Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk
From Reuters, "Ukraine's Usyk dances his way to gold," by Padraic Halpin, on 11 August 2012 -- (Reuters) - Oleksandr Usyk won Ukraine's first boxing gold medal of the London Games on Saturday leaving Italy's Clemente Russo with a second successive heavyweight silver medal and fans enjoying another jig of joy.
Ukraine dominated last year's world championships, taking home four gold medals including one for Usyk, as they sought to muscle their way to the top of the amateur game just as the famous Klitschko Brothers had done in the professional ranks.
However, Denys Berinchyk failed in the former Soviet state's first bid for gold, losing to Cuba's Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo two bouts earlier and more pressure was heaped on Usyk when he fell behind after the first round.
"We already had a silver and we didn't need another one," Usyk told reporters. "I showed what I can do, especially considering I was behind in the first round, even though I didn't actually feel any hits from him."
"My coach asked me, 'How strong are the Italian's punches?' and I said, 'I don't know, I haven't felt any'. He said, 'Just go back out there and hit him'."
Usyk, who at 190 centimeters (6 feet 3 inches) enjoyed a nine centimeter height advantage over the Italian, had boxed cautiously in the opening three minutes and paid the price as the awkward Russo caught him with some swiping left hands.
Russo, one of the poster boys of the Olympic boxing governing body's new professional league, may have ridden his luck to reach Saturday's final but he showed far more guile than in previous bouts to chalk up a two-point lead.
However, the big Ukrainian opened up in the second round and showed more of the aggression that saw him thoroughly punish Bulgaria's Tervel Pulev in the semi-finals to peg back Russo's advantage and go into the final round level.
With both fighters out on their feet, Usyk, who like team mate Berinchyk sports one of the oddest haircuts at the Olympics, delivered some decisive big left hooks in the final minute to take the contest 14-11.
The mostly shaved do with a lengthy piece of hair left on top is a traditional Ukrainian number called 'chub', a hairstyle traditionally worn by Kazaki people from the south of Ukraine, who are known as good fighters, Berinchyk explained last week.
It was not the only thing that marked the pair out at the London Games.
Usyk danced his now customary elaborate victory jig - a Ukrainian 'hopak' dance - when the score was announced, adding an extra spin or two while Berinchyk was understandably more restrained when he took to the floor after his defeat.
They will likely be celebrating again on Sunday when team mate and hot lightweight favorite Vasyl Lomachenko fights for his second Olympic gold in a row.
Losing heavyweight semi-finalists Pulev and Teymur Mammadov of Azerbaijan were back in the arena on Saturday to collect their bronze medals as Italian Russo accepted his silver with regret. "I didn't want silver, I wanted gold," he said. (sources: Reuters, reporting by Padraic Halpin and Patrick Johnston; editing by Michael Holden and Ken Ferris)
Serena Williams Wins Gold
From the UK Daily Mail, "You've been served! Serena Williams celebrates Olympic gold by bringing the crip walk to Wimbledon," on 4 August 2012 -- After securing a career Golden Slam by defeating Maria Sharapova on the famous grass courts of Wimbeldon, Serena Williams then proceeded to perform the world's first Olympic Crip Walk..
After routing Sharapova 6-0, 6-1, Williams showed off some impressive dancing skills on Wimbledon's grass centre court.
'I don’t think I’ve ever danced like that,' Williams said. 'I don’t even know where the dance came from.'
However, the U.S. champion certainly had plenty to dance about - today's medal was her first Olympic gold in a singles match and means she has achieved a career Golden Slam.
Originating in the 1970's and performed by the Crip gang members of Williams' native Compton suburb of Los Angeles, the C-Walk was once synonmous with urban violence.
Made popular by hip hop stars, the Crip Walk can be seen in the video for Snoop Dogg's 'Drop It Like It's Hot.'
But the sight of one of the most recognised and celebrated athletes in the world performing the move would have gone a long way to reminding everyone watching where she grew up.
The U.S. champion defeated Sharapova easily and finished off the match by serving two aces. She jumped for joy before performing her little victory dance as her sister, Venus, watched on grinning.
'I didn't think it could get better than winning Wimbledon,' an elated Williams said as she came off the court.
In an incredible display of prowess, Williams served three aces in the opening game, broke Sharapova’s serve in the second game before racing on to win the match.
In 1988, Steffi Graf won a Grand Slam - all four titles in the same calendar year - as well as a gold medal at the Seoul Olympics, which reinstated tennis as a sport in those games for the first time in 64 years.
Williams said she felt no pressure or sense that she had to achieve anything else in an extraordinary career in which she first rose to the top of the rankings a decade ago.
"I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I feel like if I were to retire last week, I would be fine," she said.
Serena has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any active woman; Sharapova has won four majors, sinking to her knees and raising her arms skyward when she won the French Open this year.
A shoulder injury took Sharapova out of the game for an extended period several years ago and deprived her of the chance to compete at the 2008 Beijing games. (source: UK Daily Mail)
Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi celebrates winning gold in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012.
... in the men's 3000m steeplechase, an event that requires competitors to run over seven-and-a-half laps of the track and jump 28 hurdles ... seven of which have a pool of water on the other side, because the Olympics are full of sports that maybe (?) made sense 100 years ago. Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi won the event, the second Olympic gold of his career.
Afterward, he celebrated:
Kemboi has been dominant in the event since he captured gold in the 2004 Games. He won the 3000m steeplechase title at the World Championships in 2009 and 2011 (with silvers in 2003, 2005 and 2007). His fellow countryman Abel Mutai won the bronze while France's Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad took the silver. American Evan Jager faded near the end and finished sixth, more than five seconds behind Kemboi. (source: SB Nation)
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