Simpson won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a silver medial in the 2012 Olympics in London, both in the Star class of sailboats. He was in San Francisco training with the Artemis Racing team for the upcoming America’s Cup when the boat, which had a crew of 11 men, capsized. Andrew was trapped beneath the platform for more than ten minutes, and was unable to be revived when he was finally pulled out.

Artemis CEO Paul Cayard released a statement on the group’s website, saying:

“Our prayers are with Andrew Simpson’s family, his wife and kids, and also the rest of my teammates. It’s a shocking experience to go through, and we have a lot to deal with in the next few days in terms of assuring everybody’s well being. The boat’s under control, but that’s not the first of our concerns. We’re focused on the people. That’s what we’re working with and on and we’ll give you more information when we’re able to.”

As of now, it’s not known what caused the boat to tip over. At least one other person was injured in the accident.

Gold medalist Andrew Simpson found dead as his yacht capsized … Very sad news xx thinking of his family xx

— Selena Mary-Anne (@SELENA_P2012) May 10, 2013

So tragic.RT @theatlanticwire: An Olympic Gold Medalist Is Dead After His Boat Capsized During America’s Cup Training flip.it/OWnfA

— Kerry W Cooper (@kerrywcooper) May 10, 2013

“@foxnews: Sailor killed after sailboat capsized identified as Olympic gold medalist Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson: fxn.ws/147AauJ” SO SAD.

— Joan Berry (@joanwberry) May 9, 2013

The Atlantic Wire reports that British Olympic gold medalist Andrew “Bart” Simpson, 36, died in a boat accident on Thursday after his catamaran capsized with him on it. He was underwater for 10 minutes as rescuers tried to get him out. After being pulled from the boat, he was brought ashore and pronounced dead at the scene.

Simpson was reportedly training for the America’s Cup in the San Francisco Bay at the time of the accident. The boat race has a reputation for being dangerous, and it has become even more so in recent years as the races become faster and more fierce.

Before the accident, Simpson had won a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Men’s Sailing. He won a silver at the 2012 London Olympics.

The accident probably won’t change plans for 2013′s America’s Cup race. It’s still scheduled to take place in September of this year in San Francisco with the Golden Gate Yacht Club as the defender and the Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet as the Challenger of Record.

Here’s some raw footage of the rescue operation:

[Image: Team GB]

Of course, the two made it official in March when they posted photos of themselves on Facebook to tell the world that they are, in fact, dating. But seeing them out together is a whole different media ballgame.

Woods released a statement about the pairing on the social media site, saying, “This season has been great so far and I’m happy with my wins at Torrey and Doral. Something nice that’s happened off the course was meeting Lindsey Vonn,” the star athlete captioned the album—which features four perfectly posed pics of the happy couple—on his social media page. “Lindsey and I have been friends for some time, but over the last few months we have become very close and are now dating. We thank you for your support and for respecting our privacy. We want to continue our relationship, privately, as an ordinary couple and continue to compete as athletes.”

The couple glowed on the red carpet last night, with Vonn wearing a cream-colored floor-length gown with sheer panels and Woods going for the traditional black-tie look.

Image: Facebook

Reuters is reporting that Jimenez died of a heart attack at her home in Mexico City. She reportedly had multiple health issues, and only one lung.

Jimenez won gold for Mexico in the women’s 58 kg weightlifting competition at the 2000 summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. She lifted a total of 222.5 kg (490.5 pounds), beating the North Korean silver medalist Ri Song-Hui. The victory made her the first female gold medalist from Mexico.

Jimenez retired from the sport of weightlifting after the 2004 summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she did not place.

Police were called to the athlete’s home in the early hours of Thursday morning after a shooting was reported; when they arrived, they found that Pistorius’ girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, had been shot to death, suffering wounds in her arms and head. Right now, officials aren’t releasing many details, but it is widely believed that Steenkamp entered the home in order to surprise her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and he shot her, believing her to be an intruder.

Pistorius–known as “Blade Runner” because of his high-tech prosthetics–is said to have kept several weapons in his home in South Africa due to “previous incidents”, which the police aren’t detailing at this time. It’s thought that the athlete has dealt with intruders in the past, leading him to stock up an arsenal.

Writer Jonathan McEvoy interviewed Pistorius at his home in 2011 and saw the weapons for himself, speculating that Pistorius had begun storing them because of his country’s high crime rate.

“I spoke to him at his house and when we went upstairs to his bedroom so that our photographer could take photos of his running blades, that was when I saw the weapons,” said McEvoy. “There was the pistol by the bed, the machine gun up against the wall, the baseball bat under the window, a cricket bat too. He was concerned by safety and security to a high level, there was no doubt about that.”

The investigation is still ongoing, obviously, and Pistorius has a court date which will likely be held tomorrow. Despite the rumors that it may have been an accident, neighbors reported hearing the sounds of an argument and shouting coming from the home before the shooting occurred.

