Low expectations for Team GB Showjumpers

Image taken from the BBC

Robert Smith believes Great Britain's showjumpers will struggle to make any significant impact at London 2012.

While Smith has predicted a strong showing from British No 1 and world No 6 Nick Skelton this summer, he is pessimistic about the wider chances of home medal success.

Britain has not won an individual Olympic showjumping medal since Ann Moore claimed silver in Munich 40 years ago, while their last Olympic team medal came at the 1984 Games.

Full story at the Daily Mail

The Telegraph: 100 stars to watch!

The Telegraph have published their 100 stars to watch this Olympics!

See it here

Beckham doesn't deserve place in Olympics 2012

Picture from The Guardian - Orlin Wagner/AP

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker said David Beckham doesn't deserve to be on the Great Britain squad.

Team GB manager Stuart Pearce can pick three over-age in a squad that would normally be made up of players under the age of 23.

The Ex England striker told BBC radio five: "If you are going to pick the best three over-age player then you would say no(to Beckham)".

The former England captain David Beckham will turn 37 at the start of the games. Beckham is among 80 players in contention for a place in the squad and has shown a desire to be captain in London.

Lineker suggested that while Beckham who is currently playing for LA galaxy in the United States he was not worthy of a place purely on ground and that there could be another reason he might make the team.

"If it's a 'thank you' for all the work Beckham has done for the Olympics and getting it to London, the it is a different matter." The Match of the Day presenter told the Richard Bacon programme.

Story source BBC

Practise run for the Olympic torch

A full dress rehearsal for the London 2012 Olympics torch relay has got under way.

Some 122 participants from Leicestershire were acting as torchbearers during the only full operational dummy run of a single day of the relay.

The actual torch relay will start from Land's End in Cornwall next month after the arrival of the Olympic flame in the UK on May 18.

The rehearsal, taking place on the Leicester to Peterborough route, is aimed at testing timings, convoy movement, radio communications, traffic management and security. The torch will not be lit during the rehearsal, the organisers said.

The actual Olympic flame will pass through 1,018 places in the UK, as well as visiting Dublin, arriving in London for the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 27.

Full story at UKPA

Team GB Stars given family tickets

The announcement by UK Athletics that they have bought up tickets to ensure families of home athletes get to attend their every race in the Olympic Stadium coincides with today's 100-day landmark.
It clashes with a firm reminder from no-nonsense team boss Charles van Commenee that the really serious business begins now.

"One hundred days until the Games means there's no hiding place any more," stated the Dutchman.

Full story at The Mirror

Olympic Offers

A lot of companies are now offering special offers as the Olympics gets closer and closer. The differences in prizes does differ between small and large, a lot actually offering tickets to the games.

Powerade is now offering a free olympic sports bottle to everyone who buys the drink, all people need to do is enter a code on the website.

Image sourced from The Drum

Olympics torch will receive a royal welcome

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry - Photo The Telegraph

The Olympics torch will receive a royal welcome from The Duke ,The Duchess and Prince Harry when it passes through Buckingham palace a day before the games begin.

William ,Kate and Harry are also Team GB and Paralympics GB Ambassadors . They will be watching as three torch bearers carry the flame through London.On the 10th of July the Queen will view the Olympics flame at Windsor castle , Buckingham Palace .

Last month Prince Harry met one of the fastest men on the earth ,he Usain Bolt during a Diamond Jubilee tour to Jamaica.

A St James Palace a spokesman said that participation from William ,Kate and Harry was seen as part of the symbolism of the games.


"It marks the climax of the relay around the UK as it comes to London and Buckingham Palace," he said.

"The Queen will see the torch the next day at the opening ceremony and has asked three senior members of her family, who are already ambassadors, to welcome the torch to her residence."

The Queen will be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh when the Olympics officially start on July 27.


Source The Telegraph

Could Olympics put small firms' at risk?

Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, today is planning to read out a petition to try and secure the safety of small businesses in London during the Olympics.

