London Olympics

THESE OLYMPIC Games have been called the most massive peacetime undertaking in London's history. The money spent and the facilities created are a stark contrast to 1948, when the city was still getting to its feet after the devastation of World War II. So pull on your swimming goggles, tighten up the strings on your badminton racket and find a cab if you still need a place to sleep. Just like the U.S. women's basketball team, there is no stopping the momentum of the 50 things you need to know about the Olympics.

The cost of the 2012 London Games has increased by more than a third because of steel prices and security concerns, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said yesterday. Jowell told parliamentary committee members it's unclear who will pay for the $1.7 billion increase. Officials had suggested the increases would be paid by taxpayers and a lottery. The new $6.25 billion total reflects the doubling of steel prices and the decision to revise transportation costs to account for inflation, Jowell said.

Allyson Felix enjoyed tremendous success on the ultimate world track and field stage last year, winning three gold medals at the London Olympics. So it would be reasonable for her to want to relax a little this year and maybe skip the Penn Relays. But that's not part of the mind-set for the 27-year-old Californian. It's a World Championship year, it's the start of the outdoor track season. And it's the Penn Relays, and there's no other place where Felix would rather be. "I love the Penn Relays," Felix said Friday at a news conference one day before the annual USA vs. The World races at Franklin Field.

Joseph Verdeur, 65, a swimmer who dominated in the breaststroke during the 1940s and crowned his success with a gold medal at the Olympics in London in 1948, died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Bryn Mawr. Bob Kiphuth, the coach of the Olympic team, called Mr. Verdeur the greatest swimmer of the time. He was about 6-foot-1 and weighed 225, and had the powerful build of a football player, with thick legs, arms and shoulders and a massive chest. That physical ability was coupled with a stern but quiet determination.

Joseph T. "Joe" Verdeur thrilled the entire city when he won a swimming gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 1948 London Olympics. But in later years, people who wanted to see the medal had enough trouble just getting him to talk about it. Verdeur, 65, a longtime teacher in the Philadelphia School District, the owner of a pool-supply business and the swimming coach at Temple University from 1960 to 1969, died at his home...

Alysia Montaño says it's a "visual clue" of her strength and femininity. The yellow flower in the U.S. Olympian's hair was more than that during the first race of the "USA vs. The World" showcase series at Saturday's Penn Relays. It was a sure sign to the 48,871 spectators on a spectacularly sunny afternoon in Franklin Field that something special was happening on the track. Running in splendid isolation on the anchor of the first 4x800 in the 13-year-old history of the popular series of world-class relay races, Montaño brought the baton, the crowd and that bright artificial flower home in record-setting time.

With Dwyane Wade out, U.S. players think Russell Westbrook can inherit his role on the Olympic basketball team. Wade was the leading scorer for the Americans in 2008, playing an attacking style off the bench. LeBron James said Westbrook can do the same types of things. "Absolutely, because he's that type of player," James said. Wade is unavailable this summer after having knee surgery Monday in Miami.   No Saudi women A Saudi-owned newspaper said no women from the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom have qualified for the London Olympics.

MISSY FRANKLIN, who won five gold medals at the London Olympics, signed a national letter of intent to swim at the University of California. Franklin, 17, a senior at Regis Jesuit High School in Centennial, Colo., plans to swim collegiately for 2 years and then turn pro before the 2016 Rio Olympics. Franklin's plan is to earn her college degree and continue training with the Bears as part of their post-graduate ranks, which have included Olympic champions Natalie Coughlin and Dana Vollmer.

OMAHA - Haverford High graduate Brendan Hansen failed to qualify in a second event for the London Olympics at the U.S. Olympic Swimming trials Friday, finishing fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke to repeat his 2008 trials heartbreak. "I gave it everything I had," said Hansen, 30, who qualified for London earlier this week in the 100-meter breaststroke. "I really didn't make any mistakes tonight. It just wasn't there. " Hansen, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 breaststroke, also finished fourth in the 200 at the 2008 trials, a result that contributed to his decision to retire from competitive swimming after the Beijing Games.

