Tag Archives: London Games

Barrondo Wins Guatemala’s First-Ever Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

He may have just missed winning a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, but Erick Barrondo’s name will still be forever etched in Guatemala’s history books.

The 21-year-old Guatemalan racewalker finished second in the men’s 20km race walk at the London Games on Saturday, giving his country its first-ever Olympic medal.

Erick Barrondo

Following his race, Barrondo—whose parents were both middle distance runners—broke away from journalists’ questions to take a call from Guatemala’s president, Otto Perez Molina.

“The president congratulated me on the first Olympic medal for the country. He told me that everyone had come out on the streets to celebrate the triumph,” said Barrondo, who finished 11 seconds behind China’s Chen Ding. “It was a glorious day for me, but the glory is most of all for my country.”

Erick Barrondo

In a day of firsts in London the race was won by Chen, who together with his third placed compatriot Wang Zhen were the first Chinese men to win an Olympic medal in a race walking event.

Barrondo, who finished 10th in last year’s 20km race walk final at the world championships in Daegu, worked hard to stay in contention among a Chinese and Russian dominated leading pack before breaking away to split China’s duo on the final stretch.

Cielo Swims His Way to a Bronze at the London Games

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It may not be the result he’d wanted, but César Cielo still managed to sprint his way to the medal podium at the 2012 Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old Brazilian swimmer who specializes in sprint events wasn’t able to defend his Olympic title in the 50-meter freestyle, settling for bronze behind surprise winner Florent Manaudou of France and American Cullen Jones in Friday’s final at the London Games.

César Cielo

Cielo, the current world record holder in the 100-meter and 50-meter freestyle, touched the wall at 21:59. Manaudou finished the race with a time of 21:34, while Jones clocked in at 21:54.

Cielo’s teammate Bruno Fratus finished fourth with a time of 21:61.

César Cielo

Cielo—the reigning world champion and world record holder with a  time of 20:91—said after the race that he felt tired on his fourth consecutive day of competition and lacked explosiveness in the final.

“There are various factors in the 50 meters. Manaudou did the race of his life and his time was better than my best time this year,” the Brazilian said. “It’s another Olympic medal for my career. I’m not going to lie. I could’ve swum better, but Manaudou deserved to win gold.”

César Cielo

Cielo fared better in the 50-meter final than he did in Wednesday’s 100-meter freestyle final, in which he finished sixth with a time of 47:92, four-tenths of a second behind gold medalist Nathan Adrian of the United States.

He also holds the world record in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 46:91.

Cielo says he now plans to go on vacation following a year of non-stop training and will take some time before thinking about his next competition.

Cielo’s gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 50 meter freestyle competition is Brazil’s sole Olympic gold in swimming to date.

Belmonte Claims Her Second Silver Medal at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

Mireia Belmonte García may soon be called Spain’s “silver bullet”…

Following her second place finish in the 200 meter butterfly to put her country on the medal scoreboard , the 21-year-old Spanish swimmer picked up her second silver of the 2012 Olympic Games on Friday in the women’s 800m freestyle.

Mireia Belmonte

Despite finishing four seconds behind the surprise victor, 15-year-old Katie Ledecky of the United States, Belmonte managed to swim past defending Olympic champion and pre-race favorite Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain at the 700-meter mark to move into second place.

Belomonte touched the wall at 8:18.76 to claim the silver and give Spain its third-ever Olympic medal in women’s swimming.

Mireia Belmonte

Adlington, was seeking to become the first British woman to retain an Olympic title, following her success in the event in Beijing, had to settle for bronze.

Silva Earns a Bronze in Men’s Judo at the London Games

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Following a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals, Rafael Silva roared back to make it onto the medal podium at the 2012 Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old Brazilian judoka won the bronze medal in the men’s judo over-100kg class at the London Games by beating South Korea’s Kim Sung-Min on Friday.

Rafael Silva
Silva lost in the quarterfinals to Russia’s Alexader Mikhaylin but came back to win his next two fights against the Hungarian Barna Bor and Kim to earn his place on the podium.

Silva dominated the entire match against the passive South Korean, who did no more than defend himself until the judges handed him a penalty – his second – which meant a yuko score for Silva and the victory.
Rafael Silva
In his only loss at the London Games, Silva started out in command of the fight against the Russian, but as the minutes passed physical exhaustion began to show and he eventually lost control of the match.

After both the regulation five minutes and the three overtime minutes ended in a tie, the judges unanimously decided that Mikhaylin was the judoka who merited a place in the semi-finals.

Silva’s bronze medal performance makes him the fourth Brazilian to win a medal in Olympic judo at the London Games, following medals by his fellow teammates Sarah Menezes, Felipe Kitadai and Mayra Aguiar.

Ortiz Wins Judo Gold at the London Games

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Idalys Ortiz is no longer Cuba’s bronze girl…

The 22-year-old Cuban judoka won the women’s over 78-kilogram Olympic judo gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Friday, improving on the bronze she won at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Idalys Ortiz

Ortiz defeated Mika Sugimoto of Japan in a cagey, drawn-out final with little action, where both fighters struggled to get a grip or catch the other off balance.

The match went into overtime and the judges eventually ruled Ortiz the winner.

Idalys Ortiz

Earlier in the day, Ortiz triumphed over the competition’s top-seeded competitor, Wen Tong of China, in the semifinals.

Idalys Ortiz

Tong was the defending Olympic champion and was unbeaten in international competition since 2007. She later won a bronze in the repechage. The other bronze medal was won by Britain’s Karina Bryant.

