London 2012: Finishing touches

Ahead of the Olympic opening ceremonies Friday, venue workers and athletes prepare on-site for the Summer Games.

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July 27, 2012

The royal barge Gloriana carries the Olympic flame as it makes its way down the River Thames toward Richmond Bridge during the final day of the Olympic torch relay in London.

Ben Birchall / AP

July 27, 2012

Four-time Olympic rowing gold medallist Matthew Pinsent holds the Olympic Torch at the courtyard of Hampton Court Palace in London.

Sang Tan / AP

July 27, 2012

First lady Michelle Obama stops for a photo with members of the women's basketball team after speaking at a breakfast with Team USA in London.

Darron Cummings / AP

July 27, 2012

Tom Daley of Britain showers during a practice session at the aquatics center in Olympic Park.

Al Bello / Getty Images

July 27, 2012

Jennet Saryyeva of Turkmenistan puts on her goggles during a practice session at the aquatics center in the Olympic Park.

Daniel Ochoa De Olza / AP

July 27, 2012

South Korea's Im Dong-Hyun, right, inspects his arrows on the target next to Taiwan's Kuo Cheng-Wei, in blue, during an individual ranking round. Dong-Hyun set a world record in the round with a 699 score.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

July 27, 2012

Princess Anne watches on during the archery ranking round at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

Paul Gilham / Getty Images

July 27, 2012

A cyclist of Belgium rides the track during a track cycling practice session at the velodrome in Olympic Park.

Lars Baron / Getty Images

July 26, 2012

Daniel Mccubbin holds the Olympic Flame inside St. Pancras International Railway Station on Day 69 of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay in London.

Gareth Fuller / AP

July 26, 2012

Kate Nesbitt, the first female member of the British Royal Navy and the second woman in the British armed forces to be awarded the Military Cross, carries the Olympic torch.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

July 26, 2012

The German men's eights rowing team trains at Eton Dorney, in southern England.

Darren Whiteside / Reuters

July 26, 2012

Weightlifter Holley Mangold, of the United States, trains in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Originally, Mangold was thought of to be a likely candidate for the 2016 games, but adding 70 pounds to her lifts over the past year has helped her earn a spot in London.

Hassan Ammar / AP

July 26, 2012

Divers train before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The diving competition begins July 29.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

July 26, 2012

An Australian gymnast trains on the uneven bars. The gymnastics competitions begin July 28.

Gregory Bull / AP

July 26, 2012

Brazil's Talita Rocha takes part in a practice session for the women's beach volleyball competition.

Sergio Moraes / Reuters

July 26, 2012

Venus Williams of the United States serves during practice at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Williams, who won singles gold in 2000, has been trying to mount a career comeback after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease last year. She called the 2012 Games “the ultimate achievement” for her. “This Olympics is more exciting for me,” she said. “All the other ones, I didn’t have to worry whether or not I would make it. I was on top of the rankings. I didn’t have any problems. It was, for a lack of a better word, for granted. But this time, I had to fight so hard for it, just to get in contention and come back from so much.” The tennis competition begins July 28.

Elise Amendola / AP

July 26, 2012

Table tennis players practice at the ExCel Arena in London. The Olympics first held a table tennis competition in 1988, and three players this year — Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive, Sweden’s Jorgen Persson and Croatia’s Zoran Primorac — have competed in every Olympic tournament since then. China is expected to sweep the four gold medals in the sport this year, and has won 20 of 24 in the previous Olympics.

Feng Li / Getty Images

July 26, 2012

Casey Eichfeld of the United States trains for the men's C1 canoe slalom. He represented the U.S. in double canoe at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, finishing 11th.

Victor Caivano / AP

July 25, 2012

France's Elodie Thomis, No. 12, fights for the ball against the United States’ Shannon Boxx, No. 7, and Christie Rampone, right, during a women's Group G soccer match at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The U.S. women won 4-2.

David Moir / Reuters

July 25, 2012

Ryan Lochte of the United States dives off the starting block during a training session at the Aquatics Center in London’s Olympic Park.

Al Bello / Getty Images

July 25, 2012

An unidentified swimmer looks through a pool window during practice at the Aquatics Center.

Matt Slocum / AP

July 25, 2012

U.S. athlete Tyson Gay takes part in a training session at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. He is set to compete in the 100-meter and 4 x 100-meter relay events.

Andrew Yates / AFP/Getty Images

July 24, 2012

Olympic rings mark a dedicated Olympic Lane on Southampton Row near Russell Square in London. Quiet now, the roads are expected to be quite congested during the Games.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

July 24, 2012

Several athletes work out on the practice courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and Croquet Club in preparation for the Summer Olympics.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

July 24, 2012

The Chinese women's synchronized team rehearses at the Aquatics Center.

Lee Jin-man / AP

July 24, 2012

Laser Radial sailors practice on Portland Harbor off Dorset, England.

Chris Ison / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

James Gandolfini stars as Tony Soprano in the critically acclaimed HBO series 'The Sopranos.' The show received 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, July 22, 1999, including best dramatic series and best actor for Gandolfini. It is the first cable show ever recognized in the dramatic series category. (AP Photo/HO, HBO, Anthony Nesta) Original Filename: EMMY NOMINATIONS.jpg ORG XMIT: LA109

James Gandolfini dies at 51

James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO’s “The Sopranos” helped create one of TV’s greatest drama series and turned...

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Vice President Joe Biden speaks before the Frederick Douglass statue now permanently placed in the US Capitol's Emancipation Hall in Washington, DC on June 19, 2013. The statue of the abolition leader was chosen by District residents to represent them in the Capitol because of his stance on self governance according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The statue by artist Steven Weitzman, was blocked from it's placement in the Capitol for years, a victim of rules that stated that only the 50 states can display statues of their favored sons and daughters in the Capitol. The House and Senate passed a resolution last month allowing DC to be represented in Emancipation Hall which features statues of notable leaders nominated by each state. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in the Capitol

The carving of the famed abolitionist and District advocate finds its place inside the halls of Congress.

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

Royal Ascot, protests in Brazil, Lego exhibition, flooding in India, Cheetah-Cub robot and more.

Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Johnathon’s journey

Johnathon Carrington graduated Friday as the valedictorian of his neighborhood school, Dunbar High, and is headed to Georgetown University. But Carrington, 17, is nervous, and so are...

In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil’s other soccer fields

With the Confederations Cup opening this week and the World Cup one year away, all eyes are on Brazil, where soccer is arguably played with more passion and art than anywhere else....

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

A look inside a high-security prison camp outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia

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