London 2012 Summer Olympics

Supporters Cheer For Guor Marial In Olympic Marathon

Michael Samuels — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:26:47 +0000

A Concord movie theater turned on a projector before dawn yesterday to show live footage of former resident Guor Marial running in the Olympics.

NHPR's In-House Marathoner Weighs In On Olympic Track and Field

Brady Carlson and Keith Shields — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:15:50 +0000

Millions of Americans have been following the Olympics in London, and NHPR staffers are no exception. But one of our colleagues is watching with a more seasoned eye – Keith Shields is executive producer of The Exchange, but he’s also a 27-time marathoner who's currently training for an Iron Man triathlon in Quebec.

He tells All Things Considered host Brady Carlson about the races he's been following, London's history in shaping the modern marathon, and whether athletes watch Olympic competition any differently than the rest of us.

The Mile Still Matters To Track & Field

Todd Bookman — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Track and field has a numbers problem. As in, there are just too many of them. The 60, 26.2, 4-by-8, 2-oh-3, 5, 8, 10k…

Back in the 1950s, there was one number that mattered.

"I think there are only a handful of achievements like breaking 4 minutes for the first time, in any sport, that comes close to what Roger Bannister has done."

Olympic Kayak Paddles Made in New Hampshire: A Family Legacy

Ryan Lessard — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 21:25:16 +0000

Earlier this week, at the London Olympics, the American team competed in the double canoe slalom. That’s when two men kneel inside a kayak and work together to navigate an obstacle course on whitewater rapids. If you watched this on NBC, you might have caught a glimpse of a pair of paddles made in New Hampshire.

In rustic Canaan, New Hampshire, Peter Mitchell is hard at work sanding a freshly carved double-bladed kayak paddle.

Robot Cameras Help Carry the Load at the Olympics

Taylor Quimby — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:13:07 +0000

While the world’s top athletes compete at the London 2012 Olympics, hundreds of photographers are contending to capture the game’s defining moments on camera. To maximize its odds of snapping a winning pic, Reuters is getting some help, from robots. The new shutter-bots will be stationed at Table Tennis, Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, Fencing, Weight Lifting, and at the main Olympic Park for some of the big events. Word of Mouth Producer Taylor Quimby caught up with Patrick C

South Sudanese/Granite State Phenom's Story Spreads Far and Wide

Sam Evans-Brown — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Guor Marial is a South Sudanese refugee who spent his high school years in Concord. He has now qualified to run the Olympic marathon.

In the past few weeks he’s had a lot of press: Time Magazine, the Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, the Associated Press, and too many other publications to name have run profiles on him. Marial’s story has spread so far because it’s basically the perfect Olympic story.

London Olympics: Watching The Opening Ceremony, And This Weekend's Events

Bill Chappell — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:48:01 +0000

The London 2012 Summer Games are set to begin in earnest, with today's opening ceremony kicking off a weekend of gold-medal competitions. But if you're in America and you hope to watch the Opening Ceremony live, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed: NBC is tape-delaying its broadcast until Friday night.

That sets the Opening Ceremony apart from nearly all other Olympic events, which are being live-streamed online and broadcast on NBC and its affiliated cable channels, from MSNBC to Bravo.

Writers on a New England Stage: Chris Cleave

Virginia Prescott — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:25:48 +0000

Chris Cleave is a columnist for the UK's Guardian newspaper and author of Incendiary and Little Bee.

New Englanders To Compete In 2012 Summer Games

Associated Press — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:30:06 +0000

Today is the kick-off of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. Below is a list of New Englanders competing in London, as provided by the U.S. Olympic Team.

Connecticut

A Know-It-All's Guide To Olympic Music

Tom Huizenga — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:52:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IizWc4cJwbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xio0TcKhRUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZARDqznfyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YdgWWaH7UM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsB4a--WRTs

History of Going for the Gold

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:43:33 +0000

Stephen Amidon, author of “Something Like the Gods: A Cultural History of the Athlete from Achilles to Lebron” tells less familiar stories of the Olympic glory.

Romney's London Trip Highlights His Olympic Pedigree

Howard Berkes — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:28:00 +0000

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in London on Thursday to raise money for his campaign, to meet with former and current British leaders and to remind voters of his experience running the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Romney is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the London Games on Friday, after meeting with American athletes.

How Many Calories Do Olympic Athletes Need? It Depends

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:46:00 +0000

Food, as we so often note on this blog, means a lot of different things to different people. To Olympic athletes, food is fuel for exceptional athletic performance.

A Horse of Exactly the Same Color

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:07:58 +0000

A new ruling will allow cloned horses to someday compete in the Olympcs. Wait...what?

Jumping for Gold...Someday

Rebecca Lavoie — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Elise Lesko jumps like a champion. It's hard to believe she's just ten.