• Who'll win the gold medal for partying? Olympians let their hair down in London

    AFP - Getty Images

    British gold medal-winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins is seen on stage at a concert in Hyde Park, left, enjoying a beer while watching Olympic action in the Velodrome, center, and meeting Stone Roses singer Ian Brown at a secret VIP gig by the band in London, right.

    By Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

    LONDON - After four years of intense training and personal sacrifice, athletes are letting their hair down and joining London’s city-wide Olympic party.

    With many events now over, and with Sunday's closing ceremony looming, Olympians are becoming a more frequent sight on the streets – and in the bars – of Britain’s capital.

    Many are turning up at venues to support their team-mates in the remaining competition -- and sign autographs for lucky spectators.

    “It is nice for us now to be able to relax and watch some of the Games,” said Czech cyclist Denis Spicka, who was surrounded by friends and female fans at Czech House – one of dozens of temporary national ‘party houses’ set up around London by tourism promoters and sponsors.

    Have you ever wondered what Olympic athletes do after the competition and medals? TODAY special correspondent Ryan Seacrest heads out into London to investigate, going to Ryan Lochte's birthday bash and getting the scoop on how Missy Franklin plans to commemorate her medals.

    Spicka was one of hundreds of party-goers enjoying Czech beer while watching giant screens showing his country take on France at women’s basketball on Tuesday night – only hours after he had finished his own race in the Olympic Velodrome.

    “The girls here are very nice,” he grinned.

    Alastair Jamieson/NBC News

    Officials from Britain's Olympic team enjoy a late-night take-out in east London's Mile End.

    Across town, U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte was enjoying a birthday party at a Planet Hollywood theme restaurant near Leicester Square. The 28-year-old enjoyed chicken fingers, nachos, Champagne and birthday cake, according to E!, before heading to Mahiki, a nightclub popular with Prince Harry.

    It was not the gold medal winner’s first night of partying: He joined a throng of fellow swimmers including South African Jean Basson and Lebanese Katya Bachrouche at club Chinawhite on Sunday night.

    Will Games curse leave 'ghost town' London out of the gold rush?

    Chad le Clos, the South African who beat Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly last week, also dropped into the club, dancing with his team and some Australian swimmers. "It was pretty cool,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “Everyone was there, the Americans and the French team. Pretty much the whole of the VIP area was crawling with swimmers. We all enjoyed ourselves."

    Slideshow: Graffiti Games: UK street artists take on Olympics

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Street and graffiti artists have been satirizing, celebrating and making jokes about the Olympic Games in London.

    Launch slideshow

    Others have been touring London’s sights or relaxing in and around the Olympic Park. Cook Islands swimming coach Romani Katoa was enjoying a few beers with fellow spectators at the track and field events on Sunday night, while Hungarian hammer-thrower Krisztian Pars was showing off his gold medal on the top floor of a double-decker bus.

    Christians, Muslims and even a 'vegan turkey' seek converts at London 2012

    In the Westfield shopping mall that leads to the Olympic Park, athletes from around the world have been signing autographs for fans or partying in the top-level casino.

    Indeed, spotting athletes has now become a London tourist activity in its own right: Olympians from Rwanda were pictured waiting for a bus on Monday, officials from Team Great Britain were seen ordering a late-night take-out in a kebab house in east London’s Mile End and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins posted a picture of himself on Instagram “getting wasted” near St. Paul’s Cathedral after winning his cycling gold medal for Britain.

    Wiggins and fellow British gold medalist Jessica Ennis were among the athletes who attended a VIP Stone Roses concert on Monday. The duo were reportedly introduced at the gig as "king" and "queen" of England.

    At the Austria House near the Tower of London, where party-goers can enjoy pilsner and sauerkraut while watching live Olympic action, Austrian gymnast Fabian Leimlehner was among those signing autographs.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Julia Sailer from Innsbruck, Austria, pours two-liter beers as fast as she can sell them at Austria's national hospitality house in the Tower Hill area of London on Tuesday.

    'So much debauchery'
    Speculation is now turning to life inside the Olympic Village – the super-private athletes-only area notorious for evolving into a party zone as the Games come to an end. In a now-notorious ESPN feature last month, Lochte predicted that “70 to 75 percent of Olympians” would be having sex with other competitors, adding: “Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

    About 150,000 condoms have been handed out by organizers in the wake of of stories about goings-on at the Sydney 2000 games where, according to U.S. target shooter Josh Lakatos, competitors turned an empty room into a venue for round-the-clock casual sex, assisted by an Oakley duffel bag overflowing with condoms procured from the village's medical clinic. “I've never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life," he told ESPN.

    Traveling around traffic-plagued London can be a hassle at the best of times -- never mind during an event such as the Olympic Games. NBCNews.com put the city to the test in a race to the Olympic Park.

