LONDON - They are calling the racing surface here at Olympic Stadium the magic carpet and after two days of competition, its not hard to see why.

On Friday, the opening day of track and field competition, a total of 52 personal bests and 12 national records were set.

The speed show continued on Saturday as the top contenders for the mens 100 metres ran quick times under minimal effort leading to expectation that Usain Bolts world record will tumble in Sundays semifinal and final rounds and perhaps more than once.

This is way fast, Ivory Coast sprinter Murielle Ahoure said on Saturday. I cant believe it.

Shes not alone although the track and the stadium were built with just that in mind.

The high-tech track that hundreds of millions of viewers around the world will stop to watch Bolt and the rest of the top sprinters put it to the test. The track surface known as Mondotrack has absorbing material on the bottom rather than the top which, according to the science anyway, provides better traction. As a result, the runners havent needed their spikes to dig into the track as much while still getting adequate grip to rip off speedy times.

Whatever it is, the athletes are certainly noticing a difference. British heptathlete Jessica Ennis was stunned when she ran a personal best 12.54 in the 100-metre hurdle event of her competition, the first official race on the track on Friday morning.

If Id run 12.8 or 12.7 something, I would have been over the moon, said Ennis, who was cruising towards a gold medal on Saturday. But .54? I literally cant believe it. Not many could. The time beat the heptathlon hurdles record set by Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988.

It isnt just the track that was meant to boost the speeds either. The partial roof of the stadium was designed by engineers with experience in wind tunnels to minimize the effect of whatever breezes get inside on the competition.

It also hasnt hurt that the track competition so far has been played in front of noisy capacity crowds of 80,000 for each of the four ticketed sessions thus far. Those roars will be expected to peak around 10 p.m. Sunday night when the mens 100M final is raced. Based on what has happened so far, few would be surprised if Bolt and Co. give them something extra fast to roar about.

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Olympic athletes on fast track to 100M success

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cameron Yadidi Brock is the kind of personal injury attorney in Los Angeles you want on your side when catastrophe strikes. He and his team at The Law Offices of Burg & Brock, Inc. are on your side, with a staggering 97% success rate, and with their proven track record for success, and never-give-up attitude, are the people you want in your corner.

In the face of any high profile misfortune, the media will always pick up on some of the stories of legal proceedings. A suspect will be arraigned, and a trial will often be held. There may eventually be related trials for charges like criminal negligence as the legal system seeks justice like it was designed to do. As imperfect as our legal system is, it will proceed this way for the foreseeable future. In some places where the criminal justice system fails or is inadequate, the civil courts will pick up slack, and try to find justice on a more individual basis. In the process we hope that individuals or entities - even monolithic corporate structures be shown the error of their ways by a personal injury lawyer, even with that word so many Americans dread: lawsuit.

Thus it is only inevitable that citizens who feel victimized or wronged, even in the face of a national tragedy, find their own way of making it right. After a large scale tragic event, injured, and non-injured citizens alike will consult with attorneys and build their cases. While the media may find fault with "blaming" entities outside of an individual or group whose responsibility appears obvious, the truth is much more subtle.

For example: The chaos that ensues in an emergency can sometimes make it obvious that a manager was negligent in the training of his or her employees. Faulty emergency exits or signs can contribute to a chaotic situation. The point is that a party has certain responsibilities full time. The fact that an individual actor triggered the emergency - and certainly may bear full responsibility for their deeds - does not forgive the negligence or impropriety of another entity on the periphery of the situation.

Cameron Yadidi Brock of The Law Offices of Burg & Brock, Inc. wishes for the people of southern California to have faith in the civil courts when the worst happens in their lives. "Institutions like insurance companies and other business entities aren't always your friend, but your lawyer is," he points out. "They'll scramble to protect their money, and try very hard to make you feel powerless, but you're not." A tragedy on a national scale is not the only situation deserving of legal representation. If you've been injured in an auto accident, slipped and fallen outside your home, been attacked by someone else's pet, or any of a litany of possible situations, you should give a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles at The Law Office of Burg & Brock a call.

PR Submitted by http://www.cyberset.com

Continued here:
Consulting an Attorney's Office: Never the Wrong Decision

by Cathy Rose A. Garcia, ABS-CBNnews.com

MANILA, Philippines - When it comes to saving money, most Filipinos seem to be content to deposit their hard-earned money in the bank, thinking that interest from the time deposits would be enough to make their money grow. But with the low interest rates, it's no longer enough.

