Singapore rejoices over first Olympics gold

Well done, Joseph Schooling of Singapore!

Joseph Schooling of Singapore with the gold medal on the podium after winning the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's 100m butterfly final at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug 12, 2016. 

Singapore exploded in celebration Saturday after homegrown swimming hero Joseph Schooling beat US legend Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly in Rio to win the tiny republic's first ever Olympics gold.

The 21-year-old Asian champion set a new Olympics record of 50.39sec as he edged out his American idol Phelps, who ended in a sensational dead heat for silver alongside South Africa's Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.

Continue reading on AsiaOne..Olympics: Singapore rejoices over first Olympics gold

First Rio2016 medal for Malaysia

Malaysia has got her first medal in the Rio Games.

Divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong bagged an Olympic silver medal in Brazil in the Women's Synchronized 10m Platform. Well done, girls!

Jun Hoong and Pandelela compete during the women's Synchronized 10m Platform Final at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Pandelela-Jun Hoong scored a total of 344.34 points after five dives at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.

Lying in third place after the third dive, the Malaysian pair upped the ante to finish strongly behind China's Chen Roulin-Liu Huixia who won the gold medal with 354.00 total. Canada's Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion settled for bronze with 336.18.

As Olympic silver medallists Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong will share a RM300,000 cash incentive and a monthly pension of RM3,000 following their winning feat.


Image source: The Star

London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony - 9pm BST Aug 12

Source: London2012.com

Tonight's Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games promises to be the biggest Olympics closing show ever! Expect an extravaganza of singing, dancing and silliness.

The Closing Ceremony celebrates the achievements of athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games. It also includes a handover from one host city to the next. In 2012, London will hand over to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games. The Closing Ceremony also features the extinguishing of the Olympic Flame, signalling the end of the Games.

To celebrate the fact that music has been one of Britain’s strongest cultural exports over the last 50 years the Closing Ceremony has been titled, ‘A Symphony of British Music’.

Broadcast worldwide, the Closing Ceremony will start at 9pm (approximately 4am Malaysian time, August 13) and will feature more than 4,100 performers, including 3,500 adult volunteers and 380 schoolchildren from the six east London Host Boroughs.

March of the athletes will begin with the flag-bearers of the participating delegations entering the Stadium in single file, closely followed by the athletes. In the tradition that began at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games as a way of bringing the athletes of the world together, at the Closing Ceremony, athletes march together, not by nationality.

Three flags will be hoisted, one at a time - the flag of Greece to honour the birthplace of the Olympic Games; the host nation flag (UK) and the flag of the next Summer Olympics host (Brazil). The corresponding national anthem will be played as each flag is being hoisted. On the rostrum, the Mayor of the Host City will join the President of the IOC and hands him back the flag. The President of the IOC then symbolically presents the flag to the Mayor of the next Host City of the Olympic Games. The President will then make a speech declaring the Games closed.

The Olympic Flame, which has been burning in the Cauldron since the opening of the Games on July 27, will then be extinguished. Extinguishing of the Flame can be a moving moment for all those involved in the Games and possibly for everyone else watching the event. The Olympic Stadium will then come alive for one last time in these Games with celebrations.

Closing Ceremony Director Kim Gavin said: 'We want it to be the best after-show party there has ever been.'

Everyone is guessing as to who will be performing at the Closing Ceremony. The London Symphony Orchestra will be joined by some of the biggest pop artistes from the past 50 years. According to the BBC, George Michael has already confirmed his participation and the Spice Girls and Tinie Tempah are among acts reported to be performing. Other sources have suggested Adele, Take That, Paul McCartney (of course).

Malaysia too has a home-grown talent performing at the Closing. Samantha Tan will be one of about 100 professionals “peppered among the volunteers” at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.

Let the party begin!

Source: London2012.com

You can watch the Closing Ceremony live. Live-streaming of the London 2012 Olympics Closing ceremony available here at the Official Olympic Channel by the IOC - 9pm BST / 4am Malaysian time, August 13. Here's a Time Zone Converter if you'd like to know your local time.