    So are the beds of London’s Olympic village really shaking? “We are all sharing rooms, so it is difficult,” said Czech runner Josef Prorok at the Czech House party. “Our apartment is above the laundry area and some of my friends have discovered there are some empty places, so…”

    Inside the Olympic Village: World's top athletes share college dorm-style rooms

    In practice, he said, athletes prefer to head into the city to party. “There is no alcohol in the Village bar so it is boring there. Here there is a screen and there are people having fun, and girls,” he said.

    His comments were echoed by former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who told The Mirror; “Any partying is done away from the Village out of respect for athletes who are still competing. To be honest you spend all your time training and eating healthily – and it only takes a glass of wine and you are hammered.”

    More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

    All the better for Londoners, who are are cruising the national party houses in the hope of getting to meet athletes.

    "Which is the best one?" asked Nick Watterson, from north London, who was drinking at the Czech House with friends after watching Olympic soccer at Wembley Stadium. "Brazil House sounds good. It's a great atmosphere in the city at the moment, a real party going on."  

    Slideshow: Speeding through life: Olympians then and now

    Tony Duffy / ALLSPORT, Getty Images

    How has life treated the many U.S. Olympians who have dazzled and inspired us over the years? Find out in this handy then-and-now roundup.

    Launch slideshow

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  • Will Games curse leave 'ghost town' London out of the gold rush?

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    East Londoner Dean Houssein sells coffee, drinks and snacks from the back of a van near the London's Victoria Park, a short train ride from the Olympic Park. He said that during the Games, the area has been "deader than dead."

    By Alastair Jamieson and Ian Johnston, NBC News

    LONDON – Quiet restaurants, empty sidewalks and spare seats on the subway have left businesses in central London without an Olympic gold rush, despite Britain's medal success -- and have raised new questions about whether the world's largest sporting event brings any economic benefit to host countries.

    It is a major concern in Britain, which is still entrenched in double-dip recession even after the construction boom created by the Games.

    Attractions including St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Zoo have seen a 40 percent drop in visitors since the opening ceremony on July 27. Dire warnings of travel chaos scared many away, and those who do come are congregating in the shopping mall that abuts the Olympic Park in East London, or inside the bars and opens spaces of the sprawling park itself.

    Even small businesses within sight of the landmark 80,000-seater main stadium have seen none of the expected dividend.


    East Londoner Dean Houssein, who usually works as a taxi driver, decided to sell coffee, drinks and snacks such as chocolate gold medals from the back of a van near Victoria Park. It seemed like a prime location -- big screens in the park show action from the Games to crowds of thousands and the Olympic Park itself is just a 5-minute train ride away.

    "It's been like a f****** ghost town ... deader than dead," Houssein said. "I've never seen the area like this. It's costing me money. It's really not happening. I need to go back to my normal job, I've got bills to pay like everyone else," he said last week.

    Asked what the business was called, he replied with a wry smile, "I was thinking of calling it 'Dean the Coffee Machine,' but I'm not selling it. I'm drinking it all myself, getting the shakes."

    Full coverage in London 2012: Hosting the Games

    Even as authorities warned of major delays and congestion, the Daily Telegraph published a slideshow of deserted stations and sidewalks.

    Theater producer Nica Burns told the Evening Standard newspaper that her venues were "bleeding."

    "For my six theaters, last week was the worst this year," she said. "I think the Olympics are great — but I feel like I've been the bulls-eye for the archery competition."

    Peter Vlachos, a marketing expert at the University of Greenwich, in southeast London, has been surveying local businesses about the impact of the Games. "One word came back: Disaster," he told The Associated Press.

    "There are 23,000 people walking past (local shops) in the morning to get to the grounds, and at the end of the day the same 23,000 people rushing back to their hotels," he said.

    "The Olympics were sold to the business community as if it was going to be a huge windfall, and it hasn't materialized," he said.

    Race to London's Olympic Park: Fastest way is ... ?

    Big traders are also suffering. Stores on the city's flagship shopping drag, Oxford Street, have seen footfall slump by up to one-fifth.

    Slideshow: Olympic Emotional Moments

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    Click for more from the 2012 summer games in London.

    Launch slideshow

    "Of all months to see a drop in trade, August is the worst," said Bernard Donohue, chief executive of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. "We expected a drop in international visitors -- it's the well-known displacement effect that happens at every Olympic Games -- but we didn’t expect all the domestic visitors to stay away, too."

    British Prime Minister David Cameron last week repeated official estimates that London 2012 would bring $20 billion-worth of economic benefits over the next four years, mostly in the form of inward investment urban regeneration – enough to the justify the $14 billion cost of staging the Games.

    "That figure is based on somewhat shaky calculations," said Samuel Tombs of London-based analysts Capital Economics, which predicts Britain will fall back into recession within weeks of the closing ceremony.

    "There are some short-term benefits, particularly in the service sector, but long-term gains are unproven. We expect modest growth in the third quarter -- partly boosted by Olympic ticket sales which are officially recorded in this quarter -- but our current prediction is that we will see growth shrink again in the fourth quarter."

