England

How the sport works The first athlete to finish running 26.2 miles wins.   I didn't have a ticket for the finish of the men's marathon, so I planned to get to the course early and grab a spot. I was really surprised to see how crowded the course was two full hours before the … Continue reading »

How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won't explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest.   Women's high jump final When the high jumpers came out on … Continue reading »

How the sport works The first team to score twenty five points in three sets wins the match. The winner gets the bronze medal and the loser gets nothing   I was pretty exhausted this morning since I had been out until 6:30 am with a few members of the Kiwi and Aussie Olympic swim … Continue reading »

How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won't explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest.     Men's pole vault final Defending gold medalist and Olympic record … Continue reading »

How the sport works Twenty five competitors swim six laps approximately one mile each, totaling 10,000 meters. The first one to slap the finish board after completing the distance wins.     The marathoner in me takes issue with a race shorter than 26.2 miles being labeled a marathon, but swimming for ten kilometers has … Continue reading »

I actually did something cultural and independent of sports today! I saw War Horse, which was every bit as good as all the hype had led me to expect. But back to the Olympics!   How the sport works I'm just going to trust that you know how soccer/football works.   It was a pretty … Continue reading »

A bunch of us went to see an exhibit about the history of the Olympics at the Royal Opera House. Since seeing two British runners and meeting the men's Aussie volleyball team over the past two days, I've had my eyes pealed for athletes. So guess what–I spotted Juventina Napoleao, the penultimate finisher of the … Continue reading »

How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won’t explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest.     I was never supposed to be at this athletics session. … Continue reading »

How the sport works The first team to score twenty five points in three sets wins the match. This was still a preliminary round so there were no medals awarded.     I was eager for the Australia-Poland match up. In general, I love the Aussies and am happy to cheer for them, but I'm … Continue reading »