2012 London Olympics

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Sorry, Olympic Medalists Don't Deserve Tax Break

Last thing our tax code needs is yet another loophole: Conor Friedersdorf

(Newser) - Marco Rubio claims he wants to simplify the tax code—so why in the world is he calling for Olympians not to be taxed on their winnings? Such a plan "is a perfect example of why the tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess," writes Conor Friedersdorf...

Women&#39;s All-Around Gold Goes to ...


 Women's All-Around 
 Gold Goes to ... 
Olympics
Aug 2, 2012 12:25 PM CDT

Women's All-Around Gold Goes to ...

USA's Gabby Douglas takes first place

(Newser) - Might be time to get Gabby Douglas a new nickname. Olympic champ might work. Known as "The Flying Squirrel," Douglas won the women's all-around title today, becoming the third straight American to win gymnastics' biggest prize. It's her second gold medal of the London Games, coming...

US Grabs Judo Milestone
 US Grabs Judo Milestone 
olympics
Aug 2, 2012 11:43 AM CDT

US Grabs Judo Milestone

Kayla Harrison wins nation's first gold in the sport

(Newser) - For the first time in Olympic history, the United States has taken home a gold medal in judo. Kayla Harrison won the top spot in the 78-kilogram division today, the AP reports. She defeated Britain's Gemma Gibbons, who won silver, throwing her twice in the final. Harrison, a former...

Mom&#39;s Cancer, Family Deaths Kept From China Diver
Mom's Cancer, Family Deaths Kept From China Diver
olympics
Aug 2, 2012 10:36 AM CDT

Mom's Cancer, Family Deaths Kept From China Diver

News hidden from Wu Minxia to ensure success

(Newser) - Wu Minxia won gold yet again for China in the women's synchronized 3m springboard at the London Olympics, making her the first diver to ever take gold at three consecutive Games—but the honor comes at a great cost. Wu's father tells the Shanghai Morning Post that he...

Samuel L. Jackson's Olympic Tweets: Totally Nuts

To say the actor is a fan is ... a bit of an understatement

(Newser) - Gawker has located Team USA's biggest fan, and it is: Samuel L. Jackson. To say the actor's tweets about the London Olympics have been "enthusiastic" doesn't quite cover it. And while he clearly loves both gymnastics and exclamation points, he doesn't discriminate—he's...

Former Anti-Doping Chief: 90% Get Away With It

Fight against drug cheats being 'dumbed down,' Dick Pound warns

(Newser) - Close to a tenth of Olympic athletes are using banned substances, and only one in ten of those are getting caught, warns former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound. "People who have prepared in advance" and used drugs before the London Olympics "won't get caught," he...

Boob Tube: NBC Airs Bare Breast in Water Polo

A player gets something off her chest

(Newser) - The boobs at NBC might be considering extending the network's Olympic broadcast time delay to its live feed online—after it revealed the bare breast of a water polo player. The audience watching the US-Spain match on site didn't get the benefit of the underwater cameras, but NBC...

Medal Winners Must Face Tax Man

 Medal Winners 
 Must Face 
 Tax Man 
olympics
Aug 1, 2012 5:06 PM CDT

Medal Winners Must Face Tax Man

Marco Rubio wants to stop that immediately

(Newser) - US Olympians who medal in London get to share some of their glory with the IRS. The group Americans for Tax Reform (a Grover Norquist production) breaks it down this way:
  • Gold: Given the $25,000 cash award and the value of the medal itself ($675), recipients would owe the
...

Olympic Flame Pulls Vanishing Act
 Olympic Flame Pulls 
 Vanishing Act 
OLYMPICS
Aug 1, 2012 3:45 PM CDT

Olympic Flame Pulls Vanishing Act

Organizers move cauldron out of sight, for now

(Newser) - Where did that giant fire go? The traditional Olympic flame was ignited in an enormous cauldron inside London's Olympic stadium during the finale of the opening ceremony, but now the cauldron is nowhere to be seen. What gives? Officials temporarily extinguished the cauldron (keeping the "mother flame" alive...

London's Mayor Gets Stuck on Zip Line

Boris Johnson laughs it off

(Newser) - Most of the Olympic highlight reels today include footage not of an athlete but of London Mayor Boris Johnson. The good mayor took a zip-line ride in part to celebrate his nation's first gold medal —and promptly got stuck while waving his little Union Jacks, reports the Guardian...

