This is American junior wrestler Ellis Coleman performing an insane, flipping Greco-Roman wrestling move called "the flying squirrel" at the junior world championships:

It's hard to decide which part is best: how fluidly Coleman leaps, grabs, lands and performs a two-pronged takedown or that his lack of expression afterward suggests that doing all of those things was as routine as crossing the street. The flying squirrel is cool. Acting like doing the flying squirrel isn't cooler makes it even cooler.

It's hard to imagine this will become a go-to move in Coleman's wrestling arsenal though. The flying squirrel seems to rely on the element of surprise. If an opponent is expecting the maneuver, it wouldn't end well.

Coleman would go on to win the bronze medal in the event.

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When Michael Phelps and the American 4x100-meter freestyle relay team finished a surprising third on Sunday at the world championships, the 14-time gold medalist was pragmatic about the disappointment.

"It's a good thing that it's not the Olympics," said Phelps. "We have time to prepare and get ready and change some things."

It's a mantra Phelps will be repeating to himself a lot in the upcoming 36 months. For the second time at this week's world championships in Shanghai, Phelps was upset by American teammate Ryan Lochte, this time in a thrilling 200 IM race Thursday night that saw Lochte set the first world record of the meet. If Lochte's win earlier this meet in the 200 free was a shot at Phelps' dominance in the sport, this was the decisive blow.

There's no more question about it: Ryan Lochte is the best swimmer in the world. But will he be when the Olympic Games start next July 27 in London?

Phelps saw this coming. His "it's a good thing that it's not the Olympics" comment was a

olympic medals london 2012

The medal design for the 2012 London Olympics was released on Wednesday at a ceremony celebrating one year to go before next summer's Opening Ceremony.

Weighing in at around 14 ounces, the medals are thought to be among the heaviest in Olympic history.

British designer David Watkins designed the back of the medal, which incorporated the bulky logo for London 2012 as well as a number of metaphorical features that nobody will remember 365 days from now.

Among them:

• Intersecting lines meant to convey togetherness and outreach through looking like the background to your fourth-grade school portrait.

• The River Thames fluttering behind the logo; suggesting a "fluttering barqoue ribbon, adding a sense of celebration." This is where Olympic medal design explanations always get me. Why does there need to be additional symbolism behind the Thames? Isn't the fact that it's London's major waterway enough? Giving a reason for its inclusion is like yammering some nonsense about how "London" is

phelpsausMichael Phelps is a proud member of Team USA. During the Beijing Olympics, he won eight gold medals for the U.S., so why was he spotted wearing Australian swim trunks at the world swimming championships in Shanghai?

Phelps told the " Today" show that he was in the warmup area, and he didn't have his swim trunks with him. Australian Eamon Sullivan, Phelps' competitor and friend, had an extra pair. That set up this picture, with Phelps talking to teammate Ryan Lochte while representing for the Aussies.

Sullivan tweeted this picture, joking, "About as close as you will ever see @MichaelPhelps swimming for Australia!" He added that he hoped the shorts brought Phelps luck, and that there is no need to return them.

They did bring him luck, as Phelps won his first gold of the world championships on Wednesday. He won the 200m butterfly over Japan's Takeshi Matsud and China's Wu Peng. Earlier this week, Phelps took silver behind Lochte in the 200m free.

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In nearly any other Olympics, Ryan Lochte would have been a breakout star. But even though he took home two golds and two bronzes in Beijing, the effort was pedestrian in comparison to Michael Phelps and his eight golds in eight events.

The roles could be reversed next year in London.

In the three years since the 2008 Games, Lochte has emerged as the preeminent swimmer in the world, quietly wresting the title away from a struggling Phelps. Though Lochte likely won't match his rival's historic eight gold medals, he will enter London as a favorite to become the most decorated swimmer at the Games. Either way, he'll be one of the most entertaining.

Lochte once hurt himself break dancing. Another time it was playing hide and seek. He wears green Martian shoes while accepting gold medals. And he has the laid-back attitude and California good looks (odd, since he's from New York) that scream surfer, not swimmer. Young fans adore him, women swoon over him, men want to hang out with him. He's

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If having too much demand for Olympics tickets is the biggest problem encountered by the London 2012 organizing committee, next year's Summer Games will run smoothly as the Thames at dawn.

For now, complaints about the ticketing procedures have become the first controversy of the Olympics with some disgruntled citizens complaining that the application process was unfair and others saying they feel detached from the Games because they won't be able to attend.

Nearly 7 million tickets to 645 sessions were available for sale at the start of the spring. Throughout March and April, over 1.8 million people sent in more than 20 million applications for tickets, each for a specific date and session. A random lottery was then conducted and 700,000 applicants automatically had their tickets purchased.

The gap between total applications and successful bids stemmed from a high demand for marquee events. There were approximately 40,000 tickets on sale to the public for both the Opening Ceremony

david bekcham torchFrom now until the start of the 2012 Olympics, Great Britain's favorite parlor game will be guessing who will light the torch next July 27 in London. Recent Olympic torch lightings have ranged from the simple (Muhammad Ali) to the spectacular (a harness-wearing Li Ning running around the top of Beijing's Olympic Stadium) and it's a good bet London will try to up the ante with a unique lighting of its own.

A look at some of the candidates to light the Olympic cauldron:

David Beckham — The soccer star represented London at the 2005 bid meeting in Singapore and participated in the handover at the Closing Ceremony of Beijing. He's still harboring hopes of playing on the nation's Olympic soccer team as one of the three overage players on the under-23 squad. If he's successful, it would be the first Olympics for the 37-year-old and would make him a fine choice to be the final torch bearer. If he doesn't make the team, selecting him to light the cauldron would be a nod toward celebrity

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On the night before London is set to celebrate the one-year-out mark for the 2012 Summer Games, the Olympic movement has lost one of its own. Jeret "Speedy" Peterson reportedly took his own life and was found dead Monday night in a remote canyon in Utah.

Before the 29-year-old shot himself, police said he called 911. The way he took his life is eerily similar to a moment he described to Yahoo! Sports columnist Jeff Passan:

Speedy Peterson sat in the parking lot at a gun range in Park City, Utah, in 2007 with knives, pills, booze, a garden hose and duct tape. He was determined to kill himself using some sort of combination of them. He called his girlfriend to say goodbye.

"I was never scared at all," he said. "I was totally OK killing myself. And that's when it really scares you. It makes you feel crazy. All I really wanted to do was stop hurting."

Pain was an ongoing problem in Peterson's life. He lost a sister in a drunk-driving accident and was reportedly sexually abused as a child.