    Christians, Muslims and even a 'vegan turkey' seek converts at London 2012

    'The Olympic Curse'?
    Could Britain be the latest victim of "The Olympic Curse" -- a phenomenon that in 1976 left Montreal with a 30-year debt headache?

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    You can lead the world to London, but you can't make them shop. Pedestrians walk past an Olympic-themed window display in a Tommy Hilfiger store on Regent Street, central London, on Aug. 2.

    Athens is estimated to have spent between $15 billion and $32 billion on hosting the 2004 Olympics -- a contributory factor in the country's economic crisis -- and recent pictures show many of the venues lying vacant and abandoned. Research from Oxford University's Saïd Business School concludes that host cities have averaged a 179-percent cost overrun in the past 50 years, although recent Games have seen among the lowest overspends.

    Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world

    Transit authority Transport for London last week abandoned the use of pre-recorded public announcements, voiced by Mayor Boris Johnson, warning Londoners to plan for an expected visitor boom that never materialized.

    The New West End Company, which represents stores in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, is spinning the unexpected quietness as a boon for locals under the slogan 'No tickets needed.' "It's a Londoner's dream at the moment -- they can get around easily and get a table in a good restaurant," said spokesman Jace Tyrell.

    The decline in visitor numbers in London could mean that other British tourist hot spots, including Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, and northwest England's Lake District, see fewer summer visitors.

    Olympics officials accused of anti-Semitism over Munich remembrance

    Jonathan Denby, head of the Lakes Hospitality Association, told BBC Radio 4: "We get probably 100,000 Japanese tourists during the summer. This year in July and August there are none.

    Traveling around traffic-plagued London can be a hassle at the best of times -- never mind during an event such as the Olympic Games. NBCNews.com put the city to the test in a race to the Olympic Park.

    "No visitors are coming in from Asia because they couldn't get hotel accommodation in London and they were frightened of all the travel restrictions in London, so they just decided to stay away for the five-week period of the Olympics," he said.

    "If you want to know where all the Londoners are, a lot of them are in the Lake District," Denby added.

    Forging an Olympic legacy
    There have been some winners. The recently opened Westfield shopping mall, through which tens of thousands of spectators walk from Stratford station in order to reach the Olympic Park, became so busy over the weekend that it closed to all except ticket-holders. A worker at The Cow, a bar at the end of the mall overlooking the stadium, said it was making $50,000 a day from food and drink sales.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Thousands of people move through the recently-opened Westfield shopping mall on their way to and from the London Olympic Park on Aug. 2.

    In Manchester, one of England's largest cities, more than 100,000 extra visitors have flocked to the central Exchange Square to watch the Olympic action on giant screens, to the delight of local businesses, according to the Manchester Evening News.

    For others, it may be too early to judge with Cameron's predicted windfall will come true.

    "We thought we might get some extra customers during the Games," said Roger Love, co-owner of London Fields Fitness, which offers personal training and pay-as-you-go classes in East London.

    "In fact, not a single extra person has come to us because of the Olympics. At times the local area is as quiet as it was the morning after last year's riots. Having said that, we haven't lost any business, either – and there may be greater interest in sport and fitness longer term. In the park this morning I overhead someone asking their child if they wanted to be a swimmer or a runner, so there could be more future business for us -- and perhaps a real Olympic legacy -- after all."

    More world stories from NBC News:

  • Olympic party: In the shadow of the Games, London celebrates

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Olympic Stadium can be seen in the background as partygoers watch the opening ceremonies on a massive LCD screen in East London.

    By Alastair Jamieson and Ian Johnston, NBC News

    Updated at 8:45 p.m. ET: STRATFORD, East London – For billions of people watching around the world, Friday night’s 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony signaled the start of two weeks of sporting excitement.

    But for nearby residents just outside the main Olympic Park — within earshot of the spectacular show, but separated by 11 miles of electric fence — the celebrations also marked the end of seven years of planning and redevelopment which has transformed the local area and made an impact on many lives.

    Tens of thousands gathered in parks to watch the ceremony on giant screens, or hosted parties in apartments and backyards in the shadow of the stadium. Cheers erupted when British cycling hero Bradley Wiggins rang the bell to begin the display.

    “For people living in this area, the Olympics isn’t just about these two weeks — they’ve been living with the anticipation and excitement for years — as well as the noise and disruption,” said Stephen McVeigh, deputy head of residential property at Genesis Housing, whose 700-home development includes a 43-story tower, Stratford Halo, under construction yards from the Games.

    Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe

    “It is incredible, but also a bit strange, to be so close to the excitement and the action, yet still watching on television.”

    As McVeigh spoke to NBC News, the Royal Air Force display team — the Red Arrows — roared overhead, coating the urban skyline in red, white and blue trails that drew a huge cheer from nearby streets.

    Although the tower is unfinished, workers and corporate guests gathered on the 38th floor from where the view included a section inside the stadium.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Workers and corporate guests watch the opening ceremonies from the 38th floor of Stratford Halo, a 43 story-housing tower still under development in Stratford, London, only a mile from Olympic Park.

