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AUSTRALIA’S gold-starved Olympians will have more misery heaped upon them after their sports minister lost a bet with ours.

Aussie Kate Lundy will be forced to don a Team GB shirt and be made to row at Eton Dorney after losing the wager with British minister for sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, over whose country would win the most medals.

If Mr Robertson lost he would have had to wear an Australia top and play hockey inside Australia House, the Australian High Commission in London.

Read more: Aussie sports minister concedes defeat in Olympic medals bet | The Sun |News

Aisha Harris: So, the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a 2010 ruling against Quinnipiac University, which found that cheerleading is not a varsity sport under Title IX. The issue arose in 2009 when the university replaced the women’s volleyball team with competitive cheerleading, which the U.S. District Court found to be an inadequate swap. Erin Gloria Ryan of Jezebel argues that the courts were right to do so, writing “Women’s volleyball was never an activity that got the crowd going for men’s volleyball. You can’t win a gold medal in Olympic cheerleading.” Is she right? Or does the long-looming stereotype of women cheering on athletic men no longer hold water with the increased physical demands of today’s cheerleaders? Is cheerleading a sport?


Read More: Cheerleading is not a sport says the U.S. Court of Appeals, but is it?

Jamaican Yohan Blake will be looking to upset favored teammate Usain Bolt on Thursday as the gold medal is handed out in the men's 200m event to highlight the second week at the track and field meet at the London Olympics.

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Blake, who finished second behind Bolt in the men's 100m race over the weekend and had to settle for a silver medal, is listed at 4/1 odds to win the men's 200m race this week; the semifinals of the race are on Wednesday, with the final being contested on Thursday.

Bolt, who cruised through the heats for the men's 200m on Tuesday, is the big 1/6 favorite to claim the gold medal. Bolt has dominated this race at major events in the past four years, winning gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as well as at the World Championships in both 2009 and 2011.

The rest of the men's 200m competitors are all pegged as longshots to claim gold, led by Jamaica's Warren Weir (50/1), the United States' Wallace Spearmon (66/1), France's Christophe Lemaitre (80/1) and the Netherlands' Churandy Martina (80/1).

The other gold medal in track handed out on Thursday will be in the men's 800m, with Kenya's David Rudisha the big 1/10 favorite to finish in first place in that race heading into the semifinals of the event on Tuesday. Rudisha is the defending world champion.

As well, the men's decathlon gets underway in London on Wednesday and continues into Thursday, with Americans Ashton Eaton (1/16) and Trey Hardee (9/1) the top favorites on the odds at Bovada to win that event. Hardee has won the decathlon at each of the last two World Championships, with Eaton taking silver at the World Championships in 2011.

Americans Christian Taylor (4/7) and Will Claye (4/1) are also the top favorites to win the men's triple jump final on Thursday; Taylor took the gold in the men's triple jump at the 2011 World Championships, with Claye earning the bronze medal at that meet.

Finally, the Czech Republic's Barbora Spotakova is the 13/8 favorite over Russia's Maria Abakumova (11/4) to win the women's javelin throw on Thursday. Those two finished 1-2 in the women's javelin throw at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

It hasn't quite been a cakewalk for the Americans so far at the Olympic men's basketball tournament in London, but no team has been able to hang with them over four quarters through their first six games at the event. They'll try to keep it that way on Friday as they take on Argentina once again as a betting favorite in their semifinal matchup.

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The United States managed to pull away from Australia (although not quite cover a posted 33.5-point spread) in their quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, expanding on a 14-point halftime lead to take a 119-86 victory and advance to Friday's semifinal round.

The Americans, at 1/20 to win gold on the basketball lines at Bovada heading into the quarterfinals, once again got balanced scoring against Australia with six players in double-digits in the game – Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kevin Love. Only Anthony Davis was held off the scoresheet in that victory.

Now the USA gets a second date with Argentina, who they already beat 126-97 on Monday in a game they only led by a single point at halftime. Argentina covered the 2.5-point spread in their 82-77 win over Brazil in their quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Spain beat France 66-59 and Russia got past Lithuania 83-74 in the other two quarterfinal games on Wednesday, so now the Spaniards will play the Russians on Friday for a chance to advance to Sunday's gold-medal game.

Entering the quarterfinals Spain was at 12/1 to win the tournament, and they were favored by 5.5 points against France. Russia, which had been listed at 20/1 odds to claim the gold, managed to cover a 7-point spread on the Olympic lines at Bovada in the quarterfinals.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 200 meters on Thursday to become the first man to retain 100 and 200 titles at the Olympic Games as Chinese diver Chen Ruolin took her country's 200th gold medal at summer Olympic Games from the women's 10m platform.

