The Torch – Page 3

Farah Wins His Second Gold Medal For Britain, In The 5,000m

British runner Mo Farah has won the men’s 5,000 meters, sending Olympic Stadium into a frenzy. His time of 13:41.66 barely edged Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia. American Bernard Lagat came in fourth, while Galen Rupp finished seventh.

Farah is now the sixth man in Olympic history to have won both the 5,000m and 10,000m events at the same Summer Games. He emerged at the front of the pack 700 meters from the finish, and held on to stay ahead of Gebremeskel.

“Unbelievable. Everybody knew he was the favorite. I knew it. All 15 runners knew it,” Lagat said after the race, according to the AP. “We were going to run against the favorite guy, he was the greatest of all. The crowd helped him. He ran 100 percent and they added another 10. So you had a guy running at 110 percent.”

U.S. runner Lopez Lomong, whose story of recovery from life as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan we’ve previously discussed here on NPR, finished 10th, at 13:48.19.

In addition to his past, Lomong also made headlines earlier this year when he blew away the field at a 5,000 meters race in Oregon — only to realize he had one more lap to go. He counted them right Saturday, but couldn’t get onto the podium.

As he prepared for the race yesterday, Lomong tweeted, “Tomorrow I run for Olympic gold. I also run to help children live their dreams.”

He then asked people to join the #globalhunger discussion on Twitter.

Mexico Devastates Brazil In Historic 2-1 Olympic Final

Mexico shocked Brazil in the Olympic men’s soccer final, winning gold in a 2-1 game in which it never trailed. Mexico’s Oribe Peralta scored just 29 seconds into the game, after pouncing on a turnover to scorch a ball that tracked low and bounced to elude goalkeeper Gabriel.

With that, Mexico scored the quickest goal in Olympic history (according to FIFA) and took control of the match at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Both of Mexico’s goals were scored by Peralta, whose nickname is “El Cepillo” (“The Brush”). And he brushed away the Olympic hopes of Brazil, for whom a late goal by Hulk did nothing to take away the sting of defeat.

It is the first gold medal for Mexico at the London Games, and the country’s first gold ever in Olympic soccer. Prior to Saturday, Mexico’s Olympic delegation had won a total of three silver medals and two bronze in Britain.

Now they’re celebrating in Mexico, where thousands of fans took to the streets to celebrate the historic victory. Hundreds of police officers have been called up to reinforce security in Mexico City.

Brazil had been a steady scoring machine in the London Games, putting three goals on the board in every match it played until Saturday. The team’s Leandro Damiao finished the tournament with six goals, the most of any player. His teammate Neymar had three goals.

But none of that helped in the final, when Mexico’s early strike put Brazil on its heels. And el Tri stayed aggressive, scoring again in the 75th minute when Peralta headed in a free kick. By the time Hulk scored in stoppage time, the match was all but decided. For Mexico, a late scare came when Brazil’s Oscar got loose to head a crossing pass from Hulk toward the goal — but just wide and high of the net.

It was the story of the match for Brazil, which failed to capitalize on the few chances allowed by Mexico’s stingy defense and goalkeeper Jose Corona. Brazil had 19 shots, to Mexico’s 12, and controlled the ball for 60 percent of the match. The two teams also collected five yellow cards — three for Mexico, and two for Brazil.

In Olympic soccer, teams fill their rosters with players who are 23 and younger; they’re also allowed to bring three players who are older than that age limit. Mexico’s Peralta, for instance, is 28; Hulk is 26. But despite not bringing its senior squad, Brazil’s team is still loaded with talent. Damiao is 23, for instance. And the megastar Neymar is only 20.

So, it will probably be a long time before Brazilian coach Mano Menezes — who also coaches the national team — finishes answering questions about his decisions in Britain. He didn’t start one his megastars, Hulk, instead opting to bring him in late in the first half.

Brazil had reached the finals with a 3-0 win over South Korea — the same team Mexico played to a 0-0 draw during group play. The Brazilians suffered their first defeat in the gold medal match.

Despite its storied history, Brazil has never won an Olympic gold medal in soccer. Today’s Olympic final was the country’s first in 24 years. The team is sure to face even more pressure in 2016, when Rio hosts the Summer Games.

Georgia Gould Wins Bronze Medal In Mountain Bike Cross-Country Race

U.S. cyclist Georgia Gould has won bronze in the women’s mountain bike cross-country race. The gold medal went to France’s Julie Bresset, who led from the start. Sabine Spitz of Germany won silver, after a late spill caused her to lose contact with Bresset.

