Archives for September 2009

An announcement on a multi-million deal is expected to see the credit card giant named as the presenting partner for 'Team 2012' in the run-up to the London Games.

The money will go towards filling a £50 million shortfall after Government efforts failed to any attract private-sector cash to supplement Exchequer funding.Team 2012 is a joint project involving the British Olympic Association, UK Sport and the organising committee of the London Olympics.

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Efforts to get boxing to move to Wembley from the ExCel arena have failed and it is understood organisers will now ask badminton and rhythmic gymnastics instead to consider the venue switch and remove the need to build a £40 million temporary arena in north Greenwich.

A meeting of the Olympic Board on Thursday decided to explore four options as possible venues for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. Two are existing venues and two temporary arenas that would be pulled down after the Games.One of them is Wembley and another is the temporary venue called North Greenwich Arena 2 originally planned by the London organis ing committee (LOCOG) - though given the £40 million cost this looks unlikely.

LOCOG said in a statement: "There was a discussion to seek to resolve the outstanding venue location for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. The board has agreed to a piece of work that explores in more detail the options for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics and we expect a final decision to be made in the coming weeks.

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Wrestler Ramesh Kumar, who won a bronze in the World Championships, said that his performance in the meet remained below his expectations as his aim was to win a gold medal.

“I won’t say I was disappointed because at least I could win a bronze medal,” said the 74kg freestyle grappler after he arrived in the capital on Friday.

“But my preparation was good enough to finish on top,” he said.

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But the Dorman sophomore swimming standout has big plans for a visit, say, in the summer of 2012. If all goes right and dreams do come true, her travel wardrobe would consist almost exclusively of red, white and blue. “I want to compete in the Olympics,” said Williams, who is ranked in the top 20 nationally at No. 15 in the 50-meter freestyle in her 15-under age group.

It is a matter-of-fact statement, lacking bravado but with the full force of teen-aged dreams and a seemingly constant smile. Williams, a high-school All-American in the 50-meter freestyle as a freshman, leads the rest of the Dorman Cavaliers swim team into the Region II-4A meet Saturday at Greenville’s Westside Aquatic Center.

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Instead, the backdrop for the Olympic clay pigeon shooting competition will be a towering, 62ft (19m) high "ballistic screen" that will stretch across the shotgun range to prevent lead from pellets raining down on nearby homes.

Planners for the Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for building the Olympic venues, have been left with no choice but to erect the obtrusive safety screen after being unable to meet the strict safety rules for shotgun ranges in Britain, which require a minimum 300 yards (275m) safety zone beyond the shooting positions, with no public access.

Due to lack of open space at the south London barracks, part of the married quarters would have fallen within this exclusion zone, necessitating the evacuation of military personnel and their families during the Games.

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The huge London 2012 International Broadcast Centre (IBC) is taking shape in the skyline with the 4,500 tonne steel structure completed in just ten weeks.

The IBC, combined with the Main Press Centre (MPC), will support around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and journalists communicating the Games to an audience of four billion people worldwide. In legacy the facilities will create just under 900,000 square feet of business space with the potential to generate thousands of new jobs.

The steel frame of the IBC, which will provide studio and office space during the Games and in legacy is 275m long, 104m wide, 21m tall and big enough to house five jumbo jets. The steel has been fabricated for the IBC in Dalton, North Yorkshire and produced and rolled in Scunthorpe and Teesside.

The IBC foundations are complete, work is underway on the roof lining and work is about to start on flooring and cladding. The foundations of the MPC, which provides office space during the Games and in legacy, are 50% complete and due to finish this autumn. The media transport mall is making rapid progress with the foundations and ground floor columns already complete.

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Cycling to the Olympic Park yesterday lunchtime, I got a little taste of the dust caused by the building works that has lately distressed citizens of Leabank Square. It wasn't dramatic, just a gradual awareness of my vision becoming slightly hazy and the discovery that a light film had gathered on my glasses. There was more solid proof of industry, too. The future media centre and athletes' village beyond have taken still more commanding form since these observations on Leabank Square blog a month ago:

The great steel skeleton sits high on our horizon and it seems to be moving quickly across what was once our view of the sky. Our bond with our sky, that is now so tragically eclipsed, is intense. These are the same skies that have given my children spectacular shows of double rainbows, lightening storms, distant rains drawing closer and starry moonlit nights...

Of course, the forces of change are telling us that future generations will benefit from all this disruption. These huge structures will give something back to the children of our community. But, so much has been lost to these forces. So much disruption has entered our lives - like a constant headache – the pain does not seem to cease. It is difficult to see the future vision, when majestic trees have been lost, green land has been taken away and our beautiful view of the sky eclipsed. The loss of all these things has been soul destroying. I don't think you have any idea just how profound our loss has been.

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Britain's Olympic sailing selectors are in for a tough couple of years after the first day's racing in the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth highlighted the fierce competition among those aiming for places in the 2012 Olympics.Blue skies together with a shifting north-easterly presented the 747 competitors from 38 nations with a range of unusually choppy conditions that they are unlikely to experience here in July 2012. Even the British sailors who live and train in Weymouth were surprised by the winds and waves in Portland Bay.

On Monday night, five of the top 10 teams in the 49er class were British. Simon Hiscocks, the silver medallist at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was leading the 12-strong home contingent in third place overall."The conditions were great – plenty of swell and chop which meant the boats were leaping around the water, but there is another five days of racing so we will keep plugging away and hope we don't crash," said Hiscocks, who is racing with David Evans.

Although selection trials do not officially start until 2011, the performances in this regatta will be noted by Royal Yachting Association selectors who are gathering information to maximise Britain's medal-winning opportunities in 2012.

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Uganda will field women boxers in 2012 World Olympics Games due to take place in London, United Kingdom. The Secretary of Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation (UABF), Simon Barigo says Uganda has a big potential of fielding women in World Olympics.

Addressing a Press Conference in Lugogo, Kampala, Barigo said some sponsors have expressed interest in funding women boxers. The Secretary of UABF says Uganda women boxers are capable of winning silver and gold medals for the country.

There are more lines around the eyes now and teammates are always making good-natured jabs at his age, but Simon Whitfield still sounds like an excited kid when he talks about his passion for triathlon.

"I love it," he says. "I love the challenge. I love being immersed in it every day."

The two-time Olympic medallist from Victoria laughs about "out-touching" an up-and-coming 14-year-old at the wall of the pool in training the other day, a kid who wasn't even born when the now 34-year-old Whitfield competed in his first World Cup.

And those eyes sparkle and he grins broadly when asked about the daunting commitment to a fourth Olympics in London in 2012.

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