Investing is key to personal financial success, but why don't people invest more? Some say they don't have extra money to invest, others say they don't know where to invest their money. Some are worried about the risks involved in investing, while others are admit they don't know much about investments at all.

"The investment literacy of Filipinos is not that great," BDO Trust & Investments Group senior vice president Ma. Lourdes T. de Vera told ABS-CBNnews.com in a recent interview.

"Ang alam lang natin ay bank deposits, paluwagan. But investing is for everyone, not just the super-rich. But the bottomline is - investing is a need, not a choice,"

De Vera said people need to start saving and investing their money for the future. "We all know that we need to save and invest because we don't want to work forever. One day we want to rest and we don't know until when we can work. Investing provides you with more options," de Vera said.

But the question remains, how do you start saving and where do you invest your hard-earned money? Would-be investors are often concerned about affordability, risks, returns, convenience and flexibility.

De Vera said the Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) addresses these concerns. A UITF is a collective investment scheme where money is pooled from various investors into a single fund. The funds are invested in government securities, equities, corporate bonds, and other tradeable securities.

"UITF offers good value for investors. BDO has the lowest fees in the industry. There are no agents' commissions, no backend fees. The performance (of the UITF) is better than benchmark. Liquidity and underlying assets are tied to your objectives, so the underlying investment works for your objective. This is very transparent, regulated by the BSP. Prices are available daily, while reports are available monthly and quarterly," de Vera said.

To make it easier and affordable for Filipinos to invest in UITFs, BDO is offering the Easy Investment Plan (EIP). Under the EIP, once you enroll your account, the bank will debit a certain amount (as low as P1,000) on a regular basis (once or twice month) to be invested in a UITF.

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Investing made easy with BDO

When Yahoo recently announced Marissa Mayer as its new CEO and only the 20th female CEO in the Fortune 500 you'd kinda expect women to cheer. But Mayer's golden opportunity, her $70 million pay package and the fact that one of the world's largest Internet companies is literally putting its fate into her capable hands hardly entered into public reaction. Because Mayer is pregnant. And while countless working women around the world have managed to successfully balance a baby in one hand and a Blackberry in the other, few are cheering Mayer's drive to have it all.

In fact, most of the buzz appears to be centered around Mayer's decision to only take a few weeks of maternity leave - and work through it to boot. The overwhelming reaction is that if this first-time mom can handle the challenge, it'll mean a sacrifice of the leave-the-baby-at-home-with-a-nanny variety. It'll mean being torn between motherhood and a career that up to this point, has been her baby. And the underlying current in all of this debate is that whatever arrangement Mayer works out, it will (or should) entail feeling very, very guilty. Whether that guilt should be directed at the fact that she won't be the kind of mother who spends all day making nutritious meals and attending playgroups or because at 37, she's already worth a fortune (and hasn't she done enough?), isn't clear.

What is clear is that when a woman dares to make no apologies, to be employed, ambitious and hungry for more, it makes everyone a little uncomfortable, and perhaps women most of all. And swirling in all that debate is one fundamental truth that persists about women despite all the doors that continue to open for us: we have a hard time owning that success, even when, as in Mayer's case, it isn't our own.

Guilty as she is

According to a 2010 survey out of Britain, 96 percent of women feel guilty at least once a day. Two of the top things that plague them? Not spending enough time with family and neglecting work. For working mothers, that means guilt when they work late, when they don't have time to bake a homemade birthday cake, or when they make the time to do it anyway. In other words, many women are feeling intensely guilty almost all of the time.

Men? Not so much. Ninety-two percent of the survey's respondents said that men feel less guilt than women. (Can you imagine Mark Zuckerberg admitting that building Facebook left him racked with a sense of personal failure?)

Indeed, have you ever seen a successful man who didn't totally own it? Or, come to think of it, a really successful woman for that matter? Neither have we. So maybe it's time for women to own their success and applaud it in others - rather than be ashamed of it. Here's why...

Designer swag is lovely, but what women really need to be sporting is swagger, and for one very obvious reason: because we can. Women are entering an era where we have more choices than ever before. The choice to step up to the plate in a game that only recently became co-ed; the choice to get into the game without an assumption of handicap; the choice to succeed; and even the choice to walk away from it all whether to raise a family or just because we want to.

Now about success; it isn't something that happens accidentally while we aren't paying attention. It's a choice. (Mayer, for example, is a hard-driving tech superstar and design genius who graduated with honours from Stanford University, routinely puts in 90-hour work weeks, and runs marathons in her spare time.)

So whether you're leading a company or kicking butt at managing your household, give yourself some credit. Women now have more options than ever, but the bottom line is that if you work hard at what you do, you're choosing success, and that's nothing to be ashamed about.

