Sunday, August 5, 2012

Olympics 2012: Live Report

1515 GMT: "Coach K said he hopes the US team had saved some of those points after the 156 against Nigeria. They need them now," adds Jim.

"USA is in a fight for the first time in these Games. Up 87 -84 with 4:29 to go after a Deron Williams basket but this far from done.

"Can feel the electricity in the house like none other vs USA."

1512 GMT: BASKETBALL: AFP's Jim Slater meanwhile is taking in the USA v Lithuania match. He says: "Lots of loud-whistling Lithuanian fans here in packed basketball arena and their heroes are putting on a show.

"It's 74-70 late in the third quarter, easily the toughest USA fight so far at the Olympics. Loud whistles greet every USA possession and Liet-u-va chants goes up when the white-clad Europeans have the ball.

"But now it's 78-72 USA after the third quarter. Eighteen points for Carmelo Anthony and 16 for NBA player Linas Kleiza, the Lithuanian captain, to lead their teams!"

1506 GMT: CANADA'S ROSANNAGH MACLENNAN WINS WOMEN'S TRAMPOLINE GOLD. Silver goes to Huang Shanshan of China, with her compatriot He Wenna taking bronze.

Lost count of where we're up to on the Super Saturday gold tally I'm afraid.

1459 GMT: "After that it's the women's team pursuit, with Britain's record holders and world champions in the 3km event looking to claim one of the top two places in the first round that would qualify them for the gold medal match," adds Justin.

"The seats are filling up quickly here and the Union Jack flags are out, but so are others from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands."

1454 GMT: CYCLING: It's over to the velodrome now for the third of six nights of cycling action. AFP's Justin Davis reports: "Hosts Britain, who have won three of the four gold disputed so far, are favourites in the only gold medal event of the night: the women's team pursuit.

"The men's sprint tournament continues with the first round repechages, second round and race for places 9-12, while the men's six-discipline omnium competition contiues with the 30 km points race and elimination race."

1449 GMT: ITALY'S JESSICA ROSSI WINS WOMEN'S TRAP SHOOTING GOLD.

The golds keep flooding in on this "Super Saturday", with 25 of them up for grabs in total.

1444 GMT: Earlier Saina Nehwal became the first Indian shuttler to earn an Olympic medal when she won the bronze medal play off -- albeit in unfortunate circumstances.

Her opponent, Wang Xin, former Chinese world number, was forced to retire in tears and pain after twice collapsing with a knee injury.

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar tweets: "Terrific performance by Saina. To become only the second woman to win an Olympic medal for India is awesome."

1439 GMT: CHINA'S LI XUERUI WINS WOMEN'S BADMINTON GOLD.

Li, the third-seeded 21-year-old Chinese player beat top-seeded world champion Wang 21-15, 21-23, 21-17, often cutting the favourite apart with her wide range of shots.

China won the mixed doubles title yesterday, and has chances to win all the other three titles as well.

1429 GMT: Serena's win, just a month after her fifth Wimbledon crown, also allowed her to become just the second woman to win a Golden Slam of all four majors and an Olympic singles title, after Steffi Graf in 1988.

1425 GMT: So that was the most one-sided women's final in the history of the Olympics.

Williams' victory surpassed Suzanne Lenglen's 6-3, 6-0 win over Dorothy Holman in the 1920 final in Antwerp.

1422 GMT: So Williams has crushed Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to take the gold medal in a ruthless display of control on the court.

She's now showing off her dance moves to the crowd and sister Venus, who is laughing.

1421 GMT: SERENA WILLIAMS ROUTS SHARAPOVA TO WIN FIRST SINGLES GOLD MEDAL

1417 GMT: It's now 5-1 to Williams in the second set after just under an hour on the court. Occasional flashes of a fightback from Sharapova, but Williams could be minutes away from the gold.

1410 GMT: TENNIS: Back to Wimbledon and the Serena Williams v Maria Sharapova gold medal match. It's now 4-1 in the second set after Williams seized the first set 6-0.

