The women of the U.S. Soccer team advanced to the gold medal match on Monday after Alex Morgan scored a game winning goal in the 123rd minute to claim victory over team Canada with a final score of 4-3.

Victory for Team USA means the women will now face Japan for the gold medal and will finish no worse than silver.

The win comes despite a thrilling hat trick for Canada’s Christine Sinclair. Team USA was forced to rally after each of the Canadian’s goals and didn’t tie the match until the 80th minute when Abby Wambach scored on a penalty kick.

Also scoring for the Women’s U.S. soccer team was Megan Rapinoe who knocked in two shots to help her team advanced to the final match of Olympic tournament play.

The final match in women’s soccer will take place at Wembley Stadium, the same spot where last year’s World Cup final took place. Japan won the match during the World Cup thanks to penalty kicks.

After the match and her game winning header in the final seconds Alex Morgan said of her teams performance:

“It was a crazy battle.”

For the last several months all the U.S. women’s team has talked about has been their loss to the Japanese in 2011 and now they will have a chance to claim a victory over Japan in one of the largest and most watched soccer matches in the world.

Will you be rooting for Team USA in the gold medal round against Japan?

US Women’s Soccer Advances To Gold Medal Round, Will Face Japan In Epic Rematch is a post from: The Inquisitr

She lost steam and eventually took the Bronze during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing but Saya Richards-Ross didn’t sputter out this time around, pulling ahead of her competition to win gold in the 400-meter dash with a final time of 49.55 seconds.

Unlike her last opportunity Richards-Ross managed to pick up speed heading into the final 100 meters, winning by nearly a body length while provide Team USA with its first gold medal in track and field for the 2012 London Olympics.

Richards-Ross defeated Britain’s defending champion Christine Ohuruogu who ended the race with a final time of 49.70. Taking the bronze was American DeeDee Trotter who finished in third place with a final time of 49.72.

Wrapped in an American flag Richards-Ross hugged her husband, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Aaron Ross. Aaron received permission to leave his teams training camp to watch his wife perform at the 2012 summer Olympics.

As they embraced Aaron said to his wife:

“You finally did it, you finally did it, babe. Enjoy the moment.”

The gold medal was Richard-Ross’ first in an individual event, although Richards-Ross already holds two previous golds in Olympic Relays with the chance at yet another gold medal next week in a team relay.

During her failure to capitalize on a lead in Beijing doctor’s believed it was likely the result of Sanya suffering from an autoimmune disease called Behcet’s syndrome, several visits after the Olympics reveled that she was misdiagnosed and was instead suffering from an illness that was treated in time for her triumphant London Olympics return.

Sanya Richards-Ross Wins 400-Meter Gold is a post from: The Inquisitr

South Korean weightlifter Sa Jae-hyouk attempted to lift 357 pounds on Wednesday, an act which resulted in a grotesquely dislocated elbow. Since I’m not a big fan of seeing anyone writhe around in pure agony, the clip and images associated with this truly horrific injury aren’t really my cup of tea. If you’re at all squeamish about seeing parts of the human body in places where they’re not supposed to be, you may want to skip out on the video embedded below.

According to The Daily Mail, the problem began when Sa Jae-hyouk attempted to lift 357 pounds in the snatch. As a result, his elbow became dislocated, causing the South Korean Olympian to cry out in pain. As the medical team rushed to address the problem, it quickly became apparent that his injury was a bit more serious than most.

Although Sa had success with the 348 pound lift, though his problem began when he attempted to up the ante to 357 pounds. As he embarked on his mission to raise all of that dead weight into the air, the Olympian couldn’t seem to get out of a squatting position. As a result, his arm buckled under the pressure, causing his elbow to dislocate in the process. His pain, as you can see, is quite real.

Since Jae-Hyouk brought home the gold for weightlifting at the Beijing Olympics, South Korea had hoped the athlete would do the same in London. As you can tell from the embedded clip, Sa’s dream of obtaining another medal was shattered in a stream of pain and agony.

Following Sa’s injury, China’s Lu Xiaojun went on to win the competition, smashing two world records in the process. Good for China, bad for South Korea.

