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Behind the scenes at the Olympics, a London food team has been plotting to serve 14 million fresh, local, and healthy meals to athletes and audiences—and to keep the culinary revolution going once the Games are over. By Katrina Heron.

Olympic training regimens are the stuff of legend, but here’s one you probably haven’t heard of: spend 18 hours a day for five years researching every fresh, healthy, comestible, and delicious recipe the host nation can muster—and then be ready to serve them all at lightning speed.It’s a new sport, launched by an intrepid group of food planners charged with feeding the athletes—and everyone else—at the London-based Games of the XXX Olympiad, which kick off officially on Friday.

Gay dating app couldn’t handle the high demand.

When gay Olympic athletes arrived in London this weekend, they got themselves settled, took a look around the Olympic village—and some promptly signed into Grindr, hoping to find either a nearby athlete or a local to hook up with. The gay dating app—which locates other users in close proximity—was so overwhelmed, it crashed within the first few minutes athletes landed in London. Luckily for everyone dependent on Grindr for their “day-to-day personal life”—including its founder, Joel Simkhai, who said he felt “disconnected” during the outage—the app was up and running after 24 hours. “Our tech team worked around the clock to solve the problems and to whip Grindr back into shape,” Simkhai said. Thank God!

Read it at People U.K.

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Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara Phillips will be competing in the London Games. From Prince Albert of Monaco to King Juan Carlos of Spain, see other regal athletes.

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10,000 athletes, 150,000 condoms … Henry Krempels does the math so you don’t have to.

On Monday, London’s Olympic Village opened its 2,818 apartments to the best  athletes on the planet. For the next four weeks, the village will house an array of personalities, ages, and cultures—all in peak condition and many focusing on a very precise and demanding form of physical activity: sex.“It’s the most testosterone-fuelled place on earth,” said Russell Mark, a gold-medal–winning Australian target shooter, speaking from his shared room in the village.

Ralph Lauren / AP Photo

Company offers to make new batch.

With the controversial made-in-China outfits Ralph Lauren designed for Team USA to wear at the Olympics Opening Ceremony drawing the ire of not only fashionistas, but Washington as well, hipster outfitter American Apparel is offering to design its own versions of the patriotic outfits. The clothing company is vocal about its commitment to manufacturing its garments only in the United States, and is extending an impressive offer: “American Apparel could start working on uniforms today and have them in London within seven days.” Ralph Lauren’s current contract with the U.S. Olympics extends until 2020.

Read it at Huffington Post

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With 10 days until the Games, the head of the security firm that received $89 million to help police them admitted that his security plan was ‘in shambles.’

When the 2012 Olympians made their much-anticipated arrival in London yesterday, not everything went off as planned. Three buses full of athletes and other guests got lost en route from the airport to their lodgings, wandering around the city for hours as the riders worried not about medals, but bathroom breaks. “Athletes are sleepy, hungry, and need to pee,” tweeted world champion U.S. hurdler Kerron Clement in the midst of his four-hour ordeal.

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Parliament investigates failure to provide guards.

So much for the gold medal for security performance. Nick Buckles, the head of private security contractor G4S, told a parliamentary inquiry that he was “deeply sorry” for the failure to meet security obligations at the London Olympics. The company was granted a $450 million contract, but has since failed to provide enough guards. Now that 3,500 more British soldiers have been added, the total has hit 17,000—some of whom just returned from Afghanistan. Buckles agreed with the panel that the company’s performance was a “humiliating shambles.” Some police forces are now controlling security for areas of London, though the overall security plan has not changed.

Read it at The Daily Beast

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Traffic issues ensue.

They’re here. Athletes are pouring into London for the Olympics, wreaking havoc on the city’s traffic. On the M4 motorway there was reportedly a 32-mile queue, forcing some to buses to take different routes to the village—and get lost. Heathrow Airport is handling a record number of passengers, bracing for nearly 237,000 travelers. The Olympic Games are only 11 days away.

Read it at The Telegraph

Photograph by Jeff Riedel for Newsweek; Hair and Makeup: Vickie Granado for MC2

She lost her dad, got benched, had surgery, and tested positive for a banned substance. How Hope Solo survived it all—and put U.S. women's soccer in position to bring home gold again.

Hope Solo couldn’t have slept more than an hour or two last night, so maybe it’s that. Or maybe it’s the hunger: the only food she’s eaten since boarding a red-eye from Seattle—the one with a three-hour layover in Memphis—was a forkful of Cobb salad. Then again, it could be the mimosas. Plural. One at her publicist’s hotel right after landing in Tampa this morning and then another here at the Crowne Plaza just a few minutes ago.Maybe it’s all of that.

Hoang Dinh Nam, AFP / Getty Images

Despite a human-rights crisis at home, the nation is set to send 10 athletes to the Olympic Games in London—including a sharpshooter. Katie Paul on the team’s lukewarm reception.

Even with a civil war brewing at home, the Games must go on.Syria, increasingly isolated on the world stage amid a government crackdown on protests that the U.N. says have killed more than 10,000 people, is set to send at least 10 athletes to the Olympic Games in London at the end of this month, setting up an steely reception in Britain—and a complicated mix of patriotism and rebellion back home.The delegation would be Syria's biggest since the Moscow Games in 1980, said a Syrian sports reporter who requested anonymity in talking to the media.

Since its successful bid for the Olympic games in 2003, Britain has transformed abandoned lots, bus depots, and even a chemical storage facility into venues for the 2012 Games. See an interactive map of how London has built life from the rust.

Ralph Lauren / AP Photo

Even Capitol Hill hates them.

The preppy uniforms that Ralph Lauren designed and Team USA will sport during the upcoming Olympic Opening ceremonies are patriotically red, white, and blue… and made in China. Controversy over whether it's appropriate for American athletes to be donning outfits manufactured overseas reached Congress on Thursday, as House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi slamming that the uniforms were made in China. Pelosi praised Team USA, saying, "They represent the very best and they're so excellent, it's all so beautiful."  But the kicker: "And they should be wearing uniforms made in America." Boehner agreed, chastising the U.S. Olympic Committee: "You'd think they'd know better." 

Read it at Los Angeles Times

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Will still represent the U.S. at Olympics.

It could have been worse. Hope Solo, one of the stars of the U.S. Olympic soccer team, was given a warning by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after she tested positive for canrenone, a banned diuretic. Solo had taken a prescription drug to help with her menstrual cycle and said she was unaware that the medication included an illicit substance. Since the medication was prescribed by a doctor, Solo was given a warning instead of a suspension. She is still expected to compete for the U.S. in London.

Read it at ABC News

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Who’s grabbing more than their fair share of medals at the summer games? From the U.S. to China, The Daily Beast ranks the nations that are outperforming their peers. See who got the gold!

These folks came to win. From swimmer Ryan Lochte to soccer star Abby Wambach, see photos of a dozen athletes who are early favorites as they head to London.