Two double faults from Sharapova, whose face shows the stress.

1409 GMT: BADMINTON: Taking a brief detour over to Wembley, it's China v China in the women?s badminton singles final.

Rising star Li Xuerui is leading over number one seed Wang Yihan after winning the first set. But Li looks like she's tiring and it's currently 18-17 to Wang in the second set.

1406 GMT: Now 3-1 in the second set -- Sharapova wins her first game -- but Williams doesn't look set to concede much.

"Total power and dominance from Serena," tweets golf world number one Luke Donald.

1405 GMT: Williams really looks to be demolishing Sharapova in the tennis, where she's now leading the second set 3-0 and is playing her shots all over the court at will.

Surely she cannot be too far off completing the Golden Slam of all four major titles and singles gold. The only other woman ever to achieve that feat is Germany's Steffi Graf.

1400 GMT: TENNIS: The official Olympic tennis Twitter feed thinks Serena Williams has this in the bag.

"Williams wins 1st set 6-0 v Sharapova in 30mins - surely the gold medal beckons? #OlympicTennis," it says.

1355 GMT: SWIMMING: Anticipation building ahead of the men's 4x100m medley final at 1925 GMT.

The US' Michael Phelps, who is to bring down the curtain on his unparallelled Olympic career with the race, tweets: "Last race tonight with the boys... Gonna b a fun one."

And Great Britain's Liam Tancock tweets: "I can't wait to race in the Final of the 4x100 Medley Relay tonight! Its going to be amazing! Let's raise the roof of that Aquatics Centre!"

1352 GMT: US Olympic volleyball player Lindsey Berg is watching the tennis, and tweets: "Man @serenawilliams got that game face on right now...#inthezone...#TeamUSA #Olympics."

1350 GMT: TENNIS: The women?s singles final between Serena Williams and Russia's Maria Sharapova is under way after a shaky start.

Williams took a bathroom break following warm-up, then sat resting in her seat while Sharapova waited on the baseline, prompting boos from the crowd. But Williams hasn?t been put off. She takes the first set 6-0.

1345 GMT: FOOTBALL:Japan are still on course for an Olympic football double -- their men's team have joined the women's side in reaching the tournament semi-finals, with a 3-0 win over 10-man Egypt.

Goals from Kensuke Nagai, captain Maya Yoshida and Yuki Otsu took Japan through against an Egypt side who played more than half the match a man down after defender Saadeldin Saad was sent off in the 41st minute for denying Japan forward Manabu Saito a goal-scoring opportunity.

1330 GMT: Stay with us this afternoon and evening for the women's 100m final, the finish of the women's heptathlon and Michael Phelps seeking more gold in his final Olympic race, the 4x100m medley relay.

1320 GMT: TENNIS: World number one Victoria Azarenka has won bronze in the women's singles with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian 14th seed Maria Kirilenko.

It was a first Olympic medal for Belarus's Azarenka.

1315 GMT: Here's a quick summary of this morning's events -- it's been a whirlwind:

+ World record holder Usain Bolt and world champion Yohan Blake stormed onto centre-stage in the men's 100m first-round heats but a 9.88sec run by America's Ryan Bailey stole the show

+ Oscar Pistorius made history as the Olympics' first amputee runner, securing a season's best of 45.44sec in the 400m semi-finals. He runs on carbon-fibre blades

+ Britain moved into third place in the medals table with two more golds in rowing -- the mens' coxless four and women's lightweight double sculls

+ Switzerland's Nicola Spirig won the closest Olympic women's triathlon in history, pipping Sweden's Lisa Norden for gold after a dramatic photo finish

+ Women's double Olympic polevault champion Yelena Isinbayeva, of Russia, safely negotiated qualifying for Monday's final

+ Great Britain's Jessica Ennis leads the women's heptathlon going into the final event, the 800m.

1301 GMT: There's just one more event left in the women's heptathlon now -- the 800m race at 1935 GMT.

1300 GMT: ATHLETICS: Great Britain's Jessica Ennis, leading in the women's heptathlon, had a great first throw of 46.61m, close to her personal best of 47.11m.

