Olympics, 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.

Cable giant Comcast Corp., the nation's largest provider of TV and high-speed Internet services, more than doubled its net income in the third quarter, helped by fewer cancelations of video service than expected and by breaking even on the expensive-to-produce London Olympics.

Olympic stars who sparkled in London are raking in millions in an unusually active endorsement season, reaping the benefits as Americans show a hunger for heroes after five years of tough economic news.

The Jamaican sprinter — who repeatedly claimed legendary status after his phenomenal performance Saturday — was the most-mentioned Olympian on both Facebook and Twitter during the London Games, beating out American swimmer Michael Phelps.

Shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus became the first athlete to be stripped of a medal at the London Olympics after her gold was withdrawn Monday for doping.

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.

With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular, technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun. The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats. The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" - accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points, LeBron James added 19 and the U.S. men's basketball team defended its Olympic title, holding off stubborn Spain 107-100 on Sunday for the gold medal -- just as the Americans did in 2008.

Olympics swimmer Ryan Lochte, who won five medals at this year's Olympic Games in London, is considering several offers to star in reality TV shows. "I cannot tell you the exact shows, but two different reality show concepts have been offered and one additional is being discussed," said his agent.

Stephen Kiprotich’s victory gave Uganda its first gold medal at the London Games and its second ever in track and field. Abel Kirui of Kenya won silver and his countryman Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich took bronze.