(http://www.london2012.com/news/articles/history-maker-pistorious-through.html)

04 August 201212:06

History-maker Pistorius through

South Africa's Oscar Pistorius safely advanced to the semi-finals of the men's 400m this morning during his historic Olympic appearance at the London 2012 Games.

Oscar Pistorius competes in the men's 400m heats. Oscar Pistorius of South Africa competes in the men's 400m heats, making history on Day 8.

Pistorius became the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics when he ran in heat one.

The athlete known as 'Blade Runner' due to his prosthetic legs finished second in 45.44.

The 25-year-old had looked set to miss out on a place in the individual event after failing to run a second 'A' qualifying time to gain automatic selection.

I didn't know whether to cry, I had a mixture of emotions. It was the most amazing experience.

Oscar Pistorius

He fell agonisingly short at his final attempt in July, but was selected for his country's men's 4 x 400m Relay team - in which he won a silver medal at the World Championships last year - which meant he could be selected for the individual event.

Pistorius said: 'I was so nervous this morning. Thanks to everyone for showing their support. I didn't know whether to cry, I had a mixture of emotions. It was the most amazing experience.'

(http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/06/30/france-in-the-year-2000-1899-1910/)

FRANCE IN THE YEAR 2000

France in the Year 2000 (XXI century) – a series of futuristic pictures by Jean-Marc Côté and other artists issued in France in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910. Originally in the form of paper cards enclosed in cigarette/cigar boxes and, later, as postcards, the images depicted the world as it was imagined to be like in the year 2000. There are at least 87 cards known that were authored by various French artists, the first series being produced for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. 

(All images via Wikimedia Commons). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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(http://olympics.time.com/2012/08/01/the-un-olympic-spirit-eight-badminton-players-disqualified-after-attempting-to-throw-their-matches/?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+time/topstories+(TIME:+Top+Stories)&utm_content=Google+Reader)

The Un-Olympic Spirit: Eight Badminton Players Disqualified After Attempting to Throw Their Matches

The Badminton World Federation has ruled to disqualify four women's doubles teams amid accusations of manipulating the tournament.

By MEGAN GIBSON | @MeganJGibson | August 1, 2012 |

BAZUKI MUHAMMAD / REUTERS

Officials speaking to players from China and South Korea (from left: South Korea's Kim Ha-na, Jung Kyung-eun, China's Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli) during their women's doubles group stage badminton matches during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Wembley Arena on July 31, 2012.

Excited crowds have greeted most Olympic matches at London 2012 with cheers. But the badminton match between China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang and South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na on Tuesday night drew nothing but boos and hisses.

Each team racked up extensive errors throughout the match, either serving the birdie directly into the net or swatting it way out of bounds. Spectators became piqued as they began to suspect the mistakes were intentional, and the referee stopped the game to lecture the players. "They're serving fault after fault," said an outraged BBC commentator. "They're serving them straight into the net. I'm sorry, it's blindingly obvious what's going on."

Officials accused the teams of trying to manipulate the tournament by throwing their matches in order to score more favorable draws in the next round.  Since badminton is played as a round-robin tournament, rather than a knockout format, losing a match could lead to playing a weaker team in the next round. Ultimately, such sloppy performances could have boosted the team's chances of making it to the finals.

The winner's of Tuesday's match would have gone up against China's Tian Quing and Zhao Yunlei in the quarterfinals. The Chinese teams allegedly did not want to face each other until the finals.

"The Chinese started this," South Korea's coach Sung Han-kook told the BBC. "They did it first. It's a complicated thing with the draws. They didn't want to meet each other in the semi-final. They don't want that to happen."

In a hearing on Wednesday morning, the Badminton World Federation disqualified the teams — as well as South Korea's Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min Jung and Indonesia's Greysia Poli and Meiliana Jauhari — over accusations of "not using [their] best efforts to win a match." They were also accused of "conducting [themselves] in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport."

A statement from the BWF said that the Indonesian and South Korean teams were intending to fight the decision, but after officials rejected South Korea's appeal, Indonesia withdrew theirs. Many officials have already welcomed the ruling. The International Olympic Committee's vice president Craig Reedie told the Associated Press, "Sport is competitive. If you lose the competitive element, then the whole thing becomes a nonsense."

Juntos, Fabuloso e M1TO buscam título internacional

(http://saopaulofc.net/noticias/noticias/futebol/2012/7/31/juntos,-fabuloso-e-m1to-buscam-titulo-internacional/)

Juntos, Fabuloso e M1TO buscam título internacional

Dupla é a esperança são-paulina para conquistar a Copa Sul-Americana

Kaue Freitas - 31/07/2012 às 17:18

Por Rubens Chiri

Depois de quase sete anos, o São Paulo quer acabar com o jejum de títulos internacionais. O último conquistado, no entanto, foi o histórico tricampeonato mundial no Japão, após vencer o Liverpool-ING por 1 a 0, com gol de Mineiro. O Tricolor conta com a dupla de ídolos para escrever um novo capítulo na história.

Rogério Ceni já disputou 132 partidas em competições internacionais oficiais pelo São Paulo, sendo 130 sul-americanas. No currículo, importantes títulos como a Libertadores e Mundial, ambos em 2005, onde foi o grande protagonista do São Paulo. Na competição continental, além de grandes defesas, ele terminou com um dos artilheiros com cinco gols.

Já na final contra o Liverpool, Rogério Ceni fechou o gol são-paulino e foi eleito o melhor jogador do Mundial daquele ano. Com Fabuloso, ele disputou a Mercosul de 2001 (primeira fase), Sul-Americana de 2003 (semifinal), Libertadores de 2004 (semifinal) e Sul-Americana de 2011 (oitavas de final).

Já Luis Fabiano disputou 24 jogos em competições sul-americanas pelo Tricolor. Ao todo, ele fez 12 gols, sendo oito deles na Copa Libertadores de 2004. Artilheiro da equipe neste ano com 20 gols, o camisa 9 é a grande esperança são-paulina ao lado do M1TO Rogério Ceni.

"O Luis Fabiano é o nosso homem-gol, tem potencial para ser o artilheiro das competições deste ano. O Rogério, além da parte técnica, é um líder. Eles ajudam para que a nossa estratégia de jogo possa dar certo", disse o técnico Ney Franco.

Na noite desta quarta-feira, em Pituaçu, o Tricolor enfrentará o Bahia pela Copa Sul-Americana. A decisão por uma vaga na próxima fase acontecerá no Morumbi, no próximo dia 21.

Confira o desempenho dos dois:

Rogério Ceni em competições internacionais

• JOGOS: 132
• VITÓRIAS: 65
• EMPATES: 34
• DERROTAS: 33
• GOLS MARCADOS: 14

Luis Fabiano em competições internacionais

• JOGOS: 24
• VITÓRIAS: 13
• EMPATES: 5
• DERROTAS: 6
• GOLS MARCADOS: 12