    Across the River Lea, southwest of the stadium in an industrial zone that has witnessed decades of decline, one local furniture factory decided to make the most of the event by clearing its workspace and yard and converting them into a giant temporary nightclub and bar complex called Fringe 2012.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    A bartender pours a customer a glass of wine at one of the many bars in Fringe 2012, a factory turned nightclub just for the Games, on Friday in East London.

    Inside, with the music from the ceremony drifting across the river, revelers who had paid up to 25 pounds ($39) cheered their favorite points in the ceremony — including the appearance of live cows and comic actor Rowan Atkinson (best known in America as Mr. Bean) — and joined the stadium crowd in singing the National Anthem, "God Save The Queen."

    When the Olympics and politics collide: Is neutrality just a 'fairy tale'?

    “We decided this was a better business plan so we applied for a (liquor) license and put a giant screen and turned it into a place for people to feel part of the Olympic experience even if they couldn’t be in the ceremony or get tickets for the events," said Steve Black, whose family has made sofas on the site for generations.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Partygoers watch the opening ceremonies on a massive LCD screen at Fringe 2012.

    “Hopefully this will change the area for good — this all used to be factories but soon it will be bars, restaurants, galleries," he said. "It’s a celebration for the area as much as for the opening of the Olympic Games.”

    London's 'East End': From haven for gangsters to Olympic showcase

    Thousands packed into Victoria Park, about two miles west of the stadium, to watch the ceremony on big screens.

    There was an ironic cheer when it began to rain, but the best reaction of the night came when a comedy skit depicted The Queen alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

    A major part of the show was an homage to the U.K.’s National Health Service, with nurses dancing and hospital beds arranged to spell out NHS and GOSH, for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

    There was applause as performers, many of whom work for the NHS, passed through Stratford subway station still dressed in their stylized uniforms.

    Christalene Alaart, originally from South Africa but now living in London and working at the NHS Royal Free Hospital, told NBC News that it had been “quite exciting, knowing there’s 3 billion people whose eyes would be on us, and 80,000 in the stadium.”

    She added that her mother had been to see a rehearsal. “She was in tears, overwhelmed with what she saw, also that fact she was there and part of it,” Alaart said.

    New Zealander Carina Burgess, 26, an NHS pharmacist in London, said it was “pretty cool to be given that much credit, for a whole segment to be dedicated to the NHS.”

    And Annmarie Badchkam, 36, a midwife at London’s Homerton Hospital, said “it was definitely amazing ... thanks to Danny Boyle, it was an amazing experience.”

    Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, an academic and expert on the Olympics at Canterbury Christ Church University in England, was among the dancers for part of the show featuring music from the 1980s and 1990s.

    “It was extraordinary experience,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or actually part of it.”

    She said she regarded herself as a “critical friend” of the Olympics but said taking part in the ceremony had reminded her that the Games was a “big festival … a great festival.”

    Professional opera singer Elinor Jane Moran, 31, from London, was among those dancing to current British hip hop music in the show – something she’d never done before and learned during the rehearsals.

    She enthusiastically related how she had shaken hands with U.K. hip hop star Dizzee Rascal as he came on stage in an unscripted moment.

    “I thought it was extraordinary,” she said of the show, “particularly the Industrial Revolution section and also the nurses were just wonderful.”

    “The energy, the passion, was just extraordinary, I thought,” Moran added. “We’re very proud of it, very, very proud of it.”

    Spectators were sporting flags from all over the world, from Australia to Brazil, Japan to Canada.

    Yulia Semakima, 25, from Omsk, in Russia, who is studying law in London, was among those caught up in the mood of the moment.

    “I’m not a big fan (of the Olympics), but now I feel like I’m becoming more and more enthusiastic about it,” she said, dressed in a Russia shirt and cap.

    “I think we will be third (in the medal table) after China and then the U.S. I hope we can beat France and Germany,” she added.

    Referring to a considerable amount of typically British moaning in the months ahead of the Games, she could not understand why Londoners did not seem “really to be impressed with this.”

    One Briton who was definitely enjoying the Games was Lucy Chisholm, 44, from Twickenham, London, who was wearing British flags in her hair, on her T-shirt and had one painted on her cheek.

    “I feel very patriotic at the moment. With everything that’s been going on in Britain, it’s been fantastic. We’ve had the (Queen’s) Jubilee and that really brought people together,” she said.

    Chisholm said she hoped anyone who had complained about the Olympics “haven’t got tickets,” adding, “We’ve had so much moaning, but that’s what Britons do, isn’t it. Everybody should get together and embrace it.”

    Jamaica supporter Richard Woodburn, 32, from London’s East End, was wearing a Jamaica sports shirt and proudly showed a picture on his cellphone of his house bedecked with Jamaican flags.

    “They (Jamaica) are going to clean up in the athletics — 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 400 meters relay, men and women,” he said.

    “The Games are here — just enjoy it. There’s so many people enjoying it,” he said gesturing to the crowd of thousands around him. “Just run with it.”