At the end of the javelin, Ennis is leading with 5,971 points, followed by Lithuania's Austra Skuyte with 5,782 points.

Lyudmyla Yosypenko, of Ukraine, is third with 5,701.

Russia's Tatyana Chernova, who previously looked like Ennis's biggest threat for the gold, has slipped down to sixth in the tables.

1250 GMT: TENNIS: Britain's Andy Murray and Laura Robson beat Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 ito reach the mixed doubles semi-finals.

They will play Germany's Christopher Kas and Sabine Lisicki later today for a place in the final.

1249 GMT: ATHLETICS: More on Ran Bailey -- his run earlier in 9.88sec was the fastest ever first-round qualifying time in the Olympic men's 100m. (Makes Usain Bolt's 10.09sec look a bit lazy.)

1247 GMT: HOCKEY: Defending champions the Netherlands have moved into the semi-finals of the women's hockey, defeating South Korea 3-2 for their fourth successive victory.

Netherlands faced a stiff contest from the Koreans before logging three points to take their tally to 12 from four outings to head Pool A.

Great Britain, on nine points from three matches, play China later on Saturday.

1234 GMT: BADMINTON: World champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng have reached the Olympic doubles final with a 21-9, 21-19 semi-final victory over Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, the former world number one pair from Malaysia.

The Chinese pair keenly feel their failure to win the gold medal in their home city of Beijing four years ago.

They've also changed their minds about the Wembley venue, having raised hackles last year by labelling it "dirty" and "like a warehouse".

Cai says now: "It has improved since last year... it has nicer decoration and is a better environment and with a much better atmosphere than last time."

1233 GMT: Oscar Pistorius tweets: "Thank you to everyone who has supported me, that was UNBELIEVABLE! Was so amazing to feel the energy from the crowd! Semi-final tomorrow! :)"

We'll catch up on a few of the other events that have been happening this morning now...

1225 GMT: That's it for the men's 100m heats -- the semi-finals and final are tomorrow night.

Let's hope it doesn't rain, which is a possibility if showers heading London's way arrive early, forecasters say today.

The final, which is the showpiece event of the 2012 Olympic Games, is set for 9:50pm (2050 GMT) and should just escape the worst of the downpours but the risk of showers remains, the Met Office national weather service says.

1219 GMT: Britain's Dwain Chambers takes this heat in 10.02, a season best, with Jimmy Vicaut in 10.1 and Trinidad's Keston Bledman in 10.13.

The 34-year-old Chambers was cleared to compete at London 2012 earlier this year when the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban for drugs cheats was overturned.

Chambers had tested positive for THG in August 2003 and served a two-year ban. He looks delighted to be back.

"I'm just glad to have got through the heat, and the roar of this crowd is amazing," Chambers says.

1216 GMT: The next heat was meant to include Kim Collins, who was the flag-carrier in the opening ceremony for St Kitts and Nevis, but he's confirmed on Twitter he won't be competing -- reportedly because he spent a night in a hotel with his wife, outside the Olympic Village.

"My fans. I won't lie. Won't be running later tonight," he tweeted earlier today.

"This can't be right. Olympic number 5 and no Kim Collins... Even men in prison get their wives to visit."

He's a former world 100m champion.

1213 GMT: Blake, seen as Usain Bolt's biggest rival, takes his heat in 10.00secs, with Japan's Ryota Yamagata in second in 10.07 and Su Bingtian, China's fastest runner, third in 10.19.

1208 GMT: The other star Jamaican, "The Beast" Yohan Blake, is up in the next heat.

1202 GMT: ATHLETICS: Bolt's Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell takes his heat of the men's 100m in 10.04secs, with 18-year-old British hope Adam Gemili second in 10.11 and the Netherlands' Churandy Martina in 10.2.

1201 GMT: More on that latest rowing medal, which ends the rowing regatta of the London Games.

Knapkova, only fifth in Beijing four years ago, came home alone to win the women's single sculls at the London Olympics on Friday.