Reeva Steenkamp
Image: FHM

That doesn’t mean that wrestling won’t be an event at the Olympics, however. The sport will now have to compete with other “shortlisted” sports for inclusion in the 2020 games. Baseball/softball, karate, roller sports (inline skating), sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding, and wushu are other shortlisted sports that will make presentations to the IOC executive board at a meeting in St. Petersburg in May. Following that meeting the executive board will choose which of the shortlisted sports to include in the 2020 games.

From an IOC statement:

In an effort to ensure the Olympic Games remain relevant to sports fans of all generations, the Olympic Programme Commission systematically reviews every sport following each edition of the Games.

The 25 core sports that will definitely be included in the 2020 games are athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, swimming, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing and volleyball.

The location for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be chosen in September 2013 at the 125th IOC Session. The candidate cities are Istanbul, Tokyo, and Madrid.

From Google’s description:

In October 2011 James Cracknell, two-time Olympic gold-medal rower and one of the greatest endurance athletes the world has ever known, suffered a seizure at home as his young son looked on in horror. A man who had known no limits, a man who had practically achieved the impossible, was now struggling to master life’s simple challenges.

A year earlier, as James undertook yet another endurance challenge in Arizona, he was knocked off his bike by the wing mirror of a petrol tanker. It had smashed into the back of his head at high speed, causing severe frontal lobe damage. The doctors weren’t sure if he would recover and, if he did, whether he would ever be the same again.

Check out a few of Google’s other recent At Google Talks here.

Yuriy Bilonog, Svetlana Krivelyova, Ivan Tsikhan, and Iryna Yatchenko have all been ordered to return their medals and diplomas to the IOC “as soon as possible.” Bilonog, the Ukrainian who won the gold medal in men’s shot put, and Krivelyova, the Russian who won the bronze medal in women’s shot put, both tested positive for oxandrolone metabolite. Tsikhan, who won the silver medal in men’s hammer throw, and Yatchenko, who won the bronze medal in women’s discus throw, are both from Belarus and tested positive for methandienone metabolite. Both oxandrlone and methandienone are anabolic androgenic steroids.

In addition to these four athletes, the IOC stated that it has one case still pending.

The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency decided to re-test “a number” of samples from the 2004 Games after targeted testing based on intelligence and new methods of detection. The committee keeps urine samples for eight years after each Olympic Games so they can be re-tested when new detection methods are discovered or when new substances are added to the list of banned substances.

Campbell’s athletic talents started while he was in high school when he got involved in track (as well as swimming). During high school, Campbell secured a place in the 1952 Olympics for the decathlon event. During the 1952 Olympics, Campbell did not win; however, he did come pretty close with a silver medal. Four years later in the 1956 Olympics, Campbell achieved victory by winning the gold medal for the decathlon event. This made Campbell the first African-American winner for the decathlon.

In 1957, a year after his success, Campbell was drafted for the Cleveland Browns football team, later playing for the Montreal Alouettes until he retired from football in 1964.

Earlier this year, Campbell was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame (his home state).

On Friday, November 2nd, 2012, Milt Campbell died at the age of 78. His long-time partner Linda Rusch reported to the Associated Press that Campbell had been fighting prostate cancer for quite a long time.

Various fans of Campbell’s talent in the Twitterverse have been posting their respects:

Follow @IamSammyE

Samantha Enaw
@IamSammyE

on a sad note,RIP Milt Campbell. Thanks for all the future olympians!

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
3 hours ago via Twitter for Android · powered by @socialditto

Follow @MedhinAdam

Medhin Adam
@MedhinAdam

Milt Campbell, the first African American Olympic medalist in the decathelon is a true a hero. He deserves more recognition than he recieved

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4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Follow @CCapozzoli

Charlie Capozzoli
@CCapozzoli

My prayers for Milt Campbell who died, a black Olympian Gold Medalists 1956, and my roommate in !952 when traveling in Finland. Loved him!

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3 hours ago via Mobile Web · powered by @socialditto

Tonight a 24-hour torch relay will begin the countdown to the opening of the games. The Paralympic Flame will be carried by torches 92 miles through English communities. 116 teams of five people will carry the torch to its destination at the opening ceremony in Stoke Mandevill Stadium tomorrow evening. The torches will originate from the four highest mountain peaks in Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games will run from tomorrow until September 9 and will use many of the same venues that the London 2012 Olympic Games did. Many of the sports featured in the Paralympic Games are also the same as those in the Olympics, including, archery, equestrian, judo, powerlifting, rowing, and swimming. Special equipment is often used by Paralympic athletes when competing, and some sports, such as sitting volleyball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair basketball are unique to the Paralympic Games.

The Summer Paralympics began in 1960 with the first games held in Rome. The Paralympic Games are held immediately following the Olympic Games, and Winter Paralympic Games began in 1976. Paralympic athletes compete in categories specific to their impairment, including limb deficiency or loss, ataxia, visual impairment, short stature, and intellectual impairment.

Sports fans can watch the 2012 Paralympic Games from the Paralympics website, which will stream five different channels of live Paralympics coverage. Check out the preview video of the games below, which look every bit as exciting as this year’s Olympic Games.