Penn State will have 19 athletes in seven sports competing in the London Olympics. Four of the competitors are current students, one is a coach, and 14 are alumni. Athlete   Sport   Nation    Matt Anderson   Men's Volleyball   United States    Felix Aronovich   Men's Gymnastics   Israel    Dominique Blake   Track and Field   Jamaica    Miles Chamley-Watson   Men's Fencing   United States    Shana Cox   Track and Field   Great Britain    Natalie Dell   Women's Rowing   United States    Bridget Fanek   Track and Field   United States    Nicole Fawcett   Women's Volleyball   United States    Alisha Glass   Women's Volleyball   United States    Daniel Gomez-Tanamachi   Men's Fencing   Mexico    Christa Harmotto   Women's Volleyball   United States    Megan Hodge   Women's Volleyball   United States    Bobby Lea   Men's Cycling   United States    Erin McLeod   Women's Soccer   Canada    Carmelina Moscato   Women's Soccer   Canada    Kirsten Nieuwendam   Track and Field   Suriname    Tommy Ramos   Men's Gymnastics   Puerto Rico    Ryan Whiting   Track and Field   United States    Doris Willette   Women's Fencing   United States   

Alysia Montaño says it's a "visual clue" of her strength and femininity. The yellow flower in the U.S. Olympian's hair was more than that during the first race of the "USA vs. The World" showcase series at Saturday's Penn Relays. It was a sure sign to the 48,871 spectators on a spectacularly sunny afternoon in Franklin Field that something special was happening on the track. Running in splendid isolation on the anchor of the first 4x800 in the 13-year-old history of the popular series of world-class relay races, Montaño brought the baton, the crowd and that bright artificial flower home in record-setting time.

Francena McCorory thought the finish line was moving back as she dueled on the home straightaway Saturday at Franklin Field trying to extend the winning streak for the United States in the women's 4x400-meter relay in the Penn Relays' "USA vs. the World" races. The Olympic gold medalist strained and stretched across the finish line by scant inches over Great Britain's Perri Shakes-Drayton to give USA Red the victory, the 12th in a row for the home country at Franklin Field. "I was looking for the finish line," McCorory said with a smile.

Allyson Felix enjoyed tremendous success on the ultimate world track and field stage last year, winning three gold medals at the London Olympics. So it would be reasonable for her to want to relax a little this year and maybe skip the Penn Relays. But that's not part of the mind-set for the 27-year-old Californian. It's a World Championship year, it's the start of the outdoor track season. And it's the Penn Relays, and there's no other place where Felix would rather be. "I love the Penn Relays," Felix said Friday at a news conference one day before the annual USA vs. The World races at Franklin Field.

Allyson Felix, who won three gold medals at the London Olympics, is at the start of the line of people to watch at the Penn Relays this week. The foursome of Tianna (Madison) Bartoletta, Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter, who shattered the world record (40.82 seconds) in London in the 4 x 100, return to defend their Penn Relays title in the USA vs. the World. American 400-meter runner Manteo Mitchell, who finished his London race after breaking his leg is also expected to compete.

The Penn Relays is known as the "world's oldest and largest relay carnival. " True devotees of the meet like to add "the best" to the phrase, and it's usually difficult to argue with them. There will be a little more stress than normal at Franklin Field starting Thursday, when the Penn Relays are conducted for the 119th time. The bombings last week in Boston have put university officials and police on high alert, and spectators, coaches, and athletes alike will be searched more thoroughly than ever before when entering the stadium area.

A NEW YORK CITY judge has dismissed an NBA security official's discrimination and assault lawsuit against University of Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma , the NBA and USA Basketball, saying the alleged wrongdoing didn't happen in New York. Kelley Hardwick sued in state court in Manhattan in June, alleging she was removed from the security detail of the USA women's basketball team at the London Olympics last year because she spurned sexual advances from Auriemma during a 2009 national team trip to Russia.

A New York City judge has dismissed NBA security official Kelley Hardwick's discrimination and assault lawsuit against Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma , the NBA, and USA Basketball, saying the alleged wrongdoing didn't happen in New York. Hardwick sued in state court in Manhattan in June, alleging she was removed from the security detail of the USA women's basketball team at the London Olympics because she spurned sexual advances from Auriemma during a 2009 national team trip to Russia.

Haddonfield senior Greg Halla liked a lot of things about the University of Maryland track program. Especially the Terrapins' pending move to the Big Ten Conference. "That was the big thing for me," said Halla, who has committed to attend Maryland on a partial athletic scholarship. "It's exciting to think about the opportunity to run in the Big Ten. " Maryland, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is scheduled to join the Big Ten in 2014. Halla is a standout distance runner at Haddonfield.

He had a chance to be Jackie Robinson. Now Oscar Pistorius is going to wind up being O.J. Simpson. This man, capable of lifting the hearts of millions, is charged with the most heinous and cowardly of crimes, murdering his girlfriend with a gun on Valentine's Day. It will be up to a judge in South Africa to determine whether Pistorius is guilty of killing with premeditation. It is a terrible story, one to buckle the knees of anyone who was moved or inspired by Pistorius' 400-meter dash to posterity in the London Olympics.