Michael Spinks, managing director of Hackney-based food distributor Essex Flour & Grain Co, has launched a petition to ask for “freedom of access” to business premises located near the Olympic Park in east London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Worries grow for the small companies as the Olympics grows nearer as they fear road closures could drastically affect sales.

Full story at The Telegraph

Olympic 2012 Games "branding" police is in action!

There will be a special "branding" police to watch over the branding and broadcasting rights during the events.
This means no person is allowed to broadcast even a snippet of the shows and surrounding area while enjoying it. It has been said in The Guardian that the "branding" police team will be checking every bathroom in every Olympic venue with the power to remove or tape over the manufacturer's logos even on soap dispensers, basins and toilets.

Britain already has various brand and copyright legislation for protection. However, Olympic Games are insisting on having their own rules. Locog insists the protection were essential in order to secure the contracts for the Olympic Games.

Source and full story in The Guardian

BBC to stream Olympics live

Team Great Britain -photo The Sun

The BBC will be making The London 2012 Olympics stream live in HD 24 hours long. This will be available to view by Sky and Satellite customers .

Viewers will be to view all the action from the Olympics Live by accessing the Electronic Programmes guide or by pressing the red button on their sky remotes.

Users of Mobile ,Tablet, connected TV and PC can also views the Live 24 hours stream.

Roger Mosey, Director, BBC London 2012, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to cable and satellite providers to extend our online service to millions of TV viewers across the UK.

The service will compliment other BBC channels , BBC one and BBC three . These channels will air all of the key ,moments during the Olympics ,other platforms include Radio five live.

All the coverage from the Olympics broadcast by the BBC will cover over 2,500 hours of the events during the games.

"BBC One and BBC Three will remain the flagship channels for the Olympics. But, as the London 2012 Olympic Games will be the first truly ‘Digital Games’, we wanted to offer an unprecedented amount of live sporting action to the widest possible audience through these 24 live streams, giving vastly more choice than ever before.” Roger added.

Olympic Games 2012 faces criticism as it is reported that band music for opening and closing ceremonies will be pre-recorded in the studio.

As The Times reported,  music bands will sing over the pre-recorded vocal and instrumental tracks at the Olympic Games 2012 ceremonies.
The London Olympic organising committee (Locog) explains that because of the unpredictable and unreliable British weather and the scale of the event there is no choice but to go forward with this approach..

As quoted in The Telegraph Locog spokesperson said : “Due to the complexity involved, it’s just not possible for the music in all the shows to be live. There will be live musical elements but many of the songs will be recorded in advance. This is standard practice for an event of this scale.”

The Musicians' Union has described this approach as "shameful". As quoted in The Telegraph, Horace Trubridge, the assistant general secretary, said: "Coming from the UK, which is the home of live music, it is very poor.”
Source and full story in The Telegraph

London 2012 merchandise to be sold in John Lewis

Feeling the sporty season vibe ,well now you can purchase official merchandise from one of the official retailers for London 2012 ,John Lewis.

The retailer is known nationwide ,it provides everything from handbags to home wear . This year 3,000 London 2012 products will go on sale.

John Lewis - Marketing

London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) Chair Seb Coe said: 'These new London 2012 shops are a great opportunity for people across the UK to show their support for the London 2012 Games and for Team GB and Paralympics GB.'

As an official provider for the games the retailer has dedicated space from it's London store and all of it's 'Home' shops. The London Oxford street shop will reach out at 6,000sq ft . It is the largest store that is selling gear for the games.

London expects to be overcrowded on the three weekends of the Olympic Games.

2012 Olympic Stadium - Photo London-attraction .info 

It was estimated that London will face the crowd three times bigger than the one on the New Year's Eve which suggests a huge interest and anticipation for the Games. The particular parts of London like Hyde Park, which is going to provide live coverage of the events and the central Royal Parks are all expected to be full.  However, Organisers are trying to create back up plans to ease the anticipation and prevent disappointment of a wasted journey times.


