Reminder: Friday is the last day to turn in your photos for the "Find Your Greatness" photo competition! So make sure to turn in those epic photos!

After the Twelfth day of competition here are the standings for Our Olympics 2012:

Gold Medal: South Korea (Tina Torres) - 470 pts

Silver Medal: Germany (Simona Hareer) - 370 pts

Bronze Medal: Japan (Kathy Smith) - 340 pts

Here are the rest of the standings to date:

France	Lori Cress	325
Italy	Pam Keller	260
Hungary	Allison Montanille	205
Canada	Derek Gutierrez	165
Romania	Elyse Jarvis	165
Netherlands	Adrian Garcia	155
Kazakhstan	Lisa Blair	145
Czech Rep.	Emilie Torres	140
Denmark	Erin Cress	140
New Zealand	Amanda Winningham	130
Spain	Dakota Decker	125
Ethiopia	Gary Keller	120
Jamaica	Zach Martin	120
Ukraine	Krystyn Slack	120
Kenya	Dan Perez	110
Belarus	Carrie Stockton	105
Azerbaijan	Brian Hughes	100
Brazil	Hannah Martin	95
Cuba	Amy Brennan	95
Poland	Marshall Cress	95
Croatia	Steve Keller	85
Turkey	Brittany Cress	85
Switzerland	Jessica Marshall	80
Sweden	Fletcher Martin	75
Norway	Kevin Rafferty	60
Armenia	Brian Cress	55
Georgia	Graydon Cress	55
Slovakia	Danielle Gibbs	45
India	Sean McDonald	40
Argentina	Alix Boyd	35
Bulgaria	Dave Martin	35
Uzbekistan	Sue Martin	15

Middle of the Road: Kenya (Dan Perez) - 110 pts

Coal Medal: Uzbekistan (Sue Martin) - 15 pts

Congratulations to everyone on the medal podium!

And as Always,
May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

Every time the USA wins gold, you win points!

Today, in Women's Beach Volleyball Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings made Olympic history and 

threepeted Olympic Gold. It was also the special bonus point of today worth 25 points. The random drawing goes to...

Misty: Azerbaijan (Brian Hughes) - 25 points
Kerri: Canada (Derek Gutierrez) - 25 points

Aries Merritt took home Gold in the 110m Men's hurdle in Track and Field. The random drawing goes to... France (Lori Cress) - 5 pts.

Also in Track and Field, in the women's long jump, Brittney Reese took home the Gold. The random drawing goes to... Armenia (Brian Cress) - 5 pts.

Finally today in Track and Field, in the Women's 200m, Allyson Felix took home the Gold. The random drawing goes to... Ethiopia (Gary Keller). However a bonus card was drawn with Ethiopia so instead of 5 point, 10 points will be awarded to Ethiopia (Gary Keller).

Congratulations to all of our teams that have won bonus points and to our American athletes.

And as Always,
May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

For the first time ever when USA wins silver, you win points!

Today, in a rare occasion, America played America in the finals for Women's Beach Volleyball. In celebration, 10 points will be given out in a random drawing to two teams.

The random drawing goes to...

April Ross: Croatia (Steve Keller) - 10 pts
Jen Kessy: Slovakia (Danielle Gibbs) - 10 pts

Congratulations for being the first teams to win for Silver medals!

And as Always,
May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

Seventh Submission FYG (Find Your Greatness) Photo Contest:

How did Erin Cress (Denmark) and Gary Keller (Ethiopia) find their greatness?

They became professional synchronized swimmers. They might need a little more practice. However, they do have to travel a long ways from Ethiopia to Denmark so they are fairly in sync for the circumstances.

Make sure to work on your heights in the water but overall we give it a 10.

And as Always,

May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

Sixth Submission FYG (Find Your Greatness) Photo Contest:

How did Gary Keller (Ethiopia) find his greatness?

He invented his own stroke in swimming called the Dolphin stroke. You definitely get a lot more air!

Good Luck and hopefully we will see this next Olympics!

And as Always,

May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

Fifth Submission FYG (Find Your Greatness) Photo Contest:

How did Graydon Cress (Georgia) find his greatness?

He took to the pool and practiced his butterfly. Here he is imitating Michael Phelps.

Thanks for your epic swim strokes!

And as Always,

May the Odds be ever in your Favor!

Amy Brennan (Cuba) brought to our attention this fascinating article and commented, "I heard this story on NPR – it’s about how winning a silver medal is more disappointing than winning a bronze medal – very interesting."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetorch/2012/08/03/157835076/would-you-rather-win-silver-or-bronze-be-careful-what-you-wish-for

Another article talking about Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda:

http://psysociety.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/olympics-5/

5 Bonus points for Cuba (Amy Brennan)!

Pam Keller (Italy) posted this video about never giving up even when it seems that your dream is over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlXWp6vFdE&feature=em-share_video_user

5 points to Italy for a great video and reminder.

Erin Cress (Denmark) commented, "I am amazed at how much gymnastics in the Olympics has changed between 1936 and 2012. It is so fun to see the progression of the sport."

1. 1936 Women's Gymnastics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW4VTuAdsjA&feature=related

2. 2012 Women's Gymnastics

Gabby Douglas' 2012 Routines in the Olympics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqj4kGXTQW8&feature=related

Here is some inspiration to live the Olympics dream - maybe it will inspire a photo for the photo contest. Pam Keller (Italy) shared a video about gymnasts overcoming injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1diFEAd9Qo&feature=em-share_video_user

5 bonus points for this great video.

Emilie Torres (Czech Republic) posted this cute photo and wrote "And thus, Mr. Tiddles walks away that evening empty handed. Maybe he will do better in the all-around sleeping competition."

Thanks for the funny pic Emilie. 5 bonus points to Czech Republic!

Pam Keller (Italy) shared these interesting history facts about Italy and the Olympic Games.

1. Italy first competed at the Olympic Games in 1896.

2. In London, 1908, Italian Dorando Pietri needed to be helped across the finish line of the marathon, and was declared the winner before being later disqualified in favor of Johnny Hayes of the USA.

3. In 1928, gymnast Luigina Giavotti became the youngest medalist of all time, when he helped the Italian gymnastics team pick up a silver. He was 11 years and 302 days old.

5 bonus points to Italy for the great article!