• What would athletes sneak into the Village? Pups -- and a flying squirrel

    Anthony Quintano / NBC News

    Wrestler Ellis Coleman shows a photo of his beloved flying squirrel, Rocky.

     

    By Sarika Dani and Ian Sager

    The Olympic Village has a McDonald's, free broadband Internet and a nail salon, but for some athletes, it doesn’t offer every convenience.  

    More than one competitor admitted to TODAY.com that they longed for the creature comforts that only home could provide. While many Olympians spoke highly of the Village’s dining and entertainment facilities, some felt it needed the touch of their four-legged friends.

    “You know what, if I had my dog here, Bella, a little Maltese, I would bring [her] in,” said Merrill Moses, the goalkeeper for the U.S. men’s water polo team. “My dog is 2 years old, about 7 pounds. I love her to death.”

    Moses isn’t the only Olympian who pines for his pooch. Team USA gymnast Jonathan Horton revealed that he and his wife had recently discussed the possibility of bringing their dog, Harley, to London. “I would love to have a dog running around, be the Village mascot,” he said.

    But despite Horton’s desire to reunite with Harley, he and his wife decided to leave their 7-year-old Pomeranian at home.

    For wrestler Ellis Coleman – whose acrobatic takedown move transformed him into an Internet hit and earned him the nickname “Flying Squirrel” – the Village lacks two things: his girlfriend and his new pet flying squirrel, Rocky.  

    Story: Community raises $14K to send Olympic contender's family to London

    Anthony Quintano / NBC News

    Wrestler Ellis Coleman puts those muscles to work, showing off his girlfriend, Helen Maroulis.

    “She helps keep me grounded,” Coleman said of his girlfriend, Helen Maroulis, who’s here in London already.

    As for Rocky, Coleman looked into customs laws, and found that he would not only be banned from the Village, but the entire United Kingdom.

    “They wouldn’t let me bring in an animal from outside the country, but I really wanted to bring him to the Village!” he explained.

    As for where his flying friend would have stayed, Coleman says he would have kept him close.

    “He would have stayed in my pocket, or in his cage."  

    Sarika Dani and Ian Sager are TODAY.com’s editors in London. They’d like to sneak into the Olympic Village for the Wi-Fi.

    Editor's note: A previous version of the story misidentified the pets owned by Moses and Horton. The dog Harley belongs to Horton and the dog Bella belongs to Moses. 

    More from TODAY in London:

     

  • An Olympic beer will set you back $11

    Mustafa Ozer / AFP - Getty Images file

    Beer for $11 at the Olympics is better than no beer at all, some would argue.

    By Scott Stump

    It has become a staple of every major event, and the London Olympics are no different.

    While sports spectators are creating lasting memories, they are also usually paying eye-opening prices for beverages. This summer, a beer at the London Olympics will cost $11.10 a pint, while a small serving of London 2012 wine will set you back $7.37, according to a sample menu unveiled by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    The venues will also be offering a sampling of traditional British fare, from fish and chips ($12.29) to porridge ($3.38) to “freshly carved Dingley Dell hog roasted Red Tractor pork, served in Oxfordshire cross hatched bread roll with mixed leaf salad and assorted accompaniments” for $9.98. For those looking for non-alcoholic beverages, a bottle of Coca-Cola will run you $3.53 while a bottle of water will cost $2.46.

    The announcement of the beer prices caused some grumbling online ("Just to add to the indignity," pointed out the New York Times, "the only beer sold at the events will be a Heineken, a Dutch beer"), but organizers claim that they are no more exorbitant than they are at other major events. London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton told The Telegraph of London that organizers have “gone to great lengths’’ to find “high quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain,’’ and that the prices were “more than comparable’’ to the costs at other major sporting events.

    More than 14 million meals will be served during the games across 40 locations, with more than 800 spectator concessions featuring 150 different dishes, according to the LOCOG. The focus was on a family of four being able to afford a meal for under $61. 

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  • 85 days to Olympics, London tests and tweaks

    By Scott Stump

    With 85 days to go until the London Olympics begin, the city is undergoing a dress rehearsal in a frenzy of activity.

    Finishing touches are going on Olympic facilities, including the 80,000-seat stadium that will host the opening and closing ceremonies. Security measures ranging from fighter jets to river maneuvers to canine units are all undergoing testing. Residents of an apartment building even received a pamphlet informing them that the top of their building will likely be housing surface-to-air missiles.

    “I don’t think anyone wants to live in a militarized apartment building,’’ resident Brian Whelan told NBC News.

    “I think all of you would expect us to have a plan in place that works,’’ General Nick Parker of the British Ministry of Defense responded. “So if it were to happen, we could deal with it.’’

    The sporting venues are being tested, too — by athletes undergoing their own trials. A water polo pool that was under construction only a week ago hosted a tune-up game between Britain and Hungary. On the sparkling new field hockey pitch, Argentina took it to China in another warm-up for when the games count.

    “It’s always interesting when you’re talking, and, ‘Oh, did you find anything wrong at the test event?’’’ Paul Deighton of the London Olympic organizing committee told NBC’s Michelle Kosinski. “Of course we did!’’

    In some events, competitors learned the hard way that their venue might need an additional tweak or two.

    “At the BMX track, the jump for some of the women was a bit too big when the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, so we had slightly too many crashes, for example,’’ Deighton said.

    With the pomp and circumstance of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee coming up next month and the Olympics to follow, the organizers are focused on ensuring that the reported $17 billion cost of the Games benefits London in the future through reuse of the venues and tourism marketing. Deighton said the British are not concerned with outdoing the spectacle put on by Beijing in 2008.

    “Every city brings something completely different,’’ he said. 

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