Peter Hendy, Commissioner of transport for London, told The Daily Telegraph: “Our approach is to be ready for more people to turn up than you can ever imagine simply because it is a great place to be. We do not want to discourage people, but we will inform people if they can’t get into central London.”
Source and a full story here

Team GB selects finest swimmers for Olympics

Team GB swimmer in action - picture The Telegraph

Team great Britain are preparing to select their finest trained athletes to enter the Olympics 2012 . The British Olympics association confirmed that 38 swimmers had been selected for the London games.

The 19 male and 19 female swimmers that were selected competed for their places in a  FINA 'A' or top 16 world ranked qualifying standard managing to finish at the top two places at an event in London 2012 Aquatics Centre.

Team GB members consist of 2008 Beijing double Olympics champion Rebecca Adlington , open water silver medallist Keri-Anne Payne and David Davies and 400m freestyle medallist Joanne Jackson .

Rebecca Adlington  - The Telegraph

The selected group has 20 swimmers who hold British records and 12 swimmers who have won World championship medals .

Team Great Britain's Chef de mission Andy Hunt said '“I am thrilled to welcome a total of 38 swimmers to Team GB. The remarkable strength and depth of British talent within the sport of swimming has been on display throughout the past week in the London 2012 Aquatics Centre. Team GB enjoys a proud tradition in Olympic swimming competition and I’m sure the class of 2012 will produce some thrilling moments in the Olympic competition this summer.'

The athletes were nominated to the BOA by British swimming ,which is the National governing body for swimming in the UK.

Team Great Britain swimmers have previously won  65 medals ,of which 15 have been gold ,22 silver and 28 bronze. This included three gold medals won by Britains Henry Taylor at the London 1908 Olympics games swimming contest.

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 where Rebecca Addlington won a Gold medal for 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle,whilst Joanne Jackson won Bronze in the 400m freestyle . Team Great Britain also won three medals in the open water 10km event.

Police has been reminded that there is always a risk of disruption when it comes to London Olympics 2012.

The incident took place at a Boat Race when a protest swimmer appeared to be disrupting it by swimming across the boat's swim line.

According to The Telegraph the 158th race was stopped for half an hour while the swimmer was removed from the River Thames and was taken away by a police.

As quoted in The Telegraph British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan admits that the forces "can never completely remove" the theat for Olympic 2012 Games to be disrupted.

Acording to The Telegraph Trenton Oldfield, the man who disrupted the event was charged with public order offence as it appeared he deliberately was croosing the path of rowers.

Source and full story here 

Sport at Heart

If you are still not feeling the adrenaline and anticipation for London Olympic Games 2012, here is the Award winning Official London 2012 Olympics Video called "Sport at Heart" to get you on the right track.



Song performed by M-people feat. Heather Small - Proud.

Meet the designer behind the sports gear

Team Great Britain will be showing off their gear with Adidas this year designed by Stella McCartney . Tell us what you think about the kit  @GOOlympics2012

Olympics in pictures

The Olympics 2012 has been a traditional sports event that has been held in a variety of different countries over the years .

Take a look at the opening ceremonies here .

Get your hands on a special Olympic 2012 games vehicle number plates

As stated in The Telegraph article around 1,750 personalised number plates will be auctioned at the London's City Hall's three day auction that is going to start  on June 7 2012.

This will give people the opportunity to show their support and love for the Olympic Games 2012 that are going to kick off this summer. 

As quoted in The Telegraph London 2012 Commercial Director Chris Townsend said: "I'm sure that this London 2012-themed range of personalised registration number plates will really strike a note with fans of the Games."

People will also be able to purchase one from DVLA's website.

Source The Telegraph

Mayor says London like Paris

Mayor of London - Boris Johnson

After weeks of sunshine at the end of March ,April has started with a few rays of sunshine but mainly showers across England ,let's hope it gets better for the Olympics .

The mayor of London  is betting it wont rain when it comes to the sports games . Boris Johnson compared the weather in the city to Frances capital Paris.


