• Jubilation abundant in Olympic coverage

    Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

    China's Lei Sheng, left, reacts during his men's individual foil semifinal fencing match against Italy's Andrea Baldini on July 31.

    By Kyle Bruggeman, NBC News

    When the greatest athletes on Earth compete for Olympic glory, it’s only fitting that the greatest photographers be there to capture the moments. The excitement of winning and the abjection of defeat are staples when photographing sports.

    Images of jubilation help convey who won and lost instantly. They tell the story of dreams made and dreams lost in a fraction of a second. Here are some of our favorite photos of Olympic jubilations from today.

    View a slideshow dedicated to moments of jubilation

    Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images

    South Africa's Chad Le Clos celebrates winning the men's 200m butterfly final on July 31.

    Matt Dunham / AP

    U.S. gymnasts, left to right, Gabrielle Douglas, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney and Jordyn Wieber celebrate as they look at the score of a teammate's performance during the Artistic Gymnastics women's team final on July 31.

    Quinn Rooney / Getty Images

    Antoine Valois-Fortier of Canada, right, reacts to defeating Travis Stevens of the U.S. in Judo on July 31.

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  • Wheelchair Fencing World Championships in Catania, Italy

    Giuseppe Cacace / AFP - Getty Images

    Hungary's Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (L) fights with China's Wu Bai Li during the final of the Wheelchair Women's Epee category A during the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania on October 10, 2011. Krajnyak won 15-8 to become the new world champion.

    Marcello Paternostro / AFP - Getty Images

    France's wheelchair fencing athlete Sabrina Poignet gets ready for a fight during the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania on October 10, 2011. Poignet, a former member of the French army, lost her two legs in an accident in 2002. The world wheelchair fencing championships take place at the same time as the ablebodied fencing championships.

    Here's more information about the tournament. Here's a story about a British athlete competing in this tournament, the last major competition in this discipline before the next paralympics.  

  • Wong Maye-e/ AP

    China's Wang Jingzhi, left, reacts as South Korea's Kim Jung Hwan, right, celebrates after scoring a point during their dual in the men's team epée fencing finals at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Monday, Nov. 22, 2010.

    Perfect expression during Men's team epée fencing finals at the 16th Asian Games

    By Mish Whalen

    I love how you can see Jingzhi's expression so clearly eventhough the opening on his mask is so small.

  • Motion blur

    Nicky Loh / Reuters

    Dancers perform during a dress rehearsal of Cloud Gate Theatre's "Water Stains On The Wall" in Taipei November 18, 2010. The latest dance production created by Taiwan choreographer Lin Hwai-min will premiere on November 19 in Taipei.

    Carlos Barria / Reuters

    Hong Kong's Au Sin Ying fights China's Tan Xue during their women's individual sabre bout at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on November 18, 2010.

    By Mish Whalen

    From Photodictionary.com:

    Motion blur refers to the effect in a photograph produced by photographing an object that is moving quickly. The subject is moving so quickly that the shutter cannot freeze the action. Motion blur can be avoided (or obtained) merely by adjusting the shutter speed. Note: Motion blur should not be confused by camera shake.

  • Bertrand Langlois / AFP - Getty Images

    USA fencer Dagmara Wozniak, left, thrusts at France's Carold Vergne during their bronze medal match at the Fencing World championships women's team saber compitition, Nov. 9, 2010, at the Grand Palais in Paris. France won the bronze.

    Thrust and parry at the Fencing World Championship

    Fencing is one of four sports that have been featured at every modern Olympic Games. There are currently three types of weapons used in that competition; Foil, Épée and Sabre. The competitors in this picture are fighting with sabers.

    Wikipedia.org says:

    The Sabre is the 'cutting' weapon. Points may be scored with edges and surfaces of the blade, as well as the point. Although the current design with a light and flexible blade appeared around the turn of the 19th century, similar sporting weapons with more substantial blades were used throughout the Victorian era.