team great britain's jessica ennis has gotten off to a fantastic start. for some people, this is the main show of the olympic spirit you will have stars like bolt and blake out there competing in the 100 meters but i think the heat starts tomorrow. you also see some of the kenyan runners, as well, in the distance events. a lot of excitement as the athletics competition starts today. more from us a bit later on. you are watching "bbc world news." news."

number 12 went to the poster girl for the plbritish olympics jessica ennis. >> i can't tell you how amazing it feels to come out tough. >> reporter: 13 the unexpected jump for gold. and tapping off the glorious gold rush the 10,000 meter. the entire stadium was on its feet. the cheers deafening. off the air even bbc analysts made no pretense of objectivity. the morning newspapers headlines superilative. >> divided by population. >> reporter: the mood is so euphoric that even after the woman marathoner pulled out with an injury rain soaked crowds lined the street six deep to cheer. for a country in lead of a lift this could be a transformational moment. >> the roar of the crowd as we got one gold after another, that meant more than anything else. we seem to be a country that is changing. >> reporter: unlikely national eerie anhero handy murray lifte hometown and his country to a place of hope and glory and a promise of more to come. >> andy murray also played mixed doubles and had a silver medal. tonight around britain they are calling these the golden games. >> we were told it is uncanadian

>> reporter: number 12 went to the poster girls for the british olympics, jessica ennis, in heptathlon. >> and the coronation is complete. >> i cannot tell you how amazing it feels to have gotten through the whole heptathlon and come out on top. >> reporter: 13 the unexpected jump for gold by greg rutherford. and capping off the glorious gold rush mo farah won the 10,000 meters. the entire stadium was on its feet. the cheers deafening. off the air even bbc analysts made no pretense of objectivity. the morning newspapers headlines superlatives. and the entire country seems to be on a communal high. >> do you know where you are in the medals standing now? >> the number of medals divided by population, we're top by a long way. >> reporter: even after team gb's woman marathoner pulled out with an injury, rain-soaked crowds lined the streets six deep to cheer. for a country in economic gloom and desperately in need of a lift this could be a transformational moment. >> the roar of the crowd as we got one gold after another, that meant more than anything else. it's so unbritish. and yet we se

now the so-called face of the twenty twelve games jessica ennis has been speaking after being crowned head tackle on champion the british athlete claimed gold on saturday to the delight of the home crowd but admits there have been times in the build up where the pressure has begun to tell. if you. my fiance were you know wondering if it is all going to go the way i wanted it to or whether it would happen full of . huge amount of pressure but again just such a unique position i was in to make the most of. it just make sure that i. did well elsewhere the most decorated olympian of all time has been speaking on his first day of retirement american swimmer michael phelps bowed out of the sport winning gold for the usa in the four by one hundred meter medley relay on saturday it was a fitting end for the twenty seven year old who has won more limpid medals than any other person in history it was remarkably his eighteenth gold medal his twenty second overall phelps now says he's looking forward to coming to measure. i think the biggest thing is i really want to travel and see a bunch of the

now the so-called face of the twenty twelve games jessica ennis has been speaking after being crowned heptathlon champion the british athlete plain gold on saturday to the delight of the home crowd but admits there have been times in the buildup where the pressure has begun to tell. her if you may have played my fiance were you know wondering if it is all going to go by the way i wanted it or whether it would happen and fall apart is a huge amount of pressure but again just such a unique position i was in iowa to make the most of that. and just make sure that i trained to live it on those two days and thanks but i can sit here and say i did now one positive fourteen russia so far has been success on the judo match three gold one silver and one bronze medal put them on top of the sports medal table on the returning stars arrive back in the russian capital hoping their success can act as a springboard for other russian athletes for some very specific historical achievement for russian juden there is no doubt about it we are very proud to be the first afterwards to win this medals at the

as super saturday night in the packed olympic stadium, 80,000 spectators and the world watched jessica ennis for the olympic games won a grueling race. it reached an overwhelming fevered pitch as he ran to gold, the first brit to do that. the british broadcasters who pride themselves on the stiff upper lip could not contain their own national pride. bradley wiggins, the first british man to win tour de france a week benefactor games also won the time trials. in one of the country's sweetest victories andy murray defeated roger federer in straight sets on the same court where federer had beaten him at wimbledon and where he very unbritishly wept only weeks ago. now the first tennis gold in more than 100 years. >> the biggest one of my life. that's for sure. >> reporter: lately the uk has been worried about things like obesity, life expectancy. they were recently handed a pretty grim economic outlook. so you can say this comes as a great time. it's inspiration that britain could use this fire of national pride. >> absolutely. needed the uplifting stories. michelle kosinski, thanks so much. >>>

i just did jessica ennis in the back, which will be on tonight's show. i was hoping nbc covered it. obviously we don't see american coverage here, just the british coverage. the british coverage was just phenomenal for her, the stadium, the excitement. i wanted our audiences, primarily young women, i wanted them to see those athletes and images. >> she's very charming. >> very charming girl. >> are you more well-known for being the superhero athlete or being a father on keeping up with the kardashians. >> that's a good question. if i'm in matt's generation and my generation, our group, they kind of know you for the old days, for all the wheaties commercials and games and all those things i did. certainly the younger group, primarily female, all about kim and chloe's dad, which is fine with me. being a parent is more important than winning gold medals. >> do you work together or is there one -- >> technically i'm executive producer. >> this is a fantastic synergy moment for us. >> we went to ryan, my wife, kris, went to ryan with an idea for the show. he brought it to e! and the rest