Denmark's Fie Udby Erichsen took silver, with the bronze medal going to Australia's Kim Crow 24 hours after she had won silver in the women's double sculls.

1201 GMT: CZECH ROWER MIROSLAVA KNAPKOVA WINS GOLD IN WOMEN'S SINGLE SCULLS

1200 GMT: Antigua's Daniel Bailey, a training partner of Bolt, is second in that 100m heat in 10.12 secs and Britain's James Dasaolu also qualifies in 10.9.

1155 GMT: Usain Bolt takes his heat but in a modest 10.08secs. A thumbs up to the cameras from Bolt.

Asked if he'll make it to the gold, Bolt will only say: "We'll see."

1152 GMT: This stadium announcer calls the track a "magic carpet".

1149 GMT: Back to the ATHLETICS, and the US's Ryan Bailey takes his heat of the men's 100m and equals his personal best in 9.88secs.

Ivory Coast's Ben Youssef Meite is second in 10.05 and Canada's Justyn Warner also goes through in 10.09.

And Usain Bolt is up soon! He's been slouching around in his hoodie in the stadium, ever Mr Cool.

1146 GMT: Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist got up on the line to deny Great Britain's defending Olympic champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter in that lightweight men's double sculls, in which New Zealand claimed bronze.

This was sweet revenge for the Danes who had lined up in Beijing four years ago as favourites only to have to settle for third behind the British duo.

There was drama when the race had to be restarted after a seat broke on the British boat in the first 100m.

1145 GMT: ROWING: DANISH DUO WIN MEN'S LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS

1143 GMT: "The track was super fast," says the US's Justin Gatlin after his 100m heat.

1141 GMT: Gatlin takes the heat in 9.97secs, with the Bahamas' Derrick Atkins second in 10.22 and Trinidad's Rondel Sorrillo also qualifying in 10.23.

1137 GMT: Another big US sprinter, Justin Gatlin, is in the next heat -- he won 100m gold in Athens in 2004 but missed Beijing in 2008 due to a doping ban.

1133 GMT: Tyson Gay takes that heat easily in 10.08secs. Richard Thompson of Trinidad is in second in 10.14 and Gerald Phiri third in 10.16 -- they're the qualifiers.

1132 GMT: ATHLETICS: Total silence in the stadium, then the starting gun is fired for this men's 100m first round heat...

1131 GMT: Just before that starts, another doping casualty -- Brazilian rower Kissya Cataldo is kicked off her Olympic team on Saturday after failing a drugs test, the Brazilian International Olympic Committee says.

Cataldo, who was tested before the Games started, was immediately pulled from the single sculls event where she had been due to race later Saturday.

1130 GMT: ATHLETICS: After the preliminary rounds earlier today, the men's 100m first round proper starts very shortly. The US's Tyson Gay is in the first heat in lane 7. Huge applause in the stadium as they come forward for the race, but Gay looks nervous.

1122 GMT: It sounds as if the atmosphere is warming up at the table tennis. AFP's Barnaby Chesterman reports:

"Someone just tried to start a Mexican Wave at the table tennis and it managed to get most of the way around the stands before running out of steam.

"But the North Korean delegation are now doing their best to start up some hand-clapping and foot-stomping."

1118 GMT: Palomeque has been provisionally suspended from the Games.

1117 GMT: Colombian sprinter Diego Palomeque has failed a drugs test, the International Olympic Committee confirms. He tested positive for high levels of testosterone in a routine examination on July 26.

The 18-year-old had been due to compete in the men's 400m heats today.

1107 GMT: More people used the London Underground, or Tube, on Thursday than any other time in its history, official body Transport for London is reporting.

Some 4.31 million passengers used the Tube that day, breaking the record of 4.25 million set on Wednesday. Not bad for a network that incorporates the world's oldest stretch of underground railway.

1106 GMT: More from Kat Copeland, who says to her rowing partner Sophie Hosking in disbelief, "We just won the Olympics! We're going to be on a stamp!"