The 1.96m Bolt, who won both the 100 and 200 in world record times in Beijing four years ago, took the 100 on Sunday and went on to cruise to victory in 200 with a time of 19.32 seconds in front of a capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium.

The 25-year-old then replaced American legend Carl Lewis as the most successful sprinter in history. Lewis won three golds and a silver in the sprints at the 1984 and 1988 Games. His fellow Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Warren Weir finished second and third in 19.44 and 19.84 respectively.

"I'm now a legend. I'm also the greatest athlete to live," Bolt said. "It was a lot of pressure. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but I came through."

Chen's gold was China's sixth out of seven in diving at London. They only missed the men's three meters springboard two days ago. It was also China's 200th gold medal at the summer Olympic Games since sharpshooter Xu Haifeng won their first at Los Angeles in 1984.

Read More: Day 13 Roundup: Bolt first man to retain both sprint titles as US overtakes China as No. 1 on gold tally - Xinhua | English.news.cn

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The United States' women's basketball team didn't have an easy time against Australia in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament on Thursday, but they still managed to pick up the victory and move on to the gold-medal contest at the event in London on Saturday.

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The Americans trailed the Australians 47-43 at halftime on Thursday, but rallied in the second half to grab an 86-73 win. The oddsmakers at Bovada had the United States listed as 24.5-point favorites for the game, and they didn't manage to cover that posted spread.

Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles each tossed in 14 points for the Americans against Australia, while Sue Bird was good for 13 points in the contest. The United States now has 1/50 odds to win the gold.

Thursday's game was the closest the United States' women's team had come to a loss so far at the tournament; the Americans blasted Canada 91-48 in the quarterfinals, and they outscored their five opponents in the qualification stage of the event by 183 points.

The Aussies will now play Russia in the bronze-medal game at the tournament on Saturday, while the United States will face France for the gold medal. France beat Russia by a score of 81-64 in the semifinals on Thursday, getting 15 points from Emilie Gomis.

France was pegged as a 5-point favorite against Russia in their semifinal matchup on Thursday, and heading into that contest they were at 20/1 on the basketball odds at Bovada to win the gold medal this weekend. Russia had been set at 25/1 on those odds. France is now at 11/1.

Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake won the gold and silver medals in the men's 100m event at the London Olympics earlier this week, and they'll be looking to team up for a first-place finish this weekend as they carry their country into the men's 4x100m relay.

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Bolt was part of the Jamaican team that won the men's 4x100m relay in 2008 in Beijing, and he also picked up a gold medal at the event at both the 2009 World Championships in Berlin and the 2011 World Championships in South Korea.

That has Jamaica as the 4/11 favorite on the track odds at Bovada to win the men's 4x100m relay event this weekend; heats are on Friday, with the final set for Saturday.

The Americans are next at 12/5 on the gold medal odds for the men's 4x100m relay event, and they'll be looking to make up for their 2011 World Championships performance where a fall kept them from finishing the race. The United States also suffered disqualifications in the Berlin and Beijing 4x100m races.

Trinidad and Tobago is at distant 40/1 odds on that list, with France and Great Britain both at 50/1, Russia at 66/1, and each of Brazil and Canada at 100/1.

The womens' 4x400m relay will also be contested on Friday and Saturday this week, with the United States listed as the 20/33 favorite to win the gold medal in that event at Bovada. The Americans won this race in each of South Korea, Berlin, and Beijing.

Jamaica and Russia took the silver and bronze medals in the women's 4x400m relay in South Korea, and they're at 7/1 and 9/4, respectively, on that odds list, followed by Great Britain and Ukraine at 33/1. Belarus is the listed longshot for the gold medal at 66/1 odds.

Elsewhere, it's Great Britain's Mo Farah pegged as the 11/8 favorite to win the men's 5000m race on Saturday; he won the gold medal in that race in 2011 ahead of the United States' Bernard Lagat (8/1) and Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel (7/4).

As well, the women's high jump competition will wrap up on Saturday; Russia's Anna Chicherova, the defending world champion, was listed as the big 5/6 favorite on the gold medal odds for that event heading into the qualification round on Thursday.

LeBron James and the United States men's basketball team will be looking to cap off their perfect run at the London Olympics on Sunday with a victory over Spain in the gold-medal game of the tournament.

