Brand police look to make hay during London Games

Here are some Olympic images that organizers have not approved

Here are some Olympic images that organizers have not approved: A hooded youth making off with an Olympic ring; the same multicolored hoops turned into toasters; a dog doing something a bit rude to a London 2012 mascot. The guardians of the games are vigilant about protecting the integrity - and the commercial clout - of the Olympic brand. But even they can't stop the irreverent spirit of artists and craftspeople, who have responded to the games with a cheeky mix of celebration, skepticism and satire. One street artwork in the southwest England city of Bristol - attributed to the artist Criminal Chalklist and reproduced on T-shirts for sale in London street markets - shows a masked and hooded youth sneaking off with one of the five Olympic rings. Another T-shirt depicts The Beatles crossing a London street in the photo from the cover of "Abbey Road" the Olympic rings tucked under their arms.

HT Image

Swimsuits that turn athletes into barracudas

NEW YORK: The sharkskin has been retired. The swim bladder, too. For London's Olympic swimmers, the watchword is more "barracuda". Swimsuit makers have long sought inspiration in the oceans, where evolution spent about 500 million years sculpting bodies shaped to cut through the water with the least drag or studded with features that increase speed. That led some manufacturers earlier this decade to develop full-body, impermeable suits: water could not get in and air could not get out, trapping air inside and increasing buoyancy much as fish's swim bladders do.