See you in Rio de Janeiro in 2016!

p.s. Check out Google doodle for the Closing Ceremony


Sources:
- London2012.com
- Telegraph.co.uk
- bbc.co.uk

Closing Ceremony - Last one of the Google Olympic Doodles

Google Doodle presents its last doodle of the Olympic doodle series today, Aug 12, which is the last day of the London 2012 Olympic Games and in which more records have been broken on the last day of the Summer Games.

The last doodle is dedicated to the Closing Ceremony slated to start at 9pm BST, approximately at 4am Malaysian time, August 13, if you could stay up to witness what promises to be the best closing ever, an extravaganza of singing, dancing and silliness.

See the entire series of the Google Olympic doodles.

Google Olympic doodle Number 16 - Rhythmic Gymnastics

Google's Olympics doodle today features Rhythmic Gymnastics. This is the 16th in the Olynpics doodle series. This should be the third last Google doodle before the London 2012 Olympics come to a close tomorrow.

Check out all the other Google Olympics doodles.

Google Olympic doodle Number 15 - Soccer

Google has churned out yet another Olympic doodle that is interactive. This is the third interactive Google Olympic doodle after Hurdles and Slalom canoe. Soccer gets the honour today and this is the 15th Google doodle in the series for the London Olympics.

Going to the Google Search page today will take you to the Soccer Google doodle. After today, you can still continue to play Olympic soccer.

Other Google Olympic doodles include the earlier doodles for archery, swimming, gymnastics, hockey, fencing, table tennis, shopt put and the opening ceremony; pole vault; synchronized swimming; javelin; hurdles; slalom canoe and today's doodle, soccer.

Pandelela Rinong wins a Bronze medal for Malaysia

Yes! Pandelela Rinong won another medal for Malaysia. She secured the bronze in the 10m platform event.

On the podium for gold, silver and brozne winners of the women's 10m Platform Diving
Silver medallist Brittany Broben of Australia, gold medallist Chen Ruolin of China, and bronze medallist Pandelela Pamg of Malaysia on the podium for the women's 10m Platform Diving final on Day 13 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre.

Winning a gold, Chen Roulin, the 19-year-old Chinese diver, completed a sweep of the platform events for the second straight games.

With a silver and now a bronze puts Malaysia at #53 on the Medal Count together with Estonia, Indonesia, Serbia, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Tunisia.

Well done, Pandelela! We are so proud of you.

Wikipedia has more about Pandelela Rinong and her achievements.


Source: London2012


Related article:
Pandelela wins historic diving bronze in 10m platform..The Star

More Olympic Games medals for Malaysia?

We read everyday of records being broken at the London Olympics - of the best this and the best that. Malaysia too has her fair share of bests and firsts.

Yesterday, The Star carried an article that said Ken Nee is first Malaysian to reach diving final in the Olympics.

The article said..
YEOH Ken Nee continued to make Malaysian diving history yesterday – becoming the first Malaysian to qualify for the final of an individual event in the diving competition at the London Olympics.

On Monday, he became the first Malaysian diver to qualify for the semi-finals when he was placed ninth out of 29 divers in the men’s 3m springboard event. Only the top 18 made the semi-finals.

This means the hope of another Olympic medal after the silver medal win by Lee Chong Wei in badminton, is still alive.

Yet another glimmer of hope comes from Pandelela Rinong who has made it into the semis of the 10m platform.

Pandelela, Malaysia’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27, qualified in second place in the qualifying session. She scored a total of 349.00. China’s Chen Ruolin was the top qualifier with a score of 392,35.

Germany’s Christin Steuer was the third best qualifier with a score of 341-75.

Another Malaysian diver everyone is watching is Bryan Nickson Lomas. We will see him in action on Aug 10 (tomorrow).


Update:
In the evening, The Star reported that Pandelela makes it to 10m platform final

The Sarawakian lass finished a creditable fifth in the field of 18 contestants in the semi-finals, with a score 352.50 points.

The top 12 qualified for the final, which will be held at 2am Friday (Malaysian time). We shall know the result in the morning papers.


Image source: The Star

Google Olympic doodle Number 14 - Slalom canoe

Today's Google Olympic doodle, number 14, is dedicated to Slalom canoe. Just like the earlier two doodles for Hurdles and Basketball, this Slalom canoe doodle is also interactive allowing you to try your hand at canoeing. You can play Slalom canoe here..

