The Olympics Pulse

The Olympics Pulse unearths the best videos, stories, tweets and gossip ahead of the Games - use the icons above to share and post your comments at the bottom.

VIDEO (14/08): Ok, the Olympics are over but here's a slightly tongue-in-cheek look back at some of the more light-hearted moments of the Games from the BBC. Ok, it's not laugh-out-loud stuff but it'll at least muster a wry smile.

VIDEO (13/08): Here's some of Britain's top Olympians lip-syncing along to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. We didn't want it to stop at all either.

VIDEO (13/08): While we're on the subject of montages, here's the BBC's Games-closing effort from the last two weeks or so of action.

VIDEO (13/08): A mouth-watering trailer of 9.79, a film on arguably the dirtiest race in history, the 100m final at the 1988 Olympics.

VIDEO (13/08): The Olympics clearly isn't merely about winning, as has often been said it's also about the taking part. Britain's Dominic King may have finished 51st and last in the men's 50km walk 39 minutes behind the winner. The crowd agree and he gets a great reception before ending up in a wheelchair.

VIDEO (13/08): Here's a nice touch as two of the greatest athletes at London 2012, Usain Bolt and Mo Farah swap celebrations on the podium at the last night of action inside the Olympic Stadium.

VIDEO (10/08): Ireland's boxing coaches have suggested that Katie Taylor, who won gold for Irish in the women's boxing, could beat up a lot of male counterparts. Watching this clip against Paddy Barnes, they might have a point.

VIDEO (09/08): Ok, we're a bit late with this one but its Sir Chris Hoy's mother Carol as he hurtled around the track on his way to winning keirin gold. To say she couldn't bear to watch was something of an understatement.

VIDEO/AUDIO (09/08): You can watch this one but really it's better to simply listen. It's BBC basketball commentator Mike Carlson getting hit by a ball while minding his own business in the commentary booth. He takes it well, or maybe not.

VIDEO (08/08): Ivan Ukhov is the new high jump Olympic champion. Being sober probably helped the Russian - apparently he enjoyed a few too many sherbets when competing in a competition a few years ago.

PICTURE (08/08): Even Andy Murray's dogs Rusty and Maggie May are having more success than the Aussies.

VIDEO (07/08): Australia have had a truly woeful Olympics and there has not been their typical gold rush to date. At least they can see the funny side of it...

PICTURE (07/08): How do you celebrate winning Olympic gold? Well, if you're Usain Bolt, you celebrate with the Swedish women's handball team of course.

PICTURE (07/08): For those of you old enough to remember, British long jumper Greg Rutherford bears an uncanny resemblance to Doogie Howser MD, aka American actor Neil Patrick Harris, who now stars in How I Met Your Mother.

VIDEO (07/08): We're pretty sure that this is not what Germany's Stephan Feck was planning off the 3m springboard. Britain's Jack Laugher had his own problems.

VIDEO (06/08): Someone seriously has a lot of time on their hands. Here's the men's coxless four in Lego. Apparently the highlights of the race weren't deemed sufficient.

VIDEO (06/08): And while we're on the subject of pointless Olympic related videos, here's an homage to Dick Fosbury in old style video game format.

VIDEO (06/08): Being a photographer at the Olympic Stadium is a precarious business. Just ask this snapper as he takes evasive action from a very wayward throw by British discus competitor Lawrence Okoye.

VIDEO (03/08): Ben Ainslie is rather a mild-mannered chap off the water but, on it, he's something of a demon. Here's his reaction after getting riled by his rivals in yesterday's racing. Check out his eyes - the guy means business.

VIDEO (31/07): The French women's basketball team looked to be on course for victory in their game against Australia. Trick is don't tell an Aussie it's game over or else this happens...

VIDEO (30/07): Here's the American swim team being the latest sporting group to cover Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe. So quite nice moves in there, particular the sequence on the plane with them flying over to London.

VIDEO (30/07): Ever wondered what it's like to lift more than three times your body weight. Only three lifters have ever done it, among them Yun Chol Om, of North Korea, who did so in the 56kg category.

VIDEO (30/07): Ever Olympic Games of recent times has boasted an Eric the Eel, someone from an untraditional Olympic nation that struggles to keep up with the best out there. The latest entry is single sculler Hammadou Djibo Issaka. Can we suggest Hammadou the Hedgehog?