    Mark Townsend, 46, who was born in Britain, grew up in Canada and whose wife Mariko is from Japan, was similarly upbeat, saying he hoped the Games slogan of “Inspire a Generation” would come true for his children, age 11 and 5.

    “My 11-year-old daughter is going to play (soccer) for Canada, Japan or Britain,” he said.

    Paul Meikle, a cub scout leader from Castle Rock, Northern Ireland, with a group of more than 40 cub scouts, explorers and adults, said the beginning of the Opening Ceremony was “really, really good” and “well put together.”

    He welcomed the decision to start the ceremony with songs from the four parts of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales — saying it was “inclusive of everyone.”

    “It’s really, really exciting to be here,” Meikle said. “We’ve come across to spend the first couple of days of the events here.”

    He said the scouts planned to watch the cycling road race Saturday, with Britain’s Mark Cavendish among the favorites to win.

    At Forman’s Smokehouse, a family-run fish processing company that was forced to relocate to make way for the Olympic Park, managers transformed the forecourt into a spectacular temporary beach-themed bar complete with beach volleyball court, palm trees and champagne counter.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Anna Celeste Walters, left, has a toast with her friends Amy Loudon, center, and Alex Sinclair. They were three of about a thousand people who celebrated the opening ceremonies at Forman's Smokehouse, a family-run fish processing company in East London.

    When Sir Paul McCartney performed "Hey Jude," the crowd mirrored those inside the stadium by singing along with their hands in the air.

    “London is so buzzing at the moment, and the atmosphere here is incredible,” said Amy Loudon, 25, who traveled across London with her friends Anna Celeste Walters and Alex Sinclair to party nearer the Olympic site. “People seem to be in a much better mood now, after all the moaning.”

    Gary Bott, 31, a construction worker, traveled two hours from the city of Cambridge in order to celebrate in London. He was unable to get into the public screening at Victoria Park because it was too crowded.

    “It’s much better to be closer to the action, even if we’re watching on a screen,” he said. “There ceremony made us really proud to be British.”

    Paco Lima, a 35-year-old soldier from Mexico, was also soaking up the atmosphere at Forman’s — and cheering on his country when Mexican athletes joined the parade.

    “The ceremony was great — like a Hollywood production,” he said.

    Among those performing in the spectacular show was dance student Jack Ludwig, 22. He told NBC News before the ceremony began: “I don’t think I’ll ever get to do anything like this in my lifetime again, so to be part of it is incredible.

    “During rehearsals I was looking up at various spots in the crowd and thinking ‘that’s where the Queen will be sitting, that’s where all the world leaders will be.'”

    NBC News' Jim Seida contributed to this report.

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  • London Olympics: 8,000-mile torch relay around UK


    View Interactive London 2012 Olympic torch route in a larger map
    By Alastair Jamieson and Jamieson Lesko, NBC News

    Updated at 12:11 p.m. ET on July 26: LONDON - The Olympic flame has been carried past famous British landmarks and tourist spots including Queen Elizabeth II's home at Windsor Castle, the Scottish Highlands and the castle in north-east England where the "Harry Potter" movies were filmed.

    The torch is nearing the end of a winding, U.K.-wide 8,000-mile itinerary that culminates in its arrival at the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, on July 27 for the ceremony at which the queen will declare the Games open.

    You can watch NBC video of its progress on the interactive map above. It has already been carried from Land’s End, at the far south-western tip of England, to Wales, Northern Ireland and across to Scotland.

    More Olympic coverage from NBC News

    It even briefly crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland on its route, which was designed to take it within an hour's journey of 95 percent of Britain's population.

    Slideshow: Olympic torch carries the flame to London 2012

    Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

    Lit by the sun's rays in Greece, the Olympic torch takes a 70-day, 8,000 mile trip to London for the 2012 summer games.

    Launch slideshow

    However, some didn’t have to travel anywhere to see it: The queen carried an unopened umbrella as rain-sodden runner Gina Macgregor, 74, took the torch directly to her front door at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire on Day 53 of the relay.

    Earlier that day, it was held aloft by Roger Bannister, the first runner to smash the four-minute mile in 1954. Bannister, 83, walked 30 yards along the same track in Oxford where he ran the mile in three minutes, 59.4 seconds on May 6, 1954.

    Read more coverage of the Olympic torch relay at ITV News

    The torch has seen its fair share of human drama, including a torchbearer in Yorkshire who paused to propose to his girlfriend.

    If you're heading to the Olympics you'll find yourself in Cockney country, where the accent and slang may not make much sense to the untrained ear. NBC's Chapman Bell reports.

    And in emotional scenes last month, Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson -- the most seriously wounded British soldier to survive the war in Afghanistan -- was cheered and applauded by crowds as he bravely carried the flame 300 meters despite his crippling injuries.

    American stuntman Nick Macomber carried the torch in a special hands-free carrier while using his free hands to control a jet pack on his back when the relay passed Britain’s National Space Centre in Leicester, central England.

