When is an Olympic event not an Olympic event?
Olympics
LIFE at the 1948 London Olympics
As the 2012 London Olympics get underway, LIFE.com looks back in photos at another summer Olympiad in the great English capital, seven decades ago, when the city hosted the 1948 Games
Q&A: Suttirat Larlarb, Olympic Opening Ceremony Costume Designer
The designer talks about the scale of the Opening Ceremony and Danny Boyle’s vision
13 Winning Olympic Apps
Go for the Gold with TIME’s list of essential Olympics apps for smartphones and tablets
The Worst Ever Opening Ceremonies
The goal is to put on a show that wows the world and doesn’t embarrass the host nation. But that doesn’t always happen.
Five Places to Escape the Olympic Crowds
The summer hideaways that will give you a respite from host city chaos
Liang Chow’s Gymnastics Coaching Journey: From Beijing to West Des Moines
Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones with inspiring journeys: Liang Chow built a reputation as an elite gymnastics coach from scratch
Olympic Soccer Screw Up: After Flag-Gate Comes Welshman-Gate
Olympic officials are now two for two when it comes to embarrasing episodes in the soccer
A Young Olympian: Diver Carolina Mendoza’s Path to London
Although she is one of the youngest athletes set to compete in this summer’s Olympic games, 15-year-old Carolina Mendoza displays a maturity beyond her years through her training
The Wrestlers of Chechnya: Photographs by Yuri Kozyrev
The dusty Russian town of Khasav-Yurt, which the locals like to call the Wrestlers’ Mecca, boasts the greatest concentration of wrestling champions in the world