VIDEO (26/07): Michael Phelps is bidding to win seven gold medals at this Olympics to add to the eight that he won at the last Games. His biggest rival for that in what could be the biggest duel of the entire Olympics is fellow American Ryan Lochte. Anyway, here's how Lochte trains, which includes rolling over tyres and throwing beer kegs in the air.

VIDEO (25/07): "Something nasty is going to happen to you. Welcome to the so-called Games." That's the message from "fluff-headed loon" Boris Johnson, who also calls Lord Coe "one of the biggest thugs and creeps in world history" in this spoof Olympic welcome package.

VIDEO (25/07): There's nothing more annoying than having a photo ruined by some random person jumping in the middle of the snap. Well that's exactly what happened to unsuspecting members of the public in this photo booth next to the Olympic Park. Just leave them alone, David.

VIDEO (24/07): The United States women's football team let their hair down ahead of the Olympics by lip syncing along to Miley Cyrus's tune 'Party in the USA'.

VIDEO (23/07): Keith Lemon comes face to face with Team GB's cyclists ahead of the Games. Some good dead-pan efforts from Sir Chris Hoy.

VIDEO (23/07): Here's GSK's pre-Olympic advert. It looks good, the only problem is they chose an athlete for the video who ended up failing to qualify for Team GB.

VIDEO (20/07): Jessica Ennis - she's one of our leading gold medal hopes for the Olympics but it's not all glitz and glamour for her. Here's the third of a four-part series by the BBC on the Sheffield athlete.

VIDEO (17/07): Want to know what makes Usain Bolt tick? Well check out this excellent BBC documentary on the fastest man on the planet from last night.

VIDEO (13/07): Here's the American Olympic team being asked what they know about London. It entails Austin Powers, skeleton, taxi drivers, tea and Prince William.

VIDEO (11/07): The list of luminaries carrying the Olympic torch has been eclectic, to say the least. Who's this parading the flame through Windsor? Those who remember the 1990 and 1994 World Cups will recognise Colombia's most capped player, Carlos Valderrama, and that distinctive barnet. As the bloke who filmed this video says, 'Random!'

VIDEO (06/07): Here's members of the United States Olympic team attempting cockney accents in the build-up to the Games. It brings back memories of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

VIDEO (05/07): Double amputee Oscar Pistorius will run at the Olympic Games after being selected for the 400m and 4x400m relay by South Africa. Here's a little advert of him in action.

VIDEO (04/07): Most race winners lift their arms in the air and smile. After winning European gold in the 3,000m steeplechase, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad's reaction was to lash out at the 14-year-old mascot.

VIDEO (04/07): The Olympic Torch has been carried in all manner of different ways during its relay across the UK but being taken up into the skies on a jet pack in Leicester has to be one of the most novel.

VIDEO (03/07): If you want to get in the mood for the Olympics then you could do worse than watching this. Goosebumps.

VIDEO (02/07): Usain Bolt had previously been labelled unbeatable going into London 2012 and why not, he's the world fastest man. Anyway, that Olympic crown could be under threat from his training partner Yohan Blake, who beat Bolt to the 100m and 200m titles at the Jamaican Olympic trials at the weekend.

VIDEO (02/07): Check out the BBC's Olympics trailer for London 2012; a minute's worth of animation. We'll let you decide if it's any good or not.

VIDEO (27/06): All manner of bands and singers have been lined up to release Olympic songs. Here's one of the first to be released - it's Muse's 'Survival'. We're not sure what Baron Pierre de Coubertain would have made of it.

VIDEO (27/06): Michael Phelps, winner of an incredible eight gold medals at the last Olympics, is currently in the midst of the US trials trying to qualifying for the Games in all those events. When not swimming, he likes nothing more than to pose with supermodels. It's a hard day's work.

VIDEO (26/06): We know Usain Bolt is quick but what's he like as a musician. Here he is appearing in a DJ Steve Porter remix complete with a few dance moves.

VIDEO (25/06): The Americans have a very clear format to decide their Olympic athletics spots - the first three to cross the line automatically qualify. Ordinarily, that's fine except in the case of Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, who had a dead heat for third in the 100m at the weekend. It means that the selection could come down to a simple toss of the coin.

