LONDON — It's good to be the king of Sweden. Absolut flowing like wine at every political function. The power to deploy the Swedish Bikini Team at your whim. Able to wear perky colors whenever you'd like, because that's actually the flag.

It is not, however, good to sit in front of the king of Sweden during Olympic handball. Unless you don't value your hearing.

(Gouhier-Guibbaud-JMP/ABACAPRESS via Newscom)

(Getty)

American swimmer Haley Anderson is the proud owner of a silver medal after the 10km open water swim ended in a photo finish. Eva Risztov from Hungary won the gold, with Italy's Martina Grimaldi earning the bronze.

The open water swim is a grueling, 10km race through London's Hyde Park. Risztov led for much of the race, which lasted just under two hours for the frontrunners. In the final kilometer, Anderson began to move up.

[ Photos: Underwater Olympic photography ]

With the finish line, a low-lying arc hanging over the water, in sight, Anderson and Risztov sprinted to the finish. Risztov hit the arc with her hand just before Anderson. Photos confirmed Risztov got to the finish line first, besting Anderson by 0.4 seconds.

Open water swimming was added to the swimming docket in 2008, and Anderson is the first American to medal in it. According to USA Swimming, neither of the top-two finishers even made their national teams until mid-June. Anderson is a junior at the University of Southern California and also competed in the U.S. Olympic trials in the 800m freestyle, but finished third and missed the chance to represent the U.S. in the open water and the pool.

Perhaps not making the 800m free was a blessing in disguise, as Anderson was freed up to concentrate on a race that required so much stamina.

Aly Raisman is an 18-year-old two-time gold medalist with five days left in London and no competition on the horizon. She's a star at the largest event in the world with nothing to do. We'd expect her to spend her nights curled up with the "Hunger Games," sipping a cup of decaf tea and going to bed after Big Ben chimes 9:30, right?

[Related: Full video coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games in London]

The U.S. gymnastics star had other plans on Wednesday night. Instead of keeping those private, she accidentally sent them out to her 380,000 followers. The message was clearly intended for one of her friends -- perhaps another member of the Fierce Five?

[Photos: Aly Raisman]

Nothing wrong with this, right? Raisman is guilty of nothing more than bad tweeting skills. She's 18 -- legal drinking age in England -- and going to a club. Plus, they're going with guy gymnasts! There's nothing to worry about at all! They seem like nice fellows, so long as Danell Leyva's dad isn't going.

[Elite Athlete

Getty ImagesLONDON — Cycling is a national sensation in Great Britain, from Bradley Wiggins' victory in the Tour de France to eight gold medals in road and track cycling in the London Olympics.

Wiggins is a superstar. Sir Chris Hoy is an Olympic legend. Laura Trott and Jason Kenny are tabloid fodder as teammates and paramours. The Brits are cycling-mad; seriously, the last time we saw someone this obsessed with a bike, Pee-Wee Herman was searching for the Alamo's basement.

[ Photos: Monstrous thighs from the velodrome ]

So please allow Prime Minister David Cameron a little swagger about his nation's cycling proficiency … and the fact that its rivals from France had but three silver medals in the same events.

Swagger Cameron did on Thursday, after a French television reporter "virtually accused us of cheating" in an interview, he said.

(AP)Oscar Pistorius' Olympic run came close to ending on a sour note. The South African who is the first amputee to compete in track and field at the Olympics didn't get a second chance to run. Though he was entered in the 4x400 relay, his teammate was injured before the baton was ever passed. However, track's international ruling body said the South African team was obstructed, and allowed it to move on to the final.

[Photos: Oscar Pistorius]

In the opening heats of the relay, Ofense Mogatwane became entwined with Kenya's Vincent Kiilu. Mogatwane fell to the track, and grabbed his shoulder in pain. Pistorius, who was set to take the baton from Mogatwane, tried to get to his fallen teammate but was stopped by track officials. (See the race here.)

[Related: Inspirational Moments: Oscar Pistorius in the best picture you'll ever see]

After the race, Pistorius tweeted that his teammate was injured.