Sa Jae-hyouk was rushed to an area hospital for treatment. The status of his injury is unknown as of this writing. For those of you with strong stomachs and a high tolerance for human misery, the video of the South Korean weightlifter’s injury awaits your attention.

South Korean Weightlifter Sa Jae-hyouk Suffers Horrific Injury While Competing In London is a post from: The Inquisitr

NBC apologies for spoiling the Olympics to anyone and everyone who saw the TODAY Show promo that ran before Missy Franklin’s 100-meter victory. During the commercial break scheduled before Franklin’s performance at the 2012 London Olympics, NBC ran a promotional spot for their popular morning news program, which featured the swimmer holding a gold medal. Those who were watching pretty much had the entire event spoiled for them moments before the broadcast was set to hit airwaves in the United States.

“When you’re 17 years old and win your first gold medal, there’s nobody you’d rather share it with,” the spot proudly proclaimed. “We’re there when Missy Franklin and her parents reunite. A Today exclusive — live from London. Tomorrow.” The commercial came equipped with images of Franklin holding her gold medal. Whoops.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, viewers, many of whom are already irritated with the tape-delay coverage of the summer games, immediately began complaining to NBC. The company, in an attempt to soothe the irritated nerves of its audience, issued a statement on the matter shortly after the mistake made its debut.

“Clearly that promo should not have aired at that time,” NBC Sports said in a statement. “We have a process in place and this will not happen again. We apologize to viewers who were watching and didn’t know the result of the race.”

NBC also assured viewers that this sort of error would not happen again in the future. Given that viewers are already none too pleased about not receiving the games as they occur, this sort of mistake probably isn’t going to fare well with the network’s critics.

According to CNN, NBC’s ratings of the London games have been strong despite the criticisms. The network enjoyed 31.6 million viewers during Monday night’s coverage of the Olympics. NBC has reason to celebrate, as these numbers are the highest for a non-U.S. Summer Games in nearly 36 years.

NBC Issues Apology Over Accidental Olympic Spoiler is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Phelps might be retiring after the 2012 London Games but that doesn’t mean he won’t return with a very different role in 2016. According to several sources network executives are attempting to lure Phelps into an Olympic announcer role.

Phelps will leave the 2012 London Olympics as the most decorated athlete of all-time.

A source at NBC Sports tells TMZ:

“The man is smoking hot right now” — and they “would definitely hire Michael” to cover the Olympics in 2016.

Executives also want Phelps to cover major world events that occur over the next four years, an opportunity that could bring more viewers to those less watched events while paying Phelps a heap of money.

With Michael Phelps already recognized as one of the most well-known living Olympians it is likely that a bidding war will start over his services should he choose to leave swimming behind for an announcer/commentator role of some sort.

Even with a bidding war its likely Phelps will join NBC which owns the broadcast rights for the Olympics through 2020 in the United States. Despite that Olympic ownership an ABC rep said of the swimmers potential

“If he would, we would gladly scoop him up to work for us.”

At this point it is still unclear what type of salary Phelps would be expected to earn for his announcing efforts.

Phelps could prove to be the authoritative voice the Olympics and other swimming events need, however he could branch out and report on the Olympics atmosphere in general thanks to his experience at the event.

Forbes reports that 4.7 billion people tuned in to witness Phelps’ historic hot streak in Beijing. In a recent survey 89 percent of people could identify Phelps.

The simple fact is this, when Michael Phelps is swimming Olympics ratings hit their highest points.

Would Michael Phelps as announcer make you watch the Olympics more or less?

Michael Phelps Could Take Very Different Role In 2016 Summer Olympics is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just when we thought the London Summer Olympics had seen its fair share of strangeness, the report of a UFO hovering over the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremonies was revealed to the world by the mysterious MrScipher from the planet YouTube.

It was only a month ago that former Ministry of Defense UFO desk officer Nick Pope proclaimed his belief that the Summer Olympics were the perfect venue for visiting space aliens to reveal themselves to the human race. Mr.Pope is of the opinion that the immense world wide audience would not only appeal to companies paying millions of dollars a minute to advertise fast food and car insurance, but savvy visitors from distant planets would certainly be smart enough to take advantage of the biggest media event of the year.

