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    Fourth-Place Medal
    • BMW Olympics

      Like many sponsors of the U.S. Olympic team, BMW does more than write checks. Which helps explain how a group of BMW engineers in California adapted vehicle sensors into a new system that could help U.S. Olympians win a sport they hadn't even placed in during the 2008 games -- the long jump.

      Long jumps were part of the ancient Greek games and have been held in the modern games since they resumed in 1896. Yet while most Olympic and world track and field records fall every year, progress in the long jump has stopped. Only two long jump records have been set in the last 44 years, the most recent 21 years ago by Mike Powell of the United States, who jumped 29.4 feet at the 1991 World Championship games in Tokyo.

      At the 2008 Beijing Games, Americans won no medals, and the best U.S. jump by Trevor Quinley of 25.82 feet wasn't enough to even make the final round.

      A year ago, BMW signed on as the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee, and the USOC soon asked a

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    • Don't feel bad laughing at this epic steeplechase crash by BYU's Katy Andrews. The senior chuckled when she was drenched by the water obstacle and had enough sense of humor to upload it to YouTube.

      She allowed a BYU photographer to do the same with her HD clip of the incident:

      "I think I caught the toe of my spike a couple steps before the barrier," she wrote. "I don't remember smacking the barrier, only being completely submerged in the water — ha ha."

      Andrews completed two more laps in the race (!) before her coaches made her stop to check for injuries. She suffered cuts and bruises, but was otherwise fine.

      The Salt Lake Tribune reports Andrews is a fine steeplechaser when she's not accidentally getting clotheslined by hurdles. The California native won the 3,000-meter event at BYU's season-opening meet and finished 12th in the 5,000 at a national meet. She also ran cross country for the university and is clearly tough as nails, both physically and mentally.

      Thanks, Deadspin

      Other

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    • Luciana Aymar, second from right, is unhappy with her Argentina national teammate. (AP)

      The world's greatest field hockey player said she wanted a drink when she found out her national teammate was pregnant. It wasn't to celebrate.

      Luciana Aymar, the seven-time international player of the year, is upset with starting goalie Belen Succi for getting pregnant before the Summer Olympics. Succi will miss the tournament as she prepares for the birth.

      "She could have waited three months," Aymar told Ole, the Argentine sports daily.

      [Related: Shannon Miller, Dan O'Brien and Summer Sanders join Y! Sports as Olympic analysts]

      The midfielder said that Succi planned the pregnancy despite her pleas to hold off until after the Olympics. Aymar said she supports motherhood but not at the expense of a gold-medal pursuit.

      "It was a tough blow," Aymar said. "I wish her the best as a mother-to-be, but for us as a team it was hard. As a goalie, 'Goofy' is huge, and the truth is she left us in a tight spot."

      Argentina has won three medals -- one silver and two bronze -- in Aymar's three

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    • Alexander Dale Oen points to the Norwegian flag after winning at the 2011 world championships (AP)Norway's Alexander Dale Oen, the defending world champion in the 100 breaststroke and a top contender for a gold medal at the London Olympics, was found dead in his bathroom late Monday night.

      The 26-year-old, who was training with the Norwegian national team in Arizona, died of cardiac arrest. The country's swimming federation said he was found sprawled on the bathtub. Teammates became worried when repeated knocks on the door went unanswered. A team doctor performed CPR before an ambulance arrived, but the young swimmer was never resuscitated and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

      "We're all in shock," Norway coach Petter Loevberg told reporters. "This is an out-of-the-body experience for the whole team over here. Our thoughts primarily go to his family who have lost Alexander way too early."

      [Photos: Alexander Dale Oen (1985-2012)]

      Even at 26, Dale Oen was already the greatest swimmer in Norwegian history. He won the nation's first swimming medal in Beijing, a silver in the

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    • With the London Olympics just 88 days away, Yahoo! Sports is gearing up for the Games by adding three former Olympians to its team in Great Britain. Shannon Miller, Dan O'Brien, and Summer Sanders will help Yahoo! in its comprehensive coverage of every aspect of the London Olympics.

