By The Associated Press, Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
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WORLD RECORD?
Both jogged across the finish line.
Both know they've got more in the tank — maybe even a gold medal.
Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake both moved onto the finals of the 200 meters with easy runs Wednesday night. They'll go for the gold medal in Thursday's night final, and think the winner has a shot at breaking Bolt's world record of 19.19 seconds.
"Anything is possible," Blake said. "It's the 200 meters and we are both full speed. Anything can happen."
Bolt said the time off between heats — he ran once Tuesday, once Wednesday and now has until Thursday night to prepare for the final — gives him the rest he needs for a potential electric run.
"There's a possibility, definitely," he said of a new world record. "I can't say, but the track is fast. I know I'm feeling great."
— Jenna Fryer — Twitter http://twitter.com/jennafryer
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GOLD FOR GULFPORT
Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated her hometown, Brittney Reese hoped to give Gulfport, Miss., a medal in the Beijing Games.
She came up short, and was crushed.
"When I placed fifth, I was devastated and cried the whole way back to the (athletes) village," she said. "I had the whole Gulf Coast behind me ... I wanted to come out there and do that for them."
She delivered four years later with a long-awaited gold medal in the long jump. She repeatedly recalled the struggles her family had been through after Katrina, which produced rains that collapsed the roof on her home and displaced the family for several months.
"We had mold and we were living out of mobile homes and trailers," she said. "It was a tough time and unless you realize how blessed you are to have necessities — we didn't have hot water, and it was hot and we didn't have air conditioning. It was a real true eye-opener and my city is now rebuilt and we have most of the stuff back.
"But we don't have a lot of the homes back. This was a great way for me to bring something home to them to show that we can all do this together."
— Jenna Fryer — Twitter http://twitter.com/jennafryer
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PROUD HUBBY
Misty May-Treanor's husband, a Los Angeles Dodgers catcher, watched his famous wife win her third straight beach volleyball gold medal on a bad internet connection in the team's clubhouse, missing the final few points.
"I'm just real proud of her. I am sure she is much more comfortable on the court than I am watching her," Matt Treanor told reporters in the dugout at Dodger Stadium. "It was tears of joy. I mean, honestly, the tears didn't flow right away because there were a bunch of people in the room. I had to step out of the room."
— Jon Krawczynski — Twitter http://www.twitter.com/APKrawczynski
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MOST CLICKABLE
Michael Phelps may have the most Olympic medals, but when it comes to clicks, Gabby Douglas gets the gold.
The gymnastics gold medalist is the most clicked-upon athlete on NBC's Olympics website, the network said. Through Sunday, her profile on the site had more than 18 million page views. Phelps' profile came in second with just over 7 million page views.
Four of the five most clicked-upon athletes were female gymnasts, NBC said. The Olympics event with the most live streams was the gold-medal-winning performance of the female gymnasts, with 1.46 million streams, followed by Usain Bolt's sprint for gold.
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'VERY HAPPY' BULGARIA
Bulgaria's improbable Olympic run has led to the men's volleyball semifinals, a feat achieved in front of an A-list guest — President Rosen Plevneliev.
After Bulgaria thrashed Germany in straight sets on Wednesday, players followed up their chest-thumping celebrations with an unorthodox pileup on the court.
"We dreamed and worked hard," Plevneliev said. "Bulgaria is very happy about this result."
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