The setting was perfect for something bizarre to occur. The crowd of thousands and a television audience in the hundreds of millions had already seen a visual spectacular created by film director Danny Boyle, that included such diverse tableau as a tribute to the British national health care system, complete with nurses, doctors and somersaulting youngsters cavorting on row after row of hospital beds.

After two skydivers impersonating James Bond and Queen Elizabeth parachuted from a helicopter into the stadium, the sky erupted with a massive display of fireworks. While all this was going on, the enterprising MrScipher noticed an unusual shape popping in and out of sight in the brightly lit night sky. He groped for his video camera to record what was sure to be the penultimate moment of human history.

To the utter amazement of those who were lucky enough to see the unusual shape moving silently behind the glare of the fireworks, many were stunned by what they saw. The object had the appearance of the classical UFO seen in the movie, “Day The Earth Stood Still.” MrScipher grabbed the shot and rushed to post it on Youtube.

As word began to spread and true believers wondered if they would finally get to “phone home,” counter claims began to appear in the press, informing all concerned that, alas, it was just the Goodyear Blimp with the running lights turned off. A spokesperson for the company explained that the blimp’s lights had been turned off so they wouldn’t interfere with the brilliance of the opening ceremony. He also informed us that there were no logos or adverts visible on the blimp because the blimp was on a “private hire.” Conspiracy theorists exchanged knowing glances, looked over their shoulders and bolted for the door.

Even now, there are still true believers who are convinced that the UFO was real and the blimp story is being floated by those evil plotters in MI-6 and the CIA to cover up the existence of the best dang UFO since Roswell. We might even wonder when the claims will surface that there are dead aliens being autopsied in the Buckingham Palace Basement, while the CIA and British Intelligence fight over powerful alien weapons tech.

You will have to decide for yourself as you examine the photos and watch the videos. It sure looks like a convincing UFO but they swear its only the Goodyear Blimp. I haven’t formed an opinion yet. Do you grok my meaning, Earthling?

UFO Spotted Over Olympic Opening Ceremony is a post from: The Inquisitr

A six-minute tribute to the victims of the London subway terror attacks of July 7, 2005, was cut from the American broadcast of the London Olympics opening ceremony.

The NBC network showed a Ryan Seacrest interview with Michael Phelps instead

Choreographer Akram Khan told the BBC that he felt “disheartened and disappointed” by the NBC decision against airing his performance for U.S. television viewers.  He added that “I am really sad that I couldn’t show the work in America, and that really upsets me, because I don’t think it’s any less or more than any of the other pieces.”

Of its programming decision, NBC has said that it was attempting to tailor the 2012 Summer Olympics broadcast for the American audience. It also said that it wasn’t aware of that the performance of “Abide With Me,” by the singer Emeli Sandé, that featured Khan and 50 dancers, was specifically a tribute to the 52 innocent persons killed in the suicide bomb attack that occurred a few days after London was named the host city for the 2012 Games.

Time offered this assessment of the 7/7 tribute controversy:

True, there was some disagreement over whether the segment was actually, literally a tribute to terrorism victims. The official program of the opening ceremonies describes that section of the program as a general tribute to “loved ones who couldn’t be with us.” But the commentary on the BBC telecast of the ceremony referenced it as a 7/7 tribute, and from the coverage in the British press, the symbolism and staging of the event seemed to clearly, if not officially, reference the 2005 attack.

But it also doesn’t really matter. Specific or general, a tribute to the missing seems like precisely the most sensitive section of a ceremony to edit out. And besides that, given the stranglehold NBC maintains on content for an event its audience has a massive interest in, why edit anything out? It may have been a long ceremony, as they always are, but there was plenty of time to air the song rather than have Ryan Seacrest interview athletes…

Perhaps NBC’s decision is less than surprising in the context that IOC officials have refused to even observe a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes murdered during the 1972 Munich Games.