Bresset finished a minute ahead of Spitz, at 1:30.52. Gould, the four-time U.S. national champion who lives in Idaho, trailed Spitz by six seconds. The American cyclist was featured here on The Torch before the games began.

In a video interview posted online by Neal Rogers of Velo News, Gould described her feelings after the race.

“There’s people at home that got up at 4 o’clock, to watch me,” she said. “So, I’m glad I didn’t let them all down. Or maybe I did — maybe they were hoping for a gold. Sorry, guys!”

Rogers then asked what it was like to win the medal in front of her family.

“It’s hugely emotional. You put so much work into it. It is just another race, but at the same time, it’s not just another race,” Gould said. “It’s a race that everyone’s shooting for, and everyone’s peaking for. And, you just hope that the preparation that you’ve done is enough to give you what it takes on the day.”

In NPR’s interview with her, Gould recalled the early days of her racing career:

“My husband and I were driving to all of the races in a 15-passenger van with a futon in the back of it,” she said. “I mean, it was totally shoestring, budget camping at the races, and I definitely was pretty broke that year.”

A Celebrity Named Mo Farah Takes Britain By Storm

NPR’s Asma Khalid lived in London for two years, before moving to Washington, D.C. And when Khalid returned to England during this summer’s Olympics, she found that things — perhaps even people — had changed. She explains:

I had never heard of Mo Farah.

But as soon as I stepped on British soil, I would have struggled to miss him — his face plastered on every paper, his name unashamedly idolized in an almost un-British like manner.

An unusual choice, perhaps, for a British national hero – a man born in Somalia.

Farah, as I quickly learned, is the newly crowned Olympic gold medalist in the 10,000-meter race — a first for the U.K.

Whenever Brits finish gushing over Farah’s Olympic success, they often turned to Jessica Ennis – another foreign name, to me. Ennis, I learned, won the heptathlon. And notably, she was born to a Jamaican father and a white mother.

She is Team GB’s “Golden Girl” — but her halo extends beyond her.

Every British person I meet is radiating in her victory, that is, when they’re not boasting about Farah’s success and Team GB’s medal count.

But for some, it’s not about the sheer number of medals hanging from British necks; it’s whose necks they’re hanging from.

One friend spoke with pride about Farah’s post-race interview. When Farah was asked if he would rather have run for Somalia, he responded with a curt retort: “Look mate, this is my country!”

His words appeared to echo the sentiment of thousands of immigrants.

“I’ve never felt so British before,” one friend exclaimed over tea.

“You won’t recognize us,” others laughed. That’s true – I’ve known these friends for eight years, and I’d never seen them in such a patriotic euphoria.

But it’s easy to understand why. Ennis and Farah are versions of themselves — they’re black and brown, and that’s what much of London looks like. Shades of yellow, black, and brown dot the streets of London.

In America, we often imagine London as the city of Will and Kate. But these days, it looks a lot more like the land of Farah and Ennis.

Immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Europe make London one of the most diverse cities in the world.

Of course, that doesn’t make everyone happy. Britain has long struggled with its multicultural identity. Prior to the Olympics, you would hear regular complaints in the political sphere about immigrants, shariah law, and ghettoized neighborhoods.

Now the Olympics have transformed the city into a multicultural utopia. Even the Olympic naysayers have morphed into fans.

When Farah won his 10,000-meter race last weekend, he wrapped himself in the Union Jack and prostrated in a Muslim prayer on the track.

Conservative tabloids were mum about threats of “creeping Islamization.” Instead, for Britain, this was a moment of pride.

The headline in the usually conservative Daily Mail read, “Golden Mo-Ment!”

“It capped the most extraordinary 45 minutes British athletics will surely ever witness,” the paper wrote. “These London Games have seen some superlative moments but surely nothing will cap what occurred in the Olympic Stadium as Mo Farah struck home for gold with 450 metres to go.”

The Standard wrote:

“No casting agent could have better chosen three people to represent modern Britain: a mixed-race heptathlete with a British mother and Jamaican father; a ginger-haired long jumper from Milton Keynes, and a Somalian refugee.”

Commentators say the gold medals won by non-white British athletes could help build bridges in a racially divided UK, and inspire other young immigrants. Sure, that’s the hope. Farah’s face is now on British stamps. And Ennis is the poster girl of athletic success.

