Olympics

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Michael Phelps Tries to Break 2,168-Year-Old Record Today

He tied the record for individual Olympic gold medals this week

(Newser) - Michael Phelps will try to break an ancient Olympic record this week. The swimmer has won 21 Olympic gold medals, 12 of them in individual events—and those dozen personal medals mean Phelps has tied an Olympic record that had been held for 2,168 years, Deadspin reports. Olympic historian...

Mystery Surrounds the Youngest-Ever Olympian

'The great mystery of Olympic history'

(Newser) - The youngest-ever Olympian may have been an 8-year-old boy who was recruited from the audience to serve as coxswain for the Netherlands in the rowing event during the 1900 games in Paris—but no one really knows for sure, reports the Wall Street Journal in a look at what one...

Rio Promises Blue Water, but Odd Green May Be Spreading

First the diving pool, now the water polo pool

(Newser) - If you happened to tune into a diving event Tuesday, you probably noticed the pool at Rio's outdoor aquatics center was "as green as split-pea soup," as the National Post puts it—or "close to the color swatch movie set designers turn to when they want...

US Women's Gymnastics Dominates for Gold Medal

Team USA was more than 8 points ahead of 2nd-place Russia

(Newser) - The US women's gymnastics team won gold and gave retiring national team coordinator Martha Karolyi a fitting sendoff in the Olympic finals Tuesday, putting on a two-hour display of precision and class, the AP reports. Their score of 184.897 was more than eight points points clear of silver...

Dutch Gymnast Booted From Rio After Night Out

He broke team rules against drinking: ambassador

(Newser) - Dutch gymnast Yuri van Gelder was probably celebrating making the final of the men's rings event when he went partying in Rio on Saturday. Unfortunately for the former world champion, drinking—and even leaving the Olympic Village at night, apparently—is against team rules. "It's terrible for...

Woman Raises Cash for Her Uber Driver to Watch Son in Rio

Ellis Hill is scheduled to fly to Rio next week

(Newser) - Ellis Hill's son is competing in shot put in the Rio Olympics next week—and thanks to one of Hill's Uber passengers, Hill will be there to watch him do it. Hill was driving Liz Willock from the Philadelphia airport to her hotel last week when Willock mentioned...

Fencer in Hijab Makes History for Team USA

Ibtihaj Muhammad hopes to inspire change

(Newser) - At age 12, Ibtihaj Muhammad chose to learn fencing because she considered it the easiest sport in which she could compete while wearing a hijab. Eighteen years later, she's made history as Team USA's first hijab-wearing Olympian, reports the BBC . The 30-year-old former world champion, ranked eighth in...

Vietnam Wins Its 1st-Ever Olympic Gold Medal

Thanks to air pistol shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh

(Newser) - Vietnam won its first-ever Olympic gold medal on Saturday courtesy of shooter Hoang Xuan Vihn, the AP reports. Hoang rallied to beat hometown favorite Felipe Almeida Wu on the final shot of men's 10-meter air pistol. Wu trailed by as many as 2.3 points, but moved 0.2...

Bullets, Explosion Mark Beginning of Rio Olympics

A man was shot and killed as crowds were leaving the opening ceremony

(Newser) - It's been an eventful first two days for the Rio Olympics, but probably not in the way organizers were hoping. Brazilian police say an officer shot and killed a 22-year-old man who was attacking people as they left Maracana stadium Friday following the opening ceremony, USA Today reports. According...

WVU Sophomore Pulls Upset for US' 1st Olympic Gold

Ginny Thrasher wins women's 10-meter air rifle

(Newser) - The first gold medal of the Rio Olympics went to a 19-year-old college sophomore from Virginia. Ginny Thrasher placed first in the women's 10-meter air rifle, the first event of these games, on Saturday, USA Today reports. Thrasher is competing in her first Olympics and—according to West Virginia ...

