Note to Bob Rae:

 Local tennis hero Milos Raonic has won his first round match against Tatsuma Ito of Japan, 6-3, 6-4.

Aleksandra Wozniak, from Blainville, Que., beat Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 6-1.

 

 

Did you really have to tweet that?

This might be the Twitter Olympics but like so much in London, the logistics are a problem. All those signals whizzing over the networks blocked some GPS navigation systems and even cut into ibroadcasts about the men's road cycling race.

So naturally people vented their anger on Twitter.

An IOC spokesman isn't telling people NOT to Twitter, just explaining why their tweets have been part of the problem. And maybe confine their tweets to urgent matters.

We hold up our own @CathalKelly as an example of judicious tweeting.

 

Politics aside...

An early morning Tweet from Liberal Leader Bob Rae:

So why is ctv not showing Raonic and Wozniack at the Olympics - live ? Instead of Korea vs Serbia in volleyball ????

We can tell you what they're doing: Milos Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., is playing in a first round match against Tatsuma Ito of Japan. Aleksandra Wozniack, from Blainville, Que., is in a first round match against Marina Erakovic of New Zealand. There are 11 first-round tennis matches underway.

Here's what happened this weekend

In case you missed it, here's some highlights from the weekend:

Click here for full Canadian results.

Not that you missed this, but Canada won its first medal Sunday, a bronze from Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel in the synchronized three-metre springboard.  See photos here.

Christine Sinclair kept Canada on track in women's soccer, scoring twice in a 3-0 win over South Africa.

Canada's Clara Hughes, competing in her sixth Olympics, finished 32nd in Sunday's road race. Reporter Doug Smith pays tribute to our special women in his blog from London.

In the pool, Canada's Ryan Cochrane was bumped from the 400-metre freestyle final after defending champion Park Tae-hwan protested his disqualification in the heats. Michale Phelps, eight-time gold medallist in Beijing, finished fourth in the 400-metre individual medley.

Canada's women's basketball team had an upset in the making but fell to European champion Russia after blowing a 10-point lead in the final six minutes.

Friday's opening ceremony went off without a hitch - click here to see photos - but one question remained: Who is the mystery woman who gate-crashed team India?

 

Justin Bieber tweets Canadian gymnast

LONDON - Olympic athletes past and present were quick to celebrate Canada's first medal at the London Games.

Minutes after divers Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel won bronze Sunday in the women's three-metre synchronized event behind China and the U.S., Twitter lit up with well wishers.

"Big congrats to @jennabel91 & @eheymans, first medal for Canada, and Em's career 4th!! #GoCanada," tweeted Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden, himself a three-time Olympic medallist who will be looking to get to the podium again in London.

The medal put Heymans, a 30-year-old from St. Lambert, Que., into the history books as the first female diver to reach the podium in four consecutive Olympics. For Abel, a 20-year-old from Laval, Que., it was her first medal at her second Games.

Chef de mission Mark Tewksbury savoured the bronze on Day 2 after Canada failed to get a medal until Day 8 of the Beijing Games four years ago.

"The highlight being... OUR FIRST MEDAL! So proud of @eheymans and @JennAbel91. They have lifted our team to be gr8ter," tweeted the former Olympic gold medallist.

Tennis player Milos Raonic had his first-round match rained out, but that didn't stop him from recognizing the accomplishment.

"Congrats @JennAbel91 & @eheymans on picking up Canada's first medal. Great job! #GoTeamCanada," tweeted the No. 25-ranked player in the world.

Former Canadian sprinter and Olympic gold medallist Bruny Surin also tweeted his congratulations in French.

At least one Winter Olympian also passed on her best wishes, with two-time medallist and moguls skier Jennifer Heil tweeting: "Big congratulations to @JennAbel91 and @eheymans on winning Canada's 1st medal. With Emilie winning 4th medal in 4th Olympics!"

Meanwhile, one Canadian athlete had her wish come true on Twitter.

Dominique Pegg asked popstar Justin Bieber to wish her and her teammates good luck in Sunday's team artistic gymnatistics qualifier.

Associated Press photo

"K @justinbieber I will be competing in the Olympics in a few hours now. I think its time that you say goodluck! #London2012 #TeamCanada :)," tweeted the 18-year-old Sarnia, Ont., native.

Bieber, who is originally from Stratford, Ont., didn't respond before the event, but congratulated Pegg after her team qualified for the final in sixth place — a Canadian first.

