Serena Williams dominated Maria Sharapova and won her first singles gold medal at the London Olympics, completing a career Golden Slam — the second ever since Steffi Graf in 1988. Williams celebrated by doing a dance move identified by the internet as the Crip Walk. It has already been immortalized in GIF form.
Something about the Olympics really does it for Prince William and the Artist Formerly Known as Kate Middleton. These two have been all over the games and all over each other since the events kicked off last week.
I love that unbelievable shot of Gabby Douglas in the air as much as anyone, but Omid Djalili's cell-phone photo of Venezuelan gold medalist fencer Ruben Limardo riding the tube Wednesday after winning his country's first medal (in the individual épeé) since 1968 seems just as perfect in an entirely different way. Apparently Limardo, accompanied by a bunch of teammates and well-wishers, taught the subway car Venezuelan chants and let people pose for photos with the medal. Aw. [via @Omid9]
As many commentators have observed, the 2012 London Olympics are the first "social media games" — and boy, are they. Not only does Twitter provide a platform for breaking results and discussing sports, it also gives fans the opportunity to connect with their idols. Just check out the way these folks are using Twitter to bring a whole new level of audience participation to the Olympic games:
This receipt, with its grand total of £44,660 — about $70,000 — was posted on Reddit yesterday with the headline "My friend's a waiter and this is a receipt for an official lunch for 15 Olympic Bosses. Now we see where all the money's going..." We found the restaurant where the supposed lunch took place.
Mitt Romney didn't watch his wife's horse Rafalca compete in the Olympics — "I'm not even sure which day the sport goes on," he said to NBC last week. "I will not be watching the event. I hope her horse does well." —so it falls to us to break the news to him: Mitt, the horse participated in dressage today. And it did well, but it didn't medal.
During a conference call with reporters this morning, NBC execs said archery was the hottest sport of the London Games so far, surpassing all other Olympic events in viewership.
Chinese Diver Minxia Wu won the gold medal in synchronized diving yesterday. As part of her celebration, her family revealed to her that her mother had breast cancer and two of her grandparents died a year ago.
As Team USA slides ever further behind China in the race to acquire the most gold necklaces this Olympics, America's athletes need a cheerleader. A cheerleader who will root for them with passion that is unbridled, unrivaled, and, at times, unsettling. A cheerleader who loves them more than their parents do.
President Obama took to Twitter late Tuesday night to congratulate swimmer Michael Phelps on winning his 19th Olympic medal, and setting a new record for the most hardware earned by a single athlete.
Great Britain won its first gold medal of the 2012 Olympics today — in women's pair rowing — and the country celebrated the only way it knows how: with a rich buffoon doing something embarrassing and ridiculous.
