For Lolo Jones, Everything Is Image – The New York Times

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Judging from this year’s performances, Lolo Jones seems to have only a slim chance of winning an Olympic medal in the 100-meter hurdles and almost no possibility of winning gold.

Still, Jones has received far greater publicity than any other American track and field athlete competing in the London Games. This was based not on achievement but on her exotic beauty and on a sad and cynical marketing campaign. Essentially, Jones has decided she will be whatever anyone wants her to be — vixen, virgin, victim — to draw attention to herself and the many products she endorses.

Women have struggled for decades to be appreciated as athletes. For the first time at these Games, every competing nation has sent a female participant. But Jones is not assured enough with her hurdling or her compelling story of perseverance. So she has played into the persistent, demeaning notion that women are worthy as athletes only if they have sex appeal. And, too often, the news media have played right along with her.

Full article:
For Lolo Jones, Everything Is Image – The New York Times – August 4, 2012
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Link to The New York Times article

Visa Reports Olympic Consumer Spending Boost – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Reports that consumer spending in Britain has crashed as a result of the Olympics look to have been largely unfounded, according to Visa figures that show spending marginally up during the first week of the Games. The credit card supplier said domestic spending on British Visa cards reached £7.4bn last week, up 3.4% on the previous seven days, but only a modest increase of £200m on the same week in 2011.

Spending on cards by international visitors in the UK in the same period rose to £456.9m, an 8% increase on the same week in 2011. Despite reports from retailers and restaurants in London that business has been massively down on previous summers, Visa said spending on its cards by tourists in restaurants across the country was up 19.6% last week to £12.7m.

It seems Usain Bolt hasn’t been alone in hitting the capital’s nightclubs, with Visa saying such spending among foreign cardholders was up 24% to £2.1m last week. Despite the late nights, visitors are still finding time for sightseeing: card spending on attractions and exhibitions was up 12%, it said

Full article:
Visa Reports Olympic Consumer Spending Boost – The Guardian
By Miles Brignall
Link to The Guardian article

London 2012 Sees Britain Bask in its Most Golden Glow Since 1908 – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

A triumph of funding, management and performance is largely responsible for our stunning and extraordinary Olympic success.

Do not adjust your medal table: this really is happening. Beleaguered by security blather, troubled at times by its own unfathomable ticket regime, the London 2012 Olympic Games has now delivered gloriously and unanswerably where it really matters.

Gold medals on Tuesday afternoon in triathlon, dressage and – you again? – cycling, took Britain’s medal table tally decisively past the 19 golds achieved in Beijing four years ago. It is the best British gold medal tally at any Olympics since London’s White City Games in 1908, when deer shooting and the tug of war were among the medals on offer. To give a more telling perspective on a vertiginous achievement, as recently as the 1996 Atlanta Games, Britain won just a single gold – in rowing.

After a weekend of giddily received track and field success, the start of the Games’ final week had already brought a reprise of that rather disorientating golden glow. Monday’s equine and cycle-based exploits had left the gold tally just one short of Beijing’s intoxicatingly grand haul overnight. Such are Team GB’s current riches that the card for Tuesday’s Olympic competition almost felt like a race within a race, a sprint for the wire to claim that historic 20th gold medal.

Full article:
London 2012 Sees Britain Bask in its Most Golden Glow Since 1908 – The Guardian – August 8, 2012
By Barney Ronay
Link to The Guardian article

Sir Chris Hoy Draws More Than 10m Viewers for Sixth Olympic Gold – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

More than 10 million viewers tuned in to BBC channels to watch Sir Chris Hoy collect a record-breaking sixth gold medal during the final night of London 2012 Olympic competition on the cycling track on Tuesday.

Laura Trott’s second cycling gold of the 2012 London Game attracted 8.2 million, while Victoria Pendleton’s last ever Olympic ride drew 9.4 million.

However, the BBC’s biggest five-minute peak audience on Tuesday came later in the evening, with 12.1 million watching Australian Sally Pearson take gold in the women’s 110m hurdles.

The biggest five-minute peak audience for the cycling was the 9.8 million who watched Hoy’s emotional ceremony from 6.30pm after the 36-year-old won the keirin, which put him ahead of Sir Steve Redgrave as the British Olympian with the most gold medals.

Full article:
Sir Chris Hoy Draws More Than 10m Viewers for Sixth Olympic Gold – The Guardian – August 8, 2012
By Mark Sweney
Link to The Guardian article

Sunday Times is Biggest Games Winner After Team GB’s Golden Saturday – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Olympic bonanza has also lifted sales of Times, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, with other national titles enjoying small gains – though Sun and Daily Star have dipped

The Sunday Times enjoyed the biggest circulation boost from Team GB’s golden Saturday, with readers eager to read about the exploits of gold medal winners including Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah helping to add about 70,000 copies compared with a normal weekend.