jessica ennis, her victory, she's captured the heart of that nation.ook in the stands you see the citizens of great britain and london doing the wave and high fiving. they're acting like americans. it's really brought that country to life. as you look around the world there are countries that have had women on the team for a first time. d is. there's a long way to go. it's terrific those women are in the games. they can't train in their country so there's a long way to go with that. there's work that needs to be done there. there's also work that needs to be done in our country. i'm especially dpligted to see the number of african american winners this year if you think back to the 1948 olympics in london, the last time london hosted the games alice coachman was the first african american woman to win gold and now there's so many it's hard to name between allissyon, brittney gabby, sonia richards ross, venus and serena, these athletes are role models for that community. a girl of color is the most likely to be overweight, the least likely to be active

jessica ennis, the first british woman ever to win the decathlon in front of a packed stadium. in the crowd prince william and katherine, the duchess of cambridge. and in tennis, andy murray beat world champion roger federer in straight sets to avenge his loss to federer last month at wimbledon, bringing his fellow countrymen to their feet. meanwhile gabby douglas, the gymnastics individual all around champ will be back in action tonight on the women's uneven bars and china is now leading the overall medal count with 61, u.s. has 60 total, 28 gold, 14 silver, 18 bronze. great britain in third with 37 after a spectacular weekend for the home country. savannah. >> natalie, thanks. expectations were very high for 17-year-old missy franklin heading into these games. the missile did not disappoint winning five swimming medals, including four gold. missy, congratulations. >> thank you. >> when we do that medal count of the u.s., do you have room in your suitcase for these. >> i do. i wouldn't complain if i didn't. this is incredible. >> every olympics there's one, maybe two athletes

grit britain's jessica ennis won gold in the women's decathlon. good morning to you.reat here in the olympic park. we have so much support. >> you didn't just win, you killed it. you blew away the competition. this is a grueling two-day event. how did you feel doing this in front of the home crowd. >> it's the greatest feeling in the world. it was amazing. to do it here at home in london and have the support we've had and the buildup, it was really special. >> your coach said it might be the crowd's medal as much as yours. you might disagree with that. >> definitely the crowd helped me so much stepping into the stadium before the hurdles, seeing everyone and hearing the roar. it inspired me and pushed me on. >> at the same time there's a flip side to that. it must be incredibly intimidating and nerve-racking when you know your whole country is counting on you. >> it was scary leading up to the event. i was nervous. there was a lot of pressure and expectation. as soon as i got to the stage here i felt support and positive energy, which was great. >> you could hardly ha

thanks to gold by the likes of chris hoy, farah and jessica ennis.monetary value is around 700 euros. if you melted it all down, tease what you would get. today's rising gold medal prices are twice as much as the ones that hung around ath loet's necks in 2004. but the real question is, what is the gold worth in more than the nominal value? nigel, thanks for joining us. we've seen some great emotional scenes and great record breaking performances, as well. let's that you talk about saturday, the last night of athleti athletics. farah, doing a double. a well known british athlete. now the question is, he's got two gold medals. how does that transform him internationally? is he going to be a name recognizable now to americans, particular a as usain bolt is doing his own sign? >> i think farah has done it in the right events, the 5,000 and 10,000 meters are undoubtedly two of the biggest global events. mo farah will definitely be an athlete known around the world. >> what can he expect to earn from winning those two gold medals? >> i think he can be real

many of her majesty's biggest star, jessica ennis, they're aall featured in this ad in the queen hitlays the director, yelling "action." it's a solid wink that he was cut from the uk's olympic soccer team. he has a good sense of humor. the commercial is adorable. >>> and michael phelps will not be swimming any longer, just working on his stroke. ding. the olympic star -- don't encourage that behavior. he signed up to star on the upcoming fifth season of "the haney project." we'll find out if his golf game is up to par as he plays the best courses with the help of tiger woods,' former coach. i don't doubt he's a great golfer. >> not necessarily. >> i would think with that wing span. >> very little cross over. it's harder, theoretically, for those of us challenged in that particular area. >> that might make even better tv. >> his job is to play some great golf courses of the world. >> right. sign me up. >> hey, it's not quite the level brittany took it to. miley cyrus is keeping her fans on her toes with the new shaved hair style. you're right. she tweeted out a picture about to get th

it wasn't twitter that made us cry with chris hoy, jessica ennis -- it was the power of television. believing in technology without acknowledging the need for real community and the need for great storytelling, which is dangerous and trusting as a single parent her -- guarantour outcomes.ive a speaker said freeing of broadcasting in this country is part of a democratic revolution and an essential step forward into the information age with its golden promise. freeing it from the dominance of one narrow set of cultural values. freeing it from private or public enterprise that thinks it has something that people might like to watch. freeing if from the bureaucrats of television and placing it in the hands of those who should control it. the people. the speaker was my father. a quarter of a century later, i am still inspired by those words. and they are still deeply relevant today. my dad had the vision, the will, and the sense of purpose to challenge the old world order on behalf of the people. he literally bet our house on it. my parents spoke vividly over the breakfast table about wh