A little extra information on Slalom canoe at the London Olympics from Wikipedia..

The canoeing races at the 2012 Olympic Games in London are being contested in two main disciplines: the slalom, from 29 July to 2 August, and the sprint, from 6 to 11 August.[1] The slalom competition was held at the Lee Valley White Water Centre and the sprint events will be staged at Eton College Rowing Centre also called Dorney Lake.

A total of 330 athletes are expected to take part. The men's 500m races will be replaced by a 200m race; in addition, the men's C2 500m will be replaced by a women's K1 200m race.[2] This was confirmed at an International Canoe Federation board meeting at Windsor, Berkshire, on 5 December 2009.[3] For the first time, women will have two individual events in sprint canoeing. Because of the changes, the finals will now be spread over a three-day period instead of the traditional two days which had been in effect since the 1976 Olympic Games. - Wikipedia

Dorney Lake, the venue for the sprint discipline

Google Olympic doodle Number 13 - Basketball

Google celebrates the Olympics today with their Google Olympic doodle Number 13 featuring Basketball. This is the second interactive doodle after yesterday's Hurdles doodle and allows you to shoot balls into the hoop within a timeframe of 24 seconds.

Here’s how to play the game. After clicking the “play” button, you have 24 seconds to shoot as many basketballs into the hoop as possible. Tapping the space bar sets the shot and tapping it again shoots the ball towards the basket. Clicking on the left side of the mouse also works. Play the Basketball game..

Basketball is a team sport, the objective being to shoot a ball through a basket horizontally positioned to score points while following a set of rules. Usually, two teams of five players play on a marked rectangular court with a basket at each width end. Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports. - Wikipedia

Google Olympic doodle Number 12 - Hurdles

The Google Doodle team is getting better with their Olympic doodles. Google doodle no. 12 is for Hurdles. What makes this doodle interesting and unique so far is that this doodle is an interactive doodle that lets you 'compete' in hurdles.

To get started, just click on the "play" button. Use your keyboard arrow keys to start running down the track and the spacebar to jump over a hurdle. You can time yourself and share your result on Google+. Depending on how well you do, you will be rewarded with one, two or three gold coins.

Perform a Google search today will take you to the hurdles doodle.

Here is where you can play the interactive hurdles doodle later on: http://www.google.com/doodles/hurdles-2012

You can also use a game controller to play the hurdle doodle. It works with Google's Chrome browser and very recent versions of Firefox. Very cool, check it out!

Google Doodles for the 2012 London Games so far include for archery, swimming, gymnastics, hockey, fencing, table-tennis, shot put, pole vault, synchronized swimming, and javelin. There is even a doodle for the Opening Ceremony.

Silver medal again for Lee Chong Wei

Datuk Lee Chong Wei (left) put up a gallant fight but lost 21-15, 10-21, 19-21 to Lin Dan in the men's singles badminton final of the London Olympics at the Wembley Arena on Sunday.

His gold medal hopes have been once again dashed by China’s Lin Dan, his nemesis in the men's badminton singles.

This is the second time Chong Wei has lost to Lin Dan in the clash for the Olympics gold medal. In the men’s singles final in the 2008 Beijing Games, Chong Wei lost 12-21, 8-21 to the Chinese ace.

More..Gallant Chong Wei forced to settle for silver by Lin Dan

Google Doodle's 11th Olympic doodle

Javelin is Google Doodle number 11 in the Google's Olympics doodle series.

A javelin is a light spear designed primarily for casting as a ranged weapon but was later used for a sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the arrow and slingshot, which are projectiles shot from a mechanism. However, hurling devices do exist to assist the javelin thrower in achieving greater distance.

The word javeline comes from Middle English and it derives from Old French javelin, a diminutive of javelot which meant spear. The word javelot probably originated from one of the Celtic languages. - Wikipedia

With Lee Chong Wei's silver medal for Badminton, Malaysia stands at no. 48 in the Olympics Medal Count. Datuk Lee's medal is Malaysia's only medal win so far.

Source: Google Search

Google's 10th Olympic Doodle is Synchronized Swimming

Google's 10th doodle for the Olympics is Synchronized swimming.