See the rest here:
You go girl: Why you shouldn’t feel guilty about your success

The NCAA season is over and the U.S. Olympic Trials have come and gone, but the Heath brothers continue run.

Former Stanford standouts Elliott Heath and Garrett Heath traveled to Europe this summer to run a series of meets on the European circuit and both have been highly successful running against some of the best athletes in the world.

Garrett graduated in 2009, but has since earned a Master's degree and is pursuing a PhD at Stanford. He has also worked as a volunteer assistant coach for the Cardinal while running professionally for Saucony. His attempt at glory at the U.S Olympic Trials fell just short, but since then Garrett has been busy lowering his personal bests in Europe.

After a series of races in the U.S. and Canada this spring, the older Heath had lowered his PR to 3:36 in the 1,500 meters, running that same time on multiple occasions.

His European tour began in Heusden, Belgium where he placed second in a fast 1,500, running 3:36.65. Later, he moved on to Sparkhaggen, Germany where he ran a tactical race, finishing fourth in 3:38.33. A couple days later, he ran nearly an identical time, but improved to second at the Cappeentanta Games in Kimpinen, Finland. The times were slightly off his personal best, but showed he could mix it up with some top competition in more tactical races.

Later, Garrett move don to a true mile and ran an outdoor personal best of 3:57.18 at the Morton Games in Dublin, Ireland. The race was against an elite field that saw 10 athletes break the four-minute barrier.

Garrett also broke an outdoor personal best in the 3,000 meters in Szczecin, Poland, running a time of 7:51.34 at the Kusoc Meet.

Garrett's younger brother, Elliott, also has been busy earning his first experience on the pro circuit after finishing up his Stanford eligibility during this past indoor season. The former NCAA indoor champion in the 3,000 meters placed seventh at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5,000, but has an extremely bright professional career ahead of him.

Elliott began the trip by winning a pair of 1,500-meter heats, first at Kortrijk, Belgium in 3:43.51. Then he set a personal best in the event, running 3:40.17 to win his heat and place second overall at a meet in Nivove, Belgium.

He then moved on to run the mile in Cork, Ireland, finishing with his first sub-four minute mile on the trip at 3:58.48.

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Run of success for Heath brothers in Europe

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTG5e0TqAq0

02-08-2012 19:59 These are the links mentioned in the video: Go to and begin doing the "Crash Course on Creating Your Ideal Life with The First Covenant" there. That's my $197 video training - it's yours as a gift to thank you for visiting the site. You'll also find dozens of other ways to "learn and grow and become a better person" there, as you'll see when you visit the Personal Growth Cafe. (Go now.... thanks!) Then go to http so I can personally coach you and make sure you're applying the insights from this video, specifically to what's happening in your life. Lastly, join the "Personal Growth Revolution" at and help us blow through our goal of improving the lives of 1 billion people within 1 year! Joyfully, Dan Klatt, "Think And Grow Rich Guy" Author of "the Daily Personal Success System" President of the http ....Serving as Your WealthSensei! PS. What was most insightful for you from this video? Let me know in the Comments Section below. PPS. Who do you know who would benefit from watching this video? Share it with your Facebook Friends, Twitter followers, email contacts, etc.

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Think and Grow Rich Success Philosophy Seminar (PersonalGrowthCafe.com "Daily Personal Growth Walk") - Video

Track cyclists will be hoping for medal success today after Bradley Wiggins' gold win in the time trial.

In all likelihood, however prolific they are it will be a step back from Beijing four years ago where they blazed a trail with seven golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

Cycling governing body the UCI put paid to a repeat of that by introducing the one-rider-per-nation-per-event rule, meaning that Britain will not be quite so medal rich in the table after events at the Velodrome.

But the team showed at the World Championships in Melbourne earlier this year that they are once again top dog in the sport.

Partly because of that UCI ruling and Jason Kennys fine form at both the worlds and in training since, Sir Chris Hoy has been denied the chance of completing the fairytale of defending all three Olympic titles.

Hoy still has two golds on the line, starting with todays team sprint although he, Kenny and the teenager Philip Hindes will have needed to have taken a huge step forward in the intervening four months since their disqualification at the worlds to dream of winning gold here.

Hoy has accepted the decision over the British individual sprint spot with good grace, going as far as saying that British Cycling had made the right choice. He even pointed out his tussle with Kenny could aid his team sprint and keirin hopes having inspired me to work harder.

Id love to be going for three events but now I can only do two, he said.

