Like the Beijing Olympics, the London Games were dominated by two of the greatest Olympians of all time: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American swimmer Michael Phelps. More than 11,000 athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports, but the Beijing Games were dominated by two historic sporting feats. The Fiji rugby sevens team won the first gold medal in that country’s history, fittingly in Fiji’s most popular sport, which led to the declaration of a celebratory public holiday in the country. Fellow U.S. swimmer Simone Manuel won two golds and two silvers, and her win in the 100-metre freestyle made her the first African American woman to win an individual swimming gold. Bethany, who has learning disabilities, is now a four-time Paralympic gold medallist and multiple world record holder, and was Britain's most decorated athlete at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. In 2001, he wrote a story linking Armstrong to Italian doctor Michele Ferrari, who was being investigated for supplying performance enhancers to cyclists. In other events, the home Brazilian men’s football (soccer) team won the first Olympic gold medal in the football-mad country’s history on a dramatic penalty kick in the final by star forward Neymar. The USADA evidence against Armstrong also contained testimony from 26 people. When doctors found tumors on his brain, however, his odds of survival dropped to 50-50, and then to 40 percent. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, National Olympic committees, international federations, and organizing committees, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2010, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom, London 2012 Olympic women's road cycling competition, London 2012 Olympic Games women's volleyball. Stricken by illness before the start of the race, Armstrong fell at one point after snagging a spectator's bag, and barely avoided another crash by swerving across a field. Caving is a new experience for many of the students and this location provides an exciting novice trip. "The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the U.S. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The couple filed for divorce in 2003. Nevertheless, Bolt’s six total individual sprint Olympic golds still solidified his claim as the fastest man in history. Armstrong was back in top form to claim his record-breaking sixth Tour win in 2004. A little over a year later, he capped his comeback in grand style by becoming the second American, after Greg LeMond, to win the Tour de France. Holy hell. For expanded coverage of the 2008 Olympics, see Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom. Renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson is the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, appointed by President Donald Trump. The London Games’ opening ceremonies proved to be one of the festival’s highlights. Jada Pinkett Smith is an actress who starred in TV shows such as 'A Different World' and in such films as 'The Nutty Professor' and 'Girls Trip.' On September 9, 2008, Armstrong announced that he planned to return to competition and the Tour de France in 2009. In 2012 London became the first city to host the modern Games three times, having previously been the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games. Legacy.com is the leading provider of online obituaries for the newspaper industry. Phelps was not the only American swimmer to dominate the Rio pool. In the months prior to the Games’ start, a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, international focus on China’s pollution problems, and protests over China’s human rights record and Tibet became part of the Olympic story. In 2015, Armstrong returned to the Tour de France course to ride in a leukemia charity event one day before the start of the race. Armstrong had a strong year in 1993, winning cycling's "Triple Crown"—the Thrift Drug Classic, the Kmart West Virginia Classic and the CoreStates Race (the U.S. Professional Championship). © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. He finished one minute and one second ahead of Germany's Jan Ullrich, the closest of his Tour triumphs. His career was halted by testicular cancer, but Armstrong returned to win a record seven consecutive Tour de France races beginning in 1999. I felt he was thorough. He started off well in his first-ever Tour de France, a 21-stage race that is widely considered cycling's most prestigious event. "I am particularly glad to have made peace with the Postal Service," said Armstrong said in a statement. Simone Biles performing on the balance beam during the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. The Games were also a boon for the host country, as China won more gold medals in a single Olympiad (51) than any other country had since 1988. In 1991, Armstrong competed in his first Tour DuPont, a long and difficult 12-stage race, covering 1,085 miles over 11 days. Olympic gold medalist Florence Joyner brought style to track and field with form-fitting bodysuits, six-inch fingernails and amazing speed. Armstrong had little to say about the film, other than criticizing its star for taking performance-enhancing drugs to prepare for the role. Slowed by multiple crashes, Armstrong finished 23rd overall in what would be his final Tour de France, and he announced he was retiring for good in February 2011. The city was chosen as the 2012 host in a close 2005 International Olympic Committee (IOC) election, beating runner-up Paris (the heavy favourite, which also was attempting to become the first three-time host) by four votes. Climbing American swimmer Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz’s record for most gold medals won in a single Olympics, taking the gold in each of the eight events in which he competed. After the race, Armstrong told reporters that he intended to compete again in 2010, with a new team endorsed by RadioShack. In December 2008, Armstrong announced that his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, was pregnant with his child. Afterward, he dated rocker Sheryl Crow, fashion designer Tory Burch and actresses Kate Hudson and Ashley Olsen. In August 1993, the 21-year-old Armstrong won his most important race yet: the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, Norway, a one-day event covering 161 miles. He won five individual stages, finishing a comfortable six minutes and 19 seconds ahead of Germany's Andreas Kloden. The star of the gymnastics events was Gabrielle Douglas of the United States, who won the women’s individual all-around gold and was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team. Safety concerns dogged the London Olympics in the weeks before the opening ceremonies, for the private firm that had been contracted to provide the Games’ security notified the British government that it could not provide as many guards as it had promised (falling short by some 3,500). He was serious. He began running and swimming at 10 