TODAY

Special correspondent Ryan Seacrest has taken over TODAY's Facebook page, revealing a behind-the-scenes look from London. Below are fans' questions he answered. 

Floetta Sanders: What events have you enjoyed the most? And just a note: I think Willie nelson would make a cool judge on “American Idol.”
Ryan: Without a doubt, Usain Bolt has been one of my fav stories here in London. His speed is incredible, and I love "The Bolt." It's an indelible image of this Olympics. And Willie is a legend!

Amy Kraft Cieslak: I know Matt must secretly own a Snuggy. Let's see him wearing it!
Ryan: It was pretty warm here in London the last two weeks, so no Snuggy sightings. But Matt was sporting some snazzy white bucks today, without socks! 

Deb Lamb: What Olympic athlete has really impressed you in a huge way??
Ryan: All of the Olympic athletes are so impressive -- that goes without saying. A few in particular: Gabby Douglas stands out given her age and accomplishments; Michael Phelps for his tenacity and contributions to the sport of swimming; and the women’s soccer team for their relentless pursuit of gold. 

Monica McAfee Burnett: Hey Ryan! I hope you had a great time in London! Will you continue to be a special correspondent for TODAY in the future? You are doing a great job!!!
Ryan: Thanks, Monica! I am having a great time hanging out with the TODAY gang. and, yes, my work as a special correspondent will continue after the Olympics. 

Mary Moon: How can I get a job like yours?
Ryan: Visit your local radio or TV station and figure out how to be an intern. There is no better way to learn the business than in a job where you do everything – and interns really do everything. It’s a lot of work, but hard work pays off.

C Susan Shields: Great job! What is the most exciting sport did you enjoy in London?
Ryan: I'm fascinated by synchronized swimming. These women are amazing athletes.

Dolores Ozuna Cruz: Are you going to stay for the closing ceremony? Post pictures!
Ryan: Yes! I've been asked to co-host the closing ceremony with Bob Costas and Al Michaels, two sportscasting ICONS. I'm humbled to join them for such a big night. Should be fun and I definitely will take pics. 

Christina Koran Johnson: I just wanted to say you are doing a phenomenal job on TODAY! I am very impressed with your interview and journalism skills! Would love to see you on TODAY more!
Ryan: Thanks for the kind words. 

Tasahia Toland: What's in the jar [in the photo above]?
Ryan: Just some mixed nuts. :) 

Andrea Montalbano: What was the weirdest thing that happened to you while in London???
Ryan: The broadcasting team from India thought I was a basketball player. Seriously

Vanessa Sanchez McCullough: OK, Ryan! Take a pic of you and [Olympics executive producer] Jim Bell! My question is where do you find the time to do as much as you do? Especially during the "American Idol" season. You seem to juggle 100 different projects without getting burned out. What is your secret, Seacrest?
Ryan: Bell is pretty hard to pin down at the broadcast center, but I will try to grab a shot. And sure my schedule can be tough, but I have a lot of terrific people on my team who help make it all doable. I also believe in having a little fun too -- that makes the hard work worth it. 

Cindy Rowe Zelbst: No questions. I just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed you on the Olympics, and I can't wait for the closing ceremony. TODAY needs you as a contributor more often!!!
Ryan: That's so nice. Thanks. 

Lisa Sharrai O'Neil: Who pays for the Olympics? Where does the money come from to pay the winners? Who makes the medals?
Ryan: NBC and other networks around the world pay to broadcast the Olympics, so a lot of the money comes from there. Other money comes from the host country and sponsors like Coca-Cola. For the London Games, the medals were made in Pontyclun, Wales, by a company called The Royal Mint. More than 800 workers made over 4,700 medals! 

Jennifer Fisher Harris: While waiting for their Olympic events, how much time do the athletes spend training and conditioning without wearing themselves out for the games? And what activities or accommodations do they have available within the Olympic Village?
Ryan; Athletes are given a lot of privacy at the Olympic Village so they can be comfortable and relaxed prior to competition. There is limited media access so they won't be bothered or distracted. That said, a lot of the athletes told me the food is pretty good.

More on TODAY.com: 
Ryan Seacrest shows his 'flexibility' with US gymnasts
Seacrest: If Kim Kardashian was an Olympian, she'd play...
TODAY tries Olympic racewalking (and things get awkward) 

Team TODAY donned neon jogging suits to demonstrate a deceptively tricky Olympic event: racewalking.

John Nunn and Maria Michta, members of the Team USA racewalking team, coached Savannah, Matt, Al, Natalie, Meredith and Ryan on the quirky sport, where one foot must always be in contact with the ground. 

Cue the starting gun: The anchors were ready to race(walk). 

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And... things got awkward quickly.

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We're no experts, but attacking a competitor seems like it would be against the rules.

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And when Savannah, Meredith and Natalie paused to pose for a photo, Al breezed by to win the gilded sneaker.  

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Good thing Al's crown matches his outfit! 

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Julieanne Smolinski is a TODAY.com contributor who always bets on the weatherman.

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Anthony Quintano/NBC News

Their minds may be focused on gold, but that didn’t stop the U.S. women’s field hockey team from letting their hair down on TODAY.

The ladies stopped by the Olympic Park set on Friday and quickly became a fixture of the broadcast, appearing in a variety of segments.

The team cooked with Giada and Ryan Seacrest, cheered with one-eyed Olympic mascot Wenlock, and even took some time to show off their vertical leap.

Sarika Dani and Ian Sager are TODAY.com's editors in London. They wouldn't mind if jumping photos became a meme.

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

As anticipation mounts for the opening of the Games, even a legend with more gold medals than anyone else in the history of the Summer Olympics has to find a way to pass the time.