The other thing to have inspired him in recent days was the Tour de France victory of former track team-mate Wiggins, something Hoy, caught up in the emotion of it all, perhaps overdramatised by calling the greatest achievement of any British sportsman ever.

The person hoping to set Hoy on the road to glory is 19-year-old Hindes, a German-born rider with a British father who switched to the Team GB in 2010. A potentially awkward plastic Brit debate has been neatly swatted away by Hindes himself, who cannot understand the fuss and points out I feel British without any irony as he delivers the words in a German accent.

Continued here:
Chris Hoy and Team GB expected to follow Bradley Wiggins' medal success

LONDON - Seven years after longtime favourite Paris lost the bid to host the 2012 Summer Games to England's capital city, France is edging its old cross-Channel rival in the medals table.

Unprecedented swimming success and a powerful women's judo team have propelled France to six golds and 16 medals overall.

France was fourth in the medals table after Thursday's events, with the host nation on five gold and 15 overall.

The French success story starts in swimming.

Three golds in London have doubled France's all-time total in the Olympics pool, with team sensation Yannick Agnel helping create a halo effect. French judo and canoeing teams are also radiating success.

"We're very proud because these athletes have also sent the message that French sport is high-performing and that France knows how to win," Christian Donze, technical director of France's swimming federation, told The Associated Press.

Agnel left United States star Ryan Lochte in his wake twice to anchor the 4x100 relay team to victory, and take the 200 free individual title. French President Francois Hollande was poolside at the Aquatics Centre to hear "La Marseillaise" anthem played for the 20-year-old from Nimes.

"He could be the star of the games," Australian three-time Olympic champion Grant Hackett said of Agnel, who will anchor the 4x100 medley relay team on Saturday.

Camille Muffat has a medal of each colour, getting her gold in the 400 free to dethrone home favourite Rebecca Adlington.

Like Agnel, Muffat is coached in Nice by Fabrice Pellerin who persuaded the 22-year-old local girl to switch from the medley event she raced in Beijing.

See the original post:
France surfs wave of Olympics swimming success to edge old rival Britain in medals table

John Leonard, the top US swim official who said he suspected 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen of doping earlier this week, has already seen a big backlash from China (there's even resulted in accusations that Michael Phelps had been doping).

The backlash has turned personal. According to TechInAsia, a message was posted to Weibo earlier this week that contained Leonard's personal details, and it quickly went viral.

Here's a screen-grab of the message:

A translation of the text, via CNET:

All the official organizations have now confirmed Ye Shiwen was clean. John Leonard should apologize. Below are his background and contact details. If you want to contact him, I suggest using civilized and factual approach.

The incident is especially damaging as the person who first posted the image is Li Kaifu (aka Kaifu Lee), who formerly ran Microsoft and Google in China and is one of the most important people in China's booming tech industry.

Li deleted the post soon after it went up but given that he has 15 million followers, it's impact was widespread. Li also posted ominously about Leonard's criminal past, saying he has four crimes on public records, and two of which are not for speeding.

In a statement sent to PandoDaily Li has apologized:

This morning, I read John Leonards unfair accusations about Ye Shiwen and felt outraged. So I found his public contact information, and sent him an email message asking him to apologize. Then, I wrote a Weibo post, asking other netizens to send fact-based and civilized emails to him as well. I also attached his other contact information in this post.

Read this article:
US Swim Coach Who Cast Doubts On Chinese Swimmer's Success Has Personal Details Posted On Weibo

2 August 2012 Last updated at 14:31 ET

Scottish athletes are celebrating after further Olympic success at the London games.

Cyclist Sir Chris Hoy won gold in the team sprint - his sixth Olympic medal in total, and fifth gold.

Fellow Scots Tim Baillie won gold, and David Florence silver, in the canoe slalom C2 event. Both are from the Aberdeen area.

Scottish hopes for more success on Friday rest largely with rower Katherine Grainger.

Thursday's success for Scottish Olympians followed Lossiemouth rower Heather Stanning winning gold alongside Helen Glover in the women's pairs on Wednesday, the same day as Glasgow-born Michael Jamieson won silver in swimming's 200m breaststroke final.

Sir Chris, from Edinburgh, and teammates Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes powered to gold by beating France in a world record time of 42.600 seconds.

The medal represents Sir Chris's fifth gold, matching rower Sir Steve Redgrave's British record of Olympic titles.

Sir Chris also won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Minister for Sport Shona Robison said Sir Chris had confirmed his status at Scotland's greatest-ever Olympian.

Continue reading here:
Golden success for Olympic Scots