Olympics

Can you guess which Olympic athletes took it to the next level and branded their muscular bods with a tattoo of the iconic Olympic Rings?!

Condoleezza Rice is a big fan of U.S.gymnastics superstar Gabby Douglas ... telling TMZ she's "thrilled" for the 16-year-old's "momentous accomplishment as the first African-American" to win a gold medal at the Olympics in the all-around competition.

Rice says she's been following the ENTIRE U.S. Women's Gymnastics team at the 2012 Games ... telling us the girls have been "incredible" to watch.

"Proud of their team gold and thrilled for Gabby Douglas and her momentous accomplishment as the first African-American to win the individual all-around gymnastics title, " Rice says.

She adds, "These young women are full of grace and poise."

Swimming champ Ryan Lochte PEED IN THE POOL AT THE OLYMPICS -- seriously ... he just admitted to it on live radio.

Ryan was on the phone with Ryan Seacrest this morning, when Seacrest asked if swimmers ever pee in the pool -- Ryan replied, "Of course. We always do."

When asked if he ever peed during one of the races in London, Ryan said, "Not during the races, but I sure did before in warm-up."

Michael Phelps is the biggest badass on the planet when he's in the water -- but in real estate ... he's a total loser. Good thing he's got 20 Olympic medals to ease his pain.

Despite the fact she's suffering from pink eye, USA beach volleyball superstar Kerri Walsh hugged, kissed and rubbed her contagious face all over her partner Misty May-Treanor last night.

Despite the infection, Kerri and Misty DOMINATED Austria last night ... and are one step closer to securing the gold medal ... again.

Forget all that retirement talk, Michael Phelps will NOT be done with the Olympics after the London games ... that is if network honchos can lock him into a new job -- sports announcer.

TMZ's learned TV execs are drooling over the chance to get Phelps under contract once he wraps up the Games as the most decorated Olympian of all time.

One source, high up at NBC Sports, told us ... "The man is smoking hot right now" -- and they "would definitely hire Michael" to cover the Olympics in 2016, and other world sporting events between now and then.

Phelps is adamant London will be his swan song -- and he will retire as the most well known Olympian on the planet ... so, if he chooses to get in the broadcast game there will be a massive bidding war.

NBC holds Olympic broadcasting rights through 2020, so they'd seem to be in the driver's seat -- but a source at ABC told us, "If he would, we would gladly scoop him up to work for us."

As for his potential salary ... it's a simple formula:
MP x 19 (possibly 22) Olympic medals = GAZILLIONS.

Just because you aren't competing in the 2012 London Olympics doesn't mean you can't win BIG with a little help from TMZ's Team USA Olympic Fever Photo Contest!

Email in a red, white and blue photo for your chance at winning our golden prize of $250 American dollars and some super secret mystery gifts compliments of TMZ!

**CLICK HERE for contest rules and regulations!**

Not everyone hates NBC's controversial coverage of the 2012 Olympics ... in fact, the network just got HIGH PRAISE from its rival ... CBS President Les Moonves.

Les and his wife -- "Big Brother" host Julie Chen -- were on a double date at Madeo in Hollywood with mega-movie producer Brian Grazer and his GF Keli Lee ... an ABC casting executive.

But as the 4some left the restaurant ... Les made it clear, he's a big fan of the way NBC is handling the Summer Games ... despite criticism from fans who are upset the network isn't airing some of the competitions live.

Apparently, someone farted on Kerri Walsh's pillow ... 'cause the U.S. beach volleyball superstar has come down with a case of the pinkeye at the Olympics.

Walsh talked about her eye issue at a media event in London yesterday -- wiping the tears and gunk as she told reporters the conjunctivitis won't stop her from dominating in the sand.

"It's super minor ... it looks worse than it is."

Kerri's pro-volleyball playing hubby Casey Jennings also has the pinkeye ... but, according to Kerri, it's much worse than hers.

"It looks like his eyeballs got their butts kicked."

**Sidenote -- the chances of getting pinkeye from someone farting on your pillow are very low ... it's just an urban legend perpetuated by the movie "Knocked Up."

Still, don't fart on anyone's pillow, it's just mean. **

U.S. Olympic volleyball badass Destinee Hooker knows people are amused by her name ... she knows some people laugh ... but she doesn't care ... she believes it's a "blessing."