One Big Star of Opening Ceremony: Gisele Bundchen

 Rio Opens the Games 
olympics
Aug 5, 2016 9:15 PM CDT

Rio Opens the Games

Michael Phelps carries in US flag

(Newser) - With fireworks forming the word "Rio" in the sky, hip-wiggling dancers, and supermodel Gisele Bundchen shimmering to the tune of the "Girl from Ipanema," Rio de Janiero welcomed the world to the first Olympic Games in South America with a serious message: Let's take better care...

Olympic Officials Use Bolt Cutters After Losing Stadium Keys

Whoops

(Newser) - Not exactly an auspicious start to the Rio Olympics: Officials couldn't find the keys for one of the Maracana Stadium gates Wednesday, so they had to use bolt cutters to let fans into a soccer game, Fox Sports reports. (As Sports Illustrated notes, competition has already begun for some...

Boxer Blows Olympic Chances With Arrest in Rio
Boxer Blows Olympic Chances With Arrest in Rio
OLYMPICS
Aug 5, 2016 1:03 PM CDT

Boxer Blows Olympic Chances With Arrest in Rio

Morocco's Hassan Saada is accused of sexually assaulting 2 women

(Newser) - Morocco's Hassan Saada was set to square off in the boxing ring against a Turkish competitor at the Olympics on Saturday, but instead he'll be in a Rio jail. The 22-year-old athlete was arrested Friday morning at the Olympic Village on charges that he sexually assaulted two maids...

Report: 1K US Spies Helping Brazil Monitor Olympics

All 17 US intelligence agencies are reportedly involved

(Newser) - There may be more US spies than Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Rio over the next couple of weeks, per a "highly classified" intelligence report seen by NBC News . With the blessing of Brazil's government, some 1,000 espionage experts—about 350 of them onsite in Rio—are positioned and...

Olympian Racks Up $5K Bill Playing Pokemon in Brazil

Some athletes complained about game's absence

(Newser) - Olympians can now go for their Pokemon Go medals. The hit augmented-reality game, in which players roam around the real-life world to collect virtual monsters and medals, became available in Brazil late Wednesday. There had been much disappointment among those at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games that they couldn'...

Team USA's Most-Decorated Athlete Will Be Its Flag-Bearer

Star swimmer will be Team USA's flag-bearer at Friday's opening ceremony

(Newser) - "King of the Olympic Rings" Michael Phelps already has more medals than any other athlete in history, Fox Sports notes. Now he's going to add a flag to the mix as Team USA's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony in Rio on Friday, the Olympic National Committee announced...

Teen's Tweeted Olympic Dream Comes True 5 Years Later

Morolake Akinosun is heading to Rio after prophetic posting years ago

(Newser) - In the summer of 2011, a 17-year-old heading into her senior year at an Illinois high school started thinking more seriously about her future, and she determinedly announced her plans via social media. "In 2016 I will be 22, graduated from a school I have not chosen yet, and...

Pro Tip for Rio Travelers: 'Don't Put Your Head Underwater'

AP study finds waters in Olympic city are still dangerously contaminated

(Newser) - Just days ahead of the Olympic Games, Rio waterways are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by the AP . Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions,...

Here&#39;s How to Fix the Olympics
 Here's How to Fix the Olympics 
OPINION
Jul 21, 2016 1:58 PM CDT

Here's How to Fix the Olympics

It's time to 'decentralize,' says columnist

(Newser) - The Rio Olympics have gotten a lot of bad press thanks to Zika's proliferation in Brazil, but it's not just this year's Olympics that are in trouble, writes Paul Christesen in The Conversation . Other host cities have faced problems from funding to environmental impacts. "It seems...

Russia Swapped Urine Samples Through 'Mouse Hole': Report

It led to a room full of clean, frozen samples

(Newser) - During the day, it looked like an impenetrable wall. Only under cover of darkness was the small "mouse hole" at ground level uncovered to reveal a passage from Russia's anti-doping lab to a room where clean urine tests sat waiting, frozen. "At a convenient moment, usually around...

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