1105 GMT: China's Xu Dongxiang and Huang Wenyi take the silver in that lightweight women's double sculls, while Greece's Christina Giazitzidou and Alexandra Tsiavou get bronze.

1104 GMT: Kat Copeland, one of that women's winning rowing duo along with Sophie Hosking, says: "I know this isn't the Oscars, but can I thank my mum and dad?"

1059 GMT: ROWING: GREAT BRITAIN WIN GOLD IN LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS. More on that shortly...

1056 GMT: US President Barack Obama has meanwhile lauded the US' Olympic athletes in his weekly radio address.

"These games remind us that for all our differences, we're Americans first," the president said, paying especial tribute to those who had struggled and worked multiple jobs to reach the Games.

"And we could not be prouder of the men and women representing our country in London, in both the Olympics and in the Paralympics."

1055 GMT: BOXING: The United States' flagging Olympics boxing campaign has been revived with a success by welterweight Errol Spence in his appeal against his defeat to India's Krishan Vikas.

Vikas had been awarded Friday's last 16 bout 13-11, but the US appealed the decision.

The result has now been altered to 15-13 in favour of Spence after the competition jury decided that two warnings should have been given to the Indian fighter, resulting in four more points being added to the American's score.

Spence, who is America's last boxer in the tournament, will now face Russia's Andrey Zamkovoy in Tuesday's quarter-finals.

1050 GMT: HEPTATHLON: Standings ahead of the javelin: Great Britain's Jessica Ennis leads with 5,519 points, followed by Lithuania's Austra Skujyte on 4,901 and then Russia's Tatyana Chernova on 4,869.

1047 GMT: ROWING: More details on that British win -- it was their fourth successive Olympic men's four title.

The home crew -- Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge -- led from the first stroke to deny arch rivals Australia, with the United States taking bronze.

Britain also won the men's four title in Sydney, Athens and in Beijing.

1044 GMT: In Britain, the Royal Mail -- the beleaguered government postal service -- is painting one of its trademark red post boxes gold in the home town of each British gold medallist. One's just been unveiled in Cardiff in Wales for Geraint Thomas of the winning men's pursuit team -- they seem to be a hit with a public who have largely abandoned "snail mail".

1040 GMT: ATHLETICS: The first round of the women's 3,000m steeplechase is on now, while there's a lot of discussion in the Olympic park about the volume of music in the stadium. Some are loving the classic pop they're playing in there -- others say it's too loud and distracts spectators from the superstars on the track.

1039 GMT: ROWING: Great Britain take the gold in the men's coxless fours ahead of Australia, with the United States taking the bronze.

1036 GMT: British Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith can't tear herself away from the action in the main stadium for long enough to eat. She tweets: "Anyone in the Olympic village fancy bringing me some breakfast? (Yes breakfast). I'm busy watching the athletics. I'll hug you if you do."

1035 GMT: Britain's Jessica Ennis jumps 6.48m and home pundits are already predicting she'll get the gold. But we're not there yet...

1030 GMT: HEPTATHLON: Defending Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine is virtually out of contention after two fouls and an aborted long jump.

1025 GMT: TRIATHLON: Some background on women's triathlon winner Nicola Spirig: the 20-year-old, a former world junior champion, is Switzerland's second Olympic triathlon gold-medallist after Brigitte McMahon won the inaugural event at Sydney 2000.

1020 GMT: The US's Lashawn Merritt fails to finish his heat of the men's 400m after struggling with an injury from the Monaco Diamond League last month -- a sad end to the Games for the Olympic 400m champion.

But he seems philosophical, telling the BBC: "I'm still young and I have a long career ahead of me. There was no reason to push it. I'll be rested and ready for the World Champs next year."

He adds that he's been undergoing "countless hours of treatment from 8am till about 10pm".

Merritt tested positive for steroids three times in late 2009 and served a 21-month doping ban before winning an appeal to an arbitrator and successfully fighting an Olympic rule that would have banned him from the London Games.

