Taxi driver Richard Meid waits for a fare in front of the British Museum during the 2012 Summer Olympics,Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Taxi driver Richard Meid waits for a fare in front of the British Museum during the 2012 Summer Olympics,Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
United States' Ashton Eaton reacts after his throw in the shot put in the decathlon during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
United States' Ashton Eaton, left, and Ukraine's Voleksiy Kasyanov, right, cross the finish line in a men's decathlon 100-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Britain's Mohamed Farah reacts after competing in a men's 5000-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
United States' Galen Rupp, front left, and Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel lead the pack midway through the men's 5000 meters during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
LONDON (AP) ? Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
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DIRTY UNDERGROUND
Dirty Tubes, anyone?
No subway cleaners will be working in the stretch of the London subway, known as the Tube, near the Olympic Park from Thursday to Saturday as part of a walkout, a transport union says.
The RMT union says that the strike is the result of a pay dispute and that picket lines will be set up outside several Tube stations, including Stratford, from dawn Thursday.
London's Tube is not the cleanest on the best of days, and rats (or are they mice?) are frequently spotted scurrying on platforms. The host city has put on its best face to visitors, and succeeded so far. The cleaners' strike, if it goes ahead, could change that.
? Sylvia Hui ? Twitter http://twitter.com/sylviahui
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SHE'S IRISH!!
A tsunami of indignation and humor is swamping Irish Twitter.
Why? Because a London newspaper ? The Daily Telegraph ? asked its readers: "Can anyone beat Britain's Katie Taylor?"
Taylor is Irish, not British, thank you.
Taylor, the world's reigning lightweight champion boxer, won easily to advance to Thursday's final as overwhelming favorite to win the gold. Her performances have riveted Ireland.
"Dear Daily Telegraph. Katie Taylor is IRISH. However, please feel free to claim Ronan Keating, Jedward, Louis Walsh ...," tweeted Fergus Murphy.
"Ireland's Sir Chris Hoy unavailable for comment," deadpanned Irish comedian Dara O Briain, referring to Britain's top track cyclist.
The Daily Telegraph tweeted an apology. "She is Irish, of course," said the newspaper, which previously has described scores of Irish athletes and entertainers, including Bono, as British.
? Shawn Pogatchnik ? Twitter http://twitter.com/ShawnPogatchnik
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WHICH IS WHICH?
Aly Raisman has an issue with her gold medals. She's not sure which is which.
The captain of the Fierce Five, the first U.S. team since 1996 to win the women's gymnastics title, got her second gold medal Tuesday, claiming the title on floor exercise. But in the frenzy afterward, that medal got mixed up with her team medal.
"Yesterday was so hectic," she said, "I forgot to mark them."
? Nancy Armour ? http://twitter.com/nrarmour
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MAILBOX SCROOGE
Wearing a bright smile and brighter gold medal, Jessica Ennis has won the hearts of Britons with her stirring performance in the heptathlon.
But there's a Scrooge in every town, including in Ennis' hometown of Sheffield. Civic officials say vandals have defaced a mailbox there that was painted gold to honor Ennis' achievement.
Royal Mail started an initiative to paint one red postbox gold in the hometown of every British athlete that comes home victorious. But the Sheffield box was defaced with graffiti, prompting postal workers to quickly repaint it.
? Jon Krawczynski ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/APKrawczynski
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BARBELL ACCIDENT
It helps to have a thick neck if you're going to drop a 196-kilogram (432-pound) barbell on it.
Team doctors said German weightlifter Matthias Steiner is sore and bruised but escaped serious injury after getting hit by the bar in the super heavyweight competition.
The defending Olympic champion got up on his feet but left the competition Tuesday.
German team doctor Helmut Schreiber said medical tests showed Steiner suffered ligament and muscle injuries but no damage to his spine. No surgery was needed.
"Although I would have loved to win a medal here, abandoning the competition was the right thing to do," Steiner said. "Now I am just glad that there are no fears of permanent damage."
? Karl Ritter - Twitter http://twitter.com/karl_ritter
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ME LEAD BRITAIN? ZIP IT!
He has struck political gold as the maverick mayor who has steered London smoothly through the Summer Games (so far). Boris Johnson, a member of Prime Minister David Cameron's governing Conservative Party, is becoming a favorite for any future race to replace the current leader.
Unlike Cameron, who couldn't win Britain's 2010 election outright, Johnson has twice been voted in as the capital's mayor. Yet Johnson, known for his offbeat humor ? but also for occasional remarks which have upset minority groups ? insists voters couldn't take him seriously.
Last week, crowds roared with laughter as he tested out a 45-meter (148-foot) high zip line in an east London park ? only to become stuck halfway along, dangling in mid-air.
Johnson is self-aware enough to realize this kind of thing: "How could anybody elect a prat who gets stuck on a zip wire?"
? David Stringer - Twitter http://twitter.com/david_stringer
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A COOKIE WITH SIDEBURNS
Are cycling rivals about to take a bite out of Britain's Olympic and Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins?