    Diana Gould, the oldest person to carry the Olympic torch, told ITV's Nina Nannar she ready to carry the Olympic flame by walking around her retirement home carrying a two pound weight.

    More London 2012 coverage:

     

  • Olympics hurdle: US athletes' bus driver gets lost in London

    The first Olympic athletes have begun to arrive in London. Tens of thousands of athletes and team officials are expected - and even more spectators. ITV's Katie Razzall reports.

    By Alastair Jamieson, NBCNews.com, and ITV News

    Updated at 11:10 a.m. ET: LONDON - Olympic athletes, including some from Team USA, had a bad start to the London Games Monday after bus drivers taking them to the competitors’ village in east London got lost.

    Kerron Clement, US 400m hurdler and Beijing silver medallist, claimed he spent four hours on a bus after the driver got lost after collecting them from Heathrow airport.

    He posted on Twitter:  “Um, so we've been lost on the road for 4hrs. Not a good first impression London. Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please.”

    Meanwhile, members of Australian contingent of 30 officials and medical staff had to use their iPhones to direct their bus driver after he also became lost.

    One of the officials, Damian Kelly, told the Daily Telegraph: "It would have been a great tourist trip if that is what you are here for. “

    He said the driver was unable to work the onboard GPS navigation system.

    Follow the 8,000-mile torch relay around the UK

    “One of the doctors on board got [the GPS system] working for him, but then the Olympic Village hadn't been loaded into the system and everyone was trying to find the name of the street that the village was in.

    “In the end another physio got out his iPhone and gave directors to the bus driver via his phone."

    Peter MacDiarmid / Getty Images

    Members of the Cuban Olympic weightlifting team arrive at Heathrow airport on Monday.

    They were among the first of more than 10,000 athletes and officials due to arrive in Britain this week. Monday was already expected to be the busiest day in the history of London's Heathrow airport, and it was the first major challenge for the road system as the first of several dedicated Olympics traffic lanes also came into operation.

    Speaking about the lost buses, London Mayor Boris Johnson quipped: "Clearly they would have had even more of an opportunity to see even more of the city than they might otherwise have done."

    Troops everywhere, long lines and moans: A very British Olympic Games

    The Daily Telegraph reported that Hugh Robertson, Britain's sports and Olympics minister, apologized to those athletes caught up in the transport problems. He said: "If people have been on buses that have got lost then it is of course regrettable. I am extremely sorry, and clearly the drivers need to know where they are going."

    The Games are due to begin in 11 days' time, on Friday, July 27.

    More than 500 Heathrow and Locog volunteers, speaking more than 20 languages between them, were welcoming groups of Olympic athletes and officials from their planes at Heathrow.

    Approximately 15 percent of baggage on peak days will be large pieces of sporting equipment such as canoes, pole vaults, bikes and javelins and around 1,000 guns and associated ammunition will be arriving with competitors over the coming days.

    Read the full story at ITV News

    Influx under way
    Officials said 236,955 passengers (121,239 arrivals and 115,716 departures) were expected to pass through the airport Monday, compared to 190,000 on an average day. The largest number of arriving athletes is expected on July 24.

    Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

    Oda / Getty Images

    From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

    Launch slideshow

    Approximately 15 percent of baggage on peak days will be large pieces of sporting equipment such as canoes, pole vaults, bikes and javelins and around 1,000 guns and associated ammunition will be arriving with competitors over the coming days.

    Dean Brenner, director of the U.S. Olympic sailing team, earlier told ITV News at Heathrow: "We're feeling great, it's great to be in London.

    "Obviously we've been working a while for this and now it's time for the big test and we are looking forward to getting to [the sailing team base at] Weymouth for a couple more week of training and getting on with the Games."

    The London 2012 Athletes' Village also officially opens Monday with British athletes competing in diving, equestrian, soccer, shooting and swimming expected to be the first to enter.

    ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.

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  • Inside London's Olympic Village: World's top athletes to share college dorm-style rooms

    Olivia Harris / Reuters

    London's Olympic Village will accommodate up to 16,000 athletes and officials from more than 200 nations.

    By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

    LONDON -- What will it be like for athletes like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt as they eat, sleep and relax at London's $1.5-billion Olympic Village? Think somewhere between a college dorm and freshly-painted motel.

    In the first of a series of "Olympic sleepovers" designed to road-test the facilities, msnbc.com was invited to spend the night in the vast complex.

    The verdict? Apartments are light and airy but far from luxurious: Only some have en-suite bathrooms, even fewer have balconies and there are no kitchens as all cooking will be done in a 24-hour cafeteria that seats 5,000.

    In shared sleeping spaces, beds are close together and most furniture is of the functional, self-assembly variety. (Spare a thought for workers who had to put together more than 9,000 cabinets and wardrobes.) Mattresses were chosen by a committee of athletes but are built for function rather than indulgence.

    Alastair Jamieson for msnbc.com

    Msnbc.com's bed in the Olympic Village. Which of the world's top athletes will occupy it next?

