England, 2012 Olympics | featured news

In “Twenty Twelve,” a satirical British television series last year that mocked the shambolic efforts of the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission to organize the Summer Games, the committee at one point faces a terrible problem: It has somehow failed to find a future use for its 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. An official known as the “head of sustainability” is reduced to begging an obscure soccer team and the owner of a defunct dog-racing outfit to consider moving in.

The Olympics brought less tourist money to recession-hit Britain than officials expected, a trade group said Monday, with a majority of tourist businesses reporting losses from last year.

Ed McKeever wins the men's 200m kayak sprint, adding a 26th gold to Great Britain's medal tally at the London Olympics.

Princes William and Harry have come out for a second day to cheer on Zara Phillips as Britain contends for a medal in equestrian eventing's final show jump competition.

Olympic spectators traveling to the Games in London faced delays Tuesday after a faulty train forced the closure of one of the busiest underground links to the Olympic Park.

The Chinese shake off their poor qualifying effort to repeat as champions. Japan, which originally finished fourth, wins an appeal and claims silver. Britain is third to win its first medal since 1912.

Lizzie Armitstead wins Britain's first medal of the 2012 Olympics as Netherlands' Marianne Vos claims cycling gold.

Even their falls came at the right time. The U.S. men's gymnastics team was in first place overall in team qualifying after the two of the three subdivisions contested Saturday, ahead of the favorites from Japan, the defending gold medalists from China and the hometown squad from Britain.

The British men sure know how to kick off a party. The host country, which was only good enough to send two gymnasts to Beijing four years ago, upset Olympic champion China and took the early lead in qualifying Saturday at the London Olympics. A spectacular pommel horse by Louis Smith capped the day for the British, who finished almost 2.5 points ahead of China with at a total of 272.420.

The queen and James Bond gave the London Olympics a royal entrance like no other Friday in an opening ceremony that rolled to the rock of the Beatles, the Stones and The Who. And the creative genius of Danny Boyle spliced it all together. Brilliant. Cheeky, too.