The gold medal winner ? who triumphed in the Olympic men's cycling time trial, just weeks after winning France's most famous race ? has been immortalized as a cookie.
Wiggins posted a picture of the treat Wednesday to his Instagram account (http://bit.ly/MuQAmM). The biscuit, which even features the rider's trademark sideburns, was cooked up by a bakery chain in his hometown of Eccleston, northwest England.
? David Stringer - Twitter http://twitter.com/david_stringer
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WRESTLING GLOOM
The London Olympics have been a disaster for the U.S. wrestling team.
For the fourth day in a row, no American wrestler could even reach the semifinals after women's freestylers Clarissa Chun and Elena Pirozhkova were knocked out early on Wednesday.
Chun lost her second match to the 2011 world silver medalist, Mariya Stadnyk of Azerbaijan. Pirozhkova didn't even get that far, dropping her first match to Latvian upstart Anastasija Grigorjeva in what can be considered quite the upset.
Both could still qualify to wrestle for a bronze medal out of the consolation brackets if the women who beat Chun and Pirozhkova make their finals.
But after its Greco-Roman team failed to medal in an Olympics it competed at for the first time since 1976, the U.S. needed a boost from its women's program. It hasn't come yet.
? Luke Meredith ? Twitter http://twitter.com/LukeMeredithAP
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QUICKQUOTE: 'I'M WITH GINGER'
"I've got a few more followers on Twitter, recognized a bit more on the street. Usually we are together as a team and when we are with our teammate Daniel Purvis, he's a proper ginger (redhead), and so everyone recognizes him. It's a nightmare when you've got Daniel with you," 19-year-old British gymnast Sam Oldham on his increased celebrity since winning the team bronze at the London Olympics.
? Jenna Fryer ? Twitter http://twitter.com/jennafryer
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PLAYING THE PART
Sir Patrick Stewart found himself with a case of stage fright.
The British actor was asked if he wanted to wear swimmer Ryan Lochte's gold medal around his neck. Stewart politely turned down the offer before being persuaded by Lochte.
With that, Stewart decided to "boldly go where no one has gone before."
Stewart, known for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and as Professor Charles Xavier in "X-Men," said donning the medal was definitely a highlight of his career.
"It was lovely just to hold it. But Ryan said, 'No, no, no. Go ahead, put it on,'" said Stewart, who showed up at the track Wednesday. "Sometimes, this business brings you little perks. Sometimes, it brings you GIANT perks.
"I sent a tweet to Ryan afterward, saying, 'Great working with you and to touch gold.' I hope he realizes that I meant not just the medal but him, too."
Had Stewart traveled a different path, he might have an Olympic medal of his own. When he was 15, Stewart was a standout hurdler. But he threw a county race because he was appearing in the play "Harvey" that night and didn't want to be late. That was the end of athletics and the start of acting.
? Pat Graham ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/pgraham34
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PACKING EVERYTHING
U.S beach volleyball player April Ross doesn't mind bringing extra luggage to Horse Guards Parade on Wednesday night.
Ross and partner Jennifer Kessy have to bring their medal stand uniforms to their final match against fellow Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Since it's the gold medal match, Ross knows she and Kessy will be on the podium no matter what.
Had they lost in the semifinals, they would have had to play in the bronze match with no guarantee of needing the medal ceremony uniform.
"I didn't want to have to bring it not knowing if I would wear it," Ross says.
All American athletes get a medal stand uniform ? just in case.
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AUSSIES CONCEDE
A bet is a bet, and Australian sports minister Kate Lundy won't row back on her wager.
Lundy will put on a Great Britain team shirt ? the height of embarrassment for a citizen of the U.K.'s fiercely competitive former colony ? and row the Olympic course at Eton Dorney, west of London.
The bet was with British sports minister Hugh Robertson over which nation would claim the most Olympic medals in London.
British athletes have already powered to 48 medals, including 22 golds, while Australia ? which retains Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state ? is lagging behind with 25 medals and just 4 golds.
"I have cheerfully conceded," Lundy said Wednesday as an national inquest began at home over why the sports-crazed nation has stumbled so badly. At Beijing in 2008, Australia claimed 46 medals.
? David Stringer - Twitter http://twitter.com/david_stringer
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BACK TO REALITY
Olympic athletes are getting used to the idea of life after the games.
"Right, time to sort out home insurance and my many emails... backtoreality" tweeted track cyclist Geraint Thomas who won gold for Britain in the men's team pursuit.
British Boxer Zoe Smith tweeted, "Right. Well then. After the non-stop madness of the last week and few days, I think it is high time I sorted my life out."
U.S. shooter Jamie Gray posted a photo of her kit all over the floor of her Alabama home, saying that a "clothing bomb went off unpacking from London2012."
? Fergus Bell ? Twitter http://twitter.com/fergb
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EDITOR'S NOTE ? "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.
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