This is part of KPCC’s "L.A. To London” series, which will be exploring local connections to the 2012 Summer Olympics. View the series and follow the series on Twitter at
The 2012 summer Olympics kicked off last Friday with the “Isles of Wonder” themed Opening Ceremony in London. On Saturday, the actual medal competitions began.
American swimmers Michael Phelps, the 14-time gold medalist, went head-to-head with Ryan Lochte in the 400 individual medley. Lochte came out on top in that race, but both he and Phelps fell to France’s swimmers in the coveted 4X100 meter freestyle relay. On the women’s side, Missy Franklin, who goes to high school in Aurora, CO, and her team walked away with bronze in the same event.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team sprung into action on Sunday with its qualification round, which produced a big upset when Jordyn Wieber, the reigning world champion, finished third behind Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas in qualifying for the all-around final. No matter what the individual scores, each country is only allowed to send two contestants to compete in that particular event, thus shutting out the world champion. Wieber will still be a part of the overall gymnastics team final on Tuesday.
The athletes aren’t the only subject of conversation either, as NBC itself is coming under fire for some of its coverage so far. From swimming and gymnastics to basketball and boxing, we’ll recap the highs and the lows from this past weekend and look forward at the next big matches to watch.
Guests:
Robert Kovacik, Reporter, NBC4 News, in London covering the Olympics
Robert Lloyd, television critic, Los Angeles Times