Here is the footage from the London Olympics opening ceremonies broadcast that wasn’t aired on U.S. television:

Watch the London Olympics Opening Ceremony Footage Censored By NBC [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ryan Lochte won gold in the 400-meter individual medley, while Michael Phelps lagged behind, finishing off of the podium in 4th place.

The Huffington Post reports that Lochte completed the race with a time of 4:05:18, a challenge to the world record, snagging the United States’ first gold medal in London so far. Brazil’s Thiago Pereira won the silver medal, while Japan’s Kosuke Hagino captured bronze.

Lochte’s time in the 400 IM is only second to Michael Phelps’ time of 4:03:84, set in 2008. Following the race, Lochte told reporters:

“I think I’m kind of in shock right now.”

Newsday notes that, while Michael Phelps was not going to match his eight medal record from Beijing in 2008, he was expected to at least medal in the men’s 400 IM. Unfortunately, as Phelps put it, it was “just a crappy race.” Speaking to reporters afterwards, the 27-year-old Olympian stated:

“I felt fine the first 200, then I don’t know. They just swam a better race than me, a smarter race than me, and were better prepared than me. That’s why they’re on the medal stand.”

Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are friendly rivals, and will meet each other one more time while in the 200 meter individual relay. When asked about Phelps’ performance, Lochte stated, “I know he gave it everything he had. That’s all you can ask for.”

For Phelps, however, who was hoping to be the first male swimmer to win the same individual event in three straight Olympics, the 400 IM was not it. Instead, he will have the chance to try again with the 200 IM, as well as the 100 and 20 butterfly, which he won at Athens and Beijing.

Were you excited to see Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps in the 400 IM? Are you excited to see the two go head-to-head in the 200 individual medley?

Ryan Lochte Beats Michael Phelps For Gold In Men’s 400 IM is a post from: The Inquisitr

26-year-old Im Dong-Hyun is legally blind in both eyes and is unable to read the newspaper at arm’s-length, yet despite his horrid vision he is the favorite to win the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Four years ago in Beijing the archer won the team event at only 18-years-old and his followers say he has only gotten better.

Dong-Hyun has only 20/200 vision in his left eye which means he must be 10 times closer to an object to see it clearly when compared to someone with 20/20 vision. The world-class archer also only has 20/100 vision in his other eye.

Despite what some people call a handicap the world-class athlete says of his situation:

Legally Blind Archer Is Favorite To Win 2012 London Olympics Gold Medal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Wearing throwback jersey’s from the 1992 Dream Team the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team on Sunday held off Argentina to claim an 86-80 victory in an exhibition game leading up to the 2012 London Olympics.

Team USA was led by Kevin Durant who pulled down 27 points followed by Kobe Bryant who added 18 and Lebron James who scored 15.

The men’s basketball team nearly blew the lead after Manu Ginobili made a three-point play with 2:50 remaining, cutting Team USA’s lead to just four points. The U.S. men rebounded on big 3-pointers from Kevin Durant and Chris Paul.

Argentina had some big play makers after Ginolbi scored 23 points, Carlos Delfino added 15 points and Luis Scola threw down 14. Team Argentina had defeated the U.S. during the 2004 semifinals, eventually going on to win the gold medal.

The Americans will play Spain on Tuesday, the same team Team USA defeated 118-107 during the Olympics games gold-medal match in 2008.

Team USA on Sunday opened the game with an excellent start at Durant opened with two 3-pointers and Kobe Bryant scored from the field for an 8-0 quick start. Team USA eventually took a 16-1 lead less than three minutes into the game. At one point the U.S. men’s team held a 19-3 lead following a Kobe Bryant basket for three.

Early in the second the United States led by 20 but Argentina led by physical play managed to pull within a few baskets before the half, heading into the half way point down by just seven.

Since winning the gold medal in 2004 Argentina’s team power has dwindled and they failed to medal during the 2010 worlds, although Ginobili didn’t play in those games. On Friday Argentina was walloped by Spain who won by 20.