Michael Phelps may be only three medals shy of becoming the most decorated Olympian history, but for his first few days in the Olympic Village in London, he has been more like a college sophomore hanging out between summer classes. Passing the hours in a sweltering dorm room, Phelps has been spending his time with a New Mexico high school teacher and some Baltimore cops.

“I started The Wire and Breaking Bad,’’ Phelps told TODAY special correspondent Ryan Seacrest Wednesday. “(Just doing) a little bit of sitting around and just watching shows and movies.’’

Jeff Haynes / Reuters

Ryan Lochte (left) and Michael Phelps check their times during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska, June 26, 2012. The two rivals will vie head to head at the Summer Games.

Phelps has broken a sweat without even leaving his room: There's A/C in the Olympic Village amid temperatures in the low 80s, and even millionaire athletes like Phelps had to adjust as if they were average college freshmen.

“We walked in and tried to crank the thermostat down, but nothing was happening all day, and they told us in the meeting that we have no air-conditioning,’’ Phelps said. “I think everybody on the team has a little college dorm fan that rotates, so we have some air circulating. Everybody has to deal with it.’’

Once the action gets started, Phelps plans on swimming seven events after winning a record eight gold medals in 2008 in Beijing. In the 200 and 400 medleys, he will go head to head with teammate Ryan Lochte in the most anticipated rivalry in London.

Phelps, 27, has already announced that this will be his fourth and final Olympics. Having already won 16 medals in his career, he is three away from passing Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina as the most decorated Olympian of all time.  

“It’s kind of been weird,’’ Phelps said about his final Games. “We’ve said like, ‘This is my last Tuesday afternoon workout,’ or ‘This is my last double.’ It’s cool to say, but it’s also kind of emotional. One thing that I’m looking forward to this week is having a lot of good memories and having a lot of good moments, and (I) hope I finish my career with some good swims.”

Phelps swam well enough to qualify in eight events at the U.S. Olympic trials, but he admitted to starting from scratch with his breaststroke technique in preparing for London as well as tweaking some other aspects of his stroke.

“Physically I’m a lot better than I was (at the trials),’’ he said. “Mentally, part of it is coming day by day, (and) being able to visualize my races and prepare myself for what could happen, what I want to happen and what I don’t want to happen.’’

Phelps trained in the London Aquatics Centre alongside Lochte on Tuesday, getting his first glimpse of the setting for one of the hottest tickets in London.

“It’s overwhelming,’’ Phelps said. “The deck space is kind of small, but you look up on both side of the stands, and there are a lot of stands up there. Hopefully we can have some loud cheering over here, and hopefully that place will be rocking. I remember back in 2000 (in Sydney), you could feel the floor shaking.’’

When the smoke clears from Phelps’s quest for history in the new few weeks, he will take the time to contemplate his accomplishments. Right now, it’s all about business.  

“I think a lot of things I’ve done through my career haven’t sunk in yet,’’ he said. “I guess the more I move through my life, I think some of those moments will sink in even more. I have a job to finish here. That’s why I’m setting out on Saturday to start my journey, and hopefully it’s a good one.”

After more than a decade of having his life centered around his training and a clear goal in sight, Phelps is looking forward to a blank schedule once the Games conclude. He will be on Season 5 of The Wire before he knows it. 

“We have a couple trips booked, and I’m looking forward to just pretty much relaxing and doing whatever I want to do and going wherever I want to go,’’ Phelps said.

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Peter Kramer / NBC News

...beach volleyball! Read on to find out about J.Lo. As he gets set to make his Olympic correspondent debut on TODAY Wednesday, Ryan Seacrest answered a few of our burning questions about the Games, his busy schedule and his newest "dream-come-true" gig. 

What’s your earliest Olympic memory?

My first real Olympic memory was Bruce Jenner gracing the cover of my breakfast cereal (which technically was preceded by him winning the gold medal for the decathlon). I still truly believe that only a man with the ability to master 10 different events at the same time could possibly keep up with all the Kardashian girls.

Is there an Olympic sport you just don’t get? Decathlon? Dressage?

If we're going on name alone it's dressage because it sounds like something from "Project Runway." But as far as other sport surprises, it would have to be badminton and trampoline. I did both as a kid in our neighbors' backyards. But Olympians here in London take things to a whole new level, as obviously they are playing for way more than popsicles.  

If you were an Olympian, what sport would you play?

Basketball, as long as we're pretending.

Do you think you could beat Justin Bieber in 100-meter dash? How about fencing against Matt Lauer? 

If this is just between you and me I'll say "probably"...but if they're going to hear about this, then I'll say "maybe."

If celebs were Olympians, what would they play? 

Jennifer Lopez would be a rhythmic gymnast, Adele would be an equestrian, Kim Kardashian would play beach volleyball, and rumor is, Matt and Al Roker have a pretty mean synchronized swimming routine they bust out at pool parties. As for Charlie Sheen, he would be the first to take home the gold in a sport that he invented.

How do you juggle all your commitments plus this new London gig?

It's all about staying organized...That, and I pin a note to my pajamas with the name of the city I'll be waking up in. Actually, I'm surrounded by some of the most talented, hardest working people in the industry and you can never take your team for granted — and I certainly don't. They are amazing, and I am grateful for the tremendous collaboration that makes everything I do happen. I definitely am not a solo act.

It's a dream come true to be here as an ambassador for both NBC and the United States of America...and also as the first alternate for the race walking team.

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Video: Royal family make Olympic plans
Get ready, Savannah! Athletes offer her Olympic advice 
Matt's live in London: Let the Games begin!
Matt Lauer to Jimmy Fallon: Help us cover the Olympics
Live blog: 2012 Summer Olympics in London 
'There was no turning back': Phelps on his fourth shot at Olympic gold