Olympics

Sexy British diver Tom Daley was all smiles as he stepped up to accept his Olympic medal. Put your skills to the test as you dive through the differences between these two winning pics.

Hope Solo just went off on the Swedish soccer team ... reportedly calling them "a bunch of cowards" after Team USA lost in a penalty shootout.

An obviously pissed off Solo spoke with reporters directly after the game ... and said, "I’m very proud of this team. But I also think we played a bunch of cowards."

"The best team did not win today. I strongly believe that. I think you saw American heart. You saw us give everything we had today," reports SI.com's Grant Wahl.

When asked why she called Sweden "cowards" -- Solo explained said she wasn't impressed with their style of play ... especially the lack of passing.

"They dropped into a 50. They didn’t try and press. They didn’t want to open the game. And they tried to counter with longballs. We had that style of play when Pia was our coach. I don’t think they’re going to make it far in the tournament. I think it was very cowardly. But they won. They’re moving on, and we’re going home."

The International Olympic Committee tells TMZ Sports ... they are officially investigating Egyptian judo fighter Islam El Shehaby to find out why he refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent.

"The IOC has set up a Disciplinary Commission to look into this matter," a rep for the IOC tells us.

As we previously reported, Israeli fighter Or Sasson defeated El Shehaby in a 100kg judo match in Rio on Friday -- and in customary judo fashion, extended his hand for a handshake.

El Shehaby refused ... though when the ref called both men back to the mat, the Egyptian gave a quick head bow.

An Egyptian judo fighter refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent after losing a 100kg match Friday at the Olympics in Rio.

The Egyptian is Islam El Shehaby -- who was defeated with about 90 seconds left in the match when his opponent Or Sasson completed a dominating 2nd takedown.

After the match, Sasson approached El Shehaby to shake his hand -- customary in Judo matches -- but El Shehaby refused.

People in the crowd reportedly booed.

It's unclear why El Shehaby refused the handshake -- he could have been pissed from losing -- but there are reports that it was more politically motivated.

Some powerful Egyptians had called for El Shehaby to withdraw from the fight in the first place to avoid having to compete with an Israeli opponent.

What do you show off on Instagram when you're a hot cheating Russian swimmer who doesn't have a gold medal??

Easy ... your ass.

That's the case for Yuliya Efimova's -- the 2-time convicted cheater who just won the silver medal in the 100m breaststroke in Rio.

Yuliya's page is packed with hot bikini shots from over the years -- but thanks to Team USA bad ass Lilly King, it's missing that golden photo.

King famously wagged her finger at Yuliya after beating her down in the 100m semi-final race over the weekend.

Oh, and if you're still looking for that gold medal shot ... that's over on King's page.

#GoUSA

James Woods says he's absolutely fascinated by that 2006 photo of Michael Phelps signing a picture for a 9-year-old Katie Ledecky ... saying it's inspiring how she's now dominating in the same Olympics as her hero.

Woods is a big Phelps fan -- telling TMZ Sports he knows him from various poker games over the years and says he's one of the nicest people out there.

But you gotta see the way he gushes over the Ledecky pic ... it's pretty great.

In case of a potential emergency, Simone Biles and the USA Gymnastics team know exactly what to do -- GRAB YOUR GOLD MEDALS AND RUN!!

The Final Five must be really attached to their shiny new hardware after dominating the all-around gymnastics finals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio ... 'cause when a fire alarm went off in their building on Wednesday, they made sure to snatch their medals before evacuating.

"The fire alarm's going off ... but we got our gold!" Biles said as she documented the situation on Snapchat.

It turned out to be a false alarm and the girls -- and their medals -- are alright.

What did Michael Phelps get after winning his 21st gold medal? A visit from 5 extremely tall millionaires ... otherwise known as the TEAM USA MEN'S HOOPS SQUAD!

Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins and Kyle Lowry dropped in on Phelps and the USA swim team after the 4x200 freestyle relay.

It makes sense they'd chill ... the USA hoopers were GOING GRAZY in the stands after Phelps won his 20th gold ... showing some real deal American pride.

To be fair we're proud of everyone in the photo ... especially Draymond for keeping his clothes on.

Team USA gymnastics superstar Gabby Douglas says she never meant any disrespect by not placing her hand over her heart during the national anthem Tuesday ... saying, "I apologize if I offended anyone."

Finally, McKayla Maroney IS impressed -- telling TMZ Sports she loves the new Michael Phelps death stare meme ... and says it takes her spot as the BEST Olympic funny face.

Of course, Maroney became a viral LEGEND back in 2012 thanks to the whole "not impressed" thing -- so, we had to hit her up to get her take on the new Phelps pic taking the Internet by storm.

"I now see why people thought (the memes were) so funny," Maroney says.

"Somebody tweeted like, 'McKayla looks like somebody took your spot' ... and I looked at his pictures and was like YES! Go Michael, take it away please!"

Looks like she got her wish!

The biological mother of Team USA gymnast Simone Biles says she's clean, sober and has a loving relationship with her daughter ... and is sick of being painted as an addict.

Simone's story is pretty well-known ... she was put in foster care when she was 2 because her mother struggled with substance abuse. Simone was eventually adopted by her grandparents.

TMZ Sports spoke with Shanon Biles who says she's been sober since 2007 -- and is proud of the fact she reestablished her relationship with Simone.

Shanon says she does have a beef with her father -- saying he was insensitive about the way he described her battle with addiction during an interview with NBC.

"He could have been more classy about it."

As for Simone, Shanon says she's incredibly proud of her daughter and has supported her for years -- in fact, she showed us a pic of the two of them with Gabby Douglas back in 2014.

"I just want to say I love you Simone ... I'm so proud of you! Go Team USA and I'll talk to you and see you when I can!"

A rep for the Israeli national team says the actions by the Lebanese delegation to block Team Israel athletes from getting on a bus Friday were driven by "hostility and anti-Semitic behavior."

Think Usain Bolt is having fun at the Olympics??