1012 GMT: ATHLETICS: Britain's Jessica Ennis jumps 6.40m in the heptathlon long jump to take her up to 975 points -- she looks delighted though Russia's Tatyana Chernova is still ahead of her in the standings.

US decathlete Bryan Clay, a 2008 gold medallist:"I think @J_Ennis just shut the door on the comp. w/ that last jump! That's how CHAMPIONS respond to pressure! Wow!"

1011 GMT: AFP's Jim Slater reports from the BASKETBALL: "British dad with two young daughters on telescreen in the basketball arena asked why they were such flag-waving supporters of winless Tunisia against France this morning.

"He says, 'We figured they could do with a little extra support so we bought the flag on e-Bay.'

"He was right. It's 71-61 France late in the fourth."

Since he sent this, France have won 73-69, all but clinching a place in the medal playoffs.

1007 GMT: Switzerland's Olympic Twitter account is over the moon. "Gold f?r Nicola Spirig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" it tweets -- we don't think that needs translating.

1003 GMT: Although Norden was so close to catching up with Spirig, the replay shows Nicola Spirig of Switzerland just ahead in 1:59:48! She gets the gold. Silver to Lisa Norden of Sweden.

1002 GMT: Australia's Erin Densham has the bronze.

1000 GMT: An amazingly close finish there! Spirig and Lisa Norden of Sweden in a dead heat -- their times are coming up as identical. Waiting to hear from the judges on that -- it's a photo finish. Both collapse to the ground the moment they cross the finish line.

0958 GMT: TRIATHLON: The gruelling women's triathlon is drawing to a close with the running in Hyde Park. A group of four leading with Switzerland's Nicola Spirig at the front.

0956 GMT: ATHLETICS: Russia's Tatyana Chernova jumps an impressive 6.54 in the women's heptathlon long jump, far ahead of British hope Jessica Ennis in the first of three jumps.

0942 GMT: CYCLING: While we were transfixed by the track, the men's cycling sprint qualifiers were taking place and Britain's Jason Kenny broke the Olympic record, coming in at 9.713sec.

Gregory Bauge of France was second in 9.952 and Shane Perkins of Australia third in 9.987.

0940 GMT: Pistorius looks exhilarated after his heat. "It was such a mix of emotions... when i walked out i saw my granddad, an amazing experience -- so thank you very much," he tells the BBC.

"The crowd is just amazing, a full house... I've run so many times in the UK -- this crowd feels like a second home to me so it's really a blessing."

0936 GMT: A huge roar in the stadium as Pistorius chases Dominican Luguelin Santos in his men's 400m heat -- Santos is in first, Pistorius in second and both are through along with Russia's Maksim Dyldin in third. Not a bad start from Pistorius, who had a long battle to be allowed to compete.

0935 GMT: Pistorius is in lane six for his heat after a big cheer from the crowd on his arrival.

0930 GMT: Oscar Pistorius, about to become the first amputee to compete on the Olympic track on his famous blades, is in the stadium.

0915 GMT: The current 100m men's heat includes the Maldives' Ahmed Azneem -- a rare appearance by an athlete from the tiny Indian Ocean island state which has been in political turmoil this year.

He comes in third in 10.79 which leaves him with a possibility of going through to the next round.

Aymard Bosse Berenger of the Central African Republic takes the round but looks as though he may have a hamstring injury.

0910 GMT: Jurgen Themen from Suriname takes the second heat and looks delighted. Indonesia's Fernando Lumain, in second, is also through to the next round.

0908 GMT: ATHLETICS: In the first men's 100m heat, Bolivia's Artur Bruno Rojas comes in first followed by Congo's Devilert Kimbembe. But the more than slightly partisan crowd is busy cheering on Britain's Jessica Ennis at the women's heptathlon long jump in the other part of the stadium!

0905 GMT: AFP's Barnaby Chesterman, a judo black belt, has switched from covering judo to table tennis today and it sounds as if it might take him some time to get used to it.

"After covering a week of judo I've come to a wake!" he says.

