olympics posts

On Wednesday, our New York Culture Club, who develop creative ideas like team activities and charitable contributions to invigorate the culture at AOL, partnered with the AOL Marathon Team to host the first ever AOLympics and raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. Participants from around the office came to support the Marathon Team and compete for the gold, silver, and bronze medals, and, of course, office glory!

The competitions included balance beam, jump rope, spin chair shot-put, mini javelin, curling, and balloon volleyball. All efforts, including a raffle and bake sale, helped raise almost $1,000 towards the AOL Marathon team's contribution to the Ronald McDonald House. They are just a few dollars shy of their final goal so if you're interested in helping them out, you can donate here.

The newest video profiles on MAKERS.com spotlight a boxer and an activist who fights for the rights of disadvantaged children.

Marlen Esparza is the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in the first year that women's boxing was made an official event. Outside of the Olympics, she has won several other competitions, including the bronze medal in the 2006 World Championship and the gold in the 2008 Pan American Games.

Marian Wright Edelman is a renowned activist who established the Children's Defense Fund in 1973. She has been a leading national voice fighting for the rights of disadvantaged children for the last 40 years. She also worked on poverty with Dr. Martin Luther King and formed the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and the parent body of the Children's Defense Fund.

Learn more about Marian by watching this video:

.@MAKERSwomen Profiles Two Fighters aol.it/LxBpZL @Marlen112Boxing

- AOL PR (@AOLPR) July 20, 2012

Today I'm delighted to announce the launch of HuffPost Sport, the latest channel on our ever-expanding site.

With London gearing up for The Olympics, and Euro 2012 only a few months away, it couldn't be a better time for us to add Sport into the mix of topics we cover.

While our latest recruit, reporter Samuel Luckhurst, will be updating the site with all the latest sporting news, thesection's whole raison d'être will be those who play, love and follow sport, inviting debate, comment and opinion from the UK's most passionate fans, whether it's the premiership or Six Nations that gets your heart beating faster.

Being British, we fully expect there to be plenty of footie written about in our blogs, however, we're also aiming to be a destination for niche sports, where everyone from synchronized swimmers to curling champions can debate the merits of their favorite pastime with other dedicated fans.

In keeping with this wide range of sports, we have a real mix of voices from different walks of life blogging for us today, including Lord Coe on the Olympics, Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet on cycling, WWE's Zack Ryder on wrestling and Kevin Cahill, founder of Sport Relief, alongside Will Carling and Andy Murray.