The second week of Google doodles done as a nod for London Olympics 2012 got more creative and interactive. I bet you or someone in the household played some of them doodles and enjoyed it as much we did!
Pole Vault. This is under the track and field event. The goal is for the participant should leap over a bar using a long, flexible pole (which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber).
The Google doodle depicts a female pole vaulter in midair, at the stadium with the Google logo is visible in the backdrop. This is also one of the most watched events, I think, and this is actually one of the few events I watched this week. I noticed how well-toned the bodies of the athleted in this event are especially the arms and legs.
Synchronized swimming. One of the most elegant sport in the Olympics, synchronized swimming is a crossover of gymnastics, dancing and swimming. I think this has got to be the difficult since swimmers need not only be good in the water, they should be graceful and precise especially when performing as a group.
The doodle depicts eight swimmers of different skin colors, forming the first ‘o’ in Google, great to connote international synchronization.
Javelin throw. Another track and field athletics featured with a doodle is javelin throw. Last week there was shot put and earlier was pole vault. Here, the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in length. To gain momentum, the javelin thrower runs within a predetermined area and throws the javelin following a set of rules.
Perhaps an odd doodle, notice that the thrower has only 4 fingers. 🙂 There’s a shadow on his face created by the javelin perhaps to show how a thrower accurately grips the object and how high it should be placed before throwing. The thrower’s head is used as Google’s second ‘o’ spelled on top of a jam-packed stadium with floodlights.
Hurdles, August 7 —
This is one of the interactive doodles I played. Instruction says “play it with the arrow keys: left and right to get speed, up for jumping.” So I did but I wasn’t so successful as the guy above. I hit a lot of hurdles on my way to the goal. The doodle is shown with Google’s ‘o’ as the play button on panels of what appears to be sponsor billboards.
Hurdles or hurdling is a type of track and field race where aside from having to run fast, athletes need to jump over hurdles, thus the name, to finish a track. This sport requires leg power! How fast where you able to finish this one?
Basketball, August 8 —
In a country where football is the sport most cheered upon, it’s odd that we still prefer to watch basketball. By we I meant hubby and I, after all, we grew up from a country were basketball is the main sport. Even on weekends, he and friends play basketball than any other sport, whereby there’s also a football field just by the court. Doodlers made another fun tribute to the game.
Here, a viewer/player is given 24 seconds to shoot as much balls as he can on half court using the space bar…would remind you of pop a shot! However, the challenge comes with the conveyor goes behind and you need to go further from the hoop to be able to get the balls and shoot. The scores are determined by the distance too. More like two inside the rainbow area and three from outside. The Google letters are spelled out as if sitting on the bleachers.
How many points did you make?
Slalom Canoe, August 9 —
Canoe Slalom, Slalom Canoe or Whitewater slalom is a sport where the aim is to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible (wiki). To illustrate, doodlers created this interactive doodle game where one is to supposed to navigate as fast as possible while avoiding the gates and monster frogs by paddling left and right with the use of arrow keys.
They creatively used an aerial view on this one. The doodle starts with the play button placed on Google’s second ‘ö.’
Football, August 10
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Not to be forgotten is the sport David Beckham, a son of the host city, is known for. Football is undeniably one of the most watched (most played) game, be it an Olympic event or not. There are a number of sports considered as football and the rules per wiki that are common include:
- Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players (five or more per team) are also popular.
- A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
- Scoring goals or points, by moving the ball to an opposing team’s end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line.
- Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
- The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
- Players being required to move the ball—depending on the code—by kicking, carrying, or hand-passing the ball.
- Players using only their body to move the ball.
Lastly, there’s rhythmic gymnastics, where individuals or teams of 2 or more manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free (no apparatus). An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time. When multiple gymnasts are performing a routine together a maximum of two types of apparatus may be distributed through the group. An athlete can exchange apparatus with a team member at any time through the routine. Therefore, an athlete can manipulate up to two different pieces of apparatus through the duration of the routine. Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance, and apparatus manipulation. The victor is the participant who earns the most points, determined by a panel of judges, for leaps, balances, pirouettes (pivots), flexibilities, apparatus handling, execution, and artistic effect. (wikipedia)
In the doodle we can see a female gymnast with a ribbon forming the two Os in the Google logo. The logo is by the bleachers full of people. Notice that tiny spotlight, a flash from a photographer capturing the grace of the gymnast.
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The London Olympics draws to a close and we wonder how it will end. Well, let’s see if doodlers have another surprise for us.
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