EYES ON LONDON: Hurdle carnage, Bolt’s back

LONDON (AP) — Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:

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LIU XIANG HOPS OUT OF GAMES

Liu Xiang is out of the London Games — and he had to leave on one foot.

The 2004 Olympic champion crashed on the first hurdle of his 100-meter heat. He grabbed his lower right leg and hopped toward the closest exit. Officials, however, directed him to the other end of Olympic Stadium. Liu then hopped the entire stretch of the track on his left foot, even pausing near the end for a break.

— Jenna Fryer — Twitter http://twitter.com/jennafryer

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MORE CHAOS AT THE HURDLES

It’s not getting any easier at the hurdling.

Within two strides of heat six the Hungarian runner pulled up with a muscle injury — and things quickly got worse.

Liu Xiang, the 2004 Olympic champion, slammed his leading foot into the first hurdle and crashed down.

For the second straight Games, Liu — who was injured at his home Beijing Olympics — got to the start line but never cleared a single hurdle.

Injured, he hopped to the side, down the track, then was taken away in a wheelchair.

Two lanes along, the Barbados athlete also fell at the first and the Senegal athlete was later disqualified.

— Graham Dunbar — Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdunbarap

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HURDLE CARNAGE

The 110 hurdles started (or didn’t) with a disqualification for the Madagascar runner who jumped the gun in lane three.

When it did get going, the Bahamas runner took a tumbling forward roll fall and was also disqualified.

The British runner failed to finish.

The Trinidad and Tobago runner clattered to the line leaving behind a trail of 10 splayed hurdles.

Even the Olympic Stadium announcer saw the humorous side.

It was time to “clean up the carnage” after heat three on Tuesday morning, the packed Olympic Stadium was told.

— Graham Dunbar — Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdunbarap

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8 DOWN, STILL GOING STRONG

Italian kayaker Josefa Idem became the first woman to compete in eight Olympic Games when she set off in her heat for the 500-meter K-1 at Dorney Lake on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old Idem’s first summer games were in Los Angeles in 1984 and she has finished fifth or higher at each Olympics. She won gold in Sydney in 2000 and missed out on another in Beijing four years ago when she was edged into silver by four-hundredths of a second. Idem, who was born in Germany but became an Italian citizen in 1992, finished third in her heat to reach the semifinals later Tuesday.

— Steve Douglas — Twitter http://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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BRING EAR PLUGS

There are bigger venues than the velodrome to be at in Olympic Park on Tuesday. None will be louder.

The British team, which has dominated the ‘drome with five gold medals in the first seven events in the building, could rack up three more in a span of about 30 minutes Tuesday evening.

Chris Hoy is trying to defend his title in the keirin, Victoria Pendleton defends her title in the women’s sprint, and Laura Trott tries to win her second gold of the London Games in the multidiscipline women’s omnium.

Don’t forget your ear plugs.

— Jon Krawczynski — Twitter http://www.twitter.com/APKrawczynski

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PUMP UP (OR DOWN?) THE VOLUME

AP’s Jill Lawless likens a walk around Olympic Park to a non-stop musical mystery tour — part of a boisterous policy that aims to keep spectators pumped up with songs wafting from speakers and half-heard snatches of music mixing with the roar of the crowds at venues:

“Three songs have been impossible to escape at these games. “Heroes” by David Bowie has been adopted as the British team’s anthem. “Gold” by Spandau Ballet is the BBC’s song of choice for medal-winners. And Vangelis’ theme from “Chariots of Fire” is played loudly and often in all sorts of venues.

For games venues, organizers have a list of 2012 songs arranged into playlists to suit the mood. The music is predominantly British, but includes global stars like U2, Jay-Z and Britney Spears.

But the act that gets the most negative reaction is — sacrilege! — The Beatles. Some volunteers have been heard grousing about how much of the Fab Four’s music is being played in the park.

Others joke about how often Paul McCartney has popped up at the games — playing the opening ceremony, turning up for cycling and track competitions, leading the inevitable audience sing-alongs of “Hey Jude” and “All You Need Is Love.”

It has led some to suggest the 68-year-old musical icon dial it down.

“Will Paul McCartney please stop playing?” said Peter Forrest, a street performer in the city’s Covent Garden area. “He’s done his bit for England. Tell him to relax.”

— Jill Lawless — Twitter http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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BOLT BACK FOR MORE

The 100-meter gold was just the appetizer for Usain Bolt. Now he’s ready for the main course.