Synchronized swimming (often abbreviated to Synchro) is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers (either solos, duets, trios, combos, or teams) performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music. Synchronized swimming demands advanced water skills, and requires great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing, as well as exceptional breath control when upside down underwater. - Wikipedia

Google doodle No. 9 - Pole Vault

Google's ninth doodle for the London Olympics is for Pole Vault. Here are the other eight Google doodles.

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole (which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber) as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, Cretans and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and 2000 for women. - (Wikipedia)

Friday Frolics - What Swimming Stroke Are You?

I'm sorry, I'm late again this week for Friday Frolics.

In line with the Olympics, let's go swimming, not literally, of course. Let's take a quiz to find out what swimming stroke are we, each one of us.

You Are the Breaststroke

You are a happy and content person. You try to enjoy every day and every moment to the fullest. You don't push yourself too hard, but you do try to stay consistent. Slow and steady does win the race, and because of this, you're miles ahead of everyone else. You live mindfully and intentionally. You take every decision seriously.

What Swimming Stroke Are You?

Quizzes and Tests, Oh My!

Google Doodle Doo..

A Google doodle a day keeps the blues away! Indeed, Google has done up a daily doodle of the games in the London 2012 Olympics. Today's Google doodle is dedicated to Shot put.

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion) a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting (throwing) action. - (Wikipedia)

Yesterday's Google doodle was for Table tennis.

Others so far include:

Fencing

Gymnastics, Hockey, Archery and Swimming

Opening Ceremony

Which is your favorite Google doodle? Also, show us your doodles if you are doing any doodling yourself.

Olympics Opening Ceremony in Pictures

Source: BBC
The Queen declared the London Olympics officially open, before seven young athletes were given the honour of lighting the ceremonial flame. That's right, seven young athletes lit the cauldron, a secret that was kept right up to the moment.

The spectacular ceremony featured British celebrities and sports people, including David Beckham and Bradley Wiggins, and screen characters Mr Bean and James Bond. More..

If you have missed the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics, no worries as there are lots of pictures online.

BBC is a great source for the Opening Ceremony pictures.

More on the BBC website..

And from Time magazine..

More from Time magazine..

Google doodle of London Olympics Opening Ceremony

Without fail, Google keeps track of major milestones of people and events, and this time, it's the 2012 London Olympics that Google is commemorating. Featured above is the Google doodle dedicated to London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

If you go to the Google search page, below the doodle, you will also see a link to Google's very own page dedicated to the Summer Games in London whose Opening Ceremony is scheduled to begin in 8 hours time- 9pm UK time, 3am Malaysia time.

Live-streaming - London Olympics Opening Ceremony

Indeed! Today is the day! The day sports fans around the world have been looking forward to - the 2012 Summer Olympics or commonly known as London 2012.

The most happening place in the world right now in the context of sports has got to be London, the venue of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

While a girlfriend is smack in the middle of all that London Olympics action, (she lives there and even has tickets to some of the games!), some of us (meaning me) are happy enough just getting news from afar.

BBC is doing a great job (as always) of keeping the world updated on the activities leading up to the actual Summer Games.

After seven years of preparation, the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics is due to take place later at 4pm London time which is roughly about 10pm Malaysia time.

The three-hour spectacle in the Olympic Stadium is expected to be viewed by a global TV audience of a billion people.

The image below shows the Olympic flame heading along the Thames on the Queen's rowbarge Gloriana on the final day of the torch relay.

The torch relay is on the last leg of its 70-day journey - BBC

The final torchbearer of the 70-day relay will be 22-year-old basketball player Amber Charles, who played a key role in London's winning bid and who will carry the flame in front of City Hall and Tower Bridge.

The relay ends late in the evening with the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremony but the identity of the person who will take on the honour remains a mystery. Will it be David Beckham doing the honours?

You can get more news of the London Olympics at the BBC website.

I'm sure you'd want to join the billion who will be witnessing the Opening of the London Olympics. The Opening Ceremony will be at 9pm, i.e., approximately 3am Malaysian time. You can watch the live coverage of the Opening Ceremony on the following channels:


Official Olympic Channel by the IOC

NBC channel - only available in the United States and U.S. Territories

In Malaysia, Astro ESPN Channel 812 will be screening it live.

Enjoy!