• Obama, McKayla Maroney 'not impressed' during White House visit

    Pete Souza / The White House via Getty Images

    President Barack Obama jokingly mimics U.S. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney's 'not impressed' expression while greeting members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in the Oval Office, Nov. 15, at the White House in Washington, D.C. Maroney's expression became an internet sensation when during the ceremony for her 2012 Olympic vault silver medal she was photographed giving a brief look of disappointment with her lips pursed to the side. Steve Penny, USA Gymnastics President, and Savannah Vinsant laugh at left.

    Read the full story about the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team visit to the White House.

  • Homes razed to make way for Russia's Olympics showcase

    Artur Levedev / sochinskie-novosti.ru / Reuters

    Tatyana Samokhval, left, daughter of local resident Sergei Khlystov, embraces her crying mother Valentina Khlystova in front of their partially demolished house in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia. The workers arrived at Sergei Khlystov's gate on a Friday evening to bulldoze his home and clear a path for sewage pipes to the Olympic village being built in the Russian city of Sochi. Khlystov and his 33-year-old son-in-law, Maxim Samokhval, at first tried to block the bulldozers but then stood aside and watched as the two-storey house was destroyed. The earthmovers ended Khlystov's battle to stay in his house, one of the last razed in the Mirny neighbourhood to make way for the Winter Olympics in 2014. Picture taken Sept. 19.

    For President Vladimir Putin, the Games are a prestige project that will allow him to showcase Russia's ability to organize major events and boost its international image.

    He regards the event as an important element of his new presidential term as well as a chance for the country, which will also host the 2018 World Cup soccer finals, to show off its sporting prowess.

    New homes are being provided for Sochi residents displaced by the reconstruction of their town. But such is the importance attached to the Olympic project that people who don't want to move have no option but to get out of the way of the bulldozers.

    -- Reported by Reuters

    Read the full story.

    Artur Levedev / sochinskie-novosti.ru / Reuters

    An excavator demolishes a house, owned by the Khlystov family, in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia.

     

  • Olympics is no celebration for one Londoner

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for NBC News

    A patriotic canal boat resident along with his dog on his vessel covered in both union flag of Britain and the England flag close to the main site of the 2012 Olympic Games.

    Slideshow: When the Olympics is your neighbor

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    A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.

    Launch slideshow

    By Meredith Birkett

    Photojournalist Gideon Mendel says he's London's last cynic in a city overtaken by Olympic spirit. It's not for lack of proximity to the events -- he lives in the East End, within three miles of the main venues.

    In the spring, he photographed his neighborhood for NBCNews.com before the world focused its attention on the place. He had mixed feelings about the coming event. He worried about the character of his working-class neighborhood changing, but also relished the idea of such an international event coming to his very diverse, multicultural neighborhood.

    He found artists creating works both for and against the games. Nearby canals were cleaned up and roads repaired. Businesses anticipated a potential boom, while others who had to re-locate due to the Olympic village construction faced challenges they couldn't have predicted after decades of being in business.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for NBC News

    A security guard mans his station on the River Lea close to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games (the stadium can be seen in the distant background). This is the point from which all navigation has been blocked on the river as security measure during the games.

    He and his family braced for the worst. The weekend the Games began, Mendel and his sons left town to attend a music festival hours away, in part to avoid the Olympics fervor. When they returned, daily routines like his wife's work commute were planned carefully around expected crowds.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for NBC News

    A family dressed in bizarre patriotic morph suits take part in a parade at Camp Bestival. Their costume is part of their support for the 2012 Olympic Games which they had watched on a giant screen on the previous evening.This music festival takes place at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.

    Instead, they found London "a dream" to get around, with less traffic than expected and better commute times than usual. His immediate neighborhood is business as usual. But as he rides his bike nearer the venues, the streets and parks just to the west of the newly constructed Olympic stadium are oddly...empty. With most Olympic tourists being directed east to the major commuter hub of Stratford station, and security measures blocking some streets, canals and bike paths to the west of the Olympic Park, there is an unexpected quietness. Cafe owners lament the lack of business; giant viewing screens in parks sometimes go unwatched.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for NBC News

    A relaxed scene at Haggerston Park in Hackney, East London, as a relatively small group enjoys watching the 2012 Olympic Games on a big screen. At the time they were watching the tennis mixed doubles tournament.

    What next for the East End? After a recent trip that kept him away from the neighborhood for three weeks, Mendel noticed his long-time home changed even in that short amount of time, with new stores and restaurants popping up. While the once poor neighborhood has been gentrifying for years, he senses the Olympics has accelerated the process.

    More news from the Olympics:

    Who'll win gold medal for partying? Olympians let their hair down

    Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world

    Christians, Muslims and even a 'vegan turkey' seek converts at London 2012

    Race to London's Olympic Park: Fastest way is ... ?

    Will Games curse leave 'ghost town' London out of the gold rush?

    Full coverage in London 2012: Hosting the Games

    Follow @msnbc_pictures

  • When the Olympics is your neighbor

    By Marian Smith, msnbc.com

    LONDON -- When the 2012 Olympics comes to London this summer, thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and tourists from all over the world will descend upon East London, home to some of the poorest boroughs in Britain’s capital.

    The factories, warehouses and busy docks that once made it the industrial hub of the city have for decades been morphing into derelict buildings and abandoned scrap heaps as the industries dry up and move overseas – creating the perfect blank canvas for the Olympic sites, the Games’ organizers say. But a vibrant community sprung up in place of the old industrial center, and not everyone is happy about the Olympics becoming a neighbor.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    Construction workers take a break from their task of building the Olympic site to enjoy a substantial lunch at The Griddler, a local cafe very close to site of the games.

    Frank and Rosie Aviatti, owners of The Griddler café near the Olympic stadium in Stratford, almost sold their business a few years ago when construction workers closed off part of their road for Olympics-related building projects. “Business went down 90 percent,” Frank Aviatti told msnbc.com.

    However, other residents and businesses laud the transformative development of the area. Lance Forman, proprietor of H. Forman & Son smoked salmon purveyors, had to move his factory because it was on land that the Olympic organizers wanted for the new stadium. “We did a deal early,” he told msnbc.com, explaining that the 105-year-old company realized it would be a waste of time and money to dispute the compulsory purchase order.

    They bought land across the river from what is now the Olympic stadium, designed a factory – in just one month – and built it in under a year. To take advantage of what Forman knew was going to be an opportunity for his business, the company opened a restaurant, bar and event space in its new building. Although business suffered at first, Forman is optimistic because of the higher traffic East London is getting because of the Olympics.

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    Salmon is sliced and processed at H. Forman and Son, a fourth-generation family business, at its new location directly across the River Lea from the Olympic Stadium.

    “People now come to the restaurant and say they didn’t know East London existed before,” he said. “And they say they didn’t realize how close it was.”

    As the Olympics fast approach, photographer Gideon Mendel has sought to capture the diversity of life within one mile of the main Olympic site.

    Himself an East London resident, Mendel says he is struck by how many different people from different parts of the world live and work in the area – and is intrigued by the idea that the international participants in this summer’s games will be greeted by such an international community. To see some striking images of the people, places and businesses that will be welcoming the world this summer, take a look at the slideshow below.

    Slideshow:

    Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

    When the Olympics is your neighbor

    Launch slideshow

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