"Table tennis is much more sedate and that despite a match between the two Koreas! The biggest cheer so far was some polite clapping of a British referee."

Perhaps it's just the time of day...

0900 GMT: ATHLETICS: Men's 100m heats are beginning in the main Olympic stadium and the women's heptathlon long jump is also to get started.

The atmosphere in this stadium yesterday was the talk of the Games -- sadly the weather's a bit gloomier today but with Usain Bolt and Oscar Pistorius due to turn up, it's unlikely to be much less electric.

0855 GMT: Germany's Svenja Bazlen heads the leading group of about 20 competitors in the triathlon. Still cycling, they pass over the Serpentine in Hyde Park with a beautiful view of central London ahead of them -- not that they've got a lot of time to admire it at this moment...

0850 GMT: Australia's Emma Moffatt has crashed and is out of the triathlon, the country's Olympic team confirms on Twitter.

"Condition unknown, Olympic dream over," they tweet.

0845 GMT: TRIATHLON: More painful-looking crashes on wet central London roads in the women's triathlon as they circle the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace again.

0840 GMT: This from AFP's Andrew Newby, who was at the Olympic hockey yesterday as a spectator, having covered three other Olympics for us:

"Unexpectedly, it felt like an even bigger privilege to watch the Olympics as a pure spectator than it was to attend as a journalist," Andrew reports.

"My companions and I were swept up in the excitement as we mingled with over 100,000 other sports fans in the vast Olympic park on our way to the hockey matches for which we were allocated tickets in the free-for-all application process.

"No miserable point-scoring politicians to be seen, no overpaid moronic footballers, just players at the pinnacle of their sport and people who enjoy watching sport for its own sake.

"Would the two men's hockey Group and B matches justify our mounting expectations? Definitely! In a packed Riverbank Stadium, we saw a well-balanced thriller between Argentina and Australia, ending in a very fair 2-2 draw and a show of supreme skill by the Dutch squad, who racked up a 5-1 triumph over valiant but outclassed New Zealand.

"Any grouses? Not really. The heavy shower of rain just as the second match finished gave us a chance try try our ponchos. The rain gave the Olympics an extra British touch. Next Thursday, I actually get to watch athletics in the main Olympic Stadium. Bring it on!"

0830 GMT: TRIATHLON: After a chilly start to the day with a swim in the Serpentine, the women triathletes are on their bikes with Britain's Lucy Hall at the head of a leading pack of five.

They're passing Buckingham Palace now -- not a bad setting for a race. But the ground is wet after rainfall overnight and Brazil's Pamella Oliveira crashed close to Hyde Park.

0810 GMT: Some highlights to look forward to today:

+ Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake get their 100m campaigns under way and Oscar Pistorius makes history as the first amputee to feature in the Olympics (from 0900 GMT)

+ Michael Phelps looks for his 22nd Olympic medal and 18th gold in the men's 4x100m medley relay (1925 GMT)

+ Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams clash in the women's singles final at Wimbledon (from 1300 GMT)

+ Britain's Mo Farah and Ethiopia's Kenensisa Bekelele battle it out with other competitors in the men's 10,000m final (2015 GMT)

+ In the pool, China's Sun Yang tries to complete a long distance double by adding the 1,500m crown to the 400m gold won earlier in the games (1836 GMT)

+ Britain's cyclists seek to extend their crushing dominance in the Velodrome with gold in the women's team pursuit (1645 GMT)

+ Women's heptathlon leader Britain's Jessica Ennis vies with Lithuania's Austra Skujyte and Canada's Jessica Zelinka for victory (from 0905 GMT)

WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on what has been dubbed "Super Saturday" -- the busiest day of the London Olympics so far, with a cool 25 medals available.

It's the first outing for Olympic megastars including Usain Bolt and Oscar Pistorius, who will become the first amputee to run on the Olympic track.

Events including the women's triathlon have already begun, with the women swimming across London's Serpentine in their wetsuits at this moment.

Stand by for a fuller rundown of what to expect today...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/olympics-2012-live-report-081152149--oly.html

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