North Korea's Key to Olympic Medals: Refrigerators For Winners, Labor Camps for Losers

By JOOHEE CHO | ABC News

North Korea's Olympic athletes are thrilling their countrymen with surprising success in winning medals and they are attributing their success to their Dear Leader Kim Jong Un.

But others, including former North Korean athletes who have defected, suggest the success of the country's small contingent of athletes at the games may be the result of a policy of training them from a very young age at specialized schools, backed up by rewards like cars and refrigerators for winners and the threat of labor camps for losers.

North Korea ranks 14th in the overall medal count, but fifth in terms of the number of gold medals with four.
The country won two golds in men's weightlifting, one in women's weightlifting and one in women's judo. It also captured a bronze medal in women's weightlifting.

The communist nation has 56 athletes competing in 11 sports. Its hopes for additional medals lie in boxing, wrestling, diving, table tennis, judo, and archery. The best Olympic result in the past was four gold medals and five bronzes in Barcelona 1992.

Joyful residents in North Korea gather to watch the games on huge outdoor screens and public places with television connection.

"After witnessing the gold medal at the Olympics, my heart is unutterably happy and my pride (in our nation) is growing," an unidentified woman said on state television news.

That pride is exactly what the country's new 28 year-old leader Kim Jong Un is looking for. He has taken control of the impoverished nation of 25 million after his father Kim Jong Il passed away last December. Decades of famine have left many North Koreans bitter and analysts say this Olympic Games' fever is a perfect opportunity to generate loyalty and devotion among his subjects.

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The Steps towards Glory always start with 'G'

US men beat Nigeria 156-73 in Olympic basketball

By TOM WITHERS | Associated Press


LONDON (AP) — The last group in England with this many records was The Beatles.

The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team beat Nigeria 156-73 Thursday night, an epic blowout that answered the Americans' detractors and sent a clear message to let them be.

After two opening routs that provoked criticism of their slow starts and outside shooting, the Americans rewrote the record books.

They led by 26 in the first quarter, had an Olympic-record 78 points in the first half and Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, including 10 of 12 3-pointers, to break the U.S. single-game scoring record in less than three quarters.

"Our guys just couldn't miss," said coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Incredibly, they eclipsed the 100-point mark with 5 minutes still left in the third.

"When we get hot, it's a big problem," Kobe Bryant said. "So you have all these guys on one team and then all get hot on the same night, it's tough."

They broke the Olympic record for most points in a game with 4:37 still to play, and set U.S. records for 3-pointers (26), field goals (59) and field-goal percentage (71).

When Andre Iguodala hit a 3-pointer with 4:37 left, the Americans had surpassed the previous Olympic record of 138 points set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988. When the record was announced to the mesmerized crowd, all the players seated on the U.S. bench got up and walked single file past Krzyzewski, slapping hands with him and his staff.

Gentlemen, take a bow.

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The Steps towards Glory always start with 'G'