The Jamaican sensation hits the track again on Tuesday for the 200-meter prelims. Assuming he advances, the gold medal race is scheduled for Thursday.

Bolt says this is the event “that will make me a legend.”

“That’s my main event,” Bolt says. “That’s what I do. I’m not going to let myself down.”

— Jon Krawczynski — Twitter http://www.twitter.com/APKrawczynski

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GABBY’S GRAND FINALE

Gabby Douglas is back for her grand finale.

The American two-time gold medalist has a chance for one more title before she leaves the London Games, competing Tuesday on the balance beam.

Even Douglas wouldn’t have expected to make the final in the event a month ago, considering she had been so shaky in training. A fall off the beam on the second day of the U.S. championships in June cost her the national title.

But lately Douglas has the highest scores of anybody on the talented U.S. women’s roster. She is determined to keep that run going and finish strong after placing eighth — and last — in the uneven bars final Monday with a score of 14.9.

“I want to finish strong and I’m going to do as best as I can,” Douglas said. “Fresh day. Leave on a good note.”

— Janie McCauley — Twitter http://twitter.com/janiemccAP

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WHAT A JUMP

Nick Skelton, who returned after breaking his neck in a competition fall, led Britain to its first Olympic show jumping gold medal in 60 years.

Skelton, 54, fractured his neck in 2000 but returned to riding two years later.

“After I broke my neck, my goal was to get back to Athens in 2004 and then to get to here,” Skeleton said. “When you have a horse as good as Big Star, you look forward to getting up every day and riding him.”

Three members of Britain’s four-man team — Skelton, Ben Maher and Peter Charles — rode clear rounds in a jumpoff to give the host team victory over the Netherlands on Monday. Saudi Arabia, a relative newcomer to the sport, was a surprising third.

The last time Britain won an Olympic gold medal in show jumping was at Helsinki in 1952.

— Margaret Freeman

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SWEET MOMENT

AP Television Writer David Bauder reports on NBC’s broadcast of the Olympic games:

Sweet moment when the Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez won the 400 meters hurdle gold medal. He took out a picture of his late grandmother, laid it on the track and kissed it. Those are the shots you don’t want to miss, and NBC was right there.

— David Bauder — Twitter http://twitter.com/dbauder

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CANADA’S CANOE DYNASTY

Mark Oldershaw ready for his final event with his canoe, his paddle and a lot of family history.

The Oldershaws are a canoeing dynasty in Canada, with three generations reaching Olympic canoe finals.

In 1948, Bert Oldershaw was part of a flatwater canoe doubles team that finished fifth in a 10,000-meter final at the London Olympics — just miles from where his grandson is competing.

His sons — Dean, Reed and Scott — all competed at summer games across the 1970s and ’80s. Mark, Bert’s grandson, qualified for the final of the 1,000-meter C-1 event on Monday by finishing second in his semifinal.

“To do it back here in London, where my grandfather started the whole thing, is pretty special for me,” Mark Oldershaw said. “It feels good to get the name back in the final again.”

— Steve Douglas — Twitter http://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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IRISH KNOCKOUT

Monday’s Olympics debut of Irish boxer Katie Taylor has transfixed her homeland.

Her 26-15 quarterfinal pummeling of Britain’s Natasha Jonas brought thousands to a standstill in shopping malls and other public places. With a semifinal looming Wednesday and the final Thursday, Taylor is considered Ireland’s best bet for Olympic gold.

It’s no home bias, either. The 26-year-old Taylor is renowned as a hard puncher and is the reigning Irish, European and world champion in the lightweight class, a.k.a. under 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

Global demand by Irish emigrants to see the match proved so great that the live media stream by RTE, the national broadcaster, crashed midway through the four-round bout.

And in the most dramatic show of support, more than 6,000 people traveled from across Ireland to the beachfront of Taylor’s hometown south of Dublin, Bray, to watch the fight live on a big-screen TV.

One grandma was seen repeatedly shouting to the TV: “Go on, beat the stuffing outa her!”

— Shawn Pogatchnik — Twitter http://twitter.com/ShawnPogatchnik

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QUICKQUOTE: TOUGH LOSS

“We’ve been playing really well lately. To come up short on what our goal was, it’s a hard loss. It was a tough loss — the toughest loss of our careers.” — American beach volleyball player Sean Rosenthal after he and Jake Gibb lost to Latvia in the Olympic quarterfinals.

— Jimmy Golen — Twitter http://twitter.com/jgolen

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EDITOR’S NOTE — “Eyes on London” shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item, and get even more AP updates from the Games here: http://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Associated Press