The Guardian says: Beginning with the launch today of a unique interactive 'Could you be medallist?', the Guardian aims to bring the Games to life through a range of participatory, live and social content in line with its open and digital-first strategies. These projects will complement GNM's prize-winning and dedicated team of writers, reporters, commentators, photographers and multimedia journalists covering the Games to offer readers the very best coverage of the Olympics.
The 'Could you be a medallist?' interactive enables users to compare their own sporting achievements - no matter how meagre - with the greatest athletes of all time on the track, in the pool and on the bike, and share the results with friends via Facebook.
Other innovations will be unveiled in the coming days, including:
The Guardian Olympic Second Screen experience: launching in time for the Opening Ceremony, the brand new Second Screen experience will enable audiences to immerse themselves in a live, visual dashboard on desktop and iPad, to accompany and enhance their viewing of the Games. The Second Screen will display the latest from guardian.co.uk's Olympic live blogs in addition to results, pictures, tweets, the medal table and much more, all in a stunning intuitive interface that has been designed and developed entirely in-house.
The Guardian London 2012 experts' network: the Guardian has recruited over 100 sporting experts from across the globe, including many former Olympians, to tweet, blog and answer readers' questions during the Games on their area of expertise. Their real-time content will feature on a live world map on guardian.co.uk that users can filter according to which disciplines they are interested in. The experts' tweets will also be fed into the Second Screen experience to provide users with sharp insights into unfolding events, as they happen.
Brick-by-brick replays: Following the hugely successful brick-by-brick replays pioneered by the Guardian during the 2010 World Cup, audiences will be able to relive the most enthralling moments from the Games with our lovingly recreated brick-by-brick homages, drawn from an extraordinary range of events including the US dream team, the mens' 100m final and...the swimming!
Live blogs: The Guardian's team of top bloggers will be live blogging every day during the Games from 7.30am-11pm, with separate live blogs on the key events.
Virtual stadium tour: 360 degree panoramics of the site with fly through access to every venue.
This is all in addition to Olympics content already unveiled on guardian.co.uk, including the '60-second expert' series, which provides essential snapshot guides to some of the lesser-known Olympic disciplines, and comment pieces from high profile Olympians and ex-Olympians Bradley Wiggins - fresh from his amazing Tour de France victory - Dean Macey (decathlete) and Yamile Aldama (triple jumper).
Seven Olympians - all of them medal prospects - will blog about the games for the Guardian and the Observer as part of an Olympic diaries series, giving readers a unique insight into the preparations and the pressures facing the competitors.
In print, the Guardian and Observer this weekend featured a 100-page A5 guide to the Games and a wallchart featuring a full programme of events and a guide to the Paralympics. Throughout the Games, and beginning this Wednesday, a separate Olympics supplement will be included with the paper every day, featuring the work of some of our finest writers including Richard Williams, Marina Hyde, Tim Adams and Simon Hattenstone.
Paul Johnson, deputy editor, Guardian News & Media, said: "With 60 journalists on the ground across London and around the UK, and our extensive network of foreign correspondents watching London from abroad, our finest writers from across the Guardian, the Observer and guardian.co.uk will be presenting our readers with a unique and unrivalled take on the Games. We will be reporting around the clock on the website and the exciting range of digital initiatives we will be unveiling in the coming days is testament to the innovation and creativity here at GNM."
Bradley Wiggins, triple Olympic Gold medallist and Tour de France winner, said: "I'm proud to be associated with the Guardian's Olympic coverage, and look forward immensely to the Games."
Graeme Le Saux, former England international footballer and a contributor to the Guardian London 2012 experts' network, said: "Using the web and social media for projects such as this provides instant comment and reaction from people who know their sport and know first hand what it is like to be in similar situations. Collecting these opinions on a much broader scale, in real time, will give a better sense of detail during an occasion such as the Olympics, and I'm delighted to be involved with this project."
