Stuff happens. When organising something as big as the Olympic Games some things are bound to go wrong. Sometimes the failures are simply funny. Just one day after its public unveiling in Trafalgar Square…
Bed bugs are among the souvenirs you could bring home from a trip to the London Olympics.
Armed Forces Pest Management Board
Travelling to the London Olympics? What do you expect to bring back? Some amazing sporting memories? A medal? How about some bed bug bites, or, worse still, a few bugs to kick off an infestation at home…
In or out? Technology can help but it might not be as reliable as you think.
Paul Gilham/Pool
Humans are fallible. Deciding who has won a tennis game or a sprint race can come down to a millimetre-accurate decision. So when an Olympic gold medal is on the line, it’s no wonder we turn to electronics…
Double the normal number of overseas visitors will hit Heathrow this year.
Department for Culture, Media & Sport
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are just around the corner, and promise to be a great global spectacle. At the same time, the organising committee are promising the most sustainable Olympics…
Memes will play an important role – and provide some fun – during the London Olympics.
Facebook.com/TheOlympicMemes
London 2012 is already seeing fierce competition for meme supremacy. Memes, especially in the form of captioned images - or image macros - are an increasingly mainstream form by which people comment on…
Ceilings on physical ability are there – sometimes – to be broken.
EPA/Hannibal
We once thought no-one could run a mile in less than four minutes – and yet the current world record stands at three minutes, 43 seconds. So will records keep tumbling as people get fitter and technology…
London 2012’s event tickets look lovely, but will they land in the right hands?
London 2012
One of the most controversial aspects of the Olympic Games is whether regular punters can get tickets to events. So can they? When the ticketing strategy for London’s Olympic Games was launched in 2011…
Green innovation: the upper compression ring of the Olympic Stadium main roof truss is made from 2,600 tonnes of surplus gas pipes.
London 2012
For seven years, the London Olympics Organising Committee has been striving to live up to the sustainability vision it set itself. It’s been a long, honest fight. On the eve of the Games, how well have…
Grey skies lie beyond the colour of the Olympic contest for some competitors.
EPA/Geoff Caddick
The perfectionism and combative mindset essential to success for Olympic athletes can also disrupt the transition to life beyond elite sport and cause depression, according to an international study. While…
The aftermath of the 7/7 attacks in London.
Wikicommons
What does one billion Pounds Sterling of Olympics security get you? Rapier surface-to-air missiles in Blackheath common, the Royal Navy’s largest battleship moored in the Thames (complete with eight Lynx…
When differences are measured in milliseconds, athletes will look for anything to get the edge.
Joe Castro/ AAP
There is perhaps no greater sporting rivalry than that between Great Britain and Australia – it’s like the little brother trying to knock off his older sibling in any pursuit possible, simply for the glory…
It’s time for Australian broadcasters to get smart about how they show live sport. If they don’t, we’ll go elsewhere.
Tim McFarlane
The Olympic Games are a fascinating yardstick for how much things have changed in the preceding four years. As Beijing’s fake fireworks beamed across our TV screens, Kevin Rudd was still Prime Minister…
What gets Aussies like Emma Snowsill over the line at the Olympics? And is it worth it?
EPA/Nic Bothma
We are now nearly two months away from the London Olympics opening, with the torch relay already underway. For Australian athletes the journey that began many years ago is nearing the end. Most of us will…