Johnson said: "It is not raining in London 94 per cent of the time, we have exactly the same climatic conditions as Paris.

The Olympics stadium roof will only cover 40 percent of the building .

Boris Johnson finished off by putting rumours to rest ,he added "Rumours of our wetness are greatly exaggerated and I think the Olympic Stadium will be absolutely fantastic."

Source The Independent.

Blood ,Sweat and Millions : Expenses on the Olympics

 The London 2012 Olympics are ready to go ,athletes are working hard to train well whilst the stadium get's it's final touch ups, but just how much did it cost ?

The seating arrangements of the stadium will be able to fit an audience of 80,000 however after the games finish the dramatic reduction of these seats will go down to 25,000.

2007 figures from BBC news online show that the construction of the building could come up to an estimated £216 million,  but two years later The Government admitted that the figures had risen to £547 million, more than double the amount predicted before by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

The nation is just a couple of weeks away from hosting the world largest sports event ,but has all the money been well invested ?

BBC Radio Five received mixed views from the public in 2007 when the Olympics financial budget was discussed on the show . This means the public will have to wait and see if the million pounds worth of money has been used wisely or if later on in the year it will be a decision regretted by many .The ODA is a publicly funded organisation and it's main role is to prepare the stadium in many ways.

This is what has been posted onto the London 2012 Olympics website about the public funding of the Olympics Delivery Authority :

'This funding is contributing to the construction of the venues and infrastructure in the Olympic Park; the facilities at Weymouth and Portland, Broxbourne and Eton Dorney; and the legacy that will follow the Games.'

The ODA is funded by The Department for Culture Media and Sport,The Greater London Authority ,The London Development Agency and The Olympic Lottery Distributor.

 The National Lottery is helping pay for the facilities to fund the games .

You can take a peep at how the finished Stadium looks like here !

The Olympics are putting false hopes for the landlords.

With the Olympic games approaching a lot of tourists are going to come to London for the event. This will definitely effect the ability to book a hotel room in advance. Therefore, a lot of people that live in the immediate area are thinking of putting their places to let. This seams like a perfect opportunity to help out others and get an income as well. However, the hype for places costing more than usual might be false for the landlords.

Quoted from " The Guardian", Camilla Shauhnessy, owner of EventfulStays.com which is a website that offers places to rent for sport events like the Olympics, refers to the event as "just another one". She says:"Yes, they are happening, but it's not the big boom-time that everyone thinks. As it gets closer, yes it will get busier. But some people are being incredibly greedy when they are looking to rent their properties, and visitors are canny".

She explains that the problem is that a lot more people live closer to the area where Olympics are going to be held, therefore, there are going to be a lot of choices and possibilities. This will effect the prices as, of course, people will have to compromise and try their best to get their properties out there.

Read the full detailed article by Esther Addley on "The Guardian" website here

Will fuel prices effect Olympics

Over the years fuel prices have soared ,but more recently there was an outcry from Taxi drivers in Surrey as they threaten to go on strike days before the Olympics .

“Fuel prices have shot up. It costs £80 to fill my car with diesel where not so long ago it cost £40.” One Taxi driver said.

So of course this means with fuel prices going up it will cost people more to travel ,and with the Olympics on the way it could burn a whole in a few pockets as people will be traveling from all across the UK, but will fuel prices affect the amount of people attending the Olympics ?

Why not tweet us what you think at @GOOlympics2012

Graph from The Guardian Data Blog

The Olympic flame is nearly here

 

The Olympics Torch

 Everyone is excited for the London 2012 Olympics and it seems that the heat is getting closer and closer as the Olympics flame is making it's way around the UK .

115 torchbearers will carry the flame during it's 8,000 mile journey around the UK before it gets to London on July 27.

The torch which has been carried in this sport event as a symbol of positive 'can do ' attitude will see the local communities around the area cheering on the torchbearers .

Follow the flame ,see if it is around the corner from your neighbourhood on this map .