Team USA Holds Off Argentina, Kevin Durant Knocks Down 27 is a post from: The Inquisitr

London, England – Crummy British weather may force competitors in beach volleyball to ditch their two piece bikinis for more conservative, warmer clothing as the 2012 London Olympics prepare to debut on July 27, 2012.

Chilly weather and rain through the country means bikinis could be traded in for pants as athletes in the sport attempt to keep their muscles warm.

Australian competitor Tamsin Hinchley admitted that competitors would likely avoid bikinis and when asked if fans would still watch the event she said the atmosphere of the games should still keep people tuning in for the event.

The biggest concern for bikini fans is that many of the beach volleyball matches are set for later in the night when temperatures will drop close to their 24-hour lows.

Hinchley admitted to Fox Sports:

”Obviously we’re that sport, we’re the sport that wears the bikinis and we’re the sport that’s physically out there. But we’re jumping and running and sliding on the sand. We’ll be using it (cold weather gear) to benefit us physically. We’ll definitely be taking it.”

Added as an Olympic sport in 1996 during the Atlanta Games, beach volleyball has continued to increase in popularity over the years, attracting more than 500,000 fans for more than 100 matches.

British Weather May Force Bikinis Out Of 2012 London Olympics is a post from: The Inquisitr

NBC and Adobe on Thursday announced new mobile apps that will allow London Olympic viewers to examine stats in real-time while live streaming video feeds directly to their mobile devices.

The first app is a standard NBC Olympics app which provides medal counts, Olympic game schedules and statistics for each game played at the worldwide event.

Second is the NBC Olympics Live Extra app which offers video streams for all 302 events across the Olympics 32 sports.

NBC is releasing the apps as separate options for both Android and iOS based systems.

NBC officials are calling the streaming app a “second screen” meant to give extra viewing options to the networks already robust televised coverage. The apps will also offer additional 2012 London Olympics news and highlights.

While NBC viewers with a TV antenna are able to watch the Olympics for free the iOS and Android Live Extra app requires that the user already subscribe to either a cable or satellite TV package.

NBC is not the only network taking advantage of the internet to deliver Olympic coverage, British TV provider BBC will offer 24 live streams via its website for UK viewers. The BBC will also offer athlete and team statistics and other pertinent information. The BBC has also hinted at mobile applications. Even YouTube is getting into the London Olympics games, live streaming events through much of Asia and Africa where traditional viewing had not previously been announced.

Do you plan on using a mobile app to gain a better overall experience during the 2012 London Olympics?

Here’s an Adobe/NBC introduction video for the new apps:

NBC And Adobe Team Up To Deliver Olympics Games Apps For Android And iOS is a post from: The Inquisitr

International swimming superstar Michael Phelps is approaching what may be his final Olympic Games and as he becomes an “old man” in his sport the world record holding swimmer appears on the surface at least to be growing up.

Phelps appears shirtless on the newest edition of Details Magazine and he sat down with the publication to talk about the games, his diet and his marijuana smoking experience.

Michael Phelps tells Details about his 2012 London Olympic challenges:

“At this point in my career, everybody has caught up. So I’m fine-tuning the little things that add up to make a huge difference.”

While he may be tuning up for the Summer Olympics he admits that counting calories isn’t on his list of worries:

 ”I don’t count calories. Whether it’s Sour Patch Kids or Reese’s or a bag of chips, if I feel like eating it, I’m going to eat it.”

Hours upon hours of swimming means Phelps burns more calories in a day than most people do in a week which explains his fearless devotion to eating whatever he feels like.

Phelps also took some time to talk about his now infamous 2009 marijuana pipe photo, telling Details “it was a learning experience.” Phelps goes on to say of the marijuana incident:

“I’m the kind of person who has to go through the learning experiences myself. Somebody could tell me, ‘If you eat this much you’ll be fat,’ and I’d be like, ‘Yeah, okay, let me try it.’ I’ll be the first to say I’ve made thousands of mistakes, but I’ve never made the same mistake twice.”

You can read more from Michael Phelps when the August issue of Details Magazine hits newsstands on Wednesday.