But for some, these gold medals are not just a win for the athletes and Team GB. It’s a win for multiculturalism — a philosophy often questioned and attacked in the years after the 2005 London bombings.

With all this euphoria, it’s hard to remember that this time last year, London was not beaming but burning. Riots scorched parts of the country, and three Asians were killed in Birmingham, in what’s largely been described as a racially motivated attack.

When I ask friends how this 180 degree turn could be possible. They seem to think this inconsistency in race relations is normal; they’re not fazed. They say the Olympics and the riots were both abnormalities. It’s a sentiment expressed particularly well in a post by BBC editor Mark Easton.

My friends nonchalantly explain that British people are static, non-temperamental – and the extreme anger when teens rioted, looted, and burned shops last August was a blip in the normal British way of life, just as the Olympic excitement will likely be a blip in a few months too.

“We’ll have the worst hangover you can imagine when the Olympics are over,” one friend told me with a laugh. So perhaps all this praise for immigration and diversity will be short-lived.

But, until then, Farah still has one final event. He’s the favorite to win the 5,000-meter race Saturday. And if he does, it may give Brits a few moments longer to bask in the glow of an unlikely British national hero.

In World Record Time, Americans Take Gold In Women’s 4X100 Relay

Carmelita Jeter made sure everyone understood what Team USA had just accomplished. She pointed toward the digital clock with the baton as it flashed a time of 40.82 seconds.

Jeter, Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight had just gotten a gold medal in the 4 X 100m relay and they did so while shattering the world record by a little more than half a second.

As The New York Times reports, this was the first gold in this event for the United States in 16 years. In fact, the U.S. had performed horribly in the event, failing in the heats in past Olympics. The Times adds:

“On Friday, though, the Americans were perfect. Tianna Madison broke quickly from the blocks, then passed cleanly to Allyson Felix, who won the 200 this week. Bianca Knight ran the curve on the third leg before passing to Jeter, who took silver in the 100 and blazed toward the finish, where she celebrated just as she crossed the line.

“It was a stunning finish in an event in which the United States found itself embroiled in a bit of controversy before it even ran. Jeneba Tarmoh was part of the quartet that ran in the preliminary round, but she did not run in the final. Tarmoh’s inclusion in the heats means she will win a medal, but these Games seem destined to be a bittersweet experience for her as she was part of the contentious dead-heat finish in the 100 at the Olympic trials that ultimately left her on the outside of the American sprint team. She was later added to the relay team.”

The gold medal also continues an incredible performance for the U.S. in track and field. By Olympics’ end, the U.S. might collect its highest number of medals ever, USA Track & Field predicts.

Team Jamaica, which included Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the fastest woman in the world, finished second with a time of 42.04 seconds. The Ukraine took bronze with a time of 42.04.

Seeing The World Through The Olympic Rings [Infographic]

One of the most thought-provoking infographics of the Olympics has nothing to with sports at all.

Artist Gustavo Sousa of the group Mother London uses only the five rings of the Olympic logo to strip down global statistics and expose disparities across th world’s continents.

Each ring in the 16 prints symbolizes one of the five continents competing at the Olympics: Africa (yellow), the Americas (red), Asia (green), Europe (black), and Oceania (blue). Their relative size reflects the region’s role in social issues such as global population, obesity, carbon dioxide emissions and Coca-Cola sales.

Sousa recently told The Fast Company‘s Co.Design blog that he initially left out a key for the graphics, so viewers would have to figure out which color goes with which continent.

The Olympic Charter once ascribed a ring color to each continent: blue for Europe, yellow for Asia, black for Africa, green for Oceania, and red for America. But organizers removed that statement from their handbook in 1951.

As you’ll notice, Sousa didn’t use that traditional color coding in his infographics. He described the motivation behind his new project to Co.Design.

“The rings represent healthy competition and union, but we know the world isn’t perfect,” he said. “Maybe understanding the differences is the first step to try to make things more equal.”

Sousa’s work is more proof that the 2012 Summer Olympics have inspired some fantastic infographics.

At the The New York Times, you can watch Usain Bolt race against all 100-meter gold-medalists since 1896. At the The Huffington Post, you can view the medal counts weighted by the population. And here at NPR, you can explore how athletes’ bodies have changed over the last century.

We were so impressed by the effectiveness of Sousa’s approach that we wanted to see how the medal counts for the 2012 Olympics would look in this style.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the geographic distribution of medals won, at least so far, most closely resembles the percentage of billionaires on each continent –the last graphic in Sousa’s series.