years old, and took up competitive cycling and triathlons at 13. He also won a gold as a member of Jamaica’s 4 × 100-metre relay team, which temporarily gave him three golds in three straight Olympics—before the January 2017 revelation of a failed drug test by one of his 2008 relay teammates led to the earlier relay medal’s being stripped. The following year, he was again the runner-up at the Tour DuPont. Armstrong bolstered his legacy as his generation's dominant rider by handily winning the Tour in 2001 and 2002. Lance Armstrong became a triathlete before turning to professional cycling. On the track, Bolt won the 100-metre and 200-metre races for the third consecutive Olympic Games, becoming the first person to accomplish that feat. Undeterred, Armstrong turned professional immediately after the Olympics, joining the Motorola cycling team for a respectable yearly salary. Americans also led the way in the women’s gymnastics events as Simone Biles became the first U.S. woman—and just the fifth female ever—to capture four gymnastics golds at a single Games (all-around, floor exercise, vault, and team). The race ended in a rare tie and gold medals for both Manuel and Oleksiak. Earlier that summer, he had been unable to finish the Tour de France, as he was sick with bronchitis. After finishing second in the U.S. Olympic time trials in 1992, Armstrong was favored to win the road race in Barcelona, Spain. On August 23, 2012, Armstrong publicly announced that he was giving up his fight with the USADA's recent charges and that he had declined to enter arbitration with the agency because he was tired of dealing with the case, along with the stress the case created for his family. Incredible work @bryanfogel!". Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that the sport had ever seen," Travis Tygart, chief executive of the USADA, said in a statement. In October 1996, however, came the shocking announcement that Armstrong had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. While Phelps’s accomplishments would likely have been the biggest story in almost any other Olympiad, sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica earned his share of the spotlight by claiming the mantle of “the fastest man alive” in dramatic fashion. The couple had been dating since July after meeting through Armstrong's charity work. Twin daughters, Isabelle and Grace, were born in 2001. The case heated up in July 2012, when some media outlets reported that five of Armstrong's former teammates, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde—all of whom participated in the 2012 Tour de France—were planning to testify against Armstrong. The most successful female track cyclist in history, Meares has 11 world champion titles and six Olympic medals to her name. Jan. 17, 2013— -- Lance Armstrong, formerly cycling's most decorated champion and considered one of America's greatest athletes, confessed to … I deserve this," Lance stated during the interview, adding that he took illegal drugs as a professional athlete due to a "ruthless desire to win ... the level that it went to, for whatever reason, is a flaw. Katie Ledecky of the United States (centre) competing in the final of the women's 400-metre freestyle swim at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, August 7, 2016. Athletes, coaches, and tourists were wary of traveling to the crime-riddled city, where, in addition, an outbreak of the Zika virus led to the withdrawal of a number of prominent athletes, including golfers Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. He not only took gold in both the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints (and captured a third gold medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4 × 100-metre relay team), he did so while shattering the world record time for each event. In July 2013, Armstrong made headlines again when it was reported that he would be competing in The Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a statewide cycling race sponsored by the newspaper. At the 1998 Tour of Luxembourg, his first international race since returning from cancer, Armstrong showed he was up for the challenge by winning the opening stage. The other major swimming story of the London Games was 16-year-old Ye Shiwen of China, who won the women’s 200-metre individual medley (IM) and shattered the world record while winning the 400-metre IM event. The elaborate spectacle (devised by film director Danny Boyle) depicted the cultural and social history of Britain and drew raves from attendees and television viewers, who were treated to an unexpected comic turn by Queen Elizabeth II. Missy Franklin after winning a gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Armstrong has lived in Austin, Texas, since 1990. Top 10 Sporting Personalities 1. ", Of the interview, Winfrey said in a statement, "He did not come clean in the manner I expected. The 2024 Games were scheduled to be held in Paris, and the 2028 Games were scheduled to be held in Los Angeles. An official poster from the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. The buildup to the Rio Games was beset by more problems than any other recent Olympiad. Lance Armstrong is a cancer survivor and former professional cyclist who was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins due to evidence of performance-enhancing drug use. The most decorated female British athlete is rower Katherine Grainger, who won five medals during a 16-year Olympic career. ... A two-time Olympic … Around the same time that the interview was conducted, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Justice would join a lawsuit already in place against the cyclist, over his alleged fraud against the government. Scott Hamilton is a U.S. Olympic gold medalist also known for his sports commentary and for raising cancer awareness. The Games featured a new-record 205 participating national Olympic committees, with over 11,000 athletes competing in 42 sports. Gold medal winner Meng Suping of China competing in the women's 75-kg weightlifting event at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, August 14, 2016. Biles’s fourth gold in the team event was also significant in that the American team won with the largest margin of victory (8.209 points) in that competition since the “open-ended” scoring system began 2006. Despite all of these troubles, the Rio Games started on time, and there were few significant problems over the course of the two weeks. In 1996, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation for Cancer, now called LiveStrong, and the Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series to help promote cycling and racing among America's youth. Though he won the eighth stage of the race, he later fell to 62nd place and eventually pulled out. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. With a surprisingly sluggish performance, however, he came in … Most caving trips have been to Swildon’s Hole with Year 9 students.
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