    The pristine white walls and blackout curtains are livened by beanbags and chairs in the now-familiar bright neon colors of the London 2012 logo, and there are televisions with 28 channels including live feeds of all the Olympic events. Duvet covers bear the words "excellence, friendship and respect."

    'Temptation'
    All of the beds are single and walls are thin -- which may disappoint those hoping to burn off calories with the help of fellow competitors.

    There's not much opportunity for mischief in the village's bar, either. Named after Shakespeare's Globe Theater, it offers 10 pool tables, a private cinema and a computer gaming area – but no alcohol. "Not all the competitors are of legal drinking age and, besides, you don’t want to put temptation in peoples' way," one official told msnbc.com.

    More Olympic coverage: London hosts the Games

    Up to 16,000 athletes and officials from more than 200 nations will take up residence later this month in the high-security compound. The vast complex includes more than 2.7 million square feet of living space and is adjacent to the Olympic Park in east London.

    Inevitable teething troubles are being worked out, including a water system failure that left many without showers on Saturday.

    Sleeping accommodation is spread across 11 residential blocks separated by orderly, tree-lined courtyards. Most athletes will share rooms in the apartments, which vary in size from one to five bedrooms. There's also a 13,000 square foot gym, a medical center and a dry cleaners.

    But the most important facility is the cafeteria, which is housed in a temporary structure big enough to park 80 double-decker buses.

    Alastair Jamieson for msnbc.com

    Visitors play pool in The Globe - the "dry" bar in the Olympic Village.

    Food is among the biggest concerns for organizers, who will need to serve as many as 60,000 meals a day. And these are no ordinary meals: Phelps alone consumes 12,000 calories a day. At the 2008 Beijing games he started each day with three fried egg sandwiches, a five-egg omelet, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar, three chocolate chip pancakes and two cups of coffee.

    25,000 loaves of bread
    By the end of the London Games, athletes will have tucked away an estimated total of 90 tons of seafood, 25,000 loaves of bread and 360 tons of fruit.

    Serving stations are sorted by culinary tradition with Indian, Asian, Mediterranean and Afro-Caribbean dishes served at different counters along with a "Best of British" area with local favorites such as sausages, brown sauce and English mustard.

    And yes, there's a McDonald's.

    Sponsorship deals mean the only branded drinks available to athletes are those made by Coca-Cola, including Powerade and Abbey Well Water.


    Halal and kosher meals are available - the kitchens expect a rush of demand at dusk after Ramadan begins on July 20 – and there’s a multi-faith prayer center manned by a team of 50 spiritual leaders from different religions.

    Will it be enough to satisfy the most demanding competitors? Well, the food is tasty and nutritious.

    "We've all lived in villages and had good experiences and bad experiences," British triple jump gold medalist and organizers' committee member Jonathan Edwards told Reuters. "It's a good night's sleep, the food that you want to eat, when you want to eat it and also the transport system." 

    But one aspect that appears to be ready is security. Uppermost in the minds of planners might be the Munich massacre – the killing of 11 Israeli competitors and coaches at the 1972 Olympics by terrorists who climbed over fences into the athletes' compound.

    Despite being adjacent the main Olympic Park, the village is separated by metal fences topped with razor wire and a raft of additional airport-style security checks that include thorough searches of the interior of all vehicles. Some 1,500 security workers will guard the complex around the clock. Similar levels of security protect the woodchip-fueled power plant that supplies the entire Games site.

    Alastair Jamieson for msnbc.com

    Aiming for bronze: Msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson wakes up sleepy after a night in the Olympic Village.

    Although intense planning has gone into how the village will operate during the games, not all of it is purpose-built for the Olympics: After the closing ceremony, the accommodation blocks will be retrospectively fitted with kitchens and converted into 2,818 new homes, 1,379 of which will be government-subsidized for individuals or families who could not otherwise afford to live there. 

    'Not a five-star resort'
    The Financial Times reported that the cost of the Village was initially met from the $15 billion public budget after planned private funding dried up in the credit crunch of 2009. However, about two-thirds of the cost was recouped when the housing was pre-sold to private buyers and government-sponsored housing associations.

    It isn’t yet clear if the Olympic site will necessarily be a sought-after place to live once the Games are gone. One architecture writer described the accommodation blocks as "a tad forbidding, not indeed very villagey at all," and compared them to the "much-criticized estates of the 1960s."

    However, former competitor Edwards remains optimistic about the site, and the village experience. "There's a feel of camaraderie, support," he told The Independent. "It's a great place to be. I know what it's like to turn up at an Olympics with all those hopes and fears. You have to have the platform right. It's not a five-star resort but for an Olympic Village this is outstanding."

    More London 2012 coverage:

     

     

  • Aussie Olympic hopeful loses bet over 'mankini' at opening ceremony

    George Pimentel / WireImage via Getty Images, file

    Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat" (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)

    By Reuters

    Australian Olympic shooting gold medalist Russell Mark is set to parade in a lime-green "mankini" made famous by the movie character "Borat" at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics as the penalty for losing a bet.