Michael Phelps Goes Shirtless For Details Magazine, Opens Up About Marijuana Possession is a post from: The Inquisitr

USA Basketball finally has a 12-man roster for the 2012 London Olympics and its a strong lineup full of NBA all-stars.

The full team lineup was announced on Saturday night by Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Playing at center is Tyson Chandler who will have the support of forwards LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin. Also on the 12-man roster are guards Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala and James Harden.

Speaking of the chosen roster Colangelo revealed:

“If someone had projected the 12 names six or nine months ago it might have had a different look. It’s a very versatile team that’s much more mature than they were in ’08. We think we’re deeper, we think we’re better.”

Also named as the teams three alternates in the event of an injury were Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis. Those three men can be called up at late as 48 hours before the team’s opening game on July 29 versus France.

The 12-man roster will now spend the next three weeks practicing together and playing in five exhibition games including matches in Washington, D.C., Manchester, England, and Barcelona.

When asked about the knee injury that limited his playoff play Blake Griffin said the injury is now healed and that he had proved that fact to coaches during camp.

In the meantime Team USA is full of experience on the world stage, both James and Anthony are competing in their third straight Olympics and the rest of the men minus Griffin and Harden have either earned a 2008 Olympic gold medal or a 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Team USA loaded with big guards and versatile wings should be able to create some interesting mismatches against their opponents.

Team USA Men’s Basketball Roster Finalized is a post from: The Inquisitr

Miami Heat star Chris Bosh will not attend the 2012 London Olympics, removing his consideration so he can recover from a strained abdominal muscle that sidelined him during part of his team’s run towards the NBA championship title

Bosh announced through agent Henry Thomas that he would not perform at the Olympics, that announcement comes just one day after fellow Heat teammate Dwayne Wade also withdrew his consideration because of a left knee surgery.

Speaking about his clients abdominal pain Thomas noted:

“This injury was a pretty serious one. He was able to come back and play under the circumstances because he was trying to contribute to them winning a championship. There’s still pain. There’s still discomfort. And the real concern is if he doesn’t rest and do the rehab associated with the injury, this could become sort of a chronic thing for him.”

Bosh wanted to stick out the injury and compete for Team USA but was advised against that decision by Miami Heat physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick.

In the meantime Miami Heat president Pat Riley says the team was leaving the decision to play up to Chris Bosh.

With Bosh and Wade both out that leaves only LeBron James left for the heat on the 12 player roster.

Team USA will start meeting in Las Vegas next week to begin training camp before playing in five exhibition games with international teams.

The full Team USA Olympic roster will be announced on July 7, at this time 16 players are currently competing for the Olympic teams 12-man roster.

Chris Bosh Sitting Out Olympics, Will Rehab Strained Abdominal Muscle is a post from: The Inquisitr

McDonald’s will be a big presence at the Olympics, literally. The fast food giant has embraced the “pop-up” restaurant craze and will debut the world’s largest fast food restaurant just in time for the 2012 London Olympic games. The fast food restaurant will remain in place for just six weeks.

Located in Stratford, east London, the restaurant will sit just 900 feet away from Olympic Stadium. The fast food joint  is expected to sell 50,000 Big Macs and 180,000 portions of fries while serving an average of 1,200 customers per hour during its busiest times.

The restaurant will run from the start of the Olympics to the closing of the Paralympics.

After the games have ended the two-story building will be dismantled and 75% of its materials will be re-used or recycled.

According to The Guardian:

“From tables and highchairs through kitchen equipment and electric light bulbs, fittings and switches, to timber and air conditioning units, about 5,500 components have been earmarked for reuse in 1,200 existing and new McDonald’s restaurants in the UK. Other items, such as those made of plastics, will be recycled. Even the toilets in the 3,000 square metre restaurant are papered with tile-effect vinyl wallpaper to avoid the wastage of about 30 tonnes of broken tiles after the restaurant closes. The building went up in six weeks (although fitting out took considerably longer) and will take four weeks to dismantle.”

As a long-standing sponsor of the Olympics McDonald’s was able to secure an exclusive deal as the only branded restaurant on the Olympics site, a move that has caused protests to be staged by doctors and health experts who believe the Summer Olympics should promote healthy living.