"@domiP3gg sorry im late 2 the party. want to let you know as a proud canadian Im always supporting you and proud of you. STAND UP CANADA! :)," Bieber tweeted.

Pegg wasn't the first Canadian Olympian looking for some love from the 18-year-old heartthrob.

Swimmer and fellow Stratford native Julia Wilkinson wanted some celebrity support ahead of Sunday's women's 100-metre backstroke.

"100 back tomorrow baby! Maybe my hometown boy @justinbieber will send me a good luck RT," tweeted the 25-year-old Wilkinson on Saturday.

But Bieber never responded to Wilkinson's request. She finished ninth in the heats, just 0.09 seconds back of qualifying for the final.

-Canadian Press

'I feel so empty,' tweets Olympic seat

(CARL COURT/AFP/GettyImages)

The rows of empty seats at some Olympic venues have enraged sports fans in London who tried but failed to get Olympic tickets.

And now the seats are putting their side of the story across — through Twitter, naturally.

An account, @Olympicseat, emerged on Sunday evening.

"I feel so empty," read one post, accompanied by an avatar of empty seats.

"It was my lifelong ambition to be an Olympic seat," read another tweet. "To provide rest and comfort for cheering sports fans. I feel like such a failure."

The Associated Press

Don't tweet if you want TV, London fans told

LONDON—Sports fans attending the London Olympics were told on Sunday to avoid non-urgent text messages and tweets during events because overloading of data networks was affecting television coverage.

Commentators on Saturday's men's cycling road race were unable to tell viewers how far the leaders were ahead of the chasing pack because data could not get through from the GPS satellite navigation system travelling with the cyclists.

It was particularly annoying for British viewers, who had tuned in hoping to see a medal for sprint king Mark Cavendish.

Many inadvertently made matters worse by venting their anger on Twitter at the lack of information.

An International Olympic Committee spokesman said the network problem had been caused by the messages sent by the hundreds of thousands of fans who lined the streets to cheer on the British team.

"Of course, if you want to send something, we are not going to say 'Don't, you can't do it', and we would certainly never prevent people," he said. "It's just - if it's not an urgent, urgent one, please kind of take it easy."

Other events due to take place on London's roads include the men's and women's marathon and triathlon.

An explosion in the use of mobile phones to access the Internet and take and send photos and video has made London 2012 the first true "social media Games", but also put pressure on the networks. The host broadcaster, the BBC, is enabling fans to see many events live on their smartphones.

Mobile operators and infrastructure companies had said they expected to be able to meet the extra demand.

The IOC spokesman said it appeared the problem lay with oversubscription on one particular network, and talks had taken place in an attempt to share more of the data. "It's a network issue, and it is that which we are working on," he said.

Official 2012 Olympic communications services provider Vodafone, O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica, and BT said they had not seen any network problems.

BT says it has provided four times the network capacity of the 2008 Beijing Games to meet the increased demand, laying enough cable to stretch between London and New York.

O2, subcontracted by BT to provide mobile services within the Olympic Village, suffered a glitch this month when a third of its customers were hit by a 24-hour network failure.

Steven Hartley at Ovum Telecoms Strategy said at the time that, while mobile capacity was being upgraded at transport and crowd hotspots, spikes in demand at peripheral sites could prove disastrous.

Television coverage is in the hands of the Olympic Broadcasting Services, created by the IOC to ensure uniform coverage at all Games.

The IOC spokesman conceded that asking people not to send messages at key moments "may not have an awful lot of effect".

— Avril Ormsby and Paul Sandle, Reuters

London 2012: Gold medal beer gets shut out

(Heineken snapped up the sponsorhip rights for the London Games. Reuters photo.)

Josh Rubin, Toronto Star

As one of the world's great brewing nations, England is home to almost countless wonderful pale ales, strong bitters, porters and stouts. But if you're one of those lucky souls with tickets to the London Olympics, you wouldn't really know it.

That's because sponsorship rights were snapped up by Heineken. The Dutch brewing giant will have its flagship lager available at London 2012 Olympic venues, along with a couple of U.K. brands that it also owns, John Smith's Ale and Strongbow cider. In a land with such a rich and varied brewing culture, it's a paltry offering indeed. That sponsorship was referred to by one MP as a "wholly inappropriate decision."

