Olympic Games Open With Pageantry, Humor

The Summer Olympic Games in London begin awarding medals Saturday following Friday’s spectacular opening ceremony viewed by more than one billion people worldwide.

The Summer Olympic Games in London begin awarding medals Saturday following Friday’s spectacular opening ceremony viewed by more than one billion people worldwide.

China earned the first gold medal of the Games when Yi Siling won the women’s 10-meter air rifle competition.

South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun, who is legally blind, claimed the first world record of the London Olympics, hours before the opening ceremony. In the first round of the archery competition, he broke his own record set in Turkey in May by three points with a score of 699.

Athletes at this year’s Games include American swimmer Michael Phelps, who is seeking to win the most Olympic medals ever; South African runner Oscar Pistorius who is a double amputee; and 40-year-old French epee fencer Laura Flessel-Colovic, competing in her fifth Olympics.