McDonald’s will operate four restaurants during the games including two which will only be made available to Olympic participants and organizers.

While the company’s world record-setting restaurant may be large it still hopes to serve every single customer within 3 minutes of their arrival while offering seating for up to 1,500 people. To meet those goals express lanes with contactless payment systems have been put in place with technology for hand-held order taking.

McDonald’s Will Launch World’s Largest Fast Food Restaurant At 2012 London Olympics is a post from: The Inquisitr

London Olympic organizers for the 2012 summer games have tried to take every precaution possible to ensure unwanted guests do not show up at this years Olympic event, unfortunately one guest, the larval form of the oak processionary moth might prove too difficult to handle.

The poisonous caterpillar started showing up and eating Britain’s oak trees back in 2006 after they came over on oak trees imported from Holland and then rapidly spread across Britain.

The caterpillar is dangerous because it contains 63,000 toxic hairs which when inhaled can cause asthma attacks, skin and throat rashes, runny eyes, vomiting and dizziness.

According to the Telegraph the problem is expected to be worse this year than previous years because of an unusually warm winter which has allowed the bugs numbers to swell.

When asked if the problem will be taken care of before the Olympics the head of one arboretum note:

“You can slow them down, but we will never find them all. They will always keep increasing.”

Anyone visiting the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England with severe asthma or other medical conditions are urged to carry their inhaler or other medications with them at all times.

This is one case in which the countries planed use of special forces agents and rooftop based surface to air missiles will do no good.

London officials claim to have killed upwards of 700 nests this year however the warm winter allowed the caterpillars to spread faster than containment efforts could control.

London Olympics To Feature…Thousands Of Poisonous Caterpillars? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The 2012 London Olympics are just around the corner and to prepare for possible terrorist attacks the country’s Ministry of Defense is considering a plan that would place surface-to-air missiles on the rooftops of residential flats.

700 residents in an east London estate were told via leaflet this week that the “Higher Velocity Missile System” could be placed on a water tower located on top of the building.

At this time the ministry has not decided to use the system, however it is a definite possibility as London officials have promised to create a safe environment for athletes and visitors, going so far as to recall 3,500 MI5 agents to help provide security at the event.

In the meantime London residents are none to happy with the possibility of the system being used, as resident Brian Whelan tells the BBC firing the missiles:

 ”Would shower debris across the east end of London”.

Mr. Whelan also went on to claim that he witnessed soldiers carrying a crate into the building

According to a leaflet that was passed around to residents there will be 10 officers plus police present 24/7.  It also states that Armed forces will be on location from May 2 through May 7 to perform a military exercise in preparation for the 2010 London Olympics.

If the surface-to-air system is approved residents will be forced to live in unison for soldiers for a period of two months this summer, their “operational deployment” time according to the leaflet.

The location in question has been chosen because of its close proximity to Olympic Park and excellent view of surrounding areas where attacks could potentially occur. The building also has a flat located on its roof which would make the perfect base of operation for soliders.

London Olympics To Feature Roof Based Surface-to-Air Missiles is a post from: The Inquisitr

How do you turn your cities Summer Olympic Games into the most showy in history? You build a 105 meter high waterfall above sea level and then control it with solar power.

The waterfall, which will be featured on one side of a solar power plant will not only be a cool sight to see, it will make the games carbon-neutral.

The committee behind the power plant expects that the plant will gather more than enough sunlight for the games, while excess seawater will be pumped into reservoirs and then emptied into turbines to power the games at night.  The city plans to use the waterfall during the games “only for special occasions.”

The building that supports the waterfall is also expected to feature balconies, various restaurants, entertainment areas, bungee jumping and a “glass sky walk” on the very top.

There’s just one catch, it’s not guaranteed to be built at this time, with plans and funding still under consideration…damn. [Slashgear]

Here are some more shots of the waterfalls design: (click to enlarge)

Solar City Tower Creates Huge Waterfall Above Sea Level, Enough Power For Summer Olympics is a post from: The Inquisitr