Sunday, July 29, 2012

Olympics Notebook: Invisible Olympic flame frustrates visitors

Invisible flame frustrates visitors

The Olympic flame is nowhere to be seen.

The enduring image of the Summer and Winter Games, lit Friday night at the climax of the opening ceremony, is out of sight from the throngs of fans who hoped to catch an inspiring glimpse or take a photo.

The cauldron sits low in the center of Olympic Stadium in London, invisible from the outside. It will be moved today to a corner.

"I didn't realize you couldn't see it," said John Morrissey, who traveled to London from Ireland. "I was going to walk around until I saw it. It seems quite poorly thought out."

Cool night forces volleyball cover-up

When temperatures dropped into the low 60s for the first night session, the beach volleyball players said bye-bye to their bikinis.

Two-time defending gold medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor of the United States wore long-sleeved shirts on top of bikini bottoms for their 21-18, 21-19 victory over Australians Natalie Cook and Tasmin Hinchley, a match that started at 11 p.m. when the temperature was 63 degrees.

Choreographer disappointed

The choreographer of a somber segment in the London Olympics opening ceremony said he's disappointed NBC decided not to show it to an American audience.

Spectators were asked to display photos of loved ones who could not be there during the segment. The music, a hymn called "Abide With Me," was described in the ceremony's program as an "honest expression of the fear of approaching death."

NBC instead showed American viewers Ryan Seacrest's interview with swimmer Michael Phelps.

"It brings to mind the question ... that maybe it's too truthful," choreographer and Londoner Akram Khan said.

World records broken

ARCHERY

Men

■ 72 arrows ranking round - individual — Im Dong Hyun, South Korea, 699, July 27 (previous record: Im Dong Hyun, South Korea, 696, May 2, 2012).

■ 216 arrows ranking round - team — South Korea (Im Dong Hyun, Kim Bub-min, Oh Jin-hyek), 2,087, July 27 (previous record: South Korea - Im Dong Hyun, Kim Woojin, Oh Jin-hyek, 2,069, May 2, 2012).

SWIMMING

Women

■ 400m individual medley (final) — Ye Shiwen, China, 4:28.43, July 28, 2012 (previous record: Stephanie Rice, Australia, 4:29.45, Aug. 10, 2008).

Olympic records broken

ARCHERY

Men

■ 72 arrows ranking round — Im Dong Hyun, South Korea, 699, July 27 (previous record: Michele Frangilli, Italy, 684, July 28, 1996).

■ 216 arrows ranking round - team — South Korea (Im Dong Hyun, Kim Bub-min, Oh Jin-hyek), 2,087, July 27 (previous record: South Korea, 2,031, July 28, 1996).

SWIMMING

Men

■ 100m breaststroke (semi) — Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa, 58.83, July 28 (previous record: Kosuke Kitajima, Japan, 58.91, Aug. 11, 2008).

■ 400m freestyle (final) — Sun Yang, China, 3:40.14, July 28 (previous record: Ian Thorpe, Australia, 3:40.59, Sept. 16, 2000).

Women

■ 100m butterfly (heat) — Dana Vollmer, United States, 56.25, July 28 (previous record: Inge de Bruijin, Netherlands, 56.61, Sept. 17, 2000).

■ 400m Individual medley (final) — Ye Shiwen, China, 4:28.43, July 28 (previous record: Stephanie Rice, Australia, 4:29.45, Aug. 10, 2008).

■ 4 x 100m freestyle relay — Australia (Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie, Melanie Schlanger), 3:33.15, July 28 (previous record: Netherlands - Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Femke Heemskerk, Marleen Veldhuis, 3:33.76, Aug. 10, 2008).

Medal table

Saturday

12 of 12 medal events

Nation G S B Tot

China 4 0 2 6

Italy 2 2 1 5

United States 1 2 2 5

Brazil 1 1 1 3

South Korea 1 1 1 3

Australia 1 0 0 1

Kazakhstan 1 0 0 1

Russia 1 0 0 1

Japan 0 2 1 3

Colombia 0 1 0 1

Netherlands 0 1 0 1

Poland 0 1 0 1

Romania 0 1 0 1

Belgium 0 0 1 1

Hungary 0 0 1 1

North Korea 0 0 1 1

Norway 0 0 1 1

Serbia 0 0 1 1

Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1

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