LONDON – Oscar Pistorius was on the elevator staring at the gold medal of South African countryman Chad Le Clos and thinking it odd to see the swimmer have breakfast with his coveted hardware.

"I haven't taken it off since yesterday!" Le Clos said.

Pistorius laughed. As symbolism goes, those who love the Olympics would say Le Clos got it right: Some things in these Games are good enough to be carried everywhere. And if you've ever met Pistorius, you know why. A South African runner equal parts engaging and effervescent, Pistorius's personality makes the London Olympics grand theater long before you get to the obvious – he'll be running in them with prosthetic legs.

[ Related: Fast start can fuel track success ]

And not just running. Track and field's first double amputee in the Olympics, Pistorius will run in the 400-meter sprint as well as compete in the 4 x 400 relay. Any medal – and one appears to be a possibility in the 4 x 400 – would be merely another accessory to go

Read More »from Oscar Pistorius will run historic races on prosthetic legs; could bring South Africa a medal

Rebecca Soni celebrates after winning gold (Getty Images)LONDON – There might be something to this ocean training thing.

Four days after Dana Vollmer notched a gold medal and shattered the world record in the 100-meter butterfly, her Olympics roommate Rebecca Soni seized gold in the 200-meter breaststroke in world-record fashion. And like Vollmer – who said the ocean waters off Fiji rejuvenated her in 2008 – Soni credited the inviting Pacific as her secret weapon to reaching the wall in only 2:19.59.

"I live by the ocean, so I kind of decided as taper was coming along that I didn't want to drive to the pool twice a day, so I swam in the pool in the morning and just jumped in the ocean at night," Soni said. "The main point was to not be too mentally challenged every day with getting to the pool twice. I live 20 miles away, so it's a whole day process if you're doing doubles. Just being able to walk down to the beach and go swim around for a little – I brought a lot of friends with me … was a lot of fun."

Soni had already broken the

Read More »from USA's Rebecca Soni reveals secret dream-come-true and earns a gold medal in the process

LONDON – Michael Phelps got one back. The duel in the pool is officially a draw.

After losing to Ryan Lochte in their head-to-head battle in the 400 individual medley, Phelps roared back to edge his rival in the shorter 200 IM, giving the U.S. a gold and silver finish in the event. Phelps just missed breaking his Olympic record in the event by four-hundredths of a second, but had enough in the tank to maintain the lead throughout the race and hold Lochte off in the final meters. Phelps took gold in 1:54.27, while Lochte came in at 1:54.90, after taking bronze in the 200-meter backstroke 31 minutes earlier.

"I told Ryan in the ready room [before the swim], this is our last 200 together ever," Phelps said. "We were just joking around about it. Ryan has probably been one of the toughest competitors I've ever swam against."

It also appears to be the last time the two will team up in these Olympics. Lochte said after the race that his Olympics has wrapped and that he won't be

Read More »from Michael Phelps edges Ryan Lochte in 200 IM for record 16th Olympic gold

(Getty Images)LONDON – Tyler Clary can now wear something other than the title of Michael Phelps's biggest critic: his own gold medal.

Clary pulled a surprise in the 200-meter backstroke, unseating defending gold medalist Ryan Lochte for the top podium spot, and taking Lochte's Olympic record to boot. Clary started back in the pack but came out of the final turn in second place, tracking down Lochte and holding off Japan's Ryosuke Irie in the final 25 meters to finish with an Olympic best 1:53.41. Irie came in second, while Lochte nabbed bronze – his 10th Olympic medal.

Lochte's slip may have been a sign that he was reserving energy for Thursday's double swim, which had him scheduled to go in the 200 backstroke final and the 200 individual medley final only 31 minutes apart. After the swim, Lochte was immediately pulled from the pool and sent to begin his warm down for the 200 IM in the nearby diving pool, where he and Phelps would face off for the second time in these Games.

The gold

Read More »from Tyler Clary upsets Ryan Lochte in the 200 back

LONDON – Twenty-seven years after his improbable feat, Michael Carter is starting to believe his place in history might never be duplicated.

Carter is the only man to capture an Olympic medal and follow it with a Super Bowl ring inside a 12-month span. He pulled the rare double in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and then with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. A silver medalist in the shot put, Carter is in London coaching his daughter Michelle, who will compete in the same event in these Games.

"For me to beat him, I've got to get gold," Michelle Williams said Wednesday. "I can't do anything about the Super Bowl rings."

After finishing 15th in the 2008 Beijing Games, Michelle is a long shot to medal in London, but she and her father have become one of the intriguing American stories of these Games. Michael Carter is one of the few athletes to own arguably two of the most coveted pieces of sports hardware in America. Bob Hayes also won a pair of gold medals and a Super Bowl

Read More »from U.S. shot putter Michelle Carter hopes to follow in her father's footsteps – at least one of them

LONDON – Ye Shiwen says she "absolutely [has] not" taken performance-enhancing drugs, and for those who would suggest otherwise, she echoed the message of her country's anti-doping association: Her critics are biased against China.

(AFP)

That's the message that was relayed after Ye's second gold medal of these Olympic Games, as she eased to a 200 individual medley victory over Australia's Alicia Coutts on Tuesday. What followed that victory was an overflowing press conference peppered with doping inquiries, and an awkward mid-sentence burst of spontaneous applause by one of Ye's Chinese media supporters. Such is life for the 16-year-old, who exploded onto the scene in these Games during a world-record 400 IM gold that has made her a focal point of controversy.

It was that race that triggered a prickly volley over the last 48 hours, capturing the attention of international media and threatening to rekindle decades-old animosities between the U.S. and Chinese swim programs. The first

Read More »from China's Ye Shiwen wins second gold medal amid controversy

LONDON – In the final 10 meters of his history-making race, Michael Phelps was alone in the open – a fitting margin for an Olympic icon who is now the most decorated medal-winner of all time.

Swimming the anchor leg of the men’s 200-freestyle relay, Phelps held onto a significant lead and delivered the United States another gold medal – the 15th of his career and the 19th time he has stood on an Olympic podium. He’s now alone in the overall medal count, having broken a tie with Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina as the most-decorated athlete in the history of the Games.

[Photos: Michael Phelps]

Phelps entered the night with 17 medals, wining silver in the 200-meter butterfly and then gold in the 4x200, swimming the two races a little over one hour apart.

Michael Phelps poses with his the 19th Olypmic medal he's won. (APJust before the 4x200 began, Phelps pulled his teammates into a huddle and expressed his gratitude for their part in the moment. He delivered one last request.

"I wanted a big lead," Phelps said. "I told the guys, 'Get

Read More »from Michael Phelps sets all-time Olympic record with 19th medal

LONDON – Just one more.

One more medal, and the all-time Olympic podium will officially belong to Michael Phelps. And he’ll have an opportunity to achieve it in dramatic fashion – anchoring the United States’ 4x200 relay for the first time in Olympic competition. Phelps moved into position for the history-making moment with a second-place finish in Tuesday’s 200-meter butterfly, giving him 18 Olympic podiums and moving him into a tie with Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina as the most decorated athlete in the history of the Games.

[Related: Don't blame Ryan Lochte for relay team losing gold]

Phelps looked poised to take gold in the race, charging out early and leading after all three of the turns, before he appeared to labor in the final 25 meters. That allowed South Africa’s Chad le Clos to close the gap, with the two going stroke-for-stoke in the last 10 meters. Le Clos stretched at the end, out-touching Phelps for gold, in 1:52.96 against Phelps’s 1:53.01. Phelps looked at the

Read More »from Michael Phelps ties record for most Olympic medals, finishes second in 200-meter butterfly