Why North Korea Is Really Winning the Games

China's merely second, depending on how you count

(Newser) - The country really winning the Olympics is ... North Korea? If you've been following the Games you know that China and the US have been neck-and-neck in the medals count (with the gold-medal advantage going to China), but in a blog post spotted by the Pacific Standard , politics professor Seth...

Badminton Stars Charged With Playing to Lose
8 Badminton Stars Booted
for Playing to Lose
updated
Aug 1, 2012 7:54 AM CDT

8 Badminton Stars Booted for Playing to Lose

Women's doubles matches descend into farce

(Newser) - Eight badminton players have been booted from the Games after being charged under the Olympics code of conduct with "not using their best efforts to win a match," reports the Telegraph . Players in the two women's doubles badminton matches were booed yesterday after what witnesses described as...

Britain Finally Grabs a Gold
 Britain Finally Grabs a Gold 
olympics
Aug 1, 2012 6:51 AM CDT

Britain Finally Grabs a Gold

5 days into games, women win top rowing honors

(Newser) - The egg-on-face potential has been eliminated: Olympic host Britain has finally captured its first gold medal of the London Games. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won the final of the women's pair at the Olympic rowing regatta on today, after establishing a big lead early in the race and...

Michael Phelps Makes History: Medal No. 19

Nobody has more Olympic medals

(Newser) - He may not be minting gold as he did at the last Olympics, but Michael Phelps is still making history. The US swimmer picked up a gold and a silver today to bring his career Olympic total to a record 19 medals, reports USA Today . (He's got another silver...

Teen Charged for Tweet-Taunting UK Diver

Teen faces charges for 'malicious' tweets: Police

(Newser) - A British teenager has been arrested over an abusive tweet directed toward one of his country's Olympians, reports the BBC . After synchronized diver Tom Daley missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish, he received this: "You let your dad down i hope you know that."...

US Women Take Gold in Gymnastics
 Gymnastics: US Women Take... 
olympics
Jul 31, 2012 12:44 PM CDT

Gymnastics: US Women Take...

Gold! It's the first gold for Team USA since 1996

(Newser) - The Americans lived up to the hype and then some, winning their first Olympic gold medal in women's gymnastics since 1996. Won it in a rout, too. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points ahead of Russia. Romania won the bronze. With three incredible vaults to...

USA's Hancock Makes It a Sweep in Skeet Shooting

Plus, Zara Phillips wins silver in equestrian team event

(Newser) - Vincent Hancock of the US has won the gold medal in the men's skeet competition at the London Olympics, his second straight. It gives the US a skeet sweep, after Kimberly Rhode won the women's competition earlier this week. Hancock clinched the gold on his next-to-last shot, and...

Record-Setting Ye &#39;Clean,&#39; Says Olympic Bigwig
Record-Setting Ye 'Clean,' Says Olympic Bigwig
olympics
Jul 31, 2012 7:45 AM CDT

Record-Setting Ye 'Clean,' Says Olympic Bigwig

Lord Colin Moynihan confirms Chinese swimmer passed drug tests

(Newser) - Ye Shiwen was "clean" when she set a world record in the women's 400-meter individual medley at the London Olympics, according to the British Olympic Association chairman. Lord Colin Moynihan confirmed that Ye went through the World Anti-Doping Agency's drug testing program, the BBC reports. "That'...

Twitter Blocks Journalist Who Criticized NBC

NBC argues Guy Adams violated Twitter policy by printing exec email

(Newser) - Twitter is sparking stunned squeals of protest over its decision to block a British journalist after he criticized Olympic coverage by NBC and the network complained. Twitter has suspended the account of Guy Adams , the Los Angeles correspondent for the Independent . The newspaper's deputy editor blasted the move as...

Sports Fans Slip Past NBC&#39;s Iron Grip
 Sports Fans Slip Past 
 NBC's Iron Grip 
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2012 4:03 AM CDT

Sports Fans Slip Past NBC's Iron Grip

Savvy Internet surfers turn to overseas servers

(Newser) - Olympics fans are mad and they're not going to put up with NBC's iron control any longer. The answer? The Internet, of course. Techies are linking to European servers to get their sports from across the pond, reports Reuters . Take Californian Jason Legate, who has been watching the...

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