Olympics in brief

First doping casualty

Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku has become the first athlete caught doping at the London Olympics after failing a test for a banned steroid, officials said Saturday.
Pulaku tested positive for stanozolol in London on July 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said. Two Turkish weightlifters have also been kicked out of the Games after failing pre-competition tests.
"The International Olympic Committee today announced that weightlifter Hysen Pulaku from Albania has been excluded from the Games of the 30th Olympiad in London," an IOC statement said.
The 77kg competitor, 19, becomes the 10th weightlifter caught doping at an Olympic Games since 2000.

Cauldron bets refunded

One of Britain's leading bookmakers has refunded all the bets they'd taken on who would light the Olympic cauldron after the honour was given to seven young athletes.
Traditionally, the flame is lit by a significant Olympic figure from the host country and Britain's five-times rowing gold medallist Steve Redgrave had been strongly favoured to carry out the task at Friday's opening ceremony.
But although Redgrave took the torch into the Olympic Stadium, he then helped pass it on to the seven junior sportsmen and women who actually lit the cauldron itself.
With no one figure lighting the cauldron, William Hill -- one of Britain's biggest bookmakers -- refunded all bets on Saturday, saying the outcome had been "all but impossible to predict".

Bourgain quits road race

Frenchman Mickael Bourgain became the first rider to quit the Olympic men's road race Saturday -- although it was all part of his plan.
Bourgain, a track cyclist, does not compete on the road but to qualify for his spot in the keirin he also had to be qualified for another cycling event, according to the rules.
Because France had filled up its allocation of Olympic places in the other track events, Bourgain had to take part in another event. French team bosses quickly found a spot for him in the road race team.
The Frenchman had pledged to pull out after just a few kilometres of the 250 km road race, and stuck to his promise on Saturday.

Queen did it in one take

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II pulled off her acting role in the Olympics opening ceremony "in one take", a BBC official said Saturday.
The 86-year-old monarch was shown in a pre-filmed sequence in which actor Daniel Craig, playing fictional British super-spy James Bond, arrived at Buckingham Palace in a taxi to escort the queen by helicopter to the ceremony.
Real helicopters then appeared over the Olympic Stadium during Friday's spectacular and parachutists playing Bond and the sovereign jumped out, just before Queen Elizabeth entered the stadium, wearing the same outfit.
It was one of the highlights of the show.