Getty ImagesLONDON — NBC has experienced blockbuster ratings for its prime-time coverage of the London Olympics, with an average of 33.6 million viewers tuning in each night. The first 10 days of the Games produced the best viewership totals in 36 years for a non-U.S.-based Olympics.

This would seem to justify NBC's controversial decision to tape delay events, including ones that the network should have a journalistic responsibility to show live; like Usain Bolt's rousing victory in the 100-meter sprint to maintain "fastest man in the world" status.

[ Related: NBC blasted for not showing Olympics live ]

American fans that wanted to see that event had to subscribe to NBC's Olympic stream online, search out pirated feeds or wait for video of the race on YouTube — before the IOC wiped them out. These fans had to do the same for Michael Phelps' record-breaking races during Olympic swimming.

When the ratings for the Phelps races remained strong despite fans viewing the events online, NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus told Sports Business Journal: "My guess is that those people who watched it online came and watched it again."

According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, he might be right; which makes you wonder why NBC isn't showing live events, and why U.S. fans would be so eager to watch the same thing twice, already knowing the outcome?

LeBron James grabs an offensive rebound, absorbs contact, hangs and hits the putback. (AP)

During the NBA playoffs, more media members cover each game than you can stuff into already crowded locker rooms. To make things easier, postgame chats with each contest's top performers are conducted in a separate interview room, up on a stage, with spotlights shining on the athletes and cameras carrying every question and answer to the fans at home. Only a select few ballers take part in these postseason Q&A sessions — if you're one of them, you just had what's called a "podium game."

In the Olympics, of course, "podium" carries a slightly different meaning. At the end of each day of hoops competition in London, we'll bridge the gap between the two, celebrating those performers who shone for their national teams, helped their squads get closer to the medal stand, or both. This is Podium Games.

The gold goes to ... LeBron James of the United States. When I was growing up, whenever I heard the well-worn adage, "What do you get for the man who has everything?" I always flashed on a pretty simple answer — "The chance to enjoy using it all." Stripped of a mandate to score on a United States squad that has zero problem piling up points, James is getting that chance, and that's been the gift that's kept on giving for coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Allyson Felix wins gold in her signature race after taking silver at the past two Olympics (Getty Images)

1. In a race that pitted five of the best female sprinters of the world against one-another, Allyson Felix proved she was the class of the field. The American captured the first individual Olympic gold of her decorated career, out-running second-place Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and third-place Carmelita Jeter to win the 200 meters in a blazing 21.88 seconds. Felix had finished second in the 200 in the previous two Olympics.

2. Aries Merritt credits a minor tweak to his technique for his transformation from good hurdler to the world's best. The American reduced his number of strides from eight to seven between the starting line and the first hurdle, a move that many elite hurdlers already had adopted. Merritt capped off easily the best season of his career by leading a one-two finish for the U.S. in the 110-meter hurdles on Wednesday, winning gold in a speedy 12.92 seconds.

3. Only two of Brittney Reese's six jumps weren't fouls, but she made one of them count. The two-time world champion in the long jump leaped 7.12 meters (23.36 feet) on her second attempt, outdoing Russia's Elena Sokolova (7.07) and fellow American Janay DeLoach (6.89). Reese is the first American Olympic women's long jump champion since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988.

[ Related: Felix tastes individual Olympic gold to headline banner day ]

4. Argentina and Team USA both did their part Wednesday to set up a rematch of the 2004 Olympic men's basketball final. Argentina edged Brazil 82-77 and the U.S. routed Australia 119-86 in the quarterfinals, meaning the two world powers will meet in the semifinals for the right to face either Russia or Spain in the title game. On Monday, Team USA crushed Argentina 126-97, blowing open a 60-59 game at halftime with a 42-17 third quarter.

5. The U.S. men's volleyball team will leave London with lighter suitcases than they had in Beijing. The defending gold medalists' bid to repeat ended in disappointment Wednesday with a shocking quarterfinal sweep at the hands of a talented but unproven Italian squad. A medal seemed very possible for the U.S. after it cruised to a 4-1 record in group play, but the Italians controlled Wednesday's match from the outset, winning in dominant fashion.