Overall, the Sunday Times, its News International stablemate, the Times, and Associated Newspapers titles the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday have added the most sales so far during the London 2012 Olympics, according to unofficial industry estimates. Most other national titles have enjoyed small gains. However, the Sun, Daily Star and their Sunday editions have seen their circulation dip during the Olympics.

Full article:
Sunday Times is Biggest Games Winner After Team GB’s Golden Saturday – The Guardian – August 8, 2012
By Mark Sweney
Link to The Guardian article

Olympic Hospitality Houses Open Doors for Patriots and Promoters – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

High above London at Alexandra Palace, the floodlights of the Olympic Stadium are just a blur on the horizon, and sporting discipline could not be further from anyone’s mind. As the B-52s blast from the stereo the bar is heaving and the air is thick with the smell of beer and savoury Dutch snacks.

For Gertjan van Holland, a research consultant wearing an orange suit that he ordered online and a cowboy hat with orange tinsel, it is the perfect way to celebrate visiting London. “The Holland Heineken House is very famous in Holland so if you’re at the Olympics you have to experience it,” he says, as the Dutch swimming champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo takes part in a live television broadcast to whoops and cheers. “It’s the big party.”

Full article:
Olympic Hospitality Houses Open Doors for Patriots and Promoters – The Guardian – August 7, 2012
By Lizzy Davies and Esther Addley
Link to The Guardian article

Chris Hoy becomes Britain’s Greatest Olympian with Sixth Gold – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Sir Chris Hoy may continue to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 but his sixth career gold medal in the keirin motorpaced sprint in the Pringle marked the end of an Olympic career which has underpinned the success of British cyclists over four Games, from Sydney to London, in which time he has grown into a senior figure within the squad, an iconic role model and target for youngsters such as Jason Kenny, Philip Hindes and many others.

Hoy’s victory in the keirin means he exits Olympic sport as Britain’s most successful medallist, with six golds to his name, surpassing Sir Steve Redgrave and drawing level with Bradley Wiggins on a career total of seven, although the cycling Modfather has “only” four golds to his name. This leaves GB’s track cycling team with seven gold medals, one silver and one bronze from the 10 track events, a picture of all-round domination that matches the triumph in Beijing.

Full article:
Chris Hoy becomes Britain’s Greatest Olympian with Sixth Gold – The Guardian – August 7, 2012
By William Fotheringham
Link to The Guardian article

With Live Streaming and New Technology, BBC Tries to Be Everywhere at the Olympics – New York Times

Posted on August 7, 2012 by pmkbncscience

While some American television viewers are grumbling about the retro feel to NBC’s London Olympics coverage, with tape-delayed broadcasts of the opening ceremony and other events, audiences in Britain are getting a more contemporary — even futuristic — TV Games.

There, BBC is providing marathon coverage — 2,500 hours of programming during the more than two weeks of the Games. At the touch of a button on their remote controls, viewers can choose among as many as 24 live feeds of various events, whether basketball or fencing.

“We wanted to give people every venue, from first thing in the morning to last thing at night,” said Roger Mosey, director of BBC’s Olympics coverage.

Full article:
With Live Streaming and New Technology, BBC Tries to Be Everywhere at the Olympics – New York Times – August 5, 2012
By ERIC PFANNER
Link to New York Times article

NBC’s Coverage in London Is Becoming a Rating Success With a Shot at a Profit – New York Times

Posted on August 7, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Critics of NBC’s coverage of the London Olympics have voiced sometimes brutal commentary on Twitter using the hashtag #NBCFail, but with one week left in its comprehensive, multiple-platform coverage, NBC’s own take is that its programming is a success. Ratings are up over what had been an impressive performance in 2008 in Beijing, and a predicted loss of $200 million or more has been turned around to a cautious prediction of a possible small profit.

Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Sports Group, said in a conference call last week, “We think there’s a small chance that we could make a little bit of money.”

Full article:
NBC’s Coverage in London Is Becoming a Rating Success With a Shot at a Profit – New York Times – August 5, 2012
By BILL CARTER
Link to New York Times article

British Patriotism Blossoms Amid the Games – Los Angeles Times

Posted on August 7, 2012 by pmkbncscience

“During the opening Olympic ceremony I felt a strange stirring inside,” wrote an alarmed Simon Kuper, a columnist for the Financial Times. “At first I thought it was the dodgy chicken sandwich bought in the stadium, but I eventually identified the feeling: British patriotism. This was new to me.”

After a slow start for the British team, a few gold medals in such patrician events as cycling and rowing, have stoked the fire.

But even sports in which British competitors basically show up to be pummeled offer opportunities for outpourings of a particular strain of Britishness. How else to explain the enthusiastic support of Chris Musgrave for the British handball team, which doesn’t just get beaten by its opponents but buried?

