Sports

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne.

As the U.S. men's gymnastics team struggles to adjust to the London arena, where they will compete, they're thinking more about pink than gold. That's because the competition floor is covered in hot pink. In a room Barbie would love, the men's team says it's not about gender norms but rather an array of colors making it hard to spot the high bars. As one gymnast put it, real men do compete on pink floors.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And I'm Linda Wertheimer.

This morning in London, Big Ben rang out.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL TOLLING)

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Mitt Romney has begun an overseas trip meant to burnish his foreign policy credentials, but his first day veered severely off-script. His visit to London yesterday offered an opportunity to highlight his experience turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. Instead, Romney caused a diplomatic incident that snowballed as the day went on. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

U.S.gymnast McKayla Maroney will compete in the London Summer Games, despite the lingering effects of a broken toe. Maroney, a gold medal contender, is the reigning world champion in the vault. Early reports suggested that Maroney broke her toe in London. But it appears that she merely tweaked an earlier injury.

On Twitter, NBC producer Alexa Ainsworth clarified that Maroney's toe "was broken before Classic and she just aggravated that here."

A number of events got started even before the official opening, including men's and women's soccer. Already, the US women's team has claimed its first win. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman reports from London with a look at what to watch for at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan, and such an Ichiro Suzuki devotee he wrote a song about the outfielder. Though he wrote it years ago, he decided this week — when Suzuki was traded to the New York Yankees — was the right time to release "Ichiro's Theme."