Fortunately, we've got a better selection of English beer here in Ontario than they do in London for the Olympics. Here are a few good options if you'd like to toast the Games in style.

Fuller's London Pride: This classic English bitter is a study in balance, with the earthy notes of English hops holding their own against a gently-sweet malt base. It's also brewed right in Chiswick, close to Heathrow Airport. It's available at the LCBO for $2.80 a can.

Fuller's ESB: At 5.9 per cent alcohol, compared to London Pride's 4.7, this ESB (which stands for Extra Special Bitter) is a richer, slightly sweeter brew. It's a world classic, and also happens to be a devastatingly-good match for well-aged cheddar. It's also $2.80 a can.

Fuller's London Porter: A rich, dark, chocolate-tinged porter, this is for many beer aficionados a beer which defines the style. It's also from the city which created the style in the first place.

Thornbridge Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale: Don't be scared off by the $4.75 price tag for this outstanding pale ale, which hails from one of England's more creative craft breweries. It's got a luscious aroma of tropical fruit (gooseberry, lychee and kiwi come to mind), thanks to the exclusive use of Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. It has, as they say across the pond, a rather moreish quality to it.

Hobgoblin: A warming, malty, strong bitter from Oxfordshire's Wychwood Brewery. It's a more traditionally-English beer than Thornbridge's unapologetically-tropical brew. It's got notes of caramel, dried fruit and a hint of spice. Like the Fuller's ESB, it's also good with strong, well-aged cheddar, and is a pretty fair match for roast lamb.

Josh Rubin

London 2012: Merchandise for Summer Games is too pricey for some fans

Canadian beach volleyball fans  react after Canada beat Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, July 28. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

LONDON —Day 1 in Olympic Park and already visitors were feeling it in their wallets.

"Twenty-five pounds for a T-shirt?" exclaimed Catherine Goley of Birmingham, who was browsing through a London 2012 souvenir shop near Olympic Stadium Saturday — and made a hasty exit after finding nothing in her price range.

The one-eyed Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville were going for 15 pounds ($23 CDN) a pop, while the hometown "Team GB" backpacks ran 37 pounds ($58).

"The stuff they were selling in the supermarkets was much cheaper," she said.

Goley had tickets for Saturday night's swim finals but others without tickets came to the park just to check it out on the first day of competition after the opening ceremony, paying 10 pounds ($15) to get in and another 15 pounds ($23) to go up the Orbit observation deck.

Colleen Whalen, of Cincinnati, Ohio, said she would have paid to go up since that's the only way to see inside the main stadium and the Olympic flame, but tickets were sold out.

Whalen, who won a ticket to the swim finals, said she briefly considered buying a ticket for the opening ceremony, but balked at the price for a last-minute seat.

"The only tickets left were 1,800 or 2,300 pounds and, yes, that's definitely out of my price range." (In dollars, that's $2,800 to $3,570).

Food wasn't any bargain, either — expensive even for a city long considered one of the world's costliest.

A healthy portion of the British mainstay fish and chips set John Porter back 8 pounds, 50 pence — and that was just for his 8-year-old niece Freya. Normally it costs about half as much. Porter, who lives in a London suburb, had a roast beef sandwich, and wasn't terribly impressed.

"At 8 pounds, I'll be honest. I won't have it again."

 

 

London 2012: The highs and lows from Day 1

PHOTOS: Some of the highs and lows from Day 1 of the London 2012 Summer Games.

Team Canada nearly upsets heavily favoured Russia before losing 58-53 in the London  2012 Olympic Games, July 28. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star)

Italy’s Valentina Vezzali celebrates winning her Women's Foil Individual Fencing Quaterfinal match against Ines Boubakri of Tunisia. (Hannah Johnston/Getty Images)

Canada's Ryan Cochrane reacts following his race in the men's 400 metre freestyle heat at the Aquatic Centre in the Olympic Village. Cochrane has been knocked out of the finals after an appeal by a South Korean swimmer. (Sean Kilpatrick/ The Canadian Press)

Sun Yang of China celebrates after he won the final of the Men's 400m Freestyle.(Al Bello/Getty Images)

Peta Todd, the partner of Team Great Britain cyclist Mark Cavendish gestures as she holds their daughter Delilah while watching the men's cycling road race at the London. (John Stillwell/Reuters)

U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte poses with his dental braces bearing the U.S. flag and his gold medal after winning the men's 400m individual medley swimming event. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)