US NBA superstar LeBron James edges Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer for the title of biggest money-maker at the London Olympics with an annual income of $53 million, according to Forbes magazine.
The 2012 Forbes list of the world’s 100 richest athletes was revealed last month.
In all, there were 12 London Olympians from the list, including half of the 12-man US Olympic “Dream Team” of NBA stars, four tennis players, Spanish NBA star Pau Gasol and Usain Bolt, the Jamaican Olympic gold-medal sprinter.
James adopts a humble attitude when asked about being one of the stars of the Olympics.“We’re all stars in our own right,” James said. “Every athlete has to be a star in their country just to be here.
“These are the stars of the stars.”
American boxer Floyd Mayweather led the list at $85 million with Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao second on $62 million and 14-time major golf champion Tiger Woods third on $59.4 million.
None of them are competing in the London Olympics.
NBA Most Valuable Player James was fourth on the list, just ahead of Federer in fifth at $52.7 million and US teammate Kobe Bryant, sixth at $52.3
Federer was the winner in the all-important endorsement category, his $45 million for pitchman sales skills eclipsing second-best James by $5 million, but his $7.7 million in prize money failed to match James’s $13 million salary.
Rogge to travel the plebeian way
Olympic supremo Jacques Rogge plans to get a first-hand view of London Games transport once he moves into the athletes’ village and tours all 26 sports on offer from there.
Like in the past, the 70-year-old International Olympic Committee president will leave the plush IOC hotel and move into the village at Olympic Park to be right at the heartbeat of the Games. Rogge said on Friday he wanted to watch all sports on offer and would use public transport to venues outside the Olympic Park.
Transport is a major concern ahead of the Games, given regular congestion even without the Games in town. “The report I have had from our stakeholders on transport is that it is working. I have not yet travelled on the tube... but when I come to stay at the Olympic Village, I will almost systematically take the public transport, of course,” he told a news conference.
“Definitely there are iconic competitions that I want to see. I will be there for the 100m final. Definitely, I will dream of a final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray at Wimbledon — that would be something.”
From China on a rickshaw
A Chinese farmer has claimed that he rode his rickshaw from his village in China to London, travelling across the world during his trip, to spread the Olympic spirit. Chen Guanming says he undertook the two-year 87,000-mile journey on a rickshaw from China to come to Britain for Olympics. Guanming said he started his epic journey two years back, and had to face lots of difficulties in reaching London.
Over the next two years, Guanming cycled his three-wheel rickshaw through 16 countries, conquering floods, towering mountains, agonising temperatures and war zones to be part of the Olympic story. Guanming reveals how, in Thailand, he confronted tormenting floods, and added he was refused a visa to Burma, so he retraced his path and instead went through Tibet, where he pedalled his rickshaw up mountains over 20,000 feet high.
The farmer then cycled through Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to Turkey, where he was snowed in for four days in below freezing temperatures. Guanming said he hadn’t undertaken the trip looking for some kind of reward but to express his support for the true Olympic spirit.
“I came to support and cheer all the people from all over the world who are participating in the sports,” The New York Daily News quoted Guanming, as saying. “I’m volunteering, I’m not looking for a reward,” he added. Olympic organisers awarded him a seat at the closing ceremony for his efforts.
Guanming also praised London for its hospitable nature. “Londoners are very welcoming. This city is welcoming the whole world in a very nice way,” Guanming said.
Twitter overworked
Micro-blogging website Twitter has blamed systems failures after the social site reportedly crashed due to heavy traffic and unidentified problems on the eve of London 2012 Olympics.
“I wish I could say that today’s outage could be explained by the Olympics, or even a cascading bug. Instead, it was due to this infrastructural double-whammy,” TheDaily Telegraph quoted Mazen Rawashdeh, Vice President of engineering, as saying in a statement.
He also apologised for giving its users “zilch” instead of the service, and said that the company is “investing aggressively” in its systems to avoid a repeat.
Over millions of people across the world were unable to access the site for more than an hour on Thursday.
Bells to ring in the extravaganza
There were some 40 chimes of Olympic ringing coming from one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks on Friday.
For three minutes, Big Ben — Britain’s iconic Clock Tower — bonged to celebrate the first day of the London Olympics, kicking off a day of celebration that will culminate in a flashy opening ceremony.
Queen Elizabeth II will officially open the games at the ceremony with the sound of a 27-ton bell forged at the 442-year-old Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which also made London’s Big Ben.
Before the monarch sounds the chime, Big Ben and thousands of other bells across Britain will have rung in the country’s third Olympics.