Hooker -- who's CRUSHING it in London right now (indoor team is undefeated!) -- tells TMZ, "When it comes to my name, I honestly find nothing wrong with it. I love my name."

Still, Destinee admits she's not deaf to the jokes ... "I have been dealing with it since I was a child. People can be childish."

There was almost no Destinee Hooker at all ... the 24-year-old tells us she nearly died at birth, and when she survived, her father was inspired to give her the name "Destinee."

"Since I was a blessing, [my father] spelled it uniquely. So I am thankful to be here and glad my Dad gave me the name."

Michael Phelps has officially won more Olympic medals than ANY OLYMPIAN IN HISTORY -- winning his 19TH MEDAL moments ago during the 4x200m relay.

Phelps and his team -- Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Conor Dwyer -- picked up gold for the United States, with Phelps beating out France in the final stretch by almost a body length. China took bronze.

Phelps won his 18th earlier today -- a silver -- during the 200m butterfly.

In addition to the all-time Olympic medal record, Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals (15), and the record for most gold medals in individual events (9).

The previous all-time Olympic medal count was held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 total medals over 3 Olympics.

Not to gloat, but ... THE USA IS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET IN WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS!!!!

The U.S. women's gymnastics team didn't just win GOLD in the team competition ... they CRUSHED the competition ... slaughtering Russia by a whole 5 points.

Just to compare, China beat the US back in 2008 by 2ish points ... in what was then considered to be a pretty dominant performance. So, 5 points is HUUUUUGE.

It's a big deal ... the team -- made up of Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross, and McKayla Maroney -- was favored to win ... and they didn't disappoint, scoring 183.596 today. Russia came in at 178.5 (suck it).

Romania won bronze.

The last gold medal was won at the Atlanta Games in 1996 -- with the team of Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps ... and of course ... Olympic hero Kerri Strug.

It's a beautiful day for America. Now excuse us while we set off some fireworks, wrap ourselves in the Declaration of Independence, and drive our Chevy into the sunset.

The parents of newly-minted gold medalist Missy Franklin had such bad seats last night, they nearly had to watch her record-breaking swim through binoculars -- but TMZ has learned, NBC upgraded them BIG TIME ... at the very last minute.

A rep for the US Swimming Team tells TMZ, Missy's parents had purchased tickets to watch their daughter dominate the 100m backstroke -- but they were all the way in the nosebleed section.

We're told NBC producers noticed -- and not wanting to miss their emotional reactions on TV, they hooked Missy's parentals up with some sweet seats right near the front.

NBC wasn't disappointed either -- 17-year-old Missy eked out a victory over Australian favorite Emily Seebohm for the gold medal ... and her parents went NUTS!

Go USA.

Ryan Lochte's unexpected grill flash during his Olympic medal ceremony was courtesy of none other than the grill-master himself ... rapper Paul Wall.

If you recall ... Lochte flashed a ruby and diamond studded American flag grill when he accepted his medal for the men's 400-meter IM event on Saturday ... but the genius behind the bling was "The Peoples Champ" himself.

Wall told XXLmag.com he was psyched to create the mouth piece, saying "Everyone’s talking about it ... it’s just an incredible thing to be part of. There’s not too many world-class swimmers wearing our grill."

The grill was hand crafted by Wall who boasted to the mag, "Every diamond is set by hand ... one by one, prong set and all custom red rubies."

Wall wouldn't specify how much he charged Lochte for the grill ... but says it's worth between $15k and $25k. Wall added "Of course we gave him an Olympic discount."

Kobe Bryant's wife has some serious questions about his judgment after seeing pics of him partying with women last week -- but that didn't stop her from flying to London to watch him play in the Olympics.

Sources close to Vanessa Bryant tell us she is "furious" and "embarrassed" over the photos -- one of Kobe chatting up 2 women at an afterparty last week in Barcelona ... the other showed him hanging with 2 different women in a nightclub.

But we're told Vanessa's anger is NOT because she thinks Kobe cheated ... instead she's mad that he put himself in situations where the photos could be taken.

As we previously reported ... a source close to Kobe says someone had spilled a drink on him, and he was only briefly shirtless -- while he sent for a cleaner, dryer shirt.

We're told Vanessa had planned to go to London -- and seeing the pics didn't change her mind. She flew to London over the weekend with their 2 daughters.

We're told Vanessa feels things have been going well with Kobe since she passed on filing final divorce docs last month.