Olympics 2012: Live Report

1139 GMT: The German cox leaps from the boat in joy as the rowers slump in exhaustion after their victory.

British rowers look shell-shocked -- it had looked for a moment there as if they would be contenders for more than bronze.

1136 GMT: GERMANY WINS GOLD IN MEN'S ROWING EIGHT FINAL, CANADA SILVER, BRITAIN BRONZE

1135 GMT: The home crowds are again on their feet roaring support for the British eight in the rowing -- can it be two golds in the space of minutes?

1132 GMT: ROWING: Germany and Britain are neck and neck in the men's eight rowing final...

1129 GMT: ROWING: UKRAINE WINS WOMEN'S QUADRUPLE SCULLS TITLE, GERMANY SILVER, US BRONZE

1124 GMT: SWIMMING: AFP's Rob Smith says that Australia have qualified fastest for the women's 4x200m freestyle relay final tonight, ahead of the US.

"The Australian team of Brittany Elmslie, Angie Bainbridge, Jade Neilsen and Blair Evans clocked 7m49.44secs to shade the American quartet of Lauren Perdue, Shannon Vreeland, Alyssa Anderson and Dana Vollmer by 1.31 secs.

Canada are third and Italy fourth," he says.

1119 GMT: ROWING: British Prime Minister David Cameron has just tweeted his congratulations after the country's first gold medal in the women's pair rowing.

"I couldn't be more delighted that Helen Glover and Heather Stanning have won the #1stgold medal for Team GB. Here's to many more," he wrote.

1115 GMT: Here is a quick recap of the main highlights so far today:

+ Amid a rumbling controversy over badminton match fixing, Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Olympics, called the situation "depressing." Four pairs in the women's doubles competition from China, South Korea and Indonesia, could be disciplined over the row;

+ The US's Michael Phelps, the new record holder for the number of Olympic medals overall, and Ryan Lochte got through the opening heats of what is shaping up to be a classic men's 200m individual medley;

+ Hosts Britain won their first gold medal of the games in the women's pair rowing final, watched by Princes William and Harry.

1102 GMT: Australia took silver and New Zealand bronze in that women's pair final.

The torrent of congratulations are already coming in for Glover and Stanning, with Britain's Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling it a "magnificent" win on Twitter.

1059 GMT: Huge cheers as Britain's Helen Glover and Heather Stanning collapse in their boats with giant grins on their faces. Princes William and Harry look on from the stands smiling broadly.

1057 GMT: HOSTS BRITAIN WIN FIRST GOLD OF GAMES IN WOMEN'S PAIR ROWING FINAL

1054 GMT: ROWING: Britain are well ahead in the women's pair final with more than half of the race done -- can they secure the host country's first gold?

1053 GMT: More quotes on the badminton from Coe, the London Olympics chairman, who was speaking at a press conference.

"Depressing. Who wants to sit through something like that?" he said.

Four pairs in the women's doubles competition -- one from China, one from Indonesia and two from South Korea -- could be disciplined over the match-fixing scandal.

1045 GMT: BADMINTON: Games chief Sebastian Coe has just called that rumbling match-fixing scandal "unacceptable" and "depressing". More to come on that shortly.

1042 GMT: More from Rob, this time on the men's swimming heats featuring Phelps and Lochte.

"Hungarian Laszlo Cseh has trumped world champion and world record holder Ryan Lochte in the opening heats of the men's 200m individual medley," he says.

"Cseh shaded the 400m medley gold medallist Lochte by 0.83secs to go into tonight's semi-finals as the leading qualifier.

"Michael Phelps, fresh from winning his record 19th Olympic medal last night and the defending champion in the event, was fourth-fastest in what is shaping as a terrific contest."

1037 GMT: SWIMMING: Our correspondent Rob Smith says the US's Rebecca Soni, defending her Olympic title, is the woman to beat in the women's 200m breaststroke.

"Soni was fastest into the semi-finals of the event in 2m21.40secs ahead of Denmark's Rikke Pedersen and Japan's Satomi Suzuki in the opening heats ahead of tonight's semis," Rob says.

1032 GMT: CYCLING: Intense excitement in Britain about the men's time trial from 1315 GMT which could see Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins break the host country's gold medal duck.

Two newspapers, The Sun and The Daily Mirror, today came with free cut-out ginger sideburns so readers can get the distinctive Wiggins look.

"Here Wiggo" was The Mirror's punning front page headline.

1025 GMT: JUDO: AFP's Barnaby Chesterman reports that Australia's Mark Anthony has caused a major upset by defeating fourth seed Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia in the men's under-90kg category.

1013 GMT: BADMINTON: Back to that row over alleged match-fixing which is hanging over the Games today.

Chinese state media has criticised those involved, including its own pairing of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli.

"On the court, these four teams lacked a fighting spirit and desire for victory," said the official Xinhua news agency as reported by AFP's correspondents in Beijing.

"This type of behaviour completely violates the Olympic spirit of fair competition."

1005 GMT: DIVING: A teenager arrested for sending British diver Tom Daley an abusive Twitter message after he failed to get a medal has been given a police warning.

The 17-year-old had accused Daley of letting down his father, who died last year of cancer.

The message was later retweeted by Daley, who has over 900,000 followers.

1000 GMT: Back to today's action in the swimming heats.

Rob Smith reports: "America have dominated the opening heats of the men's 200m backstroke with Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte the top two fastest swimmers into the semis.

"Clary went 1m56.24secs and was just 12-hundredths of a second quicker than Lochte, who won the 400m medley gold on the opening night of the competition.