“It’s the underdog really,” said Musgrave, 23. “We British love the underdog.”

Full article:
British Patriotism Blossoms Amid the Games – Los Angeles Times – August 4, 2012
By Henry Chu
Link to Los Angeles Times article

They Win Gold, but a Pot of It Rarely Follows – New York Times

Posted on August 7, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Vincent Hancock won gold in skeet shooting here this week, missing just 2 of 150 targets in the competition. It was an extraordinary performance and unprecedented, too. Hancock prevailed in the same event in Beijing in 2008, making him the first skeet shooter to successfully defend his Olympic title.

The man is a superstar in his sport. So what riches await this impeccably mannered, 23-year-old Army sergeant when he returns home? What companies are lining up to write sponsorship checks? What signs are there that his life is about to change?

“None, really,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “I’ll try to go after some of the higher-profile companies in November, once I leave the military. But I’m not going to get greedy. I’ll be thankful for anything I’m given.”

Full article:
They Win Gold, but a Pot of It Rarely Follows – New York Times – August 3, 2012
By DAVID SEGAL
Link to New York Times article

A Buoyant Bedlam at the Olympic Park – New York Times

Posted on August 7, 2012 by pmkbncscience

How could anyone passing through the St. Pancras International train station in central London fail to locate the new superfast train that hurtles passengers to the Olympic park in a mere seven minutes? Part of a mass signpost refit before the Olympics, the station is full of jaunty pink “Javelin Train to ” signs.

But do not believe everything you see in print. Some of the signs the other day appeared to contradict one another. One pointed nowhere. Another suggested that the train might be reached via a neglected side exit leading to an abandoned taxi stand.

Full article:
A Buoyant Bedlam at the Olympic Park – New York Times – August 3, 2012
By SARAH LYALL
Link to Financial Times article

Controversy in Twitter Feeds – Los Angeles Times

Posted on August 6, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Several hours before a semifinal race this week, Michael Phelps alerted his fans that he planned to take a nap. At roughly the same time, across town, basketball star LeBron James was visiting a sneaker shop. And, apparently, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt needed a shave.

The popular microblogging service has become more than just a forum for athletes and fans to share their thoughts. It is a part of the story at these Games. Over the last two weeks, a Greek triple jumper and a Swiss soccer player were sent home for posting tweets perceived as racist. Organizers blamed heavy use of social media — all those cellphones and tablets clicking away — for disrupting television coverage at a cycling event.

Full article:
Controversy in Twitter Feeds – Los Angeles Times – August 4, 2012
By David Wharton
Link to Los Angeles Times article

Now for Some Real Hurdles – The New York Times

Posted on August 6, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Hi, everybody. Bob Costas here at the International Broadcast Center, welcoming you to our sixth night of Olympic coverage on NYCNBC. To those who have been watching our exhaustive, turgid coverage of the London Games on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and any other unclaimed bandwidth we could find, thank you for joining us.

NYCNBC, as many of you already know, is where we use computer projections to bring you the likely Olympic results if New York City rather than London had been awarded the 2012 Games. You may recall that New York’s mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, had put in a bid for the Games that featured a snazzy promotional video and everything, but lost out to London because he refused to leap out of a helicopter in a pink dress during the opening ceremonies.

Full article:
Now for Some Real Hurdles – The New York Times – August 2, 2012
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Link to The New York Times article

Trail of Confusion Leads to ‘Ghost Town’ – Financial Times

Posted on August 6, 2012 by pmkbncscience

The week began with Londoners aboard the capital’s Tube system receiving a warning from the lips of their mayor, Boris Johnson, of “huge pressure on the transport network”. It ended with him rejecting suggestions that what he called his “Hiroshima Tube announcement” was to blame for putting people off coming to London. After Japanese media seized on the mayoral gaffe, Mr Johnson apologised and admitted it was an “ill-judged choice of phrase”.

But the debacle, coming hot on the heels of comments from David Cameron, prime minister, that Londoners should “come back into the capital, come and shop,” exposed the difficulties for politicians and games organisers of managing the world’s biggest sporting occasion in one of the world’s busiest cities. The prime minister’s appeal for fresh London custom followed cries of anguish from West End businesses, who complained that trade was being “destroyed” as traditional tourists stayed away. Retailers, theatre owners, restaurateurs and those running the city’s prime attractions said the Olympics, while boosting business in east London, had created a “ghost-town” effect elsewhere in the city.

Full article:
Trail of Confusion Leads to ‘Ghost Town’ – Financial Times – August 3, 2012
By James Pickford, Roger Blitz, Mark Odell, Helen Warrell and Jennifer Thompson
Link to Financial Times article

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