      (Getty)Shannon Miller — Yahoo! Sports Analyst, Gymnastics
      Considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, Shannon Miller is the most decorated American gymnast, male or female, in history. Winner of 16 Olympics and World Championship medals, she won gold in the team event and balance beam at the 1996 Atlanta Games and five medals at Barcelona in 1992, making Miller the most decorated American athlete at those Games. She is the only female athlete to have been inducted twice into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

      Shannon now serves as president of Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health & Fitness for Women, and has added a few more titles to her list including television and radio host, author, speaker, health advocate,

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    • (Getty)Lopez Lomong is the U.S. champion at 1500m, but is trying out the 5000m. Since he's still getting used to the event, he had an embarrassing moment in the race at Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

      [Related: Olympic mascots through the years]

      With two laps to go, Lomong accelerated and broke away from the pack of runners. He easily outpaced them, and with one lap to go, slowed down to celebrate. The crowd at Stanford and track officials waved frantically for Lomong to keep going. He took off, and still easily won the race with a time of 13:11.63, plus earned the Olympic A standard qualifying time.

      He was surprised by the mishap.

      "When somebody said you got one more lap to go, I was like, huh?" Lomong told Race Results Weekly.

      It happens, Lopez. Much better that this happens before the Olympics, right?

      More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

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      Video: Memphis Grizzlies'

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    • Last week, London celebrated 100 days until the Olympics by organizing members of the famed Horse Guard to display a large "100" in the middle of the aptly-named Horse Guard Parade. LOCOG recently posted a fun video detailing the work behind the effort.

    • (Getty Images)Ariane Friedrich, a German high jumper expected to contend for a medal at the upcoming Summer Olympics, posted the name and email address of a Facebook stalker who had allegedly been sending her explicit photographs over the social networking service.

      German authorities are now investigating the matter, according to Friedrich's manager. The matter has touched off an intense national debate on privacy with Friedrich, who is trained as a police officer, at the forefront.

      "I've been offended in the past, sexually harassed and I've had a stalker before," she wrote in a recent Facebook post that included the name and email address of a man who she says sent her explicit messages and pictures of his genitals. "It's time to act, it's time to defend myself. And that's what I'm doing."

      The 28-year-old is the German record holder in the high jump. She won a gold medal at the 2010 European indoor championships and a bronze medal at the world championships in 2009. An injury forced her to miss the

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    • (FPM illustration via Getty Images)

      Tally-ho!

      The reported $1.6 billion spent on Olympic security isn't keeping venues free from all intruders. A number of foxes have snuck into London's shooting venue and have chewed through cables, destroyed audio equipment and left, er, surprises near the medal podium at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

      [Photos: London 2012 Olympic venues]

      "The place is inundated with them," organizer Peter Underhill told BBC Sport. "I'm sure there's more than one. They lived here before we created the venue so, at night, they're getting into some of our enclosures, going around and chewing things."

      Some competitors reported seeing the animals during a recent test event at the venue. While dropping off his guns in the locker room, Sydney gold medalist Richard Faulds caught a glance of an animal. His coach confirmed it was a fox.

      [Yahoo! Sports Shop: Buy 2012 London Olympics gear]

      Guards who are already stationed at the venue at night will be tasked with shooing away the animals. And, before you ask: No,

      Read More »
    • (Christie's Images)The cup awarded to the first Olympic marathon winner sold for a record $868,000 at an auction this week in London.

      Greek farmer Spiridon Louis earned the Breal Cup for winning the marathon at the 1896 Olympics in Athens. The grandson of the national hero put the artifact up for sale.

      [ Photos: Weird Olympic mascots]

      Christie's auction house said that there was a "heated" battle between six bidders for the cup. The eventual winner was a Greek foundation that plans to make the cup a centerpiece of a cultural center set to open in 2015.

      The final sale price was more than double the previous high auction price for a piece of Olympics memorabilia. Last year, a torch from the 1952 Helsinki Games was sold for $400,000 in Paris.

      The cup was named after Michel Breal, a French linguist who suggested in 1894 that the first modern Olympics include the marathon, the famed race from ancient Greek texts. Breal offered up the cup as part of his proposal.

      Louis outlasted 16 competitors to win the

      Read More »

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    2012-6-27-19-30-00
    London 2012 Summer Olympics
    London 2012 Summer Olympics
    The Olympic Games take place from July 27 through August 12, 2012.
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