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James scored 18 points and added seven assists and seven rebounds on Friday as the Americans rolled to a 109-83 win over Argentina in the semifinals of the tournament. The United States, which had entered that contest at 1/33 odds to win the gold medal in London, managed to covered the posted spread of 24 points at Bovada for the game.

Kevin Durant had a team-high 19 points for the United States against Argentina, while Carmelo Anthony added 18 points and Kobe Bryant was good for 13 points. Argentina trailed by only seven points at halftime on Friday but couldn't keep up in the second half.

The United States will now take on Spain in the gold-medal game on Sunday, after the Spaniards picked up a 67-59 victory over Russia in their semifinal matchup on Friday.

Spain, which entered the semifinals at 16/1 odds to win the gold medal this weekend, managed to cover the posted 4.5-point spread at Bovada against Russia, with Pau Gasol pacing the team's offense with 16 points. Jose Calderon added 14 points for Spain.

The United States and Spain also met in the gold-medal game at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, with the Americans winning that contest 118-107 behind 27 points from Dwyane Wade. Rudy Fernandez had 22 points in that losing cause for the Spaniards in 2008.

Tipoff for the gold-medal game between the United States and Spain on Sunday is set for 10 a.m. ET. The Americans are 21-point favorites at Bovada. Argentina will take on Russia for the bronze medal in a 6 a.m. ET contest. Argentina is a 3.5-point favorite.

Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has accused Britain of using political clout to win medals at the London Olympics.

"The Brits are just as [bad] as [the Chinese] in Beijing," Mutko told Russian media on Saturday. "Here in London everyone wants the British to win. They have a very strong political support."

Mutko's comments on Saturday came as Russia faced the prospect of their worst finish on the medal table since they entered the 1952 Games as the Soviet Union. Since those Helsinki Games until 2004 the former Soviet Union and then Russia tussled with the United States to top the medal table. They have been usurped by a strong showing from local athletes in London with Britain third in the table.

Mutko had said before the London Games that "it would not be a national tragedy" if the 436-strong team finished fourth in the table. The Russians, however, had high hopes for their strong boxing team before the Games but Mutko singled out the sport as being particularly suspect.


Read More: Russian sports minister accuses Britain of unfair play at London 2012 | Sport | guardian.co.uk

The U.S. men's basketball team defended its title by fighting off another huge challenge from Spain, pulling away in the final minutes for a 107-100 victory Sunday that gave the Americans their second straight gold medal.

And just like 2008, they had to work for this one.

LeBron James capped off one of basketball's most brilliant individual years with a monster dunk and a huge 3-pointer in the final 2:50, helping the Americans win the competitive game that few would have seen coming after they had been so dominant for so long in London.

Yet four years after beating Spain 118-107 in a classic in Beijing, the Americans found themselves in another tight one, unable to ever really slow the Spanish down until the closing minutes.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points and James had 19 on a day he joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA title, regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and Olympic gold.

Read More: U.S. men's basketball team beats Spain for Olympic gold

For the third time, the capital of Great Britain hosted the Olympics. In 1908, the modern Games were just starting out. In 1948, they were dubbed the "Austerity Games" since much of the world was recovering from a war.

This, then, was the chance for the city to show itself in full – a combination of a thriving metropolis that was deeply rooted in history. It's the kind of setting where you could tour a church built in 960, walk over to beach volleyball and then dine on authentic Indian food.

It was also about the gathering of the world's best athletes and best story lines, everything from NBA multimillionaires to marathon refugees who didn't even have a country to represent.

It was the London Olympics, and here is some of what stood out (American-biased version).

Read More: One man's memories of the London 2012 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

The London 2012 Closing Ceremonies were quite the party. Relive the magic with our Olympic timeline in reverse chronological order.

London 2012 Closing Ceremony live stream: Follow the Olympics finale | London 2012 | Sports | National Post

Great Britain's great Olympics.

While the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony has yet to air, all the athletic competitions were completed Sunday by about 1 p.m. EDT, allowing for a final medal count. Read on to see which countries came out ahead this year. Olympic Medal Count: Which Countries Reigned Supreme At The 2012 London Games? - International Business Times

The Olympic Games have concluded in London and some stats revealing the financial results reported by tourist operators and gambling service providers are already out. According to Ladbrokes the U.K.’s iconic wagering provider it was a banner period for betting with the firm saying that almost £80m was wagered over the span of the games. This fantastic number was in comparison to only £4m punted during the Olympic Games in Beijing China just four years ago.

Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange and also reported a surge in betting activity during the London Games. Betfair revealed that the most attention was paid to the 100 metre men’s final race which saw almost twenty thousand bets placed by individuals. It looks as if the locations closest to the Olympic Park saw an increase in traffic and purchases but those in London's West End experienced an decline in consumer activity. The Westfield shopping centre experienced a sharp increase in spending and its UK and Europe managing director Michael Gutman, commented to the Sunday Telegraph, "without a doubt" the Olympic Games have surpassed expectations, adding that as many as six million people went through the Stratford location which is two or three times as many as usual each day over the course of the Olympic Games.

David Coffer, Chairman of Leisure and Property Advisers for the Coffer Group which maintains a major stake in Earls Court and Olympia, commented on the economic slump during the Games, "The leisure and retail sectors have been desperately reliant on capitalising on this 2012 Olympic Games. But, have found not only there is no boom but trade is worse then they could have ever feared."

Visa one of the Official Sponsors at the London Olympic Games said, International visitors spent £457m in the UK using the company's debit and credit cards amounting to an increase of 8 percent compared to the same week last year. Restaurants and sightseeing also saw a significant increase in spending.

Olympic Games Provided Banner Online Sports Betting Returns

I'll get to Olympic wrestling in a moment, but first you need to know about the gambling scandal.

I found out about this while walking back to my hotel one evening, when I passed a business called "Ladbrokes." Through the window I could see men shouting passionately at a TV screen, which was showing a dog race. Right away I suspected that these men were bettors, because (a) only bettors believe that televised racing dogs can hear them, and (b) most of them were missing key teeth (the men, I mean).

I decided, as a trained journalism professional, that I needed to investigate. So I went inside Ladbrokes, and sure enough, it was a betting parlor, operating openly. Then I saw it: A sign that said "BET ON ANY OLYMPIC EVENT."

I was stunned. The Olympic games are not supposed to be about money. The Olympic games are supposed to be about sportsmanship, about national pride, about the untainted beauty of pure athletic competition. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out I could bet on them.

I put 10 pounds on the US women's beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, who were in the semi-finals. Then I scurried on to my hotel room to watch the match live-streamed on the Internet. (They have the Internet over here in England, although it goes in the opposite direction.)

Kerri and Misty were playing the Chinese team of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, who - if you know anything about international competition at this level - are two women in small bathing suits. It was a tense match. Never before have I watched women's beach volleyball with so much interest in the actual score. But in the end, Kerri and Misty won, which meant that they moved on to the finals, and - more important for America - I won 14 pounds.

My point is, there is Olympic gambling going on here, and I for one am shocked. Rest assured that I will investigate further.


Read More: Dave Barry: An Olympic Gambling Scandal? You Bet - Free Press Online - Rockland, ME

The cheers of the crowd have barely died away but already minority sports that revelled in their moment in the Olympic sun are facing the realities of a tough future.

Britain fielded a handball team for the first time in the Olympics, while water polo returned for the first time in more than half a century. Neither is likely to feature as part of Team GB for the Rio Games in 2016, losing the funding they received to allow them to compete in London.

UK Sport, the body that distributes elite funding to Olympic sports, is in the process of determining how much each governing body should receive towards Rio – it has a pot of £508m to divide. Sports have to demonstrate that their teams or athletes are capable of winning medals in four years' time or, failing that, are able to qualify and finish in the top eight.

As the host nation Britain was able to enter every event in London, but for Rio sports like handball will have to qualify. Having lost every men's and women's match in London there is practically no chance of that. Under UK Sport's determined "no compromise" approach that means handball will not be funded again.

Read more: Threat to minority sports after 2012 medal failures - Olympics, Sport - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

When Imran Sherwani tapped in his second goal of the game to make it 3-1 to Great Britain in the hockey final at the 1988 Olympics, it prompted one of the most famous pieces of commentary in British TV history.

"Where were the Germans?" asked Barry Davies. "But frankly, who cares?"

That Olympic gold was the high point of a fine decade for British hockey. The men's team had won bronze at the previous Games and finished as runners-up at the 1986 World Cup (still their best result), while the women's team would claim bronze in Barcelona four years later.

But then it ended. The interest generated by the team's Seoul success fizzled away, and hockey returned to the margins. A decade later, it would have been more accurate to say: "Where are the British? Does anybody care?"


Read More: BBC Sport - Olympic legacy: Can British sport capitalise on London 2012?