Rhapsody, by still another Queen.

The evening started with fighter jets streaming red, white and blue smoke and roaring over the stadium, packed with a buzzing crowd of 60,000 people, at 8:12pm — or 20:12 in the 24-hour time observed by Britons.

An explosion of fireworks against the London skyline and Paul McCartney leading a singalong were to wrap up the three-hour opening ceremony masterminded by one of Britain's most successful filmmakers.

Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, had a ball with his favoured medium, mixing filmed passages with live action in the stadium to hypnotic effect, with 15,000 volunteers taking part in the show.

Actor Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean provided laughs, shown dreaming that he was appearing in Chariots of Fire, the inspiring story of a Scotsman and an Englishman at the 1924 Paris Games.

There was a high-speed flyover of the Thames, the river that winds like a vein through London and was the gateway for the city's rise over the centuries as a great global hub of trade and industry.

Headlong rushes of movie images took spectators on wondrous, heart-racing voyages through everything British: a cricket match, the London Tube and the roaring, abundant seas that buffet and protect this island nation.

Boyle turned the stadium into a throbbing juke box, with a nonstop rock and pop homage to cool Britannia that ensured the show never caught its breath.

The throbbing soundtrack included the Sex Pistols' Pretty Vacant and a snippet of their version of God Save the Queen — an anti-establishment punk anthem once banned by the BBC. There were The Who's My Generation and other tracks too numerous to mention, but not to dance to.

Opening the ceremony, children popped balloons with each number from 10 to 1, leading a countdown that climaxed with Bradley Wiggins, the newly crowned Tour de France champion.

Wearing his race-winner's yellow jersey, Wiggins rang a 23-ton Olympic Bell from the same London foundry that made Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Its thunderous chime was a nod to the British tradition of pealing bells to celebrate the end of war and the crowning of kings and queens, and now for the opening of a 17-day festival of sports.

The show then shifted to a portrayal of idyllic rural Britain — a place of meadows, farms, sport on village greens, picnics and Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne's bear who has delighted generations of British children tucked warmly in bed.

But the British ideal — to quote poet William Blake, of "England's green and pleasant land" — then took a darker, grittier turn.

The set was literally torn asunder, the hedgerows and farm fences carried away, as Boyle shifted to the industrial transformation that revolutionised Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, the foundation for an empire that reshaped world history. Belching chimneys rose where only moments earlier sheep had trod.

The Industrial Revolution also produced terrifying weapons, and Boyle built a moment of hush into his show to honour those killed in war.

Olympic organisers separately rejected calls for a moment of silence for 11 Israeli athletes and coaches slain by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Two of the Israelis' widows appealed to audience members to stand in silence when International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge rose to speak later at yesterday's ceremony. The Israeli culture and sport minister planned to do just that.

The parade of nations featured most of the roughly 10,500 athletes — some planned to stay away to save their strength for competition — marching behind the flags of the 204 nations taking part.

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