London Olympics: Swim team makes a splashy video

Frankly, they looked like they were ready for a star turn on “Glee.”

USA Swimming attempted to go where many teams have gone before, offering up a video clip, lip-syncing and dancing to the song “Call Me Maybe.” Even Michael Phelps was pulled into the fray, briefly bobbing his head in rhythm on an airplane.

The video was a collaborative effort between Kathleen Hersey and her Olympic teammates Caitlin Leverenz and Alyssa Anderson. Hersey posted a link to the clip on her Twitter account Thursday and by late in the afternoon on Friday, the video had more than 300,000 views.

USA Swimming staffer Mark Russell was the technical “editor” on the project and gamely noted on his Twitter account, “I’ve listened to Call Me Maybe 6352831 times in the last 2 days. on purpose. and NOT tired of it!!”

Anyhow, can’t wait for the inevitable sequel: Behind the Music.

— Lisa Dillman

No dip to tradition

There was some confusion about whether the United States would break with long-held tradition and dip the flag at the opening ceremony. The U.S. flag bearer, fencer Mariel Zagunis, a two-time gold medalist, was surprised when asked about it during a news conference Thursday.

U.S. Olympic Committee chief communications officer Patrick Sandusky clarified the matter on his Twitter account a couple of hours before Friday’s ceremony:

“We merely had not had a chance to discuss our recommendation with our flag bearer at the moment of the press conference. We spoke to her in conjunction with the AAC (Athletes Advisory Council) and made a recommendation to not dip the flag at the opening ceremony. This is not meant to be disrespectful to our amazing hosts, but rather just keeping with the American tradition of not dipping the flag.”

— Lisa Dillman

Blind archer on target

South Korean Im Dong-hyun sees only blurred colors and lines when he peers toward the target about 76 yards away, but that doesn’t stop the legally blind archer from hitting the grapefruit-sized yellow center — again and again.

Im set the first world record of the London Olympics on Friday, breaking his own mark in the 72-arrow event and helping South Korea set a team record in the opening round. No medals were awarded, but he broke the record he set in Turkey in May by three points with a score of 699.

“This is just the first round, so I will not get too excited by it,” said Im, who has 10% vision in his left eye and 20% in his right.

He combined with Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek to break the record for 216 arrows with a score of 2,087. That was 18 better than the mark South Korea set in May.

Im, 26, does not wear glasses in competition, saying he relies on distinguishing between the bright colors of the target. He won gold in the team event at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

France was second in the team event, followed by China and the U.S., which was ranked No. 1 coming into the competition. The team medals will be decided when competition continues Saturday.

Also Friday, the sixth-ranked American women’s team scored a surprising second-place finish. Miranda Leek, Jennifer Nichols and Khatuna Lorig scored 1,979 points with 216 arrows. They were 14 points behind South Korea, which scored 1,993 points.

Lorig, who coached archery to Jennifer Lawrence, star of “The Hunger Games,” is competing in her fifth Olympics. She finished fourth in the individual event with 669 points on 72 arrows. She trailed archers from South Korea and Taiwan, all tied at 671 points.

Associated Press

United, sort of

Great Britain is participating in the Olympic soccer tournament for the first time since 1960, an absence blamed partly on rivalries between the governing bodies of the United Kingdom’s “home nations” — England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — which have separate teams for other international soccer competitions.

Apparently those rivalries die hard. Because when “God Save the Queen” was played before Britain’s first soccer match Thursday in Manchester, team captain Ryan Giggs and fellow Welshmen Craig Bellamy, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor remained silent.

The snub was widely derided on social media throughout the UK with fans calling it “disgraceful,” “an embarrassment” and worse.

The four Welshmen are the only players on the British team who aren’t from England, although Games organizers apparently weren’t keeping track, listing midfielder Allen as English in the official program. A spokeswoman said the programs will be reprinted before the team’s next game Sunday.

— Kevin Baxter

Injured gymnast stays put

Anna Li, a former UCLA gymnast who was one of the three replacement athletes in England for the U.S., will stay in London to support the U.S. team despite suffering a neck injury earlier in the week that left her in a cervical collar.

Li, 23, won’t be able to compete, but made the decision to stay and watch the competition rather than returning home immediately for further medical care. The women begin team and individual qualifications Sunday.

— Diane Pucin

Cycling by definition

Timmy Duggan, a member of the five-man U.S. men’s road cycling team that will compete Saturday, had an epic description of what it takes to be a top-level racer.

“Cycling takes all these things in sport,” Duggan said. “You have to have the endurance of a marathon racer or Siberian husky. For about five minutes of the race you have to have the strength of a cage fighter and you have to have the reactions of a fighter pilot.”

Duggan, 29, he has never owned a Siberian husky, fought in a cage or flown a fighter jet. He is a battler, though. In 2007, during a race in Georgia, Duggan crashed and suffered a severe head injury. His family was told Duggan was likely to have permanent brain damage. And yet, four months after the crash, Duggan was back on his bike.

Diane Pucin