PIC (14/06): It appears that Team GB may have a late contender for an Olympic spot as the Duchess of Cambridge tries her hand at javelin.

VIDEO (13/06): Daley Thompson has two Olympic gold medals but might consider an acting career after this Mini advert for the Olympics in an ode to the Italian Job, which also features former Olympians James Cracknell, Jonathan Edwards and Matthew Pinsent. There's some impressive car-chase action through the streets of London.

PIC (11/06): Usain Bolt may be the fastest man on two legs but it turns out he's quite nippy on two wheels as well. Here's his car after he wrecked it in the early hours at the weekend on his way home from a nightclub. Hardly the ideal preparation for the Olympics.

VIDEO (08/06): Usain Bolt lay down his credentials as the fastest man in the world again in Oslo last night with yet another convincing victory but, as this clip shows, the Jamaican likes to dance.

VIDEO (07/06): Following in the footsteps of Will.I.Am, Olympic torch lookalikes Jedward have carried the flame through the streets of Dublin. S Club 7 and Steps are rumoured to be next in line.

STORY (06/06): Britain's athletes have been overshadowed by the Plastic Brits row and by the eligibility of some to compete for the Olympic host nation. In a bid to avoid further controversy UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee has revealed that each athlete will be given the national anthem to learn.

VIDEO (05/06): British 400m hurdler Perri Shakes-Drayton should be prepping for the Olympics, but she's popping up in rap videos instead. FF to 2 mins, 52 seconds to catch a glimpse and keep an eye out for David Haye too.

VIDEO (04/06): One of the best things about the Olympics is how athletes from across the world bring their own distinct techniques to the different sports. This Chinese hurdler, for example, brings his own innovative and hilarious style.

VIDEO (04/06): Meanwhile, it's thought this girl narrowly missed out on the qualifying time for the Irish women's team. Bet her knees stung the next morning!

VIDEO (01/06): You've probably been hearing Aaron Cook's name a lot lately after the British Taekwondo electors controversially left him out of the Olympic squad. The decision has been appealed which means we might see more of this.

VIDEO (30/05): The Olympic torch has already been carried by a novel mix of people but among the stand-outs has been former explorer Chris Bonnington taking it to the top of Snowdon.

VIDEO (30/05): Ben Ainslie is bidding for a fourth straight gold medal at this summer's Olympics. But if you want to see what makes him tick, check this out en route to him bagging yet another world title.

STORY (24/05): Calls have been made to turn netball into an Olympic sport in the future and why not. With names like the Vixens and moves straight from the rugby field, what's not to like.

VIDEO (23/05): William Hill were among the bookmakers to offer odds of 100-1 that the Olympic torch would not blow out. Their money, as usual, is safe. Less than a week into its route, it did. Cue a momentary panic, a new torch and a lighter.

STORY (22/05): Alcohol has been blamed for Russia's poor showing at the last Olympics. As a result, drinking has been banned for the entire squad, the management included, during the Games, and that even includes for medal celebrations.

STORY (16/05): Australian shooter Russell Mark should be easy enough to spot at the Olympic opening ceremony. After losing a bet, he'll be wearing a "mankini". Mark, who won gold at the 1996 Games and silver four years later, agreed to wear the swimsuit made famous by Borat if Carlton lost to St Kilda in the Australian Football League. A spokesman for the Australian Olympic Committee said: "This will be his sixth Olympics and he has a chance to be named as flag bearer. Imagine the flag bearer out in front of our team in a mankini, and a big, butch shooter at that."

VIDEO (08/05): It's not often that gymnastics makes it into the pulse but this Russian trio are something else, particularly the little one who is repeatedly hurtled through the air. Don't try this at home!

VIDEO (08/05): The BBC's John Inverdale accidently dunks two boys in the river after pushing their boat from the bank during filming.

VIDEO (23/04): If you're the emotional sort, maybe this is one to dodge. But it sort of gets you in the mood for the Games, well, for all the mums out there anyway.

VIDEO (20/04): This is an, erm, interesting technique for the long jump. Not sure if it will catch on in time for the London Games.

VIDEO (19/04): The challenge is on to Team GB heading into the Olympics, in dancing terms anyway. Here's members of Team USA busting some moves, including some nice efforts from cyclist Taylor Phinney.

