Google is continuing its coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games by featuring its fifth sports-themed Doodle today on its home page. The search engine replaced its official logo with a Doodle honoring artistic Gymnastics Men’s Rings.
The Doodle features a male gymnast holding the ring grips, trying to balance himself in the air. The two ring grips represent the two O’s of the Google logo.
Today’s Doodle is the fourth Olympic gymnastics Doodle featured on Google’s homepage. The 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing games also featured gymnastics Doodles, but only the Sydney games featured a rings Doodle.
The rings are typically only used by male gymnasts, due to the requirement of the intense upper-body strength. But the sport is popular, as it allows the gymnasts to show their rhythmic skills. The London 2012 Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Rings was a success, with over 50,000 tickets sold for the competition.
The artistic gymnastic medal event was held last night, and defending champions China won the gold medal. Originally, Great Britain won silver, while the Ukraine won the bronze. However, after a judges’ inquiry, Japan was given the silver, and Great Britain was given the bronze. Japanese athlete Kohei Uchimura fell from the pommel horse, leaving Japan to finish fourth. But the judges later accepted Japan’s appeal against his score.
Written by: Karen Benardello