"China's Zhang Fenglin and Japan's Ryosuke Irie headed the others in third and fourth spots."

0955 GMT: Missy Franklin's swimming success at the Games has provided some hope in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people were shot dead at a screening of the new Batman film last month.

Franklin, 17, attends high school in Aurora and lives in nearby Centennial, AFP's Jeanie Stokes reports. She heard about the shootings while she was in London ahead of the Games.

"Every single race I'm going to have that Colorado incident back on my mind. It's such a terrible thing and I'm so shaken by it. They're in my thoughts this entire process," Franklin has said.

Despite that backdrop, she won gold in the 100m backstroke Monday.

0938 GMT: In other swimming news, Australia's Stephanie Rice has said she will take a break from swimming and consider her future after a frustrating Olympics.

Rice, who won three golds at Beijing, was beaten by Chinese prodigy Ye Shiwen in the 200 and 400m medley events.

"I need to take a break to get my head back in the right frame of mind," Rice told reporters. "I'd hate to make a rapid decision on quitting the sport which a few people do."

0928 GMT: AFP's Rob Smith has this update from poolside:

"China's Yi Tang has topped the field in the opening heats of the women's 100m freestyle with a best time of 53.28 secs.

"Yi was quickest into Wednesday night's semi-finals ahead of Australia's Melanie Schlanger and Denmark's Jeanette Gray.

"Dutch flyer Ranomi Kromowidjojo, the year's top-ranked swimmer, was fifth into the semis with American teenager Missy Franklin equal 10th and Germany's Olympic champion Britta Steffen squeezing into the top-16 semis in 14th berth."

0922 GMT: SWIMMING: The women's 100m freestyle heats are getting started down at the Aquatic Centre, the first of a string of heats taking place this morning. Stay with us for results.

0917 GMT: ROWING: Britain's Princes William and Harry have just showed up at Eton Dorney outside London to watch the rowing, British former rowing champ Matthew Pinsent reports on Twitter.

The royals were also out in force Tuesday to support Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips in the equestrian team eventing, where Britain won silver.

0901 GMT: JUDO: Who would have thought it? AFP's Barnaby Chesterman has just spotted some pink knickers down at the judo, of all places.

"That's a first in judo as far as I'm aware. Timur Bolat of Kazakhstan has just flashed (inadvertently) a pair of pink briefs. A beefy 90kg judoka, who just picked up and smashed Egyptian Hisham Mesbah flat on his back, and he wears fuschia underwear!" he writes.

0847 GMT: A Wiggins win would make him the most decorated British Olympian in history.

He has six Olympic gold medals so far and another one would put him one clear of rower Steve Redgrave, who also has six.

"Confidence is sky-high that we're going to be in the ballpark," the man nicknamed "Wiggo" has said of his chances in today's race.

0841 GMT: CYCLING: Britain's Bradley Wiggins is hoping to land his country's first gold in the men's time trial later on -- but suffered a minor setback earlier in the week when his training kit went missing from his hotel.

He took to Twitter to vent his frustration but later added: "Gotta delete tweet Re the thief, bad PR, never mind my kit though!"

0832 GMT: SWIMMING: On a happier note, there is still a buzz around the US's Michael Phelps after he won a record 19th medal, making him the most successful Olympian ever.

Last night, Phelps anchored the US team to victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay and won silver in the 200m butterfly.

This morning, he excitedly retweeted a congratulatory message from none other than US President Barack Obama.

"Thank you Mr. President!! It's an honor representing the #USA !! The best country in the world!! RT @BarackObama: Congrats to Michael Phelps for breaking the all-time Olympic medal record. You?ve made your country proud. -bo," said the message.

0825 GMT: China's Olympic delegation has launched an investigation into the badminton claims, saying it "opposes any kind of behaviour to violate the sporting spirit and morality," state media reported.

China's Olympic delegation is already fighting off questions over doping in relation to teenage swimming sensation Ye Shiwen, which are fiercely denied.

0821 GMT: BADMINTON: Some of those implicated in the badminton row have spoken out to defend their tactics.

China's Yu Yang is world champion with partner Wang Xiaoli but the pair lost to unseeded South Korean pair Jung Kyung and Kim Ha Na.

Yu said after the match: "We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy? It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow."

0815 GMT: The furore on the badminton court aside, here are the main sporting highlights to look out for later on today:

+ Australian world champion James Magnussen goes for gold in the men's swimming 100m freestyle from 1830 GMT;

+ Bradley Wiggins looks to cap his Tour de France triumph with victory in the cycling time trial and give Britain its eagerly-awaited first gold medal of the Games from 1315 GMT;

+ Rowing finals at Eton Dorney from 0830 GMT.

0806 GMT: The big story this morning is the controversy over alleged throwing of badminton matches.

Four pairs in the women's doubles competition -- one from China, one from Indonesia and two from South Korea -- were booed off court Tuesday after apparently serving into the net on purpose to concede points, hitting the shuttlecock out of play, or wasting time.

They were allegedly trying to manipulate the final standings in the first-round group stage, with two pairs who had already qualified apparently wanting to lose to secure easier opponents in the next round.

They face a disciplinary hearing later Wednesday.

WELCOME to AFP's Live Report on the London 2012 Olympics on Wednesday August 1.

It's another busy day of sporting action with plenty of swimming, cycling and rowing action to look forward to, so stay with us for all of the day's action.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/olympics-2012-live-report-080031184--oly.html

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