Updated Medal count for 2012 London Games

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	17	9	4	30
2	United States	11	8	9	28
3	South Korea	6	2	4	12
4	France	5	3	4	12
5	North Korea	4	0	1	5
6	Germany	3	8	2	13
7	Italy	3	4	2	9
8	Kazakhstan	3	0	0	3
9	Japan	2	4	11	17
10	Russia	2	4	5	11
11	Great Britain	2	3	4	9
12	Hungary	2	1	1	4
13	Ukraine	2	0	4	6
14	South Africa	2	0	0	2
15	Australia	1	5	2	8
16	Romania	1	3	2	6
17	Brazil	1	1	1	3
17	Netherlands	1	1	1	3
19	Georgia	1	0	0	1
19	Lithuania	1	0	0	1
19	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
19	Venezuela	1	0	0	1
23	Colombia	0	2	1	3
23	Cuba	0	2	1	3
25	Mexico	0	2	0	2
26	Canada	0	1	5	6
27	Indonesia	0	1	1	2
27	Norway	0	1	1	2
29	Taiwan	0	1	0	1
29	Czech Republic	0	1	0	1
29	Denmark	0	1	0	1
29	Egypt	0	1	0	1
29	Poland	0	1	0	1
29	Spain	0	1	0	1
29	Sweden	0	1	0	1
29	Thailand	0	1	0	1
37	New Zealand	0	0	2	2
37	Slovakia	0	0	2	2
39	Azerbaijan	0	0	1	1
39	Belarus	0	0	1	1
39	Belgium	0	0	1	1
39	Greece	0	0	1	1
39	India	0	0	1	1
39	Mongolia	0	0	1	1
39	Qatar	0	0	1	1
39	Moldova	0	0	1	1
39	Serbia	0	0	1	1
39	Singapore	0	0	1	1
39	Uzbekistan	0	0	1	1
50	Afghanistan	0	0	0	0
50	Albania	0	0	0	0
50	Algeria	0	0	0	0
50	American Samoa	0	0	0	0
50	Andorra	0	0	0	0
50	Angola	0	0	0	0
50	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0	0
50	Argentina	0	0	0	0
50	Armenia	0	0	0	0
50	Aruba	0	0	0	0
50	Austria	0	0	0	0
50	Bahamas	0	0	0	0
50	Bahrain	0	0	0	0
50	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0
50	Barbados	0	0	0	0
50	Belize	0	0	0	0
50	Benin	0	0	0	0
50	Bermuda	0	0	0	0
50	Bhutan	0	0	0	0
50	Bolivia	0	0	0	0
50	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	0	0
50	Botswana	0	0	0	0
50	Brunei	0	0	0	0
50	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0
50	Burkina Faso	0	0	0	0
50	Burundi	0	0	0	0
50	Cambodia	0	0	0	0
50	Cameroon	0	0	0	0
50	Cape Verde	0	0	0	0
50	Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0
50	Central African Republic	0	0	0	0
50	Chad	0	0	0	0
50	Chile	0	0	0	0
50	Comoros	0	0	0	0
50	Congo	0	0	0	0
50	Cook Islands	0	0	0	0
50	Costa Rica	0	0	0	0
50	Cote d'Ivoire	0	0	0	0
50	Croatia	0	0	0	0
50	Cyprus	0	0	0	0
50	Djibouti	0	0	0	0
50	Dominica	0	0	0	0
50	Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0
50	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0	0	0	0
50	Ecuador	0	0	0	0
50	El Salvador	0	0	0	0
50	Equatorial Guinea	0	0	0	0
50	Eritrea	0	0	0	0
50	Estonia	0	0	0	0
50	Ethiopia	0	0	0	0
50	Fiji	0	0	0	0
50	Finland	0	0	0	0
50	Gabon	0	0	0	0
50	Gambia	0	0	0	0
50	Ghana	0	0	0	0
50	Grenada	0	0	0	0
50	Guam	0	0	0	0
50	Guatemala	0	0	0	0
50	Guinea	0	0	0	0
50	Guinea-Bissau	0	0	0	0
50	Guyana	0	0	0	0
50	Haiti	0	0	0	0
50	Honduras	0	0	0	0
50	Hong Kong	0	0	0	0
50	Iceland	0	0	0	0
50	Independent Olympic Athletes	0	0	0	0
50	Iran	0	0	0	0
50	Iraq	0	0	0	0
50	Ireland	0	0	0	0
50	Israel	0	0	0	0
50	Jamaica	0	0	0	0
50	Jordan	0	0	0	0
50	Kenya	0	0	0	0
50	Kiribati	0	0	0	0
50	Kuwait	0	0	0	0
50	Kyrgyzstan	0	0	0	0
50	Laos	0	0	0	0
50	Latvia	0	0	0	0
50	Lebanon	0	0	0	0
50	Lesotho	0	0	0	0
50	Liberia	0	0	0	0
50	Libya	0	0	0	0
50	Liechtenstein	0	0	0	0
50	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0
50	Madagascar	0	0	0	0
50	Malawi	0	0	0	0
50	Malaysia	0	0	0	0
50	Maldives	0	0	0	0
50	Mali	0	0	0	0
50	Malta	0	0	0	0
50	Marshall Islands	0	0	0	0
50	Mauritania	0	0	0	0
50	Mauritius	0	0	0	0
50	Micronesia	0	0	0	0
50	Macedonia	0	0	0	0
50	Monaco	0	0	0	0
50	Montenegro	0	0	0	0
50	Morocco	0	0	0	0
50	Mozambique	0	0	0	0
50	Myanmar	0	0	0	0
50	Namibia	0	0	0	0
50	Nauru	0	0	0	0
50	Nepal	0	0	0	0
50	Nicaragua	0	0	0	0
50	Niger	0	0	0	0
50	Nigeria	0	0	0	0
50	Oman	0	0	0	0
50	Pakistan	0	0	0	0
50	Palau	0	0	0	0
50	Palestine	0	0	0	0
50	Panama	0	0	0	0
50	Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	0
50	Paraguay	0	0	0	0
50	Peru	0	0	0	0
50	Philippines	0	0	0	0
50	Portugal	0	0	0	0
50	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0
50	Rwanda	0	0	0	0
50	St. Kitts and Nevis	0	0	0	0
50	Saint Lucia	0	0	0	0
50	Samoa	0	0	0	0
50	San Marino	0	0	0	0
50	Sao Tome and Principe	0	0	0	0
50	Saudi Arabia	0	0	0	0
50	Senegal	0	0	0	0
50	Seychelles	0	0	0	0
50	Sierra Leone	0	0	0	0
50	Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
50	Somalia	0	0	0	0
50	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0
50	St. Vincent and Grenadines	0	0	0	0
50	Sudan	0	0	0	0
50	Suriname	0	0	0	0
50	Swaziland	0	0	0	0
50	Switzerland	0	0	0	0
50	Syria	0	0	0	0
50	Tajikistan	0	0	0	0
50	Tanzania	0	0	0	0
50	Timor-Leste	0	0	0	0
50	Togo	0	0	0	0
50	Tonga	0	0	0	0
50	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0
50	Tunisia	0	0	0	0
50	Turkey	0	0	0	0
50	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0
50	Tuvalu	0	0	0	0
50	Uganda	0	0	0	0
50	United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0
50	Uruguay	0	0	0	0
50	Vanuatu	0	0	0	0
50	Vietnam	0	0	0	0
50	British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0
50	U.S. Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0
50	Yemen	0	0	0	0
50	Zambia	0	0	0	0
50	Zimbabwe	0	0	0	0

