Medals

The age-old rivalry between Australia and Britain provided one of the more entertaining subplots at the 2012 London Olympics. Before the competition began, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham summed up the animosity between the nations, using slang to describe the British athletes. "I think we always want to stick it to the Poms," he said. But words mean little at the Games; the medal count has the final say. By that tally, the home team won convincingly -- 65-35 -- and Australia ended up as one of several countries that walked away at least slightly disappointed.

The Olympics have come and gone for Bryshon Nellum. So has the pain in his legs that made his success in London last summer so amazing. His story was seized upon, correctly so, by much of the media in London, even non-U.S. outlets. After all, even in something as huge as the Olympics, how many athletes win a silver medal in a track event after being shot in the legs and told by doctors they'd never again be a world-class runner? More so, how many carry their country's flag in the closing ceremony?

Top medal winners by country: * COMPLETE MEDAL STANDINGS: S4 *--* Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Germany 9 10 5 24 United States 7 8 5 20 Austria 8 6 5 19 Russia 8 3 8 19 Canada 5 8 6 19 *--*

E.L. Konigsburg, who was one of the few children's authors to twice win the Newbery Medal, died Friday at a hospital in Falls Church, Va. She was 83. Konigsburg had a stroke the week before she died, said her son Paul. She won the Newbery Medal, one of the top honors for children's literature, in 1968 for the book "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" and again in 1997 for "The View from Saturday. " Her first book, "Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth" was also a Newbery honor book in 1968 but lost out to "Mrs.

TRACK AND FIELD Men, 400 Hurdles * Gold--Nils Schumann, Germany; Silver--Wilson Kipketer, Denmark; Bronze--Aissa Djabir Said Guerni, Algeria Men, 800 * Gold--Nils Schumann, Germany; Silver--Wilson Kipketer, Denmark; Bronze--Aissa Djabir Said Guerni, Algeria Women, 100 Hurdles * Gold--Olga Shishigina, Kazakstan; Silver--Gloria Alozie, Nigeria; Bronze--Melissa Morrison, Kannapolis, N.C.

LONDON - Natalie Coughlin could swim one more time in the Olympics, giving her the chance to win more medals than any female swimmer in U.S. history. Coughlin is under consideration to swim in the 400-meter medley relay, U.S. women's coach Teri McKeever said Tuesday. "We haven't made any decisions yet," he added. Coughlin did not qualify to swim in any individual events. She won her 12th medal last Saturday, as part of the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team, tying Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most medals by a female American swimmer.

Prosecutors say more than a dozen veterans across the country have been duped out of their medals by a man who promised to frame the decorations for them but then replaced them with cheap imitations. Stephen Pyne, 35, a budget official for rural Carroll County north of Baltimore, was charged Wednesday with stealing military decorations from three retired military officers around Annapolis.

The Navy's chief investigator concluded Friday that procedures were followed properly in the approval of Sen. John F. Kerry's Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Heart medals, according to an internal Navy memo. Vice Adm. R.A. Route, the Navy inspector general, conducted the review of Kerry's Vietnam-era military service awards at the request of Judicial Watch, a public interest group.

Relatives of Quincy Watts, an Olympic champion sprinter from Taft High in Woodland Hills, were the victims of robbery in Inglewood late Tuesday night that resulted in the loss of Watts' two Olympic gold medals won in 1992. According to a report by Inglewood police, two female relatives of Watts were confronted by three armed men in the garage of his grandparents' home after returning from shopping at approximately 11 p.m.

Someone ought to advise KNBC that, in the matter of winning Paul Moyers' return, they may have medaled, but they didn't get the gold. In the argot of the Olympics, the news anchor gold goes to Ann Martin of KABC. She wins on sincerity, empathy, articulation, personality and grace. A 10. Jake Angelin, Los Angeles

Those who ran in this year's Boston Marathon will never forget it. And those who didn't can buy a piece of the tragic run for about $200 to $300. At least five Boston Marathon finisher's medals -- traditionally given out exclusively to those who completed the 26.2-mile race -- were listed for sale on eBay after twin blasts rocked the race, killing three people and wounding more than 170. " It has been brought to our attention that this year's Boston Marathon Finisher's medallions have shown up on E-Bay," the medal maker, Ashworth Awards, said on Facebook on Wednesday evening.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously Thursday to former Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun, a Korean War officer who is better remembered for his humility and kindness in prison camps than for his role in combat. “This is an amazing story,” Obama said at the ceremony. “Father Kapaun has been called a shepherd in combat boots.” Kapaun, a Catholic priest from Kansas, died in a North Korean prison camp 62 years ago. A handful of Korean War veterans, some of whom served with Kapaun, attended Thursday's ceremony.

WASHINGTON - When men who served in the Korean War with Emil Kapaun describe him, they do not talk about the acts most commonly associated with the Medal of Honor: He fell on no grenades, captured no enemy machine guns, killed no enemy soldiers. For those who spent time with him in North Korean prison camps, the Army chaplain's most heroic acts were sharing food he stole from nearby farms, washing men sick with dysentery and persuading many to keep up the brutal struggle for life.

Mike Krzyzewski said again Tuesday he doesn't plan to return as U.S. men's basketball coach after leading the Americans to two Olympic gold medals. Saying "my stance hasn't changed," Krzyzewski told ESPN Radio he expects USA Basketball to name a new coach this summer. The Hall of Fame coach from Duke said during and after last summer's Olympics that he wasn't planning to return to the position he's held with the national team since 2005. However, he still hasn't confirmed that decision with USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo, who has said they will talk after the college season.

Ted Ligety has joined some of skiing's legends. And in doing so, the American catapulted himself into the sport's biggest spotlight heading into next year's Sochi Olympics. By winning Friday's giant slalom at Schladming, Austria, by a massive margin, Ligety became the first man in 45 years to win three gold medals at a skiing world championships - since French great Jean-Claude Killy took home four golds in 1968. "I still don't think I recognize what I've done this week," Ligety said.

Santa could come early to Santa Ana's cultural scene this year: the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced Thursday that both the Discovery Science Center and the Santa Public Library are finalists for its 2013 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for community service in the two fields. The Discovery Science Center aims to expand in the near future to a second site in the San Fernando Valley at the northern edge of Los Angeles.

Jessica Geiser and Mathew Morgan are the sort of teens most parents would love to have -- industrious, athletic, outgoing and community-minded. On Tuesday, Geiser, 17, a senior at Nordhoff High School in Ojai, and Morgan, 18, a freshman at USC, each took home a congressional medal in recognition of their initiative, dedication to public service and personal achievement.

U.S. skier Ted Ligety is on the verge of joining some elite company. He has already won gold medals in the super-G and super-combined at the world championships in Austria this week, so if Ligety wins the giant slalom Friday, he will become the first man to win three or more gold medals at a world championships since skiing legend  Jean-Claude Killy won four gold medals in 1968. By the way, Ligety's specialty is the giant slalom, and he is favored to win Friday. So, no pressure at all. “I did not expect to have two gold medals,” Ligety said.

The fallout from the International Olympic Committee's stunning decision to drop wrestling from the Summer Games beginning in 2020 has drawn outrage from wrestling officials and competitors around the world. Former Olympic champion Cael Sanderson of the U.S. said Tuesday that his sport's appearance at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games would not be its last. "It might just awaken a sleeping giant here,” the 2004 Athens champion in 84-kilogram freestyle told the Associated Press.