Pupo Claims Cuba ‘s First-Ever Shooting Gold at the London Games

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If you’re going to win the first major championship of your career, might as well win it at the Olympics…

That’s exactly what Leuris Pupo did at the 2012 Olympic Games on Friday.

Leuris Pupo

The 35-year-old Cuban shooter scored 34 shots in the final to clinch the gold medal in the 25-meter rapid fire pistol at the London Games, giving Cuba its first shooting gold medal at an Olympics.

Pupo, who beat silver medalist Vijay Kumar of India by four shots, was competing in his fourth Olympics. He’d previously finished ninth, eighth and seventh.

“I can’t believe it, but it’s true,” said Pupo, whose only previous victory was at a World Cup event in Buenos Aires in 1998. “This is the height of glory for the people in Cuba.”

Leuris Pupo

Pupo, who said the win meant a lot for his family because his wife is pregnant, said his mindset changed in the final as he went slightly ahead of the field.

“There were a lot of things going on in my mind,” Pupo said. “First I was thinking about bronze. Then I started thinking I could win it.”

Pupo reached the final in third position after Alexei Klimov of Russia set a world record in qualification with 592 points, a total that beat his own mark from 2006 by one point.

The world record gave Klimov no advantage for the final. All competitors started from zero under the new Olympic format, eight series in which each shooter fires five shots within four seconds.

From the fourth series, the lowest-scoring competitor is eliminated from the competition. Scoring is hit-or-miss, with any score above 9.6 counting as a hit.

Lochte Wins Two Medals to End His London Games With Five Medals

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It may not have been a golden night for Ryan Lochte… But he’ll still have plenty of reason to celebrate when he turns 28 on Friday.

The 27-year-old half-Cuban American swimmer lost to rival Michael Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday at the 2012 Olympic Games, but Lochte’s silver finish gave him his fifth medal of the London Games.

Ryan Lochte

Earlier in the night—in a disappointing performance in his signature event—Lochte came in third to teammate Tyler Clary in the 200 backstroke, roughly half an hour before his race against Phelps.

This is the end of competition for Lochte at this year’s Olympics. So how does he rate his performance in London?

“A little above average,” said Lochte. “Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. But overall, I can’t be too disappointed. I am coming home to my country with five Olympic medals.”

Ryan Lochte

Lochte’s silver and bronze Thursday brought his career total to 11. Only Phelps has more among American men with 20 Olympic medals, 16 of them gold.

So what Lochte’s favorite memory of these Games?

“The 400 IM,” he said. “Getting that gold. It was the first race, the first day of the Olympics. Getting it off right for Team USA. That definitely was one of the greatest feelings.”

And he could have more great Olympic medals. Lochte plans to compete at 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Chourraut Claims a Bronze in the Women’s Kayak Slalom

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Maialen Chourraut has given Spain its second Olympic medal in two days…

The 29-year-old Spanish slalom canoer earned the bronze medal in the women’s kayak slalom Thursday at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Maialen Chourrout

“This is the medal that I needed, said Chourraut at the end of competition. “This is for Spain.”

Chourraut, the 2009 world silver medalist, finished with a time of 106.87, about one second off gold medal winner, France’s Emilie Fer‘s time. Australia’s Jessica Fox won the silver.

Maialen Chourraut

It’s a vastly improved Olympic performance for Chourraut, who had previously competed in the K-1 event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she was eliminated in the heats.

Aguilera Encounters an Olympic Icon in New “The Voice” Promo

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Christina Aguilera and her fellow The Voice coaches are getting into the Olympic spirit…

The NBC singing competition returns for on September 10, and the network is hoping to build buzz for the third season during coverage of the London Games with an Olympics-themed promo.

Christina Aguilera

The 31-year-old half-Ecuadoran American singer and Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green all step out of insta-iconic red chairs in the clip, which features the four judges fighting in a hotel lobby.

Levine and Shelton get involved in some hand-to-hand combat, while Green, looking fashionable in a bright-yellow ensemble, shows off his best karate chop.

The four coaches eventually make their way to a hotel room where they spot a man singing. But he’s not just any man.

“Wow, it’s Bruce Jenner from The Kardasians,” says Levine.

“I also won a gold medal. ’76. Montreal,” says the former Olympic decathlete.

The third season of The Voice will feature a collection of new aspiring singers looking for their big break, and also some new mentors to help them along the way. Aguiler, who is currently at work on new music, will be joined by Green Day’s Billy Joe Armstrong. The other mentors this season include Rob Thomas, Mary J. Blige and Michael Buble.

The Voice premieres Monday, September 10, on NBC.

Aguiar Wins a Bronze in Women’s Judo at the London Games

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Mayra Aguiar will be having a bronzetastic birthday at the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Brazilian judoka, who turns 21 on Friday, beat Holland’s Marhinde Verkerk to claim the bronze medal in the 78 kg category in women’s judo at the London Games.

Mayra Aguiar

It’s the third medal Brazil has earned in judo at this year’s Olympics, following medal-earning performances by Aguiar’s teammates Sara Menezes and Felipe Kitadai.

Aguiar, who wasn’t able to compete for the gold medal after losing her semifinal match to world No. 2 Kayla Harrison of the United States, overcame that defeat to earn the bronze in stellar fashion.

Mayra Aguiar

Aguiar, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, exploded with happiness when she managed to hook Verkerk’s leg and throw her to the mat on her back in less than 90 seconds.