Most of the countries that were not named have yet to win a Medal, while some were left out because they only have 1.

U.S. women win gold medal in gymnastics

London Olympics: U.S. women win gold medal in gymnastics

Gabrielle Douglas of the United States celebrates the gold medal win with teammates and coaches. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / July 31, 2012)


By Diane Pucin
July 31, 2012, 10:40 a.m.

LONDON -- The United States women's gymnastics team built a big early lead on the vault and held it emphatically through three rousing performances on the floor exercise to win its first gymnastics women's team gold medal since 1996.

Alexandra Raisman was well into happy tears even before she finished the final exercise of the night, a bouncy routine set to "Hava Nagila" that was awarded a 15.300.

The Americans beat the silver medalists from Russia by over five points. Romania was third and the defending gold medalists from China were fourth.

PHOTOS: Americans win women's gymnastics team gold medal

The U.S. had a total of 183.596; Russia had 178.530 and Romania 176.414.

The Russians took a lot of pressure off the U.S. by going up first on the final rotation, also their floor exercise.

The second Russian up, Anastasia Grishina, nearly fell out of her first tumbling pass, landed another one on her shoulder and couldn't build on the momentum Aliya Mustafina had given her team with a solid score of 15.100 to begin the floor exercise. She scored only a 12.466.

Grishina's mistake meant she earned deductions for not connecting moves, and the Russian team, almost in unison, dropped their heads before Grishina walked off the floor.

To make it even easier for the U.S., Ksenia Afanasyeva, the final Russian competitor, landed her final tumbling pass almost on her face. Afanasyeva, the defending world floor exercise champion, was given a score of 14.333. The Russians had posted a final score of 178.530.

Gabrielle Douglas kicked-started the U.S. with a sassy and solid opening routine and Jordyn Wieber finished hers without major mistakes and with a huge smile before Raisman rocked the crowd.

ALSO:

U.S. women's gymnastics team in first place after vault

U.S. women's gymnastics team still in first place after uneven bars

U.S. women's gymastics team remains in first place after third rotation

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times