    Mark, who won double trap gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games and silver in Sydney, pledged to wear the skimpy swimsuit worn by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the 2006 film if Melbourne-based Carlton lost to St. Kilda in the Australian Football League.

    Carlton suffered a shock four-goal defeat in the match on Monday night and Mark owned up to making the bet on local radio.

    "Oh, I must've been intoxicated. Carlton promise so much and just deliver so little. It kills me," the burly 48-year-old said on Tuesday.

    "Anyway, a lot of people would think a mankini might look better than the uniform they've nominated for us, so I don't know if it's such a bad thing."

    Cameron Spencer / Getty Images, file

    Double trap shooter Russell Mark of Australia, pictured in Beijing in 2008.

    The one-piece swimsuit would certainly stand out among the other Australian athletes, who will be kitted out in stodgy green blazers and white slacks which fashion critics in Australia described as "retro".

    An Australian Olympic Committee spokesman recommended Mark keep the mankini in the closet.

    "Age is the problem here. Russell is no spring chicken, his days of being a model are long gone, and we don't think it would be a good look for the team to have Russell in a mankini," the spokesman told local media.

    "Besides, this will be his sixth Olympics and he is a chance to be named as flag bearer. Imagine the flag bearer out in front of our team in a mankini. And a big, butch shooter at that.

    "As we all know the London weather is fickle and we would not want him to catch cold."

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

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  • Report: Fake bomb exposes London Olympic security

    Paul Hackett / Reuters

    Spectators find their seats at the official opening of the London Olympics stadium, inside the Olympic park, London, Saturday.

    By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

    Britain has begun an inquiry into security at the London Olympics after a worker reportedly smuggled a fake bomb onto the site to expose flaws in its anti-terror defenses.

    The worker carried the artificial bomb through two checkpoints without being searched by security staff, according to a British tabloid newspaper report.

    Once inside, he was able to drive the package through the site, taking it past the velodrome before posing for a photograph with it outside the Olympic Stadium, The Sun reported.

    The stunt, 24 hours before 40,000 people attended the official opening of the stadium on Saturday, was designed to show how vulnerable the site, which also includes the athletes' village, could be to a terrorist attack.

    Fears that the international spectacle could be targeted by extremists have led organisers to spend $1.6 billion (£1 billion) on security for the games including 23,700 guards, 14,000 troops at key times and an 11-mile electric fence.

    A spokesman for Britain’s Home Office told The Telegraph it had asked games organizers to "look into this incident and report back to the Home Secretary urgently".

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  • When the Olympics is your neighbor

    By Marian Smith, msnbc.com

    LONDON -- When the 2012 Olympics comes to London this summer, thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and tourists from all over the world will descend upon East London, home to some of the poorest boroughs in Britain’s capital.

    The factories, warehouses and busy docks that once made it the industrial hub of the city have for decades been morphing into derelict buildings and abandoned scrap heaps as the industries dry up and move overseas – creating the perfect blank canvas for the Olympic sites, the Games’ organizers say. But a vibrant community sprung up in place of the old industrial center, and not everyone is happy about the Olympics becoming a neighbor.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    Construction workers take a break from their task of building the Olympic site to enjoy a substantial lunch at The Griddler, a local cafe very close to site of the games.

    Frank and Rosie Aviatti, owners of The Griddler café near the Olympic stadium in Stratford, almost sold their business a few years ago when construction workers closed off part of their road for Olympics-related building projects. “Business went down 90 percent,” Frank Aviatti told msnbc.com.

    However, other residents and businesses laud the transformative development of the area. Lance Forman, proprietor of H. Forman & Son smoked salmon purveyors, had to move his factory because it was on land that the Olympic organizers wanted for the new stadium. “We did a deal early,” he told msnbc.com, explaining that the 105-year-old company realized it would be a waste of time and money to dispute the compulsory purchase order.

    They bought land across the river from what is now the Olympic stadium, designed a factory – in just one month – and built it in under a year. To take advantage of what Forman knew was going to be an opportunity for his business, the company opened a restaurant, bar and event space in its new building. Although business suffered at first, Forman is optimistic because of the higher traffic East London is getting because of the Olympics.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    Salmon is sliced and processed at H. Forman and Son, a fourth-generation family business, at its new location directly across the River Lea from the Olympic Stadium.

    “People now come to the restaurant and say they didn’t know East London existed before,” he said. “And they say they didn’t realize how close it was.”

    As the Olympics fast approach, photographer Gideon Mendel has sought to capture the diversity of life within one mile of the main Olympic site.

    Himself an East London resident, Mendel says he is struck by how many different people from different parts of the world live and work in the area – and is intrigued by the idea that the international participants in this summer’s games will be greeted by such an international community. To see some striking images of the people, places and businesses that will be welcoming the world this summer, take a look at the slideshow below.

    Slideshow:

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    When the Olympics is your neighbor

    Launch slideshow

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