VIDEO (06/04): Keith Lemon gets a bit too up close and personal with some of Britain's leading Olympians. Bang tidy.

VIDEO (06/04): It would seem it's never too late to take up gymnastics. Watch this routine from a surprisingly agile 86-year-old (all credit to the Guardian for this one).

STORY (30/03): Nathan Adrian made a name for himself in more ways than one last night as he beat the great Michael Phelps in the 100m freestyle in Indianapolis. His race win wasn't the headline though but the fact that his trunks split on the starting block. As for the size of the tear, he explained: "Stretched out, it was my full butt crack. I was on the block bending over. What could I do? It was near 'take your mark'. I'm not going to stop."

VIDEO (27/03): Zara Phillips is bidding for a place in the British equestrian team at London 2012, but if Olympic medals were handed out for cold stares, she'd win gold. Check her and Sir Steve Redgrave out in this Sport Relief clip with the Twenty Twelve team.

VIDEO (26/03): Borat continues to haunt Kazakhstan after his spoof national anthem was mistakenly played instead of the real one at the Arab Rifle Shooting Championships. Lyrics including, "Kazakhstan prostitutes cleanest in the region", blared around the stadium as Kazakh competitor Maria Dmitrienko collected her gold medal. Organisers apologised and blamed it on an error when downloading the anthem from the Internet.

VIDEO (20/03): Usain Bolt's agent has certainly been a busy boy. Here is the Olympic champion picking up some off-track dollars from Visa for a rather nifty new advert.

VIDEO (19/03): Usain Bolt may be the fastest man on the planet but the Jamaican has claimed that, were he not a sprinter, he'd be playing football for Manchester United. Anyway, here's the runner showing his footballing skills with his agent Ricky Simms at a photoshoot.

VIDEO (16/03): It's Mother's Day on Sunday but that's no excuse for this from P&G with their Olympic athletes. It's a little sick-inducing, particularly the hearts at the end from the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Jessica Ennis.

VIDEO (16/03): Here's Kate Middleton putting in a late shout to take part in the Olympics as she plays hockey at the Olympic Park earlier this week.

STORY (14/03): Logan Campbell has taken an unusual route to Olympics selection. The New Zealand taekwondo athlete opened an escort agency in Wellington in order to raise the funds he needed to get to the Games. He has since sold the agency, raised sufficient money and this week was awarded a place in the Kiwi team to come to London later this summer.

VIDEO (09/03): The American-born athlete Tiffany Porter, one of the so-called "Plastic Brits" in Team GB's athletics line-up, has been named as captain for the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul this weekend. Her appointment led to a bit of a frosty exchange in the pre-event press conference when she refused to sing the national anthem.

STORY (09/03): The GB Rowing Senior Trials take place on the Olympic course at Eton Dorney this weekend but there's already a bit of needle in the build-up. A Twitter war of words has broken out after Zac Purchase, defending champion in the lightweight men's event, wrote after being rested for the event that "it gives someone else the chance of glory for a change". His teammate Richard Chambers then tweeted: "This is an arrogant blog and insulting to the rest of our lightweight team," before another team member Andrew Triggs Hodge added, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks a certain small rower is an absolute prat. Prima Donna". So, slightly choppy waters within the team before the event kicks off tomorrow.

VIDEO (07/03): Joe Thomas is Britain's current No.1 800m runner, so good on him for playing a role in this Olympic comedy clip featuring former Welsh 800m indoor record holder Jimmy Watkins. Please be warned there's a bit of bad language in this.

STORY (05/03): Britain may have some ageing Olympians heading to London 2012 but they have nothing on one Japanese competitor, who will be competing in the capital at the ripe old age of 71. Hiroshi Hoketsu has just qualified in the dressage and afterwards described it as "a miracle".

STORY (03/03): Here's an interesting view of this summer's Games from the New York Times. Some might argue their views on Londoners are uncomfortably accurate.

VIDEO (01/03): Badminton is big news in China particularly in Olympic year. So naturally, their top players have made a music video.

STORY (01/03): The latest 'sport' making a bid for Olympic inclusion is.... yoga. A spokesman for USA Yoga said this week: "USA Yoga's goal is to join with similar organisations in other countries to form an international yoga federation and to qualify Yoga Asana